Funny Friday

I love to laugh about our crazy church culture. Have a great weekend.

Christian camp and re-dedication

I loved going to Christian camp when I was a kid. It was a great time to escape the valley's summertime doldrums and drive 4 hours into the Sierra Nevada mountains where the air was clear, the weather was perfect, and I could be surrounded by hundreds of other Jesus-loving kids. Of course, there were a few non-Christian troublemakers who received scholarships to attend but they were few and far between.

Christian camps are incredibly predictable. Cabins were cleaned and inspected every morning after breakfast. After chow (the camp and cowboy way of describing mealtime), we participated in a series of elective activities. Those included crafts (homemade candles, purses for girls, wallets for boys, and laniards), hikes along the river, or archery for the adventurous Robin Hood-types. A hearty lunch followed a short sermon by the week's speaker. Free swim came next. Then we rested and had personal devotions in our cabins. Every night after dinner, we had chapel time where the speaker would deliver a powerful message based on a Bible passage that we had to memorize by Friday night.

Friday night. That was the biggie. Everything pointed to Friday night. The Holy Spirit showed up on Friday night. Monday was great and so was Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday but we all knew that Friday night was a' comin (thanks Campolo).

On Friday, the speaker tied the week's messages into a stirring sermon. Everything we had learned in chapel over 4 days suddenly became very personal. We learned how the Bible applied to us, our situation at home, and our life at school. We learned why church was so important and what God expected of us. Looking back, the message I heard was that I was very susceptible to backsliding (or had already backslid) and needed to work harder at being better. At the end of the message, we were asked to bow our heads and close our eyes. Note: Just once, I want to ask our congregation to get up on the knees, keep their eyes open, and look around before we pray. That would be fun. During a time of reflective prayer, the speaker would invite non-believers to stand up , raise their hand, shake a fist, etc. if they wanted to accept Christ.

There was a pregnant pause for the standers, raisers, shakers.

Then, he dropped the "re-dedication" bomb. As newbies stood up, he spoke to the rest of us Christians who wanted to get back on the Christian highway and put Jesus back in the center of our lives. As heads were bowed, we heard everyone else stand up. There was a collective shuffle of feet and you could feel the air move as people left their seated position. I always stood up. I needed to. How could I not re-dedicate myself to Christ?

Later in life, I worshiped with Nazarenes. Just before the final hymn, we had the "Garden of Prayer" where people were invited to come forward and pray at the altar. During the prayer, our pastor asked if people were ready to re-dedicate their lives to Christ. I can't tell you how many times I did that. I prayed the prayer, left the sanctuary, and I would leave church feeling great. Monday was filled with morning devotions, constant prayer, and happiness in Jesus. By Tuesday night, however, I was ready to re-re-dedicate my life to Christ. Sometimes, I would get to Thursday before I needed to re-focus on Him via re-dedication. I would never make it to Friday.

A fellow blogger talked about re-dedication a few weeks ago...

Rededicating ourselves to try harder isn’t the answer. It doesn’t matter how sincere we might be. It simply won’t work. The answer is to trust Him. That’s the only cure for an unstable, up and down sort of spiritual experience.

You won’t ever live a victorious Christian life by rededicating yourself to God, and telling him you’re going to try harder to do a better job. Instead, we must come to the end of ourselves - our self-life. We need to say, “Lord, it’s not just hard for me to live a life that honors you, it is impossible for me to do it. So I will stop trying and just trust you. You are my life, now Lord Jesus, live your life through me.”

We didn't become a Christian by revving up our religious rpm's and trying to make progress toward entering God's kingdom by what we did. Instead, we came to the place where we realized there was nothing we could do to get into a right standing with God. Nothing has changed in that regard now that you are a Christian.

In the same way, now we are to simply acknowledge that, no matter how hard we might try, there is actually nothing we can do to make ourselves stronger. Just like when we were saved, we have to come to Him in faith and total dependence that He will be the One who does what needs to be done; and He will.

The Apostle Paul said, "As you have entered the Lord Jesus Christ, so walk in Him." We continue the walk in the same way we started it -- by grace through faith. The answer to a sense that we are weak in our commitment to Him is to trust in His grace and know that He is committed to us. The one who has begun a good work in you will finish what He has started. Just trust Him, knowing it's not up to you and how hard you try. Faith is the key. That's all it takes.

I like that.

Cheap grace?

Is "changing" a requirement for new (or old) believers? As Christians, we can get trapped into thinking that we can "do" things in order to become "better" Christians. I was sucked into that religious vortex for years and, at times, I slip off the ledge of grace and fall into a religious mindset that is filled with requirements that, if achieved, get me closer to God. If I fail, God stays distant.

Jesus preached against this line of thinking. He used Pharisees to make his point and legalists are still hard at work trying to sabotage the message of grace. In his preaching premiere, Jesus offered a new way of thinking. He offered a series of comparisons - old laws vs new life...

You've heard it said that you should dedicate yourself to God and do your best if you want to be a good Christian, but He says unto you that you must deny yourself (Matthew 16:24) and realize that if your best was enough His death would have been in vain. (Galatians 2:21)

You've heard it said that you should constantly examine yourself to see if there is any sin in your life, but He says to you that when you understand the finished work of the cross and that you have been perfectly cleansed by His blood, you'll stop even thinking about sins. (Hebrews 10:1-2) When (not if) we sin, there is an opportunity to remind ourselves of how much He loves us and that He wants to walk with us through life's sin struggles - those times we say that we are God and He is not.

You've heard it said that it is hard to live the Christian life and that it takes serious commitment to stand against the world, but He says that if you love Him you will keep His commandments and it won't even be a struggle. (John 14:15 and 1 John 5:3)

You've heard it said that you need to change things about yourself if you really want to be a good Christian, but He says that it isn't possible for you to change yourself and that He will take care of any changes in you that need to be made. (Philippians 1:6 and 1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Is this "cheap grace"? Are we (as a church) missing something? Are we being too easy on people? I've found that the only people who say I promote a "sin for free" pass are believers. My experience is that new travelers on the grace journey don't look for ways to sin without consequences. They revel in the opportunity to live in the acknowledgment of His love, grace, and mercy. If people want to call that "cheap grace", so be it. Again, I don't worry that we're preaching about grace too much. I worry that we don't teach about grace enough.

Live in His promise of a life more abundant!

Avoiding shame

I'm spending more and more time with people who are walking on a spiritual journey of grace and love instead of a road marked with rules, guilt, and shame - a road many of us know all too well. Shame is toxic. It breaks us down and, if I understand the Message of Jesus, His desire is for us to be free of guilt and shame. A friend of mine explained it this way...

"Because of Jesus, the shame-game is over – finished. It’s a silly game we don’t ever have to play again. Once and for all, we can stop fearing some scary god-of-our-own-making who looks at us with disappointment or irritation. It’s an infantile fantasy. There is no divine boogey-man under the cosmic bed of your existence who is going to come out and get you."

We’re all bruised and filled with faults, but that’s okay with God. He loves you just like you are. You don’t have to change. You don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to hide. And you certainly don’t have to be ashamed. Your Father loves and adores you just the way you are. So come out, come out, wherever you are. Somebody is waiting to give you a Hug. He longs to laugh with you. He wants you to feel His embrace and revel in His acceptance for all eternity. Leave shame alone. We belong in the conscious awareness of our permanent place in our Father’s embrace.

Does God want us to change? You bet. He wants us to grow in the knowledge of His love for us. When we place our lives before Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2), life looks different. Jesus paid it all on the cross. Because we are now accepted and adopted by Him, we don't need to walk around in shame. When we learn more about who He is, we learn more about who he wants us to be. Shame kills. Grace gives life.

Someone asked me a question after a post earlier this week,

"Does Crossroads only preach on the subject of Grace or is there more that I'm missing? Don't want to be a jerk... but it seems like the grace message has been well covered."

Nope. That's pretty much all I preach about. My fear isn't that we talk about grace too much. My fear is that we don't talk about grace enough.

Mormons

While at a major intersection in Visalia yesterday, two Mormon missionaries were on the side of the road waiting to cross. As I do with regularity, I waved and they waved back with a smile. I'm not sure if they thought that I was a Mormon and giving them an "atta' boy" wave but I really don't care. I wave at Mormon missionaries because they're nice. During my morning run a couple of weeks ago, I stopped and talked with a couple of missionaries who had stopped to re-adjust their backpacks. Great guys. One was from New Mexico and the other was from South America. No spiritual views were discussed. Just pleasantries...with a smile. Those of us in the non-Mormon world could learn a lot from this fast-growing world religion. Some thoughts...

Mormons believe in the importance of families
Few churches focus on families like our Mormon brothers and sisters. Growing up with a best friend who was Mormon, I remember how he and his family dropped everything and spent Monday evenings together playing games or doing some project. A corner of Mike's living room was a showcase for model airplanes that the family had made together. They seemed to have it together and I was jealous of their unity and love. Sure, there are dysfunctional Mormon families out there and I'm not so naive to think every family looks like a Mormon TV commercial but it sure seems like they do a great job at developing strong family ties.

Mormons help one another
Jesus said that it's critical to help people in need. Mormons hit it out of the park. Whether it means supplying food or joining together for a community project, this faith community knows what it means to give of their time, money, and resources. Members are expected to help - it's not just something that "nice" Mormons do.

Kids are well-educated about their faith
I'm amazed at the level of instruction that Mormon kids receive starting at a very young age. By the time they reach high school, children are taking seminary-level courses in the ways of the faith including Bible memorization and the origins of their church.

Mormons are missional
The "missional" movement seems to be the "flavor of the month" in the evangelical world. I'm not sure how long it will grab headlines in Christian magazines but for now, everyone is talking about the importance of engaging the community. It's nothing new for Mormons. When young men and women reach a certain age, they submit themselves to the church and embark on a 2-year mission. These young people look forward to the day when they leave and begin their service. What would it look like if non-Mormon Christians shared their passion? What if short-term mission projects became part of our DNA?

I'm not waving the banner for Mormonism but I think we can learn some great things from other religions.

Islam teaches the importance of prayer.
Jews teach how important it is to honor the scriptures.
Hindus and Buddhists place a high value on their places of worship.
Jehovah Witness's are deeply committed to sharing their message.

It's interesting to think about how we can share the Message of Jesus by incorporating the methods and practices of some religions that many Christians vilify.

Bo and Billy

After a Monday in Romans 7, I needed this video so that I could be reminded of Romans 8.

The Bible is full of stories about grace. Dozens of people in the Old and New Testaments were able to experience new life because of God's grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

Bible stories are great but I need more.

The Bible is God's way of speaking to us but, sometimes, I need to touch grace. I need to see it sitting across from me. I need to talk with someone who has been changed by grace so that I can see the Grace Giver at work. The Bible is just part of the story. We continue to grow and learn because of God's work all around us and I think that was His desire.

Like the story of Bo in the video, Billy is a young man who has experienced the pain of addiction and still deals with the wreckage he's created. Over the course of many years, Billy has proven that he is a liar, a cheat, and a thief. Today, he is in a "rebuilding" phase with the help of Teen Challenge. He shared his story with me and a few friends last month. His uncle was in the room - a man Billy victimized for years. Although disappointed and a little confused, his uncle treats him with grace and mercy. It's the contemporary story of Jesus and Peter after the denial. It's a story I need to hear and see over and over again.

Is Billy completely transformed? No. But he is being transformed in God's grace and gives me hope that I, too, can be transformed. Do we need to fall into the depths of addiction to experience renewal? No. But all of us are ripe for renewal no matter where we are on the spiritual journey. Like the blind man who inspired "Amazing Grace", we can be touched by Jesus and show others how His touch can change lives.

Weird stuff in church

As I finished Sunday's teaching, I asked the crowd, "Will you pray with me?" There was a guy in the front row that, I swear, said "no" just loud enough for me and a few other people to hear it. Maybe I should just go back to the old Baptist line, "Please bow your heads and close your eyes as we go to the Lord in prayer..."

From now on, I'm just going to start praying with my eyes wide open and hope everyone joins in.

"Sin listing"

Sometimes I fall into the trap of keeping a "sin list".

I sin.
I am overcome with guilt.
I ask God to forgive me of that sin and start all over again.

When I go a couple of days without praying (yes, it happens), I break into a cold sweat because I can't recall all the sins I've committed. What happens if I miss one? Does it just sit there in front of God like a sore thumb? That can't be good. I can imagine him standing there, tapping His foot, arms folded, asking, "What about THAT one, Darrin? Aren't you going to talk to me about THAT one?"

Jesus lived under the Old Covenant and his teaching reflected that. He didn't come to speak a message, but came to BE the message (expression) of God's love and grace toward us. Upon His death, the New Covenant became effectual. Now we are totally forgiven for ALL our sins. He atoned for our sins and we can't atone for them ourselves. Unfortunately, we think that we have to do something to "start over". Years ago, a co-worker of mine followed that line of thinking. She thought that she would land in Hell if she sinned and died before asking God to forgive her. She would struggle to remember the sins she had committed during the day. She even kept a paper "sin list" so that she could "check off" each sin in her evening prayers. What's worse, her pastor said that she couldn't ask for forgiveness in generalities. He claimed that asking for forgiveness for SPECIFIC sins was required by God. She needed to cover everything. Every little sin needed to be addressed at every opportunity.

Instead, I think Jesus taught us to recognize that we are sinners to the core and every time we sin, it confirms our "sinner status". We will never "not sin". It's part of our DNA.

Let's recognize our status and trust that He is the Forgiver that He said He was.

Religion vs Relationships

My first class in seminary was a study on the book of Galatians. Dr. Mark Baker is a Duke graduate but his real credentials were earned when he taught four years at a bi-lingual high school in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. There, he was able to share the message of grace to people who were bound by religious rules and regulations - something that was all too common in the Galatian church during Paul's ministry. Mark, like Paul, was able to reveal the life-giving message to people hungry for Jesus.

2,000 years ago, the early church was infected with a group called the Judaizers who can best be described as the religious legalists of their day. Their focus wasn't the message of grace that Jesus came to share. Their focus was all about behavior, about doing the “right things” that they said were necessary to get closer to God (and get further ahead of people who didn't "do" religion as good as them). You were considered a "good Christian" if you followed a prescribed list of do's and dont's.

That's holy bunk.

Living as a Christian means understanding what Jesus came to teach. It's living in the knowledge that Jesus Christ is our life and that we can allow him to live through us. The gospel, then, is a person named Jesus not a performance. It’s a relationship, not a list of rules.

Like the legalists who infect our churches today, their methods looked legitimate on the outside. Here's how it worked:

New Christian: "It's great to be a new believer!"

Legalist: "Isn't it? I'm so glad you've turned your life over to Jesus! Now, the real work begins..."

New Christian: "Work? I didn't know work was part of this new life. Tell me more."

Legalist: "You want to be a good Christian, right?"

New Christian: "Well, sure..."

Legalist: "Well, the way you become a good Christian is to follow this list of rules that we want to give you – it’s God’s Law and you have to keep these rules in order to really grow and move forward. Now that you’re saved you’ll want to get started right so we’re going to tell you the things you need to do in order to become a really strong and good Christian.”

When Paul heard that the Judaizers were spreading this "performance-driven" Christianity, he went into a rage and made sure people heard the truth. We should do the same thing. As we hurl grace all over our community, we help people understand the freedom found in grace. In the same breath, we need to warn against the bondage found in rules like daily Bible reading, long prayer sessions, and church attendance. None of those things are bad but when people view them as obligations, we throw grace out the window. The new believer who has fallen in love with Jesus turns his attention away from Him and spends all his time focusing on his behavior. The face of Jesus fades into the background and a list of religious rules emerge as the focal point of the new Christian’s life, at which point the modern-day-Judaizers pat each other on the back on move on in search of another victim.

Paul reacted this way: "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). Jesus came to give life and give life more abundant (John 10:10). The new life is all about grace and relationships - not rules and regulations. There's nothing we can do to earn His grace - it's a gift He offers freely (Ephesians 2: 8-9).

Beware of legalists who say that "good" Christians become "better" Christians through a list of performance-driven standards. You are a child of God and He loves you because you are you - not because of what you do.

People of the second chance

I don't do too many funerals. At my last church, there was a large senior citizen population and funerals happened with great regularity. In preparing for services, the family would always make sure that I would read Psalm 23 - a "staple passage" for most funerals. In fact, when I read that famous chapter at the graveside, people would often join in because the words are so familiar. Like the Lord's Prayer, they know every word.

Psalm 23 is so much more than a graveside recitation. It's a glimpse into the reality of painful life experiences. The shadow of death is real and the valley is bleak. Sometimes, we find ourselves walking through difficulties with no light at the end of the tunnel. Ted Haggard is still looking for hope and asking for help. He doesn't have too many supporters and he can't get a regular job. At one point, he was distributing Domino's Pizza flyers door-to-door. He was a leader who sinned and suffered the consequences.

The one-time megachurch pastor and leader of the National Association of Evangelicals was banished from his church and all forms of Christian leadership when a man stepped forward and revealed that he had been having a sexual relationship with Haggard for years. Months later, a former church intern went public with news of his own gay experience with the pastor. It was (and still is) a devastating time for Haggard's church and millions of Christians who had placed him on a pedestal. Within days, Haggard went from evangelical poster boy to a man who had been exiled to his suburban home with dozens of media in the front yard.

A Las Vegas pastor/author interviewed Ted and his wife Gayle last week during a conference in Atlanta. Through all the revelations and the pain it's caused, Gayle has stood by her man. She was the one with the greatest betrayal and was hurt like no one else in Ted’s fall. Yet, she stayed, loved, and forgave him. Her commitment is incredible. However, there is a large segment of the Christian community that refuses to forgive Haggard or, at the very least, believe that he is broken and contrite.

In the interview, Ted said, “If people hate me, that’s just. If they are kind and accepting, that’s grace. I don’t judge those who are mean. I’m grateful for those who are kind.”

I'm glad Jesus looks at me through the lens of grace. My prayer is that we can do the same thing for people in our lives when they go through the valley's death shadow. I want us to be people of the second chance.

Good pastors

I spent 30 minutes on the phone with a pastor from Fresno yesterday. I don't spend a lot of time with other pastors but a phone conversation is pretty easy. You get to avoid the avoid the quirky debate about who will pick up the tab for coffee. There's no temptation to discretely check your cell phone during the conversation. And, you can cut off the conversation at any time by saying that you are close to your intended destination.

He wanted to learn more about our community outreach programs. Specifically, how we feed and clothe our city's hungry and homeless population. Every week, we feed 300 people, give out clothes, and provide toiletries and groceries at our rented downtown facility. We had a great dialogue and I was happy about how it went but, of course, we talked about me and my church the entire time. I love talking about me. Love it. It's one of my core character defects. These conversations are deeply tethered to a sin that many pastors struggle with but neglect to address because it feels like ambition and motivation for “the Kingdom”. In fact, my ego was part one of the reasons that I was fired at my last ministry job. I started believing my own press releases and forgot that He should have been my focus - not me.

That's just one reason that I don't really "fit" in our local pastoral community. A fellow pastor who I met at a conference in San Diego recently shared some of his thoughts about "good" pastors. I can resonate with some of what he said. Important caveat: I don't offer his thoughts as a criticism of others. In fact, I fall into these ministry traps all the time. Below are some of his thoughts.

Pastors LOVE talking about their church with other pastors. I don’t. In my opinion, those conversations are deeply tethered to a sin that many pastors struggle with but neglect to address because it feels like ambition and motivation for “the Kingdom”. Satan’s one-size-fits-all wrench, if you will.

Lots of pastors LOVE to use fluffy, spiritual language and, if they're really good, make people feel pretty dumb. I gave up on this game a long time ago when I found out that all of my colleagues also use "Christianese" to impress others and that everyone was just plagiarizing each other in speech. Turns out, you can’t copyright dialogue and collect royalties.

Good pastors LOVE arguing theology and methodology. This one is much more recent for me. Don’t get me wrong, I still have opinions about things, but the older I get, the more I learn how little I actually know about God. I firmly believe that if my church’s platform to tell people about the the Gospel grows dramatically, it will be in spite of me not because of me. I have to believe this to keep myself submitted wholly to God’s will for my ministry.

Good pastors LOVE using buzz-words like “reformed” and “missional” and “intentional”. Honestly, I am not sure anyone actually knows what those words mean. I am serious, I have heard them used so many times in so many different ways that I am too confused to say them in public anymore. It’s almost like trying to give a speech at the Kremlin using the words you picked up from watching the Russian-translated version of a Tarantino film. Let me take my best shot at defining them…

missional = doing good works for people who, typically, aren't connected to church
reformed = fundamentalist but cooler
intentional = thinking before acting

Finally, good pastors LOVE to frequent Christian bookstores to purchase the latest Christian books. I don’t. On a side note, I avoid going to the local Christian bookstore because people always refer to me as "Pastor Darrin". I hate being called "Pastor Darrin". Why do people do it anyway? I guess it's ok for "Doctor Smith" but I don't run around calling people "engineer Dave" or "lawyer Susan". Christian books usually fall into two categories for me, books I already agree with or books that just make me mad and aren’t helpful. Instead, I like reading books about history or biographies or stuff from classic Christian thinkers or practical books that I can apply to my life immediately. Pastors think it is so cool to tell others about the latest book they have read and when I say “Hmmm, I’ve never heard of that one,” they look at me like they are the cheer squad captains in high school and I am the female tuba player from the marching band who showed up to cheer tryouts.

Those things help me remember my core responsibilities as a Christian (pastor, mechanic, radio host, etc): To love people, to share the Message of Christ, and to make disciples. If I'm not careful, other things can mess everything up.

Running faster

I'm a runner and usually log about 30 miles every week. I always wear my ipod but I rarely listen to music. Instead, I listen to the sermons of pastors - some of whom I love, some who challenge my theology, and some who, in my opinion, misinterpret scripture. Those messages usually make me run faster as my frustration grows. I listened to 3 of those guys during my half-marathon on Saturday and beat my personal record by 9 minutes.

Last Tuesday at about mile 5, I listened to a pastor from Texas who was in the middle of a teaching series about how we can "be better Christians". I've listened to him before and he consistently shares a theology of personal performance. He teaches that we can be more successful as Christians if we pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and do the right thing.

"Pastor Dave" opened with a parable of Jesus;

"God's kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field." Matthew 13:44 (The Message)

His interpretation: Jesus is the treasure and if we make the right choices and make the right sacrifices, we will reach Him.

Next, he unpacked the story of the prodigal son. Again, he took a "self-driven" approach by teaching that the wayward son just needed to come to his senses, get up, and walk back home. Cue "Just As I Am" and invite people to the altar.

Over and over again we can see how self-centered our traditional interpretations have been. Jesus isn't the treasure - we are. Granted, the prodigal son came home but the real story is more about his dad - the accepting father who embraced his son without giving him a chance to make his empty promises. Our Father does the same thing for us.

We want to make the hero of the stories be ourselves, but the fact is that we're not the heroes. Jesus is. The Bible is a book that shows His greatness, not the need for us to "perform better" and raise our "goodness factor". The diagnosis: performance-driven self-righteousness. The treatment: A radical Pharisectomy.

It's not about us. It never has been. It's all about Him and His amazing grace.

Old vs. New

I spend a lot of time in the New Testament both personally and professionally. In fact, I will teach out of the New Testament far more often than out of the Old Testament. When I do reach back and tell stories from the first 2/3rds of the Bible, I will often use it to compare old law vs. new law. Sometimes, the message that people hear is that the Old Testament can be tossed because the New Testament trumps everything that happened in the Old Testament. That's not the message I want people to hear.

The Old Testament message is just as "important" as the message contained in the New Testament. In both, we read about the importance of walking in grace and avoiding the dangers of legalism. The Old Testament used the 10 commandments to express His love and desire for people to follow Him. The New Testament introduced us to a group of legalists who used the law to condemn - something Jesus rejected over and over again. This isn't to say that Jesus avoided the issue of "sin" but He wanted people to approach the issue under a new paradigm (New Testament) - not the old way (Old Testament).

In the book of Hebrews, the author (we think it was Paul) offers this comparison:

“…the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance”. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience.”
Hebrews 9:6-9)

The sacrifices offered up by priests in the Old Testament didn’t take away peoples' sins - it only covered them. Every year the high priest would have to go into the Holy of Holies to repeat the process, pushing everybody’s sins forward in anticipation of the coming of Christ. Paul continues in chapter 10:

“The old system in the law of Moses was only a shadow of the things to come, not the reality of the good things Christ has done for us. The sacrifices under the old system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. But just the opposite happened. Those yearly sacrifices reminded them of their sins year after year.”

Ahhh....guilt and shame. Two wonderful gifts that the Church has offered to people for hundreds of years. Back then, sacrifices only covered the sin, it didn’t remove sin. It was a band-aid. Far different than the true forgiveness Jesus talked about. In fact, He made it real by offering Himself to God as a "forever sacrifice" for our sins. On the cross, he said, "It is finished". One definition of "finished" is "to perform a last act which completes a process".

Hebrews 10:12 says,“having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand of God." Why? Because there was nothing left to do regarding our sins. He dealt with our guilt and then sat down. Under the old covenant of law, there could be no guilt-free conscience, but you don’t live under that covenant. Jesus Christ did what the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament could never do – He took our sins away.

Jesus came to be a grace-giver and taught us to do the same. The truth of forgiveness is a Message for everyone. When we show His love to people, the Holy Spirit can open the way for the Potter (God) to work on the clay (you, me, them, us).

Avoid legalism and share His Message of grace today.

Miss California USA

Miss California USA appears to be the new golden child of the evangelical Christian world.

During the pageant last week, gay internet columnist Perez Hilton was one of the pre-selected celebrities who asked the contestants questions. Perez is a self-described gay-rights advocate. His asked Carrie Prejean if she thought gay marriage should be legal in all 50 states. Her response was that, “...in my country and in my family, marriage should only be between a man and a woman." There was a split screen and showed Hilton looking down in disgust while Prejean flashed her million dollar smile.

She didn't win and in her Today Show interview the next morning, she said that her "pro-Christian" response probably cost her the title (she came in 2nd). She also said that she was praying for Hilton and that being gay is wrong. Many leaders in the evangelical world say Prejean is a hero for standing up for what she believes. While I certainly applaud her boldness, it's obvious that her response has given the gay community another reason to avoid Christians at any cost.

Many banner-waving Christians don’t seem to want to entertain the idea that maybe what could be more in line with Jesus’ teachings is being friends with gay people, seeking them out, and loving them well. Christian culture can’t seem to see themselves as being as sinful as they perceive homosexuals as being.

The Holy Spirit convicts. God is the judge. Our job is to love.