Sunday, January 16, 2011
The thing that really captured
my attention about this particular Psalm is that it highlights a very real and
dangerous snare. It was over
twelve years ago that our nation cringed at President Bill Clinton’s admission
that he had an “inappropriate”
relationship with a White House intern, Monica
Lewinsky. Since then, her name has
because almost a byword for lewd behavior; and she has remained the stock in
trade for comics everywhere. I don’t
know what she’s doing today, but I couldn’t help but think, “How would you like to be known and
remembered for the rest of your life for something you did when you were 21?” We can’t dodge the fact that sin’s
destruction is real and not exaggerated.
This is not something we’re making up so that we can manipulate young
people to come to church. No, it is
painfully true! Sin can sabotage a life,
it can ruin a testimony, it can cause a marriage to implode, and as a result
someone can forfeit an opportunity to be used by God.
What drew me to this passage David’s
prayer in verse 7, “remember not the sins of my youth or my
transgressions.” Not just sin or
even sins in general, but David deliberately singles out the “sins of my youth.”
David is now well into his adult
years, but this prayer is obviously triggered by the sting of things that
happened when he was young. How many
know that you can do things when you’re young that stay with you the rest of
your life? We know that sin is sin,
whether someone is 6, or 16, or 60; why then does he single out the “sins of my youth?” I think the reason is their ability to stamp
your life: to identify and label you for the rest of your
life. While people thankfully outgrow
things, and not everything they go through ends up being permanent; we’re still
talking about a very real snare. The
notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy, was executed in 1989. He was responsible for as many as 50 deaths
of young girls and women in his warped and savage behavior. Shortly before his death he asked for and was
interviewed by Dr. James Dobson. He
wasn’t trying to excuse his behavior or justify himself, but he clearly told
Dr. Dobson that where this really started to gain control of his life was
through increasingly engaging in pornography.
This is not saying that every
person exposed to pornography becomes a serial killer. It is saying that it has the ability to stamp your life, and that can’t be
ignored.
In 2008, a book was released
called “Hooked” - New Science on How
Casual Sex is Affecting Our Children.
It was written by two M.D.’s, Joe S. McIlhaney Jr. and Freda McKissic
Bush. In their book they talk about the
“third risk” of casual sex, the first two being pregnancy and sexually
transmitted diseases. They wrote, “A wealth of new data declares plainly that
sex involves the entire person, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually,
and in every other way. The physical
ramifications of non-marital sex should not be ignored (STD’s and pregnancy)
and neither should the emotional effects.
But the emotional effect is not just a feeling, but it arises from the
way one’s brain is molded or is damaged by bad experiences and how this effects
every area of our lives including future decisions by becoming hardwired to
repeat destructive behavior.” Their
research of the human brain argues that is not set in stone, but rather it is moldable, especially when we are
young. The hardwiring of the human brain
is affected by your actions, especially in the sexual arena. Again they wrote, “Modern neuroscience research has uncovered startling new information
about how sex affects our brains. The
effect of sex on our brains can have all sorts of consequences. We do know that sex can literally change a
person’s brain, influencing the though process and affecting future decisions. David may not have had access to scientific
research and data, but he expresses a very common sentiment when he prays
“remember not the sins of my youth.”
This is why the Gospel of Jesus
Christ is the best news of your life because it sets before us the promise of
a miraculous dimension. A friend of mine
in Australia, Greg Farrell, was involved in the construction of his church
building. They were searching for lumber
for the project, and they visited a location where a guy had loads of
timber. He told Greg that people making
furniture wanted timber that was “perfect.”
Then he added, “If people were
more forgiving, then all this wood would be gone!” Ah, ha, the light goes on! Scripture says in (Ps.130:3, 4) “Lord, if you kept a record of our sins,
who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn
to fear you.” The living Bible
simply says, “But you forgive! What an awesome thing this is!” This is why after saying “remember not the
sins of my youth” David goes on to say, “according
to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness' sake, O Lord.” Can you see it? Forget the sins of my youth, but remember
me. Remember me through the lens of Your
merciesPreview! God’s plan for dealing with sin
of any kind, but especially the sins of our youth, is the miracle of forgiveness
purchased through Christ’s atoning death on the Cross.
Why bring this up in relation to
revival and the next generation? I’ll
tell you. It seems some have made it a
kind of hobby or past-time to rail on “church
kids.” Yeah, they’re all
rebels...they’re all playing games with God...they’re not saved. I am not naive, I know these kind of kids
certainly do exist. My sense, however,
is that a far greater number in the church are struggling with the lack of a
sense or experience of God’s great mercy and forgiveness! They are more aware of their sins than they
are of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
November 15, 1970 in a Sunday night church service in Prescott, AZ, a
long-haired hippie bowed his knee and asked Jesus Christ to come in to his
heart. That young man was me. On the “ignorance scale” of Christianity I
was right near the top. I knew next to
nothing about what I had actually done or better, what had happened to me. What I can remember, and what stayed with me
so powerfully was such a real sense of feeling
clean. I couldn’t explain it, and I
definitely couldn’t have given you a theological explanation of justification,
propitiation, redemption, reconciliation, or sanctification....BUT I FELT
CLEAN! I had been forgiven by God,
hallelujah! This is why David continues
in (Ps.25:11) “For Your name's sake, O
Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.”
What he’s describing is a
supernatural spiritual dimension. It is
almost parallel to what Isaiah had said (Isaiah 43:25) "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own
sake; and I will not remember your sins.”
Real forgiveness is not based on our deserving it, it is based on God’s
own character and grace...“for My name’s sake.”
This is the heart of the New
Covenant according to Jeremiah, "Behold,
the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made
with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of
the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband,
declares the Lord. But this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the
Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I
will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one
teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they
shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I
will remember their sin no more.”
Some of the best news for sinners (that’s you and I) is God forgives
sin, and when He does, it is erased from the eternal record! I am afraid one reason we are not seeing
revival among young people is that people and parents are not preaching,
living, enjoying and communicating the...new covenant! Instead, we’re preaching to them a kind of
moralistic message to be good kids and don’t get into any real big trouble. That’s not the Gospel, and that’s not the
seed of revival that the next generation needs to experience and make their
own.
We must pray with passion, and
preach the Gospel with conviction to the next generation, so that they too
might experience this wonderful Savior Jesus Christ. God’s answer for young people of any
generation is still discipleship. In the
same context David says (Ps.25:4, 5) “Show
me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation;
on You I wait all the day.” This
goes beyond David’s desperation over the sins of his youth. This expresses his heart’s desire and determined direction. You see, what forgiveness frees us to
discover and experience is not just a religious inclination, but a desire to
follow Jesus’s call to discipleship and abundant living. “Follow Me!” This is what we need to be declaring to this
generation and to everyone who is to come.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Increase is so much more than
just “noise, numbers and nickels,”
but it is something that has everything to do with the nature of God and His
kingdom. What crystallized in my mind
for this year was, “The God Of Increase.” A
biblical theology of increase is so much larger than most realize. I want the word of God to “frame” our lives
and our worlds this year. The increase
of the word of God and disciples is a key feature that flavors
the Book of Acts. The increase of love is commanded over and over
throughout the Epistles. Paul prays for
the increase of revelation for the
Ephesians. The promise of God increasing
strength was prophesied by
Isaiah.
This is all a reasonable
expectation based on the nature of God and His kingdom. We usually only bring it out at
Christmastime, but listen to (Isaiah 9:6,7) :For
to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of
the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end...” The Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ is a growing not a failing kingdom.
Many times it may only appear small and insignificant, like a “mustard
seed,” but that distinctive is always
present wherever God and the Gospel is on the loose! One of the reasons that I love the Book of
Acts is you see this feature at work in the life of the early church. Luke’s introduction says, “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus
began to do and teach...” He is
saying in effect, “My first book, the
Gospel of Luke, is the story of all Jesus began
to do and to teach while on earth in the flesh.
My second book, the Acts of the Apostles, is the account of all that
Jesus continued to do and to teach
by His Spirit through His church.”
The other important aspect is that the Book of Acts is an unfinished narrative. It is the only Bible book without an
end. The reason is that the Holy Spirit
is still working today. Acts
29 is still being written. “The increase
of his government” is still going on in the world today!
The focus on “The God Of Increase” is not a whip that
says, “work harder; come on, snap to it,
more effort!” No, it carries with it
the promise of a divine dimension in any of our labors. This is the exciting part! Consider (1Cor.3:6,7) “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything,
nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” Notice where Paul’s hope and confidence lies:
it is with the God who “gave the
increase.” A true, biblical
understanding of increase will not lead to a selfish agenda that’s all about me
(my needs, my wants, my agenda, my things).
It puts the focus where it needs to be, on God and His power and
kingdom. So there will be no
misunderstanding he continues, “neither
he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” I really like the paraphrase that says, “It’s not the one who plants or the one who
waters tho is at the center of this
process but God, who makes things grow.”
The messengers are never
as important as and should never eclipse the message or the means,
which is Christ Himself. That’s where I
want our focus to be this year!
What activates all of this is
one of the great revolutionary calls of the New Testament. It is found in John the Baptist’s last words which
embody his spiritual philosophy for life and ministry, (Jn.3:30) “HE MUST INCREASE, BUT I MUST DECREASE.” This is another one of the Bible’s many reversals: to live you’ve got to die, you become strong
out of weakness, you are elevated by humbling yourself, the way up is the way
down etc. If I honestly look at my life
and areas where I struggle (it’s a long list) I usually discover far too much
of me, and far too little of Jesus. “He
must increase, but I must decrease.” I
read about a series of billboards in Dallas, TX that feature some famous and
not-so famous individuals. The caption
on the billboard reads, “I am 2nd,” reminding us
that God should always come first in our lives; and that a life well-lived is
always one surrendered to God and His will.
Sports fans love to proclaim, “We’re
#1," but the child of God rejoices in the truth that “we’re #2!” This means that if we are to see increase in
any area of our lives this year “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
I have a friend who because of
circumstances in his life he has been put in the role of being a “church shopper.” He’s had to visit many different
churches. He remarked that what stood
out to him was how little vision
there is in so many churches. Instead,
it’s all about making people feel good, and above all else, comfortable. His observation has been that there is very
little doctrinal content in what is being preached. Worship is primarily about being entertained,
not a participatory celebration.
Ministry is more of a glorified 12-step program rather than “Christ the
wisdom of God and the power of God.”
Even in places where there are good things going on, it is all kept
within the four walls of the church. I’m
sure this is not the case everywhere and his experience is naturally limited,
but still, life-giving vision is not as prominent a quality as you might
think. Set against all of this is a
statement that I want to grab a hold of moving into 2011. “Though
your beginning was small, your latter end will increase abundantly.” (Job
8:7) Lord, help me to become more like
You, and in this new year may your kingdom “increase” in and through our lives
both individually as Your child, and corporately as part of Your church!
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