Are You a Delusional Pirate?

In the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Two pirates, named Ragetti and Pintel, are in a longboat on the open sea. They have just escaped from jail. Ragetti appears to be "reading" a Bible. But it is clear he cannot be, because he is holding it upside-down. Ragetti claims to be taking care of his immortal soul.

Pintel says, "You know you can't read."

Ragetti answers, "It's the Bible. You get credit for trying."

Are you a delusional pirate? In other words, do you believe that there is some benefit from contact with the Bible? Do you imagine that it doesn’t matter if you pay attention to it, or understand it, or hold it upside down, but somehow, someway, you get credit for trying? Do you feel that because you attended church or had devotions or listened to Christian music, or memorized a few verses, there is automatic blessing?

James 1:22 says: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

The issue is not whether you hear it, read it, download it, podcast it, sing it, Tweet it, email it, text it, blog it, post it, cross stitch it or smoke it. The point is receiving the word is not enough, you must do it.

David Daniels “Listening alone does not necessarily lead to life transformation. The Bible is a powerful, but the Bible is not magical.”

No matter how well you understand Scripture, no matter how much it blesses you, it is not until you obey it that you “will be blessed” (v.25). Jesus defined the blessing of putting his words into practice. It is like founding your life on a rock that will survive the fiercest storms. It is catastrophe that reveals the difference between one who obeys and a delusional pirate.

Life Is Short, so...Bathe in Donkey's Milk?

Americans almost worship youthfulness. We want to look young, feel young, and live longer. This is not new. Throughout history people have hungered for youthfulness. Cleopatra bathed in donkey’s milk. Ponce d’Leon chased the fountain of youth. Joan Rivers has had a million plastic surgeries (a rough estimate).

Anti-aging products are big business. Americans spend billions every year. In 2009, Botox sales topped $1 billion. One anti-aging company president said, these types of products comprise "the perfect example of a service you're not going to give up in a bad economy." Men are targeted just like women. Old sports heroes tell you to “keep your edge” by getting rid of the gray, otherwise you have no shot with the ladies.

More and more, aging is being referred to as a disease. It is hard to think of anything positive about a disease. A disease is something you fight to defeat. It is this thinking that helps fuel our preoccupation with looking/staying younger. But this is a preoccupation that can detour us from what really matters. By calling “youth and vigor meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 11:10), King Solomon makes it clear that this pursuit is without ultimate value.

Instead, he gives this wisdom. “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ‘I find no pleasure in them’" (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

The advice for young people is to remember God. Focus on him while you are still young before age and death catch up to you. The day is coming when you won’t be able to enjoy life the same way, even if you bathe in donkey’s milk. And the older you get the harder it will be to seek him. Your heart will be harder. You will lose your ability to change. Live in relationship with God now.

You only have two options in life. Either you will die young or you will grow old. Every one of us is standing in the middle of the train tracks of life and death’s locomotive is bearing down on us. Enjoy life at every stage, but don’t neglect God. Live large, but live within his boundaries. Whatever you do in life should be guided by the fact that you will be accountable to God. Life is short, fear God. Remember your Creator before it’s too late. Enjoyment and satisfaction don’t flow from our youth, health, or strength, but from God. He gives meaning to every stage in life. Life is short, fear God. Apart from him life is meaningless.

Four Signs I Am Not God-Focused

"I cannot do it," Joseph replied to Pharaoh, "but God will…” (Genesis 41:16)

Here are four indicators that warn me when I am not God-focused.

1. When my attitude is, ‘I can solve this.’ I’m trying to fix my marriage. I’m trying to figure out my future. I’m trying to make the right financial decisions. I’m trying to choose which way to go. I’m trying overcome temptation, or do the right thing, without first acknowledging that I can’t do it.
2. When my attitude is, ‘It’s hopeless.’ I have no problem admitting that I can’t, but I struggle to believe that God can. This dilemma is just too great. This issue is overwhelming. There is no escape, no way out. So I quit or hide or sin or despair.
3. When my issues are a secret. I’m struggling, but no one else knows. I’m not willing to admit that there is something I can’t do. I’m not willing to let the flaws show and be honest about failure. I won’t ask for help or accountability. So it’s all a secret until everything disintegrates. Victory is not possible until I come clean, and admit I can’t do it.
4. When my focus is me. When I become the problem-solver, the answer man, the listening ear, the counselor, the fixer, I must be careful. That is a short step to self-reliance, when I don’t bother to look beyond myself for help. If I use my abilities and talents and energies without constantly declaring my need of God, it becomes about me. Or the opposite is true. When people are always helping me. I’m always in need. I feel neglected because people aren’t helping me enough. I feel slighted because no one understands me, or has time for me. That is not how a God-focused person thinks. Alistair Begg says such self-attention “will obscure the grace of God.” Whether in helping others or in looking for help from others, I must constantly acknowledging my absolute need of God, or the focus shifts to me and blocks God’s grace.

The difference between a Christian and everyone else on the planet is the fundamental understanding that “You cannot do it.” Otherwise, you are always trying to be your own savior. God has done it for you in Christ. At its very core, Christianity is about recognizing your inability. That must be how I live after salvation too. Jesus said: “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Cheeseburgers and Hypocrisy

Years ago at the annual meeting of The American Heart Association, 300,000 doctors, nurses, and researchers met in Atlanta. One topic they discussed was the importance a low fat diet plays in keeping our hearts healthy. Yet during meal times, these doctors and nurses at just as many bacon cheeseburgers and fries as people from other conventions. One cardiologist was asked whether his Quarter-pounder with cheese and super.-sized fries set a bad example, he said, "Not me, because I took my name tag off."

It is possible to claim the name of Christ, but wear that name only at certain times and places. Hypocrisy can cover up my identity.

Here are four signs of hypocrisy that come from Genesis 38:

1.       I put myself in situations that make obedience more difficult. That means I go places I know I shouldn’t go. I hang out with people who influence me the wrong way. I do things that only lead closer to temptation instead of away from it.

2.       I make promises I don’t intend to keep. The promise might be as simple as “I’ll pray for you” and “I won’t share this with anyone else” or commitments as important as “For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.”

3.       I minimize my sinful choices. I do that with excuses such as: “God knows I’m weak,” “I can’t help myself,” “The devil made me do it,” “Everybody’s doing it,” “There are way worse things,” “No one will ever know.”

4.       I condemn others without a trial. I do that by reacting with anger, accusations, judgment, without hearing all the facts. I making myself the judge; feel superior; refuse to show grace; and not consider my own sin.

When I see these any of these things in my life, I’m a hypocrite. I need to confess and find mercy. When I admit my hypocrisy and turn from it, the beautiful thing is that God works through people who confess their messed-up-ness to him

Seeing the Buttons

We can’t read the buttons on our oven. None of them. The buttons are little gray squares and the words inside the gray squares are written in another shade of gray. So “Bake” is indistinguishable from “Broil” or “Timer” or “Upper Oven” or any of the 15 buttons.

There is plenty of light in our kitchen. But when my wife or I want to use the oven, we have to grab a flashlight to see or ask our daughter. She can still decipher the gray on gray print, so we use her when we can. But she’s headed off to college in the fall. Ours is probably the only house in America where the following sentence has been uttered. “Where’s the flashlight, I’ve got to make dinner.”

That is what the prophetic Word does for us. It guides us like a light. We can’t see what to do, where to go, how to interpret a situation, and the Word shows us. 2 Peter 1:19 calls the word of prophecy a “light shining in a dark place.” Psalm 119 says: “The unfolding of your word gives light…” and “Your word is a light for my path.”

The text is the guide for those who belong to Christ. It gives light, guidance for any and every situation and circumstance we face. There are reasons why we don’t find guidance from Scripture. We don’t care enough to look, we don’t want to put in the energy to know, we misapply what we do know, or we simply don’t want to do it.

So many people I counsel are simply unwilling to do what Scripture says. Responses they give are: “It’s too hard.” “That won’t work.” “There must be a better way.” So no light enters their darkness and they continue to stumble and fall. Like the pastor friend who called me with a huge dilemma about his church. He wanted my wisdom. When he told me the problem I said: “You don’t need my wisdom. The Bible specifically addresses this exact problem.” Then I read the text to him. He acted like he didn’t know that already. I’m sure he did, he just didn’t want to do it.

If you don’t pay attention to the Word, you won’t know which buttons to press in life. Peter says “pay attention,” Scripture gives the light of guidance.