“You can’t take it with you!”

How many times in your life have you heard that phrase? At least once I’m sure. Well what happens to all the things we leave behind? That’s a good question. Seemingly the answer is simple. We leave it behind to those who are left behind in our absence. This spurs on the next question I have. Is what you’re leaving behind worthwhile?

God tells us the legacy we leave behind will affect generations to come. 

Psalm 78:1-7 says,”1 My people, hear my instruction; listen to what I say. 2 I will declare wise sayings; I will speak mysteries from the past 3 things we have heard and known
and that our fathers have passed down to us. 4 We must not hide them from their children, but must tell a future generation the praises of the Lord, His might, and the wonderful works
He has performed. 5 He established a testimony in Jacob and set up a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children 6 so that a future generation children yet to be born—might know. They were to rise and tell their children 7 so that they might put their confidence in God and not forget God’s works, but keep His commands.”(HCSB)

Speaking practically, what team do you root for? Who told you to root for that team? Is it because you randomly decided to like that team or did someone influential in your life encourage that behavior? What’s your favorite vacation spot? Who took you there for the first time? What memory is evoked in you when you smell that favorite food? Is it one of someone influential making your favorite meal and leaving a lasting impression? All of these are simple expressions of the impact of a person in your life who may or may not be around any longer. 

Think about some of the things you hope to never do or who you hope to never become. The legacy of that person is one you learned not to emulate. The impression left by some circumstances reminds us how not to behave or act. Always remember the things of this earth will not go with you but they will leave an impression behind. 

So you can’t take it with you, but you can leave it behind. Think of this scripture, and think about the legacy you are passing on to the next generation and not only that one but the one after that and so on. Some of you may be reading this and saying, “my kids are grown, it’s too late” and others, “I don’t have any kids to leave a legacy for”. This scripture isn’t relegated to those who have families at home. It’s value is just as great in those scenarios as well. God wants us to be cognizant of the fact that there are generations to come who can be impacted by the legacy we leave and the stories we have to tell. What legacy will you leave? What story will generations tell of your life? My prayer is the legacy that you leave will be a Godly one. Hopefully your is a story of faith, in the midst of trials, triumphs, failures, and victories. Hopefully you have a story of an unwavering faith and reliance upon Jesus Christ and His atoning work on the cross. Hopefully you have a faith that not only affects us for salvation sake but also impacts the way we approach life daily.

God Bless,

Bro. Grant

A New Kind of Love

“1Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” Eph. 5:1-2 NKJV

Love seems to be the topic of the day, and a taboo one at that in certain climates. The love in reference here for the purposes of this article will be that of Christian love for others. Having experienced many opportunities this summer, with many students, adults and children, there have been many responses to the love shown by our groups and the groups we have been serving alongside this summer. Literally from one end of the spectrum to the other we have seen huge shifts in the way people receive the loving acts done through our summer missions programs this year. 

Some Christian groups are concerned with being too loving and not strong enough doctrinally/theologically. Prolific Pastor Andy Stanley refers to these two extremes as “Deep and Wide.” Some churches can be extremely deep theologically and very shallow in their showing of the things they know of/about God. Others can be very loving in their expression of God (wide) but not very deep biblically. I believe in light of our study of 1 Cor. 13 this last Sunday as well as the scripture at the beginning of this writing, God’s desire is for us to be both! 

God desires us to imitate Him, following the example He set. We are to be just like a small child who is like a shadow to his father, tracing every footstep, imitating every word, action, or move. We are to be like that child that yearns to be just like his dad. We are to be just like Jesus, who came down to this Earth, teaching deep theological truths that were equally balanced with a showing of what those truths looked like when lived out. You see, love is an action. God tells us to “walk in love” not sit in love, or look in love but to actually do something with the love of God. Jesus’ love provoked Him to action and even ultimately to the greatest action of love the world has ever experienced, death on a cross. 

God desires to speak the truth in love. He desires that His truth be delivered with a healthy dose of action as well. I think John C. Maxwell summed the perfect balance of love lived out and Biblical truth when he said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” God desires that we be both deep and wide, that we walk in love and imitate His example.

What does that look like here at our church? Maybe it means we do something we have never done before, or maybe it means we do something even better than ever before. Let us help kindle the fire that has returned from each of these summer mission trips. Let us learn from the acts of sacrificial service to communities they didn’t even know, and bring these acts of sacrificial service here to our homes, our cities, our communities and our families. Let it be said of our church, like Jason and others in Acts 17, that we turned the world upside down with the truth. My friend Joey Cook says it best this way, “This generation doesn’t need a new definition of Christianity, but a new demonstration of the Church.”   

His Grace is Sufficient for your Family

9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Cor. 12:9-10 NKJV

This verse has been running through my mind and quite honestly running me over of late. All too often life leaves us searching for answers from within ourselves and in our own strength. I sit guilty of this very thing, trying to do things of my own will and accord. I am wishing and hoping on my strengths, skills and abilities to overcome life’s problems on a daily basis. Does this sound familiar to anyone? 

Paul was dealing with this same issue some two thousand years ago. The LORD spoke to him these words and he recorded them for the same purpose, to get us through times where we come up short for answers, words and works. It is when we come to the end of ourselves, and realize we can’t do it, we don’t have the right thing to say or do, it is at this time God is ready and able to use us. Instead of coming to that point of despair and giving up, He wants to use us. You see I intentionally left off the first part of this passage until now. Verse 8 says, “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.” Paul begged God to remove the one thing he thought was stopping him from really being able to serve God. It was when Paul realized that he couldn’t do it on his own, but that he needed to be weak in order to rely on God. This is true in our lives today, when we are weak and rely on God, then God is made real to those around us.

I am asking fathers and families to engage in spiritual discipleship and training at home. The common responses so far: “I don’t know how to start a spiritual conversation at home”, “I just don’t have time to do those types of things in our house”, “I didn't know that’s what God wanted of me”. These are good starting points for all families in the church. If your heart is set toward God, and you’re not good with words, be confident that His grace is sufficient for you and your attempts to lead your family, remember when you are weak HE is strong. If you feel that you don’t have time to lead your family at home in spiritual conversations, remember the power of Christ rests upon you and your home, and he desires what’s best for your family, if you make time he will honor that, and speaking from personal experience and the testimony of others, if you make Him important and priority in your schedule you will find that you don’t miss out on anything else important. Lastly, this is God’s will and desire for your family that you lead them to Christ and don’t just drop them off at the door, but continue to teach, train and disciple them. If there is any doubt where God talks of spiritual training at home please visit and study these scriptures; Deut. 6:1-9; Psalm 78:1-8, Proverbs 22:6, Eph. 5:22-6:4. Col. 3. 

We all fall short and that’s the point. It is when we fall short, that God steps up and uses us. We have to come to the end of ourselves and rely on Christ, our Messiah, our Savior, His grace, that is sufficient for all circumstances, to do through us what we can’t do on our own. It is when I am weak then I am strong, not on my own but when I rely on Him, His strength and His all-sufficient grace. 

God Bless, 

Bro. Grant

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Col. 3:16-17 (ESV)

I have been reading a fair amount recently. One of the problems that I keep coming across is that I want to share everything that I read to everyone of you. Reading seems to be a lost art in a world of high speed technology, instant gratification, and social media. Why would we read for 20 minutes the account of a biblical story when we can go and watch a 2 hour movie? Ok maybe a bad example, but for example a Christian research firm called Barna Research Group has recently followed this trend so much so that they are catering to this seeming epidemic in our culture today. People don’t feel as though they have enough time to sit down and read anymore. We are so busy that reading doesn’t seem to be a productive enough use of our time these days. Barna Research has started producing books that are no more than 100 pages in length so that people are not intimidated by the premise of completing a book. The purpose of saying all this is simply to say there are some valuable things to be gained by reading today. 

A book that has garnered great attention to me today that I would recommend for every believer in Christ is called, ”Everyday Talk; Talking with your children about God.” by John Younts. You may say but I don’t have children, that may be true, but this is a very practical guide to making God conversations out of everyday life to everyday people. I can’t make you read a book and promise your life will be more fulfilled as a result of it. One of the things that I would say is that there are a ton of resources that good Godly men and women have written that could be excellent tools in your toolbox. One of the key principles in family ministry and it’s future effectiveness at Faith, is our ability to train ourselves and others how to turn everyday ordinary situations into God moments. In essence, every word that we speak, every action that we take should be consumed with speech, emotions, and actions toward God. Hence the scripture reference at the onset of this writing. Sometimes people ask and legitimately so, do you really think we should do this? Does everything we do have to be pointing to God? It is my desire that, fathers in particular, parents especially, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces and church members especially, as representatives of Christ on this Earth, all that we do point to God. Whether we are teaching, admonishing, worshipping, corporately or at home, or really whatever we do, we would do in order to bring God glory. 

How can we do that? Reading resources that equip us to practically turn everyday conversations to God. Seeing God in situations, or circumstances that we ascribe to normal life and turning them around to give credit to God (who rightfully deserves the credit anyway). I would like for us to call these God sightings, and to pursue them in every aspect of our families at Faith, equip students and singles to see them now and highlight them in their future families, and to have our seasoned saints and empty nesters to adopt spiritual orphans (those who have no spiritual influences at home) and teach them to see God in spite of circumstances.

Thanks and God Bless, 

Bro. Grant

God Sightings

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in what we are doing we miss the beauty and majesty of God in our daily lives. It’s so easy to see an insurmountable set of tasks and to-do’s that we forget to work God into our schedules. 

Let me share this with you: 

Psalm 19:1-14 (HCSB)

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. 3 There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. 4 Their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a groom coming from the bridal chamber; it rejoices like an athlete running a course. 6 It rises from one end of the heavens and circles to their other end; nothing is hidden from its heat. 

7 The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up. 9 The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous. 10 They are more desirable than gold, than an abundance of pure gold; and sweeter than honey, which comes from the honeycomb. 11 In addition, Your servant is warned by them; there is great reward in keeping them. 12 Who perceives his unintentional sins? Cleanse me from my hidden faults. 13 Moreover, keep Your servant from willful sins; do not let them rule over me.Then I will be innocent and cleansed from blatant rebellion. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

This Psalm serves as a reminder to me to slow down and see God! That’s right I said SEE God. God made His handiwork visible to us for a reason. Sometimes I need that reminder that His glory is revealed in the bird chirping outside my window right now all the way down to the picturesque sunset in the evening, and the stars and moon in the sky at night. He is speaking, saying, “ don’t forget me, I’m right here, right outside your window”. If you have or ever have had children, grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews, or even just been a babysitter before, then you have most likely experienced a child that doesn’t want to be left out or ignored or left behind. They just want attention, just want to be noticed, to be paid attention to. God wants that too. He could make the rocks cry out if He so desired. But as the ice and cold temperatures seem to both melt away. Let’s take notice of God. It happens in the everyday moments of life that God reveals Himself not some burning bush experience. (Although that’s what we are all seeking, some handwriting on the wall experience, even though I don’t remember that story working out so well in the Bible.) Use the moments God grants us as gifts to share about Him, about His plan, His story and His Son.  Maybe that subtle reminder of what God is doing, has done in your life or is going to do can come from an everyday experience that we all too often overlook. 

I would like to challenge us to make verses7-14 our prayer this week. 

Seek His perfect instruction.

Trust His perfect words, making our hearts glad, our eyes light up. 

Fear Him. 

Follow His ordinances, and desire them more than the things of this earth. 

Ask for forgiveness, for we will fall short, not just the visible portions of our failure but the things only God sees as well. 

Finally may we pray specifically verse 14; May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer. 

I hope that we can see God this week in our daily lives, spot Him in all His glory all around us and share it with others at home, at work, or at school. 

God Bless, 

Bro. Grant

Matthew 13:44-46 (NLT)

44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. 46 When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

It is important that great value is placed on the Kingdom of Heaven. It is worthy of giving up and forsaking all this world has to offer. It is important that we teach others that the most important thing you can obtain in this life is not the best degree from the best school, the highest paying job, the best looking spouse, the nicest car or anything else the world desires us to strive for. The most important thing you can teach your children, your Sunday school class or that new Christian at church is the Kingdom of Heaven is worth all that and more. Are those things wrong or inherently evil? Absolutely not! The problem lies when we act, teach or even infer that the things of this world are of any greater value than the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Did you notice the man in the verse 44 doesn’t just find the treasure and quietly slink away from the field with treasure in hand? He laboriously reburied the treasure, and then, get this, went to the trouble of selling all he owned all that he had, and bought the field with his earnings. All that just to find a treasure of such great value that he could have potentially just snuck away with in the beginning. That’s how important the things of God are! 

What about the Pearl Merchant in the second story? It was his livelihood to search for, buy and sell pearls. However there was something different about this pearl. Do you have something in your life that is of the utmost importance to you? One thing that you could put your finger on and say that’s my most prized possession. Visualize that one thing and then realize that the Kingdom of Heaven is of infinite more value than even that one thing. The Pearl Merchant did. 

How important is the kingdom to you? Are you willing to let everything go that you have worked for on this earth, in order to obtain it? Jesus told stories sometimes rather simple stories in an effort to get a point across. These two stories are actually tied together, not only sequentially but also thematically. We are capable of the very same thing, telling a story or stories that make sense in our time and place in our context that our children,  or students or friends or even coworkers can understand.

As parents, teachers, proclaimers of the Gospel and Christians sometimes it would be beneficial if we would take truths and convey it in a story that people could wrap their minds around. Have you ever noticed that some of the best memories, you may have, would be that one grandparent or family member or even your crazy “Uncle Si” of the family that could really tell a story? Sometimes we will remember that story or its lesson for a lifetime. Jesus really did know what He was doing by giving us great truth so that we could not only remember it but also show us how to transfer that truth to others. Maybe, just maybe we could stand to be better story tellers and convey God’s truth through our stories and help others to understand and relate to the real life situations they are going through. 

God Bless, 

Bro. Grant