The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18)

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”- Luke 18: 9-14, NKJV

First, we learn that Jesus is directing this parable to those who trust in themselves for righteousness and despise others. (V. 9) His story begins with two men going up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. (V. 10) Pharisees were the religious leaders who had added man-made traditions and rituals to God’s law. One example is found in Mark 7, where the Pharisees rebuke Jesus’ disciples, (who were Jews), for not washing their hands before eating. Now, we consider such an activity to be sanitary, but then, it was merely an addition to the ceremonial laws and not something which God had commanded. Jesus and the Pharisees often but heads because of the ways in which they had corrupted the law by adding their own traditions, plus, they did not believe Jesus to be the Son of God. Tax collectors were indeed despised in Jesus’ time. The tax collectors were often Jews appointed by Roman officials to collect taxes from the people. However, the tax collectors often took much more than was needed to support themselves, thus they were despised, even by their own people. Later in Luke, we find the account of Zackaeus, the chief tax collector in his region, who sought after Jesus. When he had met with Jesus, he vowed to give half of his goods to the poor and to restore fourfold what he had wrongfully taken from the people. (Luke 19: 1-10) Matthew, who was also a tax collector, left everything to follow Jesus. (Matthew 9:9) When asked by the tax collectors how they might bear fruit in keeping with repentance, John the Baptist told them to be content with their wages and to take only what was appointed for them. (luke 3: 12-13) The story continues with the prayer of the Pharisee in which he thanks God that he is not like other men, and he lists extortionors, adulterers, and even the tax collector with whom he is praying in the temple. (V. 11) He then goes on in an attempt to justify himself before God by giving Him a “good works resume”, as it were, including his fasting ritual twice a week and his tithing practices. (V. 12) However, the tax collector knows he is sinful, and he displays a repentant heart as he pleads for God to be merciful to him, a sinner. (V. 13) Jesus, once again, turns their thinking on its head when He tells them that the tax collector, (a despised and hated figure by all in the land), went home justified before God while the Pharisee, (a respected religious leader who seemed to do all the right things), did not go home justified before God because of his self-righteousness and his condemning attitude toward others, such as the tax collector. (V. 14)
We are not justified by the good we think we do on our own. Our good works are as filthy rags, (the word used here refers to a woman’s dirtied menstral cloths), to Him. (Isaiah 64:6) Scripture says that there is no one who is righteous, none who do good, and none who seek God. (Romans 3: 10-12) Scripture tells us that all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. (Romans 3:23) Let us examine ourselves in the light of the Ten Commandments given in Exodus 20. We need only examine a few.

Have you ever taken God’s Name in vain? (V. 7)
Have you ever stolen something? (V. 15)
Have you ever told a lie, even just a “little white lie”? (V. 16)

One who lies is a liar. One who steals is a thief. One who uses the Lord’s Name in vain, (as a curse word), is a blasphemer. Even if we have broken one of these commandments, we are guilty of breaking the whole law. (James 2:10)

Furthermore, Jesus took it to the heart. He said that if one is angry with his brother without a cause, he is in danger of the judgment. (Matthew 5:22) He also said that anyone who lusts after a woman has committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28) The same would be true of a woman lusting after a man.

If we examine ourselves in the light of Scripture, no one is guiltless. In Romans 3, we are told that there is no one good and that all have sinned, and it’s easy to see if we are honest. Since God is just, our sins will be paid for. That is the good news of the gospel, that God sent His one and only Son to take the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross because He so loved us. (John 3:16) If we put our faith in Christ, we are saved from God’s wrath and a lifestyle of bondage to sin by God’s grace- which means unmerited favor. All we need do is repent, (turn from our sinful ways), confess Jesus as the Lord of our life, and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead. If we are truly saved, our lives will bear different kinds of fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5: 22-23) Our faith will be demonstrated by our works. Works are not a part of salvation, but they serve to demonstrate what we claim to believe. We are not saved by good works, but we are saved by God’s grace. To preach any other gospel is to make null and void the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. If it were possible for us to be saved simply by following a code of ethics or even the Old Testament Mosaic Law, then there would have been no need for Jesus to come and die on the cross. Jesus, the guiltless and innocent one, came from heaven to earth as a baby and grew up as anyone else, and He lived to die- to take the guilt and sin of you and I upon Himself on a criminal’s cross that, if we believe, we would be saved from hell and God’s wrath, be made pure, and will live with God forever in His eternal Kingdom.

Sharing a full gospel presentation was not originally what I had intended with this post, but it seemed appropriate to not only share it, but to set the groundwork for the rest of the post, which I will make brief. There are two things that speak to me through the above passage concerning the Pharisee and the tax collector. First, we are not to measure our standard of righteousness, or our perceived righteousness, by anything other than God’s Word. I believe it was D. L. Moody who said something about God’s Word being the straight stick against which he measured everything. We must not compare ourselves to others, even other Christians, for those who know Christ, to attempt to justify ourselves or to make ourselves feel more Godly or superior to others, as the Pharisee did. He thanked God that he was not like the others whom he deemed as sinners who were less worthy of God’s favor. Second, we are justified only by God, so no matter what we have done, if we come before God truly repentant as the tax collector did, then we will be forgiven and saved. God is the judge, and He shows mercy and compassion to whomever He wills. It may not seem fair that the tax collector, (whom we are tempted to see as more sinful than the Pharisee), to be justified and the Pharisee, (who apparently worked very hard to follow God), to not be justified. It may not seem fair that those whom we may see as more sinful today sometimes seem to win out over those we see as “the good guys”. The fact is, it was not fair for Jesus, the perfect sinless Son of God, to take the sins of the whole world upon Himself and to die in an awful grueling death that words cannot even begin to describe to save sinners such as you and I who, may not have murdered or committed adultery, but we have all sinned. It doesn’t matter what that sin is. If you believe on Christ, you stand before God righteous through Christ. His righteousness is given to you and your old life is crucified, and that is the only way any of us can stand in confidence before the throne of God. We are justified by faith, and we are saved by grace, God’s truly amazing grace.

The Grace and Knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18)

“but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”- 2 Peter 3:18, NKJV

In this epistle, Peter sets out to encourage his readers to, above all else, remain steadfast in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to be diligent and persevere because God’s Word is trustworthy. He reminds them that he was an eyewitness to all that Jesus said and did. Peter also speaks of false prophets who had come, and who will come. He reminds his readers that just as their doom and destruction are sure, so is the deliverance of the faithful and righteous. His exhortation to persevere in the faith is particularly highlighted in the third and final chapter of this letter, when Peter encourages his readers, reminding them of the promises of God and that He will fulfill His words in His good and perfect timing. Peter speaks of the day of the Lord at which the heavens and earth wil dissolve and a new heaven and new earth will come to be. In light of that day, Peter exhorts his readers to live with a manner of holy and Godly conduct. He warns them of scoffers who will defiantly question God and will twist Scriptures to fit their lusts. Finally, Peter, in verse 18, exhorts his readers to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

This particular verse has been on my mind for a couple of days now, and I wanted to share some things about what God has been speaking to me with regard to this verse. First, we live in much the same age as Peter when he wrote this letter. There are so many false teachers who, as Jude 1:4 puts it, “turn the grace of our God into lewdness”. They twist the Word of God to fit their lusts, and they call evil good and good evil. They water down the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to the point that it is essentially null and void because the very cross of Christ has been emptied of its power. (1 Corinthians 1:17) Some teach that Jesus will give you your best life now—giving you financial gain, good health, and will make all your dreams come true if you only believe in Him. Some teach a law of “love” that does not include gentle correction, (James 5:20; Ephesians 4:15; 2 Timothy 3:16), but instead, lead others down the broad road that leads to destruction by not lovingly rebuking that which is clearly defined by God as sinful. These kinds of teachings are in the Church, what is to be the pure and undefiled Bride of Christ! This is why Peter so strongly encourages his readers to remain steadfast in the faith with great diligence. Satan cloaks the lies in truth that makes the lies believable. Jesus Himself said that false prophets would come and attempt to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. (Matthew 24:24)

Peter concludes this epistle with the exhortation to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”. I find this phrase to be significant as I reflect upon it more because it says both grace and knowledge. So many believe that if they have knowledge of God’s Word that they are okay with God. However, it is by grace we are saved. (Ephesians 2:8) We are to grow in that grace as well as in the knowledge of Jesus. As we grow in His grace, we will also grow in His knowledge, but a mere head knowledge is not enough. In order to be saved, we must confess Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. (Romans 10:9) We must acknowledge and confess our sin to God, turn from it and live in a way that is pleasing to God according to His Word. If we truly understand the grace of God, we will not use it as a license to sin. It will transform our lives. This does not mean that we are sinless, but it does mean that we will sin less. As God’s children, we are seen by God through the righteousness of Christ, though we live in these mortal and fleshly bodies while here on earth.

Let us not Empty the Cross of Christ of its Power

“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel– not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”– 1 Cor. 1:17, NIV

Today in the Church in America at large, there is another “gospel”, or even several different “gospels” being preached. There is the “gospel of health and wealth” which teaches that God just wants you to be happy, healthy, and wealth. If you accept Christ, He will make you prosper physically. Basically, it’s your best life now. He will take away all your problems. Not only is this wrong and unBiblical, it is also not true of human experience. Have you ever med even one person who does not experience some kind of suffering in their life? The Bible itself traces the lives of the apostles and the other Christians in the First century Church, and there are stories upon stories that show that Christian living is far from being a “walk in the park”, if you will. Here in America, we are somewhat blinded to the Christian martyrdom that occurs in other parts of the world, particularly, in the Muslim world. I have also heard stories from the days of the Soviet Union in which Communism was the ruling governing authority, and Christianity was under serious attack. The Truth of God has always been attacked and twisted down through the ages, and this day and age is certainly no exception. Some preachers only preach half of the gospel, usually the half that is all about God’s love, and they say nothing about God’s wrath. The gospel is not complete if sin, repentance, and God’s judgment are not mentioned. Neither is it complete is God’s love is not mentioned. God is love, and God is just.

In any event, when the full and pure gospel of Jesus is not preached, the cross of Christ is emptied of its power. If any works or any notions of health and wealth are exalted over the cross of Christ, then that “gospel” is not the gospel. Paul says in Galatians that if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than that of Christ, let him be accursed or eternally condemned. He says that last part twice for emphasis. It is so very important to preach the whole gospel and to share the truth of our sinfulness and God’s righteousness and also, His love… a love so great that He sent His only Son to die for us, sinners who have fallen terribly short of the Lord’s glory and holiness. Examine your life in light of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), and read James 2:10. Is there any command you haven’t broken? Have you ever lied or stolen something? Have you ever committed adultery, or even lusted after another in your heart, which according to Jesus, is equal to adultery? The verse I referenced above from James says that if we have broken even one of these commandments, we are guilty of breaking all of them. It doesn’t matter how “good” you think you are, and it doesn’t matter how “good” you think you are compared to others. Your life is between you and God, and He loves you so much that He does not desire for you to perish in hell. He sent His Son, Jesus, to die a horrible death in grueling agony upon a criminal’s cross, enduring the full wrath of God in complete physical and spiritual separation from Him so that your sins could be forgiven, all of them, past, present and future. Just repent, (turn from your sins), and believe. It is a 180 turning from sin, and it is certainly a process to be sure. No one is perfect, and that is why we need Christ, because all are sinners.

To believers, when we preach Christ, let us do so with love and gentleness, but let us not empty the cross of Christ of its power by failing to preach the whole gospel. A half gospel has no power.

Why Do You Follow Jesus?: a Question for Christians

The young adult ministry with which I am involved has been going through a “Jesus Series” for several months now where we are examining the life and teachings of Jesus. The question we considered last night, (which has already been on my mind as has happened several times with these messages), is why do you follow Jesus?

Take one look through the gospels, and you will undoubtedly find that many of the people who followed Jesus did so for various reasons. In the gospel of John, the people want Jesus to perform signs upon signs before they will believe and follow Him for the right reasons. Others want Jesus to heal them or their loved ones. Still others, (like king Herod who imprisoned and later beheaded John the Baptist), had a casual interest in Jesus but no true desire to change and follow Him. Even the disciples, His twelve closest friends and constant companions for roughly three years, are patiently awaiting the day that their Messiah will overthrow the Romans and restore Israel to its former glory, the golden age as was seen in the Davidic period.
So, why do you follow Jesus? Is it just to get into Heaven? Is it to see Him do things for you? Is it to gain love and acceptance from other Christians? Have you been deceived into thinking that if you follow Jesus, He will magically make all your troubles disappear and will make your life problem-free?

or…

Do you follow Jesus because you truly believe that He is the once crucified and now risen Son of God and your personal Savior and Lord? Do you follow Him no matter the cost, in both good and bad times because you know that He is always with you and is worthy to be trusted and praised in all things?

Jesus does not call us to follow Him only when it is convenient or when we feel like it. Jesus calls us to follow Him always. He calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. Being a follower of Christ is not an easy road. Jesus does not promise an easy life. In fact, He promises persecution. He said that if the world hated Him, it will hate those who follow Him. I know that this is not the message that most hear about Christ today, and it makes us a bit uncomfortable, causing us to squirm in our seats a little, at least it does for me. I write this not because it is easy but because it is the truth. This is not to say that following Jesus doesn’t have personal benefits. It has many, in fact. We become children of God and can freely embrace all that comes with that adoption, and there is nothing greater than that. Truly, there is nothing that compares to knowing Jesus! Let us not forget, however, that Jesus is leading the way in our lives if we follow Him, not us.

I have found myself asking this question, and it is a good one to ask. Evaluating your reasons for following Jesus is one way in which you can examine yourself to see if you are truly in the faith. Let all of us, including me most of all, truly consider this question.

My Psalm 40:2 Experience

This happened to me about four years ago now, but it is something that I am very thankful for in some ways and wanted to share it here.

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Psalm 40:2, NASB: “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”

Besides the summer of 2000 when I gave my life to God through Christ and was cleansed and forgiven of my sinfulness, God has pulled me from the pit of destruction and miry clay again from time to time. Sometimes, it has been a sin struggle, (particularly, with prophanity, something I do not struggle with as much now). Other times, it has been a deeper struggle within myself, a struggle with doubt and darkness. A struggle to that end is what I would like to share in this post.

Have you ever gone through a time when it felt as though God wasn’t there– like He had turned a deaf ear to you or just simply didn’t care? I know that I have. However, I came to find that it was not God who had turned from me, but rather, I who had turned from Him. In the winter of 2007, everything around me was going well– amazingly well, in fact! I had recently been inducted into the International Honors Society of Two-year Colleges, (Phi Theta Kappa), and was active in about three other extracurricular groups on campus, one in which I was president. My grades were good, and I had made many new friends there at the community college where I was getting my Associate’s Degree before planning to transfer out to a private four-year college that coming fall. In the midst of all that external joy and temporal pleasure I was experiencing, I was struggling deep down in the depths of my being– at the very core of who I am. I had begun to rely too much on me– thinking that I was fine on my own. At no point did I ever consciously decide to rely on me, but I think it was more of a subconscious thing. I turned from the Book of Life to the book of academia and my focus was to get out of the community college as fast as I could, even though I enjoyed going there. I already had my plan in place, and while that plan did not change, God had plenty to show me before leaving home. As the semester wore on, I became more and more discouraged. I would attend Campus Crusade for Christ, (Cru), meetings, and I attended a friends’ Bible study a few times, but it just seemed that every time I prayed, God just didn’t answer. I recall crying out to God as the Psalmist did saying “Where are you god”! After awhile, I grew tired of praying and not receiving any answers, or at least, it seemed so at that time. I had come very, very close to walking away– completely throwing in the towel with this faith business and just giving up on God. However, it was at that very moment that God reached out and pulled me out of my own “pit of destruction”. It was at that very moment that God reached out and pulled me from the “miry clay” that I had made of my life and placed me back upon the Rock of Ages who never changes. He brought three very strong Christian folks into my life who helped me to see the light again. I recall the joy I felt at being reunited with my Heavenly Father again! It was almost as if a light came on inside of me again, as a light being switched on in a room that had been abandoned and left in the dark for a long time. I am ever thankful to God for pulling me out and preparing me for what was ahead in the months following that time in my life. It seemed that everything changed all at once for me– moving away from home, family situations, making new friends, adjusting to a new life away on a college campus. I learned that God is my everlasting foundation, and He never changes, even when everything in this world seems to crumble, shift, and change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

I see two things from this struggle: God brought me back to Himself, and God prepared me for what was to come. I am thankful for this struggle because it taught me to never rely on me, and it also made me much stronger in my faith. God knows our needs, not what we *think* we need, but what we truly need. Praise be to Jesus!

God Answers Prayer!

There is one theme that has been woven throughout my life as of late, and Generation has been a huge part of it. That theme is that God is faithful and answers prayer, and He answers in very specific ways according to His will and our needs– not what we “think” we need, but what we truly need. It has not been by way of anything that we might consider wildly supernatural or miraculous, although each answered prayer or gem of God-given wisdom is a miracle of our generous, loving, and gracious God. However,
for the past month or so, I have been finding the messages at Generation to be extraordinarily timely and also, God’s direct answer to many specific prayers and very much in line with things I have been thinking about recently.
First, for the past month and a half or so, I have been praying a lot about knowing God’s will for my life. As a recent college graduate pursuing my Christian music ministry that I feel God has given me, I’m also looking for a job right now as well. I have been praying for God to show me how to discern His will for my life. I have also been praying that He would help me to always submit to His good and perfect will. Then, that very week I had been praying a lot about it, the message was about knowing God’s Will for our lives. I found this message to be exactly what I needed to hear!

A couple weeks later, I found that I was struggling a lot with a certain sinful pattern. I felt awful because I knew that I was claiming to walk in the light and wanted to be true to that claim, but yet, I was walking in darkness. I know that we all struggle with sin, but it was a constant struggle, and the more I tried to stop this sin pattern, the more I seemed to fall. That Thursday, I was praying and praying for God to break me about this sin. I felt as though my heart was still so hard. I wanted desperately for God to convict and break me. Then, I came to Generation that night, and the message hit me hard– right between the eyes, which I needed. The pastor preached from 1st John as well as Matthew 5, the part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount where He tells the people to let their light shine before men for God’s glory. I speak specifically about the passage in 1st John. The passage is as follows:

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”– 1 John 1: 5-7, nkjv

The specific verse that spoke to me was verse 6:
“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”

This verse spoke to me because of my struggle with this particular sin, which is still a struggle. However, God is working in me to rid myself of sinful behaviors and patterns in my life.

Then, there was the next week. During worship, I had been thinking about how I seem to come to Generation, and church in general, and absorb all that worship and the message has to offer each week. I was thinking how I tend to take much much more than I give, and the message spoke to that, at least, in part. It was challenging to me.

Finally, that brings us to last week when the pastor spoke about the Law vs. grace– something that has been on my mind for a while now. He suggested reading through the book of Romans, which I had been doing anyway after feeling God’s leading to do so. Because of my reading in Romans, the Law and grace idea was already on my mind. He also spoke about seeking first the Kingdom of God to meet His standard of righteousness through Christ. Basically, seek God, and the rest will follow– something else that was on my mind through our discipleship meeting last week and Generation.

So, God answers prayer, and He answers very, very specifically. God has also answered a deeper prayer, a prayer to increase my faith. He has increased my faith through His answering of these prayers so very specifically! I encourage you that if you do not feel like God is listening, continue to seek Him. He promises that He will lead you if you seek Him with all your heart. He also promises that if we ask for wisdom, He will give generously. He is an intimate and personal God, a just and loving Heavenly Father who is faithful to His children.

I praise God for His specific blessings to each one of us as we are in need and as we seek to follow Him with all that we are. Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings!

Reflections on 9/11: Ten Years Later

I write this partly as a way to process and partly as a way to remember. I recount the events of 9/11 below not because we don’t know all of what happened but because this is the first time I am writing about it, and I just feel a need to include everything I can remember about that day for our nation and that day for me personally.

–Today, September 11, 2011, marks the ten-year anniversary of the worst terrorist attack ever to happen on U. S. soil. First, I write this post to remember all the fallen, the airplane passengers aboard all four high jacked aircrafts, especially those brave heroes on United flight 93, and I also remember the workers in the World Trade Center twin towers and the Pentagon as well as the firefighters and emergency workers who died while responding to the tragic events of that morning. Finally, I remember the families of those who died in the attack. God bless them extra special on this day, and my prayers are always with them.

Ten years ago, the United States awoke to any other average Tuesday morning in nearly mid-September. It was a beautiful sunny cloudless morning in much of the country, and folks were just beginning their day at the office, school, or boarding airplanes for business or personal travel purposes. However, we had no idea that beautiful ordinary morning was about to turn into a dark and tragic day that would change this nation forever. At around a quarter to nine that morning, a commercial jetliner slammed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing a huge gaping hole in the side of the building that people guessed to be about three floors wide, debris to fly everywhere and engulfing the top portion of the tower in flames. After that first plane crash, chaos and uncertainty ensued. News stations all over the country picked up the story immediately, and it was first described as an unconfirmed report that a plane may have crashed into the World Trade Center. Some just heard the noise and thought it was a bomb when they looked at the building. Some saw the airplane hit, but no one was really sure of what exactly happened. At first, it was thought that perhaps it was an accident, a horrible accident. The scream of sirens rang out as firefighters and other emergency workers rushed to the scene to help out however they could. As people watched television, or were live at the scene, the United States looked on in horror as another commercial jetliner slammed into the second tower just a couple minutes after nine. Everything was confirmed then. It was an airplane that hit the first tower, and our nation was definitely under attack. Meanwhile, another commercial aircraft was high jacked and made its way to Washington D. C. At around 9:37, this airplane slammed into one side of the Pentagon, causing fire, debris, and the deaths of 184 people. A decision was made that all commercial aircrafts were to land at the nearest airport, and the United States airspace would be closed to incoming and outgoing flights. Air traffic controllers got to work contacting aircrafts and directing them to land as soon as possible. It was also reported that yet another commercial aircraft was not accounted for by air traffic controllers. It had been high jacked in Cleveland airspace and was making its way toward Washington D. C. Military fighter jets were sent up to find the plane, however, the passengers aboard the flight heard about what was going on, and they overtook the high jackers and brought the plane down in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Back in New York, emergency workers continued to rescue people from the burning towers, and people watched helplessly as fellow workers, neighbors, and friends jumped from high up in the burning buildings to their death. Chaos and carnage ensued, and then, the truly unexpected happened. At around 10:00 that morning, roughly 58 minutes after it had been hit, people watched in horror as the second tower to be hit crumbled to the ground, killing those who had not made it out in time and enveloping the surrounding area in a dark cloud of soot and debris. Even more chaos ensued as those in the first tower began to realize that the same would very likely happen to that tower. People ran from the scene, and others made their way out of tower one. Then, at around 10:30, that tower crumbled to the ground as well, creating yet another giant dust cloud and crushing those still inside who were trying to make their way out.

Meanwhile, air traffic controllers worked tirelessly to get all commercial aircrafts down and were able to successfully shut down the United States airspace in a couple of hours. No more aircrafts had been high jacked that day, and the attack was over. However, in the days and weeks following 9/11, the death toll kept rising as missing people did not return home and more and more human remains were found at the World Trade Center sight. Final reports estimated around 3,000 total deaths, including all of those who were still in the World Trade Center, all those aboard the four high jacked planes, as well as those who had died in the Pentagon.

As for me, I can remember exactly where I was that September morning. I was a freshman in high school, about two weeks in, and I was in my Physical Education class. We were outside that day, so I did not hear about what was going on until I got to my third period U. S. History class, around the time when the third high jacked plane hit the Pentagon. For the rest of that day, we were glued to the television in every class. Nothing new was taught. We all just watched a national tragedy unfold before our very eyes, definitely the most monumental event of my generation thus far.

So how did 9/11 affect me personally? Well, I remember feeling as though it was just a terrible nightmare. I remember feeling as though I was just watching a movie, a horror film or something. I just couldn’t believe it and, in a way, I suppose it was easier for me not to. After all, I’m blind—out of sight out of mind, right? I think that made it harder to really understand the magnitude of the damage, especially at the World Trade Center. I knew the towers fell, but I had no idea how that was even possible or how massive those structures were. I hadn’t ever seen them before, except in the background of a scene in Home Alone II, and I didn’t even know that those were the twin towers at that time. It was only after 9/11 that I knew what they were and how tall they had been. It was impossible for me to wrap my head around the damage because I couldn’t see all that had happened. I can say this for sure though. If there was ever a day that I was happy about being blind, truly happy to not see anything at all, it was September 11, 2001. I’ve never really had a problem with being blind, except at sporadic moments when things are a bit harder because I don’t have sight, but I didn’t have to see all the destruction and death that day. I could only imagine, and I imagine it being bad, but I’m sure those images and the result is much worse than anything I could ever imagine. I think that my blindness made it a bit harder to believe, just in a different way than those who are sighted I think. I don’t really know. All I do know is that it took me a few days I think before it really sank in that it was real. It was no nightmare. It was no horror film. It was a living nightmare, a living horror film, if you will. I was scared, and I felt that nothing would ever be normal or happy again. Those first few days after 9/11, everything was so quiet—no airplanes in the skies, no television programs that didn’t have something to do with what had happened. It was as if the whole world just stopped, as the song by Alan Jackson says, the world stopped turning on that September day. How I longed for something normal. All NFL games had been postponed for awhile, and I’m not a football person. However, I just wanted to watch a football game or something… anything instead of constant 9/11 coverage. It was truly an awful time. Time went on of course, and life eventually got back to some kind of normalcy for me, even though it is definitely a new kind of normal, living post9/11.

Now, ten years later, I find that I can now write about that day, and I can see certain implications for me in it. I have found out, through 9/11 and other things too, that even when it feels like the whole world is crumbling right around you and there is nothing normal and constant anymore, God is constant. He is the solid foundation, the Rock of Ages who never changes and with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. It was a time in which absolutely everything changed—personally because I was in high school in a new building and had to make new friends. I was still getting adjusted to that when 9/11 happened. Nothing was the same… absolutely nothing. I think that is perhaps the biggest thing that 9/11 taught me, and it was confirmed about six years later in college when everything around me seemed to change once again. All I can say is that it certainly doesn’t seem that it has been ten years. I think it’s at least partly because 9/11 never leaves my mind. It is always there in the back of my mind. I think about it, at least to some degree, every single day. Even now, ten years later, the same feelings come back—shock, fear, sadness, anger, and all that comes with an attack like that, something our country never new until that day. Many people mentioned Pearl Harbor, in which the Japanese attacked from the air, killing many in our military and bringing the United States into World War II on December 7, 1941. That was “a day that will live in infamy”. Before 9/11, civilians had never been attacked, at least not to that capacity—commercial aircrafts and employees working in the World Trade Center. I think in many ways, our nation is still healing from that horrific day, especially those families who lost loved ones. My heart truly goes out to them, and I cannot even begin to imagine how deeply this day affects them. It affects me enough as it is, and I didn’t know anyone who was killed that day. I don’t think those feelings will ever really go away, so I remember. I remember 9/11 and wave a flag at half mass in respect for the fallen who we take time to remember this day. May God bless their families and friends, and may God bless America.

Are You Like Your Father?

Are you like your father? Well, I know that, in many ways, I am. I think it is very evident for people who know both my dad and I to see that we are related… father and daughter even. I recall a teacher I had all the way through school who has known me and my parents since I was six months old, (and I’m 25 years old now), telling me on one occasion that I remind her of my dad. Since I was little, my dad and I have always been very close. We both love to sing and like similar types of music, and we both enjoy corny clean comedy and often say the exact same thing at the exact same time. I remember that one time, we both forgot the lyrics to a song and remembered them again at the exact same time. We can have full conversations made up almost entirely of inside jokes, and no one around us has any idea what we’re talking about. It is pretty funny, but I’m sure it’s frustrating for those around us. We don’t intentionally leave others in the dark, but we get talking about something that we are reminded of in conversation, and we’re off—in our own little world it seems. I talk to my dad a lot, and I ask him for advice when I need to as well. We have a very close relationship.

Why in the world blog about this? Well, for Christians, I believe that there is a very important question that can be asked through a story such as this—are you like your Father? Am I like my Father—my Heavenly Father? When people look at or talk with you or I, do they see our Heavenly Father in us? Are our words like our Father’s? Are our actions like our Father’s? Do we have a very close relationship with our Father? What Godly qualities do you and I possess that would cause others to tell us that they see our Heavenly Father in us? Howe can we grow closer to and be more like our Heavenly Father? If you are God’s son or daughter, are you like your Father?

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

Who Do You Say Jesus Is?

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is”‘ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am”‘ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (Matt. 16: 13:17)

Jesus essentially poses two questions to His followers.
“Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13) That is, who did the world say that He was? How did the world respond? Jesus was thought to be either John the Baptist, elijah, or one of the other prophets. As we read in John 1: 10:11:
“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”
Jesus came with all of the signs foretold in Scripture. The prophet Isaiah says:
“‘Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”
This came about! Luke 2 gives us an account of the birth of Jesus!
“Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2: 1:8)
Jesus’ own people were the Jews since He was of Jewish heritage in His fleshly nature. However, the vast majority of Jews did not believe in Him. By this point, not all of the prophecies concerning Christ had been fulfilled, but the virgin birth should have been enough to cause them to believe. After all, its not every day a child is born to a virgin who has had no sexual relations with any man. However, just as people may rationalize, so did they. The natural human thing to say is that Mary was NOT really a virgin as they once believed. Even Joseph, her fiance, and a righteous man, didn’t believe until the angel came to him. To believe that Jesus is who He claims to be took a great deal of faith.

The second question Jesus poses in these verses from Matthew’s gospel is:
“But who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15). Jesus comes right out and asks His followers who they say that He is. Its an important question to know the answer to. However, only faith, by grace, through the Holy Spirit, will reveal the truth to us. Besides faith, we have the inspired and infalible Word of God which tells us the kind of path that Jesus must walk.
“Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.” (Isa. 53 1:11)
Of course, at the time Jesus questioned them, this prophecy had not yet been fulfilled, so how were they to know. Let us go back to this verse:
“Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 16: 16:17)

Simon Peter, by faith, confesses Jesus is the Son of the Living God, the Christ. Jesus tells His disciples in John 14:6 that He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to God the Father, except through Him.

What about you? Who do YOU say Jesus is? Do you see Him as the world does, just that guy you learn about in church? A distant Sunday School memory? A really nice guy? The founder of a great moral system? A good teacher? A prophet? One of many ways to God? Or, do you say that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God? Is Jesus knocking on the door of your heart to ask you that very question? I exhort you and implore you to consider your answer very carefully. Do not let this be just another blog post that you read and forget about.

If you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, the only way to Heaven, praise God!! I encourage you to continue to walk in Him, and in Him alone. Do not let the wind of this world blow you around like chaff to false doctrine.
If you do not know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you can! Pray and confess that Jesus is Lord and that you believe that He died in your place for your sins. Confess your sins. Ask for forgiveness and repent of your sinful ways. Ask Him to purify and sanctify you, to wash you clean from the inside out. Thank Him for this wonderful gift of salvation and eternal life. Tell Him that you want to be in His forever family and eternal Kingdom. Tell Him that you want Him to crucify your sinful nature and come and live in you and help you to become more and more like Him. If you have come across this entry here and have questions, please feel free to contact me through this site, and I am willing to talk with you.

Selfish Christianity: Jesus as Savior, and Jesus as Lord

Very often, (either in church or in conversations with other believers), I have heard folks talk about “accepting Jesus as Savior”. Altar calls often end with an ergent exhortation to “accept Jesus as your Savior before it’s too late”. I began thinking about this more recently after hearing a few consecutive messages pertaining to the Lordship of Christ and the cost of discipleship, and I have begun to wonder if “Christ as Savior” is truly complete. I have come to the conclusion that it is not enough to simply know Christ as Savior and not as Lord.

On the surface, this may seem a trivial matter, but I believe it has broader, and eternal, implications. Am I saying that it is wrong to believe in Christ as your personal Savior? Of course not! Christ as Savior is a vital truth, and I am not saying that those who say that are wrong. However, that truth is only in part. Yes, Jesus came to save us from our sinful and naturally rebellious lifestyles. Furthermore, He came to save us from eternal punishment in hell because of our sins if we believe. He came to save us, and to save us by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Gal. 2: 8-9; Rom. 6:23, among countless others). However, if one desires to follow Christ, it must, must be understood that discipleship to Christ comes with a cost. That is where the Lordship of Christ comes in. I will outline below some areas and verses that explain this a bit further.

Self Denial

The Church has so watered down the gospel that it has nearly emptied the cross of it’s glory. Some of what is commonly heard today among evangelical circles is along these lines:

Accept Christ as your Savior, and He will make your troubles disappear.

Accept Christ, and He will make you prosper in this life.

Accept Christ, and He will give you happiness and your best life now.

This is a “me, me, me” approach to salvation that gives birth to a kind of “selfish Christianity”. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves. Here are a few verses on this:

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross , and follow Me.”—Matt. 16:24

“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for“eternal life.”—John 12-25

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”—Luke 14:26

These are just a few things said in Scripture about self denial and the cost of discipleship, and we cannot do these things on our own, apart from Christ. (John 15:5).

The cost of discipleship:

I covered this a little in the last post as well as this post, but I want to present it a bit more clearly. Jesus never promises us an easy life as believers. In fact, He promises persecution. In many places in the gospels, (as well as the epistles), we read of how if the world hates Christ, it will hate His people. Jesus says in the beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 that blessed are those who are persecuted and against whom all kinds of evil is spoken on account of Christ. Great is their reward in Heaven (VV. 10-12). He who builds His house upon the firm foundation of the rock of Christ is wise, and his house will stand in times of storm. The same is true of the seed sown in the furtile soil, the soil of God’s Word. Those with a deep root in God’s Word will persevere through trouble and storms of life, and will produce a significant crop. For God says that His Word shall not return void (Isa. 55:11).

God may not ask us to give up all that we have for Him, but we must be willing. We must be as willing as those martyred in the early church and around the world today. In America, we often take our liberty to preach the gospel for granted, thinking that we will always have this liberty. God is rapidly being removed from our country, even though many profess the name of Christ. That is exactly my point. How many truly know Christ as their Savior and their Lord? Jesus says in John 14: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (V. 15). It says elsewhere that His commandments are not burdensome to the one who loves God. Many just want Jesus to save them from the penalty of their sin and not their sins themselves, and they want Jesus to do the work of some kind of jeany in a bottle and magically make all their troubles disappear. Friends, that is NOT who Christ is! He is the Savior to those who believe, yes, but He is a Savior from a lifestyle marked by habitual sin and it’s penalty—eternal death and eternal punishment. A true believer professes Christ as Savior and as Lord of their life, a Lord who sympathizes with us in our flesh and who desires to help us overcome sin and reach out to others caught up in sin with love, both in grace and in truth.

The verse I leave you with leads me into my next post, as I wish to address this in more detail:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”—Matt. 7:21

P.s.: Read the sermon on the mount (Matt. Chapters 5-7), and you will read about the narrow and broad gates, the house on the rock and the house on the sand, and what Christ demands of those who say they wish to follow Him. Allow me to also say that as much as I share this with whoever reads this blog, I teach and preach to myself as well. As Paul says of himself, so I also say of me: “I have not yet taken hold of it” (Phil. 3:13 A). We will not achieve perfection in our flesh, and we still sin, but for believers, Christ is Savior from sin’s penalty and stronghold over us, and His Lordship is supreme in the lives of true believers. May Jesus be glorified forever!