God and Nacho Libre

If you’ve seen the movie Nacho Libre you are aware that Nacho (a Catholic Priest) has an interesting take on serving God. We get a view into his thinking during a scene where he breaks up a group of wrestling orphans. Hint: Put on your best Nacho accent while reading the following.

Nacho: Ok. Orphans! Listen to Ignacio. I know it is fun to wrestle. A nice piledrive to the face… or a punch to the face… but you cannot do it. Because, it is in the Bible not to wrestle your neighbor.
Chancho: So you’ve never wrestled?
Nacho: Me? No. Come on. Don’t be crazy. I know the wrestlers get all the fancy ladies, and the clothes, and the fancy creams and lotions. But my life is good! Really good! I get to wake up every morning, at 5AM, and make some soup! It’s the best. I love it. I get to lay in a bed, all by myself, all of my life! That’s fantastic! Go. Go away! Read some books!

I have a hunch that is how many in our world view God. He is a cosmic killjoy who wants to reduce life down to a bunch of rules and regulations that strip the fun out of everything. He is not the God who said to Adam and Eve “I’ve given you all these trees to enjoy. You have the freedom to eat from any of them except just one.” Instead, He is the God who said “I’ve put all these beautiful trees in the garden but you can’t eat from any of them except for one, it’s that scraggly old, shriveled up thing in the corner. You know, the one with the bitter tasting fruit that you hate.” The conclusion is, serve God and that’s what you get. You get Nacho’s God, the one who condenses life down to making soup every morning at 5AM and gives you a lonely bed for the rest of your life. So go away and read some books!

But is that really what God is like? The Scriptures paint a very different picture. Search the NKJV concordance for various forms of the word “joy” and you’ll find 120 verses in the New Testament alone. He is the God who commands us to have joy and tells us He has given us all things to enjoy. If I’m reading my Bible correctly, God is not a killjoy He is the ultimate joy giver.

The Biblical God is not Nacho’s God, He is a loving Father who enjoys the laughter of His children. What an important message for a world that is being overwhelmed with bad news. There is some good news, joy is still available. You receive it as a by-product when you draw near to God through faith in His Son.

Rom 15:13 (NIV)  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:24 (NIV)  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

John 15:11 (NIV)  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Phil 4:4 (NKJV)  Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

The Death of a Dream

My devotions lately have taken me to the account of Abraham in Genesis. This time I saw something I’d never seen before.

Let’s trace the story of his life. In chapter twelve God calls Abraham away from his home and family. He leaves dreaming of the incredible promises he had just received. God would bless him, make his name great and make him and his descendants into a mighty nation. Thrilling stuff! Don’t you love it when God excites you with wonderful possibilities?

In Chapter fifteen God assures Abraham that he would have a son of his own and directs Abraham’s gaze into the night sky. “See how many stars there are Abraham. Try to count them if you can, that’s what your offspring will be like.” Talk about joy and elation, can’t you imagine Abraham rushing home shouting with excitement “Sarah, you won’t believe what God just told me! We’re going to have a son! We need to be ready, we need to get you some maternity clothes and let’s start construction on the baby’s room right away. God said it; I believe it, and that settles it!”

Then the years begin to pass but there is no baby. The promise from God becomes harder and harder to believe. “Maybe I misunderstood. Maybe that promise was for somebody else. I do blow it a lot, would God really want to bless somebody like me?” Faith begins to fade and Abraham and Sarah become vulnerable. They want a son and a family and God promised that would happen, but then God waited too long. Eventually the solution becomes obvious. We need to take matters into our own hands. Sarah suggests Abraham sleeps with her servant Hagar; if she becomes pregnant Sarah will raise the child. Obviously not the best solution but it’s better than nothing. Right? Wrong! It was a plan filled with compromise, a work of the flesh that was destined for failure from the start. This only introduces tension and trouble into the home that lasts for years and Sarah never did end up raising the child. The lesson is clear, when we trade God’s plan and His timing for our plan and our timing it never works out.

None of that was new to me, I’ve taught it many times. What stood out this time was two scriptures in chapter seventeen. Abraham is now ninety-nine years old and God once again appears to him guaranteeing that he would be fruitful, that his descendants would become nations and some would be kings. God promises that the land of Canaan would become an everlasting possession for Abraham and the generations of descendants that would come after him. Now here is what struck me, this time there is no excitement, no joy and no faith. Abraham’s response is underwhelming to say the least.

Gen 17:17-18 (NIV)  Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” (18) And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

What happened here? Is this the result of a dream being obliterated by the passing of time? At one time Abraham believed all that God was saying and it was counted to him as righteousness. (Gen 15:6) Now God gives him these same promises and Abraham can only laugh in unbelief. “Yeah, right! I tried believing all that and it really didn’t work out so well. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, what a joke!” Notice what he says in verse eighteen. “Can’t you just bless Ishmael instead?” Bless my plan God, yours wasn’t all that great. God is still promising great things but Abraham is no longer willing to trust Him for them. He has come to a place of deadness where he doesn’t anticipate much from God any longer. He was now willing to settle for mediocrity.

Can any of you relate? You used to be so excited about the possibilities of walking with God and watching His plan unfold in your life. You clung to the promises and your faith couldn’t be shaken. Now it’s been so long and so little has happened and you’ve grown weary. God seems a million miles away and His promises no longer excite you like they used to.  It seems the dream of God’s blessing in your life is dying.

Dear brother and sister in Christ hold on, God is merciful and gracious. He is a loving Father whose affection for you dwarfs your love for your own children. Realize that the wilderness is necessary for your development. Moses is called to be Israel’s deliverer but first must spend time in the desert to develop character. David is promised that he would become king but first must be harassed by Saul to become the kind of man that could be God’s king. Peter is made an Apostle but must be allowed to fail and weep bitterly to fashion humility so he could become the Apostle God desired him to be. There are times when the good Shepherd must lead us through the valley of the shadow of death to take us to the green pastures (Ps 23).

You must believe that even in those times the promises remain. Psalm 23:4 tells us that God is with us when it seems we are walking in the darkness. Psalm 23:6 assures us that God’s goodness and loving kindness relentlessly pursue us all the days of our life, chasing us even into the wilderness. God will never leave us nor forsake us and His actions and motives towards us are always good and loving. I know it doesn’t feel that way all the time but that is the truth. Abraham and Sarah’s dream died and their faith faded until there was barely anything remaining. Yet God is good, He still blessed in His timing and in His way.

Right now you are faced with a couple of choices. You can waste your life worrying about what hasn’t turned out like you thought it would. The other option is to commit your life afresh to God right now, right where you’re at and ask Him to use you for His glory in whatever way He desires. You might just see what an almighty, loving God can do with shattered dreams. Abraham and Sarah did.

Staying out of THAT room

I don’t know if our house is tilted a bit but we have an upstairs bedroom where the door will shut by itself. You push it open but it won’t stay open, it slowly returns to a closed position. For some reason my dog loves that room. He will nudge the door open with his nose, go in and find himself trapped as the door closes behind him. Eventually I hear the whining and trudge up the stairs to rescue him.  There is a solution though; I have to remember to close the door fully until it latches so he can’t push it open in the first place.

Today I was thinking that I have a room like that in my mind. A place where I push open the door, walk in, and find myself trapped. It is a room we could call worry, another good name would be “The room of what ifs”. You know what a “what if” is don’t you? What if this happens or what if that happens. I’ve also discovered this room has a strange ability to grab onto those “what ifs” and magnify them until they are giants in my life that loom over any possibility of peace and joy. There is a solution; I must do the same thing I do to keep my dog out of that upstairs bedroom. I must shut that door so tightly that I can’t nudge it open easily.

How do I do that? Through the truth of the Scriptures. I must learn the art of quickly taking those thoughts captive that lead me into places of worry and fear and I must force my mind to think on truth instead. I replace the lie with the promise.

I start to push on the door of anxiety and the Scriptures have an answer to that. I tell myself the truth instead of dwelling on those anxious thoughts.

Phil 4:6-7 (NIV)  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (7) And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I start to turn the handle that leads to fear and God’s Word stands guard not allowing me to enter. In my thinking I replace the lie with the promise.

Isa 41:10 (NIV)  So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

I start to worry about the necessities of life and again the Bible comes to block the way.

Mat 6:25-26 (NIV)  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? (26) Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

The Bible is filled with promises like this that are meant to be used in our fight for peace and joy.  When I stand on God’s word I can stay out of that room, but when I allow my emotions to control me and my mind go anywhere it desires I live in that room quite a lot. I end up worrying when I’d rather be rejoicing.

2 Cor 10:5 (NIV)  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Any thoughts? How do you stay out of that room in your life? Your comments could help a struggling believer.

Somethings Missing! What happened to Moral Outrage? UPDATED

The lack of moral outrage and the judgment of God

The other day I was in my car listening to the radio when the topic turned to Tiger Woods. The analyst began to wax eloquent in his pleading with Tiger to come out of hiding. The argument went something like this. “Tiger, this is America. Play golf; win a tournament, that’s all you have to do. The people will forget about what has happened. After all, why all the seclusion? You really didn’t do anything that wrong. You didn’t break any laws.” I was stunned but also realized I had just been given a glimpse into the heart of many in modern America. (My thoughts on Tiger Woods have been updated in the addendum below)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about second chances. I rejoice in the fact that God (and my wife) is willing to forgive seventy times seven. I need every bit of that grace in my life. I am simply reflecting on a country where so many seem to be unable to feel moral outrage any longer.

How did we get to this place in America? Where sin is not only accepted but in so many cases even applauded? Where stars on talk shows can openly parade their latest sinful endeavors while the audience not only responds with laughter but also with applause? Romans 1:18-32 gives the answer to how we can come to such a state. These verses tell us there is a tremendous cost in pushing God away. He will eventually remove His gracious, restraining hand and begin to give man over to their own base desires. The natural result is an unleashing of sin on that God rejecting people. This is why we are seeing a frightening escalation of every kind of sin imaginable, from sexual perversion to ruthless brutality. It’s all there in Romans 1 where God has outlined what it will look like when He begins to judge a society that has rejected Him.

Now back to my original question, why does moral outrage seem to be missing. How could a society slip so far that it would approve of sin rather than being shocked by it? The answer to that is in the last verse of Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1:32 (ESV)  Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

One result of God giving man over to their own desires is not only greater personal sin, but also greater delight in the sins of others. Next time you see sin taken so lightly, even applauded don’t be shocked. Romans 1:32 explains why that is happening. When God begins to judge a nation one of the victims is moral outrage. It begins to die.

I was going to write about what the Christian response should be, but I thought it would be much more interesting to discuss it. Feel free to leave a comment. You don’t have to be a pastor or a theologian, you’re opinion is appreciated.

Bill

ADDENDUM: Since I first wrote this there has been a growing backlash against Tiger Woods and his actions. I believe that is only because of the extent of his moral indiscretions. Last I heard he was up to eighteen women he had been committing adultery with. When I first wrote this the number was 3 or 4 and that didn’t seem to be bothering people all that much. Even the sponsors had decided not to drop him. Instead of moral outrage I heard jokes about the situation, I heard people telling Tiger to come out and play golf, entertain us and we will forget. I heard people excuse his actions away by stating such things as “He’s only a man. What would you do if you had all those beautiful women wanting you?” So, I’m glad there is still a threshold that will cause a reaction when it is crossed  but saddened on how high that line has been set.

God’s Stunning Grace

Here is a snippet from the sermon I preached last night. We looked at God’s grace in the life of the Prodigal Son and in the life of Peter after his denial of Christ. The primary lesson was, there is a door open to go back to God after sin. God is willing to forgive you, restore you and bless you once more. God’s grace is stunning!

Horrifying Words Mingled with Indescribable Gratitude

By Bill Foote

Amos 4:12 (ESV) “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

Prepare to meet your God for what? For judgment! This is one of those verses that knock the wind out of you. Almighty God telling a people that He is going to break forth upon them in wrath. They have rejected His ways and have chosen unrighteousness and now the time has come to reap what they have sown.  The God who cannot be mocked (Gal. 6:7) is about to prove exactly what that means.

Fortunately for the believer there is an answer to this. It is found in the good news of the Gospel. Amos 4:12 tells us to “Prepare to meet your God in judgment.” The Gospel answers with the assurance that the believer has already met God in judgment in the person of Jesus Christ. He paid the penalty for my sin; He drank the cup of God’s fury until there was no fury left. I now stand before a holy God with nothing on the books of heaven against me. Though my sin was as scarlet, my record before God is now as white as snow.

Because Jesus was prepared to meet God in judgment I am now prepared to meet Him in glory.

Jude 24-25 (ESV) Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you  blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, [25]  to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,  be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Amen indeed!

Any thoughts. I’d love to hear them.

How the Gospel Saved a Hero

Henry was a hero to me. I met him while serving as a missionary and pastor in England. He was a WWII vet and I learned from him what it was like to be a soldier. I sat transfixed by his stories of landing on that blood-drenched beach on D-Day and the circumstances that led up to him being captured by Nazis behind enemy lines. This man had lived quite a life. I learned from him the cost that was paid for my freedom.

I learned from Henry what a hero really was. They don’t wear fancy costumes with a big “S” on their chest. Sometimes they are old men whose bodies are being slowly devoured by disease and who hobble into church with a cane.

Henry could tell most of his stories with ease. There was one story, however, that was much more difficult, one memory that had affected him in a far greater way than the others. One day Henry had to kill a child. He didn’t want to, he tried not to, but he was forced to, and it haunted him for almost fifty years. In WWII there was a group of kids called “Hitler’s kids,” children so brainwashed, so sold out to the cause that they became murderers. They were willing to give their own lives to kill enemy soldiers. One day Henry encountered such a child, about twelve years old he figured. This young kid started to approach Henry and his fellow soldiers. Henry did what he was told to do and started shouting “Halt” in German. He kept coming. Henry fired shots at his feet, which did nothing to stop him. Eventually this young boy reached into his coat and started to pull out a gun. Henry had no choice but to send him into eternity.

At that moment everything changed for Henry. A haunting fear entered into his life that could not be dispelled. He thought to himself, “Certainly anybody who kills a child will not be able to escape the fires of hell.” He was tormented. He started to drink to drive the fear away, but that did nothing. He asked to be put on the front lines in hopes of dying there, but he survived. He went to a priest, who told him to be faithful with the rosary beads – Henry knew that wasn’t the answer. Nothing he tried worked, so he lived with fear and guilt. He lived with nightmares. He lived with the thought of hell hounding him for almost fifty years!

Henry was in his seventies when he started attending our church. He came in and sat in the back. He was searching for something, anything, that might give him peace. One day I was speaking about the wonders of the cross and simply said, “The blood of Jesus is able to cleanse you from all sin. Past, present and future.” At that moment, Henry knew he had discovered what he’d been longing for. Henry trusted in the Savior and, in an instant, almost fifty years of guilt and fear were washed away. That is the unique power of the Gospel. There is no other message that can do something like that. What man couldn’t do for Henry, and what Henry couldn’t do for himself, Jesus did in a few minutes on a Sunday morning in a little church in Ashford, England. Henry was free!

It was a thrill to watch Henry fall in love with his Savior and begin to grow. He faithfully read his Bible until his eyesight began to fade. We provided a large print Bible so he could continue with his devotions. Henry’s only complaint was that he and his wife kept fighting over it because they both were reading God’s Word. When his eyesight became too weak to read the large print, we took him audio tapes of the Bible that he faithfully listened to.

One of the highlights of my time in England was the day I baptized Henry. I will never forget watching this man in his late seventies hobble up to the baptismal and willingly declare his allegiance to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. About a year after his baptism, Henry went to glory. I miss him and look forward to seeing him again. I thank God He entrusted me with the honor of baptizing a hero.

If this story has touched your heart, please feel free to leave a comment. This not only encourages me but also can start some wonderful discussions.

The Value of Being Weakened by God

To make us strong our heavenly Father must weaken us.

Taken from the sermon “Paul’s Pastoral heart”

How to Fight Sin – Video

I’ve discovered it is a lot easier to fight sin by finding a greater pleasure in Christ than what the sin can offer.

A short one minute segment taken from the sermon “Gazing on the glory of God”.

To get the full sermon and download the notes I preached from:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?sermonid=1130091353150

PASTOR’S PRESSURE: The Coolness Factor

Having our pastors proclaim the truth clearly and passionately doesn’t seem to be good enough today. We want them to be cool. Entertainment in church is as important as what is being taught, maybe even more important. This attitude in congregations puts pastors under tremendous pressure to compete. If I want my church to grow, if I don’t want my people to go to Mr. Big Personality’s church down the street, then I need to up my game as far as coolness goes. I need to be funny, quote modern rock songs, be up-to-date with recent television shows and movies and be very “now” with my fashion.

The problem is this pressure often results in a dumbing down of Christianity. If a joke has to be tacked on to every subject, no matter how serious it is, the appropriate gravity of the moment can be stolen. Unfortunately this is not a rare occurrence. Today I received an email from a friend who recently visited a church in the process of looking for a new pastor. Their search hadn’t been going so well. The last three preachers they invited had read a scripture, told a couple of jokes and a few stories and felt that was enough. This congregation wants more, but many don’t.

Other times, the commands of the Bible are turned into options so that nobody is offended. As Fred Craddock (Professor of Preaching and New Testament, Emeritus, at Candler School of Theology) so eloquently put it, “The exclamation points of the Bible are curled into question marks.” It is not uncommon to hear a pastor scrambling, trying to explain away a clear command rather than just simply teaching it. In the end, the passage that was meant to transform is so weakened that nobody feels any need to change, all because the pastor desired popularity above faithfulness to God’s Word.

Is this the model that Jesus, the greatest teacher of all time, left us? No! He told the truth in love, without fear of offending the people. Why? He knew that only truth can set the hearers free. Free from God’s wrath, free from sin, free from the joylessness of a self-centered life.

I’ve heard many styles of preaching and have decided that I want preaching that is more like Jesus and less like a late night talk show host. I want to be confronted by a courageous man who, from a heart of love, simply tells me what the Scriptures say, even when it’s uncomfortable.  I want to be called to move toward a life that is beyond anything I could ever experience in my own strength, that abundant life found in surrender to Christ and dependence upon Him. I want to be comforted by God’s promises and encouraged to take those promises from the pages of Scripture and put them into practice.

I want to be inspired by messages that so exalt Christ, my heart becomes willing to release its grip on the world and cling to Him as my treasure.

That’s what I want. Men who dip into the book so filled with God and His glory and bring out those God-drenched truths so I can understand and respond. That’s who I think is cool.