The Bloody Business Man

I met a man in the jail at 33rd who worshipped spirits and had been doing so for a long time. He said that he would have to cut himself and offer his blood as a sacrifice to his spirits.

While this may sound crazy, the fella was an average looking fella who was actually quite clever. He had been in a number of different prisons and described to me numerous systems and methods that he had used in order to thrive. He called it "wheeling and dealing." A favor for this guy leads to a a debt owed which can be cashed in for etc...that sort of thing.

I don't know if you're aware of this but some prisons have "Christian" dorms. What that means is that there is a particular part of the prison/jail that you can opt into that has Christian teaching available for anyone who wants it. You can ask to be moved into or out of the Christian area as not everyone likes it. For example, the Christian dorm in our jail (in Orlando) offers Bible study during times that other dorms would just be hanging out and watching TV.

The man described to me how he had found himself in a Christian dorm at another prison and how he had "come to power" there. It was there that he heard about Jesus and thought to himself (this is what he told me), "I will never bow down to such a wussy God like that."

The Christian dorm that he was in had a program where if you memorized a certain amount of scriptures they would give you a Bible. My friend being the business man that he is decided that he would memorize the scripture, get the Bible, and trade it for something that he wanted. What he didn't count on though was The Lord chasing after him through His Word.

As the man memorized more and more scriptures his heart began to change and he began to become genuinely interested in Jesus of Nazareth.

He described to me how as he began to follow Jesus, all of the things in his life that he worked for began to fall away. He was transferred to different prisons where his "wheeling and dealing" wouldn't work. The privileges that he had won/earned were taken away. He thought that life would get easier following Jesus but it actually became more difficult.

That night we had talked about how Jesus requires us to destroy our idols by bringing them to Him. That was what this man was experiencing. All of the areas of his life that gave him value and identity (apart from Christ) were being stripped away so that Jesus could fill the void for him and be his everything.

He now follows Jesus, he no longer worships spirits that require his blood. Instead, he serves the God that came down from heaven and spilled His own blood in order to redeem us. He serves the God that meets us in our messes and stops at nothing in order to draw us closer to Him.

Don't you want a God like that? A God who will pay any price to win your love, a God who knows all of your worst, most shameful deeds and thoughts and loves you anyway. There's nothing you can do to stop His love. Do you know Him? If not, He's waiting for you!

If you already know the Savior, let's praise him together for His unrelenting love as He strengthens us and continues to spread His kingdom through broken people like ourselves. A God who transforms us into the image of Christ for the sake of others.

Needy

I was reading through the book of Philippians last night and one of the verses smacked me in the face.

I had read it before but it had never really stood out to me. I started thinking about it and the implications of it. This is what I believe it's saying.

For those of us that follow and submit to Jesus, all of our needs are met, right now...even though it might not feel like it. We have everything we need in Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave Himself for us.

"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:19

This also means that if we feel Jesus isn't meeting one of our needs, perhaps it's not really a need. This verse is saying that any real needs we have are answered in a relationship with Jesus and being overwhelmed in His love. When we find our selves angry, impatient, bitter, lonely..we're not grasping how much Jesus loves us and how very near He is to us. We're seeking the love and approval of someone or something else other than our Savior.

As you go throughout your week, remember that there is someone who loves you immensely and completely. Who would give up anything in order to love you, who would stop at nothing to make you His, who not only risked His everything but really gave up His everything in order to call you His. He will never reject you or turn away from you. He will provide for everyone of your needs.

Jesus is coming soon and He can't wait to see you. 

Everything will be made new. 

This is real.

The Great Recycler

God works in incredible ways that are often not the ways we would have chosen.

As some of you know we lost our son Seth in January of this year. The diagnosis was SIDS. This has been by no means easy and there are no clear cut answers for why The Lord allows suffering into our lives. However, I am here to tell you that even though suffering comes (and come it will) The Lord is able to make good of any situation and use it for your healing, the good of others and to bring glory to God.

I want to tell you one of the many ways that The Lord has brought about good through the death of my son. I will never forget this encounter, I will tell it to my dying day.

I have been going into the jail on 33rd st since my son died this year. I go in about once a month and I participate in a Bible study every week that involves some men who have come out of the jail on 33rd. 

When I go into the jail I usually walk through a section of scripture with the men there. There is typically somewhere between 20-30 men who participate in this. It involves some teaching and a lot of discussion. I share my struggles with them and I am very open and honest with them.

When I meet with men for the Bible study I also share my struggles with them as we study through what the Bible says.

Recently there have been a few new people that have joined us. When new people come we usually take time to go around and introduce ourselves, give a little bit of our backstory, and share what we are currently struggling with.

After I had shared my past and how Jesus has changed my life I shared that I had recently lost my son in January and how I struggle with that everyday. How I am different...how I am sad...frequently.

As I finished speaking, one of the men (who was new to the group) looked up at me and said, "I know you. I've met you before."

This took me off guard to say the least. I don't remember ever meeting this man before.

He said, "You visited me while I was in prison and you shared with us how you lost your Son but how you could still feel God's love and how you still loved Him. I couldn't get you out of my head. I went to bed at night thinking of you. I couldn't figure out how you could lose so much and still love God. I figured He must be an awesome God. I wanted to get to know this God.

I knew what church you went to so as soon as I got out I looked it up. You are the reason that I'm here."

This man has recently given his life to Jesus. He has recently been baptized along with his wife. He is falling more in love with Jesus everyday, even through the messiness that life brings.

I tell this story not to make much of me or my family, but to point towards how great a God we serve.

My son lived 3 months and my wife and I miss him every day, but even through this terrible loss The Lord used the 3 months that my son lived to change the eternity of a man and his wife.

There is no evil, no pain, no despair, no thing, that Jesus cannot redeem. He is the great Redeemer, the great Recycler.

The Lord takes what is ashes, what is ruined, and turns it into a crown of beauty. -Is 61:3

Nightmares

I have been a Christian no longer than five years now. I don't know that right away it began, but soon after I became a Christian I developed the habit of having nightmares almost every night.

This may sound terrible, and I suppose that in truth it is terrible, but the effect that it has on me is one that I actually am glad for. My nightmares are usually about me being entangled in the way that I used to live. I used to behave in a way that chased after everything that I thought would bring me joy without thinking of the relationships that I might be injuring or breaking in the pursuit.

I would let anger fester into hate and I would nurse the hate and continue to feed the flame that burned in my heart against others. I would weave webs of lies (I literally enjoyed deceiving others, it made me feel like I was smarter and more in control) and live at the center/hub of all the lies. When a strand of my web was "broken" my life fell into peril as I had to venture out to the lie that had been damaged and mend it with more lies.

I was consumed by chasing after things that would numb and enable me to escape. From a very early age I was addicted (it was all consuming) to video games. This continued all the way up until the time that I became a Christian. I also consumed oceans of alcohol because I preferred being drunk more than being sober.

My old self, my old way of living was concerned only with maintaining control and "happiness" through whatever means possible. However, my old self settled for leftover fastfood fries when I could have had a feast cooked by a world famous chef.

When things are going good in my life, I like to think that I praise God for those things. In truth I don't think that's the way that things actually happen. I tend to forget God and I certainly lose the awareness that I need Him every moment of the day. I miss out on the intimacy of our relationship when my life is filled with wonderful, good things. This is not His fault, rather it speaks to my selfish nature that wants to be in control. When the illusion of control is there I love to grab it and claim it as my own. In the process I tend to cut God out of the picture (even though sometimes I'm doing it unconsciously).

My nightmares have been a blessing, as I believe all suffering in the hands of Jesus can be turned from a tragedy into something completely different to be used to bless us and others. Suffering in the hands of Jesus is like a Phoenix that rises from the ashes. The prophet Isaiah says that God trades us, He takes our ashes and gives us crowns of beauty, He takes our despair and turns it into festive praise.

My nightmares remind me that my selfishness is still their, still lurking in my heart. Why is that good? Because when I see the depth of my depravity I also see the height of my Savior's love for me. He loves me not just when I'm at my best, He loved me and died for me while I was His enemy. He chose to love me and endure hell in order to make me His.

What are you suffering from? Perhaps you've been stuck staring at the pointing finger instead of looking to where the finger is pointing. It is very easy to see only what's in front of us without looking to the one that all things points to. Our blessings are given to us to draw us to God and our sufferings are allowed in order to bind us ever closer in His arms. As Joni Eareckson Tada puts it, "God permits what He hates in order to accomplish what He loves."

There is nothing, there is not one thing that has happened in your life that God can't turn into something for good. Also, it is not our responsibility to turn bad things into good things (I find myself trying to do this quite a bit), that is His responsibility and we get in the way when we try to take that burden upon ourselves.

Jesus has turned my reoccurring nightmares into blessings that I thank Him for. 

How?

Jesus Christ took the ultimate nightmare on the cross, He was cut off from the one that He loved the most, He was cast out so that when my nightmares actually happen to me in real life I won't have to despair. I know that when my nightmares become true it is not because God hates me, in fact it draws me even closer and plunges me even deeper into the love that Christ has shown for me on the cross.

My God gave up His Son so that when I would lose mine I could know that it's not permanent. 

I fully expect to see my son again and when I do we can enjoy Jesus together for all time. O Lord, your love is an ocean and I am drowning in it.

The Deliverer

Mark 15:6–15 (NLT) — 6 Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner—anyone the people requested. 7 One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, a revolutionary who had committed murder in an uprising. 8 The crowd went to Pilate and asked him to release a prisoner as usual. 9 “Would you like me to release to you this ‘King of the Jews’?” Pilate asked. 10 (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) 11 But at this point the leading priests stirred up the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. 12 Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!” 14 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?” But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!” 15 So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
____

What do you live for? What gives your life meaning? What comforts you?

However you responded to those questions, whatever answer you gave...are you happy with it? Do you think what makes you happy now will continue to make you happy in a year, two years, ten years?

What if I told you I could offer you something better?

You might be saying, "Oh great, some flimsy spiritual answer." But give me a chance, hear me out.

Oppression

The Jewish people were once enslaved by the Egyptian government. They were given poor living conditions and forced to work for almost no pay or food. They are the ones that the Egyptian higher ups would take advantage of to build their buildings and any other manual labor they didn't feel like doing. This went on for some 400 years.

The Jewish people cried out to their God, Yahweh, to deliver them from slavery and Yahweh subdued the Egyptian government through various plagues and miracles and caused the Egyptians to rid themselves of the Jews rather than face the wrath of Yahweh. Part of this deliverance involved killing a lamb and smearing its blood around your doorpost. God spoke to their political leader Moses saying that the angel of death would pass over those homes which had the blood on their doorposts and not kill the first born of that family.

Now this isn't a fable or myth, if you watched a History channel documentary on the Jewish people this is literally their history and the way the story is still told today.

To remember this deliverance from oppression the Jewish people celebrate once a year a feast called Passover. It is to remember that Yahweh delivered them from slavery to the Egyptian government and brought them through the desert into land that was promised to them.

This text picks up at the time of Passover. The Jewish people of Jesus' time were ruled by the Roman Empire. Rome had control over the Jewish nation and allowed the Jews freedom to regulate themselves as long as it didn’t oppose Caesar or get out of hand. However, the Romans were seen as superior to the Jewish people. For instance, at any time a roman soldier could ask any Jew to carry his pack and belongings for one mile….the Jew by law was required to comply or face penalties.

The Jewish people were tired of being second class citizens and longed for some way out. They longed for someone to deliver them from their problems.


A Choice Between Saviors

There was a tradition each Passover that the Roman government would release one prisoner.

The options this Passover were:

*Barabbas - a Jewish man who was involved in a revolt against the Roman government and in the process had committed murder.

*Jesus of Nazareth - A Jew from Galilee who had developed a following by preaching about the coming Kingdom of God and who had performed many miracles and healings.

Now to give you a little background...

The Jewish people believed in a Messiah, a man chosen by God, who would come and rise up as a military and political power to overthrow the Roman government. There had been many people that claimed to be the Messiah and had gathered together a following to attack the government, but ultimately they were killed and their followers disbanded.

This happened time and time again.

Now here are two men, Jesus who is claiming to be the Messiah and claims that the Kingdom of God is not only coming, but is now here...and there's Barabbas a man who not only talks the talk but walks the walk as he has already been involved in an attempt to overthrow the Roman government and will likely try again and learn from his mistakes.

The Jews want to once again be released from oppression and here are two men with very different methods trying to do just that.

The crowd is given a choice, "which prisoner will you choose?"

The crowd shouted, "Barabbas!"


A Practical Savior

We all feel under oppression in some way. We all look at something in our life and can see that it’s just not right.

“I shouldn’t have to deal with this.”
“I don’t deserve this.”

Once we identify the oppression, then we look for a savior.

What are you feeling oppressed by?

Maybe it’s a dead-end job. Maybe it’s being single. Maybe it’s your family, or your marriage, or your home, or being poor, or not having enough friends.....whatever it is we all look to something in our life this way.

Then we set our sights on a savior.

If I could just work for a different company, if I just found someone to love me, if I could just move away from my family, if I could just get out of this marriage, if I could just get a bigger home, if I could just make more money, if I could just be more popular……then I’d be happy, then I’d be free from this oppression.

But what happens? Think about the past, now that you see this pattern…look through your experiences in the past. When you get your savior, does it really make you happy?

False saviors may satisfy for certain situations, but they never address our underlying needs.  So history just repeats itself time and time again.

You get a glimpse of this in our text. Barabbas was trying to overthrow the Roman government but it didn’t work because Rome’s military power is vastly superior to a rag-tag group of political rebels…..but what if he had one more shot, then maybe he would succeed!

When our false saviors don’t cut it, we often think, “If I could just have more, then maybe that would fix the problem.”

Do you see how fruitless this is? It didn’t work before, but maybe more of it will.

We do this with money, sex, social status, possessions…you name it.

What I have isn’t good enough, but more would make me happy.

These are all functional, false saviors, they promise eternal happiness but they can only provide temporary pleasure.


How to choose the Better Savior

The name Barabbas means Son of the Father.  Isn’t it ironic that Jesus is the true Son of the Father? The Jewish people saw both men offering solutions to their oppression, but they chose the false savior over the real Savior.

When push comes to shove, we don’t choose Jesus either. When life wounds us we cling to vacations, our bank account, our education, our relationships, etc to save us and comfort us but I want to show you how to choose a better Savior, the True Savior.

The reason we cling to these practical saviors is because at bottom we don’t believe in Jesus as Savior. Whatever you’re struggling with, the reason you are unhappy and unsatisfied is at bottom a belief problem. Imagine that you are in a Nazi concentration camp as a Jew….the situation is horrendous…but what if you knew that today was that last day before you were liberated? You may still be abused, atrocities will still happen, the evil is still just as real….but because of your knowledge of imminent liberation you aren’t affected like someone who doesn’t know of the liberation, someone without hope. The internal belief changes you.

Whatever your heart runs to when it's been wounded, it's settling for a bootlegged, grainy movie in a foreign language when it could have a surround sound movie theater experience. The problem isn’t in our desire to be rescued; the problem is that we fill that desire with lesser saviors. C.S. Lewis puts it this way:

"We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Jesus is the only Savior that can still provide, even when your bank account can’t. He will still be there when your other relationships let you down. That job won't always be there to give you identity, but Jesus’ work on the cross will be there to give you identity.

In the text we see Barabbas and Jesus. Barabbas really is guilty for murder and rebellion against the Roman government, but Jesus is innocent. Pilate found no guilt in Him and neither did King Herod. Jesus is the one that receives the punishment so that Barabbas (the guilty) can walk free. This is a foretaste of what was to be accomplished on a cosmic scale on the cross. The guilty can be set free because the truly innocent has taken the punishment.

How do you know that Jesus will satisfy? How do you know He’ll come through? How do you know He’ll hold up His end of the deal? Because he’s already accomplished the most difficult part, all the problems you’re dealing with are a piece of cake compared to what He’s already been through to save you.

He lost the only relationship that really matters, His relationship with God the Father so that you could gain it. He left His heavenly family so that you join it by being adopted into it. He left all the riches He had in heaven so that you could gain the only riches that matter in this world. He left the fame, popularity and acceptance of heaven so that you could gain the only acceptance that is of any value.

Don't you see? Because Jesus came down and suffered oppression for you, you can be freed from the only oppression that really matters. Because of Jesus coming down, living a perfect life, suffering the cross and rising from the dead, you can be free from enslavement to sin and death.

Instead of being disappointed by practical saviors, turn to the real Savior that loves you and has already paid the highest price possible to save you.

Romans 8:32 (NLT) - 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

For Barabbas the price was paid, he was set free. Our trying to earn salvation or acceptance from God is like a child trying to buy a yacht with his weekly allowance. Barabbas wasn't set free because of his good behavior. The price was paid while he was in all probability an enemy of Jesus. He was set free because of Jesus and what Jesus chose to do.

It's only when you see that Jesus paid the price for you that you can step out of the endless cycle of false saviors. Why settle for dumpster diving when you can walk inside and eat at the buffet for free?!

It's only when you see that Jesus has already given you the most valuable possession in a relationship with the Father and eternal life that you can be freed from running to false, practical saviors that will in the end leave you worse off than you were before.

This text takes place during the Passover, a time when the Jewish people remembered how God had delivered them from slavery years ago. It was during this Passover that the true lamb of God came down and by His blood set His people free not only from slavery to Egypt, but from slavery to sin and death.

Jesus fulfilled the true meaning of the Passover by becoming our Passover lamb. Because of Him, we too have been set free.

Better Than Chicken

Acts 2:42 (NASB95) — 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

____

Well, I feel like I have a personal relationship with God...I pray, I just don't like religion.

I don't see why we need to meet together in a church. Sometimes I feel like they just want my money.

Church is just good for families anyway.

Why are there churches? What do they do? Are the churches we have today doing what they are supposed to be doing?

I think these questions can be answered by going back to the root. Let's see what church is for and what it's about by going back to when it started.

It's in the book of Acts that the Christian church really started to become it's own thing apart from Judaism. In the beginning it was still seen as a sect of Judaism and it was known as "The Way."

Jerusalem is the heart of Israel, it is where the temple was built and it was also where the highest religious and political affairs took place. People would travel from all the surrounding areas in order to visit the temple and worship in Jerusalem especially during certain times of year. It was Pentecost and Jerusalem was filled with Jews that lived in different parts of the world, all had travelled there to be in the Holy city of Jerusalem.

This is the scene that the Christian church was born into. Below is an excerpt from Acts...Peter has just stood up and reasoned with a crowd of Jewish believers regarding Jesus....let's see what happened...

Acts 2:36–47 (NLT) — 36 “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!” 37 Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God.” 40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Seems unreal...right?

This is what church started out as. 

The intent of church is this - a real relationship with Jesus will profoundly change your heart...and once you've experienced the love of Christ, you want to share it. Church is about getting people together who have experienced the love of Jesus in order to show that love to others who have not yet experienced it that they may also come to know the love of Jesus.

So how do we go about this?

Acts 2:42 (NASB95) — 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

I want to be straight forward about this. Your natural instinct is to hate this. What comes naturally to us is to not want to be at church. If you are going to try and use your own moral strength to go through the motions...you will fail.

So what are we suppose to do then?

I want to tell you about verse 42 and then we'll answer that question.

At the core of verse 42 is fellowship. The breaking of bread, the teachings of the apostles and prayer are important too, but I believe that they flow out of fellowship. Let me explain.

In the context, fellowship is immediately referring to living in community with other believers in Jesus. But it's more than that....it has to be or it wouldn't work.

It's not just a sharing, a living with, a community experience with believers in Jesus....it's a sharing, a living with, a community experience with God Himself.

If that's not at the core of it, then it will fail. 

What do I mean by it will fail?

Think about in the past when you've gone on a camping trip, or lived in dorms, or had a friend stay over at your house. In general it seems that we can get along with people when we're only around them a little bit, but to actually do life with them?! That's when friendships can really take a turn for the worst.

Maybe they're messy and you're neat, or they like to listen to loud music and you like it quiet, or they're night people and you're a morning person. Being around a lot of people, for extended amounts of time, on frequent occasions tends to stress us out or get on our nerves.....add to that sharing resources with them like money, food, property, etc......that's precisely what church is about.

Do you see? Do you see why this isn't a natural thing? What's natural is to think, "I don't need that. I can take care of myself. I don't need others to help me out and I certainly don't want to help others that can't take care of themselves. They need to learn how to take care of themselves anyway, if I help them then they won't learn."

If you are going to try and muster up the "feelings" to go out and fellowship with Christians...you won't be able to do it.

You will never enjoy fellowship unless you first see that Jesus lost the ultimate fellowship in order for you to have the only fellowship that will ever matter. On the cross Jesus lost the fellowship He had with His Father so that you can enjoy that very same fellowship!

God is the only being whose fellowship fuels our desires, our emotions, our needs, instead of draining them. Any human fellowship you have will ultimately drain your "resources" in some way or another. A fellowship with God is the only fellowship that supplies you with more "resources" by satisfying your desires, your emotions, and providing for your needs.

Only when you see what Jesus has already given you can you truly enjoy human fellowship. A church is built on this kind of fellowship. Because you have fellowship with God through Jesus, God gives you "resources" that not only fill you up but leave you overflowing. Once you are locked into living with, sharing with, doing community with God, you won't want to let those overflowing "resources" go to waste.

You will want to help others, you will want to love others, you will want to include others, you will want to let others know what God has done for you, and you will want to show others the way to this amazing love.

Once you see what Jesus has freely given in order to bring you into His community, only then can you can be set free to give so that others can be in your community.

That's what church is.

Me, Myself & Idols

1 John 5:21 (ESV) — 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

____

No idols? No problem! Who were those fools who bowed down to little carvings and statues? That's dumb! Don't they know that those things can't help them? They made them with their own hands, and now they bow down and worship them as if the created could somehow help it's creator?! Ridiculous!

You know we still do this right?

It looks dumb when we can stand at a distance and point at past cultures who have done this, but how do we do when it comes to our own culture?

You've heard of the ten commandments right? It's really all about that first one, "You shall have no other Gods before me." When the Bible says, "before me," it doesn't mean having a god that butts in line before him, so that it would be okay to have many gods but just none in front of Him. Rather, it means in His sight, before His face.

If you keep the first one perfectly, you will never break commandments 2-10. Why would I steal if I trust in my God as providing everything I need and rely on his justice instead of taking it into my own hands?

The reasons we break the commandments is because something else in our lives starts vying for the "God" position in our hearts. It's usually good things too.

My wife can be my god if I place on her the burden of fulfilling me and making me happy. If my entire being depends on what she thinks of me, if I'm counting on her for my happiness. People can't bear those burdens nor should they have to. Only God can bear that burden.

How does this start? It starts by you making up your own personal hell. Not the real hell where you're cut off from God, but a made up hell. Hell is having a crappy car, hell is living in an apartment with noisy neighbors, hell is having no free time, hell is being single, hell is not having any kids, hell is having a job that you don't like, hell is not having the money that you think you deserve.

Once you've made a hell for yourself you start to look for....a savior. Not the real Savior who died for sinners of the cross, but a fake savior. If you're lonely and single your savior becomes a pet. You love that pet, you dress it up, you are sad if you feel the pet doesn't return the affection that you show it, you pour your life into the pet to make it happy, you worship it. Then what happens, it lets you down...because it's not a real savior it's a pet!

If your hell is not having money your savior becomes anything that will get you that money. You dedicate your life to it, you sacrifice time with your family, you sacrifice time with friends, you sacrifice sleep...look at the language! You are sacrificing to a false savior! Then what happens....someone bigger and better comes and takes the job you wanted/deserved. Or you grow old and rich with no one and nothing to do with your money and you die alone. Your false god lets you down. 

What do we do next then? We find another false god. I don't have enough clothes, if only I had more clothes...then I'd be happy.

I hate being in school, if only I was out of school and had a job...then I'd be happy.

I hate my family, if only I could move away and be independent...then I'd be happy.

I'm so sick of work, if only I could have a vacation to the Bahamas...then I'd be happy.

I'm lonely, if only I had someone to have sex with...then I'd be happy.

What do you day dream about? What do you spend your money on? What do you say to yourself, "if I lost that I could not go on." What are you living for? What's attached to your most painful emotions so that if that area of your life is threatened or nudged you jump from normal to furious within seconds? Whatever it is....it's probably an idol.

Idols are usually good things! But the problem is that we turn them into God things. They're not made for that, they can't handle the weight of expectation, they will disappoint. There's only one that can handle that burden...the real, living God who saves from a real hell.

Sin is real, you only have to watch the news for a minute before you realize "things aren't the way they should be." Because of sin we've put distance between ourselves and God. Because of sin you're actually an enemy of God. It may not seem like a big deal to you but think of this...

If you steal something from your brother, he'll get upset but you resolve it...no big deal

If you steal something from the president, you'll have secret service questioning you...it's a big deal

The crime was the same, but in the second case you committed against a person of "higher" authority. So now elevate that authority to the position of God of the universe...it's a big deal.

The good news though is that "getting right with God" isn't something that depends on your moral prowess.

Romans 5:8–10 (NLT) — 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

Did you get that? Who fixed the problem? Was it you? What were you doing in the verses above? Where are you mentioned? You're the sinner, the enemy.....so who fixed it? God did! 

We are made right with God because Christ died! God did the hard work, you can come to Him as you are and ask him to step into the position of God in your life. He won't disappoint, He won't let you down, He's big enough, strong enough, powerful enough to really be your God and to really be your Savior.

Romans 10:13 (NLT) — 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

John 1:12 (NLT) — 12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

John 3:16 (NLT) — 16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 6:40 (NLT) — 40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

Romans 8:1 (NLT) — 1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.