Be Careful

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

We all make mistakes. That’s part of the human experience. We all mess up. We all blow it. We all fail. That’s what happens. And because we all fail, we really do all need to hear that word of grace. Jesus came, suffered, died, and was raised to life again because of God’s great love for us.

We are loved. No matter what has ever happened, no matter what the sin, no matter what has gone wrong.

We are loved.

You have to drill that truth down into your skull. You have to let the truth of God’s amazing love for you penetrate your very being. You are loved. More than you’ll ever know.

Don’t hold onto your sin and failings, hold onto His love.

Now, that said, there’s something else we need to know. We need to know the dangers of our sin. While our sin, through Jesus is forgiven and done away with, we also do not need to treat sin as though it isn’t something that is terrible destructive.

Listen to what it says in Hebrews 3: 12-13:

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Be careful that we are not hardened by our sin. Make sure that our sin continues to convict us. It is a dangerous, dangerous thing then when we sin and it doesn’t bother us. Especially if our sin is something that we chose to do. If it’s something that we KNOW, we have no doubt about, it’s clear as day, is wrong. And it doesn’t bother us.

When we have a hardened heart, we aren’t living the fullness of God’s power and glory. We aren’t seeking His life, His grace, His mercy, His power. His very life that He desires for us to live.

Today, you are forgiven. You are. Live in that grace.

But be careful with sin. Be careful. It’s not good. It is destructive. It will harm you, your relationships, your life, your everything. The devil seeks to rob, kill, and destroy.

And one of the things he longs to do is harden our heart. Don’t let that happen. Keep your heart soft. Pray. Read. Serve. Live. Let God’s grace soften your heart. Live in grace. Be careful of sin.

And allow God to continue to change you. And in that, we truly live.

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Facing a Challenge

Posted on February 24, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

Sometimes in life, something happens that we ask ourselves, can I do this? Am I big enough for this task? Can I handle this challenge?

We’ve all been there at some point. We’ve all had something dropped in our laps, something go on that we think to ourselves, I can’t do this. I just can’t.

So, what do we do when that happens? How do we handle that challenge? What are our options? What do we do? One of my favorite examples of something like this happening in the Bible is Matthias. Listen to his story as found in Acts 1: 23-26:

And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

We don’t know much about him in scripture other than what we just read. We know he was part of the group that was with Jesus, we know he was faithful, and we know that he was then called to step up into a group that was so very important.

And we know that he did.

So, what do you do when you face that challenge? I think that verse in the passage is so key – “Lord you know the hearts of al, show us which one of these two you have chosen.” When that challenge comes, we trust in the one that has called us to that place.

When God has placed your or led you to a place where you think, I just can’t do this, remember that. God has placed you there. God has led you there. It is God that is at work in getting you to that point. It is God that had called you.

Through Him, by Him, with Him, you can do it. You can. If He has led you to that moment. You can do it.

That challenge me be a new opportunity. Or it may be a moment of pain. Or it may be a something that even hurts. The challenge could be a million different things. But if God is the one guiding you and holding your hand, He will lead you in that moment.

Trust. When the challenge looks to great. When your strength looks too small. When you are unsure, unsteady, and maybe even unready. Trust.

God has you there. And He will not leave you. He knows your heart. And He knows what you can do.

Trust.

52 Weeks (Week 8)

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

Just like we did a few weeks back with Psalm 121, we are going to learn another set of passages. We are going to, over the next few weeks, learn the concluding verses in Romans 8. Last week we learned Romans 8:28, this week we will learn Romans 8:29-30.

If you look at Romans, you see Paul spending so much time in Romans 1- 7 explaining our need for Jesus, how everyone that has ever lived needs Jesus. And when you read it, you can almost feel a little down because Paul really hammers everyone and their sin and their need for salvation.

And then you get to Romans 8. Romans 8 may be one of the most graceful, optimistic chapters in the entire Bible. It starts off the call that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, we are forgiven. And then it just keeps getting better and better and better.

Today we and memorize Romans 8: 29-30:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

In this passage, we see this truth about salvation. It’s not just about us. Now of course we have to respond to God’s offer. We have to respond to God’s gift of live and joy and peace. We have to move.

But, it doesn’t start with us. It starts with God. He is the first actor. He reaches out to us. He calls us. He comes to us. He moves first. He acts first. He says you are mine.

And then it’s up to us to respond.

Today, through Jesus Christ, God has called you. He had reached out to you. He desires to know you.

And He calls us to reach back. He calls us to respond.

Today, as grace is offered to us by God, may we receive that precious gift. May we respond to God’s action.

Who We Are

Posted on February 19, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

As we walk together through this season of Lent, it’s very important for us to remember who we are, and whose we are. We are the people of God. That’s our identity, that’s our purpose, that’s our calling.

We have to remember that. We belong to God. We are His.

Seriously. We are His. And that means this. We are not our own. We don’t live our lives the way that we want to live (or at least we shouldn’t), we don’t chase after our purposes, our plans, our goals, our stuff.

We are called to chase after God’s. That’s where life is found. In Him, and through Him.

But, why are we God’s people? Is it because of our perfection, our goodness, our righteousness, our stuff? Is God lucky to have us on His team? No, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Listen to what we are told today in Deuteronomy 7: 6-8:

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Today we are told yes – we belong to God. But we aren’t God’s because of our worth or our might, but we are God’s so that He can show His power through us. We are God’s because He wants to use us to show His strength. In the Old Testament, He didn’t choose Israel because they were the greatest. He chose them because they were the weakest. And in their weakness, when they were faithful and did great things, that just shows the power of God.

It’s the same for us today. You aren’t perfect. You don’t have it all figured out. You don’t have it all figured out.

And you know what?

That’s ok.

God still wants you. He still desires you. He still desires to be in relationship with you.

Not because of you. Because of Him.

Today, you belong to God. Live for Him. Live by His strength. Live in His power. Live for His purpose.

And if it goes wrong, remember this. You aren’t His because you are perfect. You are His because He is perfect.

Rest in that.

A Holy Lent

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the Christian season of Lent. The season of Lent is a time of reflection. This season started this past Wednesday, at Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday starts this time where as a church and as individuals where we reflect our sin, our need for Jesus, and the power that He brings to our lives.

This season began thousands of years ago as new converts to the Christian faith were baptized and became fully part of the church. However, before they were baptized, they had a time of reflection, of prayer, of fasting, of preparation. They were getting themselves ready to make this decision, to take this plunge. But before they did, they made sure that they were ready.

We do the same thing today in this season of Lent. We know that God has called us to great things. And for preparation for that, we need to get ready for that, ready to be faithful. We prepare.

So, with that, a couple of things. First, I would encourage you to fast from something this Lenten season. Fast from a meal, from a food, from an activity, from something.

And second, when you fast, pray. Let this fasting draw your heart and your mind to God. Let it make you pray!

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what Jesus said in Matthew 6: 16-18, and I’m making it my key verse to focus on during Lent this year. Listen to what Jesus said:

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The thing that is sticking with me is this. Jesus didn’t say “if you fast.” He said, “when you fast.” Jesus, tells us that as Christians, fasting is not options. It’s like loving. And serving. And showing grace. And forgiving. It’s what we are supposed to do.

It’s what we are called to do.

Why? Fasting helps us pray better. It helps us focus on God. It helps us to see the desires that control us. It draws us closer to God. It causes us to pray. It gives us wisdom and dependence. It strengthens us. It makes us cling to God.

In short, it truly, truly, truly strengthens our faith.

This Lent, I encourage you to fast in some way from something. And see what God does in your life.

Starting today and leading to Easter, I pray you have a Holy Lent.

#realtalk – Faithful Steps

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

I finished out #realtalk our short series on marriage this past Sunday and I had some folks ask if I would share a brief overview of some of the things that I talked about in that message. Quickly, I want you to know that I have a great marriage, but it’s by no means perfect. And the reason it is so strong is because of the grace and strength of my wife, Holly.

Those aren’t just words that I’m “supposed” to say. I mean it. She really is the rock of our marriage, and none of this would be possible without here.

Second this is not “7 easy steps to a perfect marriage.” There are no easy steps. Marriage is tough and awesome. There aren’t easy steps. There are only faithful steps. If we take some faithful steps, God will do great things.

So, just a few of the quick points I made Sunday.

1. Submit yourself to Jesus. It all starts with you and your walk with Jesus. Everything in life eventually walks itself back to that. It all goes back to our walk with Jesus. We will never be the husband or wife you want to be with our Jesus. We will never be the friend, co-worker, anything without Jesus. It all starts there. None of this is possible without Him.

2. Communicate. James 1:19 says this:

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

We have got to communicate, and that starts with learning to listen. It’s an old saying, but it’s true. We’ve been given two ears and one mouth for a reason. We have to listen. And by that, I mean really listen. Part of the problem with communication is that just don’t really hear what the person is saying. So, if you are having problems with communication with your marriage, two suggestions.

A. Speak concisely. Say what you mean. Be honest. Say exactly what you mean with nothing else there. Make it simple to understand.

B. Don’t assume. When the other person is speaking, don’t assume their meaning. Don’t assume you know what they mean. Take them at their word, don’t assume a hidden meaning. If you aren’t sure what they are saying ask for clarity. It’s ok. That’s how you recapture communication. 3. Schedule yourself

3. Schedule yourself. Just like we budget out our money, we must budget out our time. Work each other into your schedule. It says in Psalm 90:12:

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

We must make time. Dave Ramsey talks about knee to knee conversations where you turn off the TV, put the kids to bed, and talk. You have to build that into your lives and into your schedule. And this is one of the things that I struggle with the most. I’m a workaholic and would work all day long. I’ve had to learn to work my family into my schedule. They matter more than anything.

4. Remember what you love about each other. That’s one of the worst things about being in a bad spot in a marriage or a relationship. We can forget what we loved about each other to begin with. The Bible talks about remembering our first love. Sometimes we have to stop and remember what it is that made us fall in love them to begin with.

5. Serve each other. That’s the entire point of Ephesians 5: 22-33. Marriage is not about what you can get out of it, but what you can give to it. If you are in a bad place with your spouse, do two things.

A. Pray for them. You may do it through clenched teeth, but pray. See if God doesn’t change you heart.

B. Serve them. Do something nice for them, desiring nothing in return. Serve them. Give to them. And see if in that action God doesn’t do something.

6. Serve together. It says in 1 Peter 4:10

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

Each of us is called to serve. Serve together as a family, as a couple. Do something for someone, do something for your church, do something for the kingdom. And that will bring you together. It will. If you as a husband and wife will serve together in some way, it will strengthen your relationship in amazing ways.

7. Don’t sacrifice each other for your children. Your kids are part of your family, but they are not the totality of your family. I put it like this; the most important lesson I can teach my kids is to love their mother. The way that I love my wife will determine the type of man that my daughter desires to marry and will determine the type of man that my son will become. The example I set loving my wife will shape my children more than I can ever understand.

If you’d like to hear this most recent message you can click here, or if you’d like to hear the previous week’s message, click here.

52 Weeks (Week 7)

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

This week in our 52 Weeks, 52 Verses, we get one of my absolute favorite verses in all of Scripture, this is one of those verses that I’ve built my life around. This is one of those verses that gives you hope, gives you confidence no matter what you are facing.

If this year of memorizing the Bible does anything, it’s for weeks like this and verses like this. This is one of those that you need to hide close to your heart, and pull out when you need that hope.

Listen to and learn Romans 8:28:

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

All things work together for good for those called according to His purpose. All things. Here is the hope that this vese gives me. All things in life, the bad, as much (maybe even more so) and the good work together for our good, if we are called to God’s purpose.

What does that mean? First, it means this. God has a purpose. God has a plan. And while we have free will within that, God is at work, guiding, calling, challenging, pushing, prodding. God is at work in all things, to bring something good out of it. God has a plan that is bigger than our human choices.

Now, I don’t understand that and am not going to claim to. But I know it’s true. God has a plan and a purpose.

And for those of us that love Him, all thing will work according to that plan.

All things. They will.

So, today, trust. God is at work in all things, for His purpose. And for our good. In all things. He really is.

Memorize this one today. Write it on your heart. Write it on your soul. Cling to it. For all things will work for our good. And for His purpose.

50 Shades of Grey, Freedom and Empowerment?

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

I am not writing a post about 50 Shades of Grey, seeing as how I haven’t actually read it and I’m probably not the target audience. I do my best not to comment on something unless I have some sense of actual familiarity with it. I don’t want my opinion on something to be based off what someone else said, I’d like actually to know what it says.

That said, I think the popularity of the book, as well as the forthcoming movie (especially, apparently in my home state), says something about the notion of sex in our culture, as well as in the church culture. It’s interesting; the 50 Shades of Grey movie has done something that I’ve not seen done in the life of the church in a long time. It has brought conservative/evangelicals together with liberal/progressives. Both sides are saying that this book/movie speaks to something deep in our culture.

The thing that I keep coming back into in my mind, however, is how 50 Shades of Grey, as well as other shifting mores on sexuality, stake their territory in the notion of empowering individuals. We can be told in this culture that it is up to us to make our decisions, claim our rights, and own our sexuality. (By the way, this notion is true not just of sex, but about anything that people desire). Who is society/the Church/anyone to tell me how I should live, what I should do? That is a form or repression or corrosion. We are called to be empowered to live as we want, to do as we want, and to claim the life that we want to live.

We should not be told how to live. We must live.

And that sounds tempting and good. It does sound empowering. It does sound like something that may be appealing.

But here’s the thing. I’ve been thinking about something I read about Dean Smith this week. Smith is the form coach at the Univeristy of North Carolina. He lived a truly amazing life, and he wasn’t just a coach. He was really a coach/philosopher/theologian. He said this in an interview.

“Years ago, Dr. Seymour gave a sermon that made so much sense to me. It was called The Paradox of Discipline, and I had it mimeographed. He made the point that the disciplined person is the one that’s truly free. The student who says, ‘I could make A’s if I tried,’ but who doesn’t have the discipline to sit down and do it, is the one who’s shackled. The disciplined student is free: He has the choice of making an A or D.”

I’ve been thinking about that in regards to 50 Shades of Grey, and really all forms of “self-empowerment.” We want freedom by claiming what we want. To deny yourself of a pleasure, or of anything, means that you aren’t able to fully be you. We want that empowerment.

And here’s the catch for Christians. We aren’t called to be empowered. We are called to be humbled. To be servants. To deny ourselves and take up our cross.

As Paul says of Jesus and how He lived in Philippians 2: 4-9:

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name

For us as believers, freedom or empowerment doesn’t come from our desires. It comes from discipline. Self-control. And that’s not something we just have. That’s only a fruit of the spirit. It’s a gift of grace. It’s an act of God.

And that only comes from, not seeking our will. But from seeking His. That only comes from submitting ourselves to Jesus.

The older I get, the more I come to believe that my only shot at freedom, at peace, a full life doesn’t come from me and my “stuff.” It comes from submitting myself to my Lord.

That’s so counterintuitive to this culture. But it is truth. There are many things I can’t speak to. I am a quickly graying soon to be middle-aged white male. I would be considered in our culture a conservative/evangelical. I get it. I’m not a prude; I just act like one.

So maybe I’m biased, maybe this is my perspective alone. But I know that freedom doesn’t come from me seeking what I want and what gives me pleasure, above all else. It comes from most often from denying those urges and doing the “right” thing. And then, freedom comes because I’m not controlled by those desires. As a believer, I would say that I’m controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Today, seek freedom. As Paul writes, it is for freedom you have been set free. But seek truth freedom. Not cultural freedom. Because to be free in Christ is to live. And honestly, is that what we all want?

Yes That’s the Book for Me

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

When reading the Bible, I often think back to something one of my favorite professors in seminary used to always say. Dr. Knick used to say – “The two questions we must ask ourselves the most in our readings of scripture are this. First, is it true? And second, if it is true, what does it mean to my life?”

I think on those questions quite often in my reading, in my teaching, and in my preaching. Is it true? And if so, what does it mean to my life? I thought about those questions today when I read the passage for today in 2 Timothy 3: 14-17:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

All Scripture is breathed out by God, and for teaching, to show us the right way, as well as the wrong way that we should not walk down. It is there to prepare us for salvation and to equip us for the calling that we have in Jesus.

It is there to reveal God to us, show us His heart, His way, His plan, His salvation, His purpose. If we want to know God, we have to spend time with His written Word. Let me say that again. If we want to know God fully (and correctly) we have to, we must, spend time in His written Word.

Do I understand it all? No, I do not. But that’s ok. Maybe this is simple and naive, but scripture was not given for me to understand it all, but so that I could order and build my life around it. It was given so that I can better know God, better know my calling, better know my need for God and better know how He would have me to live.

We teach out children these things. And we should remember these things in adulthood. Remember that old song you may have learned as a child? The B.I.B.L.E., yes that’s the book for me?

The older I get, the more I believe that to be true. As John Wesley said – give me that book. I need it for my growth, for my faith, for my life, for my church, for my family, for my very soul. If I want to know God, I’ve got to be spending time with His book.

I heard a preacher say this summer at a Camp Meeting – “God will never know God’s unknown will unless you know His known will (i.e. the Bible).”

Today, if you want to know God, you’ve got to be in the Bible. What a precious gift God has given us. May we drink in deep the waters of Holy Scripture.

Picking Fights

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

When I was a young preacher, and I guess, I young Christian, man I loved a good fight. I really did. Not a physical fight mind you, but a verbal fight. I loved to pick fights with other Christians about my beliefs, unbelievers about faith, anyone with anything.

I was convinced that I was right and they were wrong and part of my job was to prove it! The older I get the more I think of a quote by John Wesley that I once heard, “the older I get the more I account for human weakness.” I’ve always liked that. The older I get, the more I understand my own weakness and the weakness of others.

Now that said, I’ve thought a lot about what I believe and think. And I think I’m right. I really do. I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t think I was right.

But here’s the thing. I have nothing to prove. And I really have no need to defend God. He’s a big, huge, enormous God. I think the best defense I can make of God is my life. I like what Paul says today in 2 Timothy 2: 22-25:

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.

Paul doesn’t say, hey, let folks be wrong and believe things about God that wrong. Teach truth. Live truth. Grow truth.

There are things and beliefs that are right, and that are wrong. But here’s the thing. Don’t win the argument and embarrass Jesus. Stand for truth and righteousness in a culture that is shifting.

But, don’t “breed quarrels.” Don’t pick fights. Don’t go looking for fights. I used to, and nothing was accomplished.

Today, may our words be seasoned with salt. May we stand for and defend truth. But may our word, our actions, and our hearts declare first God’s great love and grace for a world that is need of Jesus.

And may we not seek so much to win the arguments as we seek to point to Jesus.

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Monthly Archives: February 2015