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TGIF September 23, 2022

Thank God it’s Friday. TGIF will be a series of devotionals on Friday morning that I am going through as I read through the Bible. I started the M’Cheyne One Year Reading Plan today. There are four texts that go with that particular plan. Two of the readings are readings for private devotionals. The other two are for family devotionals. I’ll pick one of the readings to reflect on every Friday.

Genesis 1

Genesis 1 is famous because it is the origin story of everything we can sense with our five senses. More than anything it’s the story of the Originator, the Creator, of everything we can sense with our five senses and how He orders it all.

I won’t go through each day here but some notes off the cuff:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This simple statement is loaded with big truths. God was there at the beginning in pre-existence because He is the fount of all existence (John 1). It was God who created it all. Not us. Not anyone else. And like anything that we create, God’s signature is on it saying that he has rights over it. It’s all His to do with what He wills and orders it in whatever way He wills.
“Then God said…” God creates through His Word. He speaks and nothingness obeys. Out of formlessness and emptiness came form and fullness because God said so.
“And God saw that it was good.” God’s creation is good. It’s not coincidence or chance that creates beauty and goodness. There’s intention and meaning, though some of those intentions and meanings may be out of our reach and rationality, certainly. Some art is just there to enjoy as some of my artist friends would enjoy. It’s part of the goodness of Creation. But some of the goodness of Creation is also that God’s goodness created it. He put life everywhere. From the crawling things on the ground to huge whales swimming through the endless expanse of the sea, God created it all to have life and display His goodness.
“And God crated man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.” Humankind is unique. Everything else is created “…according to their kinds” (v. 25) but humankind is created according to God’s likeness (v. 26). I get uncomfortable thinking how people these days keep saying that we are just animals. Theologically speaking, that’s not true at all. The Bible tells us we are created uniquely in God’s image while the rest of Creation is created according to their kinds. And this doesn’t lessen their value or justify mistreatment of animals. Remember, God created animals and said that they are good. We should steward Creation well because of that. But to says humans are simply animals denigrates the image of God.
“Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.” God gives humankind purpose. There’s a mission to be fruitful and multiply the images of God in the world, thereby, spreading the glory of God and His goodness. He has provided everything we need to do this and given us authority to justly rule and reign over it.

There is plenty more to go into but to put Genesis 1 simply: the good intentions of our Creator are still in effect. The mission is still the same. Despite brokenness that we encounter, sparks of beauty remain. We are uniquely created and empowered by God to love and rule justly and spread the glories of God to the end of the earth. His Word is powerful and gives us the authority, provision, and grace to meet that end.

TGIF August 12, 2022

Thank God it’s Friday. TGIF will be a series of devotionals on Friday morning that I am going through as I read through the Bible. I am not following any particular reading plan at the moment. I decided to start reading one Old Testament book and one New Testament book that I don’t feel very familiar with and read one chapter from each. These are just a few thoughts and questions I had from my readings.

1 Samuel 5

The ark of the covenant had been captured by the Philistines, the enemy of the Israelites at the time. Ancient Near Eastern traditions of war said that if you take the god of your enemy, then you have definitively conquered their people.

Dagon was the principal god of the Philistines. They placed the ark of the covenant into the house of Dagon and set it up beside Dagon. Apparently, the next day, Dagon was found face down on the ground before the ark of the covenant. Perhaps it was a coincidence or perhaps it just happened to have fallen over. They set Dagon back up again.

The next day, they found him fallen again but this time with his head and hands cut off. This is the reason why Dagon’s priests no longer enter into the threshold of Dagon. He has been utterly defeated by Israel’s God.

The Lord brought chaos to wherever he was sent amongst his enemies. The Philistines didn’t want him because of the tumors that were breaking out amongst the people. They brought the ark to Gath. More tumors. They sent it to Ekron and the Ekronites already knew that only death awaited them if they housed the god of their enemies in their city.

Chaos went wherever the presence of God went amongst his enemies.

It’d be naive to say that just because there’s chaos in your life, that you’re an enemy of God. Unfortunately, many people believe this. Some people call it karma. You do bad, the “universe” is bad to you.

Sometimes there’s chaos because of sin. Sometimes there’s chaos because there are elements out of our control in the wise hand of God. Sometimes we cause the chaos ourselves. But every time, we must trust that God is doing good to us as followers of Christ.

Even when we think we are conquered, He is not. When we fall prey to sin and temptation, remember that the Lord has not been defeated. His power and strength and wisdom is not dependent on our ability to win in battles that we aren’t meant to fight on our own. He is strong and He will save. He will be the one who cuts the head off of our enemy. Let us not forget this.

As we continue to fight the good fight of faith, we must remember to topple the idols in our hearts and bow, face down, to the ground before the Lord, our Maker. God is superior and greater to any other gods we create ourselves in an effort to be god.

TGIF August 5, 2022

1 Corinthians 4

Paul begins by identifying himself as a servant of Christ and managers of the mysteries ofGod. The mysteries of God is referring to the gospel and God’s plan to unite all peoples in His name in the church. He says that this identification requires him to be found faithful by the Lord. He doesn’t care if people find him faithful. He only cares whether or not God finds him faithful.

Paul’s instruction in light of his identity as a manager of God’s mysteries and servant of Christ is that they ought not to judge prematurely because ultimately God will be the judge of our works and the intentions of our hearts.

This is helpful because I tend to easily judge something or someone as good or bad based off of first impressions. I’m finding that as I get older, I realize that judging off of first impressions is unwise and it’s best to try and get to know someone before judging their actions. In doing so, you get a better idea of their character and whether their actions and words line up with who they are.

No one has known us longer than the Lord since He knit us in our mothers’ wombs. Practically speaking, He is the only one who can accurately judge us. But of course, He is our Creator, Redeemer, and Judge. He judges because it is His right. He has set His standards and He decides if we fall short.

In verse 6, Paul explains himself saying that he is identifying himself and another teacher, Apollos, as servants of Christ so that they will learn to judge “nothing beyond what is written”. They apparently were favoring one person over another by their own standards instead of the written standard. And this had led to arrogance and boasting! Paul calls them out on their arrogance reminding them: what do you have that you didn’t receive? Everything they have has come from the hand of God through servants of Christ like Paul and Apollos. The apostles humbly take all the blows that the world throws at them to be faithful managers of the mysteries of God so that the Corinthians might benefit from their work. Paul says “We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong!…Even now, we are like the scum of the earth, like everyone’s garbage.” He demonstrates the humble life of being servants of Christ.

As followers of Christ, there is no room for arrogance and boasting. We must remember that everything we have and everything we’ve learned has been passed down by faithful managers of the gospel by God’s grace. If we live like everything is grace, there’s no room for pride or arrogance.

In verse 14, Paul explains that his rebuke is not one to shame them but to instruct them as his own children in Christ. He wants them to imitate him as servants of Christ. With this fatherly instruction comes fatherly discipline. He has sent Timothy ahead to be an example and reminder of his ways in Christ but he has heard that some of them don’t think that Paul himself won’t come to visit them and they are arrogant about it. He warns them: “Should I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?” He intends to not only come to him with words, but with actions.

As we approach one another and confront one another due to sin, let us consider how we approach each other. Do we come at each other guns blazing, showing favor to others, judging prematurely? Or do we come with almost a ‘fatherly instinct’ to be an example of the way of Christ?

TGIF July 29, 2022

1 Samuel 3

I always find it refreshing to read a famous story in the Bible that I knew well when I was a kid and to read it as an adult. Back then, it almost seemed like fairy tales that I learned lessons from. These days, as someone who has a theological degree, I am more driven to think about it in terms of what it says about God and it’s effect on me and how I apply it to my life.

The story of Samuel’s call is fascinating to say the least. Samuel is now serving in the temple under the priest Eli as his mother had promised the Lord. And the story begins with a context clue that helps us remember why this story is a big deal: “In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.”

Why was this? Well, from the chapter before, you could get the idea that Eli, the priest, wasn’t really doing his job. Well, mainly, it was his sons who were practicing wickedness that included treating the Lord’s offering with contempt (2:17). Eli was being held responsible for the wickedness of his house. It’s possible that prophetic visions were rare because the Lord was withholding it from them due to their cursing of God.

This is a reminder for us that we don’t sin in silos. Sin tears the fabric of our lives and what might feel like a minor thread being pulled, we often don’t see the unraveling effect it has on the rest of the fabric. It affects us deeply but it affects those around us as well. It’s clear that our families are probably the closest to us that suffer due to our sin, directly or indirectly. May we be vigilant in our fight against sin and temptation.

At the end of chapter 2, the Lord promises that he will raise up a faithful priest (2:35). It seems that chapter 3 is a partial fulfillment of that promise.

The Lord calls Samuel to convey a message to Eli the priest. Another interesting note in verse 7: “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.” Though Samuel was serving the Lord under the priest in the temple, the passage says that he did not yet know the Lord because the Word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

This is a profound statement in our culture because so many of us who grew up in America, particularly here in Texas, grew up going to church “serving the Lord” but our Bibles remain on our shelves collecting dust. How can any of us know the Lord if we never hear him and listen to him? If we never read his word, then how are we ever to know him?

I heard John Piper say once in a sermon that you may not find the love of God reading the Bible, since many read the Bible and come away without knowing the Lord, but you will not find it clearer anywhere else. If we want to know the Lord and His love for His people, we must feast on God’s Word.

Eli discerns that the calling in the middle of the night that Samuel was hearing was the Lord and so Eli rightly instructs Samuel to receive the Word of the Lord. The Lord confirms the judgment that is coming on Eli and his family for their cursing of the Lord.

Samuel is afraid to deliver this news to Eli but Eli draws it out of him by threatening the Lord’s punishment. And so Samuel delivers the message of impending judgment to Eli. Eli rightly receives this message.

And the passage ends with Samuel growing with the Lord’s presence and being well known as a prophet of the Lord, in a time where the word of the Lord and prophetic visions were rare and not widespread.

Samuel’s attitude of fear to deliver the message is a reminder that we ought to take the Lord’s Word with fear and trembling, especially when it is one of judgment. And Eli’s response is wise as well when confronted with the reality of God’s judgment: “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is good.” Both exemplify faith that the word of the Lord is true. It is a simple childlike faith that receives God’s Word with fear and trembling. May we have this sort of faith as we approach God’s Word as it reveals to us who the Lord is.

TGIF July 22, 2022

1 Corinthians 2

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Corinthians begins with Paul hearing reports of division within the church. And he points out how worldly this division is because this division was about who they “belong” to. It seems that there were people in the church who learned under Paul and some others under Apollos and some others under Cephas and they would say they “belonged” to that person.

He saw this as foolishness. This did not reflect the wisdom of God. If they were going to boast, they ought to boast only in the Lord.

In chapter 2, Paul uses himself as an example. He says he came to the congregation announcing the mystery of God but he did not come proclaiming it in brilliant speech or wisdom. He came in weakness and fear and trembling. His words were not persuasive words of wisdom.

But he came announcing the mystery of God with a demonstration of the Holy Spirit’s power so that the congregation would not rely on him but on God’s power.

We have so much exposure to information and data these days. Information sharing has never been faster or easier and it gets faster and easier every day. A lot of it can come in the form of a cool graphic or a profound quote out of context or even a short video or podcast on a social media post (making it appear as brilliant speech or wisdom). But how much of it is coming as a demonstration of power? As followers of Christ, we seek the wisdom of God, not the wisdom of man.

Paul explains that the wisdom that comes from God is only really helpful to those who are followers of Christ. Paul says “Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.”

God has disclosed Himself through His Word and in the world. Only the Holy Spirit can lead us to understand what He has revealed to us. The world will see these revelations as only foolishness. We know this because Jesus is the full revelation of Himself and in our foolishness, we crucified him. But in God’s great power and wisdom, he raised Christ from the dead and atoned for our foolishness.

And for those who have put their faith in him, God is sanctifying us with His truth and making us wise for salvation. We need only continue to trust in His wisdom and demonstrate his power to the world in the midst of our weaknesses.

TGIF July 15, 2022

I decided to start in 1 Samuel and 1 Corinthians. For the sake of time, I’ll only write out my devotional from only one of the readings.

1 Samuel 1

1 Samuel begins with the story of Hannah who was childless. She was one of the two wives of a man named Elkanah, an Ephraimite. I was curious to see how the text would address this marriage that is outside the pattern of a monogamous marriage that is shown in the Bible. In this case, it showed that it was not a healthy situation. Elkanah seemed to show favor to Hannah, though she was not able to produce children. His other wife is called Hannah’s “rival”. Her rival would taunt her (perhaps due to the favor she was shown despite not being able to bear children). I’m not sure if Elkanah was helpful by asking why Hannah would be weeping and crying after her rival taunted her. You can see all sorts of problems.

Situations like this affirm the monogamous nature of marriage that God intended in the creation narrative. There’s always jealousy, rivalry, and strife when someone is married to more than one person in the Bible. How could there not be when marriage is designed for intimacy and faithfulness and oneness? Can people really give themselves fully (physically, spiritually, emotionally, socially, etc) to more than one spouse?

How much more is that reality of faithfulness to another when we think about our relationship to God or the church’s relationship to Christ? How can we fully devote ourselves to the Lord when our affections and loyalty are divided between idols?

Hannah’s story is one of restoration, hope, perseverance, and faithfulness. She continually cries out to the Lord for a child and one day, she vows that if the Lord blesses her with a child, she will devote him to the Lord to serve him. She promises to never cut his hair which fits a priestly role.

The Lord hears her and blesses her with a son, Samuel. She then follows through on her vow to devote him to the Lord and introduces him to Eli, the priest who was there the day that she had been praying to the Lord for a child and made her vow.

Hannah serves as a great example of perseverance through suffering, hope in God to answer her prayers, restoration of her dignity (by giving her a child, her “rival” could no longer taunt her), and her faithfulness to the Lord by following through on her vow.

Examples like Hannah are set up in Scripture to show us how to live as covenant members of God’s people. We are also meant to persevere through trial, to hope in God in our prayers, to remember God’s heart of restoration for the lowly, and to walk in faithfulness to the Lord.

When I Grow Up I Want To Be a Pastor

I had the pleasure of being the guest on a podcast that an old friend of mine created and hosts called ‘When I Grow Up’. It’s a podcast geared towards people who are looking to get some perspective and wisdom about how to get into a particular career or vocation. She asked me to join the podcast to talk about how I became a pastor and we had a great conversation about my path to becoming a pastor.

If you are thinking about becoming a pastor or know someone who does, feel free to share this podcast with them.

You can view the podcast below or listen to it here:

How’s Working Out Working Out?

^…Rather train yourself for godliness; ⁸for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 4:7–8.

I do not exercise very consistently.

As I’ve gotten older with more responsibility with family and work and as my body has deteriorated due to unhealthy eating habits…working out has become less and less consistent. I’ve become less and less committed to staying physically active.

The effects are noticeable. I can feel joints getting rusty, muscles getting tighter, less energy throughout the day, and belly protruding more and more out. I’m much more restless. Getting up for the day is harder. I’m dependent on more and more coffee to stay awake and active throughout the day. Physically and mentally, I am not in the best of shape.

Having been a consistent gym-goer before in my lifetime, I know the sacrifice and time it takes to create a consistent habit of working out. It’s weeks and weeks of mental commitment and scheduling ahead. It’s making room for it in my schedule. It’s setting alarms and making sure it doesn’t interfere with my other responsibilities. It’s finding ways to enjoy working out. It’s researching how to use certain exercise machines and doing certain workouts. It’s having money to pay for a gym. It’s finding friends to keep you accountable or to workout with. There is a lot of intentional commitment that goes with building up a consistent habit of exercise and staying physically fit.

My wife and I started working out. We decided to take it easy on our old deteriorating bodies so instead of paying for a monthly gym membership, we invested in an expensive rowing machine. It’s a near full body workout and easy on the joints. It allows us to keep ourselves entertained because we can row in front of a TV or listen to an audiobook or something else. We decided that it was time that both of us had something that we could both do together (albeit at different times since we only have the one machines). We committed to 30 minutes a day so that we could shed some pounds before a wedding we have to go to in March. I’m using you, the reader, as someone to hold us accountable. We don’t want our investment into this rowing machine to go to waste.

All that being said, it makes so much sense why the apostle Paul connects training in godliness with training your body.

Godliness takes intentionality. It takes scheduling devotional time and prayer time and gathering with other saints to worship with on Sundays. It takes accountability from friends to call you out on your sinful habits when you fall short of the glory of God. It takes sacrifice, even financially, to continue to grow in godliness.

Training in godliness is a life of holy consistency. It’s a commitment to live for the glory of God in all that we are doing.

The distinction that Paul puts between physical training and spiritual training is the value.

Paul puts that physical training has some value. I imagine the protrusion around my belly will reduce a bit. I imagine being more energetic and less reliant on caffeine. I imagine that I will be stronger and more flexible and less prone to injury. I would hope it would help me live longer. I’ll be healthier overall. And that is valuable. It’s not something to be overlooked.

However, nobody lived forever just because they were an athlete. Bodies still break down. People still get into accidents and halts a career. Even through consistent exercise, death still comes. Time always wins.

But Paul says that training in godliness has value in every way. It hold value now in the present time and for the life to come. In the present time, I believe there is more satisfaction in Christ than in the circumstances and things of this world that always end up letting us down. I imagine that the building up of the body of Christ brings more joy than the grueling work of building up muscle does. I believe that the expansion of Christ’s kingdom and proclaiming salvation to the ends of the earth brings more glory to God than looking in the mirror and seeing how much jiggle is left to reduce. There’s value in training for godliness now and in the life to come, where we will have resurrected bodies.

I don’t know what our bodies will be like in the life to come. I have no idea if we will have to stay physically fit in the kingdom of heaven. But there’s no deterioration of the body because there will be no more sin and sickness and death. It is a life worth committing to because it has infinite value.

Commit to working out and physical exercise. Do what you have to do to stay healthy. But let that simply be a picture and reminder of the value that there is in training for godliness.

My Worth is Not in What I Own

I have a lot of stuff.

When my wife and I moved into our house, we thought we’d be able to reduce some of the clutter that was beginning to fill up our 2-bedroom campus family dorm. What ended up happening was our house gave us more room for more clutter.

We aren’t really hoarders or anything like that though some things have sentimental value that are hard to let go of. A lot of the stuff we have is baby stuff which, of course, we know we can’t really do much about now having two babies and all. But outside of furniture, we just have a lot of stuff that sometimes, when I find, I think to myself, “When and why did I buy this?“

Furthermore, we might get an Amazon delivery to our house every week. I know for a fact right now that I am waiting on at least 3 packages from different places.

All this to say, yet again: I have a lot of stuff.

Part of why we keep a lot of stuff is because of the value. A lot of the time we keep it because it has sentimental value. But some of our stuff we keep because of monetary value. I’ll check the price on some of my basketball shoes that I am trying to sell to see if it’s up to date or if I could sell it for more. I’ll get an email now and again letting me know that the value of my house property has risen. One of my greater fears right now is that the value of my house will have dropped because we made a DIY gravel patio in our backyard. You would think it would add value to the home but I’m afraid it’s not super pretty so it may have done the opposite.

It’s very easy to get caught up in this concept of value and make the mistake that my value changes because of stuff. And not necessary the things that I own, but the stuff that makes me me.

An easy example: I am a pastor at a small church. Is my value as a pastor not as high as a pastor of a larger church? If my sermons are not as good, does that lessen my value to my members? How is that value measured? My pay? The offering basket? Baptisms? Confessions of faith?

A song that has been on my heart recently is a hymn written by Graham Kendrick and Keith and Kristyn Getty called ‘My Worth is Not in What I Own’:

It’s a beautiful song that I’ve heard plenty of times before. However, this season in my life has made this song suddenly resonate a little more strongly than it has before. Here are the lyrics:

Verse 1
My worth is not in what I own
Not in the strength of flesh and bone
But in the costly wounds of love at the cross

Verse 2
My worth is not in skill or name
In win or lose in pride or shame
But in the blood of Christ that flowed at the cross

Chorus
I rejoice in my Redeemer
Greatest treasure Wellspring of my soul
I will trust in Him no other
My soul is satisfied in Him alone

Verse 3
As summer flowers we fade and die
Fame youth and beauty hurry by
But life eternal calls to us at the cross

Verse 4
I will not boast in wealth or might
Or human wisdom’s fleeting light
But I will boast in knowing Christ at the cross

Verse 5
Two wonders here that I confess
My worth and my unworthiness
My value fixed my ransom paid at the cross

These words have been a shelter for my soul as I have been up and down with different circumstances that make me question my value in the eyes of friends, family, co-workers, and church members.

The truth that this hymn reminds me of is that my value and worth is not in my gifts, my skills, my weaknesses, my vocation, my looks, my success, my failures, or anything else other than the very precious worth Jesus Christ. He died for me in my place. His life is worth infinitely more than mine and yet it was sacrificed for my sake. That is my value. Not anything or anyone else.

I hope this encourages any of you who might be going through a season of life that is making you question your value and your worth. Have faith in Jesus who has redeemed you and loves you even now as you are because of His work on the cross.

Finding Rest

My wife and I had the opportunity to go on a family vacation with my parents and my sister and her family to Honolulu, Hawai’i. We decided to go on the vacation because my parents will be moving back overseas in February so they wanted to spend some more time together before they went back. It was, of course, a wonderful time being in 70-80 degree weather while the temperatures back home dropped to the 20s and 30s. We went to the beach a few times and ate some really good food. We went to the Honolulu Zoo which was 5 minutes away from our hotel on foot. We spent a lot of time together as a family and it was a very special and blessed time.

At the same time, we had our two sons with us on a plane and going through busy streets and airports and shopping centers. There was a constant vigilance we had about keeping an eye on both of them. It made things stressful because we compromised a lot on screen time for our two year old. My 4-month old was having some sort of reaction to the humidity or the hotel sheets or something because he was getting rashes all over his body for the majority of our trip. It made for a stressful time on some portions of the trip.

So when friends asked me when I got back: “Hey, how was Hawai’i?”, I always have a slight pause when I answer: “It was…good!”

Because for some reason, I tend to remember the stressful parts more than the restful parts. I have to remember past all the frustration of doing my son’s seatbelt in the plane over and over again because he learned how to undo it. I have to remember past the frustration of waking up multiple times throughout the night because my baby’s sleep schedule got screwed up. I have to remember past the times I was tired and my feet were aching while holding my son in my arms because he didn’t want to walk around in the zoo.

And while, overall, I’d say my trip to Hawai’i with my family was a great time and a much needed respite away from the last few months at the end of 2021, it taught me a valuable lesson about rest.

Namely, that my rest cannot and should not be found in my surrounding circumstances. It must be rooted deeply in the joys that Christ has given me.

It’s harder than it sounds. It’s hard finding rest in Christ with huge poopy diapers at LAX while your flight is about to board and it’s one of the last diapers you packed for your whole trip. Where do I find joy in a situation like that? There’s only more stress!

As I reflect on my vacation and what I feel like I’ve learned, it’s the importance of trying to find rest in Jesus. He is why I can find joy in chasing my kid around in a busy LAX terminal. He is where I find strength so I can toss my kid in the air when I’m tired of walking around all day. He is why I can find rest when I see the blood on my baby’s neck from him scratching his rash all night without us knowing.

Those moments I look back and realize how I had been a poor father or an unwise husband or an ungrateful son to my parents or a unkind brother to my sister or a sinfully partial uncle to my nephew are the moments I realized I needed to rest in him the most. The effect is two-fold: I could have rested in Christ in those moments and never regretted it like I do now and I can find rest for my soul knowing that through Christ’s sacrifice, I am forgiven and empowered to be a better father/husband/son/brother/uncle by His Spirit.

A week in Hawai’i is a great way to find rest if you can remember past all the stress and anxiety to get there and back. An eternity in heaven is the ultimate rest that can only be found in Christ in whom we find relief and joy as we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.