Where is your Focus?

Many of you may know that I was involved in law enforcement as a chaplain a few years back. Over the course of time you hear stories. This one that I am about to share is one of my favorites. I was listening to a K-9 officer tell me of how they train drug dogs. They find a litter of puppys, and throw a drug filled tennis ball in to the room. The dog that pays more attention to the ball is the one they select to train. Simple, right? After years of being trained with tennis balls laced with various drugs, a dog can sniff out an asprin! A nearby department decided one day to do a random drug search at a local school. As the dog walked through the parking lot, he about came unglued and "hit" on a particular car. The officer notified the principle, and the car's owner was identified. Pulling him out of class, the officers grilled him about what was in his trunk, and vowed that if he co-operated, it would go better for him. The student denied everything, and was even in tears suggesting his innocence. But upon opening the trunk expecting a solid drug find because the dog was always right, officers were shocked to find that the car was filled not with drugs.....but tennis balls. The kid was the school's star tennis player!
What happened that day is a mirror image of most of our lives. Somewhere along the line, we loose our focus and forget what is really important. You may have met all of your educational goals, and family seems to be doing pretty well. Your job might even give you a great amount of satisfaction. But if you neglect your spiritual life, you will miss out on how God wants to operate in your life. Remember, it is not about what you do, but rather who you are becoming that is important. We must keep our focus on becoming more like Jesus, and not allow the "tennis balls" of life to distract us. Pastor Jory

The Marks of a believer

Should a Christian be different? That is my thought for today. The reason is that I spoke to a guy the other day who said he was "saved" (a term used in the church to signify that you are a follower of Jesus Christ) but I had my doubts. The reason for that doubt is that this man drank alcohol daily, and got drunk on a regular basis (Ephesians 5:18). He smoked tobacco (1 Thessalonians 5:22 / 1 Corinthans 6:19), had sexual relations with various partners (Romans 1:29), hit the clubs, and cursed like there was no tomorrow (Ephesians 4:29). These are his good points! What he is in denial about is that his religion is not Christianity, but rather a religion of self. Sin has separated him from the truth of who he really is! Colossians Chapter3 clearly advises us that we as "believers" must put away such things. If we do not show a difference in our lives, then we present no hope to fallen man. Our lifestyle (orthopraxy) has to match up with who we say we are (orthodoxy), and what the bible says that we should be or you are just dreaming about being a follower of Christ. If we are to be saved, we are saved through grace, and the mercy and blood of Christ alone, but that does not mean that we can float along and act any old way we want once we claim that salvation and confess Christ. The Word says that not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" will enter in to heaven. I can say that I am a mechanic, and live in a garage, but I am not a mechanic unless I can fix things! Being in a McDonald's does not make me a happy meal, neither does saying that you are something you are not. The proof is in the fruit. Today, remember that people are watching, and are looking for hope. Give them what they are looking for. Pastor J.

A Look Back

You may or may not know some of these names from history…. George Whitfield, Charles Spurgen, A.A. Torrey or William Clowes. However I find it very interesting to read about these great people, who were really ordinary folks that God used in their time. In reading a book called “Great Revivals. When God moves in Power”, I came across an interesting passage that I feel touches on where we are as a city and as people committed to God. Here it is….
“there often seems to be a wide spread spirit of dissatisfaction among those God is preparing for what He is about to do. the heart of a man begins to cry out to God for spiritual certainties, for fresh visions. From a faint desire this multiplies as it widens, until it becomes a vast human need; until in it’s urgency it seems to beat with violence at the very gates of heaven.” (75)
Before the great 1858 revival in America, things seemed destined to fail. No one wanted to go to church and it seemed that the church was quite okay with it. They had, for the most part become complacent, and ineffective. But there was a few who were not happy with how things were going. They did something different. They took risk. Most of all, they prayed. Because of a few; Revival did happen, and the very nature of society changed. Over 250,000 people accepted Christ in New York city alone! Brothels closed, gambling almost ended, and the crime rate went down.
I believe that this is where we are in Nashville. It is time to “look back” then look forward to what we can accomplish in the city. Change can occur! Lives can be restored! Communities of believers can once again make a difference in society. The Lift is a part of this move.
So. What say you? Do you sense that a new front is on the horizon? Maybe you stumbled into this blog. Do you believe that God hears you, and even cares about what is going on in the world, or that there even is a God? Let me know. Peace, Jory

A Full meal, or just a snack?

I have been pondering a statement that I came across yesterday. The statement was this...
"There is a difference between having an appetite, and being hungry." Now, most of us can relate (at least those with some extra weight) that many times we are not really hungry. True, there are many in America that are truly hungry and need our help, but not on the scale of say India, or many countries in Africa. They know hunger! Most of us however, have been blessed with rarely missing a meal, and it shows. What we have is an appetite! Most of us eat, not to live, but because the food taste good. One of my favorite things on the planet is a black bean veggie burger and a spinach salad with fries (okay...so two outta three ain't bad) from Chili's. Trust me, if one were offered to me, I would probably scarf it down, hungry or not. Why? Appetite. We are truly blessed in this country to have the ability to eat like we do. But our appetite will kill us if we do not change it. We in the south love fried foods! I get a pavloivian reaction every time I smell a wood fire and get weak in the knees thinking about grilling some salmon or brisket!
Appetite.
So, now that you are picking up some chop sticks and dipping some sushi in that hot green stuff (yea, I know what it is) chew on this.... What of our spiritual life? How many of us go get our church fix on because it seems like the right thing to do, yet leave the service unchanged, and unchallenged? Do we pray just enough, live our live just good enough, give offerings and to charity just enough to ease our appetite spiritually and think that all is okay? Doing the right thing is not good enough! Our lives will never make sense spiritually until we replace our spiritual appetite with a true hunger for God. Jesus is not a weekend friend. The challenge in our lives is that we must be consumed with wanting more of God. When you are truly hungry, that is all you can focus on. The aching in your gut does not allow other stuff in. That is where I want to be in Christ. My desire to know more of Him consumes me! No, I do not live in a commune, I realize that we must function in our daily lives, but what I am saying is that we must be passionate to pursue the working, leading and presence of God in our lives. 24/7/365. Only then will we truly see what God has for us.
Do you think that is too radical? If so, I want to say to you...give me a break! I have travelled around a few places in this world. I have studied Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Islam, and many other "isms" and in each case I see one factor that is consistent to true believers of their faith....discipline. You will bust your rear to get to yoga class or study tai-chi and God help you if you miss Oprah's web cast with Ekhart Tollie, so don't tell me that the idea of being a radical christian is too hard or "over zealous". God wants us to have so much more in our lives. More power, more destiny, more blessing, more answered prayer. It only comes through being hungry. My prayer today is that you and I develop a hunger for God in 2008 like never before and stop playing with religion and develop a relationship with Christ. Only he can fill the gap in your life. Get hungry! Jory

Stopping the Flow

I went to a mall the other day, and while searching for a place to park, I saw quite a bit of water shooting out from the ground right under a stop sign. It appears that the engineers installed the sprinkler system, than someone came along afterward, without thought of the underground installation and drove the sign right through the pipe. The result was obvious. The water did not flow where it was supposed to. It was waisted. I know this is a short little piece, but some of the best lessons are milled over in your own mind. The question to ponder….can something, or do you have something in your life that stops the flow of spirituality, creativity, progress in your life? Let me know!