What Makes You Right With God

What Makes You Right With God

 
Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith­and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God­ not by works, so that no one can boast.
 
One of the things that my wife Kathy and I have had to do over the years is reprogram people who have moved to New York from places in this country where they were living in strong Christian homes, churches and cultures.  They move to New York, and they go through a crisis.  They say, I am meeting atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus,  Muslims and many people who are kinder, wiser, more decent, more respectful and better people than the Christians I know.  I am having a crisis.
 
Here is what we have to say.  All of the religions and philosophies of the world and every basis of every identity says that what makes you right with God is things that you have done.  Christianity, on the other hand, says that what makes you right with God is things that He has done. What that means is that you expect to find people that are not Christians that believe very different things who are better, wiser, gentler and more generous than you.   If that shocks you, it shows that you really thought that the reason that you were right with God is that you were kinder, gentler, wiser and more generous, and you had an identity that did not understand the doctrine of grace.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
 

Doing What is Right

Doing What is Right

Dear Champions,

The excerpt is by Dr. David Cox, and the Scripture is in the excerpt.

Everyone likes to be liked, and it is biblical to be in good standing with our peers.  In fact, the Bible says about young Jesus that He grew in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:52)  One sign of a good leader, however, is the willingness to make the hard decisions that you know will be unpopular and unfavorable.

Popularity is something that most people desire but not something that can be used as the guiding light when making difficult decisions.  It can be very tempting, however, to make decisions based on how others will react because of the accolades and positive cheers of those around us.

Herod ruled Galilee and imprisoned John the Baptizer for John s strong preaching and stand against adultery. Entertaining the Who s Who Crowd of Galilee at his own birthday party, Herod beheaded John even though he knew he should not do so.  He was very sorry that he had put himself in such a position.  He was king, and he could have done anything he wanted. So why did he go through with the beheading?  Because of his dinner guests. (Mark 6:26)  He had publicly promised his niece whatever... Subsequently, she had asked for John s head.  Feeling that he must save face and please his guests, Herod had it done.  He was a king but not a leader.  He pandered to the crowd in his royal workplace instead of doing what was right and sensible.  In reality, your long-term reputation and credibility take real hits when you make your decisions based on popular opinion. 

At times, you must be to be a leader at the expense of being unpopular.  It does not mean that you are rude or insensitive to those around you, but it simply means to do what is right.  It may be that in the end you really are appreciated for the tough call you made, but even if the admiration society does not show up when you have made a wise but difficult choice, doing what is right carries with it its own reward.  Making decisions based on personal popularity is like eating a bowl of banana pudding with extra marshmallows and vanilla wafers:  it tastes good at the moment but if you make a regular habit of it, you are not going to like the results! 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
 

The Good Shepherd

The Good Shepherd

Dear Champions,
 
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is John 10:14,27-28 I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me . . . My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
 
A sheep is a stupid animal, and they follow one another and lose their direction continually in a way that cats and dogs do not.  But even when they are found they are never happy to be found.  It is extremely difficult to round up a lost sheep and bring it home unless you have a dog to scare it.  The lost sheep rushes to and fro so that even when you find it, you must seize it, cast it down, tie its four legs together, put his hind legs together, put it over your shoulder and carry it home struggling.  The sheep never feels loved when it is being loved, and it never feels safe when it is being made safe.
 
In John 10 Jesus says, I am the good shepherd.  The hired hand when he sees the wolf coming; he abandons the sheep and runs away, but I lay down my life for the sheep.  Jesus is the only shepherd who became a sacrificial lamb.  Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  Jesus is saying that you can be sure that He will do anything for you because He lost His life and everything so that He would not lose you. There is no better way to intimacy with God than to have something horrible happen in your life that makes you really doubt God s love and go to Him anyway and say, By God s grace, Thy will be done.  When it is hard, pray anyway.  When it is hard, obey anyway.  When you feel like you are being ceased and thrown unto the ground, just say, Thy will be done, and it will push you into an intimacy that you never had because you will have to get to know Him as a shepherd.  If you have been wounded and you say, Lord, I want you to heal me, but it does not look like you are getting healed, then there is only one way through it.  You must say, Evidently God you want a wounded me in this world to do certain things and to be a certain person and to get certain things done that I could not get done unless I was wounded.  What are those things?
 
To say Thy will be done by the grace of God is a way to intimacy with God.
 
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
 

The Encouragement Flu

The Encouragement Flu

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Dr. David Cox, and the Scripture is 2 Corinthians 5:20. We are therefore Christ s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. . .

For the first time in 15 years, I was blessed to be part of a softball team recently.  The season ended this week.  I played for PowerSecure of Wake Forest, North Carolina.  Playing on that team was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had; and an unprecedented experience in my recreational life.

The President and CEO of the company, Sidney Hinton, sent a memo to the entire team at the outset of the season, and one of the goals was to be an ambassador to the community.  This team really went overboard to ensure that they were representing Christ.  In fact, Sidney (the company President and our starting pitcher) said in a subsequent email that it was his hope that our team s play, conduct and demeanor would infect the entire league with the encouragement flu.   Here is what I will remember about this season:

1) Praying before and after every game.  2) Having a 1-9  record for the regular season and having more fun than I have ever had in any one sport.  3) Watching the disbelief of the other team when our team provided them with a cooler of Gatorade before starting play each night.  4) Observing the deep appreciation of the umpires as our team members sought to encourage them and also provided snacks and beverages for them, too!  5) Hearing about a member of another team say that everyone in the league always looks forward to playing PowerSecure because of the great attitude that they display.  6) Watching our Coach, Charles Ligon, give refreshments to the official scorekeeper before every game.  7) Being a part of team that did their best but also kept a sense of humor in the midst of losing most games and making a lot of errors...and I committed my fair share of those errors!  8)  Seeing a sports team really make an impact on the lives of everyone in the league!  I witnessed what I believe to be the early signs of transformation in the hearts of some!

Ambassadors to the community for Christ s sake: Mission accomplished, in my personal opinion!  Recently, in an email to each team member, Sidney wrote these words with regard to the kindness and Christlikeness demonstrated on and off the field this season, When they [the fans, players, umpires, and opposing team members] see the PowerSecure name around town they will have positive memories toward each of you and our company.  That is goodwill and you cannot buy it....you earn it!

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining