The Shepherd That Took Our Place

The Shepherd That Took Our Place

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Hebrews 13:20-21  May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, . . .

 

I have heard people say that the way that you know that Christianity is true is because of changed lives.  I know a criminal who has become honest through Jesus.  I know of drug addicts and alcoholics who have become sober through Jesus.  I have seen people start to live the way they ought to live through Jesus.  That is how I know that Christianity is true.

 

True, but if you are really going to say that is how you know that Christianity is true, then just keep this in mind.  Every single religion and moral community in the world can produce changed lives, and they do.  All moral, structured communities that have shepherds have a set of rules on how you live and can shape people.  They can take dishonest people and make them honest, they can take addicted people and give them self-control, and they can produce changed lives.

 

In fact C. S. Lewis in his book The Abolition of Man compares the kind of lives that Jesus, Moses, Confucius, Buddha and Mohammed wants you to live, and he says that they are not that different.  What Jesus says is that all shepherds basically tell you how you should live; but I am the only Shepherd who became a sheep and does not just tell you how you have to live, but I came to live the life that you should have lived and died the death that you should have died in your place.  So when you come to God in my name, He delights in you now.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Creation or an Accident

Creation or an Accident

 

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller from New York City, and the Scripture is Genesis 1:1,27 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. . . .God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

A secular person is saying that as far as he knows this world is an accident, human life is an accident, and we are the accidental collocation of molecules.  If he thinks out the implications of this, then he is saying that there is no reason for attributing to a man a significance different from that which belongs to a baboon or to a grain of sand.  If nothing has any purpose and everything is an accident and there is no design, then there is no reasonable basis to say that a human being is any more valuable than a rock.  There is no right and wrong but just power, and there is no moral obligation to live any particular way.

 

The average secular person just does not go there.  They say, Yes, I agree that as far as I know this world is an accident, but I know that people are valuable.  I also know that injustice and violence is wrong, and there is a right and a wrong.

 

For those of you who believe this, that is fine.  However, you are getting your peace by refusing to think out the implications of your own view because right and wrong means that there is a design and a reason for things. What the Bible says is that this world was created by a God who wanted our friendship and even though we have turned away from Him, He has come down in the form of His Son to get us back.  If you believe and understand that, then think of how valuable is every human life and how significant is your life.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

 

The Leader of the Pack

The Leader of the Pack

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Art Stricklin published last week before the Super Bowl, and the Scripture is in the excerpt

 

NFL experts and newspaper headline writers have been quick to label Green Bay starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers the Leader of the Pack.  Something about 4,712 yards passing and 34 touchdowns, and leading the Packers to the verge of their first Super Bowl title in more than a decade will do that for you.

 

But Rodgers made it clear in Tuesday s jam-packed Super Bowl XLV Media Day he only wants to be a leader of God s pack when it comes to influencing others to see his faith in Jesus Christ.

 

We all have a platform, we all have a message in our lives, Rodgers told Baptist Press and a worldwide media turnout, which ringed his individual interview area.  I just try to follow Jesus  example, leading by example.  God always has a plan for us, a path. Sometimes we wish we knew it sooner, Rodgers said with a bit of a laugh, but He always shows up His way.

 

Rogers credits his parents, Ed and Darla Rodgers, who still live in Northern California where he was raised, for showing him a loving and Christ-centered household. He also remains close to his two longtime accountability partners, Pastors Andrew Burchett of the Neighborhood Church in Chico, Calif., and Young Life Christian youth group leader Matt Hock.

 

Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings is one of Rodgers receivers and teammates on the field, but more importantly, a spiritual brother on and off the field.  I just want to let people know what it is all about. One of the Scriptures I refer to a lot is, to whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48) and I am required to have a voice [for God] because I have a stage and a platform, Jennings said.

 

Number one, all glory goes to God. That is where it starts and that is where it finishes.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Unusual Sportsmanship Video

Unusual Sportsmanship Video

 

Dear Champions,

 

Just today I received the following email from my friend Cammy Bethea about the short excerpt titled Unusual Sportsmanship that was originally sent to me by my friend Erick Shirley a couple of weeks ago.  It is very touching and will be worth your time to see.

 

From Cammy:  Watch this – I forwarded your devotion onto our prison ministry volunteers, and one of the chaplains sent me back this YouTube – you GOTTA see this!!  Amazing!

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNn7SXAyuhQ

 

Champions, once again, have a great week!-David Vining

Absorbing the Cost

Absorbing the Cost

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

 

Whenever someone wrongs you or sins against you, there is always a loss and a cost .  If you have wronged somebody or if you have sinned against somebody in some way, there is a loss and a cost that does not just go away.  If you break my lamp, I can make you pay for it; or I can forgive you and bear the cost by having to buy my own lamp to replace it, or I bear the cost by not buying a lamp and having darkness in the room.  In other words, either you bear the cost or I bear the cost but there is no such thing as just forgiving.  If I forgive you, I forgive you by bearing the cost. 

 

This is true even when there is not a monetary issue.  If you come to someone whose reputation you have damaged, and you say, I am so sorry, will you forgive me?  There are only two things that can happen.  The person can say, No, I am going to tell everybody what you have done, which means they are going to damage your reputation to get theirs back.  Or they can say, Yes, I forgive you in which case they will keep their mouth shut and bear the damage themselves.  The point is that no one just forgives.  The forgiver always bears and absorbs the cost and the loss. 

 

How can God forgive us then?  He had to bear and absorb the cost of our sin and experience hell on the Cross, and He did.  Jesus got what we deserved so that we could be healed.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining