We Need a Wedding Garment

We Need a Wedding Garment

Dear Champions,

The first 3 paragraphs of the short excerpt are by Tim Keller, and the excerpt is Matthew 22:10-12  So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.  But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless.  (the entire parable is Matthew 22:1-14)

There are many people who say, "I don't believe in a God who punishes people. I believe in a God who accepts everyone just as they are."  If you believe that, you're coming in without a wedding garment. 

 

Look at the evil and injustice in the world!  If we have a God who just says, "I love you all just the way that you are," what hope is there for the world?  The Biblical God says, "I will square everything!  There will not be one unjust deed that will not be paid.   It could be paid either one of two ways.  Either you will pay, or my son can pay."   

 

God does not just love people unconditionally.  He loves people counter conditionally, at an infinite cost to Himself.  You do not earn your place in the kingdom of God.  If you go right into God just as you are you will be thrown into the outer darkness, and there will be no joy in your life. 

 

Those people going in to the wedding without a garment thought that they were good enough on their own good deeds and works!  None of us are good enough on our own record!  Accept the wedding garment and follow Jesus! 

 

Champions, have a great summer!-David Vining

Being Honest in the Little Things

Being Honest in the Little Things

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is from Dave Ramsey's book Financial Peace, and the Scripture is Luke 16:10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."

 

Doug Parsons tells an interesting story about character.  One of the richest and most powerful men in America owned a huge company that employed thousands of people.  This gentleman pointed out an up-and-coming low-level manager to his upper-level staff.  This young man worked very hard and was very good at his management position.  The owner noticed the young man because of his work ethic and talent and commented that someday this young man would be a regional manager long before his time.  Sure enough, the young man continued to work hard and was promoted up through the ranks to the point that the next promotion was to be regional manager.  When the owner became aware that this promotion was to be made, he decided to fly down and personally give that young man the promotion over lunch.

 

The big day arrived and the owner flew in to take the young man to lunch.  But as the young man and the owner were going through the cafeteria-style line for lunch, the owner noticed the young man very deliberately hide a one-cent pat of butter under his roll so as not to be charged for it.  The lunch went fine-except that no promotion was given-and when the owner returned to his offices he had the young man fired.  Not only did the young man miss a several-hundred-thousand-dollar-a-year position, he even lost his job.

 

A close friend of mine suggested that such an extreme action was a bit severe.  Maybe he wanted the warmth of the roll to warm the butter, making it easy to spread.  Whatever the other circumstances surrounding the story, the point is that the owner understood that the young man's character flaw of dishonesty would be magnified under pressure.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

The Shepherd

The Shepherd

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the scripture is John 10:11.  "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

God works through people that the world thinks are failures.  The ultimate example of God's working in the world is from the only founder of a major religion who died in disgrace.  He was not surrounded by His loving disciples but abandoned by everybody including His Father.  Jesus Christ's salvation is a salvation that came through defeat, poverty, and rejection.

 

God is a shepherd.  If He was just a king, His salvation would be, "Here's the law!  Do it and you will live!"  Because He was a shepherd, He's got to come and fulfill everything for us.  He does it by sending Jesus Christ to live the life that we should have lived and die the death that we should have died and take the penalty for our sins.  The salvation of the world had to come into the world in weakness and defeat.  In every other religion it says, "Pull yourself together and be strong!"  Then say, "God, accept me because of what I've done."  But the gospel is to admit that you are not together and that you are weak.  You have to say, "God, you're going to have to relate to me because of what Jesus has done."  

 

The gospel message is that you are more sinful and evil and weak than you ever dared believe, but you are more valued and accepted and loved than you ever dared hope.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Perfect Love!

Perfect Love!

 

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is John 11:33-35 When Jesus saw Mary weeping (because of the death of Lazarus), he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied.  Jesus wept.

 

Mary asks Jesus, "Lord, why weren't you here because you could have stopped this?"  Jesus can't even speak, but He just weeps.  Now this has startled me about this passage for years.  When Jesus moves into a situation like this He knows why it happened, the purpose of it, and He knows how He is going to turn it into a glorious manifestation of the glory of God.  He knows that in just 10 minutes or so that everyone there will be rejoicing when He raises Lazarus from the dead.  

 

If we went in this knowing that we were about to turn everybody's weeping into joy in about 10 minutes, then why would we weep?  Does it make psychological sense that if you knew that you were about to turn everything around in 10 minutes that you would be weeping and that you would enter into the grief and the pain and the trauma of their hearts?  Why would He do that?  Because that's perfect love.  Jesus will not close His heart even for 10 minutes, and He will not refuse to enter in the pain.  

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other gods (Idols)

Other gods (Idols)

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Exodus 20:3-5  "You shall have no other gods before me. " . . .

 

The thoughts that a battered woman shared with Tim Keller.

 

I'm going to my counselor and much of what she has said is right.  My counselor said that I have built my very significance and acceptability and identity on men, and that's why I have been defensive with them.  I simply have needed them too much.  All of that is right and helpful.  However, my counselor says that what I should do instead is to get myself a great career.  While my counselor means well-I absolutely do need to get some training and get myself a job and career, but what she is saying is that I should do that so that I will also feel better about myself.  But that would mean that I would be switching from one kind of idol to another.  For many years my heart has been looking at men and saying unless I'm successful at love, then I'm nothing.  But the counselor wants me to look at my career and say that unless I am a successful independent businesswoman who is in control of my own life, then I am nothing.  I don't want to be enslaved to my work as I was to men.  I'm actually being asked to exchange a typical female idol for a typical male idol, and I don't want either. 

 

When I asked the woman how was she doing, she actually quoted Colossians 3.  When Christ, who is your life appears, you will be glorified.  She says that it is very practical.  "When I go to church, when I am in worship, when what Jesus did for me is so real and so wonderful, in my heart I think of the men in my life and I say, I'm glad to know you, and I certainly wouldn't mind being married, but you are not my life.  Christ is my life.  You're a good thing, but you are not an ultimate thing.  I would love to have a husband, but if I don't, then I've got Jesus.  I set my mind on things above, and you can't give me any of the things that Jesus has given me.  I don't want to look to men or to a career.  A career can't die for me.  If I life for a career and fail, it will beat me up for having been a failure.  But if I live for Jesus, He died for me to forgive me.  Jesus is the only Savior that if you get Him will satisfy you.  If you fail Him, and we do fail Him, He can die for you."

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Taking Responsibility

Taking Responsibility

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the scripture is Genesis 3:8-12  Just after Adam and Eve sinned, the man and the woman heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.   But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?".  He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid."  And God said, "Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"  Adam said, "Yes I did, and I take full responsibility for my actions.  Do with me as you will, but leave Eve out of this.  She is innocent."

 

Verse 12 is not in the Bible.  The world would be a different place if that is what Adam had said.  If only he had thrown himself down and said, "I'm here to protect and defend the reputation of my wife.  I take full responsibility for everything." 

 

Verse 12 actually says this.  The man said, "The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."  I didn't ask for a woman, I didn't even know what a woman was.  There was just you and me and the animals.  It was a little lonely, but I was fine.  And then you took this rib out of me and you made this woman.  Look at the mess and the chaos that she has created.  God, this isn't my fault.  This is your fault and her fault.  So you guys work it out, and leave me out of it.  She gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.  Ultimately, I'm not responsible for all of this.  

 

Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?"  And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate it.  It's not my fault either." 

 

Irresponsibility that leads to blame always creates conflict.  Where there is blame there is usually irresponsibility, shame and guilt.  Isn't it amazing and so rare when somebody steps up and says, "I'm to blame for what happened?  It may not all be my fault, but I'm responsible. 

 

Are we taking responsibility for our life, or are we blaming God or others?

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining    

Enjoying God

Enjoying God

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the scripture is Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

 

When you have a general belief in God, you go to Him for things.   When you've begun to experience the glory of God, who He is and what He does becomes an end in itself.

 

What if you would come to the top of a bluff and look down at an incredible vista of the ocean with waves breaking on the sea as far as you can see.  It's beautiful!  You sit down, and you just put your fist on your chin and look at it.  You can't get enough of it!  What are you trying to accomplish?  Nothing!  It's satisfying in itself and fills you up.

 

When your prayer life is like this you've begun to approach the glory and presence of God.  To glorify Him means to enjoy Him.  We glorify God by enjoying Him forever!  John Piper says it this way:  "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Promises or Preparation

Promises or Preparation

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the Scripture is in the excerpt.

Every single Saturday couples take vows to get married that they can't keep even though they mean well.  They overlooked a principle that all of us understand in every other realm of life, but when it comes to relationships we don't think it is true. Promises are no substitute for preparation.  If you've ever entered a long distance race and have not prepared for it, then it's a waste of time to promise that you will finish.  What determines whether you finish a long distance race is not the promise, but it's whether you are prepared.  Everybody understands that, but when it comes to relationships people think, "I can promise my way past my lack of preparation."  Just because you say "I do," doesn't make you able or capable, but it only makes you accountable.  When you are accountable for something that you are not capable of doing, you become miserable.  A lack of preparation cannot be trumped by a promise. 

A prudent person is a person that understands that all of life is connected.  What happened yesterday impacts tomorrow.  What I am doing today will eventually become my past, and it will show up in my future.  Proverbs 14:8 says that the wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways.  Ways are behaviors, patterns, habits, and trends, and they are what makes us predictable.  The prudent person knows that the best indicator of my future behavior is my past behavior.  If I want to know where I'm actually going to be all I have to do is look back at where I have been and see what direction I'm headed in.   The prudent person pays attention not to commitments and promises, but they pay attention to their past.

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

 

Love

Love

 

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is 1 Corinthians 13:4-7  Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

When people say, "Why don't we live together?  Why do we need to be married?  I love you.  Why do I need a piece of paper to show you that love?"  If you define love as a feeling, that's right.  Biblically, if somebody says, "I love you, but I don't want to marry you."  What they mean is, "I don't love you that much."  There's no way around that. 

 

A person who says, "I love you, and I want to marry you," loves you more than the person who says, "I love you, but I don't want to marry you."  Biblically, love is a commitment.  It's what you most want, and you know that.  When somebody says, "I don't need a piece of paper to show that I love you," yes you do! 

 

Love is simply a decision to serve somebody and be committed regardless of your feelings and how that person acts.  The person attracts you, there are a lot of things that you like about them, you have fun together, and that takes you to the door.  At a certain point, the door will not open until you simply make a decision that you are going to love this person.  Your feelings will always come and go.  A lot of people don't get married because they're sure that if this is the one, "My feelings will never ebb.   I will just know that it's the one because I'll never have any problems.  I'll never look at that person and feel, Ugh!  I'll always feel like giving myself to them."  

 

You will wait until Hell freezes over if you wait for that.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Watch Out!

Watch Out!

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller and the scripture is Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, 'Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.'

 

For years I've had people come to me as a pastor saying I've got a problem with sex, but I've never had anybody come to me saying, "Pastor, I've got a problem with greed."  Jesus says that's why you've got to watch for it.  It always hides from you.  There are greedy people around, but nobody thinks it is them. 

 

Juliet Shore says in her book The Overspent American that we're always hanging out with people who make more than we do.  Therefore, nobody feels materialistic or that they make too much.  Nobody feels they spend too much money on themselves.  Only 1/3 of American households who make more than $100,000/year agree with the statement 'I can afford to buy everything I really need.'  Two thirds of all American households making over $100,000/year feel they do not make enough to buy all the things that they really need.  

 

The most wealthy people in the most wealthy country in the history of the world believe they can't afford everything that they really need.  Watch out!

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Weak People

Weak People

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the scripture is Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to me (Jesus), all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

 

Every other religion says that God is the top of a ladder.  He's put a ladder down between you and heaven and earth, and He is standing at the top of the ladder saying, "Perform, Do Good, Live Right, Emulate the Heroes!   If You Try Real Hard You Can Come Up The Ladder and Come To Heaven!"  

 

But Jesus Christ said, "You will see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man."  He said, "You'll never come up the ladder!  The Christian God is not a god who stands at the top of the ladder but who sent His Son down to be the ladder.  He says, "My son Jesus Christ will come down and live the life that you should lived and die the death that you should have died."  These Bible stories are not a series of role models to emulate but weak people like you and me that a strong God had to come down and be weak and die on the cross to save us. The gospel saves people, not who are strong, but those who will admit that they are sinners and that they are weak.  God works with weak people and through them.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Fulfilling Promises

Fulfilling Promises

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the scripture is 2 Peter 3:8-9 . . . With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

 

In Genesis God takes Abraham aside and makes a promise to him.  He says, "Through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.  Through one of your descendants I will save the world."  When Mary was told that she would give birth to the Messiah, God fulfilled His promise to Abraham.  This took centuries.  God always fulfills His promises but never at the time and never in the way you expect.

 

The Israelites had all expected a Messiah, but a lot of them had given up.  It had been four hundred years since there was even a prophet in Israel let alone a Messiah.   Most all of the others that were still expecting a Messiah did not expect their king to be born in a feed trough. 

 

Even though God seemed to be absolutely away without leave, He was working.  In a sense, God is saying that even though I do not come through with My promises at the time you expect or in the way you expect, I always come through.  You can trust me.  You don't have to take matters into your own hands.  God promises you to take care of you, to love you, to work all things out for your good in your life, but it never seems to happen in the time you want; it never seems to happen in the way you want.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Gratitude-Be Great Today

Gratitude-Be Great Today

Dear Champions,

The short excerpt is by Dabo Swinney when speaking at the White House on Monday night, and the scripture is Colossians 3:15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 

"The whole college football world was captured by Tyler Trent," Swinney said.  "He was the Purdue football fan that was battling cancer.  Probably saw that, and he just passed recently.  And here's what he said. 'Though I am in hospice care and have to wake up every morning knowing that the day might be my last, I still have a choice to make:  to make that day the best it can be.  Yet, isn't that a choice we all have every day?  After all, nobody knows the amount of days we have left.  Some could say we are all in hospice to a certain degree.  So why don't we act like it.'

"'So why don't we act like it?  Where is your gratitude?  With Christmas coming up, what are you thankful for?  I had to write my will recently, and I'm just thankful I can give my family Christmas presents, maybe even for one last time.  Let's not forget that my doctors gave me 3 months to live almost two-and-a half months ago.  So why can't we live grateful lives?  Why can't we make every day count like it's the last?'

"So for this team and all you guys moving on and even the guys coming back, that's what I would say, is go live and be great today, in order for your someday to become reality, you just got to be your best today."

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

P.S.  If you didn't see Tyler Trent's story, check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgBGwtk3qZY&t=232s