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