All roads lead to God

Rom 14:11: For it is written:

“As I live, says the LORD,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”

Rom 14:12: So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

Phil 2:10-11: …at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Matt 7:13-14: Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

The word of God is a sharp-edged sword. It pierces the heart and divides the righteous from the wicked. Last Sunday, Elder Keith Howland shared on Matthew 7:13-14 – “The Hard and Narrow Way.” My reflections of this passage took me to Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10.

In a world of moral relativism and postmodern thinking, all people are generally good and can find their own way to eternal paradise. Universalism aside, recent studies conclude that one’s own fate rests upon the standards on which they live. In other words, a good Muslim, a good Jew, a good Christian and a good Buddhist can all claim their right to heaven if they live in accordance with their faith.

In all honesty, all roads do lead to God. The Bible does say that every knee will bow and tongue will confess. Of course, the way is only is through acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord. Whether that acknowledgement will come out of faith or out of regret is the deeper question. For not everyone who calls upon Jesus as “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt 7:21).

When John the Baptist prepared the way for the Lord, he called all people to repentance. Repenting is the first step towards turning to God. We have the opportunity to repent before it is too late. If you can read these words, then you still have time.

However, there is no better time than the present. For the Lord will come again to judge the world and call all people unto himself. And when he does, he will bring eternal judgment.

No one knows when that time of judgment will be (Matt 24:42-44). He commands each one of us to turn to Him and repent from our evil ways. It’s not about our ways, but God’s work in us. He is faithful to bring us to salvation through His Son.

Allow the Spirit of God to work through you, accepting the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Nothing we can do will merit eternal salvation. It is only through Christ that we may be saved.

So, all roads lead to God, but it is either through salvation or condemnation. No one can escape His judgment. Cling to Christ and the cross and He will wash away all your sins and purify you in Him. Then you can receive a small taste of heaven here on earth, through experiencing His grace and mercy.

Pray Together, Stay Together

My dear wife and I have been married for six years and counting. She is the best. I’ve never met anyone more resilient than her. I credit her persistence and resourcefulness as the main source of survival for the beginning of our marriage.

As we’ve progressed on our journey, we’ve come to accept the knowledge of those more experienced than us. We both come from families where marriage is held in high regard. My in-laws are strong in marriage and understand the concept of enduring in love. My parents are both committed to keeping the flame alive. The challenges we’ve faced mostly had to do with high expectations.

It’s never wrong to expect the best in marriage. The model is Christ laying down his life for the church. Since God did not withhold his best from us, we should not withhold our best from our spouses.

Recently, we invited the pastor and his wife into our home to mentor us in marriage. They discovered a little bit of the dynamic at work with the differing personalities and expectations. With this in mind, the suggestion to pray together has renewed our sense of commitment towards each other.

Prayer is a tool God gives us to express our hearts desires. With a desire to honor one another, our hearts are committed to honoring God. Thanks to a strong commitment shown from our parents, marriage in our family has provided an answer to prayer in itself. Cling to one another out of love. Love holds all things together.

I Corinthians 13.

Monday morning mouth: I Corinthians 12

I Corinthians 12:4-27

Today was an opportunity for me to share what God put on my heart this morning as I led the Monday morning devotional at World Team.  I really struggled with what to share leading up to this.  I felt like my brain was all over the place and I was having a hard time connecting the dots.

I ended up going to a passage in the Bible that is rich in application, especially for a missions organization -  I Corinthians 12.  We remember that it has something to do with gifts because it leads into the love chapter (13) about how we are to use our gifts.  But it is in this chapter where the apostle Paul give the analogy of the body.  Our physical bodies and the body of Christ, or His church, function in much the same way.  And so this morning, I was the mouth.

What led me to this was thinking about how I connect with the objective of the mission – to plant reproducing churches among unreached people groups.  To reach people, you have to love them first.  It’s no coincidence then that chapter 12 talking about gifts and using our talents for the church precedes chapter 13 about what love is.  Missions is a labor of love to those we serve.

The three main points I took away from chapter 12 were the importance of recognizing the different gifts and talents we all possess.  We need people who can crunch the numbers, expand the vision, work on the field and support the workers (in no particular order).  Secondly, the unity of the body is evident in the passage, which also points to the unity of the Trinity.  Verse 3 says, “…no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”  So, we see the Trinity at work in our own hearts.  One God and three persons – it is a mystery.  Finally, as we each use our gifts in accordance to our place in the body, we are to minister with love.  Both to those we serve and also among ourselves as brothers and sisters of one body under Christ.

When you have to share a devotional and are not sure what to say, go with reading a chapter in the Bible and taking three key points from the passage.  Keep it simple and remember that people are only going to remember a few things you say.  It also helps to leave some ideas undeveloped so that people can meditate on the application in their own lives.

Vacancy at Vacant Conviction

To my imaginary readers,

Allow me to welcome myself back to my own blog – Vacant Conviction. Since we share the same initials as perpetual loafer Vince Carter of the New Jersey Nets, we haven’t been motivated enough to continue with the project. Our apologies to this guy, who apparently wanted the URL and might have been the only person to actually read this blog.

And so Vacant Conviction has been rather…vacant. In the meanwhile, I discovered Facebook and was promoted to Director of Operations at MVN.com. There, you can find me at Basketball University, The NBA Source, Passion and Pride and the MVN staff blog. That’s where I detail my religious devotion to the sport of basketball.

Lately though, it’s been getting harder to motivate myself. The apostle Paul knew our internal struggles when he wrote in his letter to the Romans, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” (7:15) At this moment in time, I find that I’m at odds with myself.

I am just about to turn 30 and I haven’t accomplished nearly what I’ve expected out of myself. I can fool myself in to thinking I’m “doing alright”, but it is only an illusion. I get distracted very easily and withdraw into a shell of lackadaisical behavior. It drives my wife nuts. Then I tend to substitute what I should be doing for watching t.v., playing on the computer or taking a nap. Responsibilities overwhelm me and I look for the easiest cop out possible.

This birthday is kicking my butt. Perhaps this is the motivation I need to succeed. So, that’s enough of the pep talk to self. I’ve got work to do.

For now, enjoy this video of the Vince Carter apathy express. More specifically, the words “You’re better than that” ring in my ear. Attention to details, my friends, goes a long way!

Testimony

Tomorrow in church, there’s going to be a sharing time during the service about what God has been doing in our lives.  I suggested we have more times of sharing to help our small church grow closer together and identify more with each other’s burdens.  Pastor Lou has been preaching on God’s encouragement for the weak church, and it is all of God that we continue to seek Him and His work in our lives.

If you’ve ever made it through rough times in your life and have no idea how you did it, then perhaps you can understand how hard it is to put in to words.  God sustains us and provides for us.  Only by trusting Him can we continue on through overwhelming obstacles. 

I’ve been married to my wife Melody for five years now and we have two beautiful children, Naomi and Lydia.  Most couples would not have made it to the five year point because of all the financial difficulties and sacrifices we’ve endured.  While I give the ultimate credit to God, my wife is a special person who held things together on her shear will and belief that things will get better.  I can’t ask for a better wife, and while progress has been much slower than she would have liked, things are getting much better and we now have some direction in our lives.

It is also a credit to our families who raised us with such a strong support that we continue to press on towards the goal of giving glory to God.  Both my wife and I were raised in the church.  Her dad is a lay minister and runs a handyman business.  My dad is an elder in the OPC (as mentioned previously).  Both our parents are still happily (mostly) married.  Our parents set before us godly role models with which to follow in raising our own children.

The source of trust in a marriage comes from knowing God.  He showed us how to love one another in that He first loved us.  Take time today to let your spouse know that you love them no matter what.  Recommit yourselves to your marriages and to the God who sustains and fulfills our lives.

Focus on commonalities

One of the dilemmas of the modern evangelical church is the focus on differences rather than commonalities.  As a part of the body of Christ, we tend to think more in terms of our own personal congregations rather than the church universal.  Therefore, the members of that body are the members of your church. 

Even churches within the same denomination or affiliation tend to think of each other as separate.  My dad is an elder in the OPC, and that denomination tends to be more unified than most.  Otherwise, the flavor of various denominational members tends to vary due to localized cultural influence.

From my experience, this has led to the “independent” church phenomenia.  Of course, independent can also mean accountable to no one.  Accountability then becomes an inward struggle.

While there are many differences among the body of believers, there are similarities that we need to rejoice in.  First and foremost, we must recognize the starting and finishing point in Jesus Christ.  It is only by His saving grace and mercy that we live.  Without Him, we’d all be lost without hope.  All things hold their commonality in Him, for He is the Word spoken of in John 1.  All things were created by Him and for Him and He is coming again to call all things unto Himself.

Under reconstruction

Third time’s a charm, right?  I created View from the Pew and found it way too monotoneous.  Then my next attempt was misappropriately named “Writeguard“.  The name “Writeguard” was already writeguarded (or trademarked in non-Burkettian terminology that the rest of the world uses).  Silly me, I forgot to check the US Registry on that one.  So, after much thought and careful deliberation, the new and hopefully final handle is Vacant Conviction.  It’s an intentional oxymoron of sorts.  I believe it aptly describes the state of the modern evangelical church.  With a healthy dose of reality, I aim to shed some light on the subject.  Join me for some thought provoking discussion!