Conversation with a homeless man

Last week I felt prompted to stop and buy lunch for one of the homeless men that I see every week when I go to Norfolk. Not out of a self righteous duty, but rather out of a spiritual nudge that I had received. I scoured the streets looking for one man in particular. David was his name. It always seems that God sends me to people whom I have things in common with. Being that my name is Jonathan and in the Bible David and Jonathan were best friends. My brother and father's name is David. There are just a lot of David's that I know.

Anyway, So I approached David and asked him if I could buy him lunch. He quickly obliged my request. After I bought him his lunch for him, instead of high tailing it out of there after I had done my good deed I just sat there with him and began to talk. I asked him questions about his life. I found out that he was raised in Virgina. His father was military. He played sports, his favorite being football. He was a receiver but was told that he was too small to play. I asked him how he became homeless. He told me that he couldn't work anymore because of an injury. An injury that he never thought could happen to him. I just patiently sat there as he slowly picked at his food.

Then religion came into the discussion. After I revealed to him that I was a pastor, he emphatically stated how he was "down with the Lord", "most of the time". That last part stuck out to me. I asked him why he felt that way. He then proceeded to open up and tell me how he feels that the way humanity treats itself is a direct reflection of God. He began to almost yell as if speaking to someone else about why they couldn't spare more than a dollar to help. My heart began to hurt. How many times was I that person that walked by not willing to spare some change or even say hi? How if I being a Christ follower could I just simply be okay with not helping in anyway? Was my un-involvement a direct reflection of the loving and giving God I serve? I hope not.

Jesus talks about this and how we are to respond in the face of poverty in Matthew 25:35-40-

“When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, ³⁶and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me." ³⁷Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, "When did we give you something to eat or drink? ³⁸When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear ³⁹or visit you while you were sick or in jail?" ⁴⁰The king will answer, "Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.”

I told David that I wanted to meet him every week and buy him lunch and try to bless him anyway that I can. Of course he said yes. Probably with skepticism, but I really want to be there to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Through this I might be able to bring back one of Jesus' lost sheep. This isn't a project, but rather it is a prompting that I must obey.

I will continue to update you on my conversations with a homeless man. May it open your heart as it will mine.

The Apex

Hitting road blocks in our relationship with Christ can be very overwhelming and frustrating at times. It can even lead to us turning our backs on the one that at one point set us free from ourselves. This got me thinking in regards to Spiritual maturity and how we can be at different "levels" in our walk with God.

It made me think of the word "apex". An apex is defined as- the uppermost point; the highest or culminating point. So when I thought more about this it made me think about how we all are living on one side or the other of this point. We are living a life where we claim to be a good person or even a good Christian but the fruit doesn't match. This is one side. The other side is where serving the Lord has become natural and if we aren't pursuing Him then something is wrong. To better explain this, picture an equilateral triangle (see picture above). On one side it represents our lives without Christ as the center. On the other side Christ is everything to you in every area of your life. What divides these sides is an apex or culminating point that clearly defines what side you are on. The thing with the Apex is that it isn't just a boundary marker, it is a definitive moment in one's life that a decision is made to quit playing "Christian" and rather get serious about God. What's difficult with this is that it is hard for people to identify which side they are on. Or they know what side they are on but don't want to climb over the apex. They haven't had an Apex Moment.

The Apex moment in one's life isn't normally instantaneous. It comes from multiple encounters with Jesus and finally wanting to "go all in". This is where after countless times we as believers would rather be all consumed with Christ all the time rather then when its convenient. Now you might be asking whether or not you had had an Apex Moment. If you have to ask that question, then you probably haven't. But regardless with what side you are on the only thing that matters is a constant pursuing of Jesus. Not everyone is ready to jump to the other side. But we should all be wanting to get there. If not then there is something greater that needs to be done.

So have you had the Apex Moment? If not do you want to? You should!!

2 Corinthians 5:17- "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

Hope for the Lost?

I have been reading the Bible from beginning towards the end and during this time I stumbled upon a blog from an atheist who was doing the same thing. This gave me hope for the atheist, because surely the Scriptures would reveal the truth of who God is and what He wants for our lives. I firmly believe that the Bible is inspired Scripture from God. God-breathed as referenced in Timothy. The power in the Word was sure to show itself and this person was almost but guaranteed to have an experience with Jesus. How I was wrong.

I read this person's last post and it seemed as if they were even more close minded than when they started. Here is an excerpt from her last post:

"I do wonder why anyone would want to worship this God who uses humans as pawns in his celestial feud with Satan, condemning any who are deceived by Satan and only letting those into heaven who were already destined to go. Seems that if there was even a slim chance of his existence then I'd choose not to worship him."

This made me disheartened and made me question, "Is there hope for the lost?" Now I could have gone the other route and questioned my own faith, but I know that with in my very being I have experienced Christ in all His fullness. And to me that is where the difference lies.

You can read about bungee jumping, but until you take the plunge yourself it is just going to be something adrenalin junkies do to get their next thrill. I have taken the plunge and all I can do is convince others of how real and exhilarating being a Christ follower is. The Bible is the Word of God and I do believe it has power, but only to those who apply it to their lives. To only those who make a decision to let it direct them to Christ.

So is there hope for the lost? Most definitely there is. His name is Jesus and He is just as real today as He was 2000 years ago.

1 Peter 1:21- "Through Him (Jesus) you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, so your faith and hope are in God."

50 Touches

It is said that it takes a non Christ follower an average of 50 encounters with someone who tells them about the Lord before they choose to make a decision for Christ. That is quite alarming and not easy to swallow. It is not like people are going around with a sign around their neck exclaiming that they are at the coveted high 40's. Oh how easy would that make my job!!!

This came up in discussion today as I was out on the streets inviting people to church. One of the guys with me got really discouraged when he got a cold response from a couple who really didn't want anything of which we had to offer. My buddy first got upset with me, because I prompted him to go and talk to the couple. Then he turned on himself and began to question whether he did the right thing. I immediately intervened and explained to him the Law of 50 Touches. It is not our fault if someone does not respond to the message of Christ. It is our fault if we pass idly by and not even bother sharing the message of love and hope.

Scripture says that it is the Lord that does the work (John 14:10). We are only to be obedient and available to share the Gospel with those people who do not know Him.

Later today I had the privilege of being some one's 50th encounter. Long story short, I made myself available to what the Lord WANTED to do. He used me and gave me a word for the man who needed to hear it. It was nothing that I did than respond to God's prompting and reach out to this man. The Lord knew he was ready. He did the work.

So don't be frustrated if you try to reach out to someone and they don't respond to you. You might be encounter #1, 13, 37, or 49. Just know that with every seed planted God is cultivating it for when it is the right time. Just be ready and available always!!!

Is it good enough to just be good?

Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.

Isaiah 1:17

These are the guidelines that God put out for all of humanity to uphold, yet He had to remind His chosen people about it because of their direct defiance. I personally can't remember the last time that I did all 5 out of 5. It is not because I didn't want to, or that it was asking of too much. It is because I came to a place of comfort in my life. It was a place where I had convinced myself that I had done enough so I must be a good person and in good standing with God.

The problem is we are not called to be good people. We are called to do the above. Now I am not saying that we are to make it our life's mission to master each of these areas, but rather if presented with the opportunity we do our best to achieve each of these instructions.

God loves each and everyone of us beyond what we can comprehend and He knows that because of sin, either self inflicted or inflicted upon us, that we would need others to love us. He wants us to understand that it is not a point system. That if we do enough good things in the world we can cruise through the rest of life. We are called to do good even when the world around us isn't good at all. Seek justice when justice isn't given to us. Rebuke the oppressor of others when we might be oppressed ourselves. Help the poor when we might not have anything to give.

So its not about being good and thats it. Its about constantly recognizing our purpose on this earth. That all stems out of our relationship with the One that upholds all of these things. He is good all the time because all the time He is good.

How big is your "but"?

We all have those moments in life when we get fed up with living a mediocre life. Whether it is with our health, our relationships, or our spiritual life. We decide that we need to make changes. We will get gym memberships, end "unhealthy" relationships, start a Bible reading plan or some other form of spiritual development book. The problem is that there are big BUTS connected with these things.

We start to work out, BUT we don't change our eating habits. We stop hanging out with certain people, BUT look for new friends at the place where we met the old ones. We try to have a spiritual awakening, BUT we don't change any other parts of our lifestyle. Why is that?

In the Old Testament, there are 4 books written about the kings of Israel and Judah that show this theme of wanting to get right, BUT they don't go the whole way. To me it seems that they just do the bare minimum so that they appear right in the eyes of the people that they are leading. There is no real heart change, but rather an image that they want to uphold. Because they know they should do it. Not that they want to do it.

Are we guilty of this as well? I know that for me I have always had good intentions when it comes to making changes in my life. But there must be more. There must be such a great discontent that leads to a 100% life change. We should not be content with starting something for the sake of starting it. Rather we should be determined to complete whatever it is that we start. It should drive us to point that people take notice. People should see the change. That is where we have the most opportunity to convince people that we are serious.

Don't let your "BUTS" get in the way.

SORRY. Its not just a kids game

Earlier this week I tweeted "Repentance is not saying you are sorry and then continuing forward. It is STOPPING what you are doing and then going the other way." I posted that after a God moment in which I felt that I was guilty of just saying sorry for my sin, but not really doing anything to change. Doing this in our lives is a lot like the playing the kids game Sorry. The point of the game is to get all your players around the board. If you happen to land on a Sorry slide, it is customary for you to say in a real sarcastic tone "SORRY" and then proceed forward taking out anyone in your path. The game is all about progress of moving forward. I can relate to that in my life when confessing sin to God. Sure I say sorry, but I have no intention of changing anything. I just want to move forward with my life.

The problem is that by just saying sorry, you are playing a game. You are not serious about who you are in Christ or what He wants for you. Sometimes saying sorry can be more harmful than good.

By truly repenting, you are making a decision to lay down what sin you have and turning from that and going in the complete opposite direction. It could be by setting up boundaries, limitations, or accountability. It is most times done with other people involved. In James 5:16 it say to "Confess your sins to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed." Repentance should be relational.

So if you are playing the game of "sorry", stop! Repent before the Lord so that you may know what it is to have freedom from your sin. Because if you don't then you will really be sorry.