Christianity is a religion full of self-proclaimed losers. Think about it: in order to accept Jesus as my redeemer, I must first accept the fact that I am sinful. Living outside of the church will let you think of yourself as a good person because you are not generally a bad one. Inside of the church you are a fallen sinful being who desires estrangement from God. Every sinful act we make shows just how much this is true of who we are. If I am to claim the salvation of Jesus, I must be someone in need of it. All to often we forget that.
“Before I came to know Jesus I was a good person. I lived a fairly good life where I didn’t hurt people on purpose. Then somebody told me about Christianity. In order to come to know Jesus, I had to become the bad guy. Nothing in my life changed right then, but, if Jesus died for my sins, then I must be somebody really bad. I must be someone who deserves to die. Even though I thought of myself as somebody good, I am so bad that I deserve death, but you will never guess what I found instead – Love.” I have heard more than one person articulate this type of reflection, and then I have watched them forget. Soon enough that realization, that I am flawed and broken, is replaced by the idea that ‘God will just forgive me.’
At what cost do we buy our carnal desires. “They spit on Him, and took the staff and struck Him on the head again and again. After they had mocked Him, they took off the robe and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him.” Matthew 27:30-31
I am not so sure, knowing that I caused that, that I could ever call myself a good person. I killed Jesus. I did it again, the last time I sinned. I will do it again, as I ever fail my Lord in so simple a task – “Follow Me.” As Christians we cannot ever claim to be good people – we killed God. I yelled crucify just as much as the assembly.
I am not a good person, but let me tell you about the kind of love that accepts me anyway. I killed Him, but death cannot hold on to Him. Even this day He loves me still. Even this day He gently beckons – “Follow Me.”

~JCPunk

Let me tell you a little story. I ended up in an ethics class one term, these things happen. We are going to begin reading this theorist, and, in the overview lecture, the professor asks the class, “Can you guys name some virtues for me?” An easy enough question, right?
Six students thought so, their hands popped right up. Impressed by the class participation, one of them was selected to name a virtue. The student confidently spoke a single word – “Money.” Nodding their heads in agreement, the other five hands fell.
Recovering, the professor looks to the other five. They look back, almost confused. Undaunted, a recovery is made, and the professor avoids telling these all too quick responders that they are wrong. Another call is made, “Do you have any other ideas for what could be virtues?”
Silence.
At the time I was sitting there in a bit of shock. Not just one, but six people were absolutely convinced that having money makes you a good and morally right individual, not honesty, not loyalty, not love, not bravery, not wisdom – pictures of a few dead figures from American history drawn in green ink on some paper. Is that really where the world stands? Has religion pulled so far out of the world that simple concepts like honesty are lost beneath the almighty dollar?
It must have. The desire to perform, to achieve, has taken over. The world resounds with hollow self-glorification. What Jesus offers is free – it must be less then that which I have earned. What’s mine is mine; I have earned it. I know what I have worked for is excellent. What could Jesus possibly offer a man of my means?
Love. Jesus is God. He died for you; you could not earn this gift. It is free because you cannot afford it. It has value beyond estimation because God gives what is truly good. Money is just paper and ink. My effort is just sweat. Jesus already did the hard part. He already spent more than my life is worth.
Try buying eternal unconditional love.

~JCPunk

There are some stories that we love. As a child I loved David vs Goliath; small guy vs the big guy. The small guy wins. It was great. I really liked hearing about how each time, the underdog succeeded in spite of their failings. They were small, but with God it didn’t matter.
Of course, those are not the only stories in the Bible. Those are just the ones we like. We like to hear about the good guys winning against insurmountable odds. We love Gideon because he took just a few guys and routed a whole army in God’s name. We are not so sure what to do with Job.
We get a little uncomfortable when we talk about Abraham sacrificing Issac to God. It is one thing to praise a great faith, it is another to talk about a man prepared to sacrifice his son in a heart beat because God asked it. We don’t like that so much. We are really edgy when it comes to Job. He was a devout and faithful man, but he was tested. He lost everything. We cry out, “Hey that was not fair.” He was covered with sores and ready to die because it was his turn to be tested?
We love the image of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, but we side step the 40 years he spent in exile. We love this image of God’s heroes just going in and getting the job done. Their personal lives frighten us. They were ready for what God gave them – and it wasn’t milk and honey. We need to hear of these painful moments in God’s story so that we are reminded that God’s work is not done in an instant, but built into a person’s life. We need to hear these stories so that we remember what God is doing has nothing to do with a single interaction I have but with every instant of every day. These stories of sacrifice and waiting scare us. They should. They call us to a level of commitment that we have not yet reached.
They ask us to sacrifice and wait upon the Lord.

~JCPunk

In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A rather bold statement isn’t it? I go before God having been saved by the death of Jesus, ask for stuff, and at the end tack on a “In Jesus’ name” just from habit. Think about it. When I pray I say what I have got to say, and at the end it always seems to be “In Jesus’ name” – even when it isn’t.
It seems all to hollow for my liking. Just attaching the name of our savior because we happen to be talking to God. Moreover, I remember all to vividly hearing of Jesus in the garden praying to God. “Not my will but yours be done.” That was a prayer of Jesus, so it must be in His name. This was a prayer about asking God for something. Pleading with God to avoid such a great pain. It was not about Jesus’ agenda but about His mission. Jesus’ name is not a signature to just inscribe upon the last words of a prayer.
If I pray in Jesus’ name, I commit myself to praying such a prayer that I would dare to name Jesus in it. Fallen and sinful as I am, I just spoke the name of God who was crucified for me to live. I spoke it to God in connecting with all that I have just said. And with a little rubber stamp, I signed “Jesus” at the bottom. Merely to name Jesus in praying is not a sign of a good or righteous prayer. Signaling the prayer’s end with “In Jesus’ name” does not get it an answer.
No, to pray in Jesus’ name is to pray in such a way as I would follow “Not my will but yours be done.” It is not a matter of words spoken but a heart submitted. If I am to pray in the name of Jesus, I had best pray like Jesus: not in words or actions, but in humility. God who became flesh. He who died out of His great love of us. He who cried out “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do.”
It is Him that I claim signs my prayers when I utter “In Jesus’ name.” I mention His holy work and His passionate service. In that same breath I speak of me, my thoughts and my desires. They are not worthy of so close a connection to Him. When I speak of Jesus and I speak of myself it makes all the clearer why He died, and it makes all the greater my debt unto His love.

~JCPunk

Suppose this for a moment, it is your birthday. There you are at your party; everyone you want to celebrate with is there. You’re smiling and laughing – it is a great time. They start singing the song, you know the one. You’ve heard it a million times before. Then you see it. Here comes your birthday cake. It is set down right in front of you, and you discover a huge chunk of it has already been carved out. Your birthday cake is missing a piece.
Even though I may personally dislike celebrating my birth, that would hurt. Such a stunt happens all the time. The great dramas of life, the events that shape our ideas of people, are not found in the “moments that last a lifetime.” I doubt if I could recall those truly pivotal moments in my life. I remember who hurt me. I remember the tears. I remember crying out as it felt like my anguish had cut me in two – penetrating to the core of my being.
These are the moments that count. It is one thing to be at the top. When you and God are hand in hand walking through life, the world is never more lovely and never more forgettable. When that grip slips and clouds form on the horizon, we point back and cry out. “Oh God! Why?” We scream and we talk about how good everything was, about how life was different, about how we were walking with God, about how we saw God change the world when we were there with Him.
We point backwards, declaring to any and all that we belong there. That was our spot. “God why? Can’t you see how good we were together?” We reached so many; we did so much. We look forwards. “God I really need you back in my life before this all happens. God I need you help to get through this.” How can I achieve my goals with you if you arn’t there?
It takes me so long. Each and every time I must wait. Not on God, He is ever there. I wait until I remember. God is not in my past; God is not in my future; God is not in my present. God is. I am just along for the ride. He does not need me. I do not complain out of right. I do not present my timetable because it is authoritative.
It is one thing to talk about God, about who He is and about what He has done. It is quite another to get on my knees and thank Him. I may cry out at the past or at the future I have set for myself, but I only have God to cry out to. All my other words are for loss. They create what is missing from my birthday cake.

~JCPunk

Looking back, I wonder about what has happened here. As I sit in this all to comfy chair, I wonder about the world out there, beyond these walls. It is Thursday, again, did I “really let my light shine” today? Mayhap I am the only one, the great louse. I sit when I should stand. I bite my tongue rather than speak, lest someone should take my words. It is so easy to invite people to an event. The event can hide my failure to evangelize. The event can hide my hypocrisy.
“Do you love me?”
“Yes Lord you know I do.”
“Then, feed my sheep.”
Without a second thought I would call Jesus my Lord. In that same instant I would rather silently skip feeding sheep. If I love Him, then I will do what He asks. So simple a task, go where God would ask. Alas, doing is so much more difficult than just saying the words. I look to my left and to my right. I seek after this year’s Christianity. The ideas of last year no longer inspire me. Those symbols and those sermons have lost their power – the edge which drove me.
How dare I find God no longer trendy. How dare I let go. It is not the symbols that have lost their power, nor is it that the sermons have drifted to nothingness. It is not the ideals of last time which have dwindled. It is I. Those never had any power save pointing to the One who does. That has not changed. God is still who He has always been.
This year is no different from the last. Christianity has nothing new to offer this year. There is nothing to flood the market with. No WWJD bracelets no copies of The Purpose Driven Life, no we have the same thing we always have had. Unconditional love. We have always had Jesus, you remember, the author and perfecter of our faith. He was crucified, died, and buried. On the third day He rose again, redeeming humanity from sin.
Yeah, that guy. I think He is more than this year’s Christianity. He is the Christ. He has forgiven my failings. I have but to feed His sheep, and I shall follow after Him ever more. Merely to step forward is merely a step. Walk forward. Follow Jesus.

~JCPunk

An interesting quirk of humanity is that we seek. We look for the best sports players, the best writers, the best novel, the best grade, the best school, the best way to write a paper and so on. Always seeking after something.
God came before Abram and said to him, “I am the Lord your God.” God came and found. When God came to Moses and said, “I am the Lord your God,” God came and found. When God came to Samuel and said, “I am the Lord you God,” God came and found. When Jesus came to the disciples and said, “Follow Me,” He came and found. In fact, the big phrase of God’s servants throughout the Old Testament is, “Here am I Lord.”
Here am I Lord.
God, who is above all and whom we seek, came to us. The oldest models of faith did not go out to locate God – He came to them. God moved toward them. Their fame rests in having declared there presence to God.
God, “Who will go?”
Isiah , “Here am I Lord. Send me, though I may be a man on unclean lips.”
By all rights we should have to look for God and He should sit and wait. He is the one whom we should serve. He is superior; we are inferior. But He seeks after us. We seek after a lot of things. God desires us so greatly that we are blessed beyond all understanding. God became man to seek us more fully. Once He was there people began pouring out of every place to seek Him there. Out of love for us God sought us.
We should be seeking Him, but He sought us first. The one who is superior came to find the ones who are inferior. Above and beyond what any would deem the proper behavior of a supreme being God came to us. Supremacy sits enthroned on high. Love is nailed to a cross. It is not merely that God is supreme or that God is love. It is that in His supremacy He loves enough to die. He is the one whom we should seek and love, yet He is the one who has sought after us – to love us.

~JCPunk

In any discussion of faith there is the eternal struggle between Paul’s, “You are saved by Grace through faith,” and James’s, “Faith without works is dead.” All to frequently I appeal to James for anything related to real faith and to Paul for the more theoretical ideas about what faith is for. I have come to realize that this idea puts faith to my test rather than to God’s.
I may be the only one, but whenever I used to reference this passage in James it was for talking about my faith or someone else’s. Behind the safety of James I sat comfortably spouting pleasantries about being “good little Christian workers.” I was such a fool. Assuming that Paul’s statement about grace and faith was well known among the gathered, I focused on “Faith without works is dead.” Seeking to encourage people in their works I have done many things.
But it was all dead already. There cannot be “good little Christian workers” without Christ. Moreover, any task that begins with “Faith without works is dead” was never alive.
What is faith? Why do we have it? What does it do for me?
“You are saved by Grace through faith.” Paul is not describing something in parallel with James’s rebuke of the lazy. They are not talking about even remotely similar things. Paul is talking about God relating to humanity while James is talking about the life of a Christian. There is no life of a Christian without the relation of God to humanity.
I cannot begin to think about “Faith without works is dead” without first thinking about the death and resurrection of Christ. If I skip this pause of meditation upon the meaning of Jesus death and just jump in to talking about faith in any capacity, then I am not talking about faith. Faith is not something to be memorized and reiterated at every confrontation. Faith is supposed to be a living part of life. Any talk that is just about faith, or about God, without having first planted oneself before the throne of God is just talk. Accurate or inaccurate, the words are hollow. To talk about God as the Lord of my life, I must first make Him the Lord of my life – anything else is empty.
To merely jump into speaking about faith and works without focusing on God and letting Him dictate the actions of a Godly life, is to be wrong. It is one thing to merely talk about what faith is for, it is another entirely to let that faith sculpt my life; this is the point I think James was getting at. We are not to go around talking about works as though they say anything about faith, to even try is nonsense.

~JCPunk

More than my fair share of the time I have sat back after pulling my weight and the weight of a few others on this or that task, and wondered, “Where is my thanks?” I of course never would admit to working for a thank you; it is always for the good of this or that. But that is hypocrisy.
I would rather not count the sermons I have heard about forgiving people 70 times 7. I have heard hundreds of people talk about faith like a mustard seed. I have never even heard people discuss what you find only one verse later. In Luke 17:7-10, Jesus calls me out in my error. “Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ “
How easily we forget what we were commanded to do – Go into the world and preach the Good News. We get hung up wondering where our thanks are coming from for this or that little task; there is a whole world out there needing the love that only God can give and we bicker about a word of thank you for doing exactly as we are expected. Maybe your professors are a little different than mine, but none of mine coo and fuss over me turning my papers in on time. It is expected. When people dare to step forward and own up to their faith, we congratulate them and get excited.
That is such a mistake. We shower praise upon an unworthy person for doing just as they are expected. In an entire lifetime we could not unwrap all of what Jesus is saying in these verses, but I know this. If I ever hear about you sharing your faith with another, I will let you know you did a good job – but then I will ask a simple question, “What about him? Or her, does she know?” Each time we discuss salvation there should be a great party and rejoicing beyond compare – while we were yet sinners Christ died for you and you and you and ……
Celebration of such Love and returning it does not expect a thank you. It makes no sense to expect God’s thankfulness that we have accepted His gift, and He is after all the one whom we serve.

~JCPunk

You may have heard of the time that God parted the Red Sea for Moses and the rest of his buddies (the entire nation of Israel) to cross. Right there at the end of the chapter in Exodus 14:31 it says, “when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant.” Then they sing a big long song about how great God is. God performs another miracle and makes some bad water drinkable so they don’t all die of thirst. In Exodus 16:2-3 it says, “In the desert the whole community grumbled [...] The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.’” I am sure that you are thinking, “Wha? How many miracles does it take? Yeah food is an issue, but you just watched God part an ocean so you could walk across on dry land. Why did God pick, what clearly must be, the dumbest group of people on the planet?” The Israelites, in fact, spend most of the rest of Exodus crying about this or that thing that is so much harder now. They were slaves in Egypt, but this living off of the land stuff is so hard. Oh wait, God is sending food directly from heaven to them each day, all they have to do is pick it up. They complain about the food. Do you really think God makes bad food?
What if God comes in a big way in this ministry and changes it up? It will be different, totally unlike anything before. We are so eager to make fun of the ancient Israelites, but we do the same thing when God tries to turn an object we know into something new. We changed the communion plates in my church back home. This caused more of an uproar than our last revival.
Not just here, but as Christians we ask God to do something big in the world around us. If He is going to do us the honor, the least we can do is not complain because it is new and different. I believe that we can wander around in the desert for years, or we can just believe that God is doing something amazing every time He gives us the chance to glorify Him. It doesn’t always have to look like it makes sense, but it does always have to glorify God.

~JCPunk