Leviticus 23:9-14 Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. ¹¹On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf. ¹²On that same day you must sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³With it you must present a grain offering consisting of four quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil. It will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. You must also offer one quart of wine as a liquid offering. ¹⁴Do not eat any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until you bring this offering to your God. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:09 — 12.9MB)

Have you ever driven by somebody’s house and seen something they had put at the end of the driveway to throw away and thought that would be something you’d like to have?  Or maybe you’re a garage sale pro.  Isn’t it amazing how many things some people want to get rid of, and how many others see a treasure in that item?

What’s even more amazing is how that happens in so many people’s lives.  They do things to mess up their lives, and they end up thinking they’ve become no better than garbage.  In fact, some people have even ended their own lives because they’ve lost all hope in themselves.  But the good news is that there is a potential treasure in every life.  It doesn’t matter how much we have fouled things up or wrecked our own lives with sin, God can turn any life around and make something wonderful out of what was once worthless…including you!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:32 — 16.7MB)

I think it’s funny how people portray Heaven as a white cloudy kind of place where people dress in robes and have halos and play harps.  And then people look at that made up idea and say it’s boring, so they’re not all that interested in going.

Of course the reality of Heaven is beyond our imagination.  The Bible says it’s massive and full of color and lights and trees and flowing water.  But it’s also a place of worship.  It will be like church 24/7.  And people will be singing praises to God and worshiping him non-stop.  Of course that idea doesn’t appeal to anyone who doesn’t believe in or like God.  So they probably wouldn’t be interested in Heaven anyway.

of course everybody who admits the truth, understands how great God is and how worthy he is of our worship and obedience, and how limitless the blessings of a relationship with God is.  But they like to hold on to the idea that Heaven is like winning the lottery and doing whatever you want without interaction with God.  Many people think they can con God into letting them into Heaven in spite of their sinful hearts and lives and that somehow their hearts and minds will magically change when they die.  But the scary truth is, your heart and mind are judged for what they are and if you’re not purified before you kick the bucket, you’ll be pitched out and burned with all the other impurities that aren’t worthy of entering God’s presence.

What do you think of that thought?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:24 — 17.6MB)

CHAPTER SIX – Dead and Buried

Did you ever wonder why it’s so hard for some people to quit doing things they know are bad for them?  It’s usually because they’ve been doing it for a long time.

If a person smokes one cigarette or drinks one beer and realizes that it’s gross and unhealthy, it’s easy for them to never drink or smoke again.  It’s even easier for people who have never even tried such things.  If they have watched other people’s lives destroyed by things like drugs or alcohol, it’s extremely easy for them to choose never to touch those things.  But for the person who has made it a habit and become addicted after months (or even years) of use it can be an extremely difficult struggle to break free of those bonds they have created.

It’s the same way with sin.  People choose to turn their backs on God, and break his commands.  And the deeper they go and farther they run from God the more they become enslaved by their own evil.  They become so used to living in sin and their minds are so darkened that they can’t even imagine what life could be like if they weren’t slaves to wickedness.

That’s why the fact that Jesus is willing to cleanse us from all sin is such Good News.  Not only does he save our lives from eternal damnation, he purifies our lives from the stain of sin and empowers us with the Holy Spirit to be able to live the way he commands us to live.  When we choose to repent and to turn away from sin and toward God, in his wonderful grace, God sets us free from that slavery to sin and death, and we are free indeed to live for Jesus and have a brand new life in relationship to him.

I don’t know about you…but I think that’s awesome!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:54 — 21.5MB)

CHAPTER THREE – Really Bad Breath

Let’s say you are at home, in your front yard, and you look across the street and notice black smoke and flames coming from the roof of your neighbors house.  Then you notice that your neighbor is just getting home from work and hasn’t noticed that his house is on fire and he’s on the porch fumbling for his keys.

What do you do?  Do you let him go into a burning house without saying a word.  Or do you yell at the top of your lungs, “DON’T GO IN THERE!  YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE!”

Now picture all the people who are dooming themselves to eternal fire through their own sin.  What do you do?  Do you do whatever it takes to get their attention and convince them to stop?  Or do you let them walk into that burning house?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:21 — 24.9MB)

What could be worse than a virus that destroys your organs and causes you to bleed from your eyes and ears and other openings and eventually killing you in extreme physical agony?

How about something that causes you to be in agony without the possibility of finding relief through physical death?

And how many people will wash their hands multiple times a day to keep from getting sick, but won’t think twice about sinning against God and dooming themselves to an eternity in Hell?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:48 — 19.6MB)

Sometimes people talk about God’s grace as if it’s something they can manipulate.  They think saying a prayer will force God to forgive them for whatever they do.  But no words can convince God to forgive an unrepentant person.  We don’t choose God and close a deal on a ticket to Heaven.  God also has to choose us.  If it weren’t for God’s grace we wouldn’t even be given the opportunity to seek his face.  And only those who truly repent  will be accepted by God.  It’s not about just being sorry or feeling bad or having an emotional experience.  It’s a practical change of mind that results in a practical change of behavior through the power and grace of God.  We aren’t forgiven of our past to get us a free trip to Heaven.  God grants forgiveness so that we can live new and holy lives that please God.  We are saved so that we can do good works and be righteous people.  It’s not some ethereal spiritual condition.  It’s a real way of life.

But some people think they can earn God’s grace, and that once they do they are better than everybody else.  In fact, some people think once they pray a particular prayer that they can use God’s grace like it’s a limitless get-out-of-Hell-free card and go on living a life full of sin and get away with it.  But the true Christian, who actually loves God, is not only changed by God’s grace, but in God’s grace they also choose to live a life of obedience to God.  We don’t change into different people when we die.  We simply change forms.  And if your heart is still enslaved by sin on Judgment Day you will be cast out.  But if your heart is pure, you will continue on the path you have already found in Christ.

Whadaya think of that?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:04 — 15.1MB)

Who doesn’t love free stuff?  God has a pretty cool free gift he’d like to give you.  Wanna hear about it?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:08 — 18.4MB)

This is kind of a continuation of “Well FORGIVE me!”  It deals with the place of forgiveness in situations of repeated abuse.  Can you mesh forgiveness with justice?  Is there a way to give grace without promoting lawlessness?

I don’t mention this in the talk, but if you think about it, the answer to that questions was Jesus giving his life on the cross.  If God wanted to forgive everybody without any desire for change, Jesus wouldn’t have needed to die.  God could have just said “I forgive everybody no matter what.”  And it would have allowed everybody to continue living wicked and selfish lives.  But then Heaven and Earth would both be places of eternal evil because the law would have been thrown away to make place for universal forgiveness.  But in making his ultimate sacrifice, Jesus demonstrated the legal consequence of our evil as a motivation for us to stop breaking God’s law and live a life in accordance with all God asks of us.  So if we are willing to turn away from our selfish lawlessness and obey God, he can forgive us and promote justice at the same time.

Jesus said “Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me.”  So if we truly care about Jesus and what he said and did for us, our lives must be changed out of our love for him.  We can’t live as enemies of God if we truly love him.  So when people say something like “Just ask Jesus into your heart” it’s never some mantra or empty religious ritual that saves you.  It’s the fact that the love Jesus demonstrated for us with his life, death, and resurrection, motivates us to return love to him and live lives that will make him happy.  We enter into a relationship of mutual love and find forgiveness, not as a technicality for some empty prayer, but out of deep desire for God to be reunited with us in purity and righteousness.

So real grace not only forgives a perpetrator, but also promotes his or her best interest, which is eternal righteousness in accordance with God’s law.

Get it?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:50 — 16.0MB)

How many times have you heard someone say they’re sorry, but their tone clearly revealed that they weren’t sorry at all?  How many times have you been the person doing just that?  It seems like people in our culture have a difficult time actually allowing themselves to regret a wrong action or feel sorrow for hurting someone else or even admit that they did anything wrong.  We always like to come up with excuses for our behavior.  It seems even more difficult for some people to actually forgive when they’ve been hurt.  So what do we do with all that emotion?  And does giving or receiving forgiveness actually do us any good?  What do you think?

This talk I gave last year was an emotional one for me.  I even felt choked up listening to it again.  But I sure am glad to have learned some things about dealing with this stuff in my own life.  What experiences have you had that you’ve learned from?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:53 — 17.8MB)