Are you free?

I have never lived without freedom. My life has always had certain unalienable rights. We, as Americans, have very little understanding of what it means to live under oppression. I think that too often causes us to take it for granted.

Today, I encourage you to thank someone who fought for those freedoms. The Americans that most appreciate the freedoms we enjoy are the men and women who have put their lives on the line for those freedoms. I think I understood this difference one Memorial Day as I sat on the porch and listened to some stories told by Wendy’s Uncle Jack.

Uncle Jack is a veteran of the Vietnam War. He stayed in the military until he retired as a Lt. Colonel. Uncle Jack is a great communicator. That day as I listened I did not realize that I was privy to a special moment. As we left that day, my father-in-law (Pops) asked how I had started that conversation. I told him I did not really remember how we got there. I then learned that Pops had never heard his brother talk about Vietnam that much in the many years that had passed since the war had ended.

Uncle Jack talked about what he saw in Vietnam in the lives of the people. He told me about one of his toughest days in commanding his troops and the devastation a battle had caused in a local village that was out of their site line during the battle. I could tell that day still stung in his memories.

Pops then shared with me the story of the first time Jack went to the Vietnam wall. It was in 1997 while I was engaged to Wendy. Their family was in D.C. for a family reunion. While they were driving to the wall Pops asked Uncle Jack how long it had been since he had been there. He answered, “Never.” The surprising thing about that answer is that Uncle Jack had lived in D.C. for many years.

Pops told me that when they got there Jack began to walk down that wall. There was one particular spot that he stopped and got very quiet. I do not know what that spot represents to him, but since the wall is in the chronological order of the war, I would imagine it represents one really bad day. I am sure Uncle Jack had many of those as an officer. I am sure there are names on that wall that he had command over. I would imagine that those names are difficult to read and the memories are not easy to bear.

Why do I share you these stories? I learned something from Uncle Jack that he does not even know. I was not even there to see it. I learned this. Freedom is expensive. It costs more than most of us could ever imagine. Some of you, men and women who have fought for it, understand it better than others.

No freedom is free. Our spiritual freedom carried a great price. Jesus said, “I have come not to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” It is also said in God’s Word about us, “You are no longer your own. You have been bought with a price.”

If Jesus is our Lord, we are free. We must always remember, however, that our freedom was not free. It carried a great price.

So, today, to our veterans, we say, “THANK YOU!” I personally want to say Thank you to Uncle Jack and his son-in-law Louis, and Louis’ son, Matthew. These 3 generations have bravely served in the Marine Corps and all during times of war. Thank you for showing me what freedom costs. Thank you for showing us how to be willing to pay the price, not just for your own freedom, but for the freedom of the Vietnamese and the Iraqi people. You – and the others who have served like you – have taught us much.

Also, today, tell Jesus “THANK YOU!” He, too saw a people that were not his people, and he paid the ultimate price for their freedom.

Face to Face with a Facebook Friend

This past Sunday I had the cool privilege of preaching at my home church. Cook Baptist in Ruston is a great place. The people there have always loved me and supported me. They are absolutely awesome.

I had two bonuses on the trip, too. That Sunday was my mom’s birthday. She is an absolutely amazing woman of faith. My mom was up at 4 AM on a Sunday morning for her own birthday cooking for college kids’ lunch and loved it. She rocks. I hope hearing me preach on her birthday was better than hearing me sing for her birthday all these years. (Although it would have to be one awful sermon to be worse than hearing me sing,) The other bonus was getting to deer hunt with my dad. He rocks, too. My parents are great people who love Jesus. Another cool thing was that I got a spike, but what I really want is to kill one of the 8 points my dad kills all the time – like last week. He must still be living better than me or something.

Anyway, the title of this blog is not really about any of that. It is about the sermon I preached at Cook. That was the title of it – Face to Face with a Facebook Friend. Facebook is a great site to catch up with old friends. In so doing many of my old friends have been a tad surprised to find out I was a pastor.

The sermon I preached was about why I always hope that people on Facebook might see that I am not who I was. The truth about my life is not that I got saved and God changed my life, though. I was already saved. I just was not living like it. I shared a truth out of Romans 12:1-2 that God taught me many years ago now that I believe is the real reason for the change I have experienced in my life.

It was this. We always need to see God’s mercy. We often think about the part in this passage that says “offer your bodies a living sacrifice” or “do not conform to the pattern of this world” or “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. What we must realize is that all of that truth begins with these words, “in view of God’s mercy.”

The question I have to ask you is this, “Do you see it?” I do. I now see it every day. And it is new every day. His mercy is fresh in my life every morning. That is what changed my spiritual life. I finally realized I was not responsible for the condition of the living sacrifice. The mercy of God made that sacrifice holy and pleasing, not me. That truth really set me free.

Stop trying to sacrifice enough to deserve the mercy of God. Stop trying to quit conforming to experience the mercy of God. Quit trying to transform your mind so that you can understand the mercy of God. Just stop and see it. See the love of God in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Understand that his mercy is already yours.

Then, get up and live your life in response to Jesus. Allow him to give you the power to no longer conform to the world. Allow the mercy of God to transform your mind.

Never lose sight of God’s mercy. He has never lost sight of you.

That is the confession of a Facebook friend. I am not who I was, because Jesus is more than I knew He was. And that my friend, is the mercy of God.

Do you see it?

The Freedom of Life

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

One of the basic foundational truths of all of Scripture is the importance of life. The Bible begins with God’s work in the creating of life. God created all living things and then he said, “It is good.” God took very seriously the first act of murder. (It is interesting that it took only one generation for man to begin to think that he should take another one’s God-given right to life.)

God is strong in his judgment on murder. The Scripture speaks to the beauty and the activity of God in the creation of each life in Jeremiah where the beautiful words are written, “Before I knitted you together in your mother’s womb; I knew you.” We see the value that Jesus gives all life when he raises the widow’s son or as he takes time for the small child that others see as a distraction or as he speaks with love and mercy to thief on the cross.

The truth is that life is sacred. It is a God-given gift. Life according to the beautiful words of God begins when he begins the life in a womb. Life must be sacred to all those who love God because life is sacred to Him. He created it. He sustains it. And he sent his son to die for it. Jesus died so we could have life beyond breathing in and breathing out for a certain number of years. Jesus died so that life could be full of all that God desired it to be when he made it in the first place.

The issue of life must be a deciding factor for Christ followers when they vote. We must be willing to stand on the same principles and truths that the Bible is built upon and the God clearly established in his laws (and interestingly enough through His grace, too). People who follow Christ must choose to not vote for those who oppose every person’s God-given right to life.

I do not speak on many political topics with that much authority. Truthfully there is no wiggle room in the Scripture that will allow a person who stakes their life on the truths found within it to support people who believe they have the authority of giving or denying others the right to life.

Interestingly enough, it is not just a Biblical principle. It is an American constitutional principle, too. Our unalienable rights are LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The issue we are facing with abortion is that people believe their right to pursue happiness should give them the right to take away someone else’s right to life. Not only is it wrong Biblically and morally, it is wrong constitutionally.

Please hear this. God is gracious and forgives such acts. The man on the cross with Jesus found grace as did the soldier at the foot of the cross that crucified Jesus. The grace of God over the personal acts that rob a person of their right to life does not, however, mean that it should be legal in our society.

The taking of another’s life is wrong. The issue that most conservatives will not deal with in this discussion is why capital punishment is okay. I have a very straightforward answer to this one. When a person decides that they have the right to rob another person of their right to life, they give up the right to their own. Biblically murder is punished with capital punishment. God saw that as appropriate. He understood that a person that takes away a life has in some way decided that they should be the one that gives and takes away unalienable rights. That is not theirs to decide.

When you vote remember these foundational Biblical and Constitutional truths. We as a people must be willing to stand for life and that means we must stand against all political candidates that no longer believe life is an unalienable right. Life is not a choice!

Caesar’s or Citizen’s

Then he said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." Matthew 22:21

Jesus says this quote in response to religious people who want don’t want to pay taxes. They don’t really want to pay the temple tax or the governmental taxes. They just want their own money (sounds familiar). Jesus says give what you are supposed to give to whomever you’re supposed to give it.

Christ-followers that desire to be obedient to the Lord in their life, must vote on Tuesday. Ours is a government of the people, for the people, by the people. We, as the followers of Christ, must participate not just in the tax plans of our countries, but also in its electoral process. It is what our government has required of us.

The issue is not just about voting, but about paying taxes, too. One of the most ridiculed statements in this election has been Biden’s statement that it is patriotic to pay taxes. The truth is; it is patriotic to pay taxes. It is doing what the government requires of us. It is not just patriotic for the Christian, it is obedience to Christ.

The issue of how this plays into the current political debate is about what is rightfully Caesar’s. We live in a country with the freedom to work and make a profit as best as you can. The American Dream has been built upon these basic truths since the founding of our country.

Is it American, however, for people in our nation to have to pay to Caesar what is another citizen’s? Is it right for people to be forced to share their profit just because another person did not make that profit? You must decide what you believe about this issue before you vote. It is the foundational economic issue separating these two men’s economic plans?

The hardest part is to give to God what is God’s. Truthfully if the Christians of America were giving to those who are thirsty, hungry, naked, and needy the way Christ commanded us, our nation would not be trying to legislate equality and fairness. The American government is facing an issue that is not really a Caesar issue. It is a citizen issue. No one would be proposing Robin Hood plans that take from the rich and give to the poor, if the rich gave to the poor because of their love for Christ.

When was the last time you helped this situation without legislation? It does not mean we should legislate the change, but we must change indeed.

Serving up the Best Servant

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matthew 6:24

The truth that we can not serve both God and money goes against almost everything we see and hear in our world today. If one listens to the debate over our current presidential election, one would think that money is the only issue in our nation. You might hear about war, but honestly one side of the debate always turns that discussion back to money again.

Followers of Christ must see more than money in this world. The Christ-follower must arrive to vote on Tuesday, November 4th with a decision that has been prayed over and considered over all of the issues. Money is not the most important thing in this election or any election.

The truth of what the Bible has to say about that type of thinking is this, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10a) This truth is so evident in the economic discussion of today. The problem that our nation faces is that the answer to remedying this problem will not be found in the economic policy of our next president.

There are some key thoughts about finances you should consider, though.

1. What is the root economic principle behind the policies presented?
a. Trickle-down economics will give breaks tax wise to the wealthy, although they will still pay the vast majority of the taxes simply based on income. The theory is that people will always desire to make more money and when you free up the money-makers’ money to make more money they will hire those who do not have the money to work for them. The sole reason for that employment is their profit. The simple truth is that it has been the overall economic principle of our nation throughout its history.
b. “Grass roots” economics is the theory that if you give money to those who do not have the money that they will spend it and that it will feed the economy. The goal of this theory is to create economic equality in society through taxing those who make the most and giving it to those who make the least.

2. Is that economic policy based on American principles?
I would like to make this part more spiritual, but that would require me to stretch the Scripture. Truth be told, this is an issue that you must decide for yourself. So here is the issue. Do you believe the American Way is to give people an unearned and undeserved check every year at the cost of another citizen so that we can have equality economically? Or do you think it is the American Way for each person to do their best with what they have to work with and make as much as they can understanding that there will be many who do this in a greedy and selfish manner?

3. In a society that believes in the freedoms of religion, speech, property ownership, and a free market economy, is it right for the government to force financial equality?
I believe this to be a conflict of constitutional principles. The real issue is that we have a society that is greedy. Greed causes great need. The answer of one party is to hope that there is enough good in the American people that they will make wise investments that will benefit others through employment. The other party believes that people will not do what is good and wise and the government should dictate that sharing of resources through taking what has been earned by one and giving it to someone else who has not earned it. What do you think?

4. Is the government’s spending any different than yours?
In government it is called deficit spending. In our lives it is called debt. As our nation yells at our government about its spending practices the people of our nation are mounting debt they can not pay at the fastest rate in the history of the world. The real issue is our overall unhealthy love for money. We must learn how to be wise with what we have individually before we will learn to be wise with what we have nationally.

Who will you serve with your vote? If are not considered in the wealthy and you vote just to get a tax credit; you will be serving money. If you are considered wealthy and you vote just to get a tax break, you will be serving money. If you pray and earnestly consider all of the issues, you can serve the Lord with your vote.

The best way to serve up the best servant for our nation is to be one. Who will you serve?