Simply B.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  -Galatians 6:9

Do you ever feel the urge to rebel?  Cross the line?  Act out of character?

We all do.  The reason is because we have what the Bible calls a sinful nature.  Desires that do not originate with God (nor please Him) find their way into action.  It's the case of the rebellions.  When doing good seems to be getting you nowhere.

So we...
Cut people off in traffic.
Go see that movie we know will drop a thousand F bombs and dis our God.
Chew out the person who hurt us.
Lean into gossip.
Treat ourselves to a spending spree even if we're up to our eyeballs in debt.

We stop doing good because we think about NOW instead of LATER.  The verse we read from Galatians 6:9 is in the context of the apostle Paul's reminder to us, "we reap what we sow."  Farmers know that a crop will not be full grown the day after it was planted.  It takes time!  And when the harvest comes, it will be worth the effort.

Allow God's grace on your life to motivate you to continue to do what is good and pleasing in His sight.  If you get the urge to rebel, then rebel against evil.  Buy someone a tank of gas.  Talk good about your boss behind his back.  Indulge in the Bible instead of some trashy magazine.  Take the initiative to let someone know how much you appreciate him or her today.

THAT kind of rebellion ensures that a harvest is just around the corner.

Last week I was introduced to my great-grandfather for the first time.

After a lifetime of never knowing his biological father, my grandpa John received a call from his son-in-law indicating he had an incredible discovery from some in-depth research.  The exciting news rippled through many members of our family, including myself.  Reading about my great-grandfather, Russell (aka “Rud”), was a joy and I couldn’t help but smile when I read that he was a golf pro along with his five older brothers.  Matter of fact, he had four hole-in-ones in his lifetime, conducted golf lessons for the famous and developed the first par three golf course in the United States.

I enjoy playing golf but unfortunately I did NOT inherit my great-grandfather’s skills!

The discovery of Russell’s eulogy and other important information had me thinking a lot about my grandpa John lately.  My grandpa is one of the most amazing men on the face of this planet and yet his father never knew him.  My heart breaks for him yet rejoices that after 70+ years he now has information about his earthly father.

We may never know where we came from or the vast insight from our family tree but we can have the joy of knowing that we are known and loved by SOMEBODY GREAT.  Place yourself in Jeremiah’s shoes for a moment as you read this:

The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” –Jeremiah 1:4-5

Isn’t that incredible?!  God KNEW you, even before He FORMED you.  And those who embrace His Son, Jesus Christ, by faith will inherit an eternity of love, acceptance and blessings that come from a forever Father.

"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." -Romans 3:23

An often quoted verse to remind us of our sinfulness in light of God's holiness.  In other words, He is perfect and we are not.  In this verse alone, we could all be summed up as a train wreck, utter failure and complete mess.

If we stop reading the rest of this verse (and many do) it would leave us feeling rejected and dejected.  But thank God that's not the case!  Keep reading...

"and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." -Romans 3:24

It's much like when I ask my five year-old daughter to clean up her room.  I'm often a perfectionist when it comes to cleaning and organizing my house (it's a Risch gene!).  BUT it would be ridiculous of me to expect my daughter to have her room as clean and organized as I would like it to be.  So after she does the best a five year-old can, I come in and clean up the rest of the mess.

Her mess is made perfect by me.

And this is what God did for us by sending His Son, Jesus, to turn our messed up lives into something acceptable to God.  How is this even possible?  Back that truck up and read the verse preceding verse 23.

"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." -Romans 3:22

Trust Jesus with your life.  Surrender everything to Him and allow Him to be your Savior and Lord.  Free gift of salvation (eternity forever with Jesus) for ALL who BELIEVE!  Take it!  Allow your status to be changed from trash to treasure, from earthly rags to eternal riches, from sinner to saint!

You and I may be a mess... but in God's eyes, we are a PERFECT MESS.

Yesterday I experienced my first day as a substitute teacher.  One of the reasons I'm choosing to do this occasionally, is for the sake of getting to know my community better.  As a pastor I'm finding this helpful to know how to pray better for the school officials, staff, principals, teachers and students. 

Early Monday morning I got the call.  "Can you substitute for a half-day kindergarten class?"  Early afternoon, the same day I received another call.  "Can you substitute for a middle-school music class?"

I've heard teaching at the kindergarten and middle-school level are some of the toughest assignments.  I gladly accepted the challenge!  And it ended up being a great day!

Two schools.  Four classes (1-kindergarten, 3-middle-school).  And one powerful lesson about our insecurities. 

Throughout the day it was fascinating to observe the different dynamics between kindergarten students and middle-school students.  Within 5 minutes of being introduced to the kindergarten class, I turned to one little boy and said, "Hi, my name is Brandon.  How are you today?"  Immediately, he rolled his eyes and turned around.  Ha.  It was obvious, he was NOT IMPRESSED with me. 

Middle-school students on the other hand were jokeying for position to be IMPRESSIVE in front of me and their peers.  The jokesters.  The intimidators.  The popular.  Those who were trying to be impressive.  All a facade, covering up their insecurities.  As I thought through my day as a substitute teacher, I couldn't help but ask this question: 

When did we lose the innocence of an unimpressed kindergartner to being consumed with trying to "fit in" as a middle-schooler?

Somehow we tend to confuse what is important.  We are all trying to make a name for ourselves.  And as a result, we are middle-schoolers trapped inside adult bodies.

How do we break free from this? 

Galatians 1:10
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. 

1 Corinthians 4:3-4
I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 

These two passages of Scripture are clear: Seek to please God and care very little what others say or think about you.

Bottom line: The more secure we become in Christ, the less insecure we are with others.  Now that's a great substitution!

"Don't be afraid; just believe." (Mark 5:36)

These words of Jesus are loaded with hope for you and me.  The first half of this sentence deals with FEAR and the second half deals with FAITH.  The tension between the two is that you can't have both.

Unhealthy fear will paralyze you.  Faith on the other hand will propel you to a greater today. 

Surrounding this verse is a gripping story of a man whose twelve year-old daughter was dying from a certain illness.  This man named Jairus fell at the feet of Jesus begging Him to take action.  Jairus had a position of high status in the community but took the position of lowering himself humbly before Jesus in recognition of God's power and ability.

As Jesus was making His way to visit the little girl, He was caught up in a large crowd and before you know it, word came from the house of Jairus: "Your daughter is dead," they said.  "Why bother the teacher any more?" (Mark 5:35)

Translated: It's too late.  Your today is hopeless.  And your tomorrow doesn't look much brighter either. 

Man, that must have been discouraging for Jairus.  Or have we just forgotten who is standing beside him?  Jesus doesn't hesitate: Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler (Jarius), "Don't be afraid; just believe."  He then proceeds to miraculously heal the twelve year-old girl.

Jesus is asking Jarius and He is asking us to replace our fears with faith in Him.  Do you trust Jesus with your financial situation?  Do you trust Him with your family situation?  Do you trust Him with your everyday decisions?

These 5 words...
DON'T BE AFRAID; JUST BELIEVE

...will get you through today and firmly establish your tomorrow.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! -2 Corinthians 5:17 

That verse is truly amazing isn't it?

IN CHRIST (His grace given to us and our faith/trust in Him) we are made NEW again or as the Bible tells us in another way: we are born again.  Fresh.  Alive.  And with a much different approach to life. 

My approach to sports before being in Christ was to make a name for myself.  Embarrass my opponent.  Pour out my rage on the playing field.  And rage did I ever!

Here's how I ended my career in all three sports (if I may be vulnerable for a moment):

Baseball
The summer before my freshman year of high school, I was on our town's baseball all-star team.  Come tournament time, we needed to win the next game in order to advance or else we would be done for the season.  It came down to this (like a movie script minus what i'm about to share): Bases loaded.  Down by a few runs.  2 outs.  Full count.  And yes, I'm the batter.  Well, the pitcher threw a fastball right down the pipe and I swung with all my might.  In fact I felt so good about that moment that I was for sure if I got a hold of it, it would soon be sailing over the fence.  Well, that didn't happen.  I missed the pitch, connected with nothing but the air and struck out.  My team lost the game, it was the end of the season and I did something that made my family and all the people in the stands squirm.  I threw my bat and dropped the "F" bomb as loud as I possibly could.  That was how my baseball career ended.

Soccer
My senior year of high school, we were in the sectionals and playing a very good team in order to advance to the championship game.  It was the second half, the game was well out of reach (4-0) and I was boiling hot!  I was playing my hardest and wanted to help our team gain some type of momentum.  I did the opposite.  With about five mintures left to play and our season about to end, the referee called a personal foul on me after I tackled one of my opponents (and no it was not an accident).  After hearing the whistle blow and watching the ref give the other team the ball because of my foul, I looked at him and cussed him out.  Immedite red card (which means immediate ejection from the game).  That was how my soccer career ended. 

Basketball
After two years of playing basketball at a small NAIA college, I had grown used to being a part of a losing team (after being a part of many winning teams growing up).  Even though I was used to losing, it didn't set well with me.  I wanted to win every game and my passion was evident.  I set the record for most technical fouls during my freshman year (not the kind of record I was hoping for).  My second year was no different.  Late in the season, we played our arch rival (one of the few teams we had a shot at beating) at our place.  I was having one of my best games with nearly twenty points in the first half.  In the second half, it was a close game which intensified everything.  Well, after getting into a little physical altercation with an opposing player, my coach thought it would be best to sit me on the bench for a while to cool down.  Knowing I was one of our top scorers and playing one of my best games ever, I couldn't understand why my coach hadn't let me back in the game.  So I went and sat next to him to ask why.  He told me to sit back down at the end of the bench.  The game was still close and time was running out.  And I was fuming.  I decided to do something about it.  I checked myself into the game without my coach's permission.  Yes, I really did that.  After pulling me back out of the game, I kept staring at my coach like I wanted to hurt him badly.  In timeouts, I would stand directly over him for intimidation reasons.  And after the game, the team had to separate me and the coach so that a fight didn't break out.  The next week, I was called into the Vice Chancellor's office of the university and told I was no longer allowed to play basketball again.  That was how my basketball career ended. 

Pretty pathetic wasn't it?  A few months later, I surrendered my life to Christ after coming home from the club around three in the morning.  I knew there had to be more to life than this.  And praise God there is!  Even though I'm still a work in progress, God says I'm a NEW CREATION and I take Him at His Word. 

Are you IN CHRIST?  Do you trust Jesus with your life?  I'm here to tell you, life in Christ is the best life you can possibly live.  Jesus + Nothing = Everything.  The verse I shared in the beginning ends the passage this way: 

We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  -2 Corinthians 5:20-21 

You and I never have to be the same again.