Me, Elf, and the Almost Christian

Pastor Michelle’s started her sermon by saying that I had inspired it, and what good Christian wouldn’t want to inspire a sermon? Of course in almost Jon Acuff style the sermon turned out to be about almost Christians. I don’t know if Pastor Michelle had me in mind for the whole thing, but if she did I don’t think she would have been completely wrong.

She started off talking about Elf (a character I closely resemble and played in rather hilarious Christmas skit). For a brief primer on the story, the main character is a orphan who stows away in Santa’s bag. Once he’s discovered at the north pole and they realize that he’s an orphan one of the elves volunteers to become his father. This is all fine and dandy till he starts to grow and grow and grow, eventually he realizes that he’s not an elf, so he makes his way to where his biological father lives, NYC. And even though Elf is now where he naturally belongs, he still doesn’t fit in, because he’s spent to long at the North Pole.

Elf’s predicament, is the same predicament the Almost Christian finds himself. Not of this world and not of Christ’s. Caught in an uncomfortable place. The Almost Christian appears to be a Christian in every way, they go to Church, they sing loud and proud, they are generous and ethical. To the natural eye they are a Christian, but God’s eye sees their heart. And the Almost Christian’s heart is far from God. They are ethical and generous because it’s the right thing to do. They go to Church and worship God because it’s the right thing to do. All that’s fine and dandy and those things are right and good, but the Almost Christian treats them as an end in themselves, the tools of their own righteousness. In the face of pressure or when it’s no longer culturally acceptable the Almost Christian will abandon his ethics in his best effort to fit in, much like Elf.

What then is a Christian? Three things differentiate a Christian from an Almost Christian.

  1. They have an all consuming love of God – Who do I have in heaven and earth but You?! Anything that anchors your heart to this world, pulls you away from Christ.
  2. They are driven by Faith. Intellectual belief is not enough. Our minds can change, what we know as facts can change, but the truth remains.
  3. They have an intimate relationship. The revelation of the gospel is that because of Jesus’ sacrifice we may have an intimate relationship with God.
In short real Christianity is complete surrender to God’s will. What motivates you? What makes you happy? Is it really God? As I started out, whether I truly inspired all of Pastor Michelle’s sermon or not, I can definitely see parts (or more than parts) of my life that still fall into the Almost Christian category. The difference perhaps is that I know that, where I am now is not the end, but merely another step down the path that God has laid out for me, path that ends love, faith, and intimate relationship with Christ. The path isn’t always easy or comfortable, but as the Holy Spirit prods my stubborn heart via Pastor Michelle’s sermons 🙂 I know that one day I’ll get there. And what an awesome day that will be!

 

A Remnant is Rising in the Land

We read this in church last Sunday.

A Remnant is Rising in the Land.

Unseen, unrecognized, they know Whose they are and have died to this present world’s ambitions. They want nothing of a consumer Christianity, where God exists for their earthly pleasure. They have caught a whiff of Heaven’s fragrant food, and just the smell has satisfied them more than the sweetest delicacies of this passing age, and motivates them to remember that they are just passing through.

 

A Remnant is Rising in the Land.
They will not be bought or sold with position or money. They are remembering why they “got into this” in the first place – for the Lamb. For Jesus Christ’s honor, for the sake of His worthy name. Their backbones are being steeled in the furnace of affliction, and purified of contemporary dross. They are old-school, hard-core Jesus freaks, and they are not apologizing for it. The remnant is not ashamed!

 

A Remnant is Rising in the Land.
They are blood-bought,and fiercely committed to the Word – the Logos and the Rhema. Something within them stirs because they know they are here on a kairos assignment. They realize that they may have forgotten that for a moment, been diverted off the path for some years, but like soldiers who remember drills from long ago, they are coming to attention and position and awareness. They are here on purpose. They are necessary to Heaven’s narrative. They are not bystanders. They are the players on the stage of His-story.

 

A Remnant is Rising in the Land.
This army is realizing they never should have eaten Babylon’s food in the first place, even if it was served in halls decorated to look like a cheap imitation of Zion. They would rather be pilgrims than settle. They would rather be fools for Christ than wise in the world’s eyes. They would rather be known in Heaven and feared in Hell than recognized on earth. Whatever happens to them in the world really doesn’t matter. They have locked gazes with the Lamb’s eyes, and locked step with the cadence of Heaven’s march. His remnant understand that this is the Final Act and there is no turning back now.

 

A Remnant is Rising in the Land.
They are nowhere to be seen and everywhere to be found. There are very few of them chosen, and a great host of them who will emerge. It’s going to be very, very intense, for the sword they carry is stained with the blood of their lesser desires and their crucified carnality. They’ve had their battles, faced their own personal Valleys of Decision, and made their choice.

 

I have Decided. To Follow Jesus. No Turning Back. We have decided. Have you decided?
Ready or not, here they come.

From Elijah List by Rob Sterns

Loving God’s Ways

From Doug Wolter’s Blog Life Together

“God’s ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8

The text goes on to say that God’s Word and his ways are like the rain and snow that gently fall down and sink into the earth, which in time, brings forth life. Foster writes,

What a contrast with our ways, which involve wanting to open up another person’s head and tinker around in there for a bit! But you see, God’s ways are all patience and love, all grace and mercy. Our ways are domination and control, all manipulation and guile.

 

You see it’s one thing to love God; it’s quite another to love God’s ways.

-Richard Foster, Sanctuary of the Soul: Journey Into Meditative Prayer via Life Together

Guard Your Heart

From Michael Hyatt’s Blog: Three reasons to guard your heart:

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

Because your heart is extremely valuable. We don’t guard worthless things. I take my garbage to the street every Wednesday night. It is picked up on Thursday morning. It sits on the sidewalk all night, completely unguarded. Why? Because it is worthless.

Not so with your heart. It is the essence of who you are. It is your authentic self—the core of your being. It is where all your dreams, your desires, and your passions live. It is that part of you that connects with God and other people.

Just like your physical body, if your heart—your spiritual heart—dies, your leadership dies. This is why Solomon says, “Above all else.” He doesn’t say, “If you get around to it” or “It would be nice if.” No, he says, make it your top priority.

Because your heart is the source of everything you do. King Solomon says it is the “wellspring of life.” In other words, it is the source of everything else in your life. Your heart overflows into thoughts, words, and actions.

In Tennessee, where I live, we have thousands and thousands of natural springs, where water flows to the surface of the earth from deep under the ground. It then accumulates in pools or runs off into creeks and streams.

If you plug up the spring, you stop the flow of water. If you poison the water, the flow becomes toxic. In either situation, you threaten life downstream. Everything depends on the condition of the spring.
Likewise, if your heart is unhealthy, it has an impact on everything else. It threatens your family, your friends, your ministry, your career, and, indeed, your legacy. It is, therefore, imperative that you guard it.

Because your heart is under constant attack. When Solomon says to guard your heart, he implies that you are living in a combat zone—one in which there are casualties.
Many of us are oblivious to the reality of this war. We have an enemy who is bent on our destruction. He not only opposes God, but he opposes everything that is aligned with Him—including us.

Cozy

Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives. 1 Peter 2:11 (MSG)

From Seth Barnes: When cozy is no longer normal.

The Throbbing Heart of New Testament Religion

God is a Person, and in the deep of is mighty nature He thinks, wills, enjoys, feels, loves, desires and suffers as any other person may. In making Himself known to us He stays by the familiar pattern of personality. He communicates with us through the avenues of our minds, our wills and our emotions. The continuous and unembarrassed interchange of love and thought between God and the soul of the redeemed man is the throbbing heart of New Testament religion.

A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, page 11

Remember

On days like this
It’s good to remember

To remember that
The good outweighed the bad

To remember that
To have known and loved
Is greater than having lost

To remember that
Death is a teacher
And it has taught us what is really important

To remember that
Our victory is found in Christ
And that death is not the end
But the beginning of a greater journey

Remember
Chazak, Chazak