I'm a little messed up inside. Do you ever feel like God is trying to do something on the inside of you, and it's sort of half-way done but He's still working it out in your spirit? Well, that's where I'm at.

I have been trying to get my heart around this truth of the love of God. Wow, it's difficult. It's so simple, but everything in my flesh wrestles against the idea of being loved the way scripture says I am loved. My soul wants it and needs it desperately, but still it fights against that type of love. I am not sure if it's afraid or unbelieving--or what, but the love of God is dangerous and overtaking--when you get a good look at it.

Romans 10:3 says that some people, "not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own...did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God." Isn't that a wild thought? I have to purposefully, intentionally and regularly subject myself to His perfect righteousness. I need to take His perfection as my status before the Father. I need to accept it, put it one--like a man puts on a coat.

I need to take the perfect righteousness of Jesus, put it on and wear it all day. It gives me perfect communion with the Father and perfect relationship with a perfectly holy God.

Jesus starts off as our substitute--that's crazy enough. Then He identifies us with Him--so we are given His righteousness. This leads to our adoption so that we are now heirs to the full blessing that the Father God gives the Son. We rule with Him.

This love has far surpassed the realm of our vocabulary. It's so outlandishly beyond human love that there is no way that any human could have ever come up with it. If His love is not regularly blowing your mind then you need to stop and rethink what you claim to believe.

"...in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, keeping faith..."
--1 Tim 1:18b-19

Have you ever lost your passion? Have you ever gotten so busy that your zeal and focus seem to drift? It's easy to do. Hype wont keep you going, and a pep talk isn't enough.

I've found that real passion comes from a few different areas. One area is seeing God for who He is. When we get a glimpse of the Creator and a clear view of His nature and love, it lights something on the inside.

Another is seeing need. When a need becomes tangible and real it sparks passion.

Third, seeing yourself sparks passion. Getting a clear view of who God has called you to be ignites your heart with faith like nothing else. This one is probably the most often overlooked. When I find myself unmotivated or distracted I go back to the times when the voice of God spoke to me about my identity. I meditate on who I am in Christ and i meditate on His specific purpose for me. I go over the prophecies of the past. I remember the times His voice rang in my soul.

As I go back to these times, passion stirs within me again. Go back today and remember who you are.

Can we really understand God? The answer is yes---and no. Of course we can't understand everything about God. Of course we can't see everything clearly from our limited perspective. In this life we will always see in part.

Throughout history different cultures have had different ideas about God's nature. One of the key things that differentiated the Hebrew God of scripture from other concepts of god was that He was almighty and all-powerful---and yet very personal.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of Bill and Jim and Lucy and you and me. He is a deeply personal being who wants to be known in a personal way. Too often we fail on one side or the other. We either make God so big in our minds that we assume He's unknowable and distant, or we make God so small in our minds that we believe He's unable to handle our smallest problems.

To do either of these things is to rob God of the real mystery that He is. He is both HUGE and personal. I can know Him. He has come close and I can know Him.

crazy...

"...but faith working through love." --Galations 5:6

How does faith work? We all know about faith, and we are told that it moves mountains, but how does it work? How does it become a practical change agent in my life?

It works through love. I've read this verse 100 times and I've always looked at it from the same angle. If I want more faith, I've got to love more because more love equals more faith---right?

I don't know about you but for me it's pretty tough just to choose to love more. In fact, I think that trying to love more by simply choosing to love more is impossible. That's not the way love works. You can't just make it happen. It needs a source. This is why faith cannot and will not work primarily through our love. Our love is too shallow, too quickly emptied.

Faith works through God's love. I can grow the love working in me by beholding, realizing and accepting the love that has been poured out on me. When I begin to catch a glimpse of the God of love, and how much He cares for me--How incredible and unsearchable and unending His love is--when I can see that clearly, then my love is set ablaze. Then I can love on a whole new level because I have been loved. Those who have unending love and patience are not finding it from themselves. They are drinking from the well of the God. Once I've tapped into His love for more, and let that truth tower over me, mess me up, and overtake me, then I can have huge faith. Then I can be confident.

Don't try to find greater love for others from within yourself. Find the love of God and you will have more than enough love for others. Don't try to find faith from rwithin yourself. Gaze at the love of God and your heart will take hold of faith.

The most confident person is the one who knows without a doubt that he is loved.

This is a question that we are answering directly and indirectly through Christian evangelism, church services, and our personal witness. What does it take? What does God expect? How does a person come to salvation in Jesus?

I think this is one of the key areas where the culture has influenced the answer that the church is giving. So much so, sometimes, that we teach a half truth and leave people uncertain of God's expectation. We've created a microwave version of salvation---fill out a card, and come to the front of a church. Too often it leaves people unchanged and discredits true regeneration. (I don't mind cards or church alters, but we've lost the substance somewhere in our structure).

I'll throw some thoughts out briefly in this blog, but I strongly encourage you to take time to stare this question in the face for a while.

Salvation begins with an awareness of God's existence, His holiness and my sin. This is where the road begins. He's real, and I am separated from Him. Most of us have heard this and agree with it. He is a loving, just God who has made a way through Christ for sinners to be forgiven and transformed. Jesus said you must be born again if you want to see God's kingdom.

Next comes our response to this reality. The sinner must repent--change his purpose--and turn away from a life focused on self. This is what most evangelists today call "making a decision for Christ." This is a key part of the road, but the road can't end here. Too many professing Christians make a decision to follow God and think they are saved. However, many times repentance is not accompanied by faith. They turn away, but never reach up to Christ and receive His Spirit into their hearts. Others trust Jesus but never embrace repentance. So repentance and faith are the ingredients to salvation--not one or the other alone.

The final step that is often overlooked in our "microwave version" is that the inward grace must actually be transferred to the new believer. They must receive something from God.

He must step out of heaven and come to reside inside of them. No one can convince you that this has happened to you. Your faith must take hold of His truth and then you can be born again. Then, an assurance will fill your heart and you will know that you are forgiven.

Too often professing Christians have never experienced the inward grace of God, but it is this inward dwelling of Jesus in the believer that propels us and inspires us to live for Him. The real Christian shouldn't have to be convinced to follow and obey Jesus. The Spirit of Jesus within them is already pulling them closer. We can become dry, distracted, or unwilling, but God's Spirit will be pulling on our heart to return--because He resides in us.

Unless you are born again you can't see the kingdom of God. First God's truth, then our choice to repent and believe. Then our faith contacts God's grace and the inward dwelling of God's Spirit becomes a reality. If you don't know God's grace inwardly, then your faith hasn't taken hold of it. Trust Him--and His truth, and let your salvation rest on it.

In preparation for Brave Generation 2010: HE IS, I've been spending a lot of time saturating my thoughts in God's nature. What an overwhelming topic---and a profoundly rewarding one.

Although there is a part of God that simply cannot be understood my our minds, there are also key components of His nature that He wants His children to understand so that they can anticipate and expect certain things of Him. My most recent study has landed me in Exodus 34:14 where it says, "for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." Whenever God says that His name is something He's not referring to what He does--He is telling us who He is--and what His foundational nature is like.

It kind of messes with my head to think that God is jealous. We usually associate jealousy with evil, selfish actions that are far lower than our expectations of God. But the scripture teaches of a righteous jealousy. It's a jealousy that has given all--and expects all to be given in response. God by nature is a being who shudders at the idea of half-way commitment. He is extreme and exhaustive in His commitments, committing irrevocably. This is why the book of Revelation speaks of a lukewarm life as something that makes God throw up. It's against His nature. He is a righteously jealous God.

How do we interact with such a being? We must come on His terms. We either fully devote ourselves to Him or we fully reject Him. He is patient, and kind, and I'm grateful for that. But we should be careful to never take for granted God's patience.

He is also passionately , righteously, jealous.

"Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." --James 4:14

It would do us good to read a verse like this one every morning before our feet hit the floor. As 2009 ends and 2010 begins, I find myself reflecting often on verses like this. It's amazing how one event can change the way everything else plays out in life. We can plan, and I'm all for planning, but in the end our time is in His hands.

Some translations say our lives are like the "morning fog." One scholar commented on this verse that scientists can predict with incredible accuracy the rising and setting of the sun, but they can't predict the fog--if it will burn up with the rising sun or if it will linger in the fields well into the day. Life can't be predicted and measured. We may live another 80 years or walk off this planet tomorrow.

There's something inside of every one of us that fights this idea of eternity. Something pushes it outside of our minds and compels us not to wrestle with its reality. We get tangled up in all the things of life--what we had for lunch, what TV show is on tonight, who won the big game last week, how our investments are looking, etc.

I find myself coming back to one simple question. Does my life make sense in the light of eternity? Did my life today make sense in the light of eternity? I don't know if there is a more important question that we can ask ourselves.

It's worth taking some time and wrestling with this question today.

hey friends,

I wanted to let you know about True Christmas Tonight. The snow is falling (or will be) and friends are calling---but we're still on. We've added a second showing of TRUE CHRISTMAS for all you out-of towners who wont be able to make it because of the weather. That will be tomorrow night, Sunday at 6pm at Frontline Christian Church in Hamden, CT. With snow heavy or light, crowds big or small, these two nights are sure to be a great time. Hope to see you then!

Christmas is right around the corner and if you're like me, you're probably scrambling to finish your shopping and get things in order. This year our team at HFM decided to put together a night to celebrate and explore the heart of Christmas.

It's going to be filled with some classic Christmas music (we put a new spin on some stuff), some new Out of Hiding music, and a message woven throughout the night. We also included some drama and video stuff to keep things interesting.

Along with the Christmas presentation, this night marks the early release of my first full book, "Living for Another World." It took me almost three years to write, and I can't tell you how excited I am to make it available. The book deals with the struggle so many of us have to make real impact for Jesus, and how we can learn to live for eternity by changing some key thought patterns and actions.

This may sound a little lame, but I have been challenged as I've re-read through it. God's used it to reawaken truths in me--I hope He will for you too.

This Saturday Dec 19 "True Christmas" will be help at Frontline Christian Church in Hamden, CT. The night begins at 7pm and tickets can be bought only at the door for $8. Come early if you'd like. My book will be for sale in the cafe for $10.

Hope to see you then--and Merry Christmas!

Christmas is coming, and this year I've been taking time to relook at things. I believe that part of the calling of this generation is to rediscover some things that have been lost. One thing that must be rediscovered is Christmas. If I am honest with myself, this time of year has had little spiritual impact on me in the past. I enjoy it--time with family, giving gifts--but it hasn't been rich with meaningful encounters with Jesus. What about you?

Sometimes we trade what's good for what's best. Family and tradition can be really good things. I have two little boys, and Chrisy and I are figuring out how to shape their view, and our families practices of this season. Still I find myself looking for more--more than what I've had.

I want to be blown away by the reality of God coming to earth. I want to see it, feel it, and be brought to my knees in wonder. I want to celebrate--but really in my soul celebrate the incarnation of the living God in human flesh.

I encourage you to join me if you want to pursue a glimpse of true Christmas on Saturday, Dec 19 at Frontline Christian Church in Hamden, CT. Things will get going at 7pm. Come early for good seats. Out of Hiding has put together a Christmas Concert and I will be sharing some thoughts on this subject. We've also planned a few surprises. Tickets are $8 and can only be bought at the door.

Hope to see you then.