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Had we backed out of the deal, we would have lost that money. Further, it might have demonstrated some flaw in our character, hence the purpose of the earnest money to begin with. Now listen to this…

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
~1 Corinthians 1:20-22 NKJV

God is ethical, righteous, and just. His character is flawless. My salvation for eternity depends not on any goodness in myself, but rather in the impeccable character of God. In other words, God keeps His guarantees. What are they?

Jesus Christ Fulfills God’s Promises

Jesus is said to be the “Yes!” and the “Amen! (Let it be so)!” to all of the prophecies and promises of God. He has a perfect track record of upholding His own truth. What He decrees always comes to pass. People waited thousands of years for the redemption of a sinful race, and on the cross and from the empty tomb, God fulfilled those hopes.

God Establishes and Anoints His People

Salvation is but the beginning of the Christian life. That life itself is to be characterized by two great actions on God’s behalf – He grows us, roots us, establishes us together in in a relationship with His Son, and He anoints us and ordains us to the special privilege of serving Him.

God Seals Us with His Holy Spirit

What does that mean? Several wonderful things. I am owned and the mark of the Owner is on me. I am authorized with the power and authority of the Owner any time that I am acting within His will. I am gauranteed the completion and total fulfillment of all that God has started to do in me, and the inheritance promised me on the basis of His grace alone.

God doesn’t cancel contracts, retract promises, or break guarantees. Whom God saves, God seals, and whom God seals, He saves completely and eternally.

photo credit: zappowbang

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This awesome passage, and the theme itself, always reminds me of one of the most inspiring sermons I’ve ever heard… W. A. Criswell’s The Scarlet Thread. He preached through the entire Bible on a New Year’s Eve. The sermon is preserved at wacriswell.org and I’ve posted the links below to the message’s three separate parts. Listen…

The Scarlet Thread Through the Bible Part 1

The Scarlet Thread Through the Bible Part 2

The Scarlet Thread Through the Bible Part 3

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• Conquest
• Laying the Groundwork

If you’ve never used mind mapping, you might want to give it a try. I’ve found it to be an excellent tool for brainstorming, organizational charting, sermon preparation, memorization of large amounts of data, planning, and collaboration. Essentially, mind mapping is a means of throwing our thoughts out on paper with some kind of spatial representation that our brains tend to enjoy.

I’ve been preaching without any written notes for a long time (other than a few marginal scribbles), but mind mapping has made me far more proficient at it. I recently asked via Twitter what tools others use for mind mapping, and I discovered some pretty useful ones! Here they are…

Pen and Paper

@ralphsaunders pointed this out to me. It seems that in the pre-computer days, there was this stuff made out of wood called “paper” and writing instruments called “pens.” I worked for a boss once who told me to write everything down because “paper is cheap, but brain cells aren’t.”

photo credit: sunshinecity

Desktop Software

• Freemind (Opensource)
• iMindMap (Proprietary, Trial Availalbe)
• Xmind (Opensource, suggested by @brewern)
• MindJet (Proprietery, MS Office-like Interface, suggested by @Dot12b and @jayffm)

Web-based Mind-mapping

• Bubbl.us (Free)
• Mindmeister (Free)
• Mindomo (Free)

iphone Apps

• iFreeMind (Paid)
• Freemind Lite (Free)
• iBlueSky (Paid)

Other Resources

Here’s a Wikipedia entry about mind mapping. Web Worker Daily reviewed three web-based tools (the three mentioned above). And here are some good books on mind mapping. Here’s an article about how Ed Young uses mind maps and another by Kent Schaffer on 8 Steps to Mind Mapping.

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Not nice to think about, is it? But we’ve got to face it head-on, especially within Christianity. I’ve read lists of “commandments for purity” before, such as Ed Young’s, which he posted on his blog today. I’m thinking through my own right now and would encourage you to do the same.

Have boundaries and limits. Communicate them. Avoid secret places in your life aside from the closet of prayer. Satan loves to lurk in the dark and dusty, cobwebbed corners of our souls. He kicks up dirt where we’ve refused to purify ourselves.

Guard the eyes – the gateway to the mind. Guard the mind – the gateway to the heart. And guard the heart- the gateway to the soul.

Don’t fall into legalism, that life in which living by your own rules overtakes your intimate walk with God. But have the guts to have some standards and to live by them.

May we salvage what is left of the reputation of Christ-followers, and may our families, children, and churches be preserved and revived. Let’s get pure!

photo credit: Olly M Pus

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This isn’t a complaining post though, it’s actually a praise. I love VBS week! It’s exhausting, but it’s exhilarating! It’s stressful, but it’s such a blessing. Last night, I had to get onto a little girl who was high on sugar and couldn’t sit still. She kept trying to dive into the burning bush during my lesson. The last time I explained that it could burn her (a light bulb in it, not a real fire) she looked up at me and latched on to me – gave me a big hug!

So let me put it plainly – kids are worth it! I wouldn’t trade VBS week for much of anything!… I’d just give the kids less sugar.

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In 1909, fathers prayed their children would learn English.

In 2009, fathers pray their children will speak English.

In 1909, a father’s horsepower meant his horses.

In 2009, it’s the size of his minivan.

In 1909, if a father put a roof over his family’s head, he was a success.

In 2009, it takes a roof, deck, pool, and 4-car garage. And that’s just the vacation home.

In 1909, a father waited for the doctor to tell him when the baby arrived.

In 2009, a father must wear a smock, know how to breathe, and make sure he has the camcorder.

In 1909, fathers passed on clothing to their sons.

In 2009, kids wouldn’t touch Dad’s clothes if they were sliding naked down a glacier.

In 1909, fathers could count on children to join the family business.

In 2009, fathers pray their kids will soon come home from college long enough to teach them how to work the computer and the DVR.

In 1909, if a father had breakfast in bed, it was eggs and bacon and ham and potatoes.

In 2009, it’s Special K, soy milk, dry toast and a lecture on cholesterol.

In 1909, a Father’s Day gift would be a hand tool, like a mallet.

In 2009, he might get an iphone 3G-S.

In 1909, fathers said, “A man’s home is his castle.”

In 2009, they say, “Welcome to the money pit.”

In 1909, when fathers entered the room, children often rose to attention.

In 2009, kids glance up and grunt, “Dad, you’re blocking the TV.”

In 1909, fathers were never truly appreciated.

In 2009, fathers are never truly appreciated.

I appreciate you, Dad’s! And I challenge you to hang in there!

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• The Moving History of How Father’s Day Began
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• God’s Gift to His Son and Jesus’ Gift to His Father

Can’t see it? View it here.

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Change is a tough word. It’s all around us in technology, nature, and culture. Yet I think we fail to understand the most powerful change of all which happens in a human soul that meets and trusts Jesus.

Paul had things going for him quite well. He had ascended to power and prestige. He had the authority of the Roman government to go and arrest Christians for treason and heresy, but Jesus confronted him.

The four things God did in Paul’s life, He does in ours as well…

1. God confronts us with His Son.

Paul said, “Who are you?” But he already knew it was Jesus. He was really saying, “I’ve been struggling to figure you out, now are you the Messiah?” Jesus doesn’t really answer the question directly, but reveals it in the form of getting right down to Paul’s heart, where questions had been burning since the death of Stephen.

2. God convinces us of His truth.

Paul had been struggling with the possibility of Jesus being the Messiah. The zeal of the early Christians, the gracious way Stephen handled his own death, and his vast knowledge of the Old Testament all led him to one conclusion: Jesus is Messiah. And God convinced him of that.

3. God convicts us of our sin and our need.

Jesus asked a peculiar question, “Why is it so hard on you to kick against the goads?” Goads were spikes used to drive oxen forward. If they kicked, it would cut into their flesh and hurt them. Jesus’ question was essentially rhetorical… “Paul, why do you think it is that it keeps hurting you so much to reject me?” Paul was convicted of His need to submit to Jesus as Lord.

4. God converts us and changes us from the inside out.

The change in Paul was both dramatic and immediate. He shouted out, “Lord, what would you have me to do?” He had been the persecutor and was now willing to endure persecution. He was going to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah no matter the cost. What a dramatic turnaround!

God has you in checkmate. It’s time to surrender to His will.

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And while we’re admitting, let’s admit that we’ve also messed up the message of the gospel. We either water it down or muddy it up. We either leave out the parts about Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection and our faith and repentance toward Him, or we throw in extra and often confusing terminology and rules. Some who are inquisitive about the faith may walk away thinking that turning to Jesus is more difficult than filling out a tax return.

So let’s straighten this out:

1. You and I have sinned. We all have. No denying it. We’ve broken the rules of our Creator.
2. We deserve punishment for our sins, separation from God in hell to be exact.
3. God loves us in spite of our sins and willingly allowed His Son Jesus to come to earth and to die on the cross to pay the penalty of our crimes. He died for us.
4. He rose again.
5. Turn to Him and trust Him as your Savior, and you’ll be saved forever.

There are different ways of saying it, but it’s really fairly simple. All the muck and mire of religious complications and institutional hierarchies aside, Jesus is the Savior. Jesus wants to be your Savior!

Listen to Chuck Swindoll’s advice to Christianity about this issue…

Some Christians try to impose their rigid system of do’s and don’ts to the issue of conversion. I want to caution against that sort of exercise. It’s impossible to find any single place in Scripture that reveals the one-and-only way every sinner comes to Christ. We are so conditioned by denominational backgrounds, religious traditionalism, and narrow-thinking prejudice, we miss the point of God’s grace. We tend to require more than God does!

Lost people are saved while listening to a great song about Christ or while hearing a preacher or Bible teacher explaining God’s Word from a pulpit or over television or on the radio. Others are saved during a small group Bible study. Many come to Him all on their own, while praying in the privacy of their homes. Day or night a sinner can call on the Lord Jesus Christ by faith and be saved. Let’s stop making it so complicated… grace abounds!

~ Charles Swindoll, Paul: A Man of God

My hope and prayer is that you turn to Jesus. His grace abounds to you!

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