A HERO SHOWS SACRIFICIAL LOVE AND FORGIVENESS FOR STRANGERS

There was an article in this morning's Sacramento Bee (http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/24/2702431/district-attorney-honors-sacramento.html) about a man (Richard Dickerson) who was severely disabled (wheelchair bound) and brain-injured, because he stepped in to prevent a woman from being beaten and possibly killed by gang members in a local park. He had the courage to testify against them, but he has also offered his forgiveness to them. He says he would do the same thing again, sacrificing himself to save someone else, because that is what Jesus Christ did for him. He was honored by the District Attorney as a local hero.

What a hard, but excellent, example of someone who loves the Lord even when his physical life has been destroyed for doing good. Richard Dickerson is proving what is means to suffer for doing good, and bring glory to God in the process. His example is that living for Jesus and making a difference in the lives of others is more important than protecting our own lives. He is a hero indeed. May God bless and encourage him and use him to continue to bless others for the glory of God.

EX-FATHER?

My home page on the internet is Google News. I saw an article on Lindsey Lohan where she refers to her father as "my ex-father." Lindsey's mother also refers to her ex-husband as Lindsey's "ex-father." That got me thinking: is it possible to be an "ex-father"? One can be a distant father, a bad father, an uninvolved father, an "I never want you in my life father," but not an "ex-father." Ironically, Lindsey looks like her father - the facial characteristics are unmistakeable. She is the product of his DNA. His life lives in her. She can't escape that.

Many people who once sincerely professed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who were adopted into God's family as sons and daughters, get to a point where they start acting like God is their "ex-Father." When His life has in-dwelt us and given us His Spirit and called us His sons and daughters, we can be a prodigal son or daughter, a bad son or daughter, but not a former son or daughter. God will not be an "ex-Father," but a grieving Father.

We can get to the point where we no longer resemble in any way a son or daughter of our Heavenly Father. Like the loving father in Jesus' story of the Prodigal Son, God will keep looking lovingly for us and keep working to draw us back to Him before we completely destroy our lives - while there is still hope for us.

If we live removed from our Heavenly Father, going our own way and doing our own thing long enough, we may doubt that He ever was our Father - and perhaps He wasn't. Perhaps there was never a saving faith in Who He Is and What He has done through His Son for us. Even if there was a saving faith, the doubts created by living apart from Him for so long will make it seem like He was never our Father.

God's desire is that our lives would conform to His image - that people would see the resemblance and honor Him for what they see of Him in us. He will not be an "ex-Father."

PORN ADDICTIONS

Various news stories today described how regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission (the federal agency that regulates various stock market activities) were consumed by porn addictions during work hours while the economy was being set up to crash. The articles describe how SEC attorneys, accountants and other employees spent up to 8 hours per day on porn sites and filled the SEC hard-drives with porn. Several of the articles had titles such as, "Did Porn Cause the Financial Crisis?"

What can we learn from these revelations?

First, porn (any sin) is not neutral in its effects on us and on other people. Sin is inherently destructive. Hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of dollars have been lost/stolen in the last decade alone due to well educated, often brilliant, wealthy people lying, cheating and ripping off others. Names like Enron, Madoff, and a multitude of other companies and people have demonstrated that sin is pervasively destructive. Porn destroys individuals, families, companies, government and the economy - it is not a harmless personal activity. Porn separates us from God and draws us close to the soul of Satan.

Second, there is no effective remedy for the effect of porn on people apart from a daily relationship with Jesus Christ that enables the Holy Spirit to direct and protect us. I can say that I have been free from porn my entire adult life. This is not because I have stronger will power or am emasculated or am aberrant in my thinking or am better than others. I am weak and tempted and know the power of porn. Instead, there are three reasons that porn has not invaded my life:

1. God Himself Bought Me With The Price of the Life of God The Son - Jesus. 1 Cor. 6:20. Therefore, I am to glorify God with my body. I know that Satan is prowling around like a "roaring lion," seeking to devour me. 1 Pet. 5:8. He is shooting flaming arrows at me. Eph. 6:16. I see every temptation to do evil, including porn, as flaming arrows directed at my heart and soul from the arsenal of the enemy. If those arrows hit my heart or take root in my body, they will be destructive. I hate the enemy of my soul and he hates me, so I don't want him to have any window of opportunity into my life. My shield against the flaming arrows is faith in Jesus Christ - the reality of Who He is and what He has done for me. Eph. 6:16. Through faith, I want to glorify my Heavenly Father, who loves me and who has purchased my life for all eternity at great cost to Himself. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Heb. 11:6.

2. I can resist porn because I have been given the seal of my salvation, the presence of the HOLY Spirit. Eph. 4:30. God did not leave us in this world to try to live for Him on our own strength. In order to deal with the powerful influence of the Devil, and live victoriously, God has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us and guide us into all truth. John 14.15-20, 26, 15:5, 10, 16:13-15, 1 John 3:24. We can courageously overcome the world because we have the presence of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in us. John 16:33 Greater is He Who is in us than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4. In order for us to take advantage of this gift of God, we MUST ABIDE with Him every day - to not abide is to go it dangerously alone. See John 15, 1 John 2-4. In order to abide, we must INVITE Jesus to be Lord/Master over our lives each day. We must put on His character, His values, His heart, His desires. Porn is so antithetical to Jesus Christ that it will be offensive and grotesque and avoided for the person abiding daily in a living, vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.

3. I do not want to grieve the Holy Spirit. Eph. 4:30. The instruction in Ephesians comes from Isaiah 63:7-10, where God describes His sacrificial, faithful, wholehearted love for the people of Israel, only to have them rebel and grieve the Holy Spirit. When we deliberately give into porn or other intentional sin, we rebel against our God, our Hope, our Creator, our Redeemer, and we grieve Him - we hurt Him. Heb. 10:26-31 tells us that willful, habitual sin is, in essence, trampling the Son of God under our feet, treating contemptuously the blood of the covenant by which we are sanctified, and insulting the Spirit of Grace. Therefore, it says that God is just to punish such misconduct. I don't want to experience what that means. More fundamentally, however, I don't want to hurt the God Who has demonstrated such incredible love for me.

THE DRAFT IS ONLY EXCITING BECAUSE OF THE GAME

First, I have had no time to blog due to real life time-consumers like preparing and trying a major personal injury case in a 3.5 week jury trial, and trying to keep up on seminary classes. My wife and kids and parents and inlaws and extended family and friends have all been very patient with me and I am very grateful.

Second, with the trial over and seminary wrapping up for the semester, I had a little time to watch the NFL draft. Today, I came across a column from ESPN columnist Rick Reilly. He said some accurate things about the NFL draft that I found equally applicable to the Christian life - and life in general. The quote:

"If the draft really is worth all the hype and hair and, this year, red carpets (oy!), we should at least have a little follow-through. Here's my simple proposal: On the sleeve of every jersey, instead of the player's number, put the player's draft order number. For instance, Tom Brady would wear 199. Roger Staubach would've worn 129. Joe Montana: 82.

And then you could look over at the bench and see all the 1s and 7s and 13s, doing nothing except hogging the heater space.

The NFL draft comes off as though the story ends after the last pick, as though the movie ends the moment Dorothy's house lands on the witch; put on your coat, the movie is over, THE END.

What it really is, of course, is THE START."

Do you see the parallel? Everyone in life is looking at the outside appearances. Everyone is convinced that our bank account $ amount and net worth are the most important numbers. In my profession, the question is how many trials have you won and how much money have you made. In other professions, success is similarly measured. Everyone is looking at the outside and acting like this is what counts. Where were we in the draft? What is our number?

As we know from Scripture, however, God looks at the inside - the heart, the character, the holiness, the forgiven and righteous status of people who have accepted the atonement of Jesus Christ. There is going to come a day when we all stand at the judgment seat and the money and success and rankings and draft status will be meaningless. The draft is not the game. The game counts, not the draft. While we need to be drafted, we need to play well, not just be drafted. For the follower of Christ, everything in this life is preparation for eternity.

If you know Jesus Christ, you have been drafted. It doesn't matter when you were drafted, just that you were drafted. You are on the team. What is your position? What are you doing to improve? What are you doing to bless the head of the team? What are you doing to build up other players? What are you doing to make sure that the team blesses its city? Are you just sitting the bench, thrilled to have been drafted, but no one even knows you are on the team?

As followers of Jesus Christ, we cannot judge ourselves by the same fleeting measures of success and achievement as everyone else. If success and achievement come, great, may God be glorified. Life and eternity, however, involve much deeper, more permanent issues, like: What will we say when we are in the presence of the only uncreated reality - Almighty God Himself? Will we rejoice that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and that we have an incredible hope and future, or will we quiver in naked shame, knowing that our eternity is permanently lost? Will we be thrilled that we worked hard and played well on the team or will be embarrassed that we spent most of our time on the bench?

This life is about getting ready for forever. This week I have been contemplating job opportunities that would give me security and reliable income, but would probably move me too far away from active ministry. I have been wrestling with whether to take the security behind curtain no. 1, or to opt for the insecure appearing and raggedly looking future behind curtain no. 2. I want to make choices that honor God, that work for eternity and that follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. I know that my God is faithful, even when I feel like I am way back and unnoticed in the draft. We are on an amazing team, serving an amazing Boss, Who has equipped us to develop the heart and character and determination of a champion. It is up to us whether we will opt for the short-term glitz or the long-term glory. May you compete and finish well. HE is worth it!