An Inconvenient Lie -- A Convenient Truth

As we are starting to find out, Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth" documentary about global warming is really an inconvenient lie. It appears that climate change, formerly known as "global warming" is a fraud. Both conservative and liberal newspapers are now doubting so-called evidence about climate change that would have resulted in massive tax hikes to line the pockets of the climate change alarmists. Yes, we need to embrace energy conservation in the short term and generate more home-grown sources of energy in the long run, but we also need to bury junk global warming science once and for all.

Why make such a point? Do you want to really know "truth"? Even if it is inconvenient? The Bible says we are all sinners and need a Savior. We need to commit our lives to Christ and live the way we were created to live -- as extraordinary Christians. The Bible says Jesus is Truth and there is no other way to have eternal life. That is a truth that the world tries to bury. And sold-out-to-Christ Christians are branded as extremists who are a danger to our society. Why? Because we stand for truth -- real truth.

Truth like all human life is sacred because God created each of us. That includes life in the womb as well as the old and disabled. The intellectuals who promote the culture of death like the political "genius" who referred to some in Congress as "F*****ing retarded" are referred to in Romans 1:22 from the Message when it says: "They pretend to know it all, but are illiterate regarding life." I guess they would call that an inconvenient truth.

Here is the point I am really trying to get across right now. If you don't commit to being a person of God's Word, you will be led down many ways that are really false. Being a Christian requires faith and that faith will only come as you are into His Word. Faith comes by hearing, (taking in) God's Word. Grace is the source of all God's blessings and the path to extraordinary Christian living. And faith is the pipeline that allows us to tap into the unlimited supply of God's grace.

Up North Wisdom says we do not need to let our hearts be troubled or afraid if we are in Christ and His Word is in us. Don't be deceived, my friend. Ask God to give you a great desire for His Word. Commit yourself to embracing His truth and applying it to your life. And remember, for those who do: The Best Is Yet To Come! Believe it!

Now that's what I call "A Convenient Truth."

GETTING BY

"We're getting by." How often have I heard that phrase when I ask some married couples how they are doing in their marriage. In an informal poll that I conducted some years ago, wives felt that about 10 to 15 percent of the marriages they know about were really good marriages. The husbands give a more optimistic percentage of about 25 to 30. That tells me that even if I don't ask married couples how they are doing, I can assume that most aren't doing very well. "Getting by" seems to be the norm. That is tragic. I sometimes follow up with a question to that kind of response like, "Are you content to be 'getting by'? Is that your goal? Because if it is, you will easily succeed."

I wonder how many Christians are just "getting by" in their relationship with God. How about you, my friend? Are you content to just "get by" with God? He isn't and you shouldn't be either. I have noticed that so many people who have more recently come to know Jesus personally are definitely not content to stay the same. They have left their old life and want to grow in their relationship with God. They take advantage of opportunities to grow through Bible studies and personal devotions. They really listen to sermons on Sunday morning and ask themselves how they can apply the truths they have just learned. They ask me for resources to help them along in their Christian walk. They seek wise Christian counsel. In many cases they move right past so many "older" Christians who are content to "get by".

The problem with "getting by" is that we never remain the same even if we think we are. I think the Bible is clear that either we are growing in God's grace and knowledge or we are declining in our Christian life. We are either moving up or we are slipping back. Their is good reason why the Bible uses the husband-wife relationship analogy to talk about our relationship with Christ. It takes work to have a strong relationship with a spouse (or friend) as well as with Christ.

If you are not content to just "get by", then ask God to give you good motivation to move forward. God always answers that prayer, by the way. It's really not rocket science, is it? What worked when you first gave your life to Christ and were really "in love" with Him still works today. You know -- those foundational things like reading the Word, time in prayer, participating in Bible studies, giving yourself in service, seeking wise counsel and (yikes, yes) Fasting.

Up North Wisdom says: don't be afraid and don't let your hearts be troubled. God will help you. He always takes the first step. Ask Him for forgiveness for your coldness and distance in your Christian walk. I guarantee you, you can fall in love with Christ again and with the help of the Holy Spirit, not draw back to the old ways again. God intends for you to live an extraordinary Christian life because He is an extraordinary God and can do extraordinary things in your life if you will let Him. And, by the way, husbands and wives, it will work with you as well. Forgive each other, start afresh, and with God's help, move far away from "getting by" to the "extraordinary" marriage that not only God wants for you, but I know that you want as well. THE BEST IS YET TO COME! Believe it!

The Truth Or The Tinsel

Do you catch yourself complaining at Christmas about the little things and the little inconveniences. It is a good time to think about the story of Mary and Joseph and to remember that it wasn't about a warm fire and Christmas cookies.

Joseph had to take weeks off work for a government-sponsored registration. Mary was having to endure the gossip surrounded her "unplanned" pregnancy. Think about Joseph and Mary having to endure a four-day donkey ride to Bethlehem and she being at full term and then having to deliver a baby in a stinky barn.

Why would God let His own Son be born under those conditions? Was He mad at Mary and Joseph? The answer is no. Just maybe God allowed the stable so we could see His glory in the midst of life's humbling experiences.

Can life be hard? Does it have its downside and its struggles? And where is God when we are battling through these despairing times? We know, don't we, that God was with Mary and Joseph every moment, working out His incredible plan of redemption. Know also, my friend, that He is with you right now in the middle of those bruising life-moments.

Let Christmas remind you and me to look beyond our current struggles and know that God is doing something good. Up North Wisdom says if we will lift our eyes above the unpleasantness of the Bethlehem circumstances, we too might catch a glimpse of the Star of Christmas. God can give us a renewed outlook, a positive outlook on the time that lies before us. We can rediscover the beauty and joyousness of it all when we focus on the TRUTH and not the tinsel -- on the PRICELESS and not the MasterCard. The best is yet to come. A very Merry Christmas.

A Right Direction

A couple of months ago, I talked to a man who attended our Wed. evening study. He had on a Harley Davidson jacket and it was pretty cool outside. I jokingly asked him if he had put his Harley away for the season. He said he didn't have one right now. When I asked him why, he said something that I can't get off of my mind. He said, "I got rid of it -- it was taking me in a direction I didn't want to go."

I have thought about that statement often since then. I wondered how many people are going in a direction that they shouldn't be going in their lives and maybe don't even know it or don't care about the consequences. Such truth in that man's statement. The Bible says that there is a way that seems right to a man but in the end there is death. (Proverbs 14:12) Pretty powerful scripture.

Society gives us direction all the time. And because it seems so accepted, many just move in that direction. A man may persuade himself that his easily besetting sin, his evil dealings, his false religion and his selfish way are right, but whatever is not God's way will end in death and hell. Our society packages up lifestyles that are totally contrary to the Word of God and makes them sound so attractive. Like the line from a nauseating (my opinion) song said, "It can't be wrong, when it feels so right." Ah, yes it can.

A person wonders why certain cults and "isms" grow quickly. I think it is because they appeal to the old nature of man. It appeals to the flesh. Don't worry about what God's Word says. He really doesn't care what you are doing. Go with the crowd. Don't be a religious fanatic.

Jesus said that He was the only way. Either we are moving His way or we are not. When we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit in our lives, He will always give us wisdom to make good decisions that will draw us towards God. Will you listen to God? Will you listen to the voices that God is speaking to you through? Are you willing to go His way? Are you willing to make changes that you know God is dealing with you about? Is God dealing with you about compromises that you are making in your life?

Friend, Up North Wisdom asks if your life is taking you in a direction that you shouldn't be going. A direction that you don't want to go. If so, repent, ask God's forgiveness (1John 1:9) and with the help of the Holy Spirit, start moving in the right direction. There is such a freedom is going God's way. And there is peace and joy. It can be yours also. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. Believe it, friend. Blessings.

Blessed Are The Peacemakers

I've learned some things in my 28+ years of being a pastor (40+ years of being a husband, 36+ years of being a dad). I can assure you that the process of learning never stops. I'm sure you agree.

Number 3: Let me just give you a scripture. Proverbs 15:1 and often used by Living Hope Church founding pastor Jim Erickson: "A soft answer turns away anger". Do you believe that (live that)? We live in an angry world. The volume of anger has really been turned up, so to speak, in our society. Unchecked anger, undealt-with anger -- the Bible is so clear about how destructive that is.

Frederick Buechner, in a writing called "Wishful Thinking" said this: "Of the seven deadly sins, anger is possibly the most fun and the most tasty. To smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you were given and the pain you are giving back, in many ways is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself; the skeleton at the feast is you."

Wow! Pretty powerful words. Undealt-with anger and bitterness (close cousins) will eat us up from the inside out. It will eat away at our spirit and our soul. A soft answer, a Godly answer turns away anger. Do I always practice it? No. Do I know it to be true? Yes.

James 1:19 says this: "Everyone (except me, of course) must be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry because our anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose."

What an awesome scripture. If you want to get mad at someone, get mad at the devil and his devices and ask God to give you the strength and courage to do things His way. Listen, friends. There is no time in God's Kingdom work for any of us to let the past control us -- to let unchecked and undealt-with anger and bitterness hurt us and those around us, because it does.

Up North Wisdom says anger and bitterness can be passed down through families and relationships. Don't let that happen. Start a new cycle with the help of the Holy Spirit to implement the truth of "a soft answer turns away anger." Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God." One of the marks of a child of God is one who makes peace and brings peace into life's circumstances by their very presence. With God's help, let the spirit of peace rule and reign in your heart and life. Blessings!

The Opposite Of Stupid

Lessons from almost 28 plus years of being a pastor: part 2. Another thing that I have learned over these many years is that is important to seek wise counsel. A couple of verses from Proverbs and I can't remember the version but I like both of them. Prov.11:14 says "Where no counsel is, people fail and fall, but there is safety in multitude of good counsel."

That is good but let me read another from Prov. 15:21-22. "Stupid people are happy with their foolishness, but the wise do what is right and get all the counsel they can." Wow! I'm glad that I didn't say that.

We know, don't we, that it's easier to give advice than it is to take it. We love to be in those "advisory" roles. Do you know why so many people don't seek good counsel? I believe it's because they already know the answer many times to the situations they find themselves in. I used to tell Pastor Jim Erickson that I hated asking him advice about money matters because he always gave me the advice that I knew he would. And of course, it was the right advice.

Sometimes it is as simple as asking what you would advise someone else in the same circumstances as you are in. I think you could give some really good advice when you think about it. And often good advice is simply a matter of common sense. Knowledge without common sense can be troubling, if you know what I mean.

Who are the people that you know love and care about you? Make a practice of asking them for counsel and good advice. God will always speak wisdom to us but the problem is that we aren't always wanting to hear the voices that He chooses. How about you? You know what? I ask for more counsel now than when I was much younger and thought I really knew a lot. I have found out that I didn't know as much as I thought I did. Up North Wisdom says that I should seek out wise counsel more often than I want to or really do. I don't want to be stupid and God doesn't want me to be that either. So He provides if I choose to receive. "Lord, help me to be wise and seek good counsel." Are you with me, friend? Blessings.

A "Degree" Of Patience

I have been a pastor here at Living Hope Church for a little more than 28 years. Wow! That is hard to believe. In many ways, it seems like just a few years ago that I started as a somewhat unaware 35-year-old youth pastor. A lot has happened in those 28 years, some good things and some not-so-good things. But I can assure you that God has been faithful to His Word and that all things have worked together for our good and for His glory. I also know that what the enemy has meant for evil, God has meant for good - for the salvation of many.

Have I learned a few things in those 28 years? I believe so. I want to share some of that in the next few blogs. As I reflect back on those years, I believe I have learned some patience. Certainly not in all of its fullness, but I have learned a degree of patience. I think the opposite of patience is impulsiveness. We want things done now. I'd like things to take place immediately: how I want and certainly when I want. That's the American way, isn't it? We don't want to wait for anything.

When Mr. Steinway, the creator of the Steinway piano, was asked by a salesman to try out a new aluminum pin, which he felt was superior to the old one, Mr. Steinway said he would put one in a piano and give it a trial. The salesman asked how long the trial would be, the elder Steinway said thoughtfully, "Oh, I'd say about 50 years."

Patience is a process of learning through life's experiences. Living Hope Church founding pastor, Jim Erickson, used to say often that if a decision is a correct one at the moment, it will be correct in a week from now as well. Good advice. Sometimes we make decisions on the spur of the moment based on feelings, hurts, trials, obstacles, or in the midst of a discouraging situation. I have found that waiting has never hurt me, but a hurried reaction or decision many times has. Can you say Amen to that?

Isaiah 40:31 says: "They that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength". How that flies in the face of American Christians. The Bible teaches the value of waiting. And in the waiting time and in the waiting rooms that many of you may be in right now, there is a learning process and God is teaching you valuable things. He hasn't just put you in the back room. Up North Wisdom says that battle, that sickness, that struggle in your family and that hardship you're going through: that's a waiting time and you're praying and waiting to see what God will do. Friend, He'll be with you and teach you and talk to you and reveal amazing things to you. And really, you will ultimately say, "Thank you, Lord, for giving me a waiting room to grow.

Oh, and by the way, patience is the first definition of love. Blessings!!