Oh, I’m aware of sin. I deal with it in my own life. I understand, from my life, from the lives of my friends and from the world we live in what sin does and how it destroys lives. I know all too well about sin and its consequences.

I just would rather not think about sin all that much.

Here’s why. I believe what you think about becomes what you desire. What you desire becomes what you do and what you do becomes who you are (see James 1).   As I have confessed before, I LOVE Oreo cookies. But if I spend my time thinking about how I’m NOT going to eat an Oreo cookie, I’ll lose that battle every time.

I just think about something else.

In the 4^th chapter of Philippians, Paul reminds the young church of this very point when he writes:

Finally brothers, whatever is true,  whatever is honorable,  whatever is just,  whatever is pure,  whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence  and if there is any praise—dwell on these things
(Phil 4:8).

This is what worship does. Worship holds up the vision of the Risen Christ before us. Discipleship is the process of adjusting our lives to that vision of Christ. He is what we think about.  He is what we meditate on.

After all, what – or rather WHOM – you think about, sooner or later, becomes who you are.

So, what are you thinking about right now?

Here are some things I wrote down to think about from this book.

1. Honesty is still the best policy. Naomi is very blunt about her situation. Many of us are stuck because we deny the reality of our situations.

2. Naomi, while bitter, did keep the door open to see if God would work.

3. Once she saw how God was working, she quickly aligned herself with His purposes.

4. She celebrated more loudly than she complained.

5. And whether she knew it or not, God was using her in writing His grand story of salvation.

I’m sure, like me, you find yourself in situations where you just aren’t sure how God is working. Or worse, you’re tempted to conclude He’s not working at all.

Naomi found herself there, but she didn’t give into the despair.  Sometimes faith isn’t seeing God working, but keeping the door open in case He does.

The other day I was walking and I began to try and imagine what Dad was doing in heaven. Was he happy? What did he look like? Would I be able to recognize him?

That led me to another question…what color is my dad’s hair. Here is why that matters. My father had beautiful silver hair. His hair looks like finely spun strands of pure silver.  It was one of the most distinguishing features of my dad.  Whenever I was looking for my dad, I would look for his hair. You could always find him in a crowd

But gray hair is a sign of age and therefore, deterioration of the body. If my father is fully whole and restored, then his hair would be jet black as it was in his youth.  How will I find him?

I know this is a silly question. Probably, Jesus is just shaking His head at me, sighing loudly at how far off my question really is.

I know this isn’t the kind of question great theologians or great Bible teachers would ask…

But it is the kind of question little boys who miss their dad would ask…

Somehow, in a way that only artists can see, Michelangelo looked at a block of marble and saw David inside.

The type of marble used for the statue is very difficult to work with and has to be sculpted by chipping away very small bits or the marble will crack.  He patiently worked until all that was left was a statue of a man so realistic you expect David to talk to you.

Discipleship is a lot like this.

We look at Christ, then at our own lives and chip away everything that doesn’t look like Him. This process begins in worship. In worship, we behold the compelling image of Christ. Everything God wanted to say is in Christ. . . the Word become flesh.

As we encounter His Presence, we are drawn to become more like Him.  This involves a two-step process.   Paul describes it in Colossians 3.

1. We put to death everything in us that resembles our old natures and we put on our new natures in Christ.  We look at Christ in worship and first, we remove from our lives those things that don’t look like Him.
2. We put on those things we see in Christ, but don’t see in our lives.  This is the step most of us miss.

The word “No” is an important word and we do say No to a lot of things. Yet, No, in and of itself, isn’t enough.  We also have to say Yes to the attributes of the Godly life Christ modeled for us.

Think about it. Let’s say you got rid of everything in your life that wasn’t pleasing to Christ.

What are you left with?

Not much.

That’s why the Yes of the gospel is so critical.

God desires for our lives to be filled with good things that last — the things Jesus showed us in His living.

So, I guess that leads us with two questions:

1. What is in your life that you need to get rid of?
2. What is lacking in your life that you need to add?

Focus on one thing at a time.

You can’t rush this process.

Masterpieces require a patient, but determined  touch.

Here is the eulogy for my dad posted on the church’s website:

Remembering John Glenn

“I’m trying to get used to this Baptist diet,” he said.

“Baptist diet?  What in the world is a Baptist diet?”

“If you put something good in your mouth,” he said, “spit it out!”

He went on, “According to this diet my doctor has me on, I can’t eat anything that tastes good…”

Most of us feel the same way about God.  If we enjoy doing it, it must be against some commandment.

In fact, most casual observers assume God is simply against everything.

But is that true? Let’s check the record.

In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve freedom to eat of every tree and plant in the Garden… except one… ONE!  In all of creation, God had one NO!

As the children of Israel moved out of Egypt’s slavery into the freedom of the Promised Land, God gave His people the Ten Commandments.

God seems to be saying, “Now that you are My people, here are ten things I expect from you.”  Of the ten, two are positive (Keep the Sabbath and Honor Your Parents).   As Israel came into their new lives as a free people, God said there are eight things they could not do… EIGHT!

And what were those eight?  Well, they include things like murder, lying and stealing… are any of us for these things?

When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandments, He said there are two.  First, love God with all of your heart, soul and mind.  Second, love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Two commandments… and these two, Jesus said, sum up everything in the Bible.

One rule in the garden, Ten Commandments for the Promised Land, two commandments given by Jesus… that doesn’t sound like a God who’s against everything.

Jesus didn’t come to condemn us. He came to save us. He wasn’t sent to the world to say NO, but to bring us God’s YES.  God is already on our side.  Getting that is the first step to living in the freedom of FOR instead of the negative reaction of simply being AGAINST.

God’s word to us is YES and Jesus is the living proof.

Now, while there are a lot of things I could talk about out of this passage, I want to focus on something that I find peculiar.  In verses 10-13 of chapter 6, Paul reminds the Ephesian church of the nature of the battle. In verses 14-17, he describes the armor Christians are to wear in the battle.  Now, in verse 18, you would expect Paul to yell, “Charge!”

But he doesn’t. Instead, he tells the Ephesians to pray. Once you get your armor on, the first thing you do is pray.

Pray? Why? Because the battle is won is prayer.

Ever wondered why Jesus could stand so calmly in front of Pilate?

Because of the prayer in Gethsemane.

Ever wondered why John the Baptist could preach with such confidence?

Because of all of the time in prayer in the wilderness.

Ever wondered why Mary was so devout in her loyalty to Jesus, her Son?

Because, we’re told, she treasured the stories of Jesus in her heart and meditated on them. In short, she prayed.

Before every public victory, a private victory is won.  This only happens in prayer.

So, if this is tough week for you, if the battle seems to be especially strong, find a quiet place and slip away.

This is where the battle is really fought…in our own lives in the Presence of Christ.

Once the battle is won here, we’re liberated and empowered in Christ to make our stands everywhere else.

But remember, the battle is won in prayer.

Cleopas and his friend, neither of whom we have met before, are walking along when a stranger joins them. They begin to talk about Jesus and His death and the rumors of His resurrection. The stranger, Jesus, yet to be recognized by the other two, takes the time to explain why the Messiah had to die and what the resurrection means.  Then, while He is breaking bread with them, He allows Cleopas and his friend to recognize Him.

Interesting, isn’t it? The story isn’t about Peter or John or any of the other disciples.  Nor, is the story about the women.  The story is about two guys walking down the road.

The story is about us. Remember, the good news of the gospel is not that we can get to God, but that God, in Christ, has come to us.  The story of the road to Emmaus is the first proof of this.  Jesus comes to Cleopas and his friend.  They aren’t even looking for Him, but Jesus is looking for them.

Lost, but now I’m found. Blind, but now I see.

These past few weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time sitting with my Dad in the hospital.  There are hours of silence interrupted by moments of sheer terror. You cry. You laugh. You believe. You doubt.

Most of the time you just put one foot in front of the other . The road is before you and you don’t know where it goes. You know you just have to keep walking. So you walk.

Somewhere in the moment, you won’t ever be able to figure out exactly when it was, but you will know. Someone has been walking with you. The Stranger who has joined you on your journey is familiar. He is Emmanuel, the promise of Christmas come true. God is with us.

Step for step.

But I want to make the point of this blog a little more basic.  At its core, the missionary growth of the early church was fueled by two things.  First, people whose lives had been authentically and radically transformed by an encounter with the Risen Christ. Second, they told their friends about Jesus.

That’s it. No marketing plan, no social media, no public relations campaign… nothing that you and I would associate with a change movement. In fact, there wasn’t even an agreed upon leader. The change in the believer’s life was so moving, so profound they had to tell someone. Each Christian reached another person and the growth of the church was exponential.

The change in their lives, the visible difference Christ made prompted questions and conversations from their neighbors. Once again, a friend told a friend about Jesus.

The church in North America isn’t growing.  If my simple analysis of the early church is correct, then we are left with two conclusions: one, we aren’t changed and/or two, we aren’t telling.

Jesus’s plan to reach the world is very simple. People who have met Jesus introduce their friends to Him. If we followed this plan, we could literally reach every person in America in a couple of years — the entire world in a few more years. Yes, it’s possible. In fact, it’s expected…

…which leads us to two obvious questions to ponder:

1. Are we changed? Radically changed by an encounter with the Risen Christ?

2. Are we telling? 

You see, if you’re changed, you can’t help but tell…

and if you’re not, well, you have nothing to tell.

And that takes us back to the first question.

Honestly, I have just about stopped praying for our nation to be changed. Now, I simply pray for the church to be changed.

From that moment on, we have to rethink everything in light of the resurrection.

Let’s face it. If somehow we find the body of Christ and prove the resurrection never happened, Christianity is over. If Christ has not been raised, then Paul is right and our faith is for nothing.

But if Christ has been raised from the dead, then everything has changed. We have to change the way we think about everything.  We have to change the way we think about Jesus. If He is conqueror of Death, then He is the Lord of Life and His teachings become the expectations of citizens for the coming kingdom.  We rethink God in light of what Jesus taught us about the Father. We rethink humanity in light of the incarnation… and on and on it goes. We have to rethink everything.

This is the first day after Easter. The resurrection of Christ changes everything. Now, we have to think differently about everything. Love, hope, forgiveness, faith, courage — have all been redefined by Jesus. Success, victory, death and life have all been restructured by Jesus. Our world is fundamentally rearranged by the Risen Christ.

Sometimes you will hear someone say Jesus has turned the world upside down. I don’t think that’s true. I think we turned the world upside down. I believe the resurrection of Jesus started the process of turning the world right side up.

And we have to think differently in this right side up world Jesus has brought to us.

To think differently. To live differently. Everything is different now. Us included.