NOTE (1/12/18): We’re all learning and growing.  Some of the stuff I’ve written in these old posts may no longer be exactly what I believe or think, or at least may not be articulated the way I’d do it nowadays.  I preserve them in an attempt it to be transparent about my journey, and in the hopes that readers may still glean some insight from the core ideas found here.  Thanks for journeying with me!

t’s been a month since I last posted, I know. But in my efforts to write things that are actually worth reading, I have realized that although I could write about many different things that sound eloquent and intelligent, I have to ask in the end what would be the fruit of it.  I don’t have a website for the sake of writing, though it certainly is tempting.  I started this site to inspire you to live the way life is meant to be lived – not to argue theology or gallivant down rabbit trails.  And I am determined to not write about something that I have not applied to my own life, because that was precisely the mistake of the Pharisees (Matthew 23:3).  I mean, if my words don’t convince me to do something, why should I expect them to convince you?

It’s along these lines that I actually want to share about.  See, there’s this problem that I’ve noticed about church that seems ridiculous to have to talk about, but Jesus actually addressed it as well.  Let’s check it out, shall we?

Everyone knows the parable of the wise man that built his house upon the rock, right?  Man, we heard that so much in Sunday School we must have squoze (new word, thanks to Travis Young) every last bit of revelation out of that poor sucker.  Then again, maybe not.  Ever think about what the actual difference was between the wise and foolish man?  Nope, wasn’t their doctrine.  Nope, wasn’t how much Bible they’ve memorized.  It was putting it into practice. Scarily enough, the parable we use to entertain little kids is the very one that holds a warning many of us need to hear.  “Everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand.  The rain came down…and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:26-28)

That’s kind of a big deal. These people were all listening to the greatest sermon of their lives, but Jesus warned them that if they didn’t do what he was saying, even if everything on the outside may appear good, the jig is up when the storm comes.  How many sermons have you listened to, or Bible studies you attended, or blogs have you read, or conferences you been to?  We’ve become experts at this sort of thing.  But are these things the end?  Do they define the “Christian lifestyle”?

The main question is – what did Jesus actually say to do with life?  Love God, and love others (Luke 10:27).  He left us with the Great Commission – to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).  And we know to accomplish this we gotta do it like He did (1 John 2:6, John 14:12).  I wrote an article expanding on the bigger picture awhile back.

It’s not complicated, really!  Yet we seem to have this weird thing going on – like if you asked me for a donut, how long do you think it would take for me to get you one?  What if I just started studying donuts, looking into donut history, taking classes on donuts around the world, attending Krispy Kreme conferences, and doing everything but get you one?  It would seem that I’m on the right track, but in the end I would never actually accomplish what I was told to do. The devil has a thing for trying to give us so much “God stuff” that we go into information overload and never actually apply any of it to our lives.  This actually makes us worse off, because Jesus said “To whom much is given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48).

I’ve been told there’s a difference between what learning means in the West compared to the Middle East.  In the West, we’ve understood you to have learned something when you have read a textbook on it and written a test.  But in the Middle East, you’ve learned it when you’ve applied it to your life.

So how many sermons have you heard?  How many conferences or Bible schools have you been to?  And how much have you learned?…How much has it made you look more like Jesus – the way he really was, not just the nice, complacent guy we’ve made him to be nowadays?

We’ve sung many times, “Tell the world that Jesus lives, tell the world that, tell the world that…”  How often have you actually gone and done that afterwards?  Jesus said “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  They worship me in vain…” (Matthew 15:8).  Or how bout singing this one – “I have decided to follow Jesus…no turning back, no turning back…”  You know, Jesus had a parable about a son who said the same thing to his Father (Matthew 21:30) but in the end it was his brother who had refused God that actually ended up doing what God said to do.  Which one was justified at the end of the day?

Jesus told his disciples, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:17). The blessing doesn’t come from staying awake during church!  Amos 5:21-24 says “I hate, I despise your religious feasts, I cannot stand your assemblies…Away with the noise of your songs.  But let justice roll on like a river…”  Isaiah 58 is along the same lines.  Realize this – no amount of churchgoing will ever make God satisfied.  He’s already satisfied with you through Jesus if you’ve accepted Jesus as the sacrifice for your sins (2 Corinthians 5:18)!

This is why I part of why I haven’t posted in a month.  I don’t want to just discuss theology.  I don’t just want another Bible study that makes me think I’m accomplishing the will of God by sitting at a computer telling others what to do.  I don’t want to just be a hearer of the word, and so deceive myself.  I want to do what it says (James 1:22) – to find out what love looks like and live it.  I write now so that you can understand this and I hope we can journey together in our mission to make disciples of all nations.  We still don’t know very much about how to do it, but we’re learning, and hope that you can catch the vision and sense of adventure along with us!

My main point is simply that just listening doesn’t do the job. You can listen to all the theology – even good theology – you want, but if you don’t live it out, it’s a waste of time.  Jesus said that his food was to do the will of God (John 4:34) – and he went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38, 1 John 3:9).  I am in no way saying church is bad or anything like that.  I’m simply saying, let’s not be stuck saying we have faith and yet not having deeds to back it up (James 2)!  Let’s be those in Revelation 1:3 who don’t just hear a good word – but actually keep it.  That’s why I end all my articles with “live it real” – as a reminder that the point of it all is to live out the truth we’ve found.

On the side, I put up a new video about healing in the media section, check it out! Also, in December I am planning to drive across the country from San Jose to Pennsylvania via I-80.  If anyone needs prayer, healing, or discipleship along the way or is willing to take me in for a night, let me know!

Be encouraged.  God is in a good mood!  If you feel convicted by this, just remember God is totally in love with you, and you don’t have to be only a listener anymore. A great term we use a lot around here is “up to this point”.  “I’ve been bad” – up to this point.  “I did wrong” – up to this point.  Realize you are way too amazing to keep what you know inside of you – all creation is waiting for you (Romans 8:19), and when you start to do what He told us to do, you’ll wonder why you ever had wanted anything else.  So remember, as soon as you exit this page, you will start building the foundation of your house.  Let’s do it right…live it real!