The Game of Life

I had the privilege this past weekend to share again the message "The Game of Life" at the RECHARGE Snow Camp weekend retreat here at WOLBI. It was very exciting to hear of at least 3 teens who were counseled to trust Christ as their Saviour after the message on Friday evening.

Using the metaphor of a game we compared various types of games with eternal realities of 'Real Life.'

From Jon in Real Life

The truth is:
Every Game has a Creator
     Every board game, sport or video game has a creator who has every right to create the rules of their game.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:1

Every Game has Rules
     Every game must have rules to provide structure, enjoyment, and purpose.
     The Game of Life has rules, a universal standard of things that are right and things that are wrong.
     These 'rules' are true whether we believe them or not.
     We considered the Ten Commandments as basic rules for a successful life. However, just like penalties in sports, there are consequences for breaking those rules.

"For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23a

"...And sin, when it is finished, brings forth death." James 1:15b

Every Game has an End
     There needs to be a point, purpose, and goal to every game and Real Life is no different.

"It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment." Hebrews 9:27

     The way to win the game of life is to simply play it perfectly according to the rules for your whole life!

"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10

From Jon in Real Life

Little rope dude illustrating James 2:10

     The reality is impossible - we sin and bluntly put - we stink at the game of life. We just cannot consistently play by God's rules in our actions, our words, or our thoughts - we are losers at the Game of Life.

    That is not the end of the story though. Just like the ultimate cheat code in video games, we can hand over our lives to One who played the Game of Life perfectly for us!

"For He (God the Father) has made Him (Jesus, God the Son) to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus has won the game of life, by living a perfect life and dying the death He did not deserve. He offers His perfection to us, for our account so that we may stand before God with a perfect record on Judgment Day. 

Have you accepted His life for yours? Will you today?

Please let me know if you have questions or would like to know more about how you can know you too can win the 'Game of Life.'

Related Posts:

A Spiritual Lesson from American Idol - Truth
A Spiritual Lesson from American Idol - Believe it or Not

Be There For Youth - There's Still Hope!

It seems there is still hope to impact the next generation. We may not 'lose' our kids to the scary monster often referred to as "The Media."

From Jon in Real Life

The Barna Group, "a leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture" [1], relates a study that suggests family members, friends and those closest to kids are the heroes of this generation. Check out the article - Teen Role Models: Who They Are, Why They Matter.



While there is no doubt Pop Icons have influence, it seems that youth are more interested in those who show interest in them. We shouldn't be scared by the apparent culture gap between us and the young people around us. We just need to care in verbal, active ways.

Ask yourself, "Who can I care about today and how can I show it?"

You never know, it may make a difference for eternity.

For more information and resources for youth ministry check out Word of Life Local Church Ministry and click on the TeacherSource banner.

Topical vs. Expository Preaching discussion

Image by Brent Nelson via Flickr

This is for my WOLBI Homiletics guys and anyone else interested in the discussion between Topical vs. Expository preaching. This article is an interesting introduction to start the discussion and makes a few good points in the list given.
  
A Caution for Expository Preaching, Dr. Iain Murray



I really don't think it needs to be an either/or debate. Whether "Topical" or "Expository" every text handled must be "rightly divided" - properly interpreted. In a sense, good topical preaching must be expository as it must properly 'exposit' ever text used. I prefer to compare Topical vs. Textual sermons. Textual being the use of a primary text in the message and preaching the message of that text.

Some of the ideas we highlighted in class:

Topical:

Christmas, Easter and other seasons of the year are often best covered in a topical way.
Current issues - be careful with this one. One of the cardinal rules of preaching that I learned at NBBI was "Do not use the pulpit as a whipping post."
Doctrine -How else can Systematic Theology be covered (but heaven forbid we preach Systematic Theology!)? ie. preaching of the gospel - to clearly present the gospel, one must use multiple texts to cover the points of a Creator God's Holiness, Man's sin, Jesus perfect sacrifice/substitute, Man's needed response.

Textual:

Context - should be easier to explain passage as it relates to its context because that is where you are.
Context of the Big Idea - should be easier to relate a passage to the overall theme of the book/chapter it's in.
Preach the Whole Counsel - should be easier to cover difficult issues as they come up in the text without seeming to 'pick-on' a particular person or situation.

I say 'should' as I suggested each of the points for the Textual sermon because the power of the Textual sermon is in the preparer/presenter. Just as the dangers of Topical sermons are being shallow and disconnected so the Textual sermon may be boring or irrelevant in the hands of one who is ill-equipped to prepare and deliver a text with accuracy, relevance, and impact.

Happy Preaching Textually or Topically as the Lord leads to drive home the meaning and life-applications of His incredible Truth!

How to Ruin Your Accountability group

As a follow up to the theme of Accountability. I just came across this link today.

8 Ways to Ruin Your Accountability Group | The Resurgence

Speaking to students here at WOLBI last night from the book of Haggai I was reminded,

"It's not about what I do - it's the heart that does it."

I've heard Ravi Zacharias quote T.S. Elliott,

  "This is the greatest treason, to do the right thing for the wrong reason." 

We can ruin accountability the same way we can ruin everything else - make it a ritual with no heart.

Alone = In Trouble! The need for Accountability

Here's a great post from some of our American WOL friends.

The truth is - NO man is an island unto himself.

We were created for community and it is not good for us to be alone. I'm regularly reminded of Hebrews 3:12-13 which says, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."
None of us would say we desire an "evil unbelieving heart" or blatantly want to "depart from God" but if we are not heeding verse 13 that will be the sad reality.
If you are alone in the Christian life with no one to talk to, confess to, be confronted and exhorted by, pray with and be encouraged by, YOU ARE IN TROUBLE! Our hearts are deceitful. We desperately need daily exhortation to keep our lying, rationalizing heart and it's desires in check.

Enjoy reading Debunking the Lone Ranger Myth

Also check out Ways to Ruin Accountability

Everyone Lives Their Faith

From Jon in Real Life

In a recent Deans' Chapel at the Word of Life Bible Institute I challenged students with a presentation I call "No Christians Allowed." I don't know about you but I am tired of being a hypocritical professing Christians. My personal testimony haunts my memory of times near and far when I spoke with my lips and denied with my life. I want to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, one who seeks to live according to the standards set out in God's Word - the Bible. I don't want to simply be a Canadian "Cultural" Christian.
Now the reality is (if we are truly honest with ourselves) - we are all hypocrites. Christians or anyone with any spirituality at all (which includes everyone) consistently and perfectly lives up to their professed faith. A part of the human condition is that we are all hypocrites at times and to some degree. The challenge is not fueling the flame of our natural hypocritical bent.

 “For neither man nor angel can discern hypocrisy, the only evil that walks invisible.” 

– John Milton -

I heard a quote a number of years ago that has greatly impacted my life (blessings to Casey at E3 Resources, the creators of the Evangecube, for sharing it with me):

"What I say I believe is NOT what I believe. What I believe is defined by my actions and my integrity."

Just as the Apostle James tells us in the second chapter of his epistle, "Faith without works is dead." Faith without works is not 'in progress', 'on hold' or 'good enough.' Said another way, if I do not have faith, I do not have works and if I do not have works, I do not have faith. I am not saying that we work for our faith but that works are a natural and necessary by-product of genuine faith.

That being said, to live is to express faith. All of the things we do, say and think reflect what we truly believe.

So here is the bottom line and our greatest test:

What faith are we living?!

When "What's Best" is Bad

WOLBI Students are going to be able to tell where I am in my OT reading by this (and you should be much farther!) but Isaiah 30 impacted my life today.

Isa. 30:1-2 paints a picture of God's people, Israel, as absolutely rebellious and in an out-of-control, downward moral spiral multiplying sin upon sin. Pretty ugly, huh?! What was so bad to call for such a scathing accusation? They took counsel (mentioned again in vv. 9-11) and sought help from others (Egypt in this case), not God.

Throughout Scripture we are giving many examples of this same accusation. Abraham despite God's powerful promise (Gen. 12, 17, 22) tried repeatedly to intervene and 'help' God (offering Eleazer and Ishmael as his heir and fulfillment of God's promise!). Moses struck a rock the second time and it cost him the promised land, Uzziah lost his life as the wrong man carrying God's Ark in the wrong way, and Elimelech pays with his life for trusting Moab rather than God's 'house of bread'-Bethlehem in time of famine.

Jeremiah 17:5 says, "Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord."

How common is it for us to do the same? We say, "I know God's Word says...but I  really 'feel' that this is what God wants me to do." Or, "But everyone I talked to has told me that I should do this." How often do we run to others to bail us out of physical, emotional, financial, or social trouble instead of the God of the universe?

The alternative is given to us in verse 15 of Isaiah chapter 30 - returning to and resting in God. Doesn't John 15:5 say the same, "...without me (Jesus) ye can do nothing."

What are you trusting in today? On what are you basing life decisions? Only God and His Word provides the reliable, secure, and blessed resources for life on Earth.

Let's run to God to do things His way, in His time, by His counsel as we seek His counsel in His Word.
"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is." Jer. 17:7

Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays Rant part 2

I know the whole Nick & Jessica thing is so "2000's" but Ben Stein makes a good point about the "Merry Christmas" debate.

Herewith at this happy time of year, a few confessions from my beating heart:

I have no ...clue who Nick and Jessica are. I see them on the cover of People and Us constantly when I am buying my dog biscuits and kitty litter. I often ask the checkers at the grocery stores. They never know who Nick and Jessica are either. Who are they? Will it change my life if I know who they are and why they have broken up? Why are they so important? I don't know who Lindsay Lohan is, either, and I do not care at all about Tom Cruise's wife.

Am I going to be called before a Senate committee and asked if I am a subversive? Maybe, but I just have no clue who Nick and Jessica are. Is this what it means to be no longer young. It's not so bad.

Next confession: I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu. If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him?

 I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

posted from http://www.benstein.com/121805xmas.html

Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays Rant

The views expressed herein are the author's own. Please do not hold said content against his employer, wife, kids, extended family, friends, or past acquaintances.

Merry Christmas, Season's Greetings, Happy Holidays...people are offended by the well-wishing of this time of year. Is anyone else sick of the debate?
Should we really care about how people greet us in December?

People are offended by "Merry Christmas" because they are not Christian. Christians are up in arms when they hear "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings," believing that others are trying to take a Christ (that they don't believe in) out of Christmas! Really?!
As Christians, why should we expect people who do not share our faith to greet us in the way we desire?
As non-Christians, why should we expect people to not greet others according to their beliefs?

What annoys me about this whole offensive debate (because I am offended by everyone being offended!) are Christians going overboard and being un-Christian over the whole issue. Christ has called us to love, respect, speak the truth in love, and give an answer for the hope in us. Christians are called to share Christ, not force our culture to call itself Christian by demanding the world say "Merry Christmas." I am offended by Christians demanding to be greeted in their way of worship. Come on! Let's extend a little grace and not be offended by something so inconsequential. I am sure that God is not nearly as offended by people not saying "Merry Christmas" as by Christians who unlovingly demand others to conform to their desires for particular personal greetings. Are we so naive as to believe that the world is really going to be a better place if everyone just says, "Merry Christmas?" Wouldn't it be better for more believers in Christ to live like Christ and seek to share His message of love and hope? Does forcing the "Merry Christmas" issue really show people who Christ is and what He has done to save or does it drive unbelievers away from a fanatical, ungracious expression of Christianity?

On the other side of the issue, why are non-Christians so offended by someone saying "Merry Christmas?" I am totally open to some responses here but I've got to say that I have never felt intimidated, offended, or overly perturbed by others insisting on saying "Happy Holidays," "Season's Greetings," or even "Happy Hanuka" to me. Is it really a big deal? Can't we all just get along in the way we salute each other?

I'd say the bottom line of the issue is the very 'intolerance' that we are not supposed to tolerate in our mosaic Canadian and North American culture.
Seriously Christians, we need to relax and just live in obedience to God's commands and not make a commandment out of 'Thou shalt say, "Merry Christmas."'
Non-Christians, please be patient with me if I greet you with a "Merry Christmas." I'd be happy for you to let me know that you do not worship Christ and hear about what this season means to you.

May the best of the season be to each of you! 

Ward Ministry Update

Very excited to share this update! Students very graciously shared their hearts and appreciation for our ministry with us and we would like to pass on the blessing to all of you who pray and give financially to help us do what we do.

There will be more student comments posted over the next few weeks in regards to WOLBI staff, Discipleship, Chapels, and Life-Change at www.wolbilife.blogspot.com

Gratefully,

Christmas 2010 for Web