The Difference Between Batman And A Christian

The difference between a Christian and Batman is this: Bruce Wayne makes Batman's amor; the Christian's armor is made by God.

So, a Christian fits more along the lines of a U.S. Marine than a superhero. A superhero can fashion their own armor whereas a Marine's armor is made by the country they serve.

Ephesians 6:10-20

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Here's the laundry list of armor Paul gives (and first recognize that Paul says it is "the armor of God." Not your armor. God's armor.):

1. Belt of truth - you don't determine truth; God does

2. Breastplate of righteousness - you don't determine what is righteous; God does

3. The readiness given by the gospel of peace - you don't determine the assurance of Christ's redeeming work on the cross; God does

4. Shield of faith - you don't create your faith; God does

5. Helmet of salvation - you don't secure your salvation; God does

6. Sword of the Spirit (Scripture) - you don't determine the accuracy, truth, and convicting power of Scripture; God does

This armor truly is God's armor. We don't make it and therefore we have no right to negotiate with God which pieces of the armor we can wear and which we can ignore and which we can just have but not use. Thinking Scripture isn't needed at least daily to fight for our faith is like a U.S. Marine telling his commanding officer that it's useless to carry a gun or any weapon. How insulted must God be when Christians take his armor for granted when he is giving it to them for their good?

Francis Chan writes in his book Crazy Love,

When I was in high school, I seriously considered joining the Marines; this was when they first came out with commercials for "the few, the proud, the Marines." What turned me off was that in those advertisements, everyone was always running. Always. And I hate running.

But you know what? I didn't bother to ask if they would modify the rules for me so I could run less, and maybe also do fewer push-ups. That would've been pointless and stupid, and I knew it. Everyone knows that if you sign up for the Marines, you have to do whatever they tell you. They own you.

Somehow this realization does not cross over to our thinking about the Christian life. Jesus didn't say that if you wanted to follow Him you could do it in a lukewarm manner. He said, "Take up your cross and follow me" (pg. 80).

Christians have a great and serious battle to fight. It is a battle for their faith and the faith of others in a God whose love is so extreme that he hangs on a cross to atone for the sins of his creation.

Christians are called to live a mission that is the greatest cause in the world and John Piper says it this way, "The greatest cause in the world is joyfully rescuing people from hell, meeting earthly needs, making them glad in God, and doing it with a kind, serious pleasure that makes Christ look like the Treasure he is."

So, let us go and fight for the greatest cause in the world using the impenetrable armor that God supplies by getting off the sidelines that is defined by worrying about jobs, scholarships, future happiness, and attending church regularly. Let's fight the bloody fight for joy in God no matter the cost as Christ says that His followers should.

The Reason To Repent

Repent simply means to turn away. It means to turn away from a life that says to God, "We can do it without you and get our own joy," to a life that says to God, "We need you, we are relying on you to show us the life you desire us to live to get as much joy as we can in this life and the next." But why would you ever want to say that to God? Why would you ever want to repent?

You don't repent because you have a guilty conscience and you want to get rid of it.

You don't repent because hell is scary and you want to escape the possibility of ever going there.

You don't repent because you just don't want God to be angry with you

You don't repent so your life can be blessed and pain free.

You repent because Jesus is beautiful.

Jesus died in the place of sinners to divert the wrath of God from whomever would place their trust in his redeeming work on the cross. And Jesus states that whoever decides to place their trust in his work will respond in joyful obedience that could, ultimately, get them nailed to a cross, or at least feel like, because they are now called to embody Jesus. Why would anyone, then, want to embody Jesus when it could lead to such extreme agony?

You repent and embody Jesus because what he did on the cross is so mind-blowing beautiful. You don't repent when you look at Jesus hanging on the cross and you see a peasant revolutionary whose time ran out. You repent because you see God in the flesh hanging on a cross so that he can restore the creation that spit in his face and should be destroyed. You repent because it is so beautiful that God would spare us his wrath by pouting it out on himself. You repent because that mercy and love is so wonderful that you want to be a part of it. You want that love in you. You repent because you want to obey a God who would go to such extreme measures just to have a relationship with you. You repent because God paid the penalty for your treason so you wouldn't have to and thus could have a life filled with joyful worship in serving God as his adopted child.

You repent because Jesus hanging on a cross to divert the wrath of God from sinners is beautiful.

In The Octagon With My Heart

Jeremiah 17:9-10

The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
“I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Matthew 15:19

For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

For the last couple of years, I have found myself in a raging battle against my desires. I am constantly doing what I don't want to do. I want to be a good student; I slack off. I want to have pure eyes; I begin looking at the women on campus wearing tight clothes. There is this battle between a desire to do what Christ desires of me and what my heart desires. Yes, this is a battle between the Spirit and Sin. But it is also a battle between me and my heart.

I don't watch UFC all too often but the matches I have seen were intense. Professional athletes enter their ring, the octagon, and just pumple each other into submission until one has his fist raised in the air as the victor because the other guy either tapped out or was knocked out.

I need to go into the octagon with my heart. Too often it feels like my heart has been punching me violently in the ribs, wrapping its arms around my chest and slamming me into the caging tearing my flesh and making blood gush from my forehead, hurling me onto the floor again and again until my breath is knocked out of me, and then wrapping its arms around my neck choking me into submission. Why does my heart do this? Because it is the well-spring of my desires. I am a wretch and completely depraved. So I give in to my heart's deadly desires to partake in sin. I tap out without even fighting.

My eyes though have seen the glory of Christ crucified and my heart begins to tremble and fight back. The Spirit though just provokes me again and again: Get up, boy, and fight; fight for your joy in Christ.

So now, with God's grace, I will stand and fight my greedy heart and pumple it into submission. The stakes of victory are high. If my heart has its fist raised in victory, death is its reward. But, if my hand is raised in victory, the reward is God. This is the greatest prize worth fighting for: Joy and pleasure in God.

This fight is going to be bloody and violent, but that's how it has to be to make my heart submit to what Christ desires of me.

Father, pour out your Spirit on me and my struggling brothers and sisters that we may have the wisdom to fight our decptive hearts in order to cherish more deeply Christ crucified. The prize is the greatest: You. Glorify your name by displaying your holiness in us; give us the power to crush our hearts in the octagon. In Jesus' name, amen.

Jesus Is Not A Pansy And He Will Take You Down

I'm reading through the book of Revelation right now as part of a tour through the writings of the Apostle John. The more and more I read into this book, the more I am impacted by the image of Jesus as a King who will destroy and utterly annihilate sin to establish a wholly righteous kingdom. He hates sin so violently it says in Revelation that he will kill all those who stand on the side of sin and that their blood will flow - let that word hit you, flow - through the streets.

Do you think Jesus is a pansy? Do you think he's just some nice, preacher-dude wearing sandals and teaching nothing but peace and love? Yes, Jesus taught the peace God would bring through His own death and the love He holds that has no limits to the point He dies in the place of a creation that completely rebels against His kindness daily. He did not teach everyone will inherit the kingdom of Heaven. How do you think Jesus, the creator of all things, feels about those who molest children and worse kidnap them and force them into prostition even at the age of 5 like those who commit this horrific act in Cambodia? If these people don't denounce their heart and flesh as evil and trust Jesus as their Reconcilor to God the Father, their blood will flow through the streets if he decides to tarry no longer tonight.

And so too will your blood flow through the streets if you don't repent.

Check out Revelation 19. Jesus has a tatoo, a sword, and a name only He knows as he rides into battle to kill all those who stand on the side of sin - including Johnny Do-Gooder thinking his time at the Salvation Army or praying over his meals is all he needs to get into heaven.

What about this one, Revelation 17:14?

They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.

I write this as a man who messes up all the time and is constantly in need of Jesus standing between him and God the Father - who is righteously pissed at sin - so I will not experience the Father's wrath (because Jesus bore it in my place on the cross) so that instead I could experience his unconditional love secured by Jesus' resurrection.

What really hit me on this is two movies I watched today. "The Martian Child" examines a man's love for his adopted son. The man will not abandon his boy despite how weird and messed up he is. That's God as a Father. He's passionate and sent the second member of the Trinity - his begotten Son - to die in the place of his messed up, weird kids who convince themselves of all kinds of delusions so he can have a restored relationship with them if they trust Him and not themselves because they have become so deceived. Then I watched the movie "Amazing Grace" and there's a line in there I pray all of my friends will say one day, "I know of two things: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior."

Jesus is unbelievably angry at all who stand on the side of sin and that includes all who do not see his death in the place of sinners as beautiful and holy and redeeming. Either repent and have a restored relationship with God by trusting Jesus' work on the cross, or don't and have your blood flow through the streets when Jesus returns to destroy all that is sinful and all who commit sin. Jesus is not a panzy and he is a wholly just King. He will rid the universe of all that is evil. Stand with him as called, chosen, and faithful and not against him as thinking you don't need his death and blood shed in your place to bring you to God. It's either your blood or His.

Father, I have many friends who will read this and think it paints you as extremely barbaric and judgmental. If that's my fault in how I described you, I'm sorry, but I know your power and that you can work through all things to bring anyone to repentance. Father, bring those I know who have not repented - including those who claim to be Christians - to repentance. Father, you know my deep sins. But I thank you and I trust that through Jesus' actions on the cross you look at me as a child you will never abandon and wipe away all that displeases you. Father, thank you that you continue to call me closer to you no matter what I do. It's a miracle you've shown me of how wonderful your Son is and I just want all I know to have that same treasure. Convince them that they are no better than a child molestor if they have not trusted Jesus to substitute their just punishment for their sins with your unceasing, relentless, crazy love. And Father, please grant me the power and wisdom to incarnate your Son more and more each moment of each day. I love you. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for turning an enemy like me into an adopted child that sings your praises. In Jesus' name, amen.

Same Clothes, No Relationship

My mom and dad divorced when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I've only seen my dad a handful of times throughout my life; I'm 22. A few years ago, my senior year of high school, I came home from work and my mom told me that my dad had called me.

I got on the phone and called him back. I asked what was up and he told me he had bad news about my grandmother - she had cancer meaning both of my grandparents had the disease. I could hear in his voice that tears were beginning to form so I offered to visit him right then and he said he would like that.

I arrived at his apartment, knocked on the door, and when he opened it I offered a hug. We hugged and he broke down into tears. This was the first time ever that I saw him display any sincere emotion outside of the obligated father / son affection.

We sat down and talked about my grandmother's diagnosis. He calmed down and made himself some soup. When he came back from the kitchen, he noticed that my coat was of the brand 'St. John's Bay'. He asked, "Hey, did you pick this coat?" I said, "Yeah," hesitantly not knowing where he was going, especially since there was a glimmer of excitement in his eyes. He told me to wait one second and when he came back in he was holding his coat. "Check that out," he told me. I looked at the tag: 'St. John's Bay'. He sat down and we began to talk about our clothing choices: Exact. We love to wear jeans, boots, flannel shirts, and 'St. John's Bay' coats. We began talking about politics. Our views were matching up. We began to talk about movies. Our views were matching up.

This was stunning considering I had not seen him for the last four years and that was when my various tastes developed. Without any influence from my dad, I adopted styles and tastes that were exactly similar to his.

I left that night with the both of us excited by the possibility of a genuine friendship blossoming out of this time.

You know how many times I've seen him since then? Around 5 times: 2 family reunions, 2 funerals, and 1 time this past summer.

Am I his son? Even though we wear the same clothes and have the same tastes, there is no relationship between us. I do not actively talk to him on the phone, visit him, ask him for his advice, check in just to check in, help when asked, and so on. We have the same clothes, but we don't have a deep relationship. Am I his son?

This question can be asked about my relationship between me and my heavenly Father. As a Christian, I have the same tastes as God does - certain music I like, certain clothes I think are appropriate to wear, certain desires to see the oppressed helped. But do I have an active relationship with my heavenly Father?

Sure, I look like him on the outside, but how do I look like him on the inside?

Do I actively seek his opinion for any situation?

Do I actively ask him what's on his mind?

Do I actively try to discover what he desires?

Do I actively seek time where I just sit and listen?

Do I call him?

Do I have the same clothes and the same heart? Do I only look like his son on the outside, but on the inside I don't share the same heart? Do I look like him and act like him?

Father, I recognize there are so many times in my life when I look like you. I don't like filthy language. I don't like drug abuse. I don't like the fact that there are orphans in Africa. If we were to sit down we would have much to discuss about our tastes. But, Father, I also recognize that our hearts are different. I don't actively seek people who are hurting. I don't actively seek to be an agent of reconciliation. I don't actively ask what's on your mind. I don't have an active relationship as a son should with you. Father, you discipline your children for their good. I ask that you show me how to act like you in all ways that we may actively walk together throughout this life. You work so that your holiness may be demonstrated through your power working through my hands, and I get the joy. Father, work. Draw my heart deeper to your through the cross of your Son. Work through me and through my brothers and sisters who desire to know you deeper. Let me not simply sit down with you when you call me or when we "accidentally" run into each other. I'm sorry I've messed up and I praise you for your grace; thank you that there is no limit with you for second chances. In Jesus' name, amen.

Reason #36 Why Jesus Came To Die

In his work Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came To Die John Piper writes that the 36th reason was "To Create A People Passionate For Good Works."

Here's what he wrote:

"[He] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. - Titus 2:14

At the heart of Christianity is the truth that we are forgiven and accepted by God, not because we have done good works, but to make us able and zealous to do them. The Bible says, "[God] saved us... not because of our good works" (2 Timothy 1:9). Good deeds are not the foundation of our acceptance, but the fruit of it. Christ suffered and died not because we presented to him good works, but he died "to purify for himself a people... zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14).

This is the meaning of grace. We cannot obtain a right standing with God because of our works. It must be a free gift. We can only recieve it by faith, cherishing it as our great treasure. This is why the Bible says, "By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). Christ suffered and died so that good works would be the effect, not the cause, of our acceptance.

Not surpisingly, then, the next sentence says, "For we are... created in Christ Jesus for good works" (Ephesians 2:10). That is, we are saved for good works, not by good works. And the aim of Christ is not the mere ability to do them, but passion to do them. That's why the Bible uses the word "zealous." Christ died to make us "zealous for good works." Zeal means a passion. Christ did not die to make good works merely possible or to produce a half-hearted pursuit. He died to produce in us a passion for good deeds. Christian purity is not the mere avoidance of evil, but the pursuit of good.

There are reasons why Jesus paid the infinite price to produce our passion for good deeds. He gave the main reason in these words: "Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). God is shown to be glorious by the good deeds of Christians. For that glory Christ suffered and died.

When God's forgiveness and acceptance have freed us from fear and pride and greed, we are filled with a zeal to love others the way we have been loved. We risk our possessions and our lives since we are secure in Christ. When we love others like this, our behavior is contrary to human self-enhancement and self-preservation. Attention is thus drawn to our life-transforming Treasure and Security, namely, God.

And what are these "good works"? Without limiting their scope, the Bible means mainly helping people in urgent need, especially those who possess least and suffer most. For example, the Bible says, "Let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need" (Titus 3:14). Christ died to make us this kind of people - passionate to help the poor and the perishing. It is the best life, not matter what it costs us in this world: They get help, we get joy, God gets glory." - Page 90-91

Continue to ask God what good works he has in store for us, especially with the definition Piper provides - "helping people in urgent need, especially those who possess least and suffer most." If he has revealed to you ideas and / or desires, write them down and be sure to bring them this Sunday to CRAVE. And if your heart is not into this, ask God why that is and let him answer.

Good Works, Homework, And God's Glory

If all you needed to do to change a part of the world was sell some bracelets during lunch, would you do it?

If you were in a group made of more than 12 students devoted to helping an oppressed people on the otherside of the world where all the tasks were delegated so that no one was heavily burdened, would you participate?

And if you are doing these good works so that others will be satisfied in God, how do you think God would respond if you asked Him to help you out with your homework, sleep, and good works?

Matthew 6:25-34

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink [or whether you'll get your homework done on time], nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Romans 8:31-32

... If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Ask God to reveal what good works he has for us and to give us all things we need to accomplish them.