Cleaning House

I have been in the process of doing some cleaning and work around my home. One of the projects I tackled was cleaning the bathroom. We all know how much fun this is. I started working on the shower with one cleaning product, but had to change to change to another when it ran out. The second was a bleach based cleaner.

A few hours later, I was reminded of this passage from Matthew 23:27-28.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

We like things to look clean. But looking clean and being clean are two different things. Our hearts and minds are easily deceived, and we find ourselves thinking and even doing things that we know we should not. In his letter to the Romans, Paul asked the church if we should keep sinning so that grace may abound. His answer was a resounding "No!"- if through Christ we have died to sin, why would we want to continue in it (Romans 6:1-12)?

Friends, it's time that we do some cleaning. Each one of us who has been freed from the bondage of sin by the blood of Jesus Christ still finds ourselves wrestling with those sins which so easily entangle us. We all fall prey to hypocrisy. Christ wants more for us, and He offers it by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Perhaps you have not ever heard how much God loves you. We are coming up on that time when, each year, we remember and celebrate the great lengths that He went to in order to show His love while we were still sinners. Feel free to contact me or find a local pastor: we want to share this incredible love story with you.

May the God who has given His all to redeem us be honored today in our thoughts and actions.

Bibliography

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. Print.

Leaving 99

"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices."

Luke 15:4-5

I have heard this passage taught many times. I have read it many more. Yet I did not fully understand it until I became a teacher.

Teachers are entrusted with so many responsibilities and hopes for their students. Both inside and outside the classroom, we see them trying to learn and find their way. I have the privilege of serving at a Christian school, which gives me the freedom to express not just my hopes for them academically and socially, but also spiritually.

I will be honest: I am not perfect. I have wasted opportunities. As God has been working in my life lately, I am trying to do better; in doing so, I am getting a deeper understanding of this passage and what it requires.

First, it requires love. My friends who are parents understand this on a real, urgent level when they cannot find their child. The shepherd has to love the sheep, otherwise he would not care to pursue it. But more than love is needed. 

A shepherd must also be strong and courageous. Without these qualities, he would not brave the unknowns of the wild in order to find the sheep. He would be unable to lift the sheep from any snares and the carry it back to the flock.

That all sounds good, but why are we talking about it? Our culture needs shepherds. It needs parents, teachers, pastors, coworkers, neighbors, and friends who will be loving enough to watch over it, courageous enough to pursue it, and strong enough both to carry it towards safety and to lead it in the way it should go. It needs shepherds who will protect it from the thieves that come to harm it. It needs men and women who get what Jesus was talking about and who are striving daily to follow in the example of the Good Shepherd (John 10:11).

Can we be those shepherds? May God enable us by His Spirit for this purpose.

Bibliography

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. Print.

Continuing to Grow

As we mark our first anniversary of The Landing, I have just finished rereading a book that I read almost a decade ago as I was entering my first semester at university. I have been wanting to do this for about a year now, and decided that this was the perfect time to again read The Heart of the Artist.

In my copy of this book there were many highlights and notes from my first read and our class discussions. Now there are many more. It is amazing how much more we get out of things the second time around, as we have grown with age and experience. Today I would like to share a quote that I found particularly challenging:

"Growing in Christ doesn't mean that we acquire a bunch of head knowledge. It means that we grow in areas such as moral excellence, intimacy with Christ, self-control and discipline, perseverance, godliness, kindness, and love" (39).

From the beginning of our work here at The Landing, our goal has been to participate in a global, digital society, working to fulfill the Great Commission: "make disciples of all nations... teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). The last year has wrought its fair share of changes in each of our lives, but that goal remains constant.

As you read this post or others that are available through our archives, we hope that you do not leave only with information. Thanks to the rapid growth of the internet, information can be found anywhere. Rather, it is our prayer that you are challenged in your faith. In the aforementioned quote from Rory Noland, he points out that discipleship is not just learning new data; instead, discipleship is taking what we learn from Jesus and letting it make a noticeable, tangible difference in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I look forward to continuing to write here at The Landing. With so many distractions online, I pray that this will continue to be a quiet place where we can be challenged towards spiritual maturity in Christ.

Though I may never have met you, dear reader and friend, know that I am praying for you. As Spring approaches and 2015 continues, I pray that you would come to know God in a deeper way. I pray that He would empower you to make a difference in your family, workplace, and community for His Name's sake.

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you" (1 Thessalonians 5:28)

Bibliography

The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. Print.

Noland, Rory. The Heart of the Artist: A Character-building Guide for You and Your Ministry Team. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999. Print.