Two forms of Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy of the Saved Exposed
Was shocked and too bewildered 

As I entered Heaven's door,

Not by the beauty of all,

Nor the lights or its decor.

But twas the folks in Heaven

Who made me shutter and gasp--

The thieves, the cheats, the sinners,

The liars - all the rift raft.

There’s the kid from seventh grade

My lunch money, he stole twice.

My old neighbor next to him

Who ne’er said anything nice.

Herbert, who I always thought

The truth he could never tell,

Was sitting up on cloud nine,

Looking incredibly well.

I nudged St. Peter and asked

I would love to hear your take;

How'd all these sinners get here?

It must've been a mistake.

And why are all so quiet,

So somber? Give me a clue.

Hush, my child, they're all in shock.

No one thought they'd be seeing you.

                                   Author Unknown

But be ye doers of the Word 

and not hearers only, 

deceiving your own selves. 

James 1:22

Hypocrisy of the Lost Exposed

Maybe you're a drunkard, an adulterer, a prostitute, a liar; won't admit you are lost; are proud. Maybe you're even proud you're not proud, and Jesus has a time of it.

Jesus said: "Come to me," not to the Church; to me, not to a creed; to me, not to a preacher; to me, not to an evangelist; to me, not to a priest; to me, not to a pope; "Come to me and I will give you rest." Faith in Jesus Christ saves you, not faith in the Church.

You can join church, pay your share of the preacher's salary, attend the services, teach Sunday school, return thanks and do everything that would apparently stamp you as a Christian - even pray - but you won't ever be a Christian - until you do what God tells you to do.   Billy Sunday  (1862-1935)

For God so loved the world, 

that he gave his only begotten Son, 

that whosoever believeth in him 

should not perish, 

but have everlasting life. 

John 3:16 

      

Full Schedule v. Full Life

Most of us are very busy most of the time, but lately it seems that I, and most of the people I know, have been extra busy and exhausted.  

Busyness is a funny thing, because it causes so many different emotions: satisfaction, and accomplishment, along with stress, irritability, etc.  

Often, being busy means we have to prioritize and be organized and efficient in order to fulfill all of our responsibilities, needs, and a few wants.  We have to eliminate unnecessary things in order to ensure we are able to do the important things. 

In many cases, Satan uses busyness as the perfect opportunity to attack.  We can be the most vulnerable during times that we are busy, so we must be careful to recognize the attacks the Enemy puts in our path and be able to guard against them.  

On the other side, God is using this time to push us and to teach us that we can't "do it all" in our own strength or on our own schedule.  We need to rest in the assurance of God's perfect plan and must wait on Him, prayerfully seeking His will throughout our day.

When we are stressed and tired, normally minor irritations become great annoyances.  More and more things seem to go wrong, and it seems like we can't catch a break!  The burdens increase, the road seems longer, and what's required of us seems so much more unattainable.

Hoaxed

A physics professor at Adelaide University in Australia, Sir Kerr Grant used to illustrate the time of descent of a free-falling body by allowing a heavy ball suspended from the lecture-theater roof trusses to fall some 30 feet and be caught in a sand bucket. Each year the bucket was lined up meticulously to catch the ball -- and each year students secretly moved the bucket to one side, so that the ball crashed thunderously to the floor.

Tiring of this rather stale joke, the professor traced a chalk line around the bucket. The students moved the bucket as usual, traced a chalk mark around the new position, rubbed it out and replaced the bucket in its original spot. "Aha!" the professor explained, seeing the faint outline of the erased chalk mark. He moved the bucket over it and released the ball -- which thundered to the floor as usual.

D.G. Dewar, Reader's Digest.

It's so easy to be fooled. In 2007  I received these e-mail pictures that reportedly showed the inside of the home of Tiger Woods. They were beautiful photographs, but according to www.snopes.com, the home is not owned by Tiger Woods. It is actually owed by a Maui beachfront rental company called The Golden Conch. Rental: $4000-and-up per night. Yikes!

  

According to golfonline.com, Tiger Woods was soon to own another home but not the one in Maui. He owns a home in Southern California and a lot at Three Creeks Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. His 10-acre estate on Florida’s Jupiter Island comes complete with four homes, two docks for his $22 million yacht, a golf hole, and courts for volleyball and tennis. He was living (2007) in a home at Isleworth in Orlando that he reportedly purchased for $54 million. With PGA and international events taking up most Thursdays through Sundays, I can’t imagine that he spends very much time enjoying any of them. The aerial views of his homes (not pictured) are breathtaking.

Two thoughts:

1. Many have been hoaxed by the pictures of Tiger’s home. The pictures and the value associated with them do not belong to him. A Christian can also be hoaxed. He buys into this world’s picture of success. He spends his whole life working hard to get ahead and then spends his remaining years holding tightly to what he has earned. But that picture of success and the values associated with them never really belonged to him either. He won’t take them with him when he is gone. They were always on loan from God. Christians should not invest in this life alone because the return is in the life to come.

2. God has given man the ability to build marvelous works. We see colors, styles, architecture, and settings that give pleasure to the eyes. It’s okay that you and I may never own such places. John 14:2 declares that Jesus is preparing a place for us. It will be a place made by His handiwork. In this life we see beauty that man makes. In the next life we will witness the wonders that Christ creates. There will be no comparison.

For neither man nor angel can discern hypocrisy, 

the only evil that walks invisible, 

except to God alone.

JOHN MILTON, Paradise Lost

 

Lessons from a Jiffy Lube

I was getting my oil changed some months ago and noticed an article on the wall from USA Today. It was about how to get better gas mileage. I’d heard most of the suggestions before: proper tire inflation, tune-ups, filter changes, good fuel, etc. However, there were two that I had not considered.

The first – When traveling on hot days (especially in newer cars), drive with the windows closed and the a/c on. I thought the advice would have been the exact opposite – turn off the a/c and roll the windows down. What I failed to consider was the incredible importance of aerodynamics. Cars are built aerodynamically to reduce wind drag which increases the fuel mileage. The drag that is created by the windows being open makes the car less fuel efficient than when the a/c is on and the windows are closed. Hmmmmmm. I guess we should stick with the design and plan.

The second – Check the car for extra weight (especially the trunk). Extra weight accounts for reduced fuel mileage, increased wear and tear on the tires, and increased load on the transmission and motor. That would seem to be a no-brainer. But how often do we throw stuff in the trunk only to forget about it? I checked my trunk . . . amazing.

Does Jesus Care?

Have you ever wondered if Jesus really knows and cares about every detail in your life? I have at times.  Though I don't consciously wonder that very often, my actions show that I do. The Bible teaches about God's omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. Most of us who have been taught these truths would have no trouble agreeing with words that they are, indeed, truth. However, I'm ashamed to say that often our actions prove contrary to our words.

In the past few weeks, many of my prayers have been answered and events have unfolded which were undoubtedly God's doing. Unfortunately, I'm not always so quick to recognize that God is the one that is planning all of my moments. I think this is often because I fail to pray throughout my day, consulting the Lord before I make decisions. Usually, when I am conversing frequently with Him about things, it's so much more apparent when He does things that I had asked Him for or talked with Him about.

Too Easily Pleased

Six days ago (Sunday night) I developed a sore throat with swollen glands. I stayed home the next day thinking that a day of rest and lots of fluids would do the trick. Throughout the day on Monday I felt sick but not horrible. Horrible came calling Monday night. I spent most of the week in bed. I think I’ve had everything except a fever: sore throat, cough, runny, stuffy, weak, achy, headache, lack of appetite, and weight loss. The last one I don’t mind so much. To all those who have been praying  ~  thanks. To those who have endured a similar fate ~ sympathy. To all those who have avoided this so far ~ hope. Someone recently sent me the following quote by C.S. Lewis. It is my hope that the quote and post are as much as an encouragement to you as they were to me. 

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"Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”  C.S. Lewis

Read the following as if  you'd never heard it before.

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. He was a godly man who hated evil. He was blessed with 7 sons and 3 daughters. He was a wealthy man who owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 donkeys. He was the greatest of all men in the east.

On a day like any other, a servant ran into the presence of Job with terrible news. “The Sabeans took all your donkeys and oxen and killed all the servants that were there. I am the only one to escape.”

While that servant was still speaking, a second servant arrived with terrible news. “The sheep and the servants who were with them were consumed by a fire from the sky. I am the only one to escape.”

While that servant was still speaking, a third servant arrived with terrible news. “The Chaldeans took all your camels and killed all the servants that were there. I am the only one to escape.”

Broken or Broken Down

I was introduced to The Calvary Road by Roy Hession about 6 years ago. It took me two weeks to get past the first three paragraphs. It was that powerful. We either become broken or broken down. Check it out for yourself. You'll need a highlighter. It's in my recommended reading book list - to the right of this post. You can get the book online and at most bookstores, or you can read it for free online at http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/hession/calvary%20road/

The following 3 paragraphs are from chapter 1: Brokenness

We want to be very simple in this matter of Revival. Revival is just the life of the Lord Jesus poured into human hearts. Jesus is always victorious. In heaven they are praising Him all the time for His victory. Whatever may be our experience of failure and barrenness, He is never defeated. His power is boundless. And we, on our part, have only to get into a right relationship with Him, and we shall see His power being demonstrated in our hearts and lives and service, and victorious life will fill us and overflow through us to others. And that is Revival in its essence.

Underwater and Helpless

 

In the summer of 2008 we ran a teen camp for our church teens at the Circle K Ranch in southwestern Colorado. It’s located in a beautiful spot in the mountains. The temperatures are wonderfully “cool to cold.” It’s a nice break from the Arizona daytime heat of 105-115˚.

We focus on spiritual things and have lots of fun, too. One of the highlights of the week is a 3-4 hour rafting trip down the Animas River. It’s a fairly easy run with a lot of wet fun. The only challenging part for beginners is toward the middle of the run (where pictures of each raft are taken): a section of rapids that is perhaps 100 yards in length. 

Before the whitewater adventure begins we are given instructions on what to do if someone falls out of a raft. The person in the water is told what to do to be recovered, and those in raft are told how to recover the raft-less one. They were simple instructions which stressed teamwork and safety.

At the beginning of the rapids our boat got hung-up on a rock, so we all moved to the low side (as instructed) and bounced up and down in an effort to free ourselves. It worked perfectly. The boat slid down the rock and we scrambled to our seats and our footholds. Did I say perfectly? Well, perfectly except for one small detail, I became separated from the raft. For all you slow people - I fell in. The thought that I might have fallen all by myself is untenable, so I imagine that the lady sitting next to me must have pushed me. I’ll stick to that story.

Thankfulness - It's Contagious

Mrs. Max and I had the privilege of buying our first home in March of 1999. (We would have had it paid for on my 65th birthday, but we moved to Arizona!) We thanked God for His marvelous provision. The house and yard were beautiful and in excellent shape.  The boys enjoyed the room to run, the extra bedroom, the yard, the basketball hoop, and, especially, the pool.
  
We spent many hours planting, pruning, and doing general yard work. We completed several in-door projects: hanging ceiling fans, painting, stenciling, and wallpapering. I especially enjoyed puttering around in the garage ~ it’s a guy thing. It was a great house.
  
Hunting for a new home was sometimes fun but was often frustrating: big house--small yard, big yard--small house, nice living room--small bedrooms, nice everything--too expensive, inexpensive--bad neighborhood, or bad everything. When we think back on all of the homes that we considered purchasing, none compared to the one that we bought. We loved that new house and were proud of it.
  
Some might not have found our new home to be that great, others might have thought it average, while still others might have found it to be an excellent house. But even if others had really liked our house, they wouldn’t have appreciated it like we did. We spent nine years with three boys in a two-bedroom condo with one, just one, bathroom. We were happy there, but we really appreciated the new, bigger space. We thanked God for His provision. We appreciated what we had, and even more so because of what we didn’t have before.

  
Proverbs 17:22 tells us that a merry (joyful) heart is good like a medicine but a broken (crushed) spirit dries the bones. Joyful people are thankful people who like to share their joy. Complaining people are unthankful people who like to share their misery. A thankful person who finds a dollar might excitedly say, “Can you believe it? I found a dollar - way cool!” An unthankful person might sarcastically say, “Look at me. I found  a whole dollar.” Same find - completely different responses. You’ve probably already thought of people who might react in these same ways.