Everywhere I look I see problems with no solutions. I see problems in the world, in our nation, in our town, in our church…and I don’t see the goodness of God. I feel the weight of the world and I get tired because it seems that it’s up to me to carry that weight and solve these problems. I sense that at any time I will collapse under the weight and what will be left is nothing but the carnage of someone who has given up. Living like this makes it difficult to function normally – whatever normal is.

Why do I feel this way? I feel this way because I choose to feel this way, and this choice is about what is BIG in my life and what is small. When I see problems and people as BIG then I’ve made the choice that God is small. When I fear what people can do more than I sense what God can do then I’ve made the choice that people are greater than God. And that’s a sinful choice.

During the last couple of days I’ve read through Nehemiah; this was a very opportune devotional time for me. Nehemiah faced some huge problems: exiled to a foreign country, his hometown, Jerusalem, was in shambles, God had put an impossible mission in his heart that he refused to share with anybody, all kinds of opposition to the mission, and a seemingly unachievable building project. How was he going to convince the king of a foreign power to let him go do what God wanted him to do? How was he going to pay for it? How was he going to overcome the opposition? How was he going to rally the Israelites to resurrect an old dream? He had questions, lots of questions.

Over and over again I see Nehemiah refocusing on the greatness and majesty of God. At one point when the surrounding powers were upset and resisting the rebuilding of the walls around Jerusalem, Nehemiah stood up and reminded his rag-tag team of non-union construction workers:

“Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” (Nehemiah 4:14)

Remember the Lord! Oh, how often I forget in the middle of feeling overwhelmed that God is greater than everything! In the midst of people dying, overseas terrorist coming closer to home, earthquakes, floods and wildfires taking place everyday in America, people complaining, time running short, more appointments than can fit on my calendar, emergencies, and supper getting colder, I’m trying to remember that God is a majestically great God.

Maybe I’ll just stay in Nehemiah for a while!

Grace & Peace,

Do we have a sense of the direction God is steering our lives? Or, do we just believe things are randomly happing to us that are out of His control? I know we believe that God has a master plan for us individually and corporately, but often our actions say otherwise. You may be scratching your head and saying, “Ok, Scott…what do you mean by that?”

What I’m saying is that we believe one thing but we do the opposite; our actions betray our belief. We say that we believe that God is in charge but then we manipulate, bully, strategize, worry, or whatever to get our way. We act like a stubborn, self-centered two year old throwing a hissy fit because we didn’t get the yellow popsicle!

This has taken me 36 years of following Jesus to understand, and I must confess that I still don’t get it all the time. I believe that this struggle between trusting God and getting my own way is a problem of pride. Arrogance always insists on getting its own way; it is the stubbornness that thinks, “If this doesn’t go my way then what will other people think about me?” Who cares? Really? And pride, well that’s the sin of making me the center of the universe…and a small universe it is when we are at the center of it all.

Scripturally pride is a destroyer:

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18; cf. 18:12; 16:5)

God will not tolerate pride because, at first glance, it violates the principle of love – the greatest commandment.

“…You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27; cf. Matthew 22:37; Mark 10:30-31)

The order of these words is important: first love God, then love others, then self comes last, yes always last. Pride reverses the order; we love ourselves first; we become the priority. It’s all about me and what I want and how I look in other people’s eyes. When this happens destruction is right around the corner.

So the next time God gives you a popsicle, just take the blue one and rejoice with thanksgiving that you got anything at all!

Grace & Peace,

School starts back up this week for our students. This is a time when kids are both excited and nervous. The feeling of excitement comes because they are getting back into the routine of seeing friends and teachers. The emotion of nervousness comes because of new classrooms, teachers, and pressures. There are probably other thoughts and emotions that come to the surface each time a new school year begins, but we don’t have the time to get into that.

This is our time to begin praying in overdrive. According to StopTheShootings.org there have been 387 school shootings since 1992 (this includes college campuses); South Carolina has experienced 6 of these. This statistic is a reminder to pray, pray often and pray hard. Prayer is how we all can make a major difference in the lives of our kids, administrators, staff and teachers. Here are some practical petitions: safety, understanding, patience, a strong faith, a bold witness, and diligence.

You will be provided a list of the names of our students that will simply be a prayer prompter. I would encourage you to put it in a place that gets your attention consistently. Take each of these names to the throne of grace because each of them needs our prayer.

To kick off this school year we have designed a two-part program. The first part will be Saturday, August 16 at 6 pm: Tie Dye Party; bring a cotton t-shirt and during the night you will enjoy tying your shirt, eating hot dogs, dyeing your shirt, and then watching Frozen. What an awesome night planned before you have to start learning what x and y mean! The second part of this weekend will be Sunday, August 17 at 5:30 pm: Back-to-School Pizza Blast; we will be challenged from Scripture, have a special time of prayer, get a free gift, and eat so much pizza that you may be too sick to go to school the next day!

Grace & Peace,

Do we fear man more than God? Fearing people causes us to do many things that we otherwise would not, and should not do. For example, if our fear of man is greater than our fear of God we probably won’t say what needs to be said in a sinful situation. We are afraid of man’s rejection and retaliation. Sometimes parents fall into the trap of fearing a child’s rejection and therefore don’t discipline Scripturally – thus, children are big and God is small. Or, we won’t speak up at work when somebody says something offensive – thus, coworkers are big and God is small. Or, we will not turn the channel when sin is portrayed as glorious and inconsequential – thus, our lust is big and God is small. Or, we won’t speak up against what is pushed as “politically correct” but sinful – thus, public opinion is big and God is small.

Our culture is trying to diminish God in the eyes of everyone and will only succeed if we allow it. In the big picture culture has succeeded in culture, but the danger I see is that the greatness of God is now being sacrificed in the church! God is either being preached as a God who is great in His love, but is limited in His power; or He is being portrayed as an angry God who is out to get us sinners and has no capacity for love and grace so we better do something to make Him happy. Either way He is a small God and people are big.

When we fear man over God it is a matter of us seeing God as small and man as being big. God is a Grand Canyon God who is bigger than all and mightier than all. He is beyond our comprehension, but He can still be known because He came down to our level to be known. It is simply amazing what God can accomplish through believers who have a big view of who He is and a small view of who people are. We see a clear example of this when Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin and said,

“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)

Let me end with the encouraging words of Moses and Yahweh,

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Moses in Deuteronomy 31:8)

“No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous…” (Yahweh to Joshua 1:5-6 [cf. vv. 9, 18])

Grace & Peace,