Giving or Grace?

Tis the season! To buy, give, enjoy family, love, be selfless, serve, and the list goes on. Every year Christmas comes around and everywhere you look there is opportunity to give. Whether it be gifts for family members, dropping change in the Salvation Army bucket, or lending a hand at the local Soup Kitchen for some reason opportunities to give seam to bombard us this time of year. That is why this is my favorite time of year! There is so much joy in giving, so much affection and love, it humbles people and brings them together but can the spirit of giving become to preeminent in our culture? Can giving become a mask or facade fogging the truth of this season? 
For Christians giving during this season is often a symbol for the gifts that were brought to the baby Jesus by the Shepherds and Wise men at his birth. Often the story of this marvelous event is the center of this holiday season for many Christians. We recall the wondrous story and honor and praise our Savior for coming to earth to save us, but is the core of this story giving? Is that what is meant for us to grasp hold and never let go of? Is that the truth of scripture as we read this story in the Gospels? I would venture to say ABSOLUTELY NOT! 

So then if the core of this story, the truth of these scriptures, for us, is not giving and love what is it? GRACE! 

Isaiah 9:6 - “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.”

We have got it all wrong! the truth of this season is not, for us, giving it is receiving. It is realizing that the Son of God was born in flesh to come and save his people. To die on the cross for the atonement of sin. It was Him that came to give and it is us who must receive and then live in light of that gift. Our God has given us THE greatest gift ever given and not because of who we are, not because of what we have done, and certainly not because we have EVER deserved it. It is only by His grace that we can breath, it is only by His grace that we can live, and it is only by His grace that we are saved! Without His son, His gift, we could do nothing!

So this season, and always, cling tight to the truth of His grace! Never lose sight of the reality of His son Jesus and his birth, death, and resurrection. When we do this, when this is our focus, our lives will be full of joy and giving. Why? because we see all that He has done for us by His grace and it humbles us thus realizing that our life is not our own. And when we realize that we ourselves will ,with the help of Holy Spirit, give everything to Him - which begins to make us more like Him - thus giving us a true heart of giving. A heart of giving that is based on and steeped in the realization of grace, not in or on our own worth or righteousness.  

So give to all this season but do it in the realization of our Savior and His grace!

To Live?

Every single day that I live I wake up and at some point that day I have this thought run through my mind and it goes something like this "I really think that one day, hopefully tomorrow,  I will go to a remote jungle or a hostile country and live there and preach the Gospel and Die for the Gospel." This thought comes in very many forms and is initiated by many things but it is one I have very often. for some reason though this week it has been more prevalent and has come into conversation multiple times.


The other day it became extremely strong as I was reading scripture. I am currently in the middle of preaching through the book of Philippians while also memorizing it and just yesterday I came across Philippians 1:21 which says "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." I have read this passage many times over in the course of my life but I had never seen it in the light I did yesterday. I began to break this verse down in my mind and while doing so I started with what I knew which was the latter part of the verse. According to scripture when we die we meet Christ. We see him in all of his glory and majesty and it is something so beautiful and magnificent there are no words to describe the feeling and  affections that will be present in that moment. Any mature Christian who understands the Gospel knows this and should look forward to this with such yearning and desire for it that would lead us to make the statement Paul makes here in Philippians saying "to die is gain." But then I began to look at the beginning part of this verse and was deeply perplexed by Paul's placement of words.


"For me to live is Christ" This is the statement that Paul first uses in this verse. most of us would look at this and go "What Paul is saying is that when I am living it must be for Christ" that is a true statement but what I had come to see is that we say this often but it never penetrates and explodes in our soul to the point that we live it. This lead me to question what is "To live"? 


Some would say that to live is to become famous, or to have money, or to find love! to even a less extreme most common "Christian", and non-christian,  people would say that to live is to have a family and raise good children, or have friends, or comfort, or security. Then I thought of how "Christians" often list priorities as 1. God, 2. Family, 3. Others, and last Me. Some people might even be as extreme to say that "All I need in life is the essentials" so what are those? Well they would be my needs! Then what is a need? The automatic response would be Food, Water, and Shelter. This is a normal human response it is what we must have to live! But what is the "Need" of a Christian (A true Christian)? I am convinced that what paul is saying and the Conclusion is JESUS!


I 100% believe that what Paul is saying, as he is inspired by the sovereign Holy Spirit, is that "To Live" which means my life and my purpose and everything I own and need is CHRIST! That whether I have food, shelter, or water is of no thought to me because even without any of those "Essential life giving needs" there is only one who gives life and has truly given me life and that is Christ. Therefore none of those are anything to me and I could do without for I know I have Christ and in knowing that I MUST live in light of that!


As I broke that down and began to see all of this unfold in my heart and soul it lit this passion that I explained in the beginning which was to go to a hostile country or tribe and every day live in fear of death and in fear of never seeing my loved ones again why? Not so I can say I was that guy who suffered for Christ or so people may one day hear a story about me that causes an emotional experience that brings them to the alter but rather because I realized if I am to live it must be for Christ. And if I am called to proclaim the Gospel and salvation comes by hearing the Word of God and there are hostile tribes in the world that have not heard the Word of God then that is where I want to be.


Some may read this and take this blog as if I am talking about suffering but while there are tones of suffering weaved throughout this blog that is not my big idea. What my big idea is, is a simple question and that is - what is your definition of "To Live"? Because what my heart screams is that we are living for ourselves. We live to fill our "Needs", most of which are wants, and we live to comfort ourselves and so much energy and work go into ourselves while we ignore scripture as it yells in our souls through a large blow horn "NO! YOUR LIFE IS NOT YOUR OWN IT IS CHRIST'S" and it bounces around throughout our souls echoing in so many different ways whether it be saying "YOU DON'T NEED A BIGGER HOUSE!" or "YOU DON'T NEED A RELATIONSHIP!" in each of our lives it is different and it is constant and it changes how it manifests but WE MUST NOT IGNORE IT!!!! and we MUST submit to it.

The Woes of Nothing

I recently listened to a message by an amazing guy and a great friend Jake Gamble. I was minding my own business and figured I would listen to a podcast while just sitting in my room studying for a grueling finals week but that would soon come to a halt. Jake preached out of 1 Corinthians 3:5-9. Jake has a way of captivating anyone who listens to him whether that be in a non-sense conversation or through the exposition of scripture when you here him you can’t help but give your undivided attention to what he is saying, that is what happened as I set aside my studies to listen to his podcast. 

 He did an amazing job, as always, but after the podcast had ended there was one point  from his message that I just could not escape, that is Who I am vs. What I am. See in this passage Paul addresses the Corinthian church and their issues with choosing sides and leaders to follow which are split between himself and Apollos. In verse 5-7 of this passage Paul says, 

“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I (Paul) planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth .”

Jake begins by explaining the difference between who we are and what we are. See Paul in verse 5 does not say “Who then is Apollos? Who is Paul?” that is an obvious answer. Who we are can be explained by our actions and our looks and personality but Paul uses the word “What” rather than “Who” when describing themselves. We have all heard someone in some facet or another say “Do you know who I am?” while suggesting that they are someone great or worth respecting because of their name or abilities or reputation. But here Paul then goes on to explain in verse 7 “What” both him and Apollos are “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything”  He says neither of them are anything which means they are NOTHING. Why? because of verse 7b God who is sovereign is EVERYTHING.

Jake shows that we are not to live our lives for Christ in a way to show who we are because who we are is incomplete, sinful, perverse, depraved humans God does not change the reality of the fall and if we live our lives trying to portray this good, perfect person with no problems so that everyone will notice us as Christians we will fail. So how then can we display and reflect Christ in a depraved world? by showing What we are, and that is NOTHING!! If we show that we are nothing in comparison to the almighty, Holy, Majestic God and lead a life of humility and servanthood while taking none of the credit but giving it to God not only will our lives change but the lives of those around us will be impacted.

So after contemplating this message from scripture and reflecting on my life I would say I live my life as nothing. My one passion and goal is to always make Christ look great, though it has not always been that way, and my self look as little as possible so I then ask myself the question “Why do I not feel like I am making christ look like everything and myself as nothing?” I do not think it is because I still try and live Who I am rather than What I am but it is due to my intentions on being Nothing!!

See to often I aim to make Christ look great, because my affection and desire for him wants that to reign true in every circumstance in my life, but that is not all. Rooted in my desire to look like nothing is my desire to be noticed, not in the same facet as living under “Who I am” but rather it is to make myself look humble or more spiritual than others. My INTENTIONS are what is off!! I think most mature Christians do not fall into the problem of trying to live perfect, because any mature Christian who has truly been growing and grounded in the Word of God would understand this, but they do fall into the trap of selfish and underlying intentions when trying to make Christ look like Everything.

When i realized this was something that has been going on inside of me it shed light on a lot of other problems that I have been dealing with because they all stemmed from this base. 

My cry and my prayer is that In making much of Christ I would not try and receive any of the credit, but more than that my intentions would not be to please others or to make myself feel good or better, but to would whole heartedly seek to be rooted in God’s Word and truth and would ultimately make Him EVERYTHING and myself nothing without any stipulations, achievements, goals, or self exaltations in mind.

Privileged and Unworthy

As many of you know I am a second year student at Zion Bible College in Massachusetts and I am in a program called "Catalyst" it is a two year program which marries the idea of hands on ministry with classroom study. This program, only a few years old, has given me an opportunity to connect and grow close to a group of about 10 individuals that I am honored to be in this program with. Seeing how it is a small group we have gotten to know each other and grow together over these past few years but I cannot convey to you the glorification of God that takes part inside of our relationships with one another! WOW!


Now that you can see my heart for this group you may be able to more fully understand where I am coming from in this Blogg. This year God has been doing a work in me much greater than I can ever covey and that I could ever deserve and he has done a lot of this in my life through the very people who are in this program. This semester we all took a class together called Homiletics it is the "Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching." In this class we have an opportunity to throughout the semester present and speak 3 different messages in class, and man were they good.


But this last week i had the privilege to speak first in the long series of sermons in class that would be our final sermons conveyed to the class. This was an honor! so as I began to find my passage (2 Corinthians 4:1-6) and to study it God began to do something in my life that I have never experienced.


I began to write the sermon the night before (due to finding out i was preaching the day before) and I was so burdened by the spirit it was unbelievable. In this passage of scripture Paul himself is writing to the Corinthian church and is in a way defending his ministry and calling the Corinthian church to not focus on an "experiential" or "attractive" Gospel message, as they were so prone to do, but to speak, live, and attract Truth!! This Truth may not look like we would think or like it to look it may be filled with suffering, endurance, unpleasant remarks and attacks from others but Truth still must be taught. But the main point I emphasized in this message was that we cannot as ministers of the Gospel, whether vocationally or not, Water down or de emphasize the Gospel for the sake of pleasing people and winning soles!Why? you may ask. Well because we DO NOT win soles Christ does !!


See the Corinthian church and the people whom the Corinthian church was praising for their ministries (the heretics) were accusing Paul of doing this very thing, that is watering down the gospel. Why would they say this? well because they were not seeing the outbursts of tongues and the shaking of bodies and the "experiential" sermons and responses that these other men were showing when they came to speak (Sound familiar?)


So they are accusing Paul of being Un-Legit when in fact the very people they were praising were Un-Legit because they were crafting and forming these experiences by their own doings so that they could receive praise not so God could be praised! These men were pleasing people by preaching a false Gospel and it was only to feed their own pride!!!


This was my main point and I was so burdened by this point myself when grappling with this text because I could see the possibility of that happening in my own life!! I WAS TERRIFIED!! My pride is my biggest struggle and I know that even in the happenings of my expositions and presentations of my sermons in the class in the past that my pride was fed!! Why? not because I thought I was better than anyone else but because I knew that I excelled in speaking. I knew that my personality would not allow me to exposit a text for a class that had to be under a mere 7 min and get up there and just give a weak, typical, topical message. Not to include the fact that my classmates were giving me praise!


So comes Thursday morning and it is time for me to present my plea from scripture to my classmates to not become like these people the Corinthian church so flippantly followed. I step up in confidence and all of a sudden i become nervous beyond belief!! This has never happened! I do NOT get nervous in front of crowds in fact it is probably where I shine the most! So I struggle through my sermon never making eye contact and shacking the whole time while gripping the sides of the pulpit.


Finally I look up after I finish stumbling over my words as my bottom lip was quivering due to nerves and I see some people crying and other speechless when asked to give feedback. I then begin to question why this is happening because I know I SUCKED!!


I left class racking my brain on how this could happen? I understood how the message could hit them but not why I became so nervous. And then it hit me in the middle of my drive to the other side of campus. It was as if the Holy Spirit opened my understanding to why this all occurred. I realized that these very people the the Corinthian church exalted i was at risk of becoming possibly sooner than I thought. I realized that that message was a reality check for me that I cannot rely on my own gifts and talents and that the very idea of me even having the opportunity to speak that message I am unworthy of. It was as if God himself said "See Chase I do not need your talent or abilities that i have given you to allow my work to be done" I could see that he moved aside from my horrific effort in class and he touched lives through his word. Then again he spoke (not for real but through his spirit in me) and said "Trust me I will use these talents and Gifts for my Glory but you better believe the second Pride gets in my way those are going out the window" and I responded "Ok".


Though I knew all of these things before I went through this experience and that this had not been my first encounter with this struggle it happened at a pivotal point in my life. As I have been growing and deepening in my relationship and understanding of Christ I could have easily become arrogant, prideful, and self-sufficient. I could have relied on my own understanding and gifts and not on the all powerful, all knowing, sovereign God. This was key for me to learn and experience before I step out off of this training ground at school into some type of ministry.


I leave you with these words Spoken by Jonathan Edwards, May we apply it and shine it in and through our lives.


"He that has doctrinal knowledge only, without affection, has no business in True Religion"