Pure Water and Holy Living

Do you have a favorite brand of purified water? Aquafina, Deer Park, or Dasani? The other day it occurred to me, as my wife and I were walking down the isles of the grocery store, how many different brands of bottled water there are available on the shelves. Everything from name brand distilled and purified, to spring water and H2O2 filtered! Its amazing how much attention is given to the care and treatment of the most necessary element of the human body!

As I took the time to read some of the careful treatment processes of these brands, I learned it is no simple task to ensure a quality product for the valued consumer. Some processes include a 5 to 10 cycle filtration system; ensuring the removal of any and all chlorides, salts, and other substances which may effect the water's taste. In other words, it becomes the mission of the company to ensure the bottled product is an undeniably guranteed pure and true form!

After some time spent reading the labels and even later visiting the websites of some of these brands, it got me to thinking of the subject of holiness. I thought, "what if the child of God were to take the principles of water filtration and apply it to the discipline of holiness for the product of life they have been given by God?" A thoroughly devoted process of removing any and all substances which might effect the state of our heart, mind and soul in the presence of God.

I am reminded of Jesus' words in Matthew 5:48, when he says, "be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." Perfect? How is this even remotely possible given the helplessly depraved state of mankind? What does this mean? The Greek term Jesus uses here for "perfect" denotes a sense of lacking nothing necessary to completeness, finished. In other words, God wants us to be holy, pure, "perfect."

But how many "Christians" walk in such a determined process toward "perfection"? How many leave gaping holes in their spiritual filters allowing the world's contamination to bleed through the cycles of their lives - leaving little if any change in the spiritual content of their soul? How many neglect to remove the sinful influences and content from their homes, devices, and fellowship in an effort to consecrate themselves for the sake of purity for their Lord and Savior? How many take time to monitor and screen the activities and education of their children to lead them in the way of holiness before God?

Some will say, "well isn't that what God's grace is for? Jesus paid the price for my sin, so why should I have to worry so much about what I do?" To this objection I will appeal to the Apostle Paul who had this to say: "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin" (Rom 6:1-7)

Accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior means we have identified ourselves with his death - a death to sin. In other words, we have identified ourselves with the ultimate cause for purification; a determined process to remove sin and its influences from our lives. Jesus is our final filter for sin. He is the guarantee that any and all substances we have failed to remove in our commitment to be holy have been completely removed! That being said, commitment to personal holiness will never save us - it will never be thorough enough for God's approval. However, what holiness does do is prove to God that we have recognized Jesus' word and work as our authority for purity as well as our necessary filter of completion.

I believe God wants His Church to take holiness seriously. I believe He is tired of failed filtration efforts on our parts to remove sin from our lives. When God's children appeal to the grace of Christ to cover their failures without making any effort to live a holy life separate from the world - I believe they tell Him they do not take His work seriously. They just might be surprised to find that His final filter is not applied to them and their final product will be undeniably rejected by God when they stand before Him at the Great Throne of Judgment.

This is Me

Have you ever felt misunderstood as a person? That people have the real you confused with somebody else entirely? For years I've chosen to simply deny this kind of mentality in an effort to subdue the trend of depression I battled years ago in my young adulthood... but recently? Recently I've been somewhat perplexed by this idea that it just might be possible that people often  misunderstand me.

I'm not entirely sure why, but I felt motivated to share some things about myself with the blog-sphere in hopes that it might help you, and others, see me for who I believe I truly am. You may like what you read. You may not. It may confirm your suspicions or it just might dismiss them. Whatever the case - I feel compelled to share my heart.

I grew up in a Christian home. My parents loved me deeply and offered me all they could afford in hopes that I might grow up to be a man of God. When I was a teenager I fell in love with a girl I had hoped would become my future wife. It would seem my plans were heading the right direction. But God soon showed me He had other plans.

To keep it short and sweet, my attempts to rule my own life brought a roller-coaster ride of terrible depression, drugs, alcohol and reckless consequences into my young and sinfully arrogant life. I had a crushing wake up call which nearly cost me my life and freedom. I had no where to go but to turn back to God for answers which led me to the Teen Challenge program. I spent a year in the program which stripped me of most of my freedom; offering me sobriety and an appreciation for little things like clean clothes, food, and toilet paper. God was my strength to get me through.

While I was in the program God changed me. As I began to read the Bible, I quickly came to realize I was not at the center of the universe - but merely a dust-sized particle of severely limited value to serve in willful submission to the Almighty Living God. As I began to live for Him, I found life made a whole lot more sense. This gift of liberty would soon become my passion for others.

After Teen Challenge I went onto Bible College where I received my BA in pastoral ministry. There, I met and fell in love with with my darling wife Kate who has graced me with an absolute treasure of a daughter. The Lord has been so gracious to me in spite of my seemingly endless list of flaws and weaknesses. Truly I am undeserving of all the blessings I have in Him today.

It was through my wife I was introduced to The Salvation Army - this would be the calling that God would place on my life for full-time ministry. The idea of sharing the love of Jesus Christ through practical acts of service became the heartbeat of my life's mission. I see no greater cause in this whole world but to win people into the loving arms of Jesus so they might spend eternity with Him.

As I grow in my love and service to God, so does my love for His word each passing day. I know the Truth of God's Word reveals the path of salvation for all mankind (John 3:16-17). I know that He is loving, patient, faithful and true; not wanting anyone to die but to turn away from sin (2 Pet 3:9). He is also holy, righteous and just - and will judge everyone for what they have done whether good or evil in this life (2 Cor 5:10).

So... eternity is no trivial matter to me; it is a matter of life and death forever. When eternity is on the line - the few short years spent in this world are far too short to play games with the grace of God. For those who live in rebellion against His will, I am compelled by God's great love to call you to repent from sin and turn to Jesus Christ as your loving Savior. He offers you a life of hope and holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit to guide you.

For those of you who do call on Jesus as your Lord, I am driven to remind you to live according to God's holy commands as we will all have to give an account for every thought, word and deed in this fleeting life. We must be careful to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy (1 Pet 1:15) and not serve as a stumbling block to others, causing them to sin (Rom 14:13).

The world and the devil want you to believe that life is all there is and that eternity is just a fantasy. They want you to believe that God's grace has you covered so you can live in sin without any concern of judgment to come in the life after. They want you to believe God's word isn't trustworthy; that its full of flaws and inconsistencies so you might resort to your own code of morality. They want you to believe anything but the Truth of God's Holy Word so you might suffer the fate of eternity alongside the wicked in Hell. But I love you too much to ignore you. You can count on me, whether you like it or not, to speak the Truth of God's Word as He has offered it for mankind - because it has personally set me free from a path leading to sure destruction.

When I warn you of sin, it is only because I love you enough to make you aware of very real danger. Its because God has no concern about your feeling comfortable while wandering about in the cross-hairs of His wrath set on sin. Its not about trying to stroke my own ego or parade around in some kind of self-righteous robe with God-ordained privileges; I am neither perfect nor will ever claim to be. Its about God's desire to see you live life as He intended for you - free from the bondage and misery of sin. Don't be angry... this is me - I am just a messenger.