For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. (1 Peter 2:15- 16) When we live free in Christ, we are compelled to use that freedom for a greater good than our own. That is the premise underlying Peter’s statement about using freedom to do good as servants as opposed to using freedom as a cover-up for evil. When we stop trying to mask our flaws and shortcomings or even our past deeds with the freedom, that is opportunity, and turn those resources into something benefiting society, or most likely our community, as a whole, then we are living the life we were saved to. It should be clear that we should always seek to do the right thing for other people, at our expense of freedom; meaning that if we do everything for our own benefit and selfish reasons we are wasting our freedom and are slave to our own desires and therefore not really free, but living in the false guise of supposed freedom. Don’t discount me here, because I know being truly altruistic is an impossibility, but I also do realize how most of us capitalize on our freedom– with no regard to the freedom of others around us. The problem is that the Apostle Peter writes that we should live free to do good, but every time you do something good, you realize that you have one or more of those self absorbed, talentless, listless parasites who try to take advantage of the fact that you are trying to be good. Because no matter how hard we try to be good and not impose on the freedom of others and give them latitude to be free through a sacrifice of our freedom; that good you do, because it becomes such a pain to have that parasite around, becomes an evil you no longer want to deal with, so you stop doing that good work. Let me be clear here: a parasite is a person who takes the good work you do and either flips it negatively to discredit you; or takes advantage of your good work and drains the life out of you. We all either know a parasite or are the parasite. In fact, some of us became parasites because a parasite flipped our goodness in the first place. Some people out there make your “goodness” something that shouldn’t be shared and so we use our freedom in an evil and very narrowly self-gratifying way as a result. I would like nothing better than to grab those parasites and shake them so hard, in our freedom, until… let me not continue that sentence… Am I right? But whatever I’m thinking is flat out sinful, so don’t waste your time doing that. Instead, I want you to stare those parasites in the eyes and use your freedom to change people’s lives by serving others in a way that those parasites can’t comprehend. Blow their minds and their egos out of the water! The idea is really simple– reach people so that the parasites can’t say or do anything to change the disposition of good work you are doing in other people’s lives through your service to God. This is what our freedom should be used for. Let’s forget utilizing our freedom to vote or to buy McDonalds; rather, let us use it for doing good work in the world and shutting those parasites up from taking away the freedom that Christ gave us in His death. Go and live free by doing good.

And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” – Nehemiah 1:3 Nehemiah, the cupbearer for the King of Assyria, learned of this historical fact from a friend who had come to visit him: his hometown was broken down and destroyed and it’s survivors we’re demoralized at best and barely hanging on to life at worst. Then there is everybody in between barely alive and demoralized; there are those whose lives are ambivalent, where nothing in their lives make any sense– everything they worked for, everything they cared about, all of it just… happened without rhyme or reason and it just doesn’t matter anymore. They should do something, but what? That is where our lives are, most of us anyways. We’re in a place of ambivalence. We’re not really demoralized because we struggled along life this far so we never really had morals to be demoraled, and we’re not dying, except slowly and painfully; but we’re just living without home or a direction to go. We are figuring things out but the things in our lives make little to no sense. We feel like our lives are on fire or have been burned down in the circumstances of life which have felt like a fire raining down on us for a guilt we never understood. The walls we put up to protect us psychological and physically are run down after a long siege. Our minds numb and our bodies battered, we just move like the walking dead, stuck traversing the tattered pattern of our so-called lives. We’re ready for the broke down redemption and we need it in our lives now! Nehemiah gets the news of his homeland and of his people and then he begins to cry, because even men in the Bible cried. Then he prays to God with the passion of a tango, wrestling with his words, but rather shadowing the words and movements of God. He doesn’t stop there because the redemption didn’t start when his prayers ended– he took his prayer and began his redemption project. He made it a life goal, no life mission, to fix the walls and rebuild life at the place he called home. The amazing thing about this historical event was that the supernatural power of God was gifted to an ordinary man, through ordinary circumstances and by a matter of faith and conviction that if he asked for redemption in his broken down situation, he would receive it. He did receive it. Where most people give up and wait to die, Nehemiah asked God for a broke down redemption. Nehemiah knew he was broke and was going for broke. He didn’t know what to expect from God, but he belted out what he had on his heart. God heard and God continues to hear. If you’re broken or you find a situation broken, it’s time to get down and ask for redemption. You may be ordinary, but God’s power is extraordinary and He will empower you to fix the broken things. It’s hard to imagine, I know; but it’s time to make it reality. God is with us, waiting for our broke down prayers so He can give us supernatural redemption. You need to believe it and go and do it now.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. – Matthew 5:16 The Apostle Matthew quotes Jesus as giving this directive right after Jesus makes his famous “beatitudes” speech whereby he turns the ideas and notions of the word, “blessed” on it’s head by pointing out that our understanding of “blessed” is radically incorrect in the eyes of God. In the eyes of God, being blessed are those who are poor in spirit, meek, mourning, hungry, and persecuted. The general idea and theme being that blessed people are people who appear to have so little blessing in their lives that they need to be blessed just to get by. If you give it enough thought, you begin to understand your hellish life, highlighted by a few moments of fleeting happiness, is generally in need of blessing. I mean, we do try to compare ourselves with the sap sitting next to us, not knowing their lives are as miserable as our own. But despite this appearance, Jesus says we are blessed. Not only are we blessed, but we have an obligation to “let our light shine before others.” We may not feel it all the time, but we have a “light” to offer other people. By “light,” I don’t just mean our lackluster faith in God to pull us through a crisis; I mean the story God allows us to tell other people because we’re alive to tell it. But it’s not just the story, it’s the stuff you did, in partnership with God or by divine intervention, to bring your story life. Your survival in life is your work and the epitome of being blessed. You were made specifically for this purpose. You are where you are because your life is and undoubtedly will shine God’s light on other people. Don’t hide your life in shame. Don’t crawl under the rock of pity. You have a bright light in Jesus’ name and it is time for you to let that light shine.

Our society implicitly suggests we, as Americans, go forge the road ahead of us alone in nomadic and independent fashion. As a result, we grit our teeth, clench our fists and start our journey alone, traveling the road less taken because it is our American right of passage. But we find in the midst of this tumultuous journey of ours, whether it’s intellectual, physical or spiritual, there is something we just can’t grasp: why do we go about it alone? I’ve gone twenty-some odd years journeying alone and found the journey manageable. However, the victories are not that sweet and the defeats are more bitter than advertised. I’m sure most of you reading realize this. The problem with forging your own is not the adversity, it is the loneliness! There is no shared moments of victory. Likewise, there is a lack of comfort in suffering.

“Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet” (Amos 3:3 ESV) Here’s a bit of wisdom from a prophet: you can’t journey with others if you’re not planning on journeying with them! That’s just our problem too, we’d rather be gunslingers on our own and we want to celebrate and sulk with others but only when we want to and when it’s convenient for us. But it’s very clear– if you’re not on the same page, then you won’t be going with anybody. This much is understandably simple to understand. Our real problem is walking with God, who is invisible and seemingly careless of what happens in the world. I mean, how can we really commit to walking with God if He never really talks to us about meeting somewhere and journeying together? That is the argument we make anyways. In this passage God accuses Israel of making an agreement with Him to go somewhere with Him, in fidelity, and then ditching Him without turning back. God could make the same accusation against us, can’t He? He could make this accusation on us every single day. He waits for us at the cross of Jesus, to go with us to the place we were created for; but we’re too busy, too preoccupied, too self-righteous to even walk with God, who is the epitome of everything good and beautiful in the world. When we became Christian, if we made that choice, we agreed to meet God at the cross of Jesus, to go with Him, as we are, to where He always wanted us. It was an opportunity to share life with somebody who cares more than we ever would know. Then we neglect our responsibility in meeting with Him where we agreed and struggle through victories alone and wallow in our defeats by ourselves. It doesn’t have to be this way. I want us to remember that every new day is a new journey where we constantly have the opportunity to come back and meet with God to walk with Him, starting at the cross of His Son, Jesus, and take life together. We don’t have to be perfect. Nor do we have to be put together. All we have to do is go to the agreed meeting place and set our hearts on going with God. Nothing more is expected and nothing less is required. This is the friendship we are offered. It would behoove us not to embrace it fully and walk with somebody offering us opportunity in our vulnerability. Jesus is that somebody, and he is offering a fulfilling journey of power and mercy if you would meet with him and not forget to journey together. It’s time to go and keep your end of the agreement.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV) Embrace it, live it, and move on from it– weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities (all stressors in life that make you feel like quitting, giving up and dying) are supposed to become the evidence you need to know that you are walking with God. The Apostle Paul reminds us that life isn’t easy, nor was it meant to be. In fact, if his life is an example of what the Christian life would look like, we would probably second guess our decisions to follow Christ in the first place. Sounds counterintuitive? That’s because it is. Why in the world would we need to be shown our weaknesses in order to embrace God’s strength and mercy? Simply, without having weak spots and emptiness, there would be no room for God to rest in our lives. Some of us can’t embrace that. I have a hard time embracing that. I want control. I want to be impervious. I want to be a god. Every single time things start to go well for me in one area, another area completely tanks! Glancing at my circumstances and situations it almost feels as if calamity follows good news in such a way that the positive is muted. I think every major positive life experience was either followed by or tied with a catastrophic life event. As a result, I have learned not to celebrate victories, nor mourn losses and to grip any semblance of control I have in my life even tighter so that the only god dictating my journey is myself. Tell me that we don’t dream of being gods, in control of our destinies, not weakened by anything? This truth completely sucks if you want to live in Pleasantville; but if you live in the world the rest of us live, where things in your life go wrong as others go awry, then you have reason to hope and receive the fullness of rest in God. An overwhelming circumstance with one calamity following another is not designed to kill you. Nor is it designed to ruin you. It is designed so that even in your bad times and horrible days, you can experience the grace, love and power of God– the same grace, love an power you experience on your good days an in your better circumstances. The idea of being content here is not one of subtle happiness, it is an expectation of accepting things as they are and understanding that there is something greater than the immediate pain and suffering bad circumstances present and embracing them as opportunities for you to taste the greater things God prepared for us in Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as not good enough. You are good enough and you were chosen for exactly this. Nobody else could experience God like you will and have in your circumstances. Embrace your weakness and watch the power of God make your life perfect before you.

Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” (Joshua 3:5 ESV) We need to expect tomorrow today. What does that mean? It means that we need to stop saying “one day…” or “some day…”; but really say, “on this day…” or “today…” You see the hope for your life doesn’t come tomorrow, it is here today. Just imagine the things you’re missing out on that God is doing in your life today because you were so preoccupied with tomorrow. We fail to see the wonders of God in our lives right now thinking He only does work in our lives tomorrow, but He is working now and if we were to consecrate ourselves, we would see it. In the passage we focus on today, we find the Israelites forty years into their travels in the wilderness and faced again with crossing a body of water. This time they are on the banks of the Jordan River, west of Jericho. Joshua, their new leader, has been furiously praying to God about what comes next now that Moses is dead; and God says to Joshua “you’re conquering that city on the other side of the river and we’re going to march the army right through the river to conquer it. God was already at work amongst the Israelites. He was giving them instruction. He was providing them with guidance. God was their source of hope beginning on that day. God did not wait until the next day to conquer on behalf of the Israelites; He had already conquered when He revealed to Joshua the vision of a land filled with milk and honey. The act of consecration, that is praying and meditating is the beginning of God’s work unfolding specifically for you in your life. The reason tomorrow begins today is because on this day you see the vision for your life as you begin the process of meeting with God to expect Him to do more in your life. When we expect tomorrow today, we prepare our hearts for the wonder of tomorrow. I know that sounds too good to be true, but how else can you find evidence of God if you’re not looking for it today? You can’t even look forward to a tomorrow without expecting God today. So I challenge you to expect God now and consecrate yourself today for a wondrous thing you’ll witness tomorrow.

It’s the most annoying thing in the world: when you hate people because they are always there trying to prove you wrong or as if they are better than you. But you know for a fact that they talk a great game but 9 out of 10 their game is a front. Then in that sliver of a moment, they find a vulnerability and expose it like they did you a favor, where you failed to do good because you were tired. They do nothing 9 out of 10 times and the one time it was convenient for them, they get around to it before you do and they are the hero. It happens at the office, at church, amongst friends and even family. Your good work gets undermined by the jerk face fake and it’s annoying because everybody thinks it was the person you hate the most in the moment. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden. – 1 Timothy 5:25 What happens when we hit this jadedness is simple: we stop caring for other people and look out for number one until it becomes convenient to help out and do good for others or when we only bother to do good when it is advantageous for us or our interests. I know, it’s supremely Christlike to only do good when it’s convenient (no, really, its anti-Christ like). In fact some of you are saying to yourselves, “this is the exact reason I don’t come to church or believe in organized religion because Christians only seem to do good when it’s convenient otherwise they turn a blind eye to doing anything altruistically motivated!” Don’t allow them to be your measuring stick! Screw those fake, hypocritical, impiously pious religious people– you and I need to do good all the time especially more so when it is not convenient for us to do so because that’s what Christ did. It doesn’t matter if nobody sees it because it wasn’t meant for people to see the good work you do. I know a little recognition helps you feel motivated and confident, but you’re ego is huge anyways, you don’t need your mom to tell you that you’re doing a great job. You just keep doing good regardless of who is watching or what other fool is lurking. I want to encourage you today to be inconspicuously good. I want you to be less concerned about who will see and what reward you will get and just go out there and do something good because it is in your heart to do it. No pretense, no show, no fakeness. If you think about the ultimate good work, which was Jesus, without blemish, becoming the sacrificial lamb to carry the burden of all human sin and die on a cross like a criminal on the side of a large highway, then you understand that his good work was largely inconspicuous at the time. Except, it wasn’t inconspicuous, it couldn’t remain hidden; Christ’s good work exploded into a world changing movement that we are a part of. We need to continue His good work here and now. Go and be good, there’s nothing inconspicuous about it.

I’m going to have to admit to all of you that the last few weeks of my life have been better than great and there is so much to rejoice about. In fact, there is so much “good” right now that I have a hard time finding things to be dissatisfied with. My closest friend frequently tells me, “What, you want me to play the world’s smallest violin for you Jon’than? The pigeons won’t get out of your way, that’s your biggest complaint?” I’m not bragging, I’m depicting my current disposition versus my longing to moan and groan about life. It’s like I’m looking for reasons not to be content and joyful for myself. It’s as if human nature is predisposed to be dissatisfied with life as we know it and crave something else. This is the most pathetic plight of will within us– we complain because we can, not because we earned a right to do so. Rejoice always… – 1 Thessalonians 5:16 Two words today: “rejoice always.” The life significance of these two words are immeasurable. The reason why is simple– it is the will of God for your life. He wants you to be satisfied and filled in a state of happiness and felicity all the time. This is the kind of God we believe in; He commands us to rejoice always. The problem with rejoicing always is obvious– we are prone to complaining in our natures. The reason we are prone to complaining is not our fault either. It’s everybody else around us that takes away from our “rejoicing.” Yes, what I’m saying is that all of us can point to a major buzz kill that takes our rejoicing away from us. We would probably be better off following God’s command to rejoice always if we would pray constantly that these major buzz kills would die from our lives. Am I right? But since that’s ethically wrong, coming from the mouth of a morally misguided pastor; here’s a prescription to make your “major buzz kills”, that take away from your rejoicing always, become sources of joy and thanksgiving: “admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14 ESV) You can rejoice all the time if you start implementing change within the lives of people who take away your joy on a regular basis. Wayne Dyer once wrote, “you can’t always control what goes on outside, but you can control your inside.” Admonishing, encouraging, helping and being patient with the very people who cause you joyful failures changes your unpleasant disposition of complaint to one of expectant thankfulness. You control how you receive people who take joy away from your life. You should know that you are in control of rejoicing in how you receive people who try to take your joy. Change your attitude toward them and they will become a source of joy for you always.

Three questions for us today: first, what is the “ministry you have received from God?”; secondly, what are you doing with your life now?; third, how will you fulfill your lifelong calling going into the future? I ask these questions because there are so many of us who get lost on our own life journeys and can’t seem to find sustained direction towards an end; and also because sometimes we get so wrapped up in other people’s journeys that we forget we have our own life to live. If you’re hotly pursuing your sweet spot in life, continue to pursue it until your very last breath as hard as you can and as faithfully as humanly possible. That is the will of God for your life and you shouldn’t question it. Give thanks to God for all the lumps, bumps, and bruises you receive on the way and anticipate the joy that comes from your experience. I am sure in your petitions and prayers of thanks to God, He will open a door for your continued growth and work in Him. Back to the rest of us now. And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” (Colossians 4:17 ESV) I don’t know who Archippus is exactly, but one thing is certain– he was called for a specific ministry. When I say “ministry” I am not talking about church or pastorships or missionary endeavors. When I say “ministry” I am talking about “life purpose.” We all have something we must do in life where, once completed, we can die fulfilled and in peace. Therefore, what I see as the Apostle Paul’s encouragement to Archippus is intended for all of us who understand that life in God is supposed to be greater than the fulfillment of life itself. When Jesus saved us on the cross, we were imparted with “ministries” once hidden away with Christ– that is to say because God places a premium on raising you up to be saved, our duty in life is greater than what we imagined our lives to be before we chose Christ as our savior. God’s ministry for our lives entails that we see our lives for a purpose greater than our own. If the scope you have for your “life purpose” can be accomplished on your own accord, you are not stepping into your “ministry.” Tangibly speaking, I am encouraging you to set the bar higher and your goals bigger, and your risks steeper because the burden God has us to carry in life is that much greater and our reward is already guaranteed. So I ask that we reflect on the three questions I worked out in the beginning of this quiet time today and everyday of our lives. In asking ourselves these questions, my hope is that we step into our ministries in life and fulfill what God has given us specifically. If your calling in life is to be a teacher, teach like every word you say has eternal consequence. If your ministry in life is to be an administrator, administer like God is administering your own life. If it is to be a stay at home mom, then be the best PTA parent in the world because you may be the only mother to your kids’ friends. I can go on and on, but the bottom line is the same for every example i give– do it with God in mind. In working towards it and moving towards it, the peace of God will begin to fill you and the glory of Jesus’ work in His salvation for us will alter the fabric of our spheres of life. It’s time we start to fulfill what we received.

In probably what amounts to the longest conversation I have ever had with my brother related to religion and faith; we hotly debated the usage and evolution of mythological stories in the development of personal and corporate faith structures in large religious settings and the dangers thereof. I know, football season and election season is coming up and the Kwon clan is frivolously debating eternities, as opposed to realities. The conclusion we arrived at is simple: conspiracy theories are just an illusion of greener grasses not readily available on any side of any fence. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8 ESV) Sometimes, we, as Christians, would find ourselves buying into a false mythology of what is and what isn’t our faith and religion over the reality of testimony of how our religion is simply out of comfort or condemnation. But have we thought about how this functionally operates in our lives? It operates implicitly under our feelings of envy and jealousy. We get envious of what our lives aren’t and want what seems to be the lives we want that other people embody and then train ourselves to accept moralisms and mythological half-truths as a carrot we use to modify our behavior. Then, as if we couldn’t find a scapegoat for our failures, we blame ourselves and say that the reason our lives fail to live up to the mythological blessings we promised ourselves is because the religion we so adhere to is a lie. Unfortunately it’s not a lie, we were just captivated by a facade of deceit, shrouded in what appeared to be our faith. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not arguing against religious activity. I am arguing against religious activity devoid of the fundamental truth of our Christ– that is, religious activity failing to be rooted in who Christ was, is and will be for us in our salvation. All moralisms in religion paint non-existent green pastures for us to chase but never catch. It is the biggest myth still being believed by all people of all nations, that somehow we would overcome our shortcomings and receive blessing beyond our wildest imaginations; and likewise, be cursed beyond our ability to deal when we fail. Christ offers none of these ethereal myths to us. He does not hide reality and allow us to fail by believing that there was something we could do to change the circumstances of our lives. He says that our reality is one of judgment, condemnation and death, but he stands judged on our behalf and was condemned for us and died to give us life. He lives on to give us hope for a future. How is that for a conspiracy theory– a scandal of mythological proportions? I want to challenge us today to give up our mythological religious activities and root ourselves in the being of Christ. Can we do that or is the conspiracy theory of “me versus the world” much more soothing to your soul?