What Makes People Beautiful to God?
More time and money has been spent trying to find the true expression of beauty in recent years than just about any other culture in history. At one time the ancient Greeks vigorously chased this notion of beauty, but their search would be tepid in comparison to today in our image-oriented world. Everywhere you look there seems to be an obsession that is dominated with the pursuit of a beautiful image. It is virtually everything you see in magazines, advertising, stores, clothing, homes, movies and more. Almost everything we see seems to have been designed with some sort of search for an appealing image in mind. After all, who is attracted to ugly things? So, it seems that much of the world is driven by some unknown, hidden standard of beauty or appearance. And many people spend their lives looking for it for themselves.The problem with seeking this beautiful image for ourselves and our world is that we never really seem to obtain it. We don't seem to be able to define beauty. The world's definition is always changing to something different at a moment's notice. As a result, multitudes of people feel they will never arrive at this illusive standard of beauty, whatever it is, no matter what has been given up for it. Some even see themselves as ugly and end up with low self-esteem, depression or worse. Untold millions of people try to medicate themselves because they feel they cannot arrive at some standard of beauty and perfection they have come to believe is important.
On this Father's Day weekend, it is a good idea to stop and reflect about fatherhood and how that institution has shaped our lives and society for good or bad. For some people Father's Day evokes a warm feeling toward their fathers as someone that was a key person in our lives for the good. For others, Father's Day may be an emotionally charged day full of conflicting and often painful memories. Over the course of my ministry, I have talked with 100's of people about the issues and challenges in their lives. This experience has led me to see that it is almost impossible to have a good start in life without a healthy relationship with your father. The vast majority of broken and hurting people I have talked to over the years often had serious issues with their fathers. Perhaps that explains why the majority of men and women in prison today grew up without a father or had a bad relationship with the one they had.
We stop on this Memorial Day weekend to give thanks for all those who have served our nation to protect our freedoms and the way of life we have here in America. We especially give thanks for those who died for us and ended their journey on a battlefield, often thousands of miles from home, never to enjoy the life that we sometimes take for granted. As is often said, "Freedom is never free." But one of the things that makes Memorial Day memorable is that the Lord gives us the ability to remember. Memory is the one thing that allows us to look back and to gain perspective and value from the past. If we didn't remember, learn from, enjoy or honor the past, life would be meaningless. If we didn't remember those who have gone before us and if cemeteries meant nothing, then our lives would have no purpose. It is only when we remember and honor the past that life becomes eternal and meaningful as it was intended by the Lord. It is only when we remember the past that we truly value our military, our families and those who have gone before us to create the life we have today.
One of the best ways to understand what is spiritually going on today in the professing Church world is to look at what is happening to Christian worship services. It is no understatement to say that modern worship services have changed dramatically. There are many services that tend to increasingly have less and less to do with the Lord and more and more to do with our culture. If you go to some of our modern, trendy worship services today you may be surprised at what is going on in there. It is not uncommon to be offered ear plugs as you enter the worship center because the music is so loud. Over the last year or so I have personally talked with several people that have had this experience. As a result, it appears that ear plug worship is slowly becoming common place in the church world and not just some fringe experience. This is leading some people to feel like they are at a rock concert being entertained, instead of being led into the presence of the Lord. Sadly, the noise in these services can be so loud that you not only need ear plugs, but you can't hear yourself sing or even think at times.
After 35 years of pastoral ministry it has become abundantly clear to me that human nature and the Church world are profoundly confused about the issue of God's grace. It is surprising to see how many people think our behavior, beliefs and good works are going to gain us a place in heaven one day. There seems to be a growing proliferation of these human works based beliefs, sects and cults growing all around us. As a result, the number of people that clearly understand that God's love and salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ is a wonderful gift of pure grace alone is a small remnant of people today.
Happy Resurrection!!! May this be your BEST Easter/First Fruits ever. It is a glorious thing to know that life is eternal, and that death is forever gone for the redeemed. We never need to fear or worry as we drive by that neighborhood cemetery that our lives will end there. We don't have to be troubled when we see a loved one or friend lying in a casket at a funeral. No, the Lord has a plan and future for His people that are beyond words. Our lives never really begin or have any meaning until we start to understand that glorious truth and hope for our lives.
Happy Palm Sunday to everyone! Palm Sunday has traditionally marked the beginning of what is referred to as "Holy Week," a week that starts on Palm Sunday and culminates on Easter/First Fruits Sunday. This single week is an amazing replay of the creation story in Genesis 1. Our Lord started from a place of rest, before He created the world, and ended up resting after the incredible work of creation was completed. In a similar way, our Lord entered Jerusalem resting on a donkey, a sign that He came to bring peace and rest to our lives and ended by finishing His work on the cross and rising again to confirm these truths. It is just an amazing story of how wonderfully the Lord connects creation and redemption together into one seamless and beautiful narrative of His love.
If someone was to ask you how you know God exists what would you say? There are many things that could be said to answer such a profound and important question like that. However, the greatest way to know the answer to that question is to see God's hand fulfilling His prophetic promises to His people before the world. In other words, when God predicts that something will happen, sometimes thousands of years beforehand, and it finally comes to pass in precise detail before our eyes, we need to take notice. To that end, there are literally 100's of such Divine promises in the Bible that have been and/or are currently being fulfilled before our very eyes. An example of this principle can best be seen in the prophetic prediction and promise made by the Lord Jesus that He would rise again on the 3rd day after His crucifixion. In passages like Matthew 16:21 we hear,
Did you ever have a moment when you wondered if life was worth living? Most of us have probably had such days. They often come after we face great losses, pain, trials or certain problems that make life seem overwhelming at times. Anyone who has lost a loved one or experienced depression and grief surely understands these issues. During such seasons it can even feel like life is too much to handle or face each day. All those feelings and experiences are pretty typical for everyone now and then. It would be nice if life was just "fun" all the time, but these painful realities have a way of reminding us that we live in a fallen world that needs the love of God and His gracious redemption for us in the Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the most amazing things in life is the world's fascination and obsession with love. It really doesn't make much sense if you look at it objectively. People do all kinds of crazy things for love, yet most have no idea what love is all about. Just imagine some of the crazy, romantic things that will be done this Valentine's Day. People will be buying flowers that last but a few days and writing out cards with often saccharine sentiments that might embarrass many. Once again, all of this is done for something no one can really define or easily understand. And yet, when you stop and think about it most of the things done in life are motivated and explained by love. So, what's love all about?
Almost everyone in America now knows the face of the new Congresswoman pictured here as that of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY 14th District). Rep. Ocasio-Cortez has identified herself with socialist parties in this nation, even though she ran as a democratic. There is not a single news cycle today where there isn't some story about her. She is young, attractive, articulate and often well dressed in expensive clothes. In a recent interview she was wearing designer clothes that cost an estimated $3500. Her shoes alone cost $600. She looks like the face of something new, fresh and wonderful. The public can't seem to get enough of her, or at least that is what we are told by the media. More than a few people see her zeal and energy to be part of the needed answers for the challenges we face in America. Some might even think of her as a "savior" that could help America find a new way forward in a day of political conflict, division and gridlock.
One of the hardest parts of life is watching people we know and love die from a terrible disease., Among the top diseases on that list is cancer. About 1 in 6 people will die from cancer, and over 9.6 million people died from it in 2018. Cancer can be a cruel disease. It leaves victims and their families devastated through a series of terrible treatments that range from chemotherapy to radiation and surgery. As a pastor, I have watched many people die from this dreaded disease and done their funerals. I personally know how cancer has destroyed the lives of many wonderful people and their loved ones. Cancer is truly like a wasting plague and has been a terrible scourge to humanity. Just look at the cancer cell pictured in this article and imagine that cell multiplying and destroying your body. Cancer's cost to our world is beyond words.
Most people today have lost the fact that God cries. Somewhere in all our wrong ideas about God, we have lost the idea that our tears and sadness come from being made in God's image according to Genesis 1:26-27. We feel things deeply inside of us because God did first. Our Lord Jesus Christ felt the pain of the cross before the world was created when He knew what would have to be done to redeem the world from its sin. Our Lord came into this fallen world and personally saw and experienced what sin and death had done to everyone. Our Lord cried when He heard the news of Lazarus's death and saw the pain of His dear friends in John 11:33-35,
One of the fascinating things that just happened is the firestorm over the recent Gillette razor commercial that aired nationally, in anticipation of a possible Super Bowl ad. Did you see it or hear about it? The commercial was not just trying to sell Gillette razors to men, but was yet another attempt by our culture to not only define masculinity, but reject a toxic version of it. So it now appears that even a growing number of advertisers are joining the culture wars and trying to define what it is to be a real man or a real woman. And yet, in our increasingly genderless world, it is surprising that anyone has any idea of anything about male and female anymore. How could anyone define toxic masculity when many don't believe male and female even exist ? Today's politically correct ideology has created a scenario in which people are not even sure if they can mention a person's gender, lest someone is offended. This emerging gender identity chaos has simply become overwhelming and is destroying the entire fabric of our society and few are even willing to speak up about it.
One of the greatest insights into the world's future right now is this growing battle about the supposed "danger" of being a nationalist. This issue has found its focus and epicenter in the presidency of Donald Trump, who openly describes himself as a "nationalist" and a person concerned about America's future. Many voices in the media and other areas of the progressive, political world have likened President Trumps labeling of himself as a "nationalist" tantamount to bringing back the dangerous nationalism of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, where German nationalism led to a world war. This deep concern about nationalism, as being hurtful to our world, was also picked up by French President Emmanuel Macron. In a recent address in France, President Macron warned that nationalism was a small minded view of the world and needed to be rejected for a broader view of things that considered everyone's needs from a global perspective.
On the Eve of a New Year, as we look back on 2018, most of us realize how fast the year has gone. For some of us 2018 was a great year of blessings, while for others it had many challenges. For most of us 2018 was most likely a year of blessings and challenges. But as we head into a New Year, the most important thing for everyone to see and understand is how the Lord is working in our lives. No matter what happens in the New Year, the ability to see God at work in our lives is the one thing that will give us perspective about the ups and downs of life. If we know what God says about us as Christians we will better be able to weather the challenges we may face in the New Year.
As Christians all over the world prepare to celebrate Christmas and the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, a good question might be, "What if anything does Christmas mean to us as we look to the future?" In other words, does Christmas have anything else to say to us other than Jesus' birth as our Savior? As we will see, the Christmas holiday offers us a unique glimpse into the future of our world that is largely missed or rarely discussed anywhere today.
No religious event in Western civilization has so affected the world as Christmas. This Christian tradition has been celebrated for about the last 1700 years or so in the Church and around the world. And while the birth of our Lord didn't start out as the tradition we call "Christmas," it did evolve over the centuries into the holiday we know on December 25. There is virtually nowhere on earth today that Christmas is not celebrated in some form or at least acknowledged as Jesus' birth. People may even be atheists, but they celebrate Christmas as a holiday to have a party, drink with friends or take a day off from work or school. So even though Christmas is a religious holiday that celebrates the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is still enjoyed by people all around the world, whatever their beliefs, as a time of winter festivity, peace on earth and good will toward all.
Isn't it great to know that life isn't about politics and our daily battles in this life? As we move toward the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season, it is wonderful to know that our life is really about knowing the Lord and having the privilege and pleasure of worshipping the Lord with all of our hearts and minds in spirit and in truth. That is the Lord's joyful call to everyone. With that in mind, this week's edition of the Carlson Report is about our life of worship and praise of the Lord. I hope you enjoy this article about worship and pass it along to somebody you love and care about today.
Well, the midterm election drama is over for now and the results confirm what everyone knows about our Nation. We are a deeply divided Nation, more than people know. It seems clear that our Nation is going to be in an ongoing political war for the foreseeable future. And while most of us are already weary of this division, the worst is yet to come. You see the real division in America has never been about Red States or Blue States, or the many issues that supposedly are dividing us from immigration and race to abortion. Those many issues are just symptoms of a much deeper topic that is rarely discussed today that is spiritual in nature.
As the political chaos continues to grow in our society as we head to the National mid-term elections, it is a good time for everyone to stop and gain some perspective about where we are right now. Surely not too many people in our society are having any "fun" with all the partisanship and rancor going on. Families are being divided. Friendships and even marriages are strained. Studies tell us that about 70% of Americans are "stressed" about the current state of affairs in our Nation. Some people have had enough and are just "tuning out" or "dropping out" altogether, with many not even bothering to vote at all for a variety of reasons.
This Sunday is Reformation Sunday. It commemorates and celebrates the Reformation that was started by Martin Luther on October 31, 1517, when he posted the "Ninety-Five Theses" on a church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther was deeply concerned about the collapse and corruption of Biblical doctrine by the professing Church. The Church had been selling salvation to the masses for centuries through something called "Indulgences," a practice in which a person paid to have their sins forgiven. It was a very lucrative practice and brought enormous amounts of money to the Church. Luther came to a place where he felt it was time to speak up about this and return the Church to a Biblical foundation of grace alone. Suffice it to say the Reformation changed Western Civilization as we know it. It was responsible for the founding of America by Christian pilgrims and the eventual birth of our Nation in 1776. Simply put, without the Reformation America would not exist.