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A few years ago I heard Andy Stanley say something that changed my thought process. I believe it can change yours as well if you begin to evaluate your decision making process.

We have spent so many yrs asking ourselves questions that are subject to our ever changing culture.  Think about it, we ask ourselves what is right or wrong, what is legal or illegal, what is moral or immoral.  Those questions are all subject to our surroundings, and things that are culturally excepted. 

Those questions are far more complicated than we need to make them.  They are also the same question that everyone else is asking.  If we want to step away from what everyone else is doing we have to ask ourselves a different question.  The correct question is found in Ephesians 5:15-17  Paul is asking the Christians in Ephesus to start asking themselves a different question than everyone else in their culture.  To start living to a higher standard than those around them.  He tells them to live as the wise and not the unwise which means they have to begin to ask themselves different questions. 

The question we need to begin to ask ourselves is not what is right or wrong, legal or illegal, moral or immoral, but to ask ourselves what is the wise thing to do.  This question needs to be asked at 3 levels in our lives.

1. What is the wise thing to do in light of my past experience?
2. What is the wise thing to do in light of my current reality?
3. What is the wise thing to do in light of my future hopes and dreams?

If we begin to ask ourselves these questions we will have fewer regrets in our lives.  If your like me though you will have a decision or situation arise that you want to happen and will begin to say "ya but" or it isn't wrong and begin to turn a bad decision into a good decision in our minds because we have deceived ourselves. 

This question, if we are willing to ask it, will eliminate that problem. 

My goal is to get our kids to start asking themselves this question, not only because it will help them have fewer regrets in their lives, but it will also cause them to start to step away from the crowd and what everyone else is doing.  That choice will allow them to go further faster with God and his plan and purpose for their lives.

  I have been reminded as I am studying this week that we have (or at least I do)  a tendency to take what Christ did for us for granted.  We hear all the time about how much God loves us and what Jesus went through on the cross, and yet I wonder sometimes if we really understand what that means. 

Or if we really think the Gospel is relevant.

Now I know that this could get into a huge theological discussion about what the Gospel or Good news is really all about, but I am talking about the practical application of what Christ did.

Looking at the sacrifice that he made, the suffering he went through, the abandonment he must have felt, all the while knowing that there would be people and whole people groups and nations that would turn their backs and in a sense spit on the cross and what he went through.  

Those are the very people he died for.  That is the great thing about The Gospel.  He died for the guy that you know that is as far from God as you can get.  That is what it is all about.  Giving that guy access to forgiveness, healing and a right relationship with God.  

That is where I find comfort and hope knowing that I used to be that guy.  Completely separated from God and all the while The Gospel was calling me and drawing me closer to him.

It is in that moment, when I look at what Christ did for me that I see my love for him.  Where I begin to really appreciate the love he has for me.  When I focus on his sacrifice I become free.  It has nothing to do with what I have done or how much I can love him, but has everything to do with how much he has done, and how much he has loved me.

That is what makes it so easy to lay down my life and what I want to do and pick up the cross and fulfill what he wants me to do.

So, is the Gospel Relevant?  Now more than ever. 

But I think that is the wrong question.  I think we should ask:

"How have I made the Gospel Relevant to those around me?"  

That is a life long journey for me and I pray that I get become less and less and he becomes more and more.  

That is where people find Relevance in what Christ has done.  In you and me!

Here we are in the Christmas season.  I love this time of year.  I get to see my kids fired up about all of the traditions we have implemented over the years. (And of course getting presents.)

I also love the story of the birth of Christ.  That is something that I never get tired of talking about.  As I was looking at that story this week I found something that I haven't seen before from the story.   That is what I love about the bible, it is like opening a gift that has so many different layers each time you read it.

I saw how Joseph handled the whole situation.  Matthew 1:18-24 what an embarrassing thing to have happen and yet his love for Mary was so strong that he didn't want to obey the Jewish law at the time and have her stoned to death.  He just wanted to end his marriage in secret.  Joseph in verse 20 got alone to think and to pray before he made any decisions.

Here he was in his most difficult time in his young life and he doesn't react to the problem he gets alone to think and to pray.  After he does that an angel appears to him in a dream, and gives him the answer and direction he desperately needed in his life.

That is what God does when we draw close to him he draws close to us.  When we seek him we find him.  The move is ours God is waiting for us to move.

How many of us take time to get alone and seek God before we make a decision?  As we enter this season lets all take time to get alone with God and allow him to direct our decisions and lives.

Some of you have some very important decisions coming up and God is just waiting for you to seek him, to draw near to him and he will give you direction (Lk 11:9,10)

I think this could be one of the most intriguing subjects in the bible.  God created each one of us as incredible worshipers.  Look at any athletic event or concert.  Thousands of people screaming and yelling worshiping their favorite team or singer.  Every single one of us are incredible worshipers.  So the issue is not the quality of worship it is the object of our worship. 

Which begs the question what is the object of your worship?  If it isn't the one who created you, sent his son to die for you, gave you everything you need here on this earth.  Then the object of your worship is incorrect.  

Every decision we make is a worship decision.  What you watch, worship decision.  What you listen to, worship decision.  Who you hang out with, worship decision.  Every decision we make tells people where our heart is.  

Paul understood this in Romans 1:1 he says that he is slave to Christ.  Which means he understood that his life was bought and paid for by his master.  He was free to choose and chose to worship and serve his master (Christ).  His sole purpose was to live for what Christ wanted and not what he wanted.  

Every decision he made, a worship decision.  Letting everyone know the object of his worship.

What is the object of your worship?  What decisions do you need to change in your life?

My prayer is that we all begin to live a lifestyle that says we are slaves to Christ.  Worshiping him in everything we do.

Knowing God is a 3 part journey.  You have to first know who he is, then what he does and what are his interests.  

Tomorrow night we will dive into this discussion.  How could a loving God allow terrible things to happen in this world?    I am excited because so many people struggle with that question.   The challenge with that is that God never promised our life would be easy.  

In fact his word says quite the opposite.  Look in John 16:33 that pretty much sums it up.  The question that I have is If there were no evidence of God working in your life would you still follow him?  Your answer to that question will determine how you will respond in an uncertain world. 

The nation of Israel spent 400 years in slavery waiting for God.  Not that God wasn't doing anything in fact the opposite is true.  In our darkest moments is when God does his greatest work.

He sent his son to die a horrible death, but out of that tragic event came the greatest gift God has ever given man kind....Salvation.

We all want a miracle, but none of us want to be in a spot to need one.  

No matter what our circumstance tells us God is always in control, but his timing is not ours and Romans 8:28 is unchanging.

Tomorrow night will be awesome.