Month: August 2014

T-Rex Ice Bucket Challenge: It’s All About ME!!

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

It’s sad, the ability we have to turn good things into an opportunity for self-promotion. And it seems to me like all of these “Ice Bucket Challenge” videos have turned into just that. I think of how the Bible speaks of doing good things, selling all we have, sacrificing ourselves, and still not having true love-it means nothing. It is only through Jesus that we can know (and share) real love.

I got to thinking, who better than a T-Rex (a southern T-Rex at that) to expose the motivations behind some of the millions of ice-bucket videos we have been assaulted by lately. Someone once told me: “Many a true word is spoken in jest.”

Side Roads

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

“My people have forgotten Me; they give themselves to other things (false gods); they make them stumble in their ways, leaving My road to walk side roads and muddy paths.” (Jeremiah 18: 15. My translation)

Jeremiah was talking about Israel, how they had gone after idols and abandoned God. Today, we like to think of ourselves as civilized. We would never worship an idol. But the reality is that we do the same thing. Christians so often abandon the simplicity of abiding in Jesus, and give themselves to other things: divine destiny, causes & movements, denominational dogma, gifts & callings and so on. These are the idols of the 21st century American Christian, and thesherey cause us to stumble.

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” Anything we give ourselves to that does not not proceed from our abiding intimacy with him ( no matter how good or noble) is but a side road, a muddy path that can bear no true fruit. He promises us that if we abide in him we will naturally produce fruit that pleases the Father. Why do we feel the need to seek more than this? Perhaps this road is not flamboyant enough. Perhaps our need to be seen as deep, spiritual and culturally relevant entices us to leave the humble path of abiding in Jesus for a side road that will fulfill our desire for notoriety.

Let us turn from these side roads, these muddy paths that lead to nowhere, and once again seek only to abide in Jesus. This is the true Kings Highway.

“Dig If You Will A Picture”

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

No, this is not an article about the musical artist Prince. Instead, I want to talk to you about pictures. We’ve all heard the saying, “A picture’s worth a thousand words.” Or perhaps one of my favorites, “I can show you better than I can tell you.” Using an illustration is one of the best ways there is to bring understanding. And God has utilized “pictures” from the dawn of creation. In fact, I believe that all of creation is an elaborate “picture” given to us by God to help us better understand who God is and how God is as well. And perhaps one of the best pictures God has given us is the family.

Now it’s obvious, the world we live in today is a lot different from the world portrayed to us by old episodes of Leave It To Beaver or Father Knows Best. (How many people even know what I’m talking about?) We’ve even gone way past the family life depicted in Married With Children. But dig if you will a picture:

A man and woman meet. They fall in love, completely and fully giving themselves to each other. Neither person surrenders their individuality, they are not absorbed by each other. But they become one. And this love, this intimacy, this oneness results in creation. Children are born who now participate in the love already enjoyed by their parents. While this family is made up of  several members, they are one. And each one, in their role as family members, loves, enjoys, serves and cares for the other members. While there may be diversity in ‘function,’ it takes each member of the family to express what the family actually is. The family itself is an expression of love.

Admittedly, the “family-picture” cannot fully describe a holy God. All of creation itself can only begin to declare his glory. But can you see why God gave us this picture? And can you see why an enemy would work so hard (with our complete cooperation mind you) to distort it? With this picture we catch a glimpse into the very nature of the Triune God. The family, along with all of creation, speaks of the glory of God. It helps bring to light the truth of who and how God is. It gives us insight into God’s motivation and intention.

“How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

“Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.”

Dig if you will a picture!