It’s all about me!

Posted on by kevinjandt

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I’m a selfish man by nature… I really can’t help, I was born that way.

I was thinking about this recently and discussing how easy it is to live that way with a brother of mine. It comes quite naturally in most situations, but one of the times I notice it most is when I return from business trips.

I’m in an unusual sort of business. Believe it or not someone pays me to provide times for the participants in a running race. This business requires me to be away from home on numerous occasions and sometimes during the peak running season I can be gone for up to a week at some of our very large events.

It’s in these times that I’m particularly prone to myself. It’s almost like a surreal world that I reside when I’m at these events. The bottom line is that I have a certain amount of work that needs to be accomplished and I need to ensure it gets done. I wake up when I need to wake up, do the things that I need to do, feed myself when I’m hungry (in most cases) and don’t have to wait around for a wife and children.

It’s probably similar to a military man on deployment. He’s hanging with the guys and then they head out on their missions. When I come home it’s sometimes difficult to re-adjust. I have to attempt to snap out of “Kevin only” mode and start considering the ones God has placed in my life to nurture. It’s really much more difficult than you think and on more than one occasion (or maybe all of them), my wife has to gently remind me that she desires adult conversation when I return home. And, “oh right, I almost forgot God requires me to lead my family.”

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that God’s word is sharper than any two-edged sword, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, and this is very sharp indeed for me.

Husbands love your wives…  Ephesians 5:25

Husbands your wife is a weaker vessel… 1 Peter 3:7

Father’s train your children… Ephesians 6:4

It goes on and on for me and I’ve often found myself knowing that I need to put things off to stay ahead of the impending email that will soon invade my inbox. I’m pulled in a lot of directions, because Jen wants me to lead and I just got done leading and I’m a bit worn out.

It would certainly be a lot easier to just hide somewhere, but I can’t wait to get home and I can’t wait to see Jen and the girls, so the war rages inside.   I have responsibilities and I must provide for my family, but I must also lead them and nourish them and train them.

So the battle continues and it will for a lifetime, because one day the kids will be out of the house and then my role will change, but God still doesn’t let me off the hook. Lord willing I’ll still be a husband, and Lord willing I’ll still be a father, and Lord willing I will be a grandfather and have the opportunity to live out a multi-generational vision for my grandchildren.

What a battle…what a life…what an opportunity to deny myself, take up my cross and serve and honor the Lord.   He never promised a life of ease and comfort, actually just the opposite. If the Christian life you live is a little too easy, maybe it’s not true Christianity and maybe a war needs to rage within you?

It’s pretty easy to live life on cruise control. Jesus said those who desire to keep their life will lose it and those who desire to lose their life will find it. I desire to lose my life, but that doesn’t make it easy.

 

Kevin

Money

Posted on by kevinjandt

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On a recent trip to Seattle I walked into a coffee shop and they had a tip jar with a clever version of a very familiar bible verse. It was slightly altered to meet their intended goals.

It said “Money is the root of all evil. Cleanse yourself here”, I’m not sure they ever read the verse in Paul’s second letter to Timothy where he instructs him to rightly divide the scripture, but that’s a topic for another day.

Money of course itself is not evil, how can it be, it’s an inanimate object. The “love” of money is the object of the verse as Paul is teaching his son, in the faith, Timothy how to pastor a church. Our relationship to money is the point of which Paul is addressing.

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What you think about “your” money reveals the condition of your heart, and is critical to your relationship with God, because it’s really not your money it’s God’s and He has entrusted you to steward it faithfully.

Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack; Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross and follow Me.” But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Mark 10:21-22

The rich young ruler did all the religious things… He followed all the rules, but when push came to shove it was about his money. Jesus exposes his sinful, idolatrous, greedy, covetous heart and shows him that he is unworthy to follow Him.

Is your money a stumbling block to your relationship with God?

Don’t just pass over this question; your very life may hang in the balance. I can’t possibly know the condition of your heart, but Jesus does, just has He did with the rich young ruler. We all like money, and we all need money but how much is enough and for what reason do you need it?

Acts 2:44-45 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

Am I telling you to sell all your stuff and give it to the elders of your church for distribution? No, but are you willing? What is your heart in the matter, do you bristle at the thought of this verse?

Jesus spoke much about money and material possessions and if we have somehow missed the significance then it’s time to reexamine our relationship with mammon (our stuff) because it’s at the heart of the matter you desire to serve.

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:25

What does your life consist of? Does it merely revolve around finances, or do you set your mind on the things of God? Do you really trust Him with your life?

…For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:32-33

I urge you to examine your relationship to your money and how that relates to your relationship with God. This is a topic that must be discussed and exposed.   It must be exposed not because I say so, but because the Lord said so. Are you storing up for yourself treasures on earth, or treasures in heaven?

By God’s grace we can grow in this very challenging area of life, that it may bring Him glory.

Kevin

A Servant of the Lord must be GENTLE!!!

Posted on by kevinjandt

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I’ve been considering lately how often I’ve failed in this command.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

When I first began to hear about a God I didn’t know, I was perplexed. It was almost a surreal feeling to hear preaching that dug deeply into the Word of God and exposed it. I remember my wife and I having discussions and wondering what was going on. I wanted to leave, but I couldn’t.

As God began to do a work in my heart, I began to have discussions with those around me that didn’t always go very well. I became quarrelsome and aggressive. I was impatient and unable to teach, arrogantly defending the truths of the bible that I was now learning, pushing people away from the truth.

I guess I hadn’t read these verses?

I certainly didn’t know what they meant…

One of the knocks on Calvinists is arrogance. Perhaps it’s misplaced zeal? Perhaps it’s a burning desire to show others an uncommon God, the God that we’ve been exposed to? I’m not sure, but there is truth behind it. I love the Bible, and I love the doctrines of grace, because they show God in a completely different light than what I grew up seeing and hearing about, the God of the Bible, not a concoction of my imagination. It knocked me off my horse, so to speak.

Wow…did I have a lot to learn!

I’ve certainly not arrived, but as I consider the words of the great Apostle the directive is clear. I’m to be gentle. I should not be quarrelsome. I must be humble. If I’m not those things I won’t be able to teach, because they won’t hear. I might know something others don’t know, but if I don’t present it properly they will never hear me.

What is the purpose of this?

So God will perhaps grant them repentance and they can know the truth.

Did you catch that word perhaps? There are no guarantees in evangelism. Salvation is of the Lord, no if’s, ands or buts… We can trust the Lord will do all His good pleasure, but as for MEEEEEEE!!!! I must be gentle.

I must also never compromise truth.

The call includes a directive to correct those in opposition. There is a balance to these verses. When someone is corrected, it doesn’t always “feel” gentle to them. Just ask my daughters. They don’t like being corrected, but it doesn’t say, “And be careful not to hurt their feelings”.

I’ve hurt people in my evangelism and for that I’m ashamed and I’ve sought forgiveness in the situations I’m aware of. I must continue to learn from the Lord how to be a better doulos (slave), I must be gentle, but I must also correct and ultimately that will bring God glory.

…And perhaps some will escape the snare of the devil, as they’ve been taken captive by him to do his will. This is an overwhelming thought to me. How many will perish, if God doesn’t grant repentance, and He can’t do that if we are not out sharing the Good News.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Kevin

Vision

Posted on by kevinjandt

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The battle for truth is a serious battle. It’s not a pillow fight, or a name calling contest. It’s the kind of battle where people live and die. It’s estimated that every day over 150,000 people die. Most of them die unexpectedly.

Some saw it coming, but the one thing they all have in common is that it ended too soon. We get on average 75 years or so on this earth. That’s not very long. In fact it’s described as a vapor, here for a little while and then gone. Case in point, how well do you remember your grandfather? How about your great grandfather? Mine died in the early 1970’s and I scarcely remember him.

Most people will leave very little legacy and therefore how important is it for you father’s to have a multi-generational vision for your families?

Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

This commandment will tell you a lot about your view of God and your view of yourself. Does God really give multi-generational curses and multi-generational blessings? The answer is a clear yes.

For unbeliever’s this causes them to hate God even more. It’s unfair they say, yet they are unwilling to turn from their evil ways. They won’t believe God, but judge Him as unjust and unloving, yet continue to live in willful disobedience, thumbing their noses at Him as though their opinion is all that matters, even though God has been crystal clear. Obey, be blessed. Disobey, be cursed.

For Believers this is a delight. We desire to walk in truth and we desire to seek to obey God’s laws. If not we should examine ourselves.

Today, I’m thinking about something that 90% of professing Christians willingly disobey. They send their children off to government schools to be educated. Is this something that is going to send them to hell? That’s really a big question isn’t it, and may seem somewhat judgmental on my part?

And when I ask that question who am I talking about? Will the parents be condemned, or will the children be condemned? You will object that I’m probably being a little extreme. I want you to consider today, where is the line? How far and how deep will you decide to expose your children to the world and all the diseases that can be caught and still hope everything will be okay? Is this something you are willing to risk?  I use disease here metaphorically for sin.

Can your children stand against the world? Are they strong enough? Are you sure they are even in the faith, and how do you know?

I want to grow and nurture my children in my own home, where I know the exhortation and teaching they are getting is gospel saturated. I’m so intensely convinced of this that I will go so far as to say if the only thing my children know how to do is read the word of God that is good enough.

If they can’t perform high level math, or even low level algebra I’m convinced God will reward my diligence to teach them about Him, beyond my desire to have what most consider a “superior” education. Although the facts bear out that home educated children perform far better on average in all standardized testing. That does not matter to me.

When I consider a multi-generational vision for my family that begins at the house of the Lord. It begins with the salvation of my children. It begins with me educating them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. It begins with me teaching them when they lie down, when they rise up, when we walk by the way. In short it means all the time. How can I do that if I commit them to 15,000 hours of time with others that are most likely unregenerate? Will not a student be like his teacher?

If you are objecting to this and you are a Believer I’ll encourage you to search the scriptures for the book, chapter or verse that tells you to turn your children over to others to be educated, you will not find it. You will however find the scripture has plenty to say about how you will educate your children.

Alas, if our children lose the crown of life, it will be but a small consolation that they have won the laurels of literature or art. —Charles Spurgeon

Here is a sermon you may wish to consider from Pastor Voddie Baucham called Whoever Controls the Schools Controls the World.

Kevin

Are you a malcontent?

Posted on by kevinjandt

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Are you a malcontent?

I am… Aren’t we all at times in our life?

You know when things don’t go the way you envision, or you really get tired of that one particular kid screaming in service, even though it’s mine…

We all have our moments, right?

If you are a member of a body of believers there are just going to be times when you have complaints. Of course they are legitimate complaints; I wouldn’t think anything else, because mine are also legitimate. Of course your “feelings” matter, and there are even times when you are having a bad day and it’s, even more okay for you to act out, even if it’s only in your mind.

I do it…we all do it right? Sort of a misery loves company thing.

Oh, I know you said it’s legitimate, and I did too, but is it really legit, or is it sin? Yes, I realize the pastor is there for your good pleasure, and he didn’t respond in the way you wanted him too, but really now he does have a job to do doesn’t he? And maybe he takes the shepherding of your soul a little too serious?

…work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Hmmm….

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. – Philippians 2:12-16

It looks like Paul had a similar experience in his church? I wonder if he was writing this to me.

Okay, that’s sarcasm; I know you wouldn’t really think I’d be sarcastic.

I could spend some time digging into the Greek words here, but if I read this plainly it just hurts, as I consider the amount of complaining I do. And God just set this up by telling me to work out my salvation, with fear and trembling.

Have you ever had a really scary dream and you shook under the covers because it was so real? I can think of a couple times when I dreamt something had happened to one of my children. I woke up in drop dead fear, weeping and crying. Does Paul mean that kind of fear, that kind of trembling? I didn’t like that dream, and I don’t like that sort of trembling.

Did we remember that Paul also tells us to consider others better than ourselves in Chapter 2 of Philippians? This is pretty tough stuff if we really are to shine as lights as the verse tells us.

Last week I wrote about what is truth, and in writing about today’s topic, we must revisit last week’s reality. If you are a Believer, you don’t have to live out of your fleshly lusts, we have truth.

It means we have to put off our old self. It means we need to deny those fleshly desires, and crucify them. It’s not easy to be a Christian. No wonder Jesus said the path was difficult, it’s a lot easier just to complain about so and so, or the ridiculous new, you name it, that the elders are wanting us to do.

Whew…. I feel better now, how about you?

Brothers and sisters, we are called to strive for the unity of the body, this is not easy to do, because not everyone is as perfect as I am. They don’t all see it the way I see it, and I’m certain my way IS the best way; I’ve certainly proven that over time. (More sarcasm for those that don’t know me)

Ephesians 4:1-3 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…

I know… If only they conformed to my way of thinking everything would be better, but since I’m not in a church full of Kevin’s I guess I better spend some time with the Lord, repent and seek His forgiveness for my bad attitude.

“IF” I’m one of His… Ouch, that hurts.

 

Kevin