wheeler down that steep, icy hill in the middle of the woods.  But when we slammed into a tree and broke the fender off, we realized it was not a good decision.

Many believe today that if we are good, we'll get into heaven.  If our good outweighs our bad, surely a loving God would let us in.  After all, I've heard it many times that "God is good, all the time."  But if we step back for a moment, being good leaves a lot of unanswered questions, perhaps the biggest being, "How good is good enough?"  Does God send us on our preverbial way saying "Be a good boy", leaving it up to us to figure out exactly what that is?  We run into problems right away.  Your good, doesn't match my good.  But I'm sure my good is better than my neighbours.  It's getting a bit more complicated.  But you could say, "God has made His standards clear.  I live my life by the Ten Commandments and the Bible.  That's what is good".  Right, I agree.  But again, how good is good enough?  Surely you're not saying you've never broken the ten commandments?  I can believe you've never murdered or stolen, but you've never dishonoured your parents?  Never?  Remember, Jesus set a pretty high standard that even if you thought about it, it wasn't good.  "But I've kept all the big ones".  Ok, which ones are the big ones?  Murder, but not lying?  Adultery, but not swearing?  What gives you the right to decide?  Well, if you believe in God, I think we can agree that only God really has the qualifications to decide how good is good enough.  And He has.  "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way" (Isaiah 53:6a, NIV).  How good is good enough?  Nothing less than everything God asks us to do in His Word.  God has set the standard of what is good, and the Bible says we all have gone astray.  

Easter week (which is when I'm writing this) reminds us of a significant "G" word.  No, not good.  But GRACE.  Whether we're good or not is not the question.  He has made a way to heaven for us despite our own un-goodness.  "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works (not by being good), so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV).  Phew.  That's a relief.  It's about the gift of grace, not the merits of my goodness (merits which don't cut it anyway).  I'm glad God grades on GRACE, not my goodness.


Click the play button above to listen to a beautiful song of worship proclaiming this grace given freely through Christ.

I welcome your comments, questions or prayer concerns.

-Jason

Further Reading: "How Good is good enough?"  by Andy Stanley

​I enjoy this time of year.  I find the days leading up to Easter to be very meaningful.  A time to think again about The Cross, and what it means to me.  If a friend were to ask you, "What does The Cross mean to you?", what would you say? In recent years, I come back to a simple image of The Cross equaling Love.  This seems foolish to those who don't know Jesus and what He did for us.  "The Cross makes you think of love?!" they might say.  The Bible speaks to this in 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."  This passage goes on to talk about how the Greeks looked for wisdom.  The Cross didn't make sense to them.  It wasn't logical.  It didn't make sense that God would send His son to be an atoning, substitutionary sacrifice for our sins.  Doesn't God have more important things to do than care about me.  I'm not an expert in Greek mythology, but as I understand the Greek gods, it's no wonder they didn't understand a God who loved them.  Their gods seemed to be consumed with themselves.  Humans seemed to be a nuisance to be endured or a resource to be exploited.  The gods the Greeks knew were prideful and arrogant and boasted in themselves.  That word "boast" is used in this passage (1 Corinthians 1:31), "Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord."  This verse is a reference to Jeremiah 9:23-24, "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches.  but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight."  Our God doesn't delight in Himself.  He delights in kindness, justice and righteousness.  I'm not always kind, just or right.  God must not delight in me.  Isn't that the foolishness of The Cross?  God had no obligation to take any note of me.  But He did.  He has.  He made a way of salvation for me.  He took my unkindness, my injustice and my unright-ness on Himself on The Cross.  Why would an all-powerful God do that?  That sounds...foolish.  When you've experienced His grace, forgiveness and love made available through The Cross your eyes turn from yourself, and you start boasting about what a great God we have.  "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15).

Click the play button below to hear the second sermon in a four part series called "Follow Me"  Making the World Better & Brighter.

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A Heart Check Shows the Truth.
A Devotional Thought.

I've been listening to an interesting book entitled, "The Principle of the Path" by Andy Stanley.  The overall premise is that "direction determines destination, every time."  Where we end up in life is directly related to the direction we head today.  So the question I ask us to ponder, is "why do we make poor decisions today when we know the probable result of those decisions"?  Surely I'm not the only one who sometimes makes poor decisions.  Can I confess, I really don't like shovelling snow.  Now, some of you are saying, "well, who does?"  Perhaps I should rephrase.  I don't shovel snow until I have to.  I'm sure my neighbour, who faithful clears his snow down to the pavement, has noticed.  Meanwhile, our driveway resembles a snowmobile obstacle course .  I know it's much easier to clear my driveway right after it snows but I tell myself, "we'll get a warm snap and it will melt anyway and I will have wasted my effort."  Why do we make these justifications for choices that have bad outcomes?  I think Jeremiah 17:9 helps here.  "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?"  My heart; my feelings; caused me to make a choice that led to an unfortunate consequence.  As Andy says, "We listen to our hearts, and then we assign our heads to build a case for our decisions."  I'm using a simple analogy of shovelling snow to help us think (although, I admit, my confession is [mostly] true).  We lie to ourselves all the time about where our decisions lead.  "One more peace of cake won't hurt.  One more word of gossip won't hurt.  One more thought of lust won't hurt."  But these little choices determine our destination.  John 8:31b-32 says, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  So let's be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that our hearts can lead us astray and ask "is the choice I'm about to make going to lead to where I want to go".  Don't trust your heart.  Trust the Truth.  Feel free to stop by and chip away at my driveway, anytime :)

On the journey with you.  -Jason

"Let My People Go" Part 4 of 4.  Sermon Recap.
*You can listen to the sermon above.

Sunday, March 1, 2015
Message: How to Trust in an Upside Down World
Scripture: Exodus 7-12

God, bearing ultimate authority and power in this world, is worthy of our trust.  The gods of this world are not.
God was addressing specific egyptian gods through the plagues.

1. God Is Our Source of Living Water.
The Plague of Blood (7:14-17, 20-21).

2. Comforts & Pleasures Don’t Save Us, God Does.
The Plagues of Frogs, Gnats & Flies (8:2-24).
Titus 3:3-5

3. Ultimately, Trust in God for Healing.
The Plague of Boils (9:8-9).

4. In God’s Economy, Money Isn’t Everything.
The Plague of Livestock, Hail & Locusts (9:2-4, 18-10:6)

5. We Are Not In Control, God Is.
The Plague of Darkness (10:21-23).

6. We Are Saved Through the Blood of Jesus.
The Plague of the Firstborn (11:4-7).

Question for Reflection
Why do people act like the "gods of the this world" can save them, instead of putting their trust in Jesus?

I welcome your comments.
-Jason