Humans don't like big menus.

Scientifically, humans are happier when they have shorter menus. Long menus present something called "opportunity paralysis," which agonizes us. "So many choices...what if I make the wrong one."

The old covenant was a system of rules and regulations, written in stone for all to see, in which you had to keep the letter of the law. On the other hand, there was no need to make decisions, as everything was pre-determined. The new covenant is a relationship, in which you need to keep the spirit. We are not bound by context-less precept (rules), but rather principles and action of freedom. Too often we seek to infer new rules, so that we do not have to suffer opportunity paralysis.

Hebrews 8 declares: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares YHWH: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [ie. RELATIONSHIP] 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ [NOT RULES] for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. [BUT RELATIONSHIP]

But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God. [SPIRIT, NOT LETTER OF THE LAW] (Rom 2)

"But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter." [SPIRIT, NOT LETTER OF THE LAW] (Rom 7:6)

Have you seen people trying to infer the letter of the law where it no longer exists? I've been one of those people. Bondage is easy, but as we grow stronger, freedom enables us to become overwhelming conquerors.

Beating yourself up—that's not like our God!

Ever heard the saying, "Don't beat yourself up over it?" Moving past your past is incredibly important, but people often express to me how hard it is for them to do it. "God can't forgive me for what I've done," is a common sentiment, but consider who our God is.

Our God is the God who forgives "wickedness, rebellion, and sin." (Exodus 34:7). He is God and not man; one who "delights to show mercy" (Micah 7.18). Our God is the Father who runs to the rebellious son and welcomes him back with a feast, music, and dancing. (Luke 15)

Our God is the God of mercy, and He desires that we show mercy to ourselves. "For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment." (James 2:13)

What if I've already sinned so much that it's impossible to change?

Many Christians let their past failures accumulate to the point where they have a hard time resisting temptation. They think, "What difference would one more sin make?"

There's a way to beat that. 2 Cor 5:17 says, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."  That's a beautiful statement, but God alsosays, "you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." (Rom 6:11)

We ARE new creations. We ARE dead to sin. But we have to actually believe it—we have to consider it, buy into it, and act in faith on that. Do you really consider yourself as dead to sin? If not, start today. 

When should I stop getting drunk?

Boy oh boy, God is a heavy hitter when it comes to His people. Take a look at this gauntlet that He throws down in front of us and tell me if ya like it! I know that I thought it was flat-out impossible and insane for a while:

"For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.  In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you." (1 Pet 4:3-4)

So God just tells it like it is, huh? There are no excuses! Time's up, now move on into Godliness! By the way, my main point for this is actually that, if you have bad habits and stop, you might see your old party/sin buddies get kinda mean. Guess what! That's a good thing. Time to make new buddies! And it's a sign that you're growing. If the old crew doesn't see a change in you, you've got a problem! :)

I can watch as much porn as I want!

Something awesome about being a Christian is that I can do home and watch as much porn as I want. I can drink as much alcohol as I want!  Wait, are you confused? Is this some grace-type post? Nope! It's even better.

The Psalmist pleaded, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me!" (51:10)  So beautifully, God promised in Ezekiel, "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (36:26)

That new heart is invaluable. 20 years after starting in AA, an alcoholic will introduce himself as still being an alcoholic—the desire is still there.  As Christians, God's power can change our very desires, if we embrace it. We can go home and think, "There is no way that I'd want to drink. There's no way I'd want to ever watch porn!" Our heart can feel sick at the very thought. And that is a huge blessing. 

Knocked on your butt? Get back up.

My favorite business professor once said, "The reason I'm successful is because I got back up when I got knocked on my butt." As Christians, we can't let a failure haunt us—it should not define us, but rather inform us of areas we need to work on.

Peter denied even knowing Jesus three times while Jesus was being crucified. Jesus had predicted it, and Peter had denied it, yet when the rooster crowed , Peter realized what he had done and wept bitterly. The ANGUISH of failure is intense!  But it CAN'T haunt us an ruin us. 

In Acts 2, we see Peter giving the first sermon after Jesus’s ascension into heaven–to a crowd of thousands of people when he had previously denied Jesus in front of just a few days earlier. Christians mustn't become discouraged when they fail. They shouldn't wallow in self-pity and give up due to the mishap. Instead, they should pick themselves back up and continue on. As leaders in Christ, for Christ, we will do better next time. 

Organ donation.

Organ donation is an amazing thing, but recipients of organs often need to be in fairly good shape to get them.  Amazingly, God found us in terrible shape but still gave us an organ donation. He says, 

"I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (Eze 36:25-26)

We've been given a new heart and a fresh start. If we go back to the same things and lifestyle that made us sick, instead of working to grow stronger, we can risk wasting that new heart. Let's recognize how precious this new heart is and grow stronger every day, taking care of this gracious gift we've been given. 

Breaking Bad. (Habits, that is.)

I once dated a girl who was a lot like I was: neither of us wanted to break some of our bad habits. Have you ever thought of that? "Breaking bad habits." Often the terms we use really carry a lot of meaning. "Fooling around." Yep, it's foolish. "Getting wasted." Yep, it's a waste.

Unfortunately, we often tell ourselves that bad habits don't need to be broken, are too hard to break, or that we're not ready. Jesus, however, points out, "And he who falls on this stone [Jesus/the Word] will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust." (Mt 21:44)

We only have two options: break the bad habits or be scattered like dust! Let's start breaking the bad habits today, and put fooling around, getting wasted, and all the junk of the flesh in the past!

An unbeatable sin?

Ever had a sin that was SUPER tough to beat, maybe UNBEATABLE? Wait! Even though Goliath was MUCH bigger, more imposing, and super tough, David did not concoct some "special Goliath plan." To do so would actually be to honor the enemy. Nope! All sins are to be understood and processed through David's simple logic with Goliath: Dishonor to God. Affront to God. It must die; cut its head off.

Don't elevate sin's power by making is some super-special thing. God says it's nothing but what's common to man, and He provides a way of escape. When stuff is really clobbering us, we want to make excuses not to fight it, just like people would try to not fight Goliath. "It's too hard to beat. I'm not ready. I don't have the tools."

Don't do that. Knocking out the big ones does something special. You see, after David lopped Goliath's head off, "the Philistines saw that their champion was dead and they fled." (1 Sam 17) So take on that Hulk of a sin in your life and realize how empowered that conquering it will make you! Knock out the big ones and the rest will start toppling like dominoes.

"See the young man sittin' in the old man's bar, waitin' for his turn to die."

"See the young man sittin' in the old man's bar, waitin' for his turn to die." That's a line from the Goo Goo Dolls' song, "Broadway," and I think it's ultimately tragic, because it's ultimately true. Millions and millions are living their lives with just one ultimate goal: death, decay; dust. It is sadly true when God says,

"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun." (Eccl 9:5-6)

As Christians, we need to see the plight of those who, though they are sad for the moment in grief over a lost loved one, or happy drinking and partying with friends, are really simply waiting for their turn to die. We need to get out of our comfort zones and show them the spiritual reality behind this physical facade because, "the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Cor 1:18)

Coefficient of Spiritual Friction

 Have you ever, in your heart of hearts, felt like you should be out making new Christians? Felt like your Christian life is going nowhere, but you know that it can reach the stars? Felt like you just can't get it moving for some reason?

Ever tried to push some heavy object across a floor—a box, a fridge, or somethin'—and it doesn't budge at first, but then all of a sudden it's like something releases and it moves forward with very little exertion on your part? In physics, that's called the coefficient of friction. A certain amount of force has to be applied before the object being pushed seems to "unlatch" and move forward.

The same is true with our spiritual lives. Jesus said, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Mt 4:19) Once we apply enough pressure to get your spiritual shows on the road, THEN we can start being fishers of men and seeing results. And you want to know what's awesome about applying that pressure to get it moving? You've got plenty of brothers and sisters ready to help you push forward! Go for it!