Category Archives: RANTS

What Do War Criminals and Dictators Point Us Toward?

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Yesterday I posted a brief blog regarding the War Criminal Kony.  The idea was to give short comment and bring to my readers the atrocities that he has perpetrated throughout Africa.  I wanted to make known that there is an issue and many times Americans (and those in comfortable and safe situations) forget what the rest of the world is like.  There are horrible situations throughout the globe and the existence of these warlords, dictators, and unjust rulers should point us to something…

Others just like Kony

There have been abusers and abuses throughout time.  There have been evil leaders and dictators from Nero to Ayatollah Khomeini from Josef Stalin to Pol Pot from Vlad the Impaler to Adolf Hitler.  These were evil men who brought reigns of terror to their country and the world.  Kony certainly falls in this category, but what he is doing is no more evil than the persecution of Christians in Egypt or Iran.  What Kony is doing is publicized.  There are many other leaders like this throughout the globe.  Here are some other bad guys who don’t have a viral YouTube video about them.  The existence of these rulers and leaders should point us to something…

What is that something?

The existence of evil rulers throughout the world should show us that we are thirsty for something.  Despots are everywhere, isn’t there a righteous judge, a righteous leader, a good king somewhere? The answer is an unashamed YES!  There is a hope for the world.  He isn’t in the White House now or is he running in the Republican Primary either.  He isn’t in the congress.  He isn’t in a foreign country.

People throughout the world thirst for a leader who is good, just, fair, and righteous. That perfect leader, that perfect king is Jesus Christ.  He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He lives and He reigns and He is returning.  He will come again and all Christians long for that day when the Righteous Judge will return and set everything right, making ALL things new.

Jesus is what we long for.  We want genocide to end.  We want evil to be abolished.  We want justice to reign.  If we want those things then what we long for is not another person.  What we long for is Jesus.

So Pray

Yesterday I didn’t ask people to give money to a cause.  I asked them to pray for the end of a terrorist’s reign.  Let me be a little more clear: Pray for justice to flow.  Pray for God to be glorified.  Pray for Jesus to return. Pray for the Gospel to penetrate these areas and change these people.  Pray that the Gates of Hell won’t prevail (they won’t).  Pray that God would be made much of.  Pray that men and women would go and plant churches in these areas and reach the Invisible Children.  PRAY!

Christ is all (and all we really thirst for),
Jason

P.S. What do you do with a thirst?

When I get thirsty I like some cold, crisp water.  It’s refreshing.  It cools, it soothes, it hydrates and strengthens.  As we’ve reflected on evil leaders and then looked at what that points us towards (Jesus) I thought the best thing to do would be to reflect a little on Jesus and His future reign. Links to some of those verses are below.

Luke 19.28-40

Isaiah 9.1-7

Revelation 19.11-16

Revelation 20


Pray For The End of Kony’s Reign

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We have a lot going on in our country.  The 2012 Presidential election is big, dealing with our economy and job losses, not to mention family issues that everyone deals with and the little stuff of life.

I’d challenge you to take 30 minutes and watch something that will break your heart and make you think about atrocities on the other side of the Earth.  I’ve embedded the video below.

I don’t think that there is any question that this man needs to be stopped.  He is certainly NOT part of any army of my Lord.  Pray that this man is stopped.  As a believer in Jesus we need to pray for justice and that people who prey on the weak and the orphan would be stopped.  This man doesn’t just prey on orphans but creates orphans and then puts them into slavery for his own purposes.  It is unbelievable.

[16] Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
[17] learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.
(Isaiah 1:16; Isaiah 1:17 ESV)

Join me in praying for justice to be done on behalf of these people.

Christ is all,
Jason

Winning The Fight

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On Friday I wrote about some of the disturbing statistics when it comes to porn and lust in this world. The good news is that we can have victory. We can overcome. We don’t have to lose over and over again.

WE CAN WIN THE FIGHT!

The big idea though is not to do it by muscling up and trying to make ourselves do better. If we do that eventually our resolve will fail and we will give in to our lusts and sexual desires. God has planned bigger things for us then defeat. For the last several years I’ve claimed Romans 8.37

[37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

I love this verse because it explains how we overcome. It explains how we get victory over lust. We become conquerors, not by our own merit, muscle, or determination. We are conquerors THROUGH Him who loved us. Who is that? Jesus! We don’t conquer sin on our own and we don’t conquer daily temptations on our own either. We conquer them both by Jesus Christ. The BIG idea is that you don’t fight this fight by yourself. You fight this fight through Jesus.

I’ll be blogging about this fight more in the future. Friday was my biggest blog day ever and I’m sure it was due to the subject matter. I think that means people know there is a fight and that they need help… we all do.

I recorded my talk at the men’s conference. If you want to listen to the talk you can download it here.
If you’d like a copy of my handout with the blanks filled in you can download that here.

Christ is all,
Jason

Pornography: The Sexual Assault On Our Society And The Church

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Last night I got sick to my stomach.  It wasn’t because I’m coming down with the flu or ate something bad.  I started reviewing my notes for a workshop I’m teaching tomorrow dealing with a fight that every man has: LUST.  Specifically, I reviewed some stats regarding the pornography industry.  Here are a few…

1.  Every second – $3,075.64 is being spent on pornography (2006 Study).  That’s $184,538.40 a minute, $11,072,304 an hour, $265,735,296 a day, 1,860,147,072 a week, and $96,727,647,744 a year.  That’s right in 2006 (6 years ago!) pornography was nearly a $100 billion industry.  At that time it was larger than: The pornography industry had larger revenues than the top technology companies combined: Microsoft, Google, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo!, Apple, Netflix and EarthLink.

How’d that one make you feel?

2.  Every second – 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography.  EVERY SECOND almost 30,000 people are looking at porn.  Way to use your time effectively, right?  No wonder we can’t manufacture anything any more in this country all people are thinking about is porn.

Feeling sick yet?  This is the one that really killed me.

3. In 2006 The average age of first exposure to pornography is 11.  Some studies are saying that today, just 6 years later it is more like 8.   8!  YES, I SAID 8!  This isn’t just an adult problem or even an adolescent problem, THIS IS AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROBLEM.

The Church Issue

I’ve heard some people in the church say: well this is just boys being boys.  To which I say, “it isn’t just boys”. That same research project found that: “Statistics indicate the term “sex” was searched for as often by female consumers as it was by males.”  Porn and lust are HUGE problems today.  They eat away at the mind, they destroy the soul, and they deteriorate our society, not to mention the church.  This stuff breaks down families and causes people that God made in His own image to be viewed as things rather than image bearers of God.

The Biblical Issue

This is a huge issue and one that is particularly difficult for men.  But if we take the Bible seriously (and if you’ve read this blog for very long then you know I do) then we have to live by an Ephesians 5.3 mindset:

“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality”

It isn’t ok to just have some or even just a little bit on the weekends.  There shouldn’t be a hint of it.

Tonight at my church we kickoff a men’s conference.  It’s going to be great!  I’m pumped, tonight we get steak dinner (great stuff) and some worship with other men and a message that I’m sure will impact our hearts.  Tomorrow we get more of that fellowship, worship and preaching and tomorrow in my workshop I get to share how we can have victory over lust.  If you are available please join us.  We still have some space available, you can register here.

I’ll be sharing my notes on here next week so you can pick those up as well and my session should be recorded if you are not in the area or unable to be here.

Christ is all,
Jason

Statistics in this post are taken from the Internet Filter Review.
If you are struggling with pornography addiction you can find help here.

2012: Many Goals, ONE Resolution

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Everyone sets goals for a new year.  I do it too.  Sometimes I accomplish them, sometimes I don’t, but I always start with the best intentions.  2012 is no different.  Here are a list of my goals this year.

  • Lose 35 lbs.  Why 35?  I don’t know, it seemed like a good round number.  About 3 lbs a month for 12 months.  Really, I just want to be healthier and figure that working out more regularly and really watching what I eat will cause some weight loss.
  • Publish a book.  My wife and I are working on a devotional that we’d like to publish.  Something simple, but something to help people walk well with Jesus.
  • Read 15 Books.  We aren’t talking War and Peace here or Pillars of the Earth or anything.  I’ll publish this list tomorrow if you are interested in keeping up with my reading plan.
  • Contribute 15% to my retirement account…(I hear you snoring out there).
  • Start my doctorate.  This has been a goal for a while.  Still not sure I’ll be able to pull it off, but we shall see.
  • Study the book of Isaiah.
  • Increase my blog readership.  You can help by sharing this blog on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, etc. I’d REALLY appreciate it.
  • Develop an iPhone App to help people set goals (seriously, I’m working on this with a friend who’s developed some other cool apps at Boom Pow).

That’s my personal list among other family and church goals.  I have many goals this year and will set sub goals and share with my accountability partner these goals to help me hit my benchmarks and ultimately accomplish my goals for 2012.  I have many goals, but only ONE resolution

ONE Resolution: The Gospel on my lips

I have one thing that I am resolved to do in 2012.  There is one thing that I want to be known for this year.  It isn’t accomplishing my goals, it isn’t being a great husband, father, pastor, leader, or human.  The one thing that I want to be targeted on is having the Gospel on the tip of my lips.

I want the Good News of Jesus constantly flowing out of me.  I want it to be flowing out when talking to people who aren’t believers in Jesus.  I want it to be flowing out when speaking to believers in Jesus.  I want the Gospel constantly flowing out of me.  The Gospel is not just the thing that saves us.  The Gospel is also the thing that grows us.

This year I’m resolved to run every part of my life through the filter of the Gospel.  I want 2012 to be a year centered on the Gospel.  I mean if the world is ending (thanks Mayans for not finishing your calendar) then shouldn’t this year (and all years really) be spent on the ONE thing that really matters, the ONE thing that will change eternity for people?

I think so.

Christ is all,
Jason

 

Sovereign Storytelling

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I haven’t blogged in a while. I was looking for something truly noteworthy to share with you out there. Something that talked deeply of God’s grace and redemption. I wanted it to be powerful and inspire others to see that God is always working…even when it doesn’t seem that way. I got it this last week.

This year for some reason I decided to lead two camps. One for High School and the other for Junior High. This makes for an exhausting June and a lot of work for me and my student staff, but will be rewarding.

We received a few scholarships from a very generous anonymous donor, saying that he didn’t want anyone to miss camp. The day before we left, we had one spot left. I was tempted to just leave it at that and go home and be done with it, but I felt the Lord saying all day long keep looking, keep calling, keep texting. That spot needs to be filled. I racked my brain all day long and our student database. My assistant, Jill, and I went through our lists 20 times thinking of people to go and for whatever reason one after another couldn’t take this last, paid for spot…We finally came to the end of our ideas and I was ready to give up and

Jill says, “What about Johnny?”

I say, “I thought Johnny was in college.”

We look him up and he’s a Junior going into his Senior year.

I say, “Call him”.

Ring, ring, ring…”Hello, Johnny? This is Jill from the church. I was calling to see if you’d like to go to High School camp. We have an open, paid for spot and we were wondering if you’d like to go.”

Johnny: “Let me check…[brief pause]…YES!”

Ok, so now our last spot is filled and we feel good. No spots wasted.

Fast forward to our third night of camp, the speaker has been sharing the Gospel over the last few sessions and now in the middle of the message he says, “If you want Jesus, stand up now.”

No eyes are closed, no heads are bowed…EVERYONE is looking. We are praying. Then Johnny stands up. No doubt what he is standing for. He’s not confused. He knows Jesus is his greatest desire. I take him out and talk him through what it means to be a believer in Jesus and shared with him how he got here. He was amazed…So am I.

The Sovereignty Breakdown

I thought I’d lay it out clearly so you can see God’s hand in all of this:

1. Johnny wanted to go to camp, but didn’t say anything because he didn’t have the money.

2. A wonderful man in our church, totally independent of Johnny had it laid on his heart to make sure nobody missed camp.

3. We couldn’t come up with anybody to take this spot, until we got to the person who God had planned to be there before time started, Johnny.

4. He takes the spot in an instant.

5. We arrive safely and all the people around him are speaking to the exact needs that he is feeling.

6. The night that he his under the deepest conviction is the night that an invitation is given.

7. Johnny trusts Jesus…

Johnny is now 4 days old. He is a new believer, but he loves Jesus and is thankful for his salvation. He has much to deal with still in his young life. You can pray for him as he is living with his older sister and younger brother and money is very tight. He is also working hard to prepare for this next school year to have good grades and high SAT scores so he can get some scholarship to go to college. God is going to do big things through Johnny. I’m crying while I’m writing this right now.

I love God’s sovereignty. I love God’s grace. I love God’s redemption and I love how He works all things for our God and His glory. I hope you do too.

Christ is all,

Jason

Introducing: READ ME!

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR POLL REACTION A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO!  We got a great response and as a result I’ve created a 4 week class called READ ME!  If you are in the Houston/Pearland area then come on out.

Read Me is an interactive class helping YOU study YOUR Bible and is for ALL ages.

You hear it all the time:

“Know The Word!”
“Study Your Bible!”

But have you ever really learned how to do it? Has anyone ever taught you how? If you were like me a few years ago then the answer would be sadly “no”. Sunday Nights beginning January 9th we are going to change that. Pastor Jason Crandall will be teaching a 4 week class on the basics of Bible Study. The goal at the end of this class is for YOU to be able to open YOUR Bible to ANY passage and see what God has for YOU there. Christians NEED to know the Word. Come join us beginning January 9th at 6pm and learn how to READ and STUDY your Bible.

Cost: $10 (Includes Material Costs). Childcare is available for age 4 and younger.

You can signup and pay on FBC Pearland’s Website

Christ is all,

Jason

What’s Worship? – 2 Words, Nazis, and a Book

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There are times and places that you remember.  For previous generations it might be the moon landing or Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech.  For my generation it is September 11, 2001.  These are times and places where you know exactly where you were when they happened.  On September 11, 2001 I was walking on my college campus and stopped in the student center.  100+ people were gathered around 2 small TVs watching the coverage.  I remember that day and where I was.

I also remember about a year earlier when I heard 2 words that changed my life.  I was sitting in chapel and one of my favorite professors got up to speak.  He had us turn to Colossians 1 and started reading from verse 15 & 16.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and…

Pretty good stuff here:

  • Jesus is the exact image of God – Knew That!
  • Jesus was first born; which means sovereign over all creation – Knew That!
  • Jesus created everything – Knew That!

Those things are world shattering when you pick them up for the first time and wrestle with them.  They are still HUGELY important, but they were things I’d studied and known.  The scary part came after the “through him”.  Are you ready?  It’s really scary…

 

for him


Those two words changed my life.  Maybe that’s something you’ve always known and you can put a “Knew That!” by it.  I’m created by Him (Jesus), that’s ok, but FOR HIM…I don’t know about that. I couldn’t escape the consequences of that: all my life, all my decisions, all of it was FOR HIM!  For me it was revolutionary in a painful sense.  I imagine it like the invasion at Normandy where the Allied forces just kept coming on shore.  No matter what I shot at  those words they kept coming at me.

  • “The girls I date are for me, right?” – No, FOR HIM!
  • “The profession I choose is for me, right?” – No, FOR HIM!
  • “The house I live in is for me, right?” – No, FOR HIM!
  • “My friends are for me, right?” – No, FOR HIM!
  • “My TV shows, movies, and music are for me, right?” – No, FOR HIM!
  • “My money is for me?” – No, FOR HIM!
  • “My mind is for me?” – No, FOR HIM!

Every bullet I shot fell to the ground.  My life wasn’t mine.  My life was now Jesus’ life.  In that moment I felt the death of dreams, but in that very same second God gave birth to bigger ones.  I learned that “FOR HIM”, wasn’t a death sentence, but freedom.  ”FOR HIM” meant I didn’t have to spin my wheels in areas of life that won’t satisfy me.  I started to understand that someone infinitely smarter than me AND infinitely more interested in my joy had said that my life was FOR HIM and that meant that I would have more joy on that path then any other.  That’s when I switched sides.

FOR HIM no longer felt like I was a Nazi on the beaches of Normandy defending my evil heart, but an Ally fighting to free others from oppression.  My life was more than college, work, dating, and showing up on Sunday and Wednesday to worship.  My life WAS worship.  My life IS worship.

Worship isn’t a style or type or time or a place.  Worship isn’t a great singer or organs and pianos or guitars and drums.  Worship isn’t hymns or contemporary songs.  Worship isn’t raising hands or closing eyes.  Those are things in a worship service, which are legitimate and important, but only MINOR expressions of worship.

Worship is bigger, Worship is more…Worship…Is…Our…Lives.  Like Louie Giglio said “It’s The Air We Breathe”.

If you are a believer in Jesus, aka Christian, aka follower of Jesus, aka saved, etc.  Then your life isn’t yours.  Your life is His.  Your life is FOR HIM!  If you are like me that realization is painful and will take a few minutes, hours, days, months, years, or longer to digest.  BUT…it’s the truth.  The sooner we realize it the happier we’ll be.

Christ is all,

Jason

PS. If you think about it, tonight I’m teaching a bunch of students this principle.

I Love You 3: Love Gathering Leads to Death

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Did you hear about the tragic event that happened in Germany this weekend?  If not check it out here.  A love parade went horribly, horribly wrong.  I can’t help but see a parallel in many churches today.  We are supposed to gather together to encourage.  We are supposed to gather together to lift up.  We are supposed to gather together to worship, learn, and grow…together.  But far too often Christian get together and what happens isn’t necessarily killing each other, but more so the cause that they supposedly stand for.

  • We speak about each other with malice, rather than to each other in love.
  • We desperately try to outdo each other with our stuff, rather than outdo one another in showing humility.
  • We want to appear better, above the fray, above the problems, rather than allowing another believer the opportunity (or ministry)  to speak into your life.

In doing these things and many others we make our churches look wholly undesirable to a world that is looking for something lasting and is looking for something meaningful.  And even deeper than that we wound the body that we are a part of.  We hurt the very body that we belong to.

  • Every gossipy word, email, Facebook post, text, or tweet harms the body.
  • Every prideful glance, thought, or one-ups-man story wounds the flesh.
  • Every time we resist help when we desperately need it we make the other parts of the body feel worthless and atrophy.

Read what Paul said in Ephesians 4

[4:1] I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, [2] with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, [3] eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  [4] There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— [5] one Lord, one faith, one baptism, [6] one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4.1-6 (bold emphasis mine)

Here’s the issue: we are to stand united. We are ONE body that is supposed to mutually love and mutually care for each other.  We are supposed to bear with each other and love each other eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit.  We need to do this in humility…so guess what?  You aren’t ok, you aren’t fine, and neither am I (I wrote a post about this a while ago, here it is).  We need each other in this body from young to old, from student to elderly, from child to parent…we need each other.  We don’t need to try to outdo each other except in showing honor (Romans 12.10).  We certainly don’t need to speak with malice about one another.  So here are some suggestions:

  • If you struggle with gossip or are having negative feelings towards another brother or sister go speak with them.  Pray with them, share with them the issue, and resolve to walk out loving one another.  Don’t speak to another person about it.  Speak to that person.
  • If you struggle with “one upping” your brother or sister in Jesus then stop doing it to make yourself look better, but start doing it in making them feel honored.
  • If you struggle with being “SuperChristian” then realize you aren’t.  Realize you are not the body, you are only PART of the body.  You can’t do this thing by yourself, you need each other and the other believers around you have been put there to hold you up and help you function correctly.

Most of all, submit to the Head – Jesus Christ.  Do what He would have you to do.  All believers are part of His body and by hurting each other we hurt the one who saved us and gave His life for ours.  So walk worthy of Him and love your fellow body parts.

Christ is all (but believers are important too),

Jason

Jesus 29 – Why Jesus for 40 Days (reprise)?

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I’ve gotten mixed reactions on this blog series.  Some hate it, they are bored by the same general topic day after day.  Some love it, they have struggled doing devotions on a daily basis and say that this is helpful to look into the Scripture everyday.  I just want to remind people why I think Jesus for 40 days is an important focus.

John 12.32 –  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

When Jesus is lifted up, made much of, talked about, and trusted in things happen.  When Jesus is the focal point lives change.  When He is focused on families do better, homes are happier, and lives are full.  Beyond external felt needs though when Jesus is lifted up people are drawn to Him and their eternity changes.  Their lives beyond here and now are brought into view and they are forced to deal with what they will do with Him.

I went to Bob Jones University.  They have their issues, but there is one thing I am most thankful for.  We would go into chapel and every so often Dr. Bob Jones III (we affectionately referred to him as triple-sticks) would say “the most sobering reality in the world today” and would stop.  The crowd would reply “is that people are dying and going to Hell today.”

The Most Sobering Reality
The most sobering reality in the world today is that people are dying and going to Hell today.
The most sobering reality in the world today is that people are dying and going to Hell today.
The most sobering reality in the world today is that people are dying and going to Hell today.

The

Most

Sobering

reality

in the world

TODAY

is that

people

are d-y-i-n-g 

and going to Hell

TODAY

Is that clear?
It is an undeniable reality.  Your coworker, friend, student, classmate, husband, wife, child, cousin, uncle, barista, grandmother, grandson, granddaughter, salesman, etc is dying and going to Hell without the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

So why Jesus for 40 days?
Because He needs to be lifted up.  He needs to be talked about.  He needs to be shared.  Christians need to be reminded of the holy, suffering servant, Son of God who died on a cross (the actual context of John 12.32).  We need to be brought back to this great One in our own hearts and minds and then…

WE

NEED

TO

LIFT

HIM

UP

We need to talk about Him.  We need to share Him.  We need to have confidence that He really is able to save to the uttermost those who would believe in Him (Hebrews 7.25).  You lift Him up within your own heart and see what happens.  You lift Him up to others and see what happens.

Reflection Questions

  • Who do you know who isn’t trusting in Jesus? Make an actual list.
  • Have you shared the Gospel of Jesus with them?
  • What’s keeping you from doing it right now?

Christ is all,

Jason