Do You feng shui?

Recently my daughter-in-law (Christa) used a term that I was unfamiliar with. The term was feng shui. I have since come to find out that it is a Chinese philosophy of sorts. One application of this is that a feng shui consultant can come to your house and help rearrange your furniture so that you will be happier and healthier. Huh? That's what I said.

But then I realized that this is exactly what a lot of Christians do. They try to rearrange the circumstances of their life thinking that they will be happier and healthier. If they can just get that new job, new car, new house, new relationship, then they will be happier. Or maybe if they change churches, or go to a certain Bible study, or seminar, or read a certain book, then everything will be better. This is nothing more than Christian feng shui. It's thinking that if I change things on the outside I will feel better on the inside.

This is contrary to what the Bible says. We are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10). If we have Christ we can know peace and joy in our hearts no matter what is going on around us. Paul said that he learned contentment in any circumstance because of the strength he found in Christ (Philippians 4:10-13). Jesus is the bread of life and we can be totally satisfied in Him (John 6:35). We need to stop thinking so much about what we don't have and spend more time rejoicing in what we do have in Christ - forgiveness, peace, joy, reconciliation, heaven, God Himself.

Leave the feng shui to the interior designers and set your heart on the One Who holds the universe together. He can hold your life together.

FAITHFUL

Our Savior is faithful. He is a faithful high priest (Hebrews 2:17). He was faithful to God (Hebrews 3:2). Christ was faithful as a Son (Hebrews 3:6). Jesus Christ is the faithful witness (Revelation 1:5). He is faithful and True (Revelation 19:11). Jesus is faithful. He did what He came to do despite what it cost Him. He will be faithful to return and do all that has been appointed for Him to do. As believers we rejoice in the faithfulness of our Master and Savior.

To express our thankfulness for our Lord's faithfulness we get to be faithful ourselves. One of the most faithful people mentioned in Scripture is Timothy, the young assistant of the Apostle Paul. Paul referred to him as, "my beloved and faithful child in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 4:17). So faithful was Timothy that Paul said, "I have no one else of kindred spirit" Philippians 2:20). Then Paul made this amazing statement, "For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:21). Timothy stood out from everybody else. He was faithful to the interests of the Lord above his own interests. That's the definition of faithfulness. Christ was faithful to minister to the needs of others (us!) at the cost of His life. We are faithful to Him when we consider His interests above ours.

We are called to be faithful. We can rejoice that when we are not faithful, He remains faithful, but we must strive to grow in being faithful to our Lord. Let me give you one practical application. Every church I have been in has placed a heavy emphasis on Sunday morning (rightfully so since we celebrate the fact that our Lord rose from the dead on the first day of the week). It is then that we attend the main worship service and a Sunday School class. This time on Sunday morning is foundational to all the other ministries of the church. Let's be faithful to give our best to these Sunday morning times. Make it a non-negotiable that you and your family will be there, if physically possible, and you will be prepared to make the most of the time. That would include getting a good night sleep. Many are familiar with the expression, "Sunday morning begins on Saturday night." Others may be familiar with the old song which reminded us that Jesus rose from the dead for us so we should at least get up out of bed for Him. Do what you need to make the most of Sunday.

BE FAITHFUL.

We Preach Christ

We all hear sermons on lots of subjects. We hear sermons on marriage and parenting. We hear sermons on finances and giving. We hear sermons on evangelism and missions. We hear sermons on sin and holiness. We hear sermons on love, peace, and joy. We hear sermons on these topics and many more. These are all good subjects and the Bible speaks on these things in depth. We need to know what the Bible says about these things.

But consider these statements from the Scripture.

• And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ (Acts 5:42).
• Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered (Acts 28:31).
• But we preach Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23).
• For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2)
• And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ (Colossians 1:28).

Do you detect a pattern? Do you see the focus of the Apostle's teaching and preaching?

Consider the words of Jesus Himself regarding the Old Testament:

• And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures (Luke 24:27).
• Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." The He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-45).
• You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me (John 5:39).

It should seem obvious that Christ is the focus of the Scripture, but the question is whether or not Christ is the focus of our preaching. I am not suggesting that we read Jesus into every text of the Scripture. That's not the the point. But every text of Scripture is part of a larger context which has the focus clearly on the person of Jesus Christ. So we must understand the teaching of Scripture in light of the person of Christ. We are to let the word of Christ richly dwell within us. To take the focus off of Christ in our preaching and teaching will result in legalism or moralism. Let's remember a very important point - We are not preaching principles to be applied, rather we are preaching a Person to be followed. I am not to apply the principles of parenting just for my sake or the sake of my family, but rather because that is a part of my walk in following Christ. The issue is not whether or not I will apply the principles, but whether or not I will follow Christ.

So let's keep the focus on the person of Christ. When you teach others, help them see your instruction in light of Christ. When you disciple others help them learn what it means to follow Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). Let us magnify the Lord in our preaching.

NOT EVEN CLOSE

Not only did my putt not come close , but it went six feet past the hole. So, I went from a legitimate birdie opportunity to a difficult comeback putt to save my par. I could start off a whole new round of speculation by asking you to comment on whether I made the second putt - but I won't. I made it.

I do want to just review the answers I got and show the different methods of reasoning employed by all of YOU.

Gary - Thinks I make the putt because I use a certain brand of ball.
Bobby and Christa - Play amateur psychologist and think I must have made the putt or else I wouldn't have brought it up.
Randy - Just a simple straight-forward yes. I like that.
Diana - Yes, becuase I am the Tiger Woods of Canyon Country. Not quite.
Brad - Yes because I am the dad of Billy who obviously impressed Brad one day out on a golf course.
Evan - Yes, because I'm hardcore. Not enough, I guess.
Pam - Another simple yes.
Ben - Yes because I'm the best golfing pastor in America. This proves that most pastors are not very good golfers.
Jan - A simple "of course." Thank you.
Darcie - Yes, because Roberta was there cheering me on. I wish it was that simple.
Becca - Yes, becuase your dad says I'm good. Good golfers don't make every putt.
Donna - Yes, because I'm a good golfer. See above.
Steve - Could we expect anything less. Apparently so.
Billy - A gimme? Not from 20 feet.
Dru - Maybe it lipped out? Not even close.
Tyler - It was the worst putt of my life! Gosh!
Cathy - I did enjoy my time on that beautiful golf course. A windmill might have helped my putt.
Scott - Naaaah. You only missed this blog entry by six other entries.

Thanks for having some fun with me and letting me have some fun with you. My goal was to get you to interact with this blog. I'll get back to more serious things in the near future and I hope you feel free to leave a comment. I really appreciate the interaction. God bless YOU.

Blogging 101

NEWS FLASH: ONLY TWO MORE COMMENTS NEEDED!!!! RESPOND NOW-END THE SUSPENSE.

If you look to right of this column you will see the Blakey Blogroll. This provides you with links to the blog sites of the other Blakeys. Sometimes it seems like we are writing to ourselves. One Blakey will write a blog and then some other Blakeys comment on it. Why don't we just send e-mails? Because we know that YOU are out there. Yes, that means YOU. We know that YOU are reading our blogs. One of my sons has some sophisticated tracking systems and he knows that some of YOU are linking to his blog from mine. So YOU are leaving an internet trail but YOU are just not identifying yourself.

Since my recent blogs have been on discipling, I thought I would walk YOU through how to leave a comment. At the bottom of this column YOU will see "comments." Click on the "comments" and a pop-up will appear. YOU simply type YOUR comment and then sign YOUR name. YOU could leave YOUR comment anonymously, but YOU don't want to do that. YOU either put your name or if YOU are a blogger, YOU sign YOUR blog name. Then YOU click on publish and YOUR comment is there. See how easy it is.

Since YOU may not know what to say, I'm going to make it even easier for YOU. Above is a picture of me about to attempt a 20 foot birdie putt on the 5th green at Spyglass Hill Golf Course. All YOU have to leave in the comment section is "Yes" if YOU think I made the putt or "No' if YOU think I missed the putt. How easy is that? After I get about 20 responses I will post another column with the answer.

In discipling we are always looking for F.A.T. people. People who are Faithful, Available, and Teachable. The success of my blog discipling will depend on whether or not YOU are F.A.T.

I hope to hear form many of YOU. May God bless YOU, whoever YOU are.

Update as of 9/9/05: Wow! 10 responses already! We're half way there. All we need is for 10 more of YOU to respond and then I'll give the rest of the story. I know that YOU are out there. Follow the example of the others and make YOUR comment today.

Update as of 9/11/05: Thanks for all the kind comments that have been left. I have been encouraged by reading what YOU have said. Let me respond to some specific comments:
Gary: Of course, I always use Titleist ProV1's. Thanks again.
Bobby and Christa: So you think you know me?. I'd only ask the question if I made the putt?. All I can say is judge not, lest ye be judged :)
Diana, Brad, Evan, Ben: Thanks for your comments regarding my golfing ability and commitment (hardcore to the bone).
Darcie, Darcie, Darcie: A birdie is one better than par. So, on this particular hole the par was a three. I was putting for a two. Congratulations, though, on successfully posting a comment and officially entering the blogosphere.

There was one of YOU who entered a comment on another entry, so actually the count right now is 14. If you want me to answer the question you are all waiting for, we need 6 more of YOU to respond. I know that there are way more than 6 of YOU looking in on this blog, so log on and get in the game.

May God bless YOU all this week.