Lessons from the book of Hebrews

Run the race well. Fix your eyes on the prize. Don't forget why you are running and the hopes and dreams who wish to obtain. Realize that there will be those who want to see you fail. But also many who have already finished the race and are cheering you on. Embrace discipline as you daily train. Get rid of every hindrance that keeps you from running your best race.

These are some of the lessons from the book of Hebrews. I just finished studying the book with a group of friends. Below are some of the important lessons I am taking with me from the book and also how I hope to apply those lessons to my life.

Lesson One: do we want to know God? Do we wish to know His character and His mind? Study Christ. Hebrews 1:3, "Christ is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature..."

Lesson Two: One of the great dangers in the Christian life is apathy. Every day we need to prepare our heart for battle to fight the tendency to drift. Hebrews 2:1, "Pay close attention to this gospel, lest we drift away from it."

Lesson Three: Never quit. Have you given in to a sin every day for the last 10 years? Today is the day to start taking back territory from the enemy. Have you drifted away from Christ? Today is the day to re-engage in the battle and cling to Him who leads us in war against sin and every evil force. Hebrews 3:14-15, "Encourage each other every day as long as it is called "today" that none of you are hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end."

Lesson Four: Rest in the finished work of Christ to secure our salvation but do not rest from doing good works in response to this radical grace. Christ worked and then rested. We rest in Him; work for Him and then enter His rest (Heaven). We can approach Him with confidence to receive His grace daily as we strive to live for Him. Hebrews 4:16, "Let us draw near to the throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace in the time of need."

Lesson Five: Embracing suffering as the path to obedience is the normal Christian life. Through many trials and hardships, we will enter the kingdom of Heaven. Hebrews 5:8-9, "Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what He suffered. And being made perfect, He became the source of salvation to all who obey Him."

Lesson Six: We have a strong encouragement to hold fast to the promise of God- His guarantee of an oath and the unchangeable nature of His character. Our hope in Christ is a steadfast anchor for the soul. Hebrews 6:12, "Do not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

Lesson Seven: A multitude of priests served the people before Christ- constantly offering temporary sacrifices for sins. Jesus is our permanent Priest- He offers a forever sacrifice for our sins. Hebrews 7:16, "He became a Priest not on the basis of lineage, but by the power of an indestructible life."

Lesson Eight: God is in the business of installing the new covenant in our lives. He wrote His laws on tablets to the people of Israel under the Prophets. Now he writes His laws on our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 8:10, "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: 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."

Lesson Nine: This life is our opportunity. There is no reincarnation; no second chances to respond to the purposes of God. He appeared once to deal with sin. He will appear a second time to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. Hebrews 9:27-28, "And just as it is appointed for man to die once and after comes judgment, so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."

Lesson Ten: God will remember our sins no more. We can never be more justified in God's eyes than we are now. God has dealt with the consequences of sin through the sinless death of Christ. In response, we are called to hold to Christ unswervingly. We are to encourage each other in fellowship and spur each other on to do good deeds. Hebrews 10:36, "For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised."

Lesson Eleven: It is impossible to please God without faith. We have faith that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. Faith does not guarantee a life of blessings. Some people receive blessings from God for faithfulness in this life. Others get killed; live in caves; are considered outcasts. God has purposes for each of us, but one thing is certain: He is just. He will right all wrongs in eternity. Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Lesson Twelve: Embrace discipline as our friend. We have a race to run. Don't ask the question is it sinful? Ask- does it hinder my ability to run my best race? Sanctification is a process that is 100% the work of the Holy Spirit in us. And 100% our striving to be trained well for the race. Without holiness we will not see God. We receive an unshakable kingdom, we must be thankful and worship God with reverence and awe. Hebrews 12:1-2, "Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Lesson Thirteen: Show love to strangers and fellow Christians. Be submissive to authority. Flee sexual immorality. Shun greed. Hebrews 13:5, "Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'"

Application to my life: Hebrews was a much needed wake up call for me. Apathy in the Christian life had set in. Sins that I used to battle against were creeping in and taking up residence in my heart. Weeds were overtaking the garden. The book was a glass of ice cold water in my face as I fell asleep. I thank God for it.

The message of Hebrews is to not drift; hold on tight; fight; run the race hard and steady; go to war each day; strive for the things of God each day. My applications were two things:

One- a renewed commitment to spend time with the Lord at a set time each morning. Reading His word; keeping journals of prayers for a transformed life; my kids; and the clients God has entrusted to me. I have made a commitment to memorize a verse of Scripture every day. How great would it be to have 365 verses of Scripture stored away in the heart each year? And over 3000 verses in the course of 10 years?

Two- redeeming the time at the end of the day. I had fell into a pattern of retreat from 6pm-9pm (watching TV; wanting time to myself, etc...) instead of investing that time in my kids. So my renewed focus to redeem that time engaging with my family and taking a no/low technology pledge during those hours.

Resources if you want to study Hebrews:

Hebrews for Everyone by N.T. Wright: quick overview of the book.

The Letter to the Hebrews (Pillar Commentary Series) by Peter O'Brien: worth the effort; readable in depth study of Hebrews.

John Piper Sermon Series on Hebrews: 52 sermons; typical Piper- outstanding and Christ centered; no fluff.

For the glory of Christ,

Ashley Hodge

Quotes

I'm a lover of quotes. Here are a few that I wrote down this week while studying the book of Hebrews and some other quotes I have pondered recently.

John Calvin: In each of our hearts are the seeds of insanity. Our will is carried away by some sort of insane impulse to rebel against God... even though we know rebellion leads to despair and death. And obedience leads to peace and life.

CS Lewis: Those who claim Jesus knows nothing of weakness make a ridiculous claim. Those who give in to temptation after 5 minutes of struggle against it know nothing about temptation. Only those who struggle day after day in the face of temptation and yet do not give in... those are the ones who know fully about weakness and temptation. We have a high priest who identifies with our struggles.

From the Stewardship Bible: In the old covenant, the people of God offered sacrifices and tithes in anticipation of something greater. Under the new covenant, we give and sacrifice to God in response to the fulfillment of that promise.

Henry David Thoreau: Most men live lives of quiet desperation. I have chosen to live deliberately.

Also I think about this scene from the movie the Book of Eli. To me it differentiates the mindset of someone who believes God's goodness is dependent on circumstances versus a person of faith who believes God is always good despite circumstances.

There is a gun battle between Carnegie (an evil leader of a town) and his men versus Eli/Solara (the heroes in the movie).

Eli (Denzel Washington) is seriously wounded. Carnegie comes up to him and is about to finish him off.

Carnegie: "God is good, isn't He?" (sarcasm)
Eli: "All the time."
Carnegie: "Not all the time" (as he shoots Eli and leaves him for dead)

I thought about that scene as I read Romans 8:35-39:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What an encouraging word! No trial or amount of suffering in this world can take from us the promise of God's Presence and God's Place- Heaven/the new Jeru (city)Salem (of peace).

For God's Glory,

Ashley Hodge

Conversations

I'm blessed to have relationships with many godly men and women as clients, friends and mentors. Here are some snippets of things going through my mind lately- most of which had been gleaned from conversations with these people.

Marriage/relationship advice: don't read books on your needs or love languages which tend to focus your mind on how your spouse is falling short in those areas. Instead, concentrate on loving God and how your relationship with your spouse or friend is an outpouring of your desire to serve God.

Drifting: The dangers in the Christian life are not usually the sinful behaviors we know are wrong and repentant about- lust, pride, greed, deceit, selfishness. The chief danger in the Christian life is usually related to drifting away. Hebrews 2:1, "We must pay careful attention, therefore to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away." Good things in life become idols- basketball, golf, the pursuit of money, family, vacations, friendships. These things must always be viewed as resources to honor Christ and not ultimate pursuits.

Contentment: the mature person is grateful every day. Much of the world spends their time, money and energy pursuing clean water and food. Anyone reading this is blessed beyond measure and needs to be reminded daily how merciful God is to us. We deserve God's wrath. He has poured out mercy upon us. We are called to be a funnel for His mercy. A comical reminder that we live in an amazing time.

Fundamentals: we never outgrow the need to practice the fundamentals of the Christian faith. Every day we must stay on the path towards God- prayer; studying the Word; encouraging each other with truth; serving others. Without the daily practice of these disciplines we drift. Psalms 1:1-2, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night."

Without this meditation, we start by walking in the counsel of the wicked. Then we stand and stay awhile. The final progression is pitching our tent near Sodom and sitting down with the mockers. Only a holding on to Jesus daily will prevent our hearts from growing cold and finding comfort in the pleasures of sin.

Fix Your Thoughts on Jesus,

Ashley Hodge

Random Thoughts

I'm thankful to live in a country that enjoys a great deal of freedom and prosperity. I'm grateful for the sacrifices that many have made to make the United States a great nation. I realize that there is a tension between freedom and entitlements. The further we move down the road towards entitlements- government funded health care; government funded education; government funded retirement, etc... the less freedom we will enjoy. I am praying for our nation and hopeful that better days lie ahead.

I recently watched the "Book of Eli". Very violent film with bad language. But the faithfulness to a message of preserving the Word of God at all costs was inspiring. I thought Denzel Washington did an excellent job as Eli- a man who felt the Holy Spirit was guiding him to an unknown place to deliver the last Holy Bible remaining on Earth in a post-apocalyptic world. Definitely made me meditate on how important it is to treasure and memorize the Word of God.

Some books that I have been working on lately:

Genesis: Beginning and Blessings by Kent Hughes- highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to study a book of the Bible that is integral to the Christian faith. The book is a commentary on all 50 chapters of Genesis but the chapters are usually less than 10 pages so it makes for a good devotional each day.

Hole in the Gospel by Richard Stearns- Stearns is the President of World Vision. He calls Christians to demonstrate the hope of the gospel in practical ways to a hurting world. This book came highly recommended by two of clients who I respect immensely. So I felt God was trying to get my attention to read it.

Some advice that I have been gleaning from the plethora of investment articles and conference calls that I have been listening to:

Emerging market stocks and high quality multinational stocks appear to have the most favorable risk/reward characteristics of the stock market- Jeremy Grantham

Deficits, debt and demographics are major headwinds for investment returns. An inflation spike is probable in the next 10 years due to the need to devalue our debt problems as a nation. Buy the inflation protection now while it is cheap to buy (TIPs; commodities; shorting long-term treasuries)- Rob Arnott

Concentrate on stock, bond and real estate investments that pay consistent income and funds that have the flexibility to move between asset classes (absolute return funds); these type of investments do much better in the environment we are in. Steer clear of investments that depend on debt to grow- David Rosenberg

I'm thankful that Baylor survived the conference realignment discussions and continued as a member of the Big 12 (minus 2). I'm a basketball junkie and I have really enjoyed Baylor's ascent as a basketball program. Playing on television a lot is critical to Baylor being able to continue to recruit well. I'm looking forward to a fun basketball season as a Baylor fan this year with a nucleus of Quincy Acy, Lace Dunn, AJ Walton and incoming freshman- Perry Jones who many predict to be drafted in the top 3 picks in the NBA draft in 2011. Andy Katz has Baylor #4 in his preseason ESPN poll.

Perry has sick talent- one of my dreams is to be able to play basketball like the video attached to his name in my resurrected body in a restored Earth.

Finally, I thought this quote was good that I heard on the Dennis Prager show today while driving around lunch time. "The believer in God has to explain the problem of evil. The believer in atheism has to explain everything else."

For God's glory,

Ashley Hodge

Need for Simplicity

Ecclesiastes 7:29, "See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes."

We make our lives more complicated than they need be. I was thinking today about how many people are employed in jobs only because human nature is to crave complexity versus simplicity.

Take the Christian faith. One of favorite authors JC Ryle said, "I wish to be as broad as the Bible, neither less nor more." How much more effective would the Christian faith be if all Christians lived by this motto? Millions of dollars are wasted in arguing over areas of the faith that the Bible is not crystal clear on. Seminaries are constructed to defend these doctrinal differences. In a class that I took at a seminary, my professor joked when discussing the mode of baptism, "This is what we call a theological controversy. Or in other words, job security for guys like me."

The tax code is another example. If you were designing a tax system from scratch would you ever dream of it being 70,320 pages long? I was chosen at random a couple of years ago for a line-by-line audit of my full tax return. There were some questions during the audit that came up where my auditor was confused as to what the tax law was. And how could you not be? A tax code that started with 400 pages in 1913 is now 176 times more complex.

In health care, 40% of the money that goes into the system never comes out. The middle consumes it- administration. That makes no sense. It is estimated that we spend over $700 billion per year on excess administrative costs. It would cost less than $200 billion per year to cover all the uninsured.

As humans, we are naturally predisposed to make our lives complicated. It is part of our fallen nature. But one of our greatest needs is to seek simplicity daily. John Piper in a sermon that I watched online recently proclaimed, "We never outgrow our need to hear the gospel." It is a simple faith. Question #1 in the 1647 Westminster Confession: "what is the chief end of man? To know God and enjoy Him forever." We could spend our whole life asking God to help us fulfill this.

The cares and clutter of life will consume us and render us ineffective if we allow it. I have some practical steps for simplifying life.

1. Time with God as the first priority of every day. Read and meditate on His word. Write down God's promises to you and commit them to memory. Keep a prayer journal where you record requests and answers to prayer.

2. In your work, focus on doing a few things well. Recently, I have kept a list of 4-5 things that I want to accomplish that day. Eliminate or decrease distractions. Set aside an hour each day to return phone calls and emails. Crave simple focus. Don't multitask. My wife- Amy- and I were watching a PBS program about the ineffectiveness of multitasking. The program showed the declining academic results at Ivy League schools because so many kids are using smartphones or laptops to surf the internet during lectures. Retention suffers dramatically when we don't give a task our full attention.

3. Set aside a few hours each day for relationships. Whether it is connecting with friends, family, neighbors or acquaintances, strive to give undivided attention to the relationships that you value. For me, 6pm- 8pm is this time daily.

4. Purge, purge, purge. Purge things out of your life every day. Possessions that are choking up space in your home need to be given away. Make it your motto in everything you do to find the simplest way to live. Don't sign up for activities that you don't value greatly. Don't be afraid to say "no". The good is the enemy to the great.

5. Simplify your health- being healthy usually comes down to 3 things: eating good foods but in less quantity; exercising 5 hours per week; and managing stress well by getting the proper amount of rest and keeping short accounts with God and others. Romans 12:18, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." Romans 12 is a simple approach to the Christian faith. It wouldn't be a bad idea to read these verses every day for a month so that they are imprinted on the mind and heart.

As always I preach to myself first.

For the simple life and faith,

Ashley Hodge

Ed Young Jr Follow-Up

Around four years ago I wrote some blogs about Ed Young Jr. of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. I questioned the transparency and financial ethics that were taking place in the leadership of the church.

Those blog posts can be found below:

http://stewardshipmandate.blogspot.com/2006/01/tale-of-two-pastors.html

http://stewardshipmandate.blogspot.com/2006/05/how-now-shall-we-give.html

This past week, I noticed some activity in the comment section of that first blog. I figured something was up. A friend informed me that WFAA- the ABC affiliate in Dallas/Fort Worth had run an investigative piece on Ed Young Jr concerning his luxurious lifestyle.

The video and article of that piece can be viewed here.

I take no joy in having insight or discernment on this issue. My commitment is to pray for Ed and the ministry of Fellowship Church and that others will not be lead astray by the false idols of prosperity and luxury. I believe many people have come to a conversion experience with Christ through Fellowship Church and I rejoice in that.

My concern is that what is taking place with the prosperity gospel crowd is potentially going to jeopardize tax-favored status for the majority of minsters of the gospel who are not earning large sums of money and who are laboring for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ.

Let's be serious here. Million dollar pastoral salaries; $240k per year "parsonage" allowances to buy and support expensive homes; using $8 million private jets purchased with church funds to travel and take personal vacations; dressing in the finest designer clothes; and undergoing elective plastic surgery are all viewed by most ordinary folks with disdain.

It would not shock me if tax exempt status for religious organizations is removed or revamped as a result. There are plenty of voices pushing for it already and stories like this give those voices ample ammunition. As the government looks for ways to increase revenue to pay for large deficits, ministries like Ed Young's that are allegedly using tax-exempt status to line pockets with wealth become easy prey.

Praying for an outcome that glorifies God,

Ashley Hodge