by Caleb Moore | Sep 28, 2017
When I was a senior in high school I was kicked out of church. I wasn’t excommunicated for any egregious sin or for teaching false theology. No, I was told that I asked too many questions.
My questions were not silly or meant to cause conflict, I was genuinely curious. I was old enough to drive myself to church which, in my family, meant that I was also old enough to decide if I wanted to go to Sunday school or not. My parents encouraged me to find my own faith in God instead of relying solely on theirs.
Even with the very tempting option of sleeping another hour, I still went to Sunday School because I had lots of questions. I wanted to know why God allowed evil, why good people often died too young, how science and religion worked together; it seemed that there was no end to the questions I had swirling around my young mind.
However, every Sunday, I would arrive early for Sunday School, and the teacher would spend 15-20 minutes conversing about NASCAR or his job with the other adult volunteers before saying a quick prayer and then dismissing us to our smaller group sessions. I made attempts to interrupt, wanting to ask just one of my questions about life and faith, yet each time the teacher would gesture for me to put my hand down and continue conversing with the other adults.
In a moment of frustration I blurted out loudly, “I don’t think God cares about your dumb NASCAR, and neither do we!”
Later that evening the teacher called and recommended that I not return until I could learn to behave. I might not have been the ideal student, but I did really want to learn and grow in my faith. I was tired of the same stories being retaught every year. I was tired of my school being more intentional at answering questions than my church. There was a war in the culture for the hearts of the youth, and the church seemed to be late to the battlefield.
Disillusioned, I church-shopped until I found a youth pastor who took me under his wing. While I was on a mission trip, I got word that my new mentor had taken his own life. He had gone to the garage with a gun in one hand and a Bible in the other. It was soon revealed that he had made some poor decisions that would have cost him his job and possibly his family, so he took his life instead of dealing with the pain.
I can still remember how I felt when I got that news, because, for me, that was the day I decided God was not real.
It would take years before I came back around. God did a lot of work in repairing the wounds I felt as a young man. Thankfully, the Spirit of God is stronger than any mistake or pain we might receive or cause. I eventually entered into the ministry with the desire to answer as many questions as possible and to be the kind of teacher I had so desperately needed.
All of us who make up the Body of Christ have two biblically mandated responsibilities. We are to teach those who are younger than us, and we are to strive to live holy and honest lives, so that our words will not be disqualified by our actions.
We always complain about the faults and shortcomings of the current generation, but perhaps our time is better spent pouring God’s truth into their lives. Kids don’t need more fun youth activities; they need the full scope of God’s love and truth.
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).
by Caleb Moore | Sep 12, 2017
Many years ago I saw the popular Christian speaker Louie Giglio perform a sermon illustration that I thought was rather impactful. As a young youth minister, I was quick to take something that was helpful and use it in my own sermons.
The illustration involved Louie taking a long mirror and discussing how we were created to reflect God. He would talk of how Adam and Eve perfectly reflected God to the rest of the world.
I used this illustration on several occasions. Often times, I ended up blinding half the congregation as the bright stage lights would reflect off the mirror directly into the pupil of some unsuspecting kid. I could just hear the lawsuits coming as a parent described my actions that exploded the retina of little Johnny with the power of a thousand suns.
In spite of the possible legal ramifications I continued using the mirror illustration in sermons. The dramatic turning point arrived when I would take a rock, and pretend to pluck it from some invisible tree, illustrating Eve taking the forbidden fruit. This followed with a swift swing of my arm which shattered the mirror, leaving the audience gasping in shock.
It was a great way to show the damage of sin. It was an even greater way to slice your hand open on broken glass. I still hold the record at one Christian camp for being the speaker who bled the most on the stage.
The last time I performed this illustration several fingers were deeply lacerated by broken shards of glass. I did my best to conceal the ever-growing flow of blood racing down my hand onto the floor from the youth pastors and students in the congregation, but those in the worship band behind me quietly requested a medic because they were certain I would collapse at any moment. That evening I gave one of the fastest alter calls in history and quickly made my way off the stage with most people never realizing I had injured my hand.
It’s a shame that such a good illustration comes at such a high risk of dismemberment because it says so much about why we exist. Though the image gets broken because of sin, our duty to reflect God never changes. Our ability to be imagers was tarnished but our purpose to reflect God to others still remains. You can still do what you were created to do.
However, instead of walking through the garden being the crystal clear imagers that God created us to be, we walk through valleys that loom with the shadow of death. We walk through pain and sorrow, heartache and loss. Yet in spite of our change in topography, our role as imagers remains.
What do you reflect? Do your personal aspirations reflect the kingdom of your choosing? Or are you learning to look more Jesus?
So many people struggle with doubt and depression, worn out from attempting to build their own kingdom. Something within them compels them to build, so they punch the clock one more time and drag themselves through a day that offers little-to-no reward, always wondering why the kingdom they are building doesn’t satisfy. The answer is simple; it’s the wrong kingdom you are building.
Others are not depressed at all. They strive at the chance to keep building. They set a goal, reach it and then press on harder to the next prize. Yet apart from building the right kingdom we build nothing but sand castles that are washed away by the coming tide. And the tide always comes.
Few people are remembered for more than a generation after they pass. Even those we once held dear, their names become something we only mention quietly at holiday gatherings. It is likely that my great-great-grandkids will know little or nothing about me.
So unless I am a part of building God’s eternal kingdom, whatever I build is futile. My prayer is that as you grow, people will see less and less of you and more of God and His sanctuary of Grace.
by Caleb Moore | Aug 10, 2017
If you ever happen to find yourself in the home of someone who practices the Muslim faith, look around and see if you can find a high shelf with a book perched on top. In many Muslim homes the Qur’an is considered a sacred book.
Traditionally, as a sign of respect for their scriptures, it is always kept on the highest shelf in the home so that it is above all other books. To them this book is sacred. The idea of certain things being sacred has a long history that is often forgotten in our current culture. In the Old Testament, there were sacred geographical areas, sacred buildings, sacred writings and sacred people.
I believe we don’t use the term “sacred” often enough anymore. As Christians, we believe that marriage is sacred, and it is for that reason we discourage the idea of divorcing or redefining what the term means.
We also believe that all life is sacred, which is why we fight against abortion and encourage adoption. The term “sacred” helps us communicate that we are not just against certain ideas, but that we believe things like life and marriage have a very important spiritual foundation to them.
However, it must be noted that we see even the church struggle with views on marriage and life, and perhaps that is because we have lost the sacredness when it comes to our Scriptures. Few things are to be as sacred to us as Gods word.
The term “sacred” can have several definitions, but it essentially means that something is set apart for the use of worship. In our everyday lives there are common objects and ideas, and there are also sacred objects and ideas.
Your body is a sacred object to be used for worship. Your Bible is not a sacred object, but it contains sacred words. Unlike Muslims, who put their book on a shelf as an act of respect, we are told to place the words of God on our hearts so that we might not sin against God.
I spend my days reading and studying God’s word, and I can testify that familiarity can breed contentment. This is why I have to daily remind myself that the words I am reading are not just words of advice but are the very thoughts of God.
I find that when I take a moment to remember that these words are sacred, then I slow down when I read and find myself fascinated by the thought that God not only loves me, but He wants to talk to me.
When I was in high school, I threw a wild party while my parents traveled abroad. In spite of my best efforts to clean the house and remove all signs of my rebellion before they returned, my father could tell what had transpired. I remember him explaining why my offense was so great. It wasn’t that I merely threw a party; it was the fact that I did it in a home that God had provided.
My dad saw our house as something more than bricks and mortar; he saw it as a sacred space. It was God’s house; He had merely loaned it to us. His words cut deep to my heart, and many years later I still apply that lesson to my life.
I had never thought of our home as a sacred place before, but when I became a believer His word, all the things He had blessed me with took on a new purpose. It is because of Scripture that we know marriage, life and so many other things are set apart for use by God.
This week my prayer is that we will remember the sacred and place God’s word on the top shelf of our hearts.
by Caleb Moore | Jul 27, 2017
Once again, our favorite web slinger swings into the theaters competing for our money alongside several other comic book-based movies. I am not your average superhero movie fan; I have been collecting comic books in a serious way since I was a child.
Every week I make my way to the local comic shop to pick up the latest issue of books. Spider-Man has long been one of my favorites out of all the comic book movie franchises – that was until Sony Pictures released two below average movies starring Andrew Garfield as the hipster version of Spider-Man.
The previous two Spider-Man movies were dark in tone and devoid of the youthful glee that is expected from our friendly neighborhood Spiderman. With Tom Holland now taking his turn in the blue and red suit, we return to the fun and youthful Peter Parker learning how to manage high school along with his newly-found super powers.
Thankfully, we don’t have yet another origin story reminding us how he got his powers. I think just about everyone knows how Spiderman got his powers by now. After making a big splash in the movie Captain America: Civil War in 2016, Peter Parker is back in school, longing for another chance to fight along side his idols.
None other than the man in the Iron suit, Tony Stark, is mentoring Peter Parker. Young Peter is in a hurry to take on bigger and tougher foes, but Tony attempts to constrain him to smaller task while he learns what it means to be a hero.
Thankfully, this didn’t turn into Iron Man 4. Stark’s appearances are brief and only help to move the story along. It was also a delight to see Michael Keaton as the nemesis playing an updated version of The Vulture, one of Spidey’s oldest foes in the comics.
What you see in this movie is what you often see in real life. There are three stages in maturity whether that is with children or discipleship. The first stage is when you are a sponge, absorbing everything that you are being taught.
The second stage is what I call the “teenage years of leadership.” You’ve got enough information, and you now think you know better than the one who taught you. This is where much of the conflict lies in Spiderman: Homecoming.
Peter Parker has a little experience and thinks he should be trusted with more responsibility. If you have ever tried to teach and disciple others then you know how frustrating this stage can be.
The final stage is when the student appreciates all that the teacher has tried to teach them and gains some hard-earned humility. Director Jon Watts does a decent job of walking us through all these stages while still keeping the humor and action you expect.
Although this film was far better than the last two, it still doesn’t have some of the magic that can be found in the original trilogy of Spider-Man movies. Tobey Maguire will always be my favorite actor to portray the character. But with Sony now partnering with Marvel on this big dollar franchise, I assume things can only get better.
by Caleb Moore | Jul 6, 2017
Every spiritual gift has a downside. I have the spiritual gift of teaching, which means listening to others isn’t something that comes easily for me. If you are designed to be a talker, it’s easy to think that you always have something important to say.
Having been married for the last nine years, I have been strongly encouraged to become a better listener; at least I think that is what she is saying. Perhaps you know someone who has the spiritual gift of generosity, and if left to their own impulses they would give away their house, their car and everything else they owned to the first person they saw. I think the same could be said for any spiritual gift. A talent taken to the extreme can become a hindrance instead of a blessing.
This is becoming painfully obvious in today’s culture with those who have the gift of compassion. I have seen it affect the theology of many God-fearing individuals, and it all seems to center around the issue of sexuality.
I recently served at several youth camps in various states where I taught on the issue of sexuality and God’s design for men and women. The people who struggle with this idea the most are those to whom God has given a heart of care and compassion. Compassion, when taken too far can lead people to a place changing cultural morality above the everlasting teachings of God.
I can understand that, for some, it’s a difficult line to see. How do we teach the loving commands of God to those who have a morality that does not line up with God’s teachings? Do we just take the Bible and beat them over the head with commandments? Do we just ignore it and hope that God brings them? Or, as some have done, do we ignore what we know to be true in our minds so that out hearts are free to accept things God does not find acceptable?
Some Christians struggle to find a way to completely love those in the LGBTQ community and still be faithful to God’s teachings. But Scripture is clear about sexuality and that we are always to stand on the side of truth. Isaiah 5:20 reminds us, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness…”
I do think that there is a solution to this dilemma for those with the gift of compassion. Whenever I teach on this subject I always emphasize the ways in which Jesus is better. Whatever freedom and liberation is claimed by the world by the addition of new labels and gender types, Jesus is truly more liberating and more freeing.
I encourage people to love their gay and lesbian friends more fully, not less. The type of liberation that the world offers only comes with more chains. The world’s idea of freedom is nothing more than the creation of a new label. Switching from one prison to another is not freedom, yet this is all the world has to offer.
Jesus is the only one who can truly free us from the labels of the world. If God has blessed you with the heart of compassion I want you to really know, that Jesus is always the better option.