Ryan Paulson

I absolutely love spending time with my two kids – especially outside! Seeing them run around and play together is the best. We have this sand box in our backyard. It has sand on one side and water in the other.

Here is what I’ve noticed about watching them play out there; I spend most of my time telling Avery not to eat the sand or drink the nasty water. The funny thing is that every time I tell her she looks at me like I’m crazy. If you have kids, you know that look!

So, I’m in the backyard today, we’re playing, I’m telling Avery once again to get contaminated water out of her mouth, and it strikes me… This is how I often respond to God. He tells me that things are contaminated; that they are bad for me, but I look at him like he’s crazy. Like he’s trying to rob me of some joy.

I’m reminded this morning that he is a loving father. That he is for me, not against me, and that he wants my joy more than I do.

So, today I’m trying not to look at Him like he’s crazy. Hope you will too.

I was rereading the Christmas story again this week. As I posted earlier, my prayer this year has been that I can hear the story fresh again. As I was reading through Luke 2 this morning, one of the things that angels said stood out to me. In the angels’ announcement to the shepherds they state,

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

If you read through the Christmas story, there are a significant number of mentions of joy. I think this passage in Luke is the pinnacle. Can you imagine the heavens opening up and angels declaring that the JOY of the Lord is coming to earth in the form of a little baby that has been born in Bethlehem? Wow. However, I think we can agree that joy is an elusive idea. it’s something that we have a hard time explaining, and something that we often have an even harder time experiencing. In fact, I think that we often tell people (maybe subtly) that joy isn’t something you experience, it’s just something you know cognitively.

As I read through the story, I was struck by the fact that I think for many years I have misunderstood joy. I’ve often taught, and heard taught many times, that the joy that God brings is a joy that comes regardless of circumstances. It is an inner cheerfulness or happiness that is detached from reality, but grounded in God (or something like that…). Many people say it is detached from the things in life that we are going through, and therefore, whatever you are facing in life you can still have joy. While that’s a comforting idea, I do not think it is a biblical explanation of joy… at all.

Here is the problem with the previously stated view of joy; joy in the scriptures in general, but definitely in this passage, is directly tied to circumstances. The angels announcement does not read, “Take heart, don’t fear, nothing in your life is going to change… but you will now have joy.” No, no, no! The angels state that everything is changing because a savior is going to be born! The coming of a savior is directly tied to our joy… it was back then and it is today. And it was the coming of the savior that changed their circumstances – maybe not materially, but in a definite real way.

I think that the problem for us is that Christianity and faith in general has become such an ethereal thing that we fail to realize that our salvation actually does change our circumstances! Paul writes in Ephesians 1:3, “We have been (past tense) blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ…” Instead of thinking that joy comes without regard to circumstances, biblical joy says that God has directly and eternally changed your circumstances. Biblical joy says that what you have in Christ, ow, today, is better than anything difficult you could ever go through. Better in a very real way! That’s where Paul lands in his great exposition of joy in the book of Philippians. Yes he’s in jail. And yes his situation is difficult, but for him Jesus is simply better (Phil 3:7-11). We just have such a hard time believing that; it’s easier for us to keep it as an other worldly thing altogether. But that isn’t biblical joy.

Biblical JOY boldly states that Jesus has come… and He has changed everything.

I was reading through the Christmas story in the gospel of Luke the other day. One of the things about Christmas is that ever year it’s the same story! Mary is always pregnant as a virgin, there is never any room in the inn, and everyone is always scared of the angels. I hate to spoil this for you, but it will be the same next year too!

It’s like every morning waking up in my house. Every day Ethan gets up at about 6:00, and every day (at least for the last month) he wants to watch Meet the Robinsons. Every stinking morning! I know that movie inside and out. I’m no longer surprised by anything in it, it’s not too exciting, and my overall opinion of the movie continues to lower. I wonder how many of us look at the Christmas story in the same way. It can be difficult to hear the story fresh, and I think we can agree, it’s a story that worth hearing in a fresh way. That’s been my goal for this year… To hear the story fresh again; as though I’d meet heard it before.

That’s what I want for this Christmas. I’m praying that the good news of a messiah born would hit me in the way that it hit the first hearers. That it would shock me. That it would encourage me. That it would cause me to talk about it. That it would cause my affection for Jesus to overflow! Lord, give me new ears to hear Your story this year!

One of things that I love about our community at theWELL is the amazing way that God is demonstrating His grace in the lives of our students. We want to capture and tell the stories of some of the unreal things he is doing, the way he is bringing freedom to people, and the way that our students are experiencing life to the full.

Here is Ashley’s story:

This weekend I have the chance to head up to Mammoth with 25 of our student leaders and staff. I’M really excited for this time together. As I think about retreats, there are a few reasons that I get excited for them

1. They build community! There are a few reasons for this. First, we have an extended amount of time together. I usually get a few hours with our students each week (if I’m lucky), but this weekend I will get a few days with some key people – and community will be formed. We will get the chance to play together and enjoy beautiful Mammoth. Second, people are away from their normal surrounds and are open to new things.

2. We get to do some leader specific training and encouraging. Our student leaders give so much to this ministry and I’m always grateful for the chance to pour back into them.

3. We will have the chance to cast vision for the coming year. I’m excited to hear from students about how they think the ministry is going and the things that God has laid on their hearts. I think too often as staff we operate as a silo. I’m excited for for students to give input and take ownership.

4. People will walk away with more of an investment in the ministry. As we spend time thinking about, strategizing for, and praying for TheWell, we will all walk away with a greater excitement about what God is going to do in and through this ministry.

5. A few games of Settlers will be played!

I’m excited for this weekend. Mammoth, here we come!

As I read through the New Testament, my favorite sections are always Pauline Epistles. I love the way that he writes so logically; he makes arguments, supports them, unpacks them, and makes his point. The way that God used him to explain and unpack Christian theology of salvation has left the world forever changed. The only problem I have with Paul is that he just seems so together. He’s not like David who, one Psalm is praising God for his goodness and then one Psalm later is crying out to him wondering where he is. I can relate to that spiritual schizophrenia! But Paul, most of the time he just seems like he has it so together. Which is one of the reasons that I love the passage that I get to preach on tonight. Here is how Philippians 3:12-16 reads,

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

So here is what Paul said. In verses 3:7-11 Paul sets out the goal of the Christian life. That Christ would be ALL. That he would be our supreme desire, our highest motivation, and that we might consider everything else garbage compared to the surpassing greatness to knowing him. But in this passage he says that he hasn’t achieved that yet. And all of a sudden Paul gets a little bit more accessible! I love that he admits that to us. Think about everything that Paul has seen and done. He’s planted numerous churches, heard the voice of God audibly, seen people healed… and he says, “Yeah, but I haven’t arrived yet.” The reason that I love this passage so much is that it’s real. I can relate to it.

I know that I’m moving forward and that I’m growing like crazy in my relationship with the Lord, but I also have this deep seeded conviction that I haven’t arrived… and that I never fully will this side of heaven! As I thought about it, the sense that this is extremely good news for us welled up in my soul. Here are 5 reasons that I think this is really good news for us:

1. It keeps you dependent on Christ. You are tethered to him because you know you haven’t arrived. Grace is (hopefully) fresh to you daily. It isn’t that you needed grace… you need grace.
2. It keeps your pride in check – and as a people, we need that.  If we haven’t arrived, what do we have to be prideful about? Hopefully we never come off hypocritical – because we are saying that we haven’t arrived and that we are still people in need of the grace of God today.
3. It allows you to hear other people. If you know you haven’t arrived, you should be open to hearing the way that your actions may have hurt another person and ways that you can improve. If we have this attitude, there is no reason for us to make excuses or blame other people. You don’t need to keep up the facade of perfection – we know you’re not… and you know you’re not.
4. It allows us to be a community of grace. We aren’t expecting perfection from ourselves, nor are we expecting it from other people, we are resting and relying on grace. And… it’s GRACE that really transforms. Moralism can restrain the heart, but only grace can transform the heart. And God wants for you the freedom and joy of a transformed heart – and that’s a life long process dependent on his grace.
5. It brings about your freedom: This is connected to point 4, but needs its own slot. Freedom does not come from perfection or arrival, freedom comes an acknowledgment of our need for God’s grace and His provision of it. It’s this realization of our justification that brings about our sanctification. That’s freedom. If freedom were to come through arrival, then none of us would be able to live in it.

So, to quote Paul… “Press on!” Chase after Jesus. strive by grace to be more like him, to submit more of your life to him, and walk in the joy and life that he designed you for. Hopefully Philippians 3 is an encouragement to you today. I can’t wait to preach it tonight!

“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.”
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Over the last week I have been studying Numbers 13 and 14. It’s the section of scripture where Moses sends 12 spies into the Promise Land to see what the people are like, how big the cities are, and how rich the land is. The spies come back and report that the land is unbelievable (flowing with milk and honey), but that the cities are large and fortified and that the people are like giants. God assures his people that he will fight for them and that all they need to do to be victorious is step out and trust him. But, as is the case for me so many times, the people fail to trust God. They are intimidated by the people and the resistance they know they are going to face. And, as a result, God tells them that they will wander around in the desert for 40 years. That’s a long time, but God declared that none of the adults who were alive then would ever enter the Promise Land – except for Joshua and Caleb (the only 2 spies who encourage the people to trust God). I guess God is pretty put off by unbelief!

All that’s interesting, but the part of the story that really got me was the way that Moses acted as a mediator between the people and God. After the people sin against God, Moses goes to God and begs him to forgive the people and relent from destroying them. Here is how his plea reads in Numbers 14:17-19

[17] And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, [18] ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ [19] Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.” (Numbers 14:17-19 ESV)

What a bold move by Moses. He definitely had a unique relationship with God. And, maybe more amazing was that God heard his cry and responded to it. God relented of the destruction that he wanted to bring about to Israel. Verse 21 states that He does in fact forgive them, but he still will not let them enter the Promise Land. He essentially says that he forgives them, but that there are going to be repercussions for their disobedience. As a mediator, Moses is able to fight for the forgiveness of the people, and God responds to that plea, but he is unable to fight for life and blessing. God forgives, but the people wander in the wilderness for 40 years!

As I’ve read and reread this passage over the last week, I keep thinking to myself – I am glad that we have a better mediator! Moses serves as the mediator for the people of Israel, but in many ways he points to a better mediator (Heb 3:1-6) who was yet to come – Jesus Christ. For those of us in Christ, he is now our mediator. Paul states this clearly in 1 Timothy when he writes, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…” And, he is not only our mediator, but he is a far superior mediator to Moses. He reigns supreme in this role for a few reasons:

1. He not only pleas with God for our forgiveness, but he purchases it. (Eph 1:7, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 10)
2. He constantly intercedes for us. (Romans 8:34)
3. He destroys the hold that the fear of death once held on humanity. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
4. He not only purchases our forgiveness, but earns for us new life! (2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 6:4)

What Moses could do in part, Jesus does in whole. Moses is unable to move beyond forgiveness to newness of life, but Jesus ushers his people into to life abundant. There is no need for wandering if we are in Him!

“God’s aim in human history is the creation of an inclusive community of loving persons, with himself included as its primary sustainer and most glorious inhabitant.”
- Dallas Willard

I am finishing my sermon series on the Farewell Discourse this Sunday at theWELL. Even though chapter 17 of John isn’t technically in the ‘discourse,’ I’m including it anyway because it is just such a perfect way to lead up to the cross.

As I’m starting to study this week, I am just struck by the fact that hours before Jesus goes to the cross to give his life for the sins of the world, he prays for us. He prays for his disciples who were with him on that eternity changing night, and he prays for those who will follow. So, if you’re a believer in Jesus… He prayed for you!

Here’s what he prayed,

[20] “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, [21] that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22] The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, [23] I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. [24] Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. [25] O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. [26] I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:20-26 ESV)

What a gift we have in being able to see into the heart and mind of the savior hours before he dies. There are 2 things that Jesus focuses on in his prayer for us.

1. That we would be unified. He says it a few different times (v. 21, 22, 23). I guess the unity of believers was pretty important to Jesus. I wonder if he is pleased with how we are doing today?
2. The second thing he says is that we might know the love of God – that it might be “in us.” In a very deep, life-changing way.

I’m challenged by this prayer. I’m excited to study it more and hopefully, through the Spirit of God, make it come alive for students at theWELL on Sunday night.