What are your goals for 2017? Perhaps you have a resolution. Maybe you don’t. My goal for this year is to be more like John the Baptist. My ultimate goal is to be like Jesus, but it is good to have others inspire you to be like Jesus. How do I want to be like JTB?

1. I want to be set apart for God – John wore camel’s hair and ate locusts and wild honey. He also served in the desert. Why? To be set apart and different than all the other so called religious leaders.

2. I want to stand for the truth – John was a man who spoke the truth whether popular or not.

3. I want to serve God faithfully – John prepared the way for the Lord, baptized Jesus, and called people to repent. He was faithful till death.

4. I want to show others who Jesus is. John said, in John 3:30, “He must become greater. I must become less.” His goal in life was to point others to Jesus and not to himself.

We need more people to be like John the Baptist. Perhaps you need to be more like John too. Make these your resolutions for the New Year!

Hope Floats is a cheesy chick flick from the 90’s. The Bible never says hope floats, but it does say we can always have hope. Losing hope has many consequences. One is sin. We sin because we get hopeless. I never thought about it much until I recently preached on 1 Peter 1:13-21. Peter tells us, in the context of being holy, to fix our hope on what is to come, the revelation of Jesus Christ.

We sin because we place our hope in all the wrong places. We get angry at our spouse because our marriage seems hopeless. We get impatient in traffic because getting somewhere on time seems hopeless. We worry about bills because our bank balance seems hopeless. We cut corners at work because a promotion seems hopeless.

There is always reason for hope. There is hope for your marriage because God is the Creator and Sustainer of your marriage. There is hope for your bills because God owns everything. There is hope for your job because God sees your hard work and determination. There is hope in traffic because, well, you have to get creative with this one!  You get the point.

Think about the sins you struggle with, the ones that cling to you. Why are you struggling with them? Is it because you are hopeless? What difference would it make if you stopped being hopeless and started fixing your hope on Jesus? Hope reminds us God is good. Hope reminds us a better day is coming. Hope reminds us all is well. Hope may not float, but it sure keeps us afloat!

Good luck. I recently told someone this. Afterwards I clarified, “You don’t need luck, but you know what I mean.” Have you ever said this? Most of us have. Maybe you have also verbalized its kissing cousin, “Break a leg.” These terms are so ingrained into our language we give it very little thought.

Knocking on wood is another luck related practice. It is not something I do, but some of you do it. I have witnessed it firsthand. It is silly to think pounding our fist on wood will affect the course of our lives. It is also silly to think crossing our fingers will make any difference either.

Christians should not believe in luck. Life is not a bunch of random events. Our lives are not changed for the good or bad by luck. God is in control. He works everything out for His purpose. Noah was not lucky when his family survived the flood. David was not lucky when the stone hit Goliath just right. The twelve disciples were not called to Jesus out of luck. The events were all from the hand of God.

When things fall our way it is not out of luck, but rather God’s blessings. James reminds us, in James 1:17 that “every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above.” I am not a lucky person. I am a blessed person. The same is true for you as well. Let’s use our lives to bring glory and honor to God. Try to say, “May God bless you” instead of “Good luck.” Instead of knocking on wood, raise your hands to Heaven and give God praise. Instead of breaking a leg, bend the knee.

I am in San Francisco this week on Sabbatical, a time to rest, pray, and study. It has been good to get away from the stresses of everyday life and ministry.One stress still remains, the idols of my heart.You would think that me, a pastor in a dedicated time of prayer and reflection, would be free from such burdens. Not so. The enemy is still on the prowl. The world is still evil. My flesh is still fallen. You too have idols in your heart. I don’t know what they are. Maybe it is anger or lust or worry. Maybe it is power or pleasure. Maybe it is candy bars and Facebook. Only you and God know. Every day is a battle. Some days you win. Some you lose. Keep fighting. To truly enjoy God you must attack the idols of the heart. Someone once said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

Following Jesus is about direction, not perfection. None of us are perfect. That is the goal of course, but only Jesus reaches that standard. Every day we let God down and grieve His Spirit. The question is not if we fail, but rather what do we do after our failure. The issue is not if we will give in to temptation, but how we respond to giving in. We are tempted, after a failure, to be weighed down with guilt and shame. We often distance ourselves from God. Who are we to serve God? Who are we to pray and read His Word? Who are we to tell others about Jesus?

When you fall, get back up. Don’t let guilt hold you back. Don’t let your past imprison you. Following Jesus is about direction, not perfection. In other words, keep following Jesus. Stay on the straight and narrow. When you stray, and you will, get back on the path to faithfulness. We get the idea that God does not love us if we are not perfect. His love is not based on who we are or what we do. It is based on who Jesus is and what He has done on the cross. If you have fallen away, get back on track. Don’t wait until you have everything figured out. Don’t wait until you are perfect. Perfection will not take place on this side of Heaven. Aim for it yes, but even more so, make sure you are going in the right direction. Make sure your life compass is pointed towards God and His Word.

I love basketball. I grew up a Lakers fan watching Magic, Kareem, and James Worthy. Then, it was Michael Jordan. Now it is LeBron James. When LeBron and the Cavaliers recently won the NBA Championships, I felt like a little kid. I had never been so excited in quite some time. Perhaps it was because the Cavaliers became the first team to come from behind a 3-1 deficit. Maybe it is because I am a LeBron fan. Perhaps I tapped into the joy and excitement I once felt playing and watching the game. I wonder, where is this excitement towards Jesus? Where is the giddiness towards God? King James is great, but he is no king. Jesus is. LeBron can deliver a title. Jesus can deliver me from my sins. LeBron can get a rebound, only Jesus can redeem me. LeBron gives temporary hope to Cleveland, Jesus gives eternal hope to the world.  You may not care about basketball. Perhaps it is money, power, or shopping on Amazon. Nothing compares to Jesus. He alone is worthy of our praise.

My daughter rode in an ambulance last week. It was not for fun. She accidentally took some medicine that was not for her. We were told she needed to go to the Emergency Room ASAP. She didn’t have any major side effects, but they wanted to be cautious, since she is only two. Our local hospital doesn’t have a pediatric specialist, so they transferred her to a hospital in Baton Rouge, via ambulance. Seeing your two years old placed in an ambulance is not pleasant by any means. She was released from the hospital later that evening.

Before her release, as I lay with her on her hospital bed, I was filled with joy. I had joy because she was okay and we were going home. I had joy because we are blessed with gifted doctors and nurses. I had joy because the episode reminded me how much I love my little one.  It could have turned out to be worse. It didn’t. Praise God! No matter what situation you are in, whether serious or not, you can praise God. James reminds us, “Count it all joy my brethren when you fall into various trials.” You can count it all joy, even when your little one takes an ambulance ride.

One itty bitty thing can cause big problems. My wife’s van was having issues recently. The battery went bad, so I bought a new battery. The new battery was dead and needed a jump the very next day. I thought, “Ok, it must be the alternator.” Not only this, the van was doing something strange, sneezing oil. Yes, it was sneezing oil. I have a witness who can testify to this! Oil, underneath the front of the car, was coming out in an odd place and in an odd way. Turns out, it was my air conditioner compressor releasing oil from built up pressure.

I’m thinking, “Great, I need to by a new alternator and compressor.” Fortunately, there are some great mechanics in my church. One, with his mechanical mind, and a little help from Google, diagnosed the problem. It had nothing to do with my alternator. It was not a result of a bad compressor either. It was all due to a $6 part. Yes, praise Jesus it was a $6 part! The relay switch to the compressor was bad. As a result, the compressor was not functioning properly, causing it to sneeze. It was also draining the battery. I replaced the relay and the issue seems to be resolved.

It is amazing how one itty bitty thing can wreak such havoc. The same is true in your life. One little itty bitty thing could be your downfall. You tell one itty bitty lie, and it only grows. You nag your spouse about one itty bitty flaw, and it ruins your marriage.You have an itty bitty anger issue, and it leads to harming others. We often fear the big things than can affect us. It is often the little things that trip us up. Don’t allow the itty bitty things, or the big things, hold you back or slow us down. There is too much at stake!

I have officiated in 42 funerals. Some were for complete strangers. Some were for precious church members. My very first funeral was for Lori’s grandfather. I have also preached the funeral for my dad, uncle, and cousin. Everyone’s funeral was different, and everyone’s funeral was the same. Some of them were young. Some were old. Some died suddenly and tragically. Others died slowly.  Some had great faith in God, others not so much. All of them have one thing in common, they died.

I am not mentioning this because I am fascinated with death. I am instead fascinated with life. Funerals are a great reminder that life is precious. What you do while on earth matters. How you treat others matters. How you respond to God matters. Someone said it well, “Only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” What a great reminder for the New Year!

I don’t know how many funerals you have attended. I hope not as many as I have. One thing is for sure, unless the Lord returns, you will have your own funeral. Your name will be in the paper. You will be put in a casket. People will celebrate your life and mourn your death. What type of legacy do you want to leave behind? How will you want to be remembered? Who do you need to point to Christ? Do it now before it is too late. James 4:14, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

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