Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. Well, good morning, everybody. Welcome
to the Cross 66. As we get started, let us pray.
Lord, we ask that you open our hearts and minds
to everything that you have to speak to us today
and help us to apply it to our lives as we go
out into the world from here. In Jesus' name,
amen. Getting all our fancy tablets up here going.
Of course, we're going through our series. We're
actually midway through it. Of course, the series
is misquoted. The whole thing is basically how
the Bible is taken out of context. We're looking
at specific verses that are frequently taken
out of context by various groups or various,
unfortunately, as much as I hate to say it. Some
pastors even take it out of context and try to
twist it to fit their narrative. But more often
than not, these are things that are taken out
of context by the world and how they try to put
a spin on it as well. So that's definitely something
to keep in mind as we go through here. Our goal
is definitely to... to be more like the Bereans,
to study this and to get it back into the context
that we know what's going on here. Really, you
know, we need to know what the word is truly
saying so that we don't get ensnared by those
traps of the enemy. You know, the word puts it
a couple of ways. In Psalm 119, verse 11. You
guys want to go ahead and open your Bibles. So
Psalm 119, verse 11. And I'm going to go through
these first couple real quick. It says, I have
your word I have hidden in my heart that I might
not sin against you. And in 2 Timothy 2, verse
15, puts it like this. Be diligent to present
yourself approved to God, a worker who does not
need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word
of truth. In other words, the more you know,
the less likely you are to stumble. It's also
why I encourage everybody to read and study the
Word outside of church as well. When you're at
home or you have some free time somewhere, when
we say study the Word, it's not just open it
up and read it. It's good to get some historical
context, too. What was going on in the world
at that time? What was going on in that area?
How were things run? All that kind of stuff,
because it actually helps to form a better picture
of what was happening and why things were being
done the way they were, why things were being
said the way they were, and why, you know, the
cause and effect was what it was. So it really
is a beautiful thing. So we're going to jump
right into the passage that we're going to be
focusing on today, and that's going to be in
James 1. Verses 2 through 4. So James chapter
1, verses 2 through 4. All right, James 1, 2
through 4, the word states, My brethren, count
it all as joy when you fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces
patience. But let patience have its perfect work,
that you may be perfect and complete, lacking
nothing. Now, I know some of you are thinking,
this is pretty straightforward. This is a very
straightforward verse, right? And you're not
wrong. It is a very straightforward verse. It's
not trying to hide anything. There's no mystery
about it or anything like that. Unfortunately,
there are... far too many people, especially
here in our culture, here in the U .S., that
tend to look at God and religion as this interchangeable
thing and as being this therapeutic thing. It's
not. We have a relationship. We know it's not.
But unfortunately, that's the way it's put. In
other words, like I said, One, God and religion
are looked at the same thing, but then two, God
and religion is this thing that's supposed to
make me feel good, no matter what. Basically,
it's like this pill that we take, and overnight,
all of our ills are cured instantly, like everything.
You know, life is going to be good. We're going
to be walking a golden road every day, handed
roses. Nothing's ever going to go wrong. It's
just going to be this beautiful thing, right?
Unfortunately, that is not the truth. That's
quite the opposite of the truth, is it not? You
know, the truth is when we think of this and
when it's put out there like this, it's this
therapeutic thing, it actually pushes people
away from God because here they are thinking,
hey, I've got this instant cure -all, but then
it doesn't happen. So they're thinking, you know,
they've bought into something from a used car
salesman. You know, I'll give you an example
from my own life. My father, he had a lot of
physical ailments. He had issues with pain medications.
So he had a lot of pains, right? And then somebody
came along and sold him on the idea, hey, you
go to church, you do all the things, you tithe,
and everything's going to be fine. Your pain
and all that's just going to go away. So we did.
We got up. We went down the street to church.
For a little while. And then he realized, no,
that's not what this is. And he felt he'd been
lied to and sold a bum scoop. And other than
going to a funeral, he never set foot in a church
again. Oh, maybe a wedding, right? But he never
went back. How sad is that? That's how a lot
of people view the church, though, and that's
how a lot of people walk into it and walk right
back out. It doesn't take long for people to
go in and realize that this is a bum scoop. The
truth of the matter is Jesus was a servant leader.
He's also one that we can say is our suffering
Savior, right? And he's called all of us to pick
up our crosses and follow him. We go into Matthew
16, verses 24 through 26. Matthew 16, verses
24 through 26. All right, and the word says,
Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires
to come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires
to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for my sake will find it. For what profit
is it to a man if he gains the whole world and
loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in
exchange for his soul? There's a lot of weight
behind these words. They're pretty heavy, are
they not? They're really heavy. Our soul is priceless.
Not even just to us, but to God. It's a priceless
thing. And these are words that the disciples
knew very well. Because pick up your cross and
follow me. Deny yourself, right? Because there's
certain things that we want, we know that they're
not good for us. Right? It's like we want to
lose some weight, we know we should probably
put down the McDonald's. I'm probably being a
little generous there. Right? How many of us
want to run? Not many of us. I've been saying
for years, if you see me running, you should
be too. Right? I think a few people can agree
with that. Life is going to be hard. It's going
to have obstacles. But you look at it from the
view of the disciples. And it's talking about
crucifixion here. Because they knew good and
well crucifixion was the common method of Roman
execution. If they got into trouble and they
were going to be... put to death, it was going
to be a horrible death. And then not only that,
those who were condemned to this punishment,
as if being crucified wasn't bad enough. I mean,
think of our death row inmates right now. They're
sitting there. They know that they have a date
coming, and they're getting closer and closer.
They actually know the date, whether it's gas
chamber, electrocution, whatever. The different
states have different stuff. Different places
in the world have different things going on,
right? A bit gruesome. But here they are. They
had to literally pick up their cross, just like
Jesus, and lug this thing through the streets.
Usually after they've already been beaten and
tortured, right? Not an easy task. Think of the
mental anguish that this had on them. Right?
It's like, not only am I going to be put to death,
but I'm having to carry the tools to do it. That's
like being told, hey, not only are we going to
hang you, but you have to build the gallows.
We're going to electrocute you, but you're going
to build the chair and you're going to run the
current to the chair. And people say the death
penalty is pretty harsh these days. Yeah, it
might be harsh, but it's nowhere near what it
was. The mental torture that came with that was
intense. And the disciples, they knew that there
was a very real possibility that that was going
to be their future. And as history records, with
the exception of John, all of them did indeed
face a gruesome death. Various disciples were
crucified in different ways, stabbed, beheaded.
John himself, they tried to put to death. Boiled
alive, but by the grace of God, he survived.
And as far as we know, he died of old age. There's
not a whole lot out there with it, but that's
the understanding, right? Of course, Judas himself,
what, hung himself, right? It's like, with the
exception of one, we can't say that any of these
guys had a good death. Not at all. But even John
himself, after the attempt to kill him failed,
he was still exiled. That takes a toll. So don't
let there be any mistake that as a Christian,
you may have to pay with your life. We take that
for granted, especially here in the U .S. Tess
mentioned her homeland, the Philippines. I was
there over 20 years ago. There was a missionary
couple that was taken hostage. Tried to escape.
Didn't fare well for them. You go to the Middle
East, they'll take you out and make a spectacle
of you. They'll behead you in front of the whole
village. And they're not in a nice way. You'll
feel it all. And here in the U .S., unfortunately,
there are people who are killed for their faith,
for their beliefs, because there are a lot of
evil, nasty people out there. that are given
into the God of this world, right? So something
that we need to keep in mind. I'm going to give
you some stats here. Last year, Open Door published
the results of their research. On average, more
than 13 Christians are killed each day for their
faith. That means almost every two hours a believer
is killed. It's roughly 5 ,000 people each year.
4 ,125 Christians were detained without trial.
And that's just what they were able to find.
The number of that is probably much higher. So
out of that number, they were detained without
trial, obviously arrested, sentenced, and many
of them imprisoned. 3 ,906 believers were abducted.
More than 3 ,200 Christians were raped, sexually
harassed, or forced to marry non -Christians.
42 ,849 followers of Jesus were physically or
mentally abused. And nearly 300 ,000 Christians
were forced to leave their homes, go into hiding,
or flee their country of origin. As many of you
know, I've been... I'm at the Shepherd School
every week. We have a guy there. He came, let's
see, his last semester? Maybe his last year,
during the first year. He's a student who joined.
This is not his first seminary school that he's
been a part of. He's from Africa. And he came
to share his testimony of when he became a Christian.
He lives in a part of Africa that's still very
heavily Muslim -dominated. He came to Christ.
He found Christ. He was saved. He wants to profess
his faith, right? Do what we're all called to
do, share the good word. He goes home, and here
he is, barely a teenager. He's like 12, 13, right
around that age, right? His dad gave him a choice.
Get rid of that Bible and forget this Christian
nonsense, or get out of my house and don't ever
come back. He's in his 30s now, and he hasn't
seen his dad or his family since that day. And
he's been working in ministry, working with orphans
all around Africa. The toll that can be had is
huge. And the day is coming, the Bible tells
us, when Christians will be chased down, right?
There's a whole section in there that talks about
the mark of the beast and even being able to
go out and buy simple supplies, things that we
take for granted like food. And Christians, we
don't take that mark. We're not going to be able
to do any of that. Does the thought of starving
to death appeal to anybody? I don't think so.
Most of us get a little hangry just sitting through
service. She laughs because sometimes it's me.
But going back to our passage in James, you know,
it's pointed out that even as Christians, we'll
have to face trials. We'll have to face tribulations.
You know, in reference to this, you know, as
he writes, he says, you know, brothers and sisters.
So he's clearly identifying the fact that he's
talking to fellow Christians, right, fellow believers.
God's plan for us is not that we're going to
avoid suffering. It's actually quite the contrary.
If we follow him, not only are we going to have
the trials and tribulations of just going through
life, because life can be a little bumpy sometimes,
right? But the enemy doesn't want us going to
God, and he's going to do everything he can to
come at us to try to get us to turn and walk
away. So we're going to be actually facing more
trials and more tribulations for that. The closer
you get to God, the harder and the more frequently
the enemy is going to attack you. And he's going
to do it through friends and loved ones that
he's already won over. He's going to do it through
your job and your means of being able to provide
for yourself and your family. He's going to come
after your vehicle. You're going to have a breakdown
that you shouldn't have, that you weren't expecting.
Everything was good and dandy. Happened to Albert.
This poor guy, on his birthday, his battery dies.
He goes out. He gets a new battery. He gets his
car fixed. He gets it home. The very next day,
what happens? Flat tire. It's a rough birthday
week. For those of you who don't know, his birthday
was Thursday. So if you haven't said happy birthday,
feel free. He'll appreciate that. I told him
we'll line up outside afterwards and we'll give
him a proper birthday hosing. We just got to
hook the hose up to the fountain. Just kidding.
Tess is over there ready to whip him. Blessings.
Okay. Just kidding. We love him. I love you,
man. But, yeah, no, life is going to be hard.
And the closer you get, the harder it's going
to be, you know. Unfortunately, to say otherwise,
it's more like some of the prosperity preaching
that we hear that if, you know, you're going
to be guaranteed things, you're going to be guaranteed
promises that aren't. You know, there's a lot
of false teaching out there. We talked about
some of this recently where we like to, you know,
try to say, oh, hey, this promise was made for
us as the U .S. And it's like, no, this was a
promise that was made strictly to Israel and
the Israelites, right? You remember that? But
we all try to, you know, we try to claim that
as if it belongs to anybody else, like it belongs
to us, you know, or, you know, Canadians do the
same thing, the French do the same thing, you
know, and all these other places. Fortunately,
it just doesn't apply. It's taken out of context.
So we have to be very careful, and we have to
recognize things for what they are. Now, we're
not going to read through it for time's sake,
but in John 15, verses 18 through 25, Jesus said,
the world will hate you just as it hated him.
And you look at what the world did to him. You
know, he was crucified. He was crucified, he
was buried, and God's plan for us is that we're
going to have to endure that suffering. We're
going to have times of hardship. If we go to
Genesis, chapter 50, verse 20, it's almost the
front of your book. This is the beauty part of
it. And I love the fact that it's one of the
first things that we get to see in the Bible
because Genesis is right there at the front,
right? The word states, but as for you, you meant
evil against me, but God meant it for good in
order to bring it about as it is this day to
save many people alive. God's going to take those
hardships that you're going to have to face,
those hardships you're going to have to endure
and walk through. And as painful as they may
be at the time, he will use them for good. Because
he's going to use them to mold you and shape
you and form your character. Because all of us,
our character needs to be molded into who we
were meant to be. He's preparing us every day
a little bit more so to conform to the image
of Jesus Christ. He's preparing us more so for
the day that we can enter the gates of heaven.
Because as we are right now, we're just not ready
yet. Romans chapter 5. I know I'm skipping around
a bit here this week. But Romans chapter 5, verses
3 through 5. So Romans 5, 3 through 5. The word
puts it this way. And not only that. But we also
glory in tribulations knowing that tribulation
produces perseverance and perseverance character
and character hope. Now, hope does not disappoint
because the love of God has been poured out in
our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to
us. We're being molded. We're being formed. We're
being taught and showed how to be more Christ
-like all the time. But the world tries to twist
that and throw a little something more abstract
at us. In fact, the sociologist Christian Smith
coined the term moralistic therapeutic deism.
Moralistic meaning God wants me to be a good
person. Therapeutic meaning God or religion should
make me feel good. Essentially, the belief of
many, especially teenagers, is exactly this,
that there's a God. He just wants us all to get
along, be happy, go along through life, that
if you're a good person, you're going to get
to heaven no matter what, right? And that you
don't really need God to be involved in your
life with exception of a few very important,
very hard things that you're going to have to
face in life, right? That's what it's saying.
Unfortunately, we know it's just not true. There's
going to be a whole lot of good people that aren't
going to make it to heaven because they don't
have a relationship with Jesus. They don't do
the things that he's told us that we need to
do, right? And it's not a matter of legalism
or, oh, you have to do this and you have to do
that or you're not going to make it. It's once
we have that relationship with Christ, we want
to do these things. They actually bring us that
joy from God that makes us feel good and gives
us that purpose. In our lives. That hole starts
to get filled more and more by the Holy Spirit
because all this other stuff that the enemy's
put in us is getting pushed right back out. You
know? If we fall into the trap of what the world's
telling us with this kind of stuff, it's basically
saying that Jesus... did not need to come and
show us an example. He did not need to teach
us anything. He did not need to go to the cross
and die, let alone rise again or ascend to heaven
with the promise of coming back for us. It makes
it all a moot point as the word says exactly
the opposite. So we have to keep that context
going. It falls back on that mentality of the
world of if it feels good, do it. Well, sometimes
it might feel good to reach out and smack my
brother right upside the head. Does it mean I
should do it? No. Sometimes it might be funny,
you know, Three Stooges comedy, but he doesn't
appreciate it, especially if there's no real
reason for it, other than the fact that he's
annoying me. Who has siblings? Pretty much everybody
in here, right? Sometimes you just want to make
like AT &T and reach out and touch someone. But
we shouldn't do that. That's not Christlike.
That's not what we're called to do. That's not
loving on people. You know, we can't trivialize
God and try to make him into this abstract thing.
We have a concrete creator. Concrete. And I'll
break it down like this. I want everybody to
take a second and visualize the most beautiful
painting or picture you've ever seen in your
life. Just take a second. All right, everybody
got it? All right, that's abstract, and I will
tell you why. Because pretty much every single
person in here has a different picture in mind.
We might have the Mona Lisa over here, American
Gothic over here, dogs playing poker over here,
right? Maybe a video game. Who knows? I'm looking
at Brian now. He's kind of smiling. He's probably
thinking World of Warcraft. I don't know. But
that's abstract. Everybody has this different
image in mind. That's what makes it abstract.
You know? I got Albert over here looking at me.
He's probably thinking of a Marine eating a crayon
out in the heat so it's melting all over his
hand and his face. Remember, purple's the best
flavor. So let's make it concrete now. So this
time I'm not going to give everybody the option.
So I already mentioned American Gothic, all right?
So Grant Wood's American Gothic. Everybody can
picture this. In case you don't know what that
is, that's that image of the farmer standing
in front of the house with his pitchfork with
either his daughter or his wife kind of a little
bit behind kind of looking at him, right? That's
coming to everybody's mind now, right? Everybody's
picturing the same thing. It's concrete. We know
the picture I'm talking about now. It's there.
It's all put together. So we all have the same
thing. Now let me tell you, we have a concrete
picture of God. We have a concrete picture of
God, and a lot of people don't even realize it.
And I'm going to go through these verses really
quick, especially for time's sake, so I can paint
this image for you. So first things first. I
don't think anybody really has to flip through
their Bibles to get to this one, which is probably
a good thing. Apparently I missed a slide on
it. John 3 .16. For God so loved the world, he
gave his only begotten son. Whoever believes
in him should not perish but have everlasting
life. Right? What's the first thing that should
come to everybody's mind when we hear that? Jesus
on the cross is one of the first things if we're
trying to get that image. because of what He
did for us. Remember what I said, our suffering
Savior? It's one of the things that we should
think of anyway. Then we go to Isaiah 53, verse
3. The Word says, He is despised and rejected
by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from
Him. He was despised and we did not esteem him.
Tortured and killed for our sin and our inequity.
Hardship, trials, tribulations, right? He faced
it all. But in it all, he sacrificed himself
for us and love. He paid the bill that none of
us would ever be able to pay. Not one. And then
the final touch is on this picture. Colossians
1. Verse 15. So Colossians 1, verse 15. He is
the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
over all creation. The firstborn over all creation.
Go back to John 1 .1 and we'll see it real quick.
Right? We don't get to create God in whatever
image that we want. We don't get to create a
picture of God that fits the narrative that we
like. To do so is blasphemy. We have a concrete
God that's been revealed to us in the person
of Jesus Christ. It's not a fictional character.
You want to worship a fictional character? Disney
is more than happy to appease that. They've taken
plenty Grimm's fairy tales and turned them into
a happily ever after. Right? Not just them. There's
other places. I'm just going to kind of throw
the shoe at them right now. But to have... Oh,
that was interesting, whatever that was. But
having a real definitive relationship with Jesus
Christ... It's going to cause hardship. Jesus
Christ, he loves you. He loves you. He has treasure
stored for you in heaven beyond anything that
any of us can ever imagine, right? He's already
told us he's gone to prepare a place for us.
And to follow him is going to cause hardship.
It's going to cause some pain. Being molded,
right? Being formed. It's going to cause a little
pain because change needs to happen. We're not
good just as we are. We have a lot of things
that need to change in our lives from the inside
out. You know, a lot of people, they like to
take the imagery of, you know, a blacksmith out
there, you know, forging a sword or an axe, right?
And he's heating the metal up and he's cooling
it and he's smacking it. He's grinding it and
all that kind of stuff. Guess what? We're no
different. We're that piece of marble in front
of an artist who's chiseling away and knocking
those little pieces off of us and forming us
and shaping us because he already sees what that
marble needs to be, what that marble is supposed
to be. And he's bringing out what it's always
intended to be. If I get him to chisel off a
little bit more in this region, I'd be very happy.
My wife agrees. She gave the thumbs up on it.
I love you too. But we need to recognize that.
We need to be prepared. That hardship, that purpose,
it's going to mold you and grow you into the
person God intended you to be. And it's going
to be a person who's prepared to enter the kingdom
when that time comes. A person who's ready to
praise and worship him. For eternity, a person
who's ready to sit at the table and dine with
the Father. You're never going to know your true
strength until it's been tried under pressure.
We all like to say, if that happened, I would
do this. If that happened, I would do that. Military,
we hear it a lot. There's a lot of machismo there,
a lot of bravado, right? Ah, we go out, we do
this. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. And then you go out
there, and you get in the heat of the moment,
and you find some of these guys with the biggest
mouths are frozen in fear. They don't do very
well, and they have to be picked up and helped
along. And some of the guys, especially some
of the guys that you didn't expect a whole lot
from, surprise you. And they become the heart,
the unit, and they carry everyone through. They
boost morale. They're God's light in the darkness.
And we're all caught in a spiritual war. All
of us need to be that guy who surprises everybody
else. And stop talking the talk and start walking
the walk. It's not going to be easy. But that's
the nice part of being tested. About being put
under pressure and having these trials and tribulations.
Because it brings about the things inside of
you that quite often we don't even know is there.
Sometimes for the good. but a lot of times so
that we can learn what we need to change in our
lives, what we need to go to God for and humble
ourselves and ask for help. And that's really
what it's all about. It's not doing it on our
own. It's realizing we can't do it on our own.
We need the people that God's put in our lives,
but more importantly, we need Jesus because he
is our way to get through those hardships. And
then on top of that, when we get in these hardships,
and it's really easy, I'm just as guilty as anybody
else in this room or anybody else on this planet.
Sometimes things happen, and we like to moan
and grumble a bit. But we need to take some time
and realize, my wife's real good at reminding
me sometimes. I'm calling her out a lot today.
I love her. But it's not always, you know, what
we're seeing in front of us. It's, hey, what
can I learn from this? How can this help me grow?
How can this help my relationship with God? Because
it's that pressure that's molding. And at the
end of it, as long as we trust in God, we're
going to be better for it, and we're going to
be conformed more to the image of Jesus. Nothing
worth having has ever come easy. Everything that
we appreciate the most is stuff that we've had
to work for. From material things to relationships.
And when I say relationships, it's not just friendships,
it's marriages. It's all of our relationships.
Sometimes it's that relationship with Jesus because
he's going to tell us things that we don't like
and we don't want to listen to, we don't want
to hear. But we're being told it for our own
good. It's going to hurt, it's going to be painful.
There's going to be a thorn in our side. But
we have to listen and realize that the Father
is telling us, hey, make that adjustment. Trust
me. And more often than not, when we give in
and we make that adjustment and we trust in him,
we find out, oh, I should have been listening
a little bit sooner. The plus side of it all.
is God is right there with us. Jesus is walking
alongside the whole time. He wants to see us
succeed. And we get to that part where we can't
walk, we crawl, we can't crawl. He's more than
happy to pick us up. And if we're still kicking
and screaming, he'll drag us, and you'll have
a long groove going behind you. I know there's
points in my life where that groove is pretty
long. But it's going to be all right. So let
us pray. Father, we thank you for continuing
to work on us and to mold us into the image of
your son, Jesus, and reminding us to study your
words so that we're better prepared for what
this life has for us and the next. We ask you
to use us to share your light and appoint others
to you and your kingdom and your ways. We ask
that you help us not to be afraid of those painful
times when you're working within us. And just
remind us that pressure brings about beautiful
things just as coal turns to a diamond. We thank
you for being with us. We thank you for all you've
done for us and all that you're going to do for
us. In Jesus' name, amen. Remember, as you leave
here today, you are loved and you are blessed.
So go and be the church. Until next time, take
care and God bless.