God wrote a letter to the world. A letter of love. Unconditional, unstoppable, inseparable love. And He didn't just write it TO us, He wrote it IN us. THROUGH us. Because WE are that love letter. He wrote it, and we publish it. Look at 2 Corinthians 3:6, "His letter authorizes us to help carry out this new plan of action. The plan wasn't written with ink on paper, with pages and pages of legal footnotes, killing your spirit. It's written with Spirit on spirit, his life on our lives!" Back in the day of Jesus and His disciples, letters were very important. A letter from the government could authorize you to, in essence, live a better life than someone without such a letter. Citizenship, for example, had its priveleges. If you had to prove that you belonged somewhere, or were allowed to do something, you needed a letter of authorization. This is what we have because of the cross. A letter written with Spirit... on spirit! A letter written with love... on our hearts! And that love in our hearts is what not only authorizes us, but equips and empowers us to love! We can love because we are loved! You can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. So you have to know what you have. You have to receive it and release it. By knowing it and believing it. Letting what's inside come out by filling yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. Letting God love the hell out of you and then loving Him back by loving the hell out of the people that He puts in your path. Reading the letter He wrote, and then sharing what that letter says. We are authorized to transact Kingdom business. That's where we belong. That's what we can do. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. That's what this life is for. That's what we've been equipped and empowered to do. It comes from reading the letter God wrote us. His love letter. His giving of His life on the cross. He gave His life for us, yes, but He also gave His life TO us. So that we could have it. So that we could experience His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us! Receiving and releasing. Reading the letter and publishing the letter. Using it as our justification and our authority. "Why'd you do that?" Because it was in my heart to do it. Because I let love guide the way. Because God loves me. When you understand God's love for YOU, that's when you can love OTHERS. Letting what's inside come out. I know I keep repeating it, but that's what's up. Receiving it and releasing it. Reading it and publishing it. We spend (waste) so much of our time, talent, and treasure trying to get something we think we haven't got. When what we need to do is understand what we have--who we are--and then give what we have. Love is giving. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. God wrote a love letter to us so that we might know what we have. So that we might know who we are. Read it, and publish it. Receive it and release it. Let what's inside come out, by knowing and believing that it's in there!

We are God's love letter to the world. "Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart" (2 Corinthians 3:3). Written by God. Ministered by us. Receiving and releasing His love. Showing people what He's all about by loving people. Letting God love us and then loving Him back by loving people. That's the whole point of the whole thing. That's what this life is for. That's why we were created. God (who is love) wanted to express Himself. So He created us. We are His expression of love. He didn't want His law written on tablets of stone. That was what man wanted. And, if you notice, God usually gives man what he wants--at least to some degree. But what God always wanted was for us to know Him as we are known by Him. To be loved and to love each other. That's the true law. The New Commandment for the New man. Love one another as Jesus has loved us. Receive and release His love. To me, it's really that simple. And, listen, I understand that it's not always necessarily easy. Because love is giving. And sometimes it's hard to give what you've got. For a lot of reason. Sometimes you think if you give it away you won't have it anymore. Sometimes you feel hurt by someone. And you can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. So if you feel hurt... hurting people hurt people. Sometimes it's hard to turn the other cheek. To not retaliate. To not fight fire with fire. But there is a more excellent way. Loving people no matter what. Letting people read that letter that you are. Being who YOU are no matter what is going on around you. Knowing that the fire in you is always hotter than the fire you're in. People are going to read your mail no matter what. Judge you no matter what. You can't stop them from doing so. Instead, just give them something to talk about. Give them something worth reading. Minister the love you've been given by giving it away. Let me quote 2 Corinthians 3:3 in the Message Bible, "Christ himself wrote it--not with ink, but with God's living Spirit; not chiseled into stone, but carved into human lives--and we publish it." God wrote it. We publish it. We are His love letter to the world. Written with His Spirit--the Spirit of Truth that leads and guides us into all truth... the truth that God is love and He loves you--in our hearts. So that it can come out. What's inside comes out. It has to. It's too big not to. What is inside (or what you believe is inside) will always come out. So READ the letter that God has written in your heart. Let Him love the hell out of you. That's step one. Then publish that letter. Let what's REALLY inside come out. By knowing and believing that it's in there. By filling yourself up to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. Knowing God loves us is what equips and empowers us to love Him back by loving each other. And that's what this abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life is all about!

We are God's love letter to the world. That's what I'm trying to say in this Rant series. Our lives are a letter read by all men. Everybody is watching you. Judging you. Especially if they know you're a Christian. People hold Christians to a higher standard. "You're not supposed to do that." "Isn't he a Christian?" As if professing your faith in Jesus is supposed to make you automatically fit into their idea of what a Christian should be. Let me say this, though, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35). Like I said: We are God's LOVE letter to the world. That's what people ought to be reading in us, because that's what we ought to be displaying to them. And, to be perfectly frank and honest, I'd rather have people say, "Tom's a nice guy," than "Tom's a Christian." Because one of those things is universally "judged" in a positive light... and the other one is being a Christian. People see Christians as hypocrites. People who do things they're not supposed to do. People who judge others, and do so harshly. It shouldn't be that way. But the church as a whole has been on a sin hunt for so long--more concerned with this absurd idea of hell as a everlasting punishment of torment rather than the abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of the love that Jesus came for us to have--that that's all people see with "church folk" anymore. Religious types. Hitting them over the head with Scripture and then kicking them when they're down. And calling it love. "Tough love" maybe, but still dressing it up as trying to help people. Condemnation does not help people. Ever. It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. Seeing a more excellent way is the only way to give up what you're doing. You have to have a better alternative to choose. Otherwise, why wouldn't you just keep barreling along, doing what you've been doing? Let me say it like this: If you want something different, you have to do something different (unless you're building something, which takes time). So you have to see something different. You have to be able to believe that there IS something different. The most disillusioned I ever get is when I hear things like, "I'm already going to hell, so why does it matter?" Unreal. We've built a system of belief that destroys people. Sends them, hopeless, down the so-called highway to hell. That's what the church, for the most part, has for people. Kind of the opposite of how we're supposed to be identified. People will know you by your love. If you love people, you are clearly and obviously representing the God who is love. That just makes sense, right? He wrote His Word (which is Jesus, which is love) in our heart. So that what's inside might come out. He wrote a love letter to us when He laid His life down for us (and as us) on the cross. God's letter to us is, "I love you." That's what we can now deliver to each other. "God loves me. I can love Him back by loving you." It's that simple. Receiving and releasing the love of God. Showing people who God is by loving them. God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. That's what this life is for. It's a life of love. Receiving and releasing the love of God. BEING the letter that He wrote to the world!

So we've been talking about the Three T's, right? Time, Talent, Treasure. The way that we express love to each other. Giving what we have, and who we are, to each other. I want to continue on with that theme for the next few days. And I want to use 2 Corinthians 3:2 in the Message Bible as my key memory verse, "You yourselves are all the endorsement we need. Your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you." And before I get into the what the letter says, I want to spend some time on the truth that people read us all day every day. Whenever I hear someone say, "Don't judge me," I just chuckle. Because we judge everything. Everything. The trick is not to "not judge." The trick is to see the sense in John 7:24 when Jesus said, "Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment." There's no way to not judge. The trick is to judge rightly. Righteously. To understand that there is more going on than just what we see. There's an old saying that goes like this, "Everybody is fighting a battle that you know nothing about, so be kind." To me, it's really that simple. And, I just want to say, you don't NEED the whole story. You don't NEED to be invasive and be in somebody's business. It's enough to get to the place where we don't want to--or feel the need to--slam people for every little thing they do. We can give people grace without knowing the specifics of why they need it. We can be kind regardless. And, when we come at it from that angle... we will be showing people who God is, by showing people who we really are. People--who ARE judging us--will see that kindness. They will be able to read our letter, and what we're all about. That's always been pretty easy for me. I can generally size people up pretty well. Because I don't come in with preconceived notions. I just take things as they are. What I'm trying to say today, and will be trying to say for the next few days, is that no matter what we see (or don't see) in people... we ought not to judge them by appearance. We ought to judge righteous judgment. The righteous judgment of God that was meted out on the cross. And it wasn't a death sentence. It was a life sentence. MEN killed Jesus. GOD brought Him back to life. That was His judgment. An eternal, everlasting, abundant life sentence. Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. That's the judgment that was rendered. And that's what we have. So that's what we can give. You can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. So stop trying so hard to write your letter. In the KJV 2 Corinthians 3:2 reads, "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men." Written in the heart. What's in the heart? Love. Who could write on, or IN, our hearts? The God who IS love. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the one who has written, and is continuing to write, the letter. What am I trying to say here? That we are God's love letter to the world. He WANTS people to read our lives. To see what we're all about. To see the love inside coming out. So that people will see HIM in our lives. So that people will stop looking for love in all the wrong places and just come straight to the source!

There's not enough of me to go around. Too much to do and not enough time in which to do it. That's a hard thing to accept, especially in my case where I want to do as much as I can for as many people as I can. Which makes priorities even more important. How we choose to use the time we have is paramount. Making sure we give what we've got to the people we are in contact with. Not trying to go outside of our lane or outside of our calling. Like my mom always says, "If you work your fingers to the bone... all you end up with is bony fingers." But she also likes the one that says, "Where do Generals keep their armies? In their sleevies!" But the point remains, sometimes we try to do too much. Sometimes we wear ourselves out by trying to do the wrong things. And, listen, I'm not saying you shouldn't help people. You ought to know by now that I think you SHOULD help people. Whenever possible. See a need that you can meet, and do it. If you have two coats, and someone doesn't have one... that's pretty easy to figure out. What I'm saying is, you can't do everything. And you aren't expected to. Not by God. And not by anybody who truly cares about you. If someone is only interested in what they can get from you... they don't really care about you. Sad but true. So setting limits is a good thing. A healthy thing. Saying no is ok. And you don't have to defend yourself or explain yourself. Self-care is ok. More than ok. It's important. There are only so many hours in the day. How you choose to use them defines how your life will play out. Because it's all about choices. If you choose to let people steam roll you or if you choose to run around like chickens with their heads cut off... you'll end up worn slap out. You'll end up with bony fingers and not much else to show for it. You have to use a little wisdom. Or at least a little common sense. Set limits. Set boundaries. Give your time to the people to whom it will be most beneficial. And that means giving AND taking (if I can say it that way, even though we know it's not about taking, per se). People that you connect with. People that fill you up instead of just draining you. RECEIVING and releasing. It is a two-part system. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So you have to know what you have. You have to let God give you what HE has. And, to be clear, He has already given it to you. At this point we simply receive what we've already been given. Receive it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. Let what's inside come out by knowing and believing that it's in there. Let what's inside come out by building those connections and relationships with the people God has set in your path. Only you can do what you can do in the way that you can do it, for the people that you can do it for. You are in a unique position to reach certain people. So do what you can do. Spend your Three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) wisely. Don't worry about what you can't do, or who you can't reach. Focus on the things in your life that you can do. You only have so much time. It's not enough for everything and everybody. So just do your best and forget the rest!

The most important, valuable, priceless thing we have in life is our time. Because once it's gone... it's gone. So we should be careful about how we spend it. Or use it. We should make sure that what we do with our time is useful. And, listen, that doesn't mean you have to push yourself past the point of good sense (and good health) by never giving yourself a break. If you're enjoying the time you're "wasting" is it really wasted at all? Life is about living. It's about more than just working, paying taxes, and dying. Now, as always, I'm not saying you can shirk your responsibilities. You gotta do what you gotta do. That's one of the foundations I've built my life on. What I'm saying is, you have to find a balance. You have to take the very limited amount of time that you're given, and make sure that you don't use it in the wrong way. Do you have to work? Most probably. Paul even addressed that truth in the Bible. He basically wrote, "If you don't work, you don't eat." He worked as a tent maker in order to avoid having other people pay his way for him. But at the same time he taught and preached and wrote letters to churches. Went on mission trips. He was consumed by a mission of mercy from God. And he took care of business in the natural day to day minutia of life. Don't be a workaholic, I think is my point. Pay the bills. But don't burn yourself out. Make sure you have time for the things in life that are really important--the people in your life. Remember when I started talking about the Three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure)? And I tried to shine a light on the idea that treasure is more than money? It's people. The most valuable things in life are the relationships and connections we build with each other. That's why we give our time and talent to each other. The greatest love you can have is to lay your life down for your friends. One of the most important things I think I've ever done is established that my son and I get "our time" every night before bed. Where we just shut the day down together. Watch a cartoon. Read. Enjoy each other's company. Make sure to connect, and touch base. I think it's so important. Or, on a day when the kids are gone, I try my best to spend time with my wife. Build up that connection. It takes effort. But it's worth it. People are worth it. The Three T's are how we express love. We give ourselves--everything we have and everything we are--to each other. God and people. Love God and love people. Love God BY loving people. That's what this life is all about. That's what this life is for. God first loved us. He gave us what we need to live. Because to live is to love and to love is to live. Giving what we've got. Giving our time. Making sure people know we care about them by spending our most valuable resource on them. Someone once told me, "Kids spell love T-I-M-E." And that really hit me hard. Because it's true. If you love someone, you spend time with them. Pretty simple. So don't get caught up in everything and anything else. Make sure the people in your life know that they are your priority. Give them what you've got. Yourself. Your time.

Mother Teresa said, "If you want to change the world, go home and love your family." I couldn't agree more. The most important people--the people you have the most influence over and connection with--in your life are the ones you live with on a daily basis. Those are the people you can really pour yourself into. Look at 1 Timothy 5:8, "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." I don't know why, but it seems like sometimes--oftentimes--we lose how important people are in this whole thing. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone choose "God" (or "religion," or going to church, or "I need to pray about it") over people. When, in fact, the only way to truly choose God is to choose people. We love God BY loving people. It's that simple. Whatever you do unto the least of them you do unto God. How we treat people is how we treat God. How we relate to each other--the relationships we have with each other--is how we relate to God. Neglecting people so you can spend time with God is not really spending time with God at all. And, listen, I'm not saying you should never be alone. I'm not saying you shouldn't spend time in prayer. Things of that nature. What I'm simply saying is: When Jesus wanted to get away and be with His Father... but people needed Him... He chose people every single time. Love God and love people. Love God BY loving people. You can't throw people over in order to serve God. Because that's not serving Him. That's not what He wants you to do. If someone asks for help--and I'm not talking about enabling people, but genuinely helping them--I can tell you right now that God wants you to help them. You don't need to "wait for His approval" or wait to feel led. Those who are led by the Spirit are called (or identified as) the Son(s) of God. Jesus said people will know us as His disciples by the love we have one to another. The Spirit leads us to love. Period. What else could the God who is love want us to do? Ask us to do. Equip and empower us to do. He IS love. It's all ABOUT love. And it starts at home. Charity starts at home. There's an old song that says, "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with." But I'm here to say, "Love the people you're with. Period." Let the people who are in your life know that you care. Spend time with them. Give them what you've got. You don't have to change the world. But if you love the people God has put you in contact with--starting right at home--you can change your family's world. You can fill them up with the love that you've been filled up with. You can receive and release the gift that you've been given. You can give it away. You can share it. And by giving it away, by sharing it, you can experience it in a bigger, better, fuller way. Filled to overflowing so that it comes out. Naturally. Time is the one thing you cannot get back. Once it's gone, it's gone. So make sure you're giving it to the right people. The people that God has put you in contact with. The people right in your own home. Charity starts at home. Don't neglect your own. Build those relationships and connections, because they are so vitally important. Give your time where it means the most. That's love!

I don't think I've ever heard this verse I'm about to quote used in this context. So stick with me. Romans 12:1, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Now it seems to me that usually if this verse is preached at all, it is part of a rallying cry. "Present yourself holy to God! Get the sin out of the camp!" All of that good time religion. Shape up or ship out. Get right or get left. All that sort of nonsense. But, honestly, that doesn't seem--to me--to be very reasonable. One of the biggest problems I always had with that kind of "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" mentality is... If I'm coming into this from a position of "I'm not good enough" then how in the world am I supposed to be able to somehow (magically?) make myself good enough? And, yes, I understand that practice makes perfect. You can improve your skills. Things of that nature. But if I'm fundamentally not good enough... what could I possibly do about that? Probably nothing. So, at best, I would need some help. Which leads me to the question of: If the Holy Spirit can't change people, what makes me think I can? What makes me think beating people into the dirt and telling them how bad they are will lead to any positive change? Not to mention how it's not my job to change people. It's not my job, really, to change myself. The only way I can "change" is by letting God reveal my true self to me. Letting the Gardener prune off all the branches that don't bring forth fruit. That's not my job. That's His job. And, ever since the cross, it is finished. We don't need God to change us. We need to see the change that took place 2,000 years ago! But I said all that to say this: The part of Romans 12:1 I think we ought to focus on is the first part. The mercies of God. And the second part. Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice. Giving ourselves to God. Which, of course, means giving ourselves to each other. God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. That's what this life is all about. That's what this life is for. And, to me, presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice simply means giving up our time. Being available. I've always heard--and I believe--that God is more interested in availiablity that ability. Like, if you're willing to do it... He will make it happen. And I like the word "sacrifice" because our time is so valuable. It is the one thing we have that we will never get back. So giving your time to someone else... laying your life down for your friends... that's the greatest love that you can have. That's the biggest, and best, way to show your love to someone. Maybe that means using your truck to help people move furniture (just a random example off the top of my head that I NEVER experience in real life). Maybe that means going to the movie with someone. It can be just about anything where you are connecting with the people in your life. Building relationships. Giving people everything you have and everything you are. Presenting your body as a living sacrifice. Giving up your time. Saying, "I'm here for you. I got your back." And then being there and doing that!

Of the Three T's (Time, Talent, Treasure) I think this is the most important one. Because I think children--and really people in general--spell love "T-I-M-E." You can always make more money. And talent is something that eveybody has (it's just a matter of using it). But time, once it is spent, never comes back. Once it's gone, it's gone. We only have so much of it. And that makes it valuable. Invaluable. The most valuable. Look at the words of Jesus, the red letters, in John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Or, in the Message Bible, "This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends." Give what you've got. And, as I hope we are starting to see, that doesn't mean writing a check. Especially if you're like me. I'm more in the Peter persuasion, "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6). I may not have much, but I'll give you what I've got. I'll lay my life down for you. I'll tell you I've got your back and then I'll actually back that claim up. I'll give you an ear if you need to talk. A hug if you need to feel safe. I'll give you everything I have and everything I am. I'll lay my life down for you. That's the greatest love a man can have. That's the most important thing a man (or woman, come on) can do. Giving yourself. Giving your time. Putting others first. Esteeming others higher than yourself. And it doesn't always have to be some big huge gesture. I don't really like board games. But I play them with my son pretty regularly. Because he loves them... and I love him. See how that works? It's not about getting, or doing, what I want all the time. It's about giving myself to people. I always talk about seeing a need and meeting it. And about how needs are more important than wants. And I'm not going against that. Because I believe that to the core of my being. I simply want to add something to that: If you can make someone's day... if you can make someone smile... do it. Because the world needs more of that. We're so used to people just trying to take advantage of us that we think we need to be on our guard 24/7. We think we need to always be on the lookout. Always defending ourselves. But that's a hard way to live, man. I understand that once you've been burned you want to stay away from the fire. It makes "sense" to shut your heart down and "guard" it from getting hurt again. But that's not what the heart is for. You keep your heart by keeping it open. By letting love flow into and out of it. I guess what I'm trying to say today, and for the next few days, is that you can't love people without connecting with them. And you can't really connect with people without spending time with them. Time is the most important, valuable thing you have. So spend it wisely. Do what you've got to do, yes. But make sure you understand that what you've really got to do is share your time. Share yourself. Spend time with the people you love. That's how you show them that you love them!

Time, Talent, Treasure. The Three T's. The way we express love. The way we express GOD'S love. To Him. By letting Him first love us and then loving Him back by loving each other. So when we're looking at "Whatsoever you do, do it unto the Lord," what that really means is... love people. Because we love God BY loving people. That's as simple as I can make it. Jesus put it like this, "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40). How we treat people is how we treat God. How we relate to people is how we relate to God. How we see people is how we see God. Because there is no separation between God and men. God lives IN men. And the best (possibly the only) way to truly love God--by loving people--is by using our Three T's. Not by trying to get anything from anybody, but by giving the people we come into contact with what we have. Giving people who we are. That's one of the biggest parts of my ministy: Be who you are. Be who you are. Be who you are. Stop trying to be someone you're not in order to try to get something you (think you) haven't got. But the only way we can truly be who we are is by knowing who we are. Who we really are. Which is who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. That's the key. Letting God--LOVE--reveal Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. Filling ourselves to overflowing with what God has already filled us with--Himself. His Spirit. His love. And then letting that love come out. That's our talent. And, yes, it looks like different thing coming from different people. We all have different ways of expressing love. Some people sing. Some people dance. Some people write. Some people play instruments. Some people teach. Some people talk. Some people listen. But everybody can do something. The trick is making sure you use your talent to glorify God. And by that I mean... do it with love. If you're not doing it because of love, for love, by love, with love, in love... should you really be doing it? And that applies to a lot of "secular" things too. I work hard at my job because I love my family and want to provide for them. It's a labor of love. So always remember, you gotta do what you gotta do. Taking care of people is an ultimate expression of love. But that's kind of what we're going to get into starting tomorrow with the series about Time. To end this Rant series I just want to say you have a talent. Don't think you don't. And don't think just because it's not the same as someone else's that it's not good enough to share. People need what you have. People need you to be who YOU are. You can do things that no one else can. You can reach people that no one else can. So instead of worrying about what you can't do... just do what you can do. Instead of trying to be someone you're not... just be who you are. Let that love that is inside you come out. Use your talent to express that love. Give people what you've got. Give people what God has given you. Receive it and release it!