First Church West Newsletter

2012-01-02T06:38:00.001-05:00

The view of Christ’s death presented here has frequently been called the theory of “penal substitution.” Christ’s death was “penal” in that he bore a penalty when he died. His death was also a “substitution” in that the was a substitute for us when he died. This has been the orthodox understanding of the atonement held by evangelical theologians, in contrast to other views that attempt to explain the atonement part from the idea of the wrath of God or payment of the penalty for sin. This view of the atonement is sometimes called the theory of vicarious atonement. A “vicar” is someone who stands in the place of another or who represents another. Christ’s death was therefore “vicarious” because he stood in our place and represented us. As our representative, he took the penalty that we deserve. Wayne Grudem from Systematic Theology

2012-01-01T08:09:00.001-05:00

Today is a good time to carefully and prayerfully plan for 2012. God is for us carefully and prayerfully planning. Proverbs 6:6–7, "Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her food in summer, and gathers her sustenance in harvest."This points out that saving for future times of need is prudent and godly. One way we fail is by not carefully and prayerfully planning for the future. Proverbs 14:15, "The simple believes everything, but the prudent looks where he is going."We should look where our current pattern of life is taking us and make the corrections we need to keep ourselves safe from temptation and unnecessary loss. Those who fail to think about the future impact of their actions lack maturity. Proverbs 15:22, "Without counsel plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed."It is not a bad idea to share our plans with wise and trusted friends. We need to get their feedback. They may see things we have missed. Part of our humility is learning and listening from others. Proverbs 16:3, "Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established." Our efforts must be for God's glory. If they truly are then the real goal of our efforts will be reached. We should commit every plan we have to God in prayer. Proverbs 24:27, "Prepare your work outside, get everything ready for you in the field; and after that build your house."Focusing on that which produces profit is more important than focusing on that which produces comfort. There is a place for both. But priority has to be given to what helps us survive and thrive. Proverbs 31:15–16, "She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and tasks for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard."Here is an example of a godly women and part of her spirituality is that she lives an organized life, set priorities, and is thinking ahead. God assumes that we will plan. It is not a wise thing to go on a trip without a map or a destination. He is against planning that is filled with pride that assumes that setting plans and goals gives us control over the future. This is insanity. We never have control of tomorrow. But prayerful and careful plans made in a true attitude of "if the Lord wills" are a delight when their aim is to be good managers of God's physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual gifts. Having priorities is a good thing. Knowing what is more important to do and what is less important to do is a key to being a good manager of God's gifts to us. Now all of our plans should have as their aim to "seek first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness." Since we are to glorify God in even the simple things of eating and drinking then every aspect of our lives need to be organized to maximize their benefit for Christ and HIS kingdom. We are to be kingdom centered planners. Now most New Year resolutions don't occur. The reasons for this are many. But one of them is that we did not connect the resolution to a committed plan of action which was "S.M.A.R.T". To be "SMART" a plan must be:Specific - What exactly are we wanting to accomplish. Be as concrete as you can in defining the change you what to see occur. Measurable - How will you know when you have reached this goal? What is the difference between success and failure? Action Focused - Thinking about things does not change our lives most of the time. We have to "do" something different. What exactly will we "do" different to attain this change in our lives? What needs to be done? How can we do it? Realistic - We have to do a careful and prayerful process of first determining if God wants us to do this new thing and second can we do it? Can the large goal be broken up into smaller goals that we could do? How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Sometimes our vision of what we want to do is bigger than our ability to do it. Our goals should be challenging but not totally beyond us. Time defined - Only what we put into our calendars ever gets done. What we will not commit time to we are not committed to do. So what does the Lord Jesus the Messiah want you to plan to do in 2012? How would HE like this new year to be different than 2011? These are questions worth praying about and defining. Today is the day to begin a new year with a new kingdom direction. Amenhttp://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/a-new-years-plea-plan

Disciple Yourself

2011-02-08T06:22:00.000-05:00

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came up and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Therefore, as you go, recruit new followers from all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age."

The Messiah Jesus here gives us what is called the “Great Commission” or “Grand Charge”. Like a general commanding HIS army the Messiah Jesus now tells HIS followers that they are to go out and convert the world. Every nation, every tongue, and every people are to be challenged to become HIS followers, enroll in HIS school of thought, and align their lifestyles with HIS teaching. The claims of Jesus’ Messiahship are to go global as they are acted on locally.

What is a commission? It is a job or task given to a person or a group, especially an order to produce a particular product or piece of work. In this case it is also the authority granted to a person or organization to act as an agent for another. The CHURCH is here given authority by Messiah Jesus to act as HIS agent in the world for recruiting new followers and training them in HIS way of life. This is to create a “community of the KING” that reflects the kingdom of God into a broken world. The church acts as an embassy of peace from the kingdom of heaven offering reconciliation to all who will come and submit to the KING and learn HIS ways.

This is very hard to do in practice. First, most disciples are at best partially discipled. Most believers in Messiah Jesus have not been “trained in everything that the Messiah taught” in a way that leads to practical life change in every aspect of life. They became Christians and did not enroll themselves into any clear and disciplined school of instruction and life training. So the first person that we must make a “disciple” is ourselves.

What would this mean? It could mean many things but here are a few that I think would worth considering if we are to make ourselves disciples aimed at learning how to consistently live for Messiah Jesus.

1. Attending church every Sunday ready to fully participate in worship by arriving early and having a bible and a notebook ready to take notes on the sermon. If you were taking a college course and arrived at the course without a notebook or text book what would that normally mean about your focus and dedication to the class. The “key lecture” of the week takes place on Sunday and this lecture is to form the “key application” for the next seven days. How alert should you be to make sure you understand the message and use it in your life?

2. Get involved in every learning activity you can at your church. How many hours do you watch television? Compare this to how many hours you spend learning the ways of Messiah Jesus. If the church’s purpose is to train followers of Messiah Jesus to live for Messiah Jesus this can only be done when the followers show up to the training classes. Are you showing up to get trained? How could you train others to get trained if you have never become trained yourself?

3. Prayerfully decide on what abilities and passions you have. What can you do? What do you want to do? Now look at the various ministries of your church and choose one or two that could use someone with your abilities and passions. A ministry would be a broad area of service in the church such as “Outreach” or “Education”. If you are not sure then talk to your pastor and get his guidance. Once you have chosen a ministry then look at all the activities that have to happen to make this ministry function and then commit yourself to doing these activities. This will put feet on your faith. The best way for us to learn to be a disciple is by learning on the job in some particular ministry where we can apply what we are being taught.

4. Take your faith to the rest of your life. After each sermon ask yourself these key questions.

How does what I have learned today ask me to make personal changes in my own life? How can I use this in my private worship and spiritual growth process?

How does what I have learned today ask me to make changes in how I treat those in my family?

How does what I have learned today apply to how I treat those at work or in my neighborhood?

How does what I have learned today impact how I act a member of my community, city, state, and nation?

Sometimes our faith does not seem very real to us. One of the reasons for this is that we have compartmentalized our faith into a very small space in our lives. Church is one hour a week on the weeks we make it. There just is not a whole lot of “space” in our schedules or lifestyle for faith. We have already committed this “space” to other concerns, desires, and interest.

If we are to grow in our faith we must give it more “space” in our lives. If our faith is to become real we must have a reasonable plan to make it the ultimate concern of our lives. So how discipled are you in your life? Where could you improve your own discipleship? This will be the first step in making other disciples. We must first learn to disciple ourselves.

Am I drifting from God?

2010-08-24T07:46:00.000-04:00

Jeremiah 2:4-13
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves? 6 They did not say, "Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?" 7 I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land, and made my heritage an abomination. 8 The priests did not say, "Where is the Lord?" Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit.
9 Therefore once more I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children's children. 10 Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing. 11 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.
12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the Lord, 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water
God asks us hard questions here. What do you find in the LORD that caused you to desert HIM? What was wrong with God’s character and competence that the LORD was not worth making your ultimate concern?
Now God is talking to HIS people at a time of backsliding and unbelief. The LORD is speaking to us on one of those days when we have been living out our unbelief much more than our faith. Perhaps it has become more than a day. Maybe, it has become a month, a quarter, or even a year. Normally we slip step by step backward and suddenly find ourselves in a spiritual place that is a land of drought and deep darkness.
Maybe today you find it hard to relate to this passage because today you have been living mainly by faith. You find it hard to imagine because the last month, quarter, or year has been one in which you have seen your faith grow. It is difficult for you today to even imagine backsliding into a dark spiritual place. Yet, be aware that only by guarding ourselves against falling into such insanity can we avoid it. The history of God’s people is that we a prone to eventually drift away. So this passage is a good reminder to be careful to maintain your faith and not take it for granted.
God spends most of his time talking to the people of the nation. He sees that the loss of faith is ultimately one that takes place on the level of the individual heart. While political rulers, priests, and prophets all hold great responsibility for encouraging idol worship, neglecting a call to prayer, and failure to proclaim God’s word, this does not excuse the people themselves for their deserting their Divine Savior who redeemed them. We can never blame leaders for our failures of faith. They are responsible for their sins and we are responsible for our sins.
Now the United States is not Israel. That is important to remember since we have had times when we see ourselves in that role. The Church is spiritual Israel. No national state is now the chosen people but rather the chosen people are of called from all nations to form God’s nation, the kingdom of God.
But, with this reminder it would be good to take note that the United States as a culture is moving from being a society dedicated to a Christian vision of God based on the Bible to a generic god of our own creation, an idol that justifies all our actions. The reason our moral and ethics are changing is because our faith is changing.
What evidence is there that this is the case? Here are just a few signs of the times.
Gallup reports that from 1948 to 2009 the percentage of people who identify themselves as Christian has dropped from 91% to 77%. In 1948 on 2% of Americans would say that they were not religious at all and that number is now at 12%. This is the fastest growing social group in the nation. The percentage of Americans identifying as Protestant or another non-Catholic Christian religion has been declining since the mid-1960s. When Gallup began tracking religious identification, the percentage of U.S. adults identifying with some non-Catholic Christian religion was routinely in the high 60%-low 70% range. The percentage fell below 60% for the first time in 1979, and since 2000 has been between 55% and 57%. This means that a faith that represents strong biblical principles founded on the reformation is declining. Faith in the Bible being the inspired word of God in which every word can be trusted to be inspired has declined from 38% (average in 1976-1984) to about 31% today (average from 1997 to 2007). All of these surveys indicate that we are moving away from God’s truth and not towards it as a society.
Now faith within the visible church is also struggling. George Barna reports the following information about how many people follow a Christian world view in America. Here is what Barna says:
“Defining Terms
For the purposes of the survey, a “biblical worldview” was defined as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today. In the research, anyone who held all of those beliefs was said to have a biblical worldview.
National Results
Overall, the current research revealed that only 9% of all American adults have a biblical worldview. Among the sixty subgroups of respondents that the survey explored was one defined by those who said they have made a personal to commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today and that they are certain that they will go to Heaven after they die only because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior. Labeled “born again Christians,” the study discovered that they were twice as likely as the average adult to possess a biblical worldview. However, that meant that even among born again Christians, less than one out of every five (19%) had such an outlook on life.
The same questions were asked of respondents in national surveys by Barna in 1995, 2000 and 2005. The results indicate that the percentage of adults with a biblical worldview, as defined above, has remained unchanged for more than a decade. The numbers show that 7% had such a worldview in 1995, compared to 10% in 2000, 11% in 2005, and 9% now. Even among born again adults, the statistics have remained flat: 18% in 1995, 22% in 2000, 21% in 2005, and 19% today.”
On one hand we are not seeing a decline in those who hold a biblical world view over the last 10 years but the total number of Americans holding this world view is about nineteen million out of a population of roughly 217 million adults. We can be a significant influence. But we are only a minority and we are not growing.
We need to have reformation in the Church, which is a return to a biblical world view.
We need to have renewal in the Church, which is a return to a living and passionate spirituality.
We need to have revival in the society, which is an experience of God’s saving grace in the gospel of Messiah Jesus.
To do this we must check our own spiritual direction today. Are we moving in the direction of having more faith or are we moving in the direction of having less faith.
Are we neglecting spiritual disciplines such as fasting, prayer, biblical meditation, giving to the poor, study of scripture, witnessing, and praise?
How consistently do we seek the LORD?
What do we seek when we need to find encouragement for our souls? Is it something outside of the Christian faith? Is this an idol in our life?
Whatever becomes the ultimate concern of our lives has become our God.
What is the ultimate concern of my life at this moment?
Have you been back sliding? Is your faith less than it was a year ago? What has weakened your faith? How could this be overcome? What could you do to grow in faith again? What most nurtures your faith? Do you need to take a weekend with be with God and talk out your frustrations and fears with the LORD? Why is it hard to say no to temptation? How could your strength to overcome your temptations be increased?
Is your faith greater than it was a year ago? How could it become even greater? What spiritual challenge do you need to accept from God? What steps should you take to prevent back sliding? What can you do to build up your local church? How could you be a blessing to your congregation? How could your faith impact your friends, neighbors, family, and associates in a greater way? How do you plan to seek as the ultimate concern of your life the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness?
God is faithful. The LORD knows that we drift away. The Lord brings reformation, renewal, and revival. The Messiah Jesus will build HIS church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. If God is for us then who can be against us? With hopeful faith we must pray for reformation, renewal, and revival. Seize the day for Christ Jesus!
(The nearly daily devotional is a ministry of First Church West. More information about this fellowship can be found at firstchurchwest.net. If you do not regularly receive this e-mail devotional then you can be put on the list by e-mailing terry_wise@bellsouth.net and asking receive the devotional.)

Road to Renewal and Revival

2010-08-18T07:46:00.000-04:00

Isaiah 58:9b-14
If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
"If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
The main focus of Isaiah 58 is to teach us how to fast. It points out that we have to combine prayer and fasting with social concern and love or it is not something that pleases God. Like 1 Corinthians 13 it reminds us that without love then everything we do is empty and useless.
Lord, fill our hearts with love and concern for those in need.
One of the reasons we fast and pray is that we are looking for revival and renewal. We don’t fast when all is well. We fast when we are suffering losses and are in fear of defeat. Fasting is an emergency measure in which we are seeking to intensify the passion and purpose of our prayers because we see great need. We all want revival and renewal but fasting should reflect a deeper commitment to seeking God’s pouring out HIS blessing upon us and giving to us spiritual prosperity.
The Lord in this passage outlines what HIS people need to seek to do if they desire to see revival and renewal.
The first is they must free people from the chains of contempt ("pointing fingers") and slander ("speaking of evil"). God demands that the society of believers not be one filled with negativity, gossip, murmuring, complaining, sarcasm, and self righteous judgment of each other. The Holy Spirit is never inspiring negative talk.
(Exodus 16:7 ESV) and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?"
(Exodus 16:8 ESV) And Moses said, "When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him--what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD."
(Numbers 14:27 ESV) "How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me.
(Numbers 14:36 ESV) And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation grumble against him by bringing up a bad report about the land--
(Numbers 16:11 ESV) Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?"
(Numbers 17:5 ESV) And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you."
(John 6:43 ESV) Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves.
(1 Corinthians 10:10 ESV) nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
(James 5:9 ESV) Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door..
God does not want congregations to be filled with complaining, griping, and murmuring. Ultimately, this shows a lack of contentment and joy. Revival and renewal will not come to a church that is filled with such abusive words.
Where should be our focus? We should be pouring out our souls to help those in need. That is what the Hebrew literally says here. We are to empty ourselves and our passions in caring for the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of hurting people. This is what God want HIS people to give themselves to without restraint. We are to love one another.
If we do this then God will send revival and renewal. Our spiritual desert will become paradise. Our darkest moments will become like the brightest noon.
In addition to this the people of God must also become more passionate about corporate worship and Sabbath rest. We must give time, focus, passion, and intentionality to our praise and prayer. We must make our spiritual life a priority that simply does not get lost in the midst of our busy lives. The spiritual disciplines of worship, prayer, meditation on God’s word, praise, fasting, and study of scripture must be held in honor in our lives and in our schedules. Revival and renewal come when we believe meeting with God is vital and a delight.
Now God must give us such attitude. The LORD must move us towards these ends. But the map is clear. If we want revival and renewal then this is the path we must take.
What can you do to end negative talk in your life? The best way to stop negative talk in the body of Christ is to refuse to listen to it. When a conversation turns negative then just says “this is negative” and end the conversation.
What can you do to pour out your life to those in need? How can you serve those who are most weak?
What could you do to improve your worship on this Sunday? How could you become more serious in seeking God? Could you arrive five minutes early to pray? Could you sit in the front row to improve concentration? Could you prepare on Saturday night for Sunday morning? How can we take pleasure in our worship and glorify God?
(This is an example of the “Almost Daily Devotional”. If you would like to receive it then e-mail normwise@bellsouth.net and request to be put on the list to receive it on a regular basis. )

Help us believe!

2010-08-06T05:30:00.000-04:00

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old—and Sarah herself was barren—because he considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, "as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore." 13 All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, 14 for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them
Everyone human being has to function by faith. Even the hard core materialist has to have faith in their senses and the scientific method. The scientific method cannot prove the scientific method. It has to be accepted by faith. Everyone has convictions about reality. These convictions are our faith. One of the marks of our humanity is that we are by nature “believers” in something.
Now the Bible sees true faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as “faith” and everything else as unbelief. Unbelief is to believe wrongly. It is faith directed at the wrong object and distorted. It is to have a false hope and perspective upon life.
Our faith is foundational. It helps us look at the world as a creation by God. It is by trust in God’s Word that we gain approval. Faith is the bridge that reconciles us to God when it is rightly directed towards His promises. The better our faith the better we know God.
Now the promise that must be believed is that the Messiah will come. The promise to Abraham was that the one who would crush the head of the devil would come through him (Genesis 3:15). The earth would be “filled” with believers who would be the “children of Abraham.” (Romans 4). The humble would inherit the earth. The Messiah would restore paradise to the planet and the people of God would know perfect peace or “Shalom”
This restored paradise or “kingdom of God” is the better city that has been prepared for those who trust in God keeping HIS promises in Messiah Jesus. We will see the planet and human society healed. There will be a fellowship of respect and love which will endure for all eternity. Not only will humanity dwell in peace with God but they will just as amazingly be at peace with one another.
The power to do God’s purpose in our lives will come as we believe. Abraham believed and gained the power to have a child. The disciples believed and the Holy Spirit fell upon them at Pentecost. Only as we believe do we have the love needed to act. Faith is foundational to having the energy needed to accomplish our God given tasks and use our gifts.
There is another story of faith that has always struck me. A father had come to have his son healed. But the disciples could not heal his son. Jesus the Messiah now comes to heal the son. The father asks HIM to help “if he can”. Messiah Jesus confronts the unbelief in the man’s heart.
And Jesus said to him, "'If you can'! All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:23-24 ESV)
I think each of us is like the father of the child that day. We do believe. If the man did not believe he would not have his son seeing the apostles or even be asking Messiah Jesus for help. Total lack of faith would have kept the man home.
Yet, at the same time lots of bad things have happened. Things do not seem to be getting better and the people we hoped would help us seem powerless to assist us. It is hard to believe when we are tired and worn out. Circumstances do not seem to justify our faith. So our heart becomes divided. We believe but we don’t fully believe.
The man here does a very sane thing. He admits his unbelief. He confesses his lack of faith. Confession is always the first step in restoring our sanity. He then prays for his the Lord’s help in overcome his unbelief. Prayer is key to growing in faith. True faith is the gift of God. Only God can overcome the wrong belief that guides our hearts.
So can you confess today that there still remains in your heart unbelief? Can you define that unbelief as really faith in the wrong things? How well do you understand your own doubt? Can you pray today for God to help you to believe more?
Remember, faith come from hearing and hearing from the word of Christ (Romans 10:17). Sitting at the feet of Messiah Jesus is always a good place to find faith. Spend some time with HIM today just listening to HIS promises and love.
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42 ESV)

Worship & Compassion

2010-08-05T07:54:00.000-04:00

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah…..
10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand? Trample my courts no more; 13 bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation— I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. 14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. 18 Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
The message of Isaiah is clear. God demands of his people that they combine worship with care for the poor. If the people of God attempt to just have worship without concern for social mercy then God will not respond to their worship. God views worship that is not combined with care for the needy as a vain action.
God says that when people fail to care for the needy in a community that they have become like Sodom and Gomorrah. While sexual lawlessness was part of the reason why Sodom and Gomorrah were judged with fire it was not the only reason.
As I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters have not done as you and your daughters have done. Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16:48-49 ESV)
Any society that does not care for the poor and needy has failed to do God’s will. God desires that we show care for those who have physical needs because every person is made in God’s image and therefore deserves to have their life protected and their pain addressed.
All the institutions of society must seek creative, effective, balanced, fair, and compassionate answers to meeting the needs of the poor and needy. The family and the church are the two primary institutions that need to find practical answers to providing for those in need. The government must provide equal justice for all citizens regardless of their ability to pay for lawyers. How much the government is to be involved in helping to care for the poor is of great debate. From God’s perspective, more important than the exact role government, is that some way or another society finds a way to help the poor and needy. Ideally this care would be based on faith and love.
One of the marks of the rule of the Messiah and the line of David was that there would be great care to provide justice and compassion to the poor, needy, and oppressed.
Of Solomon. Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor! ….For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight. (Psalms 72:1-14 ESV)
Wherever Messiah Jesus is king there will be a compassion, pity, and protection for those who are weak, needy, handicapped, oppressed, persecuted, and in need. Where there is no care for the poor, Jesus is not LORD.
First Church West has attempted to show this compassion by always being active in caring for people in need. Our deacon’s fund has been very active in helping people in times of need and crisis. We are small and our resources are little but we have made a difference in many people’s lives.
Living Water Counseling is also a ministry of mercy to those in need. Many times people without insurance or resources cannot get the comfort and wisdom provided by a professional counselor. Their personal lives and families are troubled and painful because they cannot afford the care they need to get peace of soul and skills for living. Every week we provide such care with compassion and grace to hundreds of needy souls. I praise God for how we have by His grace been able in these ways to show care for those in need.
So what should we do with this? We need to make sure our worship is combined with an attitude of repentance. Repentance is turning away from selfishness and pride and turning to follow God’s love and compassion in every circumstance. Our worship is acceptable when our hearts are filled with true confession, faith, and repentance. Whatever is not of faith is sin. Worship without faith and repentance is blasphemy. It is not perfection but direction that is the key. Repentance is a change in direction.
How can we prepare our hearts for worship this week? What sins are in our lives that we need to repent of and seek a new right path? Today is a good day to ask forgiveness and seek the Lord that we may give HIM praise for our pardon and take joy in HIS amazing grace.
What could you do more than you are doing to care for the poor and needy? God would ask you to find ways to give them grace today.

The Father's Unfailing Love

2010-07-28T08:05:00.001-04:00

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.
They shall not return to the land of Egypt, but Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me. The sword shall rage against their cities, consume the bars of their gates, and devour them because of their own counsels. My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all.
How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
They shall go after the LORD; he will roar like a lion; when he roars, his children shall come trembling from the west; they shall come trembling like birds from Egypt, and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes, declares the LORD. (Hosea 11:1-11 ESV)
It would seem clear from reading the Bible that parents are not responsible for the behavior of their children. One key example of this truth is that God is the Father of His people and they are always rebelling against HIM. God is a perfect Father. Yet, HIS children do not obey.
God loves HIS children. He communicates them HIS love. He invites them into a healthy relationship with HIM but instead they follow other gods. God the Father teaches His children, heals them, and feeds them. Yet, they go astray.
At the time this passage was written the apostasy of Israel had brought upon them the promised results. If they did not want to be the children of God then they could return to the world. The EXODUS could be reversed. From the nations they were created and to the nations they could return. Assyria will come and take the ten tribes into captivity because they had rebelled.
But, as the heavenly Father sees the just and logical consequences of the sins of his covenant children HE cannot just let them go. How can he allow them to be destroyed like Admah and Zeboiim, two minor cities that were destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah? No, the FATHER’s great compassion cannot allow that to be their end. He will bring revival to Israel. He will give them life again.
Here we see God’s great grace motivated by HIS great love. He will wake up HIS spiritually sleeping children and they will return to HIM. He will save the nation and they will fulfill HIS redemptive purpose in history. God’s grace will satisfy God’s justice and bring the kingdom of God to the earth. God’s grace gives hope.
Now God’s election works at many different levels. God the Father elects individuals to have personal faith in Messiah Jesus and be His disciples in a broken world. God the Father has also elected to create a new community “The Church” which is the “new Israel” made up of both Jew and Gentile believers to be His covenant people (see Ephesians 2). God the Father has also elected to bring all of physical Israel and most of the middle east to faith before the final coming (see Romans 11 and Isaiah 19:19-25). God works with both individuals and with groups.
God, the creator of the world, is the ruler of the nations. What is the basic principle by which God works among the nations?
If I threaten to uproot and shatter an evil nation and that nation turns from its evil, I will change my mind. If I promise to make a nation strong, but its people start disobeying me and doing evil, then I will change my mind and not help them at all. (Jeremiah 18:7-10 CEV)
So God is at work to establish justice among the nations but mixes this with mercy and compassion. Like Nineveh, rebellious nations can be spared (see Jonah). Repentance is always the wisest choice for nations, churches, or individuals (Revelation 2 & 3).
Today let us remember that God is our heavenly Father. He has adopted us in Messiah Jesus. He has given us the same relationship with HIM as Messiah Jesus has with HIM. We have become the “sons and daughters of God”. He gave this gift to us. It was 100% motivated by HIS great love. It was given to us by grace alone.
How have we rebelled against HIM today? What actions, words, and attitudes are not conformed to HIS will? What idols (objects of ultimate concern) do we have in our lives?
Do you hear the Heavenly Father calling out to you today? Do you hear HIS invitation to come home? Are you ready to return to HIS will for your life and the warm embrace of HIS unconditional love?
Remember, the heavenly FATHER who began a good work in you will see to it that you finish the race well and are with HIM forever in glory. HE never fails to save any of HIS true children. Find joy in HIS grace and love this day.

Be a peace maker

2010-06-08T06:06:00.001-04:00

As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own. Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. Try your best to let God's Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 CEV)

Eph 4:3

(ASV) giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

(CEV) Try your best to let God's Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace.

(DRB) Careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

(EMTV) being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

(ESV) eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

(GNB) Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together.

How can the church maintain the unity that the Holy Spirit has created by baptizing us into the body of Christ? How can we live in guietness and rest with each other. How can we keep our relationships right?

None of this is easy. Sin's first impact was to divide the man and the woman in shame from each other. Christians have struggled to have emotionally healthy relationships since the first century. So how can we strive to obey this command? How can we move in the direction of preserving the unity and peace of the body of Christ?

I believe that the first step is prayer. We must really pray for each other. If I am praying for my brother or sister sincerely then it is less likely that I will say or do things to hurt them. Now, the prayer has to be an honest prayer and not a self righteous judgment in the form of a prayer. I have to actually be praying the Lord will bless my brother or sister. I also have to pray that God will restore and reconcile our relationship.

I also have to remind myself of the common ground that I have with every other Christian. We all have the same heavenly Father. We all have the same Savior. The Holy Spirit is in both of us. We share a common faith and the common goal of the kingdom of God. We are forever family. This bond is actually stronger that that of blood from God's perspective.

I need to grant the judgment of charity, love, mercy, and grace to my brother or sister when they do or say something wrong, foolish, or confusing. What would be the best motivation my brother or sister could have had for doing or saying this? We must not demonize each other or think that our brother or sister only had the darkest and most vile motivations when they did something. Our emotions are controlled by the story we tell ourselves. If we tell ourselves a horror story then our feelings will become filled with fear and anger. We must tell ourselves the best story we can about what has happened since only God knows the heart. When I make my brother or sister a monster this is most likely not God's view of my brother or sister.

Judge thyself with the judgment of sincerity, and thou will judge others with the judgment of charity. — John Mitchell Mason

We must follow Matthew 18

"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
(Matthew 18:15-17 ESV)

We must understand that while gossip, rumor spreading, and murmuring come naturally to us this has never helped to protect the unity of the church or promote peace. We must face the self rightous roots of all such behavior and dedicate ourselves to going to people one on one when we have conflicts or have been hurt. If we cannot find reconcilation we must press on and get counseling with people where there is division. Some things may not be able to be fixed but we need to know that we have really attempted in every way humanly to find reconcilation. Whenever we do not have reconcilation in a relationship we have fallen short of God's perfect will. As much as it relies upon us we need to seek to have peace (Rom 12:18).

I find this hard to do. I think we all do. I think I have not sought for outside counsel when I should have in order to find reconciation when my own efforts failed. I have left to many things half fixed or unfixed simply because I did not know how to make them any better. I am challenged to work harder to solve these problems and not think they will just go away. We must strive to have a real unity in the body and one free of unhealthy division. We must be an emotionally healthy church.

I do think that good relationships are helped by good structures. Human beings in community do not do well when there are not an agreed upon set of rules. When everyone does what is right in their own eyes then people get hurt. If I know we are playing football I am not surprised when you tackle me. However if you tackle me in the middle of a game of chess I am greatly surprised. Knowing the rules and having the same expectations is important. Therefore, one way to help create unity is to have a framework or system which defines our roles, responsibilities, and organizational relationships. Who is responsible for what? Who makes financial decisions? How are decisions suppose to be made? All of these have to be carefully and fully defined or we will have conflicts. First Church West in my opinion does not have good structures. We must jointly decide on how we want to have things handled. We must define our normal operating procedure more effectively or we will continue to have crisis after crisis.

I want to be a peace maker. I want to maintain the unity and peace of the church. I know some people see me as a trouble maker and not a peace maker. I am sad about that. I hope that each of us can strive to find ways to be kind to each other and seek harmony in the body of Christ. May God have mercy on us and help us be an emotionally heathy body of Christ.

Endure Trouble

2010-05-12T07:18:00.000-04:00

be patient in tribulation (ESV)

Be patient in time of trouble (CEV)

Enduring in tribulation (EMTV)

Be patient in your troubles (GNB)

This passage would tell us to stay under the rule of faith and persevere during times when we are under pressure from difficult circumstances such as persecution, afflictions, disease, famine, poverty, broken relationships, loneliness, political oppression, rejection, abandonment, and abuse. We are not to flee from faith when we face hardships but to hold fast to our faith in Messiah Jesus during the hardest of times. The Apostle Paul would encourage us to be brave and not panic during times of trouble.

We live in a society that is not very patient. We do not endure a lack of pleasure or pain very long or very well. We live in an "instant" society and want immediate results. The idea of trusting God during hard and dark times is the opposite of what we would expect we would have to do. A call to be remain faithful to God and faith even when God is not keeping bad things from happening in my life is a difficult concept. This is especially true if by the giving up of our faith we can get rid of the pressure we are under. Messiah Jesus warns that some will receive the gospel with great joy but when persecutions and hardships arise will fall away. If the roots of our faith are shallow then that faith will not endure.

It is clear the Apostles did not have a theology that said that if a person had faith they would not have tribulation and trouble in this life. The normal Christian life is one where people struggle and suffer. Faith helps us endure the suffering it does not keep the suffering from coming into our lives. We live in a time when one of the central doctrines of faith in America is that God will rapture all Christians out of the world so they will not have to suffer tribulation. It is vital to the faith of many that they will not have to endure such a time of great trouble. Now prophecy aside, what we do know is that Christians do suffer great trouble and have suffered great tribulation during all of Church history.

In this year alone an estimated 175,000 people will be killed because of their faith in Messiah Jesus. There are millions of Christians who suffer persecution under oppressive governments around the world today. They are patient in their tribulation. Regardless of our prophecy we must be ready to endure trouble, persecution, oppression, ridicule, and poverty for the sake of Messiah Jesus.

Paul is really saying that true love for Messiah Jesus will endure all things. Our faith is a relationship of committed love. As we suffer various problems we need to gain God's strength in the relationship we have because of Messiah Jesus' death for our sins and resurrection from the dead. Seeing His love for us should inspire us to trust and love Him as well.

To be patient in my troubles also means that I will not give into frustration and anger. Most of our abuse of others occurs during times when we feel under pressure. Our worst outbursts of anger come when things go wrong in our life and we feel pain. We forget that undisciplined human anger cannot make things right. The gospel calls us to bless people in our pain even as Messiah Jesus prayed for those who crucified HIM. Part of living a life of love is learning to exercise self control when we are under pressure.

How can I increase my ability to be patient when suffering and not give in to frustration, anger, and fear? One way is to remind myself of eternity and the hope of Christ's perfect kingdom. Tribulation will not be forever. It is just a short time and then I will be free of pain and know only God's warm embrace forever. Another is to believe that there is purpose in all pain. God is at work in the trouble to bring about something good in my soul and in the world. All pain is pregnant with kingdom potential. When I know that there is a purpose in my suffering it helps me endure the pain. Finally, my kingdom focused suffering allows me to better understand the heart of Messiah Jesus. As I take up my cross daily and suffer for God's kingdom, I become more like Messiah Jesus in HIS taking up the cross for my sins. My suffering makes me more like my Lord Jesus

Never Give In!

2010-05-08T07:55:00.000-04:00

Never Give Up!

Not slothful in business (ESV)
... in diligence not slothful (ASV)
Never give up (CEV)
In carefulness not slothful (DRB)
... not lagging in diligence (EMTV)
Work hard and do not be lazy (GNB)
Never be lazy in showing such devotion. (ISV)

Here we understand that love works hard. Godly passion makes us focused, hardworking, and purpose driven. The gospel says we are not saved by works but calls us to work hard.

Oknerous, is the Greek word translated lazy or slothful and describes those who are slow due to hesitation, anxiety, or negligence. It is used in the Old Testament in Proverbs 6:6; 9 of those who allow inconveniences to stop them or who never move from the idea of a good action to actually do something about it (Proverbs 20:4; 21:25). Jesus the Messiah warns in Matthew 25:26 about professed disciples who hesitate to put their gifts to work and fail to live up to their eternal responsibilities.

The word translated "business" or "diligence" is the Greek word spoude which literally means speed or haste. Literally this verse would be "to not be slow in being speedy". But the word implies speaking or acting seriously. Doing what ought to be done as faithfully as we can do it. The meaning seems to be that we are not to become slow in doing what God wants to be the top priorities of our life.

The gospel calls us to a serious life. God sent His SON to die for our sins. God is serious about saving us. He wants us to share in being sober and serious people who are living disciplined and focused lives. We are to be seeking first God's kingdom and righteousness.

It is not easy to remain serious. We live in a culture that values entertainment and much of that entertainment makes us apathetic about seeking righteousness. Happiness is for us the opposite of being serious. Yet, only in being serious can we know joy.

For some of us we have been striving for decades. It is hard to keep the energy up. We sometimes lose heart. We feel the pressure of Ecclesiastes. We hear the song of "Vanity, Vanity, all is Vanity" ringing in our ears and we begin slowing down in our seeking the kingdom. Our acts of faith become tempered by fear of failure and cynicism has us abandon doing what we know God has called us to do.

We must never give up. By remembering what God has done for us in Messiah Jesus and has given us in Messiah Jesus we can keep ourselves focused on God's purpose and plan for our lives. The Lord who has started a good work in us will finish it.

In 1941, Prime Minister Winston Churchill spoke to a school. The days were dark. The power of Nazism seemed impossible to stop. It would be easy to give up and easy to surrender. In the midst of those dark and desperate times the Prime Minister spoke these words.

"Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never--in nothing, great or small, large or petty--never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

We are in battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The enemy is telling us to give up. To give in and choose the broad and easy way is tempting. How can we hope to make a difference in the middle of such a dark and broken world? Yet, we must remember Nazism does not win. God's kingdom will come and God's will done on this planet. We must never yield and be faithful in doing our duty with diligence, focus, and faith.

This reminds me of a hymn I sang as a child: "This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet." (Maltbie D. Babcock – "This Is My Father’s World" 1901). We will need to review our performance and sing to our hearts the song of God's victory in Christ. As our morale rallies we will find that we can find new strength to press on and "never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never ...

Church is suppose to be family

2010-05-06T06:22:00.001-04:00

Love one another with brotherly affection ... ESV

In love of the brethern be tenderly affectioned one to another ... ASV

Love each other as brothers and sisters ... CEV

Loving one another with the charity of brotherhood ... DRB

Be warmly affectionate to one another with brotherly love ... EMTV

Love one another warmly as Christians .... GNB

Be devoted to each other with mutual affection ... ISV

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In English we might not see much difference between 12:9 where we are told to love without hypocrisy and 12:10 where we are told to love one another. But in the Greek you have two different words used. Romans 12:9 is talking about our "agape" which is an affection not based on performance and which indicates a calculated love based on making something the highest priority of our lives. It can be and most of the time is highly emotional, but it is emotion based on personal commitment. Agape love is not superior to other type of loves. It simply is a different type of love.

In this light one could understand Romans 12:9 as "Don't pretend to have the love God and others as your highest priority when it really isn't."

Now in Romans 12:10 we have two other Greek work used for love. One is philostorgos which is which is an old compound word used only here in the New Testament and philidelphia. Paul is now focusing on the idea that we are to not only agape God and others but now to give to Christians both philos and storgos type of love.

What is storgos? It is a love and loyalty based on a relationship outside of our control. It is the unconditional and long lasting love of family members for one another regardless of personality differences or performance. It is an affection that is given because of a unity we have with people that was simply destined to be by the providence of God alone. In this context Paul is saying we should feel affection for other Christians because God has chosen them to be our spiritual family. We are to give them loyalty, care, and warmth as we would family members.

Philadelphia is a word that strengthens this. It is when we actively pursue having deep and intimate family relationships. Storgos is the foundation for such a pursuit. But philos is opening our hearts to feel love towards our family members and seeking intimate friendship with them. Here is a commitment to emotional intimacy.

Now context always rules the varies shades of meaning these words may have. Here we have a call by Paul for Christians to recognize that the gospel of grace has made us a spiritual family and to love without hypocrisy we must open ourselves up to this new set of relationships found in the church and embrace other believers as relatives. This spiritual family is to have as much loyalty given to it as we would give to our physical families.

It also means that we must be seeking to make those in our local church those with whom we would have emotionally intimate friendships. Ultimately, these verses can only be experienced in the local church. We are to be ready to embrace any Christian at any time as a family member "storgos" and have a general "philos" attitude towards them, but it is in the company of believers we worship with that these words will take on concrete and real meaning.

The gospel calls us to make our local church the center of our social life. We are to be a company of friends who have faith in Messiah Jesus in common. Our love for HIM is to create love for one another.

At the present moment 39% of Americans attend church once a week. It would seem that weekly attendence at church would be the minimum effort people would have to make the local church the center of their social lives. We know that many who attend weekly have not done that. If we use the normal 80/20 rule we could speculate that in reality only about 8% of Christians in America have most likely made the relationships at church the central and most important relationships in their lives. Only 8% are experiencing to some degree the reality of what the Apostle Paul wants us to experience in our local church.

How can we open ourselves up to such intimate spiritual friendships? Many times we have been hurt in church and been disappointed by "hypocritical love" (see vs 9). It is God's will we give ourselves to this spiritual family and yet it is hard to do and hard to experience. May God grant each of us the grace to seek to deepen our love for one another.

Glued to Good

2010-05-05T07:12:00.000-04:00

... hold fast what is good. (ESV)

... cleave to that which is good (ASV)

... hold tight to everything that is good (CEV)

Cling to that which is good. (EMTV)

Now we are not saved by our good works. However, this is due to the lack of such good works in our life and not because God does not take pleasure in our doing good. We have been saved by God's grace alone by the death of Messiah Jesus for us. Now that we have been saved, God has ordained us to live a life full of good works (Eph 2:8-10). We do good deeds not be be saved but because we are saved.

The Greek word here for "hold fast" is killao which is literally "glue". Strive to forever attach yourself to the good. To have the good stick to you is a literal image. We are to glue ourselves to the good or agathos. We are to become fully attached to virtue, health, usefulness, excellence, honor and that which brings true joyfulness into the world.

We are to run from in horror the moral depravity that causes pain and death and run passionately after moral good which causes true joy and brings life. We are to desire to become so attached to good that it would be like being "super glued" to something. We are to be unable to get rid of it without a lot of pain and trouble. To do good is to be and act like Messiah Jesus. It is to love God first and then have compassion on people. It is to live a sane, stable, and spiritual life consistently.

How can we get "glued to good"? Here are some ideas.

1. Wear goodness - This would mean first of all to dress in a modest way. It would mean for married people to keep their wedding bands on. It would mean to have something that reminds you of your relationship with Christ. Maybe a cross around your neck or a "big idea" card in your wallet. What can I do that will "glue goodness" to my appearance, dress, and routine of getting ready for daily life.

2. Read and talk about goodness to yourself. Watch your self talk and make sure that it is moving you in the direction of virtue and not vice. Talk to yourself about the goodness of God in dying for your sins in the person of Messiah Jesus. Remind yourself of the good character of God. Read the Bible and other devotional books which call upon you to seek goodness and run from evil.

3. Have your entertainment encourage being "glued to goodness" and not a temptation to vice. Entertainment has a lot to do with what we become "glued to" in our emotions and actions. Seek to find fun ways to seek a sane, stable, and healthy life. Some entertainment encourages our dark side while some fun activities help us appreciate living well. Is the music in your life encouraging virtue or vice?

4. Seek out relationships with people who encourage you being good. Bad company ruins good morals. We need people who will be "rubbing us the right way" and being cheer leaders for right behavior. This is one of the aspects of a small group since it can hold us accountable to what we know to be "good."

5. Make every meal a time to ask God to help you be filled with the Holy Spirit and seek first the Kingdom of God. By turning every meal into a reminder of God's love for us and our need to love Him, then this allows us to become "glued to goodness".

6. Make up self talk that summarizes all the benefits of doing good. Read this self talk part of your meal time and morning devotions. Sell yourself on the wisdom of doing what is morally noble over compromising with your darker desires. Fall in love with goodness.

7. Talk about good things with other people. Strive to take the "high moral ground" in conversations. Confess desire to do evil as wrong. Do not play with bad attitudes by expressing approval of wrong doing. Be a person who will counsel good behavior and wise living even when you struggle to do it.

8. Be alert to the opportunity to do good. Goodness will remain very abstract until we just "do it". By visiting the lonely, feeding the sick, encouraging the discouraged, giving to the poor, worshiping God with passion, sharing the gospel with the lost, giving wise counsel to the confused, and praying for those in need we become "glued to goodness" because it becomes a lifestyle.

9. Bathe yourself in reminders to be and do good. Have signs, posters, art, and rituals which remind you that because of Christ's goodness to you that now you desire to be good. Put reminders to do good and be good into your daily calender.

10. Become sensitive to the "clues" that you are beginning to backslide. Keep a radical moral inventory of your life up to date. Most of us become "unglued" over a long period of time. Our attachment to God's will for our lives is something lost by erosion rather than a radical decision to do evil. We simply stop reinforcing our commitment to goodness and then one day we notice we are in a very bad place spiritually.

Finally one more danger. Ignore anyone who says you are being too "religious" or taking seeking goodness to extremes. None of us on judgment day will be sad because we gained some virtue but many of us will regret the vices that still dominated our lives.

May God help me become glued to goodness this day.

Love one another

2010-04-26T06:00:00.002-04:00

Jesus the Messiah wants us to love one another. He wants us to show respect to each other. He wants us to treat other Christians well and really even love our enemy. His desire is for a healthy and whole human community in which people can dwell without fear of being abused. Sound simple, but it is not simple.

Human community is complex. We have different personalities, needs, back grounds, doctrines, experiences, fears, emotional wounds, prejudices, passions, gifts, abilities, skills, agendas, definitions, and desires. We share faith in Christ but really if we analyzed what we meant by that what that really means to any two of us is radically different in many ways and only similar in a few ways. Most of the time "birds of a feather flock together" but in the church we may be called to be part of a flock that has many different species of "Christians" in it. To love and respect people who are like me and who agree with me is one thing but to love and respect people who are different than me and do not agree with me is a whole different story.

The local church is suppose to be an example of a healthy human community under the leadership of Messiah Jesus in the real and sinful broken world. We are to be an emotionally healthy church filled with people who know how to live emotionally healthy spirituality. To the degree we are emotionally healthy we fulfill the will of Christ for the church and to the degree we are not emotionally healthy we do not fulfill the will of Christ for the church. The church is suppose to be one of the main apologetics for the faith. The beauty of our love for each other and for humanity as a whole is to be what draws people to the truth of the gospel. If the gospel can produce a community of love then it is valuable to the human race.

On Sunday I talked to a man from India who was a Christian. He had become a Christian because his grandfather had become a Christian. His grandfather had become a deep and devoted follower of Messiah Jesus who had been born into a Hindu family. When I asked him how his grand father had become a Christian he told me a story of persecuted Christians who had shown his grandfather kindness and love consistently over many years. They had provided his grandfather with financial support, a place to live, and food to eat during hard times. They had helped him to get an education. Their actions seems so different than what his grandfather was use to that when given a bible he read it and eventually became a Christian. What really won his grandfather to the faith was the love of Christians for their enemies. This man was part of the fruit of that love. For this man had believed and was not a Hindu because his grandfather had become radically converted.

I am humbled by all of this. I fail to love as I should love so often. I fail to be as emotionally healthy as I should be so often. As a pastor I fail to really provide the healthy leadership I should so often. I need to become more an example of emotionally healthy spirituality so that we can better become an emotionally healthy community of faith. Ultimately, only then will we be able to be a clear witness of love and grace into a broken world.

The Lord is my Shepherd

2010-04-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
The Lord Jesus is my loving leader and therefore every need I have in my life will be provided as a gift of grace. He puts me in places where I am fed and watered, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He restores my energy and my life daily. He directs me on the paths that lead to life and not death. Sometimes those paths lead into very dark places and my confidence is that the Lord is with me, protecting me as we go into the darkness. On the other side of the toughest times the Lord has prepared for me again a place of abundant provision and abundant refreshment in the midst of a dangerous world. The goodness and the mercy of the Lord Jesus pursues me and chases me down every day of my life and one day I will dwell in the heavenly temple with my loving Lord for all eternity. (Norm Wise Paraphrase)
This psalm was part of my early spiritual education. My mother read this psalm every morning before she went to work. It was her psalm. She gave it to me.
When I was a little boy I thought this was a strange psalm at first. I understood the first verse to mean that the Lord was a shepherd that I did not want in my life! I wondered; “Why was I telling God that I did not want Him?”
At times maybe there is more truth to that then I would want to admit. All we like sheep have gone astray. The shepherd keeps the sheep no t the sheep the shepherd.
Now of course the real meaning is the Lord is my Shepherd and He will provide for me. God will give me food, drink, and protection as I have need of them in this life. He will be with be during the hardest times and eventually lead me to be comforted and provided for in the midst of my enemies. The psalm never denies hardship and danger, it only assures me that the good shepherd will get me through and give me glory.
Now this is one of the best known psalms in our country. Most people would still recognize Psalm 23. However, part of this is because it is normally read at funerals. It is psalm of comfort where our focus is that we imagine our loved one sitting in heaven as God’s dinner guest. Or perhaps we see ourselves walking through the dark valley of grief assured that eventually God will comfort us. The Psalm is used by God to bring comfort in all of these circumstances.

In some ways this makes sense since Psalm 23 follows Psalm 22 which is an account of God’s suffering servant. Here we have a poetic prophecy of Messiah dying for our sins and being raised from the dead. Now the risen Lord will be the shepherd of His people and eventually bring them into His kingdom. They will overcome their enemies and see God provide for them salvation.
But the psalm does not have to be understood in this light. For African and Asian believers this psalm has become a call to reject tyrannical political rulers who want to “shepherd” them and their lives. These believers quote the psalm as a clear statement that THE LORD and not the government is my ultimate shepherd that I will trust to take care of my needs. It has become their “Jesus is Lord; not Caesar” psalm and has significant political meaning to them.
The enemies of the Christian are the unbelieving world culture we live in, the rebellious and wicked fallen angels and the remaining lack of faith within our own hearts. None of these have the power to keep the Shepherd’s purpose of providing and protecting us from being achieved. The plan of the Shepherd to provide for us will be accomplished and the enemies of our soul will fail. This is God’s promise and gift to us. The Lord is our shepherd we will not fail.
This psalm also speaks to us of the Lord’s Supper. The shepherd has prepared a table for us. This is what Jesus did with the cup and the bread. How will the shepherd provide for our needs? We are very needy. The Shepherd will have to die for the sheep. He will have to suffer so they can be provided for and protected. The Shepherd will have to die to defeat the purpose of the enemies of the sheep. The table is a provision and a protection. It shows His care and His comfort. As we take of the cup and the bread that Jesus the Messiah has given to us it tells us that one day we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever in fellowship with our KING.
The bottom line to this psalm is this. The Lord is watching over us and will win over the enemies of our soul. We do have enemies and face dark times. If we were left on our own then we would be devoured by the real dangers of this life. But we are not alone. The Lord is our Shepherd and He will provide for us care and comfort. This Shepherd is chasing us down when we stray to give to us His mercy and love. If we tell ourselves this story daily, as my mother did just before she went to work, how can we fail to not have our anxiety fall and our faith rise up in confident joy. May the Lord, grant that we will experience some of that reality this day.

Why Follow Jesus - First Reflections

2010-04-06T06:24:00.000-04:00

And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19 ESV)

This “Easter” season I began to reflect on what is there that attracts me to the person of Messiah Jesus? Why should I, or anyone commit ourselves to Jesus of Nazareth as our personal Messiah? This is a basic question and yet one which is at the heart of every other aspect of our Christian life.

This is the foundation of our Christian existence and practice. Having a good solid reason for following Jesus, liking Jesus, admiring Jesus, and loving Jesus is critical since without such a reason and experience then nothing else in my Christian life or the Christian life of others is very likely to really work. What is there about Jesus of Nazareth that should capture my heart?

As I mused about this issue I came up with seven centers of focus that can help us to become attracted to Jesus of Nazareth and from which we may gain an increasing faith in Him as our Messiah. The seven focal points for me in seeking to be drawn to Messiah Jesus are:

1. His fulfillment of specific Messianic prophecies.
2. His teachings
3. His miracles
4. His life
5. His suffering for the sins of His people
6. His resurrection form the dead
7. His existential offer of acceptance, fellowship and salvation

Each of these produces a different point of reference through which the Messiah Jesus can be perceived and admired. Each one has its own particular impact on our thinking and affections towards Jesus of Nazareth. Each is needed to get a full understanding of who our Lord Jesus is.

His fulfillment of specific Messianic prophecies.

The New Testament takes for granted that we will be looking for a Messiah. It assumes we know we need a Savior. It presents Jesus of Nazareth as the “answer” to a “problem”. Yet, many of us today in the modern world do not come to the gospels looking for an answer. Because of this it is hard for us to always appreciate exactly what the gospels are offering as they present their pictures of Messiah Jesus.

It has hit me that one of the things that caused me to become a believer in Messiah Jesus was that I began my study of the Bible in Matthew and not in Leviticus. I do not think I would have been attracted to follow the God of the temple unless I had first had come to be attracted to Jesus of Nazareth. His acceptance of temple and Moses allowed me to accept them. My faith in the Hebrew Bible, what we normally call the Old Testament, is based on my faith in Jesus to be the authoritative prophetic representative from God and not the other way around. Beginning my reading of the Bible in Matthew instead of Genesis really helped me to have faith.

However, with this being said, one's understanding of Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah or Christ can only really make sense in the context of the prophecies of the Old Testament. It is this “problem” that needs to be understood and accepted which them makes the gospels presentation of Jesus of Nazareth as the solution to that problem so impressive. Without this background then the appearance of Messiah Jesus is a lot less awesome and inspiring. For instance the gospel of Mark begins with these words:

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'" (Mark 1:1-3 ESV)

In Isaiah, the prophet (en tōi Esaiāi tōi prophētēi). The quotation comes from Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. The Western and Neutral family of Greek documents read “Isaiah”, the Alexandrian and Syrian, “the prophets,” which some believe was a correction made by a latter scribe because part of it is from Malachi. Most modern translations read “Isaiah” while the New King James reads “prophets”

If Mark wrote “Isaiah” instead of prophets no error occurred. Isaiah is mentioned as the chief of the prophets. It was common to combine quotations from the prophets in chains of quotations. The ancient world did not foot note in the same way we do today. It therefore is not a reasonable expectation to think that Mark would footnote his gospel in a manner different than other authors of his day.

But here we find that Mark links the appearing of Jesus of Nazareth with the coming of the “Lord” into history. John the Baptist is seen as being the fulfillment of prophecies of one who would come to prepare the way for the appearing of God into the history of humanity. The “Lord” was coming! This was part of the hope of Messiah. To understand Jesus as the Messiah we must understand the need of a Messiah and what this hope was all about. If we do not do this then the very name “Jesus Christ” has lost it real meaning.

I plan over the next few weeks to continue my musings along these lines. I believe that this train of thought will help me grow in faith. I hope it may cause others to grow in faith. Growing in faith is really all that is vital. For the just shall live by faith in Messiah Jesus.

The question I would ask today is:

What most attracts you to follow Jesus as Lord of your life today?

Has it always been that same quality or at different times did various aspects of Jesus of Nazareth impact you?

Why do you think different aspects of Christ attract us at different times?

How do you think you could become more attracted to the Lord Jesus today?

These are questions worth considering.

The gospel brings salvation to all

2010-04-01T07:15:00.000-04:00

Acts 10:34-43
34 Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
Literal - The early church struggled to understand that “making disciples of all nations” meant “making disciples of all nations.” The Apostle Peter and many in the early church seem to have thought that people might first have to become Jewish and then Christian to receive Jesus the Messiah as their Savior and Lord. There had been many indications that God was going to work with the Gentiles nations in a more dramatic way once Messiah came (Isaiah 11:10; Psalm 2). Even Peter’s first sermon had talked about the Holy Spirit being g poured out on all humanity regardless of social status or power (Acts 2:17). Yet, it seemed impossible that God could include the “unclean” Gentiles into His kingdom plans without first cleaning them up by their becoming Jews.
Then God sent to the Apostle Peter a vision telling him to eat all the types of meat forbidden by Jewish dietary laws. The Apostle’s cultural habits are so strong that even at the command of God he refuses for he claims he has been ‘kosher’ all his life. God then tells him not to call unclean what God has called clean. The Messiah Jesus himself has already attempted to teach his disciples that the days when we need to worry about ‘kosher’ food is over and what really matters is the condition of the human heart (Mark 7:19). Yet, cultural and religious training runs deep in us and is not easily overcome. Only a direct vision by God moves the Apostle to begin to believe and see what God is doing.
As God is working in the heart of the Apostle Peter so He is also working in the heart of the Centurion Cornelius. He is a “God Fearer” which was a particular group of people in the New Testament. According to F.F. Bruce “God-fearers were Gentiles who attached themselves in varying degrees to the Jewish worship and way of life without as yet becoming full proselytes.” Those who were “Godfearers” were those who were worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and accepted the Ten Commandments as an expression of God’s ethical will but had not become Jewish in culture and tradition. They were many times people who supported the synagogues and came to listen to the Law being taught. Cornelius was such a man who practiced prayer to the true God and gave to the poor. His prayers to be forgiven were answered by God having him send for Peter and giving to Peter an additional insight into God’s amazing grace.
Here we see the Apostle Peter sharing that he has had a personal and profound insight. God shows no partiality based on if a person is a Jew or a Gentile (Romans 2:11). Everyone who has come to truly fear, honor, respect, and be in awe of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who created heaven and earth is a person who God’s Spirit is at work calling them to faith and repentance.
Now no idol worshiper fears God. There is greater hope for the Gentiles when they seek God at the altar of the “unknown God” than when they turn to the darkness of idols (Romans 1:18ff; Acts 17:23). Idol worship shows a lack of fear of God while seeking to worship the God who is revealed in the creation would lead one to worship in spirit and truth, the opposite of moving towards idols. Hinduism cannot save.
This chapter not only represents the Centurion Cornelius’ receiving the forgiveness of sins by believing in Jesus the Messiah and the embrace of God in the baptism of the Holy Spirit but also the beginning of the conversion of the early church to fully accept God’s mission to the Gentiles. Today perhaps we need to be converted to believe in God’s mission to the Jews and that He could make disciples of them as well as of us.
Such an insight might be needed especially in light of Jerusalem no longer being under the control of the Gentiles and the time of the Gentiles having been fulfilled in 1967 (Luke 21:24). The first Messianic Jewish synagogue was founded in 1967 and the growth in Messianic Judaism represented by such groups as Avodat Yisrael has brought more Jews to faith in Jesus as their Messiah than ever before in the history of the Christian Church. God’s Spirit is again moving to bring multitudes to salvation in the gospel of Messiah Jesus.
The message of the Apostle Peter is simple and straight forward. It is the Apostle’s Creed. Christ has died for our sins, been raised up in glory, and will come again in judgment. All who call on Messiah Jesus to have mercy on them will be forgiven their sins and receive the Holy Spirit. The one hope for sinners, both Jew and Gentile, is only to be found in Messiah Jesus. He is our one hope of salvation.
This is the message of Good Friday. This is the message of Easter. This is the message of the Christian faith universal. Let us affirm our faith this resurrection week and renew our trust in Messiah Jesus as our one hope of salvation. Amen.

Forgive us our sins as we forgive the sins of others

2010-04-01T07:10:00.001-04:00

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matthew 6:12 ESV)

and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation." (Luke 11:4 ESV)

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14, 15 ESV)

What does it mean when we pray “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors?”

Let us think thru the possible answers to this question.

1. The one who prays serves as a model for God

Those who understand the verse this way would interpret it as “forgive us our debts (sins), like we have forgiven our debtors.” Or “forgive us our debts in the same manner as he or she has forgiven others.”

In this case the one who prays is a model for God and God should forgive in the same way that the one who prays does or has done.

This seems like a very unlikely interpretation for the verse since the normal pattern is that divine forgiveness serves as a model for human forgiveness instead of human forgiveness serving as a model for divine forgiveness. (Eph 4:32; Col 3:13). While some parables do illustrate divine forgiveness within untypical and outlandish human situations it does not seem that the purpose of this instruction is to make God acts of forgiveness depend upon our acts of forgiveness or that God needs us to model this behavior for Him (Matthew 18:23-35; Luke 15:11-32).

2. The one who prays as claims God’s forgiveness on the basis of their having forgiven others.

Those who understand the verse in this manner would interpret it as “forgive us our debts since we have forgiven others. “ Divine forgiveness is laid claim to on the basis of one’s having forgiven other people.

Those who take this position would feel that the parallel passage found in Luke 11:4 where the it seems to read “for also we ourselves forgive.”

However, the Greek word here rarely if ever means “since” and therefore this interpretation seems forced. In addition, this would make forgiveness from God one of merit instead of grace which seems at odds with the whole message of the New Testament.

3. The one who prays asks for divine forgiveness on the condition that he or she is willing to forgive others.

This would seem at a simple level to fit the immediate commentary by Jesus found in Matthew 6:14-15 and in the parable of the unforgiving servant found in Matthew 18:23-30.

This is also supported by both Martin Luther’s views and those of the Catholic Church.

“God has promised us assurance that everything is forgiven and pardoned, yet on the condition that we also forgive our neighbor....If you do not forgive, do not think that God forgives you. But if you forgive, you have the comfort and assurance that you are forgiven in heaven. Not on account of your forgiving, for God does it altogether freely....But he has set up this condition for our strengthening and assurance as a sign along with the promise which is in agreement with this petition, Luke 6:37, .Forgive, and you will be forgiven.. Therefore Christ repeats it immediately after the Lord’s Prayer in Matt. 6:14, saying, .If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you,”. (Martin Luther’s Larger Catechism)

“Our petition [in the Lord’s Prayer] will not be heard unless we have first met a strict requirement....This outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed against us....In refusing to forgive our brothers and sisters, our hearts are closed and their hardness makes them impervious to the Father’s merciful love; but in confessing our sins, our hearts are opened to his grace “. (The Catechism of the Catholic Church (New Hope, KY: Urbi et Orbi, 1994) 681-682)

The idea here is that our forgiveness of others would not merit God’s forgiveness but would be a pre-condition of receiving the free gift of forgiveness from God. The presupposition would be that one who is coming in humble confession and repentance of their sins has also let go of condemnation towards other sinners. If one is still standing in self righteous judgment of others then how can one expect God to give grace and mercy to them? Such an attitude of self righteous condemnation is opposed to the attitude of “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner” which is needed to be forgiven. (Luke 18:13-14). Bitterness towards the sins of others blocks the exercise of faith and acceptance of grace needed to experience God’s forgiveness. There is no merit in forgiving others and yet without such an attitude one does not have faith.

Some commentators believe that Jesus the Messiah’s teaching here was part of a Jewish concept that human readiness to forgive was an attitude that had to be in a person before God would forgive their sins. We see this tradition reflected in Sirach 28:2 which reads “Forgive your neighbor of the wrong, and then your sins will be forgiven when you ask it.”

At one level this interpretation is plausible and could be regarded as correct as long as the attitude of forgiveness was seen as part of the gift of faith given by the Holy Spirit and if it is kept entirely free of earning forgiveness by merit. The problem however is if anyone could claim to completely fulfilled this requirement. It could be argued than no human being has ever forgiven another person perfectly. If God’s forgiveness only comes to us when we forgive others then how can any of us know for sure we have been forgiven by God? The grace of forgiveness like faith itself is never perfectly experienced in this life. So while this interpretation is possible it leaves us with a significant spiritual problem.

4. To the degree we experience the grace of forgiving others we can have assurance that our sins have been forgiven by God.

The traditional reformed (Calvinistic) perspective has been that to the degree we are able to forgive others we can have the assurance that our sins have been forgiven by others. Since our willingness of forgive others is a core fruit of true faith then to the degree it is in existence to that degree we can know we have believed the gospel and have been given the grace of forgiveness. This is seen in the Westminster larger catechism.
Question 194: What do we pray for in the fifth petition?
Answer: In the fifth petition (which is, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors), acknowledging, that we and all others are guilty both of original and actual sin, and thereby become debtors to the justice of God; and that neither we, nor any other creature, can make the least satisfaction for that debt: we pray for ourselves and others, that God of his free grace would, through the obedience and satisfaction of Christ, apprehended and applied by faith, acquit us both from the guilt and punishment of sin, accept us in his Beloved; continue his favor and grace to us, pardon our daily failings, and fill us with peace and joy, in giving us daily more and more assurance of forgiveness; which we are the rather emboldened to ask, and encouraged to expect, when we have this testimony in ourselves, that we from the heart forgive others their offenses.
This answer seems to address and answer the spiritual problem raised by the earlier view. So instead of forgiveness being dependent on our ability to forgive only our assurance of our forgiveness is impacted. This interpretation allows us to deal with the imperfection of our ability to forgive without it becoming impossible for us to experience God’s forgiveness.
5. Seeing this as a community prayer that was designed to be a liturgical part of corporate worship which aims at teaching the importance of forgiveness in the new community of the kingdom of God.
The Lord ’s Prayer is not just a model prayer but intended by Messiah Jesus to be recited whenever His disciples gather for worship. It is clear from Luke 11:2 that the disciples are actually say this prayer. The Didache 8:3 which reflects the practice of the first century church instructs the believers to recite the prayer word for word three times a day. In the act of praying those who pray are reminded of their duty to forgive in order to live by faith in the gospel.
This approach would focus on the fact that this prayer was given as part of a worshipping community of disciples. Theologian Joachim Jermias, suggest that this clause could be understood “as we also herewith forgive our debtors” which is based on how this could have been expressed originally in the Aramaic. This would support the idea that this was a “performantive utterance” which was done in the midst of corporate worship. Those who took place in the literacy of the church formally declared amnesty on those who had sinned against them as part of their affirmation of God’s grace and forgiveness found in the kingdom of Christ. If one sees the parables of Jesus and such teaching such as Matthew 6:14 as rhetorical exhortations instead of dogmatic statements about God. God cannot be restricted or made dependent on human actions. But one can hear this as pastoral advice which would say:
“You want to be forgiven by God? Well how do you expect to be forgiven when you stand in self righteous and bitter condemnation of others? Ask God to grant you a forgiving spirit and recognize your own sins. Humble yourself and let go of your bitterness! Stop being such a Pharisee and recognize your own need of God’s grace.”
Now it is recognized by the community that they have not yet fully followed any of the commands of Jesus the Messiah. Part of the confession of sins is the imperfection of the disciples. But repentance is about direction not perfection. Therefore, in the praying of this prayer the community both confesses their need of divine grace and also the need to give grace to others.
From this perspective it would be wrong to understand the fifth petition of the Lord’s prayer as a dogmatic statement about God’s attributes which makes God’s power to forgive dependent upon the piety of the one praying or to see it as a precondition that a soul must attain in order to experience divine forgiveness. Instead, the prayer, as part of the framework of worship for the disciples of Jesus the Messiah is one that is crying out for renewed relationships. To ask for forgiveness from God and know that in the Messiah Jesus this forgiveness has been given, only then reminds the disciple of the duty of the forgiven to forgive.
It is interesting that the church father, John Chrysostom , says concerning this:
“Since He might indeed, even without this (us forgiving others), forgive thee all thine offenses; but He wills thee hereby also to receive a benefit; affording thee on all sides innumerable occasions of gentleness and love to man, casting out what is brutish in thee, and quenching wrath, and in all ways cementing thee to him who is thine own member. “
This church father seems to teach that God can forgive us our sins even when we fall short of perfect forgiveness of others but that this prayer calls us to “cement” our relationship with one another in grace and mercy. This would support the idea that our human forgiveness is but a reflection of God’s great forgiveness of us in the death and resurrection of our Messiah Jesus.
Conclusion
The traditional reformed view and the idea that this was a “performance utterance” aimed at reminding the Christian community that God’s grace was to make them a people of grace both seem to provide understandings that keep us from making these verses teach forgiveness by merit or taking from imperfect disciples any hope of knowing God’s forgiving grace. We need to remember that only by focusing on God’s grace and mercy in Messiah Jesus can we hope to reflect this in our human relationships.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32 ESV)

http://www.voskrese.info/spl/matthom19.html

http://www2.luthersem.edu/word&world/Archives/16-3_Forgiveness/16-3_Hultgren.pdf

God the great evangelist

2010-03-05T21:25:00.000-05:00

Isaiah 55:1-9
1 Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Many of us have gone to church services where people have been invited to come forward to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Appeals have been made and the evangelist has called out to people to come forward to be embraced by God and receive salvation. Some of us came to faith in such moments of invitation and appeal.
Here we see an invitation that comes from God himself. Yahweh is the evangelist calling out to us. He says:
Come, Come, Come
Listen, Listen
Delight, Incline
See, See
Seek, forsake, Return
Twelve imperative commands are here. Twelve heartfelt appeals out of the heart of God are here given. A cry from Yahweh to Israel to complete their destination as God’s chosen people by responding to His call in faith. This is a call to trust in God’s mercy and repent. It is an appeal to be reconciled to Yahweh.
The promises are clear. God is inviting us to a free spiritual feast. We will find mercy, pardon, steadfast love, covenant, and the nations converted to a son of David. In God’s love and promises to David, He will now bring hope and salvation to all of His people. He warns us to try to buy the kingdom with our own righteousness or from the idols of the nations is insanity. Only in the covenant of grace do we have hope.
God knows that the way of grace is not something that is the way of our broken humanity. The hardest concept for us to accept is that we have failed so badly morally that we need pardon. We are suspicious of mercy and feel more at home relating to God based on justice alone. Yahweh’s choice of grace is both what gives us hope and what most confuses us about Him. Yet, He asks us to trust in His goodness and not refuse His appeal. He hungers and thirst for our salvation more than we do.
So what will we do in response to this intense and passionate appeal? How will our hearts respond? Are we ready to accept God’s invitation to feast with Him?
Christological - Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30 ESV)

Moral-Seek the Lord and forsake wickedness

Eternal - And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." (Revelation 19:9 ESV)

Prayer: Lord let me listen and respond to your love.

Contemplation: God is seeking me.

Action: Focus on God’s love for you and see it as greater than your love for God.

Will Israel Be Rejected?

2010-03-05T05:36:00.001-05:00

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. (Romans 11:1 ESV)

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? (Romans 11:2 ESV)

"Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life." (Romans 11:3 ESV)

But what is God's reply to him? "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." (Romans 11:4 ESV)

So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. (Romans 11:5 ESV)

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. (Romans 11:6 ESV)

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, (Romans 11:7 ESV)

as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day." (Romans 11:8 ESV)

And David says, "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them; (Romans 11:9 ESV)

let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever." (Romans 11:10 ESV)

Literal - The question is if God has rejected all the Jews? Has all Israel been lost? The answer Paul shouts out here is “NO!” such an idea must never be considered. Paul makes three points in response to this question in this section of Romans to prove his answer to this question.
(1) That God had saved him, a Jew, and therefore the gospel of Messiah Jesus cannot mean that God had cast off all Jews Rom 11:1;
(2) That now, as in former times of great turning away from God, God had chosen a remnant of Jews to believe Rom 11:2-5;
(3) That it was predicted in the Hebrew Bible that a part of Israel should be hardened Rom 11:6-10;
So has God utterly and for all time rejected the Jews? No for even now there are some who believe in Messiah Jesus and are saved. So anyone that would say that the gospel of Messiah Jesus declares God to have abandoned all Jews and His promises to Israel simply is not telling the truth. Israel has turned away from God by their rejection of the Messiah. This is a great spiritual apostasy and rebellion. But it is not final. God is not done working with the nation of Israel.

Now both Jew and Gentile need to accept the Messiah Jesus to be declared righteous before God.
“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” (Romans 3:22-25)

If a Jewish person fails to have faith in Messiah Jesus then they will be justly condemned for their sins and be lost. There will be no second chance after death. If a Gentile person failed to have faith in Messiah Jesus then they will be justly condemned for their sins and be lost. There will be no second chance after death.
Not that it would matter if there was a “second chance” for the people in hell do not have repentant hearts and continue to be in rebellion against God for all eternity. It is appointed for every human being, both Jew and Gentile that they will die and after that death they will face a final moral judgment for their lives. The only hope anyone has of being forgiven and declared righteous at that judgment is if they have been given the righteousness of Messiah Jesus as a gift and His death has been put to their account to pay for their sins. Only those who believe in Messiah Jesus have hope of pardon.
When the gospel of Messiah Jesus came only a small number of Jews believed in Messiah Jesus in the first century. For the most part their rejection of the gospel was profound, violent, and absolute. Yet, this was not the first time that Israel had rejected God’s plans, killed her prophets, or rebelled against God’s kingdom.
Their rebellion could never stop God’s plan to bring the Messiah into the world through them. God would keep all His promises that He gave to Abraham. Not all physical Israel are members of the “true Israel”. But of some chosen Jews, God has always had thoughts of love before the world was created, to be in eternal fellowship with them. These elect and chosen ones will never be rejected or lost. These are the ones that God has circumcised their hearts and have been called into a faith relationship with Him.
“But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” (Romans 2:29 ESV)

As evidence that this is true and nothing new Paul tells the story of Elijah. The discouraged prophet complains about the nation of Israel in that day and says:
"I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away." (1 Kings 19:10 ESV)

Elijah believes that only he has remained faithful to God. He believes that “all Israel is lost”. But God tells him that he has kept 7000 faithful. God has preserved a small group and kept them from this general rebellion and apostasy that has captured Israel. God will fulfill his promises to Abraham and use his offspring to bring Messiah into the world.

God will always create a believing remnant among the Jews and never allow faith to totally die among Israel. This group is chosen by grace alone and not because they are better than anyone else. Only because God has given to them unconditional favor do they believe and are saved.

Now Paul begins to meditate on the Hebrew Bible and comes to the conclusion that the vast majority of Jewish people rejecting Messiah Jesus was all part of God’s preordained plan.

For the LORD has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers). (Isaiah 29:10 ESV)

But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. (Deuteronomy 29:4 ESV)

And he said, "Go, and say to this people: "'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed." (Isaiah 6:9,10 ESV)

Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually. (Psalms 69:23 ESV)

Now it is important for us to see how God has hardened and blinded Israel. If we see this in the wrong way our perspective of God will be radically perverted.

One view is that Israel is made up of good people who are seeking God and His will. Then God blinds and hardens these good people and damns them for their hardness and blindness. This would make God a spiritual monster.

The other view is that Israel is a rebellious people. As Messiah Jesus will teach:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! See, your house is left to you desolate. (Matthew 23:37-38 ESV)

God blinds and hardens people who are already committed to not honoring Him as God and are not thankful for what God has done for them.

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21 ESV)

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:24-25 ESV)

The way God blinds and hardens people is that God simply allows them to do what they desire to do. God stops resisting their rebellion and lets them go. God blinds and hardens people by letting them freely do what they desire to do which is to do evil. God rewards all who seeks Him (Hebrews 11:6) with revelation but punishes those who reject Him by letting them experience the consequences of their rebellion.

God is therefore just and fair in “hardening” and “blinding” people by releasing them to their unbelieving and immoral desires.

In summary, Paul makes three points in response to the question “Has the gospel of Messiah Jesus caused all Israel to be lost?”.
(1) That God had saved him, a Jew, and therefore the gospel of Messiah Jesus cannot mean that God had cast off all Jews Rom 11:1;
(2) That now, as in former times of great turning away from God, God had chosen a remnant of Jews to believe Rom 11:2-5;
(3) That it was predicted in the Hebrew Bible that a part of Israel should be hardened Rom 11:6-10;

In this response God hopes to show that the gospel of Messiah Jesus presents God as faithful, good, and just in His relationship to Israel and the Jews.

Moral: Do not harden your heart!

Eternal: All God has elected will be saved.

Prayer: Lord, help me grow in my understanding of your ways.

Contemplation: The Lord is our salvation!

Action: What can I do to actively seek God, depend on His mercy in Christ Jesus, and abandon my sense of self rightouesness?

God gives!

2010-02-16T07:19:00.001-05:00

Deuteronomy 26:1-11
1 When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, 2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. 3 You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, "Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us." 4 When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, 5 you shall make this response before the Lord your God: "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by giving hard labor to us, 7 we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; 9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me." You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. 11 Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.
Literal - This passage has to do with giving. It tells a faithful member of Israel what to do when they have a harvest in the land. They are to take the fact that they have a harvest as a reason to worship and celebrate. To have profit without worship is pride.
As the faithful member of God’s people comes with their offering the focus is on what God has given to them. The focus of this passage is on giving. Seven times the word is used in this section. Six times the giver is God. God gives to the whole community the land and at the same time gives very personally and directly to the individual believer as well. We are to see that God is giving to all of His people and also giving to us directly. The seventh use of the word give contrast the good gifts of God with the gifts of Egypt. Egypt gave to Israel hard labor, affliction, and harshness. Egypt represents the unbelieving world system and the slavery of unbelief. We have been delivered from this into God’s good gifts.
We see here the use of prescribed liturgical words. Each individual who was a faithful child of the covenant would come and say
"A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6 When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by giving hard labor to us, 7 we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; 9 and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me."
It was by these orthodox words which recited the gospel of God’s saving grace to Israel that the context was set for rejoicing, offering, and worship. God is not against the use of liturgical practices but only against them becoming empty of true faith and love. He wants us to meditate upon the truth and respond to the truth.
At the end of this section God’s wonderful giving had led the faithful member of God’s covenant to give. He now shares his food with the ministers of the Lord and the poor. God’s kingdom is manifested on the earth as there is a celebration before the Lord in joy. God’s people give generously when they see God as being generous to them. When people see God as a great giver of grace then they will be great givers to others and God’s work.
Christological - For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 ESV)

Moral - The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8 ESV)

Eternal - And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." (Revelation 5:9-10 ESV)

Prayer: Lord, help me to see the greatness of your gifts to me.

Contemplation: You are the good Father who gives good gifts.

Action: Count your many blessing name them one by one. Look at the glass half full today. Acknowledge all that God has given you today and open your heart to taking joy in it.

In Defense of God in light of Haiti

2010-02-06T07:11:00.002-05:00

If the Christian God exists then how do you explain the suffering and death in Haiti?
A meditation by Dr. Norman R, Wise
The suffering and death in Haiti due to the earth quake of 2010 are very great. The devastation of the earthquake is equal in many ways to an atomic bomb being dropped on that nation. The pain of the children and families of Haiti has touched the heart of humanity and opened up a sea of aid to this impoverished nation. Is there any way to reconcile this event with the existence of the Christian God?
Haiti of course is just being used as an illustration of the problem of suffering and evil. That problem could be sent forth in the following manner.
1. The Christian God is omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect.
2. If God is omnipotent, then God has the power to eliminate all evil.
3. If God is omniscient, then God knows when evil exists.
4. If God is morally perfect, then God has the desire to eliminate all evil.
5. Evil exists.
6. If evil exists and God exists, then either God doesn't have the power to eliminate all evil, or doesn't know when evil exists, or doesn't have the desire to eliminate all evil.
7. Therefore, the Christian God doesn't exist if evil exists.
This argument however has been answered by Dr. Alvin Plantiga and other philosophers by pointing out that the elimination of some evil might produce a greater evil or prevent a greater good from occurring. If this reality is allowed then this argument against the existence of a Christian God fails to prove its point.
The argument in response would be:
1. The Christian God is omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect.
2. If God is omnipotent, then God has the power to eliminate all evil that would not lead to a worst evil or a greater good but would not prevent any evil when doing so would lead to a greater evil or the elimination of a greater good.
3. If God is omniscient, then God knows when evil exists and what evil is necessary to allow for the purpose of avoiding a greater evil or attaining a greater good.
4. If God is morally perfect, then God has the desire to eliminate all evil that is not necessary to lead to the prevention of a greater evil or a greater good.
5. Evil exists.
6. If evil exists and God exists, then the evil that exists does so in order to prevent a greater evil or establish a greater good.
7. Therefore, it is logically possible that the Christian God could exist.
There is no way to prove absolutely that the evil that occurs in our world does not avoid some greater evil or prevent some greater good. A claim to have such knowledge would seem to require omniscience. Without such proof then the logical argument against the existence of the Christian God fails to prove its point.
Now these logical arguments seem far removed from the suffering, pain, and death in Haiti. While logically valid it is very hard to feel they address the main issues that we face when confronted with such massive suffering. It just seems to us that the “Christian God” if He exists should prevent such catastrophes from happening.
Some people describe the Christian view of God as God is the Father of humanity and we are His innocent children. If this is the case then why would a good Father allow His children to suffer as human beings suffer on this planet? Either God is an abusive parent, a crippled and powerless Dad, or perhaps we are orphans abandoned to die. But, if this is the Christian story then it is hard to see how we can view God as competent and of good character.
However, no orthodox Christian would agree with this summary of their story about the world. Since it is the existence of the Christian God in particular that is being challenged by the events in Haiti then it would be important for us to know the characteristics of this deity and see if catastrophes like Haiti argue against the existence of the God taught by Christianity. If according to Christians the relationship of God to the world is more complicated than these simple approaches would suggest; then this could help us see how people can rationally believe in the existence of the Christian God in a world filled with suffering, pain, and death as illustrated by Haiti.
The Christian world view can be summarized as having four key concepts. These key concepts are wise creation, moral fall, just judgment, and merciful redemption. These four concepts find their focus point in the idea of the “Kingdom of God”. The purpose of creation is to establish this Kingdom which can only be established through the historical process of creation, fall, judgment, and redemption. It is through these four concepts focused on the “Kingdom of God” that Christians historically have developed their paradigm of reality.
Wise Creation
The Christian God is the creator of the world and is the source of its order and design (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-6). The Christian God is one of morality who due to His omniscience understands the eternal and unchanging logic of good and evil and has chosen the good. All of these realities exist within the Christian God who is eternal and outside of time.
The Christian God created humanity for the purpose of reflecting the nature of the Eternal in time and forming a community of peace. Part of this reflection was that humanity was to choose good over evil even as God has eternally chosen the good over evil. We were to be like God by being dedicated to righteousness even as God is dedicated to righteousness. As we lived in a righteous community we would be God’s kingdom come to earth.
Moral Fall
However, in every possible world that could be conceived by an all knowing God when humanity is given the greater good of having free will they always use it to rebel against God as their king and choose to follow evil instead (Romans 1:18 -32). All human beings have wandered from the path of righteousness and fell short of reflecting the glory of God into creation. Humanity is a moral failure in every possible world.
The only way to eliminate this evil would be to eliminate the good of having beings made in God’s image and able to experience free moral will. Since the purpose of creation was the establishment of “The Kingdom of God” and this kingdom could only exist if human beings made in God’s image existed; it became necessary to allow this moral evil if the end was ever to be achieved. God could have made a perfect zoo lacking creatures of free choice but the positive good of the Kingdom of God would have been lost.
Righteous Judgment (mixed with mercy)
The result of this rebellion against God was that the judgment of suffering and death was passed on humanity due to their moral rebellion. The order of creation became mixed with chaos. Moral transgression acted as a physical and spiritual cancer in God’s creation bringing with it disorder, disease, and death. However, in mercy God restrained the full effects of evil and allowed human beings to live in a “stay of execution” in which they might repent of their rebellion and return to God.
God also choose to suffer the rebellion and sin of humanity as He patiently waited for them to find repentance. Their evil caused God’s holy soul pain and sadness. Yet, God loved His enemies and was merciful to those who had rebelled against Him. Instead of the world being turned over to the full chaos which should have resulted from moral rebellion against God, the earth normally provides for the needs and even the pleasures of humanity (Matthew 5:44-48). The vast majority of human beings are blessed by this common grace and mercy of God every day that provides their needs through creation even as they rebel against God.
From a Christian point of view human beings are not God’s children. We are the sworn enemies of God and His Kingdom. We are the terrorist of the universe against the Kingdom of peace. The suffering, pain, and evil in this world are physical signs of that rebellion. The suffering in the universe is not worst because God patiently waits for us to repent of this rebellion and has mercy on us even in our rebellion. God would be justified morally in releasing the ten plagues of Egypt on every square foot of the planet every day due to our moral rebellion. Catastrophes are not surprising from the Christian point of view. What is surprising is how few catastrophes we suffer as rebels against God’s kingdom.
Merciful Redemption
From a Christian perspective the current world is not paradise but could be seen as place for a purging process that seeks to rid humanity of their moral rebellion. In this life there is some pleasure and some pain. The pleasure when rightly experienced reminds us of paradise and the pain reminds us that we have lost paradise due to our moral failure.
The purpose of this historical process is that we will eventually as humans evolve into those who will choose righteousness and avoid evil. This process requires forgiveness of our rebellion and conversion into consistent citizens of God’s kingdom. Only those who are citizens of God’s kingdom are God’s adopted children. This process includes the death of Jesus the Messiah on the cross for our moral rebellion and His resurrection as proof that the demands of justice have been satisfied. God choose this path of pain and suffering not just for humanity but for Himself as well. The cost of attaining the kingdom would be the necessary pain and suffering of history.

The Kingdom of God
It is clear that Jesus the Messiah, the founder of Christianity did not see any conflict with a world of suffering and the existence of God.
As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:3-14 ESV)

A world without pain, suffering, false teaching, wars, famines, earthquakes, and persecution would prove that the Christian God does not exist. Jesus the Messiah who founded Christianity clearly believed that the world would suffer such things and had to experience them before the final peaceful kingdom of God could be established. Christianity teaches that what one should expect in the current state of the world under God’s judgment for moral failure is famines and earthquakes to occur. When they do occur, Christians understand that this is normal due to the current rejection of God’s kingdom by human kind. Such suffering is sad but expected. It does not surprise a person thinking from a Christian world view or seem inconsistent with their philosophy of life. Christians believe that this suffering will end when humanity makes peace with God and His kingdom.
We have rebelled against the law of the kingdom of God which is to love one another
The Christian God has delegated to humanity the proper stewardship of this planet and to show love for each other. Part of humanity being made in the image of God is they were given the responsibility to rule this planet (Gen 1:28-30). The Christian God would be there to help, support, provide inner strength and wisdom in response to prayer, and teach wisdom; but not micromanage.
God would establish the laws of nature that humanity could learn and use to increase their effectiveness in being stewards of this planet. These laws would be God’s normal and predictable way of bringing order to the physical world. God would and could at times directly intervene; but these would be rare occasions. Most of God’s work would be done very subtlety and through people. Human beings were entrusted with this part of the Cosmos and expected to bring God’s kingdom to earth.
God is restraining moral evil in humanity so that we will not be as depraved as we could be if left to ourselves. God is intervening in an active way in history, by keeping humanity from practicing self destruction, anarchy, and social chaos. This intervention is done without taking from humanity their ability to make moral choices or to suffer consequences due to those choices.
So when we look at the suffering of the world we need to ask how much of it could have been prevented if human beings had loved their neighbors as themselves and been good stewards of the resources of the planet. Rather than judging God; it would seem better to judge ourselves. If the world community had made it a top priority to make sure the infrastructure of Haiti was stronger, the people fed, an economy established, a just government developed and proper housing provided then much of the suffering of this earthquake would have been avoided. What does Haiti tell us about our moral failure as humanity? A Christian view of the Haiti would focus not on God’s failure but on humanities moral failure in this catastrophe.
Now that we have a better understanding of the Christian view of the world we can understand that it has always justified the existence of evil by looking at the historical process as a necessary evil in order to bring about the greater good of God’s eternal kingdom. God could not just create out of nothing instantly this kingdom because this kingdom had in it characteristics that required a process in order to mature and bear fruit. Only by going through this painful historical process could God create what God wanted, which was a greater good.
If one was to eliminate all the suffering and pain in this world which is caused by a lack of human beings loving each other, it would be fair to say that a very significant part of suffering and pain would end. Catastrophes are rare compared with human exploitation, selfishness, greed, abuse, wars, and violence. All of this evil is here because human beings are given the freedom to operate as moral agents. We can choose to love our neighbor or not to love our neighbor.
This evil could only be eliminated if the greater good of having people being able to make moral choices was eliminated. Only by eliminating our freedom could God eliminate this evil which would be a greater evil than allowing it. If humanity was not given free moral choice we could never progressively evolve into being consistently righteous. This would make the establishment of the kingdom of God which is the purpose of creation impossible. A greater good would be lost.
Also we must see that the elimination of all pain and suffering would also eliminate the opportunity to grow in our trust in God, to do good and show compassion to those in need. James the brother of Jesus the Messiah writes:
“My friends; maintain a positive outlook, even if you have a lot of trouble and suffer catastrophes. You know that you learn to endure by having your faith in God tested. But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything. If any of you need wisdom about suffering trouble and catastrophe, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won't correct you for asking. “(James 1:2-5)

Again, the Christian world view expects life to have trouble, suffering, and catastrophes. It would teach people not to expect a world without such problems until the final kingdom of God is established and the moral rebellion of humanity ends. It also acknowledges that our normal reaction to such events is to doubt God’s wisdom, goodness, or existence. Such events challenge us to keep a positive outlook trusting in God to work all things together for good.

In such times of trouble we will have the opportunity to show love to the hurting, clothe the naked, and feed the hunger. Human beings would not be as compassionate if there were no times of trouble, suffering and catastrophe. This would be another good lost if all suffering and evil were eliminated. Not allowing any villains would also keep anyone from being a hero.

The book of Job, one of the most ancient expressions of faith, makes clear that the anguish of soul and the need of understanding in the midst of suffering are not new. There appears from this book to be at least six sources of anguish in our lives. Five of these are outside of our control. These five are when other human beings hurt us and abuse us, when disasters occur such as hurricanes and earthquakes, when we lose economic security, loss of our health and physical well being, and the loss of loved ones in death.

The last part of our anguish we do control. That is the psychological impact of the other five sources of suffering. We will decide to interpret illness, poverty, catastrophe, suffering, and abuse into a “story” or “grand narrative” and out of this we will gain either comfort or more pain. Faith in God working all things together for good is seen as a healthy psychological approach to such times of anguish. Such a belief allows our anxiety to drop, our hope to survive, and depression to be abated. Faith that a greater good is coming from our pain helps us have less stress and anguish of soul about our pain.

One of the elements that impacts a Christian view towards suffering is that physical death is not seen as an end. Physical death is significant, but the soul of the person survives their death and then that soul lives on forever after being judged for what was done in this life. So death is not annihilation but transition into another aspect of existence.

Children who die and whose souls would be innocent of sins have nothing to fear at God’s just judgment. Christians depend on God to treat each soul with at least justice and for many with extreme mercy. Temporal catastrophes are seen as less significant because human souls are eternal. No human being ever ceases to exist due to a temporal catastrophe. Therefore, while suffering in this life is seen as significant and steps should be taken to eliminate it whenever we can to aid others, Christians do not see it as the ultimate evil. The lack of a righteous character in human beings is a greater evil than a hurricane, flood, or earthquake. Our greatest crisis is moral not physical.

Foundational to Christian thought is that God has permitted suffering and evil in order to attain a greater good. There is purpose, potential, and power in all pain. There is no pointless pain. This faith is tested during times of catastrophe but is the basis of gaining wisdom about such difficult and painful events.

We will face such painful events. That is without a doubt. But it does matter if we face them with faith or in unbelief.

The suffering in Haiti is just from a Christian point of view, because it is believed that every square inch of our planet should suffer catastrophe daily due to our moral rebellion. Christians know that they will not normally be made exempt from the general suffering which all humanity may experience due to this rebellion. They are forgiven and been adopted as God’s children but have been called as Christ was called to share in the suffering of a rebellious planet. Their role is to show how to trust God in the midst of the darkness of pain, suffering, and death. They are to be a light to the rest of the world to demonstrate how to love God and others in the midst of catastrophes, suffering, and death.

How does this apply to Haiti?

So what good could come out of the earthquake in Haiti? Christians would first say that only God can really tell us the answer to this question. God alone is wise enough and all knowing enough to really be able to tell us how each event fits into this grand plan of establishing the kingdom of God on earth.

We can however speculate. The suffering has already led millions around the world to demonstrate more compassion than they were doing before the earthquake. For all we know 100 years from now the history of Haiti may record the earthquake of 2010 as the catalyst that ended poverty in Haiti, helped establish a just and stable government, and brought about a golden era in Haitian history. Those who are now suffering will not have suffered in vain.

God’s main concern is the development of our character and our love for justice. As the prophet Micah summarized.

The LORD God has told us what is right and what he demands: "See that justice is done, let mercy be your first concern, and humbly have a relationship with your God." (Micah 6:8)

The pain, death, and suffering of this earthquake may become leveraged by God’s providential work in history to bless the Haitian people from this point forward. It has created an event that calls upon us to act in mercy towards the Haitian people and to seek to establish justice in their nation. At the very least the earthquake has created the emotional leverage and potential for such a golden age for Haiti.

If this opportunity for good is lost it will be due to the immorality of humanity. Sometimes, God provides us an opportunity for good through a catastrophe and we fail this moral test. This is the greater catastrophe. This however is not a failure on God’s part but on our part. Every catastrophe is telling us to repent, to love our neighbor, and to seek God.

This is the main idea that Jesus the Messiah taught concerning catastrophes. He said;

“About this same time Jesus was told that Pilate had given orders for some people from Galilee to be killed while they were offering sacrifices. Jesus replied: Do you think that these people were worse sinners than everyone else in Galilee just because of what happened to them? Not at all! But you can be sure that if you don't turn back to God, every one of you will also be killed. What about those eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were worse than everyone else in Jerusalem? Not at all! But you can be sure that if you don't turn back to God, every one of you will also die.” (Luke 13:1-5 CEV)

Catastrophes are not to teach us that those who suffer catastrophes are worst sinners than those who do not suffer catastrophes. No instead it is remind us that we should suffer the same fate and except for the mercy of God would have suffered the same catastrophe. It is appointed for every human being to suffer death and then face the just moral judgment of God to give an account for their lives. We should be focusing on our own personal need to repent and make peace with God and not be judging others. We should demonstrate this repentance by showing love to others and especially those in need in Haiti. This should be our response to the catastrophe in Haiti. This would be a part of the greater good that could come about through the suffering in Haiti.

Why does the problem of suffering and evil not destroy faith in a good God?

It is clear that times of great suffering, death, and catastrophes challenge our faith in a good God. It is normal for people to have moments of great doubt and anguish in the midst of suffering. The Bible itself records songs of “lament” part of which is struggling with the problem of evil and pain (see the book of Job, Psalm 73). Why do some people see the problem of evil and pain as a “faith killer” that justifies their lack of faith in any “good God” while other people reconcile their faith in a good God with the existence of suffering and evil?

There are many reasons for this but let us list a few of them since this may help us understand this whole question from another perspective. First we must recognize that the problem of suffering and evil is not some new threat to faith. It is not as if there was some scientific experiment done that discovered the “problem of evil” and now modern people for the first time are aware of its existence. No, ancient poems that were being sung at 2000 BC had as their main theme the problem of suffering and evil. So if this problem was going to be a faith killer for the majority of human beings then it would have happened long ago.

Yet, faith in a good God has continued to endure despite the presence of suffering and evil in the world. C.S. Lewis comments that in light of the suffering in this world it is hard to even imagine how the idea of a good God evolved without supernatural revelation, yet it has persisted even in the darkest times of suffering. It seems clear from the history of humanity that catastrophes, suffering, and death will never destroy faith in a good God.

This is true in Haiti today. If the earthquake was going to kill faith in a good God any where it would seem that it should kill faith in the Haitian people. But with every church building in ruins we find congregations gathering to worship God, seek comfort for their losses, pray for strength to endure, ask God hard questions about “why” this occurred, express anger at God in the hope of finding answers to their pain and finding encouragement in hearing the Bible. So faith in a good God is not dependent upon not experiencing bad events.

Some people when they suffer catastrophe do lose faith but other people would claim that their faith actually grew. People of faith will go through a dark night of the soul and struggle with doubts because of pain, suffering, and death but in the end reconcile their trust in a good God with the painful events they have experienced. The strongest faith will actually be experienced at times by people who have suffered the most.

The reason for this is that people believe in a good God for many different reasons. If a person believes that God has responded to their needs at some critical points in their life with psychological or physical help then they view the current suffering from a perspective of trust in God. People that have personal experiences and even what they would call relationships with God believe in God for a host of rational and emotional reasons. All of their faith is not in one basket. One disappointment does not lead to them abandoning God.

Their faith was not born in a problem free world. They did not live in paradise when they first came to faith in God. They came to faith in God knowing they lived in a world of suffering and evil. Some experience of suffering or evil may have actually motivated them to seek God. As the saying goes there are no atheists in fox holes.

Now if a person does not believe in God, has been disappointed with God, or is angry with God then they perceive human suffering and evil as justification for their negative assessment of God. If a person’s experiences with God and religion have been disappointing, frustrating, abusive, and hurtful then arguments from the problem of evil fit well within the life story that they have created which either denies God’s existence or looks upon God s lacking both character and competence. Some people would say they do not know if God exists but if God does exist they hate Him.

Dr. Julie Juola Exline of Case Western Reserve University has done research on people experiencing anger towards God. It is normal for people of faith to get angry with God over pain, suffering, and catastrophe. It is customary for part of the prayers of people who believe to be “Why?” and “How long”. Prayer is often not “tame” but rather pointed and even challenging. She found about 63% of people admit to times when they became angry at God. She also found some atheism to be “emotional atheism” which really reflected people who were angry at God and expressed that anger as a profession of atheism. For an emotional atheist saying they did not believe in God was their way of executing justice or revenge on God for His failure of them or others.

Believers in God normally could process their anger and “forgive God” over time for what they perceived as a failure on His part or come to reconcile themselves to trusting God again after some event disappointed them. Emotional atheists had a harder time ever letting go of their anger and this led many times to intense feelings of bitterness and anxiety. The problem of suffering and evil as related to God is one of significance to the psychological health of human beings.

These questions and the psychological struggle they produce for human beings are not new. They have been around as long as human beings have been around. There is no reason to think that people will abandon their faith in a good God simply because evil, catastrophe, and suffering exist. Faith in a good God has always existed with people knowing evil and suffering existed as well.

Conclusion:

What would a logical defense of the existence of the Christian God look like? Here is a basic outline.

1. God is omnipotent, omniscient, and wholly good.

2. God’s purpose in creation was to form the redemptive Kingdom of God through history.

3. Humanity freely authored evil into this world as part of that purpose.

4. Humanity’s evil; is what has brought into reality, all abnormal suffering .

5. God has not yet eliminated every evil because to do so would make the creation of the Kingdom of God impossible and thus eliminate a greater good. One of the good things that is gained from God delaying the Day of Judgment is that this gives humanity more time to repent and increases the population of the Kingdom of God. If God eliminated evil prematurely from history, it would abort or diminish His plan to establish the Kingdom and make all the suffering of history unjustified.

6. Jesus came as God incarnate and suffered the agony of the hell fire for His people. God has suffered infinitely more than all His creatures put together because of evil. This demonstrates both God’s commitment to establishing the peaceful kingdom of righteousness and His deep loving compassion towards those who have rebelled against Him. It requires this demonstration of Gods’ love to win the moral loyalty of humanity so that they will consistently choose righteousness over evil. This allows humanity to be citizens of the kingdom of God and freely not fall into sin. Only in redemptive love can the heart of human beings be won to produce consistent righteousness, thus the need of the history of salvation in order to produce the kingdom.

7. God uses suffering for kingdom purposes and therefore no suffering is without some kingdom purpose. There is no pain without a kingdom purpose. This includes the suffering now in Haiti due to the earthquake.

8. When Jesus returns justice, mercy, and righteousness will fully manifest themselves. All evil will be eliminated from God’s kingdom and all unjust suffering will stop.

9. Therefore, God exists; He is all powerful, all knowing, and infinite in goodness. Evil exists at the present time due to God’s kingdom purpose and good long-suffering nature, and God will eliminate all evil from His kingdom once His purpose has been accomplished.

10. God’s allowing pain and evil to exist in creation has produced the greater good of the redemptive Kingdom of God. Only because God allowed pain and evil did the greater good of God’s kingdom come into existence. Therefore, God is all powerful and all good even though evil and suffering exist.

It is my belief that this is a logical and biblical answer which demonstrates that the existence of the Christian God is consistent with the existence of evil and pain.

A parable

Once upon a time there was a husband and wife. The wife became pregnant one day after making love with her husband. Now the wife understood the nature and process of pregnancy but her husband did not have any knowledge of pregnancy or babies at all.

The husband begins to worry about his wife. She is sick every morning and is gaining weight. Her husband tells her he hopes she will get well soon. She explains that she will be sick for nine months. She outlines how she will get heavier and more uncomfortable. She even warns him that she may die at the end of this process. The husband asks her if there is any way to stop this illness. The wife says there is but she does not want to end the process because the pain and risk of pregnancy is worth the birth of their baby. The husband never having seen a baby has a hard time understanding what could be worth all that his wife is suffering. He has real doubts about the wisdom of pregnancy but is assured by his wife that if the baby is born then he will be satisfied that all of this difficult and painful process is worth it.

After nine months the woman gives birth to a child. The father watches as the new life is born. In that moment he sees the value of all the suffering and affirms that this process was worth the pain. Seeing the baby made the process of painful pregnancy justified.
From a Christian point of view the cosmos has become pregnant with God’s “Kingdom Child” and the process of giving birth to this Kingdom has put the cosmos in a sick and unstable state. However, this process is necessary for the Kingdom must be born out of great tribulation. This has always been the faith of the Christian church.

“They strengthened the believers and encouraged them to remain true to the faith. "We must pass through many troubles to enter the Kingdom of God," they taught. “ (Acts 14:22 GNB)

Therefore, it does not seem we can make the existence of suffering inconsistent with the Christian view of God since suffering plays such a significant part of the Christian view of the reality. Christianity has always presupposed that it was only my passing through many troubles that the Kingdom of God could be achieved. Because of this the existence of evil and suffering is perfectly compatible with a Christian view of the world.

Give to help Haiti

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/

Text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross. The $10 will be charged to your phone bill.

God's Purpose For Our Lives

2010-02-02T05:53:00.001-05:00

Jeremiah 1:4-10
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." 6 Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy." 7 But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, "I am only a boy'; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord." 9 Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, "Now I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."
This history of Jeremiah’s call to his office formed a part of his first address to the people. He claimed to act by an external authority, and to speak not his own words but those of Yahweh the creator of the universe and the redeemer of Israel (see Jer_15:13; Jer_20:7, Jer_20:14-18). It was the WORD of deity that was in Jeremiah’s mouth and not just his own perspective. He was a minister of the WORD.
God tells Jeremiah what the Almighty One has been doing in Jeremiah’s life.
1. Yahweh knew Jeremiah before his body was formed in the womb.
2. Before Jeremiah was born Yahweh had set him apart to be a prophet to the nations
At this point the prophet interrupts God. Jeremiah does not know anything about before he was formed in his mother’s womb. He does not know anything about a destiny given to him before he was born. He does know who he is in the here and now. Jeremiah is sure Yahweh has chosen the wrong man.
"Sovereign LORD, I don't know how to speak; I am too young."

Jeremiah knows that he is not a skilled speaker. He is not experienced. He is not worthy to be a prophet. He does not have charisma. Who will listen to him? Yahweh can surely find a better spokesman.
The Sovereign Lord answers Jeremiah. No, do not look at your powers. Do not focus on your abilities. Your qualifications are that I am the one who is sending you and it will my WORDS in your mouth. You do not have to be a great speaker you only need to repeat what you are told. God knows that the culture will not respond well to what He has to say. Yahweh promises that He will preserve Jeremiah when the people respond with anger to the WORD.
Then Yahweh actually puts the DIVINE WORD into the mouth of the prophet. He is given the gift of the WORD of God that now is incarnate in his mouth. His mouth has become the mouth of God. Jeremiah because he is God’s prophet now has authority because he speaks for God. The authority is not in Jeremiah but in the WORD of God which has become a part of Jeremiah.
This WORD OF God will have a positive and negative impact. The judgments of God in history will uproot and destroy the agricultural economics of that day and the great cities like Jerusalem will be pull downed and overthrown. Humanities rebellion and the apostasy of God’s people will bring the just curse of God crashing down upon the world. Yet, out of the rumble the promise of God still speaks. A New Jerusalem will be built and a fruitful garden planted. The kingdom of God will come. The curse will pass away and the merciful promise will be fulfilled. The WORD OF GOD brings death and life, curse and blessing, destruction and restoration.
Today we also have the WORD of God. We proclaim both LAW and GOSPEL. The LAW brings just warnings of condemnation due to our moral rebellion and imperfection. The LAW gives us understanding of the flow of history and the principles that rule all of life. The LAW is good and spiritual but comes to us as a messenger of death because we are neither good nor spiritual. With only the LAW we would be in despair. But, as the LAW takes from us all hope in ourselves the GOSPEL gives us hope in the love of GOD found in Messiah Jesus. The GOSPEL is Yahweh’s promise to forgive and restore sinners out of condemnation and into a perfectly restored relationship. The GOSPEL is full of grace at a price we can never understand in MESSIAH’S suffering for our sins. So just like Jeremiah our message both destroys and restores.
This passage also tells us that God has a plan for every Christian which we have no choice but fulfill. Our choices are that either Yahweh has a few people like Jeremiah that “he knows” and ‘sets apart” before their birth or that this is what Yahweh has done for all of HIS people. Based on Ephesians 1:4 and Romans 8:29 it is clear Yahweh is choosing and foreknowing all of HIS children and not just the prophets. Jeremiah’s destiny is not in doubt because GOD has had it in HIS mind forever. Every Christian has been given a part in GOD’S drama and we must all play our roles. Each of us have a positive contribution to make and our success is not based on us but on GOD being with us and working in us. This perspective, if it becomes part of our life story which we repeat to ourselves in our self talk can give us great confidence, a sense of significance, and even peace in the midst of our struggles, tears, and fears.
Christocentric - Jesus the Messiah is the incarnate WORD OF GOD and is the promise of Yahweh in the flesh. (John 1:1-18)
Moral – Our authority to do our ministry is because GOD has given us our ministry. The power to do our ministry is GOD’s power in us. It is wrong to look to ourselves and either refuse ministry because of our weakness or to think we are strong enough to do it without GOD’s abundant help.
Eternal - In eternity we will fully live in the GOSPEL and be able to live the essence of the LAW. We will become the incarnation of the fulfillment of the WORD OF GOD.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for giving us GOSPEL in the midst of our sins. LORD, thank you for choosing us to be your people with a purpose.
Contemplation: You have not chosen me but I have chosen you.
Action: What part of God’s LAW do I need to hear, understand, and share? What part of the GOSPEL do I need to hear, understand, and share? With whom? Remind myself that I am a chosen child of God living a life designed for GOD’s GLORY!
“The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.” – The Purpose Driven Life by Pastor Rick Warren P.17

The power of positive thinking and the danger of negative thinking.

2010-01-28T06:04:00.000-05:00

He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts. ~Samuel Johnson
Every growing ministry is dominated predominately by positive thinking. When negative thinking grows in a ministry then the positive passion and power of that ministry fades and it begins to diminish. It is important therefore that we promote positive thinking in the ministry and resist the temptation to be negative. Only when there is more positive thinking than negative thinking will our ministry be healthy and growing.
What is realistic positive thinking?
Look at the best side of a situation while acknowledging problems
Believing that God can change me and others
Believe in God answering prayer in a positive way
Having hope in what God will do with in the future
Supporting positive comments and encouraging faith in others
Avoiding griping, complaining, and murmuring
Find true encouraging things to say about myself and others
Confess my sins with the confidence that God forgives me my sins in Christ Jesus
Pray for the pastor, leaders, and the other people in the church while praising God
As led by the Holy Spirit try new or challenging things hopeful that God will use them
Get better as I reflect about the past, identify mistakes, and gain wisdom from it
Encourage new, creative, and inventive ideas and see them as possible
Try to see new things from new perspectives. Seek to grow as a Christian and person.
Take prayerful and thoughtful risks
Be encouraged by those who are looking for the “up side” of a disaster
Believe that God is working all things together for good
Praise attempts to fix a dysfunctional situation
Be open to changing my point of view to see things more from God’s perspective
Believe I am realistic not optimistic
What is negative thinking?
I look at the worst side of a situation and make that the focus.
I lack the belief that I could change or others could change
I lose hope in the future being better
I take the opposing view in any positive conversation
I never make upbeat or uplifting comments about myself or others
I turn conversations into griping, complaining, or murmuring sessions
I spread rumors and gossip about leaders and suspect them of evil without proof
I complain about the pastor, the leaders, and other people in the church, and even God
I try nothing new or challenging because I feel that I will fail.
I get bitter over how people treat me.
I put down new, creative, and inventive ideas as impossible without being willing to brain storm.
I limit my vision of what God could be doing in my life.
I take no risks.
I am cynical towards those who are looking for an “up” side of a tragedy, failure, or disaster.
I ridicule those who say “all things are working together for good.”
I ridicule attempts to fix dysfunctional situations.
I tell people I am realistic not pessimistic.
No one is totally positive or negative. These tendencies will go up and down in each of us as individuals and as a ministry as a whole. Where the majority of the people and the weight of the emotional energy is positive then growth will normally occur.
People are attracted to positive organizations and repelled by negative ones. We should strive therefore to be realistically positive in all we do if we want the ministry to grow. It is by promoting such an attitude that we will enjoy the ministry that God has given to us and attach other people to it as well.

Doing Church Well - Part four

2010-01-21T07:25:00.002-05:00

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Romans 12:10 ESV)

We must love one another as we really are and not as we would ideally like others to be. We must honor each other in our imperfect state and not in some ideal state in which we have no faults. We are called to love and honor real broken people and not some "ideal" Christians who do not exist in the real world.

The love we are to have for other Christians is unconditional. It is not based on their performance. The honor we are to give them is also unconditional. It is not based on their performance. Only unconditional love and honor last since everyone we love and honor is a sinner. Because those we love and honor sin we will eventually find fault with them if we look for it. If our love and honor is conditional upon their performance then we will find reason not to love and honor them.

This is entirely different than the way the unbelieving world system operates. Love and honor are earned by good performance. Here in the kingdom of Christ they are given as a gift to all who call upon the name of the Lord Messiah Jesus. Doing Church well means that we strive to feel love and honor for every Christian seeing in them God's image and God's child. We see in them the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit. We embrace them as God's child and our spiritual sibling. This is all done as a gift even as we have been accepted by God in Messiah Jesus as a gift.

Only a focus on grace can allow us to do church well.

Did Haiti Make A Pact With The Devil?

2010-01-19T06:46:00.002-05:00

Did Haiti make a pact with the devil and was this the reason they have suffered.
"They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.' True story. And so the devil said, 'Ok it’s a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another,”
Rev. Pat Robertson
I. Did the Haitian people make a pact with the devil?
Bois Caïman (Haitian Creole: Bwa Kayiman) is the site of the Vodou ceremony presided over by Dutty Boukman on August 14, 1791. The stated purpose of the ritual was to attempt to overthrow French rule, which was based on slave labor. This occurred during the French Revolution and not during the rule of Napoleon the Third (20 April 1808 – 9 January 1873) so Dr. Pat Robertson’s story is not a true story.
According to the official "History of Haiti and the Haitian Revolution", in 1791 the following events occurred:
A man named Boukman, another houngan (male priest of the voodoo religion), organized on August 14, 1791, a meeting with the slaves in the mountains of the North. This meeting took the form of a Voodoo ceremony in the Bois Caiman in the northern mountains of the island. It was raining and the sky was raging with clouds; the slaves then started confessing their resentment of their condition. A woman started dancing languorously in the crowd, taken by the spirits of the loas. With a knife in her hand, she cut the throat of a pig and distributed the blood to all the participants of the meeting who swore to kill all the whites on the island. On August 22, 1791, the blacks of the North entered into a rebellion, killing all the whites they met and setting the plantations of the colony on fire. However, the French quickly captured the leader of the slaves, Boukman, and beheaded him, bringing the rebellion under control.
It is widely accepted as the starting point for the Haitian Revolution. The ceremony was first documented in 1814 by Antoine Dalmas in his book History of the Saint-Domingue Revolution.
This was a pagan ceremony and was based on the beliefs common in Africa. It was not a “pact with the devil” since it was not done from the framework of the Christian faith. Like most pagans there was a religious ceremony which sought for magical strength and victory over their enemies by making as sacrifice. This had more to do with the idea that the “spirit of the warrior” which was in the ceremony would come into those who drank the blood. Christianity unfortunately was identified with slavery and oppression.
II. Is it right to think that people who suffer disasters are worst sinners than those who do not suffer such disasters?
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. (Luke 13:1 ESV)

And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? (Luke 13:2 ESV)

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3 ESV)

Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? (Luke 13:4 ESV)

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (Luke 13:5 ESV)
III. Does God judge us for what our ancestors did?
The word of the LORD came to me: (Ezekiel 18:1 ESV)

"What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? (Ezekiel 18:2 ESV)

As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. (Ezekiel 18:3 ESV)

IV. Christian Response to Dr. Pat Robertson’s comments

Dr. Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas said, "It is absolute arrogance to try to interpret any of God's actions as a judgment against this person or that person. … Our duty as Christians is to try to help these people pray for these people and to help them."

Franklin Graham, the evangelist son of Billy Graham and president of the Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, said he also disagrees with Robertson's assessment.

Graham's group is working in Haiti to provide humanitarian relief and, Graham said, he plans to go to the country in the coming days. "He must have misspoken," Graham said of Robertson. "But we need to get on the path of helping people right now. God loves the people of Haiti. He hasn't turned his back on Haiti."

IV. The faith of Haiti

Religions:
Roman Catholic 80%, Protestant 16% (Baptist 10%, Pentecostal 4%, Adventist 1%, other 1%), none 1%, other 3% note: roughly half of the population practices voodoo
The Struggle of Haiti
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country's widespread deforestation. While the economy has recovered in recent years, registering positive growth since 2005, four tropical storms in 2008 severely damaged the transportation infrastructure and agricultural sector. US economic engagement under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act, passed in December 2006, has boosted apparel exports and investment by providing tariff-free access to the US. HOPE II, passed in October 2008, has further improved the export environment for the apparel sector by extending preferences to 2018; the apparel sector accounts for two-thirds of Haitian exports and nearly one-tenth of GDP. Remittances are the primary source of foreign exchange, equaling nearly a quarter of GDP and more than twice the earnings from exports. Haiti suffers from high inflation, a lack of investment because of insecurity and limited infrastructure, and a severe trade deficit. In 2005, Haiti paid its arrears to the World Bank, paving the way for reengagement with the Bank. Haiti is expected to receive debt forgiveness for about $525 million of its debt through the Highly-Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative by mid-2009. The government relies on formal international economic assistance for fiscal sustainability. (CIA Factbook)

V. Responding to the need by sending funds to Samaritan Purse

The first Samaritan’s Purse cargo plane arrived in Haiti Wednesday with emergency relief supplies for victims of the massive earthquake that rocked the country on Tuesday. The initial shipment included shelter material, hygiene kits, and water purification kits, as well as members of our disaster response team.

Our team is comprised of veterans of many disaster responses, but even they were shocked by what they encountered when they arrived.

“The streets are full of people that have no home to go back to,” said Dr. David Gettle, medical advisor. “They’re running out of food, fuel, and water. The situation is desperate and tense, and there is tremendous suffering.”

Three more flights with personnel and critically needed relief supplies landed Friday. Staff arriving included our team leader, two water engineers, and eight medical personnel to join Dr. Gettle.

Samaritan’s Purse deployed a disaster response team just hours after one of the strongest earthquakes to hit the Caribbean in decades to help with water, shelter, medical care, and other emergency needs.

“The damage is staggering in a nation where three out of four people live on less than $2 a day,” Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham said. “The people of Haiti need our help like never before.”

We are partnering with HCJB Global, a medical ministry out of Ecuador that will be sending six doctors to join our medical advisor. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is deploying chaplains from its Rapid Response Team to help our team meet spiritual needs.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/articles/responding_to_haiti_earthquake/#

Doing Church Well - Part Three

2010-01-11T07:38:00.004-05:00

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34,35 ESV)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The hard thing about doing church is that it is a group activity. From the time of the desert monks it was seen by many people that it was easier to at least feel holy if you did not have to interact with other people. It is easy to love human kind and not be able to stand people.

It is in that dynamic fellowship of different personalities, cultures, genders, philosophies, options, tastes, outlooks, and experiences that we are tested to have healthy, caring, compassionate, honest, encouraging, and challenging relationships. This is what makes up the fellowship of the church. A group of diverse strangers striving to live as the family of Messiah Jesus.

The only thing we have in common is our Messiah Jesus. That connection to Him is suppose to be enough to allow us to connect to each other in caring, compassionate, gentle, and healthy ways so that we can help, encourage, and nurture each other towards becoming more like Messiah Jesus and doing His will on earth together. Being "in Messiah Jesus" is to make us united and one.

Any reading of the New Testament points out how hard this was. The Jews did not respect the Gentiles. The Gentiles could hate the Jews. Women were seen as inferior to men in the Roman empire and women could want to disrespect men in the new freedom offered in Christ. Rich Christians could fear that the poor Christians were trying to take advantage of their relationship with Christ and the poor Christians could judge the rich Christians as lacking in compassion when they did not respond to their needs.

The Apostles themselves struggled to find a practical answer on how to overcome the culture wars between Jew and Gentile in the church (see Acts 15). At the very least many of the followers of James and Paul saw the two men having different solutions to the "Gentile problem." Paul will have friends and co-workers such as Hymeneus and Alexander (1Ti_1:19, 1Ti_1:20) and Demas (2Ti_4:10) who will have their faith ship wrecked. Peter and Paul will have conflict as well because Peter will act in a hypocritical manner. (Gal 2).

Christians in the New Testament struggled with still practicing sexual sins, gossip, self righteous judgement, taking each other to court, splitting up into cliques, forming personality cults, bringing pagan ideas into the church, forsaking sound doctrine, getting involved in strange views of prophecy, misuse of spiritual gifts, rebellion against leadership, and leaders abusing those who followed. These problems which are all recorded in the New Testament we see continue after the age of the Apostles and repeated all during church history. The continued moral brokenness of Christians manifest itself in the practical fellowship of believers making it hard to show love for each other.

The Messiah Jesus actually makes success in loving each other the mark by which the unbelieving world is suppose to be able to tell if people are disciples of the Messiah. When the world sees sacrificial love within a fellowship of people who claim to follow Messiah Jesus then they can know they have found the "real"thing. Messiah Jesus makes real love the way people can know the genuine disciples from those who only claim discipleship. This raises loving each other to the top priority for the church.

But how to practically do that when each of us is so broken and has so much baggage is a hard problem to solve. Many Christians do not know how to have healthy human relationships in any aspect of their lives and so there is little likelihood they will succeed in "loving" Christians at church where they have less connection to than their family and friends. So the failure of the church to be a community of love is easier to understand than when it succeeds.

Now, by the grace of God the church has shown Christ like love to each other. The New Testament believers took care of widows and orphans, made sure that no poor Christian went without food and shelter, overcame the cultural differences between Jew and Gentile with wisdom, and gathered together in a communion of truth and good works (Acts 2:41-47). This would lead to the ancient world commenting on the early church "We are amazed at how they love one another." Therefore, at a practical level, with all the imperfections, the early church did demonstrate substantial love that was recognized by the world. We must always remember to look at the glass half empty and half full when we strive to understand the church. Never perfection only direction.

In my life I have seen Christians love each other in profound ways. I have seen people sacrifice time, money, and life to help others. I have seen the body of
Christ demonstrate real and amazing love towards others and myself. Such times fill my heart with joy even now.

However, it seems that over long periods of time it is hard for Christians to remain in a fellowship or church without this love breaking down. Social politics, personalities, failed dreams, desire for power and control, different opinions, cliques, gossip, judging each other, lack of respect, poor communication, unresolved conflicts, envy, competition, and desire to dominate; all begin to surface more and more, eventually breaking up friendships and fellowships; sometimes in some very ugly ways. It seems hard to establish long term healthy and committed relationships in the body of Christ.

It is hard to do church well. What can we do? We must become aware of how hard it is to really practice love. We need to look for ways we can increase in our love for each other. How are my actions hurting other Christians? In what way am I falling short of loving others as Messiah Jesus loved me? How can we maintain and increase unity with each other? How can we show respect for leaders? How can we give encouragement to followers? How can we do the church well and really love one another? That is one of the greatest challenges of our lives.

Doing Church Well - Part Two

2010-01-06T08:57:00.003-05:00

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18 ESV)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Messiah Jesus is building His Church. The Church is the building project of our Lord Messiah Jesus. It is built upon the confession that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God which the Apostle Peter has just proclaimed.

It will be the Apostle Peter's preaching of this gospel which will smash the the gates of hell which kept the Jews from believing and thousands will come pouring into the Church through his words. The Jews, the Samaritans, and the Gentiles all will have the Apostle Peter and his message about Messiah Jesus smash the spiritual walls which have kept them in darkness. The paganism of Rome will fall after 300 years and the message of Messiah Jesus will rule supreme over the old empire. The gates of hell will not prevail against the message of the Church. That message is the gospel of Messiah Jesus.

To do the church well the gospel must be the foundation of the Church. When we lose the gospel we lose the heart and power of God. Without the gospel we cannot build the church.

Doing Church Well - Part One

2010-01-04T06:49:00.003-05:00

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV)

It is not easy to do church well. In 1972 part of the dream of the "Jesus Movement" was to try to do church much better than we saw it being done. We were a reforming movement wanting the church to become more real and relevant. We were also young, naive, and proud. It never occurred to us that others before us had tried to do church well but had found it a hard thing to do. There have been people in the history of the church who have prayed more than we pray, studied more than we studied, and loved more than we loved; that failed to be able to do church very well.

To do church well is a very hard thing to do in the practicality of this fallen world and with the attacks of the world, flesh, and devil aimed above all else to keep the church divided, weak, naked, and blind (Revelation 3:17-18). Only by God's grace will we in some small measure to the church well. We must understand here especially that it will be direction and not perfection. If we demand perfection we will become condemning of the real church as we compare it to an "ideal" church that only exists in our minds.

Part of doing church well is avoiding unnecessary division. From the very beginning this has been hard for the Church to do (1 Corinthians 1:11ff). Christians easily divide over personalities and form parties. The politics of the Church can easily become as ugly as the politics of the government (James 4:1-10).

The church is to be the community of the King Messiah. It is a "beta test" example of the kingdom on earth that is to demonstrate the manifold wisdom of God before the watching angels. Some division is necessary due to people departing from a critical aspect of the revealed gospel truth or living lawless lifestyles (1 Corinthians 11:19). However, even in this division the church is called to speak the truth in love and avoid self righteousness (Galatians 6:1). The hope is that out of loving conflict those in error will be restored and unity maintained. Our aim should always be redemptive.

Another problem is when groups or cliques form in the body who see themselves as "the righteous ones" and who stand in judgment of the rest of the body (Galatians 5:20). One can tell that this has occurred when gossip, criticism, and complaining become the main focus of "fellowship" between believers (Exodus 16:2; Mark 14:4).

How we feel about our local church is based on the stories we tell about our local church. If those stories are positive and optimistic we feel good about our local church and love it. If our stories are sarcastic, judgmental, condemning, and cynical then we feel angry, depressed, disillusioned, and pessimistic.

In the same congregation there will be people who feel both of these things at the same time. The circumstances of the people in the congregation will be largely the same but their experience will be vastly different. One person will leave a worship service filled with faith, hope, and love; feeling really blessed by the worship; while the other person will complain about the music, how people are dressed, and the failure of the sermon to motivate or teach. Objectively both people experienced the same events but the impact was very different.

To maintain unity we must be able to see the glass half full even as we work to raise the level of the water. We need to look for "God events" in our congregation and catch God at work. We need to be ready to confess our sins and forgive the sins of others. Guided by the "judgement of charity" we should strive to grant the benefit of the doubt to everyone else and presuppose the best possible intentions for the hurtful actions or words. We need to be slow to judge others and resist every temptation to gossip. Gossip kills trust and healthy fellowship.

Will you pray that God can teach us all to do church well. A healthy church is one of the main reasons why people believe in Jesus the Messiah. Unhealthy churches become a temptation to blaspheme God and reject the gospel. We have been called by God to demonstrate His manifold wisdom before a watching world and even the angels. Yet, a study of church history makes clear that to actually have a healthy church is hard. Let us pray that God will show us a way to do church better and represent his sanity, stability, and spirituality on the earth.

How can we do church well?

2010-01-02T17:38:00.001-05:00

As one studies church history is become clear that it is not easy to do church well. Paul says that the manifold wisdom of God will be seen by the powers of the heavens in the Church (Eph 3:10). It is clear that God's intention is for us to demonstrate His love, grace, and holiness. We are to be the body of Messiah and live the gospel before the nations. Yet, we are so easily distracted and deceived.

We normally can stand in judgment of other Christians and of various movements in church history. Yet, we rarely judge ourselves or our short comings. Self righteousness runs deep in our veins and it is hard to understand that some who prayed harder than we have prayed and studied harder than we have studied, failed to do church well. So how great is the danger that in our generation we might fail to do church well. Are we failing even now?

The beginning of insight is humility. My brothers and sisters for 2000 years have struggled to do church well. How easy is would be for me to fail to do church well. Satan, the world, and the flesh have as their highest priority to shatter the witness and testimony of the church. They are much more interested in corrupting the Church than running Washington. They want us not to reflect God's wisdom but to be foolish.

Lord, have pity on your people. We need revival of true spirituality and reformation to align ourselves with your WORD. We need a transformation of head and heart. We need to know how to relate to one another in holy love. Teach us to do church well.

Praise in Pain

2010-01-01T09:18:00.002-05:00

Jeremiah 31:7-14
7 For thus says the Lord: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, "Save, O Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel." 8 See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. 9 With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

10 Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock." 11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. 12 They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. 13 Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. 14 I will give the priests their fill of fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the Lord.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God's people had radically sinned. They had worshipped idols. They had oppressed the poor. They had neglected the widow and orphan. They had become sexually perverse. They had honored the LORD with their lips but not loved the LORD with their hearts. They had acted like spiritual whores. They had ignored and persecuted the prophets who warned them.
God radically responded to their sin. God allowed the Babylonians to smash their defenses. The LORD did nothing as their towns burned, children died, women were raped, and all their wealth was stolen. They were enslaved and taken out of their land to serve the Babylonians in exile. No nation or people had ever recovered from such a deportation. Nothing was left. Israel and Judah were dead.
Now God says to the exiles. I want you to sing, shout, and give Praise to ME! I want you to have a prayer meeting and ask the LORD to save the remnant of Israel. I want you to stop rebelling against God. God is saying to them; “Stop being angry with ME over what happened and accept your guilt.” Be angry at the sin that brought judgment. But come now, praise the LORD for saving the people from idolatry and oppressive relationships. Ask now to be saved.
God is radically going to save them. Now that judgment has come. Now that repentance has been experienced they will be saved. God is going to bring from Babylon and all the places where they have wandered the remnant home. They will come home not because they are the strongest. No, God will save the weakest of the weak. The handicapped and pregnant women will be returned despite their physical weakness. He shall gather a great company of the broken and return them to the land. Against all odds and all history they will be restored. Israel will not die but be resurrected.
God's people will radically repent. They will weep real tears over their sins. They will plead for mercy and recognize they deserve only judgment. They will be humble and submissive.
God will radically be with them. He will personally lead them in their journey. Because God is their father and they are His children they will not be lost. The LORD is the shepherd of Israel and will gather what has been scattered.
God has paid for Jacob's salvation and bought Israel back from the power of world, the flesh, and the devil. God's people's resurrection has a price. That price will be the blood and suffering of the Messiah Jesus. Even the return from exile as part of God's redemptive plan was only possible because Messiah Jesus had died for His people. Mercy to be just must have atonement.
God's people will be radically joyful. As they see the answer to their prayers for salvation their weeping will turn to wild adoration over the goodness of the LORD. Young woman and men will dance. The darkness of judgment will give way to the light of restoration. The people of God will feast upon a vision and experience of God's goodness and be satisfied.
The faith of the Bible is a radical faith. We might wish that it was less radical. That sin would not bring such radical consequences. That we could stay in a safer and more moderate relationship with God. Yet, the LORD, pushes the issues. The LORD demands holiness and punishes sin. The LORD will save us from this sin regardless of the cost to Himself or to us. We will not be lost to the power of darkness. He will give us life.
Now the only people who could find the joy offered here are the ones who adopted God's story over the events that had occurred and accepted the promises of restoration as true. The people who are being asked to praise are the ones who have seen death, destruction, rape, and torture before their very eyes. They have experienced events that normally produce post traumatic shock. Their hearts have been ripped out of them as they have seen loved ones suffer and die. They have lost every physical possession and all their wealth. In the midst of this they are to praise and sing.
This is only possible if they accept God's story about these events. Any other story will lead to bitterness, complaint, doubt, anger, and despair. Only accepting the good news of God' grace can place them in a position to be restored.
In the 2008 movie "Defiance" directed by Edward Zwick and based on a true story a group of Jewish brothers resist the Nazis and endeavor to build a village in the middle of the woods to provide protection for about 1000 Jewish exiles from the Nazi extermination. The movie demonstrated the horror and pain of the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis. In that movie the Rabbi is filled with despair as they face yet death after death and loss after loss. He then prays this prayer.
"Merciful God, we commit our friends - Ben Zion and Krensky - to You. We have no more prayers, no more tears; we have run out of blood. Choose another people. We have paid for each of Your commandments; we have covered every stone and field with ashes. Sanctify another land. Choose another people. Teach them the deeds and the prophesies. Grant us but one more blessing: take back the gift of our holiness. Amen."
Here the Rabbi has assumed the innocence of Israel. God is unfair in allowing such suffering from the Rabbi's point of view. There is no hope in restoration. There is no reliance upon promise.
We can understand this prayer by the Rabbi. It is very close to how we pray when we feel under the pressure of struggles and affliction in our own lives. It is more honest than we normally will admit. But we can relate to the prayer. The price of being God's people is just too high. We must remember the amount of pain that brought about such prayer. This prayer we can understand better than praise.
Yet, God wants us to believe His story in the middle of experiencing exile, loss, persecution for righteousness, and struggle. God wants us to feast upon His goodness and know joy in the midst of our tears. The LORD wants us to live as though all things are working for good and trust His promises of restoration. We are His children and nothing will separate us from His love which is found in Messiah Jesus. We can weep but not despair. We can know sorrow but not shut our hearts to hope. We are called to believe in the midst of our suffering.
The restoration of Israel from exile in Babylon occurred. Nothing in all history was ever seen like that. Israel again is scattered by the Romans during a series of wars and the temple is destroyed in 70 AD. No people so dispersed over centuries ever returned. Yet in 1967, nearly 1900 years later, Jerusalem is restored to Israel. God's promises and prophecies are kept. Remember what Messiah Jesus taught.
"They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." (Luke 21:24 ESV)

God is at work in the midst of the brokenness of history. We must pray for peace among Palestinians and Jews. We must seek just resolutions in these conflicts. Yet, in the midst of all of this complicated and difficult political process we must see God at work keeping His Word.

Such global faithfulness of God should cause us to believe that in the middle of our daily lives God is also being faithful. The LORD has promised us that one day a new heaven and a new earth will come in which righteousness will dwell. The rebellion of the world, the lust of the flesh, and the temptations of the devil will end. We will see our Lord Messiah Jesus face to face, and feast upon the goodness of the LORD forever. This vision of total restoration is to comfort our hearts and give us strength in the midst of our current struggles.

Sing praise to the Lord and shout for joy! LORD, save your church from our apostasy and apathy. Give to us reformation and revival. For your glory and for our good. Amen.

What is the purpose and mission of the Church?

2009-12-31T06:39:00.001-05:00

I was home last Sunday because I was ill. During my time of prayer, meditation, and study at home I was reading Dr. Robert E. Webber’s Ancient – Future Evangelism: Making Your Church A Faith-Forming Community . As I was reading, I came across a passage that in my opinion summarizes a great deal of our current struggle to get clarity on the purpose and mission of the Church. This is what I read:

“If the mission of God through Jesus Christ is to rescue creation from the presence and power of evil, then what is the mission of the church? If the church is the context for Christian formation, we must then have a biblical view of the purpose of the church. There seems to be some confusion about the purpose of the church in both the mainline and evangelical communities. Let me explain.

Back in 1979 a church leader sent a letter to evangelical leaders declaring, “God is calling us to march into the halls of Congress and clean up America for God.” His concerns were certainly appropriate: the rise of the permissive society, the breakdown of marriage, violence in the streets, pornography, abortion, and drugs to name a few issues that pointed to the breakdown of American society. Rev. Jerry Falwell’s answer was to found the Moral Majority and through this organization mobilize churches throughout America to vote Christians into office. These Christians were to act as responsible moral citizens in places of power. The idea was that through them a reforming and stable influence would be established to stem the eroding values of a godless American culture. The particular arm of the government through which evangelicals were to fulfill their calling to be salt and light to the world was the Republican Party.

In the meantime the mainline church was also mobilizing to assert an influence on another set of political problems. --- poverty, racism, the crumbling of the inner city, gangs, and the meaninglessness found among the jobless, single mothers, and aging dependents. For mainliners these matters of raising humanity to a more humane level were the goal of the church and the arm of the government through which this task was to be accomplished was the Democratic Party.

What’s wrong with this picture then and now? The church was being politicized. That is, this view says the agenda of the church is accomplished by teaming with a political power of the world. This view compromises the purpose of the church. It results in a distortion of the church’s mission to the world. Yet this view persists. Consequently we must ask: What is the purpose and mission of the church? ….

The mission of the church is to be about the politics of Jesus. Jesus is Lord. He has won a victory over the powers of evil and is now and shall be forever be the reigning Lord over everything God has created. The Church is called to live this truth, proclaim it, enact it, and call people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and to a life of obedient discipleship under His reign in their lives. “ (pgs 153 & 154)

I believe Dr. Webber has done a very good job in summarizing a significant part of what has been happening in the church over the last thirty years. I was part of that process in which there was an attempt to stand and war against the evil in society through the politics of the Republican Party. Christians struggled to move from an isolated cultural ghetto to become a dominant political voice. All of these movements were impacted by many factors such as views on prophecy, economic back grounds, cultural environments, and existing political beliefs. Christians sincerely want to respond to the problems of our society and influence it for good.

Yet, how do we do this without having the church simply absorbed into the secular purpose and plans of the existing political powers? How do we keep the church from just becoming a pawn in an elaborate game that is being played by other institutions, movements, and powers? How do we maintain the independence and integrity of the church as God’s embassy upon the earth? How do we avoid being taken over by the spirit of the age in which we live? How ought we to live in this post-Christian society?

As I thought about these issues, I remembered an old mentor of mine; Dr Francis Schaeffer. One of the first books I read by Dr. Schaeffer was Death in the City which is a group of meditations on Jeremiah and Lamentations. In that book Dr. Schaeffer said:

“The church in our generation needs reformation, revival, and constructive revolution. At times men think of the two words reformation and revival as standing in contrast one to the other, but this is a mistake. Both words are related to the word restore. Reformation refers to a restoration to pure doctrine; revival refers to a restoration in the Christian’s life. Reformation speaks of a return to the teachings of Scripture; revival speaks of a life brought into its proper relationship to the Holy Spirit. The great moments of church history have come when these two restorations have simultaneously come into action so that the church has returned to pure doctrine and the lives of the Christians in the church have known the power of the Holy Spirit. There cannot be true revival unless there has been reformation; and reformation is not complete without revival. Such a combination of reformation and revival would be revolutionary in our day -- revolutionary in our individual lives as Christians, revolutionary not only in reference to the liberal church but constructively revolutionary in the evangelical, orthodox church as well. May we be those who know the reality of both reformation and revival, so that this poor dark world may have an exhibition of a portion of the church returned to both pure doctrine and Spirit-filled life.” (Francis A. Schaeffer, Death In The City, Ch. 1)

This is actually a great summary of what I have prayed for and worked to see happen at First Church West over the last fourteen years. To goals is to have First Church West be a “portion of the church” which has returned to both pure doctrine and Spirit-filled life?” As a community of believers beginning a new year it would be good for us to refocus our attention upon revival and reformation.

So what do you think about these issues? What is the purpose and mission of the church from your perspective? How can we seek revival and reformation? May the Lord help us experience these realities and transform us more and more into what He desires us to become both as a local church and as individuals.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T07:07:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas!

I remember presents under the tree, long tables of food, and getting into trouble with my cousins. Most of the time my family lived in tension, fighting, shouting, hurting, and hitting. But at Christmas we knew how to lay aside all of our dysfunction and celebrate the birth of Jesus the Messiah.

Christmas was the safest time of the year. Somehow all of the insanity that normally ruled our lives would be forgotten and we would pretend that all was well. I loved to see Christmas come and hated to see it go.

Many people this year are struggling with having a big Christmas. Fear of the economy, concern about new taxes, and being unemployed have demanded we buy less. Credit card companies increasing interest rates and lowering line of credits have ended the normal way many people financed Christmas. Christmas this year instead of feeling safe can for many people be forcing them into facing the hard economic times that they will have to live with in 2010.

But Christmas is more than presents. It is suppose to be a time of remembering an eternal love that came to us in a baby boy. It is a reminder that even during economic crisis, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is found in Messiah Jesus. It is to remind us that we are always safe in God's love and in God's plan for our lives. We may suffer but all suffering has purpose.

So this Christmas take time to open your heart to feeling the embrace of God that is found in the Messiah Jesus who became fully human that He might die for our sins and take us to the kingdom of heaven forever. Messiah Jesus came that we might know God and be free of our sin. That really is the best news we will ever hear for all eternity.

Christmas in Revelation

2009-12-23T17:51:00.003-05:00

Christmas in Revelation - Revelation 12:1-17
I. Signs in heaven: Vs.1: And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Vs. 2: She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. Vs. 3: And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.

II. The Dragon and the Woman at Work: Vs. 4: His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. Vs. 5: She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, Vs. 6: and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

III. The Cosmic War: Vs. 7: Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, Vs. 8: but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. Vs. 9: And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

IV. Victorious proclamation: Vs. 10: And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. Vs. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Vs. 12: Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"

V. Deliverance of the Woman: Vs. 13: And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. Vs. 14: But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. Vs. 15: The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. Vs. 16: But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth.

VI. Persecution of the Woman’s offspring: Vs. 17: Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

This vision begins in heaven. There is a naked pregnant woman, in the crisis of child birth, clothed by the sun and crowned with twelve stars and with the moon at her feet. Into this heavenly delivery room comes a red dragon with seven heads crowned with jewels and having ten horns. Red in scriptures is related to sin, war, and destruction (Isa 63:2; Zec 1:8; Rev 6:4). The purpose of the dragon is to devour the male child when He is born. In a sweeping motion of his tail the dragon empties the heavens of one-third of their stars and they fall to the earth. This is to show the greatness of the dragon.
Who is the woman? M. Eugene Boring says: "The woman is not Mary, or Israel, nor the church but less and more than all of these. John's imagery pulls together elements from the pagan myth of the queen of heaven; from the Genesis story of Eve, mother of all living, whose 'seed' shall bruise the head of the primeval serpent (Gen 3:1-16); from Israel who escapes from the dragon/Pharaoh into the wilderness on wings of an eagle (Exod. 19:4, cf. Ps 74:12-15); and Zion, 'mother' of the People of God through the ages, Israel and the church" (Commentary on Revelation; p. 152).
God inspires John to combine images from both the Old Testament and pagan myths to portray a universal Savior who will deliver the world from the devil’s power. God was working in History to bring about His Messianic Kingdom by the birth of this chosen male child. The promises of God would all find their “YES” in Jesus of Nazareth.
The dragon is identified as the devil, Satan, and the deceiver of the nations. These names mean that he is prone to slander, blaspheme and the one who opposes God, and strives to lead the nations of the earth astray. He is the revolutionary leader against the kingdom of God.
The male child that is born is the promised and prophesied Davidic Messianic heir who will bring God’s kingdom to the earth and rule with a “rod of iron” over all the nations (Psalm 2). This promised “seed of the woman” was predicted to come and crush the dragon’s head even as He is wounded in the conflict (Gen 3:15). This child is the chosen one of God who has been destined to take the curse from God’s creation which came with the first Adam joining the dragon in his rebellion against God.
The devil attempted to “devour” Messiah Jesus by having Herod kill the babies in Bethlehem at his birth, tempt Him in the wilderness, resisting Him by possessing multitudes in Israel during His first advent, and finally by inspiring the people to crucify Him. However, God used this blood sacrifice to actually defeat the devil and create a group of faithful witnessing martyrs to God’s kingdom. The death of Jesus the Messiah and His resurrection were the greatest defeat of the devil (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14). With the ascension of Messiah Jesus, the sins of God’s people had been paid for and the legal justification for the establishment of the kingdom of God had been laid.
The result of this victory Messiah is exalted from earth to heaven and the heavenly dragon is banned from heaven and quarantined to the earth. Michael, one of the chief angelic princes who is connected to the nation of Israel, led the heavenly charge in banning Satan from heaven and ending his accusations against God’s people armed with the blood of the lamb and the faith of the apostolic Church (Dan 10:13; 10:21; 12:1; Jud 1:9). The heavenly woman has also become incarnated upon the earth and represents some faithful remnant which suffers persecution by Satan who brings the war of the heavens to the earth. This action is one of desperation because the devil knows that the final day of reckoning is now approaching.
The two message of Revelation are clearly seen here. First, God is victorious in the Messiah Jesus and salvation has come through Him. Second, the disciples of Messiah Jesus will suffer persecution, but will ultimately be saved. The purpose of the book seems to be for “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” Act 14:22
This Christmas let us remember that Jesus the Messiah coming was a vital part God’s work of redemption and bringing His kingdom to the earth. Christmas has guaranteed Easter. God has made His move and checkmated the dragon through the birth of His Son. May this faith give us joy this
Christmas.

Dealing with Holidays

2009-12-22T07:51:00.005-05:00

It is hard at times to not feel bad during the holidays.

This year I had a friend die a week before Christmas. He had been sick for a long time. But I had gotten use to the idea that he was sick and that he was still there. I did not visit or write him as often as I should have. I felt bad as I said goodbye to him this week. I should have been a better friend. His death made me recognize my failure to express my love for him.

I know that my friend's family will have a sad Christmas. There will be an empty chair at the table. That is always hard.

Yet, my friend had given us a wonderful Christmas gift. It was the gift of a life of faith. He left a legacy which spoke of his faith in Jesus the Messiah as his Savior and Lord. He left a testimony of love for people and for sharing the gospel. There is no doubt my friend is fully filled with Jesus' joy. By the grace of God his sins are forgiven and he has total peace. The gospel brings joy even into sad times.

The complexity of life makes it hard at times to enter into a time of celebration. The holidays sometimes make us face what we have loss. Some of the emptiness of life is pushed before us.

Yet, if we allow ourselves to hear it; there is also the wonderful story of Christmas. The story of God's unending love. The reality of God's embrace in the person of Messiah Jesus. The hope of forgiveness and eternal life in the joy of God. The hope of the gospel.

This Christmas I am feeling many different things. But the comfort of my heart comes from the good news that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son....

Eternal Ruler Of God's People

2009-12-13T10:33:00.000-05:00

Mic 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
Mic 5:3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.
Mic 5:4 And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Literal - Beth-lehem Ephratah — (Gen_48:7), or, Beth-lehem Judah; so called to distinguish it from Beth-lehem in Zebulun. It is a few miles southwest of Jerusalem. Beth-lehem means “the house of bread”; Ephratah means “fruitful”: both names referring to the fertility of the region. It was from this insignificant town that the most significant of all the Kings of Israel was born. Here was the town of David. God delights to take what appears to be insignificant and exalt it to greatness. This demonstrates that it is God's power and not anything found in the creation that has the power to save.

This town was so small that in Jos_15:21, it is not enumerated among the cities of Judah; nor in the list in Neh_11:25. Yet from this town of less than a thousand people the great king David was born and the Messiah would come. From this town the ruler or "Shiloh" will come (Genesis 49:10). This great son of David who will born who will become the ultimate ruler of Israel who will bring in ultimate peace.

This ruler who will come out of Bethlehem is described as coming forth from of old and from ancient of days. As Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain in their commentary:

"goings forth ... from everlasting — The plain antithesis of this clause, to “come forth out of thee” (from Beth-lehem), shows that the eternal generation of the Son is meant. The terms convey the strongest assertion of infinite duration of which the Hebrew language is capable (compare Psa_90:2; Pro_8:22, Pro_8:23; Joh_1:1). Messiah’s generation as man coming forth unto God to do His will on earth is from Beth-lehem; but as Son of God, His goings forth are from everlasting. "

The women in labor is most likely Israel as a people and not only Mary. It is a picture of the nation that is pregnant with God's promise and is in labor to give birth to the Messiah (see Revelation 12). Once this Messiah has been born then their will be a gathering of all the people and they will be regathered into one nation. He will bring the perfect Kingdom of God to the people of God and give to them complete security and peace. One day all Israel will be saved.

This passage like many of the prophecies of Messiah can seem to be saying that his appearing will be sudden and that the Kingdom will be coming in the immediate context. If one reads this passage in the context it seems like the Messiah will come to deliver the people of God from the Assyrians. This did not happen. In fact it is clear from the context of Micah that this is not going to happen for the judgement from Assyria is set.

Some future retribution upon the enemies of God will come with Messiah comes and then they will be safe from all their enemies. Assyria will fall. Its houses, chariots, and idols will perish. Under the preaching of the gospel over the first 400 years of the Christian Church the soceries, carved images, and pillars to idols will all perish. Jesus the Messiah by the preaching of the Word defeated the spiritual forces that fueled the spirit of pagan Assyria.

Because God revealed to the prophets only in a mirror darkly their reflection of what is happening has in a degree of mystery as well as revelation. The long wait between the first and second advent was not clearly seen in the Hebrew Bible. The exact means by which the Messiah would rule was not clearly seen.

As we remember God's keeping of his promise this Christmas by sending Jesus to be the ruler whose coming forth is from old, form ancient of days, let us remember that the Lord of heaven and earth will keep all of the promises that have been given. The end of the story is when the Messiah Jesus will bring to His people security and peace. Messiah Jesus rule over all the earth will be seen and acknowledged. All nations will be discipled and the Kingdom will be seen in all its glory. This should be our joy at Christmas time.

------------------
Christological - Mat 2:1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,
Mat 2:2 saying, "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."
Mat 2:3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
Mat 2:4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
Mat 2:5 They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
Mat 2:6 "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

---------------------------------------------
Moral: We must not doubt God's promises even in the darkest of times.

--------------------------------------------
Eternal: We are going to experience the perfect kingdom of God manifested in a new heaven and a new earth!

------------------------------------------

Prayer: Lord, let me submit my heart to your rule. Rule over me Messiah this day!

________________________

Contemplation: Lord, help me see more clearly your promises and trust in your triumph over all evil.

---------------------------------------
Action: What could I do to live more consistently under the rulership of Messiah Jesus today?

Drinking of God's Joy

2009-12-12T17:55:00.001-05:00

Isa 12:1 You will say in that day: "I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.

Isa 12:2 "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation."

Isa 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

Isa 12:4 And you will say in that day: "Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.

Isa 12:5 "Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.

Isa 12:6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."

---------------------------------------------------------

Literal - This chapter is designed for worship. The first two verses have one person, most likely Isaiah, proclaiming to a congregation his personal faith in Yahweh, LORD, of heaven and earth, and his trust that the LORD has had mercy on him and now has turned to be the prophet's power, harmony, and deliverer. God instead of standing as just judge is come to be the one who will embrace and comfort in the middle of difficult times. Even as the Assyrians have devastated the Northern Kingdom and its ten tribes so now there is little in the news that is good. God has judged Israel. Will not Judah me next? What hope could we have? It is the LORD who saves!

Verse 3 is a call by the prophet to the congregation to drink of the joy of the good news of the LORD's amazing grace. The call of God is to drink in joy from the deep wells of God's rich salvation. Imagine, God calls us during worship to drink deeply of His salvation and to experience the joy, happiness, and thrill of being delivered from our sins.

In response to this call the people are told to respond. They are to sing together a song of thanksgiving, to seek the Lord in prayer, and to give witness to the great actions of the LORD so that His reputation will be known by all nations. The people's praise is to be loud, shouting, victorious, and filled with true admiration towards Yahweh. The only thing we have like it would be when a crowd of footballs fans see a 70 yard pass that brings victory to their beloved team. The fans stand spontaneously and wildly screaming praise for the quarterback. So the people of God are to see the just anger of God pass over them and be filled with wild praise for their graceful salvation.

Rarely, do we get in touch with such wild passion in our worship. Rarely do the salvation events of Christ dying for our sins impact us emotionally at this level. Perhaps if it was reported that lightening stuck Osama bin Laden dead and we saw it on national television then we would feel a moment of praise for God like what is outlined here. We need to ask the LORD to help us to see that He has come to save us in Messiah Jesus in wild ways beyond our wildest dreams. We need to seek to become a people of deep praise in light of God's grace that has come to us in Messiah Jesus!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Christological: Luke 2:8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Luke 2:9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.

Luke 2:10 And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

Luke 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

-------------------------------------------------------------

Moral: We should drink deeply of the message of God's salvation so that we will be filled with holy joy

---------------------

Eternal: The final manifestation of the Kingdom of Heaven will be where we for all eternity are filled from head to toe with passionate worship that spontaneously springs from our hearts. \

------------------------------------------

Prayer: Give me a thirst to drink from your well of salvation. Fill me with your joy!

-----------------------------------

Contemplation: Open my eyes that I might see the greatness of your salvation

----------------------

Action: Go to the front of the church this week and decide to give the Lord the loudest praise you can. Ask the Lord to make the passion of your heart match the loudest of your voice.

Trusting During Trouble

2009-12-09T10:54:00.002-05:00

Isa 30:18 -19 Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you.

The people had not been willing to rely on God. Israel had come to rely on themselves, on Egypt, and on idols. It appears at times we trust in anything and anyone except for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Due to this the LORD had delayed giving them grace. The planned redemption of Israel was delayed. Their sin and rebellion will only demonstrate more clearly how wildly merciful God is in forgiving His people. Some believe that the Hebrew here should be interpreted to means that God is silent in order to show greater mercy upon them in the end.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a just God who keeps His promises. Therefore, those who trust in those promises even when all the circumstances speak against those promises being fulfilled have received grace from God to endure in faith in the midst of the most difficult times. One of the signs that we are true believers is that we rely on God’s promises even when all seems lost. This does not mean we may not struggle with moments of doubts and have questions. It does mean that in the end we are committed to reliance upon God’s goodness and mercy. It is the character of God and His competence in accomplishing what He in intends that gives us hope.

For a holy people will dwell in Zion. The additional adjective “holy” is supplied by the Septuagint version of the Old Testament and seems to fit well into this context. This seems to be a picture of the final redemption of God’s people. No more tears of sorrow. The people of God will know the full experience of God’s great grace and mercy.

On the one had we are to patiently wait. On the other we are to know that the LORD hears the cry for help the moment it is spoken. He has decided to act from the moment He hears it. From our perspective it seems like it takes a long time for God to keep His redemptive promises, but from His perspective He is not slow in keeping His promises but only allowing more time for more grace to be displayed. As we wait we are to know that He has heard us.

There are times in our lives when it seems that God is waiting to demonstrate grace to us. We can be seeking some new experience in prayer only to feel like our prayers hit the ceiling. Our desire can be to grow in faith and to do this we read the Bible only to have our reading create more questions than answers for our faith. We desire to develop Christian friends only to be hurt and rejected by them. We have been seeking God’s help to minister to people but can feel like there is no divine wind at our back. God seems to be waiting and at times the LORD seems silent to our cries for help and direction.

What are we do to when this happens? This passage would urge us to wait upon the Lord, depending upon his commitment to help and save us. It would remind us that God is fully committed to His plan of redemption and that He does hear the cries of His people. We must not despair. We must not give up faith in prayer. We must remain trusting in His amazing grace knowing that Christ/Messiah has died for our sins and been raised again. All the promises of God are “YES” in Messiah Jesus. He is the incarnation of God’s mercy and grace.

Manna From Heaven

2009-12-08T10:12:00.001-05:00

Exo 16:17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less.
Exo 16:18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

2Co 8:13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness
2Co 8:14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.
2Co 8:15 As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The people of Israel had complained and the Lord had heard their complaint. He had provided for them bread from heaven. In response to "Give us this day our daily bread" the Lord provided manna. But to get this bread it had to be gathered. So the people of Israel went out as a community to gather the bread of heaven. Some were able to gather more and some were able to gather less. Yet all gathered since without the bread they would die. They were in a wilderness that had no means to support them. They were totally dependent upon God providing manna. They had to gather or they would die.

But the manna as it was gathered was brought into a central place. There at that central place, what was gathered was measured into a "OMER” which was about 7 1/2 pints. Each family was given about two quarts for every person their family so that none would go hungry.

The process here was clear. God provided the manna, all worked to get the manna, and everyone received from the community effort the food they needed. No one went hungry regardless of how little manna they were able to bring in that day. Some gathered more and some gathered less, but all benefited the same.

Now these were unique circumstances. Without the manna, people would die. God would not allow the manna to be stored so there was no way to get a surplus of manna. God literally supplied day by day and only on the day before the Sabbath did God allow more to be gathered and stored. There was no other source of economy or food. Survival depended on God providing and on the manna being gathered. God had also dictated the means of distribution. None would go hungry and none would be a glutton. Every aspect of their economy was being dictated for the common good and reflected total dependence upon the LORD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

People were motivated out of fear of starvation to work to bring in the manna. Most of us have never had supper and then not one morsel of food in the house for the next day. That creates a unique sense of need in a person.

The people of Israel did not do well under these restrictions. There was an attempt to create a manna savings account but God made the food stink and become infested with worms. There was an attempt to work seven days a week to increase security and productivity but God refused to provide the manna on the Sabbath. The people eventually had to accept God's economy and provision. They had to rest in the process that God had set up for them by which He would provide for their needs.

Paul uses this passage to reinforce his urging the Corinth Church to provide for the Jerusalem Church during a famine. The Christians in Corinth lived in physical abundance and the Christians in Jerusalem were suffering from a famine. The Corinthians had pledged support to help them and now they had to gather to a central place what they were giving so that the Christians in Jerusalem would be fed.

From Paul's perspective the Church is the new people of God. We are now spiritual Israel. Everything that every Christian has is God's manna from heaven. Today the Corinthian Church has been able to gather more and the Jerusalem Church less, but to be "fair", the Corinthians need to make sure that none of the Jerusalem Christians go hungry. Perhaps next year they will have a famine and then the Jerusalem Church will have to meet their needs. Or perhaps the Jerusalem Church being more mature spiritually may send teachers to share the spiritual bread of the Word of God while the Corinthian Church provides the physical bread that is needed to survive. The idea was that God wants His people to divide what He provides to make sure that none goes hungry. That is how Paul applied this passage in the New Testament.

A modern day example of a person with this type of perspective is found in the book God Owns My Business by Stanley Tam. Dr. R. Stanley Tam, founder of United States Plastic Corp. Dr. Tam and his wife decided that they would be content to live on $50,000 a year regardless of how successful his business became. Regardless of how much money the company earned they took only what was needed to live a modest middle class life and the rest they gave to charity. Dr. Tam actually made God the owner of his business legally. Stanley and Juanita have been able due to this decision to give $100 of millions for the work of the Lord. As Stanley likes to put it: "I like to think of having been a student in the University of Experience....with a minor in business and a major in soul winning.
It is not God's desire for any Christians to go hungry. God has provided enough to make sure all the needs of His children will be met. However, God has also made it that some will gather more and some less. God's desire is to make sure that everyone's family is feed.
Now our circumstances are much more complex. We have credit cards and mortgage loans. We need to remember that the scripture also says that if any refuse to work they should not eat. Laziness is not to be rewarded. The fear of starvation is a powerful motivator to work. All of these factors need to be put into the equation.
Yet, at the end of the day we need to seek God's wisdom about how we might use that which He has given us to help those who have less. It was only because Jesus the Messiah was willing to give up the richness of heaven and become poor for us that we now share in His kingdom. So for us who have received everything we have by grace how can we not be moved to be merciful in how we use our physical wealth. Let us remember that all we have is God's manna. Let us remember ultimately that Jesus the Messiah is God’s manna to us (John 6). Let the gospel guide our giving.

What hinders faith?

2009-12-05T07:52:00.006-05:00

As I wake up this morning in New York City visiting my son and his wife, I find my dreams have raised up a question in my soul.

What hinders faith?

or

What motivates faith?

I was reading in Exodus 6:1-9 about the testing of faith that came when Moses began his ministry. All that the Word of God created was persecution and oppression. There was no deliverance or salvation. Life only became harder instead of better because of God's prophet and presence. In response God speaks to Moses and by means of Moses the promises of His love and purpose. He assures them that they will be saved and delivered from their slavery in Egypt.

They did not listen to the good news that day. Why? I was struck by the text. They did not listen because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. They were absorbed by their misery and the were literally "out of breath" or "out of spirit". We all know what it is like to run until we are "out of breath" and then we stop. We simply cannot take another step in that condition. We cannot be motivated to run when we are "out of breath."

What had caused this "shortness of spirit"? They had just had their hopes of being delivered by Moses crushed and this feeling of disappointment was not moved by the Word of God. They also lived day in and day out in a very hard circumstances. They were slaves. That reality made it hard for them to be motivated to believe in the Word of God that spoke of freedom. They also feared the king. To believe in what God was saying would anger the king of Egypt and bring on them more woe. To believe put them at practical risk. I think we can all understand why it was hard for them to listen that day.

How about today for you and me? When the Holy Spirit comes to us and sings to us about the love of God in Christ Jesus today what causes us to not respond in faith. Are we suffering from "shortness of spirit" ? Do our circumstances enslave us? Are we afraid of what faith might cost us?

What hinders our faith?

and

What motivates us to believe?

I think it is important we ask these questions. I think it is important we start finding answers to these questions. What do you think? What are your answers to these questions?

Please leave a comment, I would love to know your ideas and feelings on these questions.

Devotions on Grace

2009-10-22T07:49:00.001-04:00

Rom 3:21-28 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

God desire to establish a righteous kingdom is now going to be seen, not in a moral code, but by people having faith in Jesus as the Messiah who died for their sins and was raised. This right relationship with God under the Divine rule will come to both Jew and Gentile who believe in Jesus as their personal prophet, priest, and king. There is no prejudice towards any ethnic group or color of skin. All who believe will be made right with God through the work of the Messiah Jesus.

Both the Jew and the Gentile have fallen away from God and have either become lost in lawless deeds of depravity or legalistic systems of self righteousness and pride. The end result, they have all failed to reach the glorious reflection of being made in God’s image and living in accord with the divine reflection made within them. They have not become the incarnation of righteous love.

As Dr. Moule says: "The harlot, the liar, the murderer, are short of it; but so are you. Perhaps they stand at the bottom of a mine, and you on the crest of an Alp; but you are as little able to touch the stars as they." Every human being has failed to obey God. Every human being has failed to love God. Every human being has failed to love other people as they should have loved them.

All who have a true faith in the Messiah Jesus as the ultimate revelation of truth, the sacrifice for their sins on the cross, and the desired ruler of their lives are declared righteous before God by his unconditional mercy and as a gift. Even their faith is a work of God’s grace in their hearts. Faith comes from hearing the word of Christ and having this word empowered by the Holy Spirit to produce faith (Romans 10:17). Those who are declared righteous due to their union and communion with the Lord Jesus the Messiah are made right with God as a free gift entirely unrelated to their obedience to the law.

Justification was a legal term in the Greek culture and was used to describe a judge declaring an accused person not guilty and therefore innocent before the law. The importance of this is found in this quote by Pastor John McArthur.
“Justification is God’s declaration that all the demands of the law are fulfilled on behalf of the believing sinner through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Justification is a wholly forensic, or legal, transaction. It changes the judicial standing of the sinner before God. In justification, God imputes (credits) the perfect righteousness of Christ to the believer’s account, then declares the redeemed one fully righteous. Justification must be distinguished from sanctification, in which God actually imparts Christ’s righteousness to the sinner. While the two must be distinguished, justification and sanctification can never be separated. God does not justify whom He does not sanctify.” (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press)
Pastor John McArhur’s concern about using the idea of grace to justify a life of lawless living is a needed reminder which Paul will make in Romans 6. However the main point here is that apart from any works God has declared us righteous as a free gift which is in Jesus the Messiah.
Paul develops his teaching about justification around three themes. The death of the Messiah Jesus and his resurrection from the dead has accomplished three divine acts.
Justification: an image from the court of law
Redemption: an image from the slave market)
Propitiation: an image from the world of religion, appeasing God through sacrifice
Justification solves the problem of man's guilt before a righteous Judge. Redemption solves the problem of man's slavery to sin, the world, and the devil. Propitiation solves the problem of offending God our Creator. We have been declared righteous in the divine court, freed from slavery and declared a Son of God, and cleansed from the filth of our sins.
God’s sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah on the cross for sins also demonstrated that forgiveness was not being done at the expense of justice. Grace did not mean we could just forget the right demands of the law. No, grace meant that the full price of the justice would be paid by another and the guilty would go free without any violation of the moral code of God. There is no cheap grace only infinitely expensive grace given by God.
It should be noted that the most popular New Testament scholar of the 21st century, Dr. N.T. Wright and his “New Perspective on Paul” would disagree with this view of justification. Within conservative reformed circles this new approach is called “The Federal Vision”. There are many complicated and complex issues related to both movements.
However, what they both seem to have in common is that ultimately being justified is based on the spirit-inspired works in/through them and not on the objective work of Christ on the cross outside of them. . In other words, Dr. Wright is saying that justification is not in Christ alone. Justification in this view involves the work of Christ (forgiveness of sin in the present) and the Spirit (being made righteous in our lives which will be judged in the future). This new perspective while lacking the rituals of the Roman Catholic Church is teaching the same basic view that was held to by the medieval church before the reformation. I do not believe that Dr. N.T. Wright’s perspective or that of the “Federal Vision” provides for us a right understanding of justification and my view is that the traditional protestant perspective of objective justification in Christ alone is the right interpretation of scripture.
Why is this important? This is important because legalism can corrupt the church just as easily as lawlessness. It takes very little for us to begin to think we are the best and the brightest. Feelings of being elite and superior need little encouragement. Nothing feels better to our brokenness than a baptized pride and self righteousness gained in “humility” before God.
However in the end only those who know they have been forgiven much will love much. Everything that takes away from grace also deadens our love for the LORD. Only a vision of pure grace will lead to a pure love for God. May we see God’s grace today! Amen

Not Judging the Heart

2009-10-12T15:37:00.001-04:00

1Ki 8:39 then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind),
2Ch 6:30 then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind,
Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."
Mat 7:1-5 "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
Act 1:24 And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen
1Co 2:11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
1Co 4:5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.
Eph 4:29-32 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Jas 4:11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
1Pe 2:17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

God alone knows the hearts of human beings. Because our hearts are deceitful our own self knowledge may be imperfect. Next to God, each of us has the greatest ability to know our own hearts and what motivates us in our words and actions. It is impossible however for anyone else to know what the thoughts and intentions of the heart of another person are unless they are self pronounced. When we judge the motives of people we take the place of God.
People are made in the image of God and therefore have dignity and deserve respect (1 Peter 2:17). Those in authority have been put in that position of authority by God and therefore deserve honor for being the one chosen by God to hold that position (Romans 13:1-5). We are to love other people even our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Part of loving another person is not to judge their motives but to give them the judgment of charity which is that we should believe the best motives for whatever they have done.
We live in a time when we do not know how to honor other people. We are not well trained in showing honor to authorities. We do not know how to disagree in an agreeable manner. We find it hard to season every word with grace, mercy, longsuffering, and patience. It is easy for our words to do great harm (James 3).
There is also the need of humility. We do need to judge ourselves and our own motives. We need to think more highly of others then we think of ourselves (Phil 2:3). We should be able to admit our own need to change and improve. We may even come to believe that others have something positive to teach us. It is possible that in the dialogue of ideas that we may actually grow if we do not assume we have all the answers before we begin.
We live in very polarized times. We see those who disagree with us as being “worthless” and “empty headed”, not recognizing that such judgments make us guilty of the sin of murder (Matthew 522). It is one thing to say we disagree with what a person says or does. We can and should judge an idea or action as wrong. But it is entirely different to curse one who is made is the image of God and fail to give them the respect and honor due them from God. When we do this we open up a dark door of vengeance and self righteousness which normally only leads to a growing escalation of abuse and eventually violence.
So let each of us each evaluate what we say and do in judging the motives of others. Let us strive to be peace makers in a world who has lost its taste for peace. Let us guard against gossip and speech which is cynical and belittling. Let us pray for those we disagree with and treat them with the respect that God has ordained we give to them. Then we will be salt and light in the world and a source of healing.

Nominations for Office

2009-10-11T20:43:00.002-04:00

On Oct 18th the congregation of First Church West will vote to either elect or not elect the following men.

For Elder - Worship Leader Rick Orsini

For Deacon - Dave Anderson and Donald Dresson

Please pray for God'w will to be done.

The congregational meeting will begin immediately after the second service.

Empowering Leadership - Sermon Notes for Oct 11, 2009

2009-10-10T08:03:00.001-04:00

Empowering Leadership

The Vision of Empowering Leadership
Eph 4:11-13 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ….

The purpose of leadership
Equipping is katartismos from katartizo which means to mend, repair, make whole or healthy, of setting bones, mending nets in turn from
katá = with + artízo = adjust, fit, finish related to means to make something or someone (in this case the people of God) completely adequate or sufficient for service to the Lord and His kingdom.
The basic idea is that of putting a thing into the condition in which it ought to be. In politics it is used for bringing together opposing factions so that government can go on.
A Word Centered Leadership
2Ti 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

A Prayer Centered Leadership
Act 6:4 “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.“
The Elders are the office that strives to lead by teaching the word of God and prayer.

Deacons provide leadership by compassion & help
Jas 1:26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Healthy Relationships Between Leaders and Followers
Heb 13:17-18 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things.

Lawlessness & Legalism in Leadership
1Pe 5:1-3 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

Legalism would have a worldly spirit of domination over the people of God. This is when leaders try to have power and control over the flock in an abuse manner. The idea of the priesthood of believers is denied practically.
Lawlessness is when the idea of the priesthood of believers is used to deny the need of leaders. Here those called to be leaders are abused by a spirit of dishonor and rebellion.
Servant Leadership
Mar 10:42 -45 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

So What?
Leaders are you doing what God has called you to do in teaching, praying for, and serving others?
Followers are you getting equipped with the Word so that you will be able to do God’s will in your life?

Pray for Justice

2009-10-08T08:44:00.001-04:00

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15
6 Seek the Lord and live, or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire, and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it. 7 Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood, and bring righteousness to the ground!
10 They hate the one who reproves in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks the truth. 11 Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. 12 For I know how many are your transgressions, and how great are your sins— you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe, and push aside the needy in the gate. 13 Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time; for it is an evil time. 14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. 15 Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Literal - This chapter is part of a “funeral Dirge” a song of lament for the nation of Israel (Amos 5:1-2). This is a strong statement because the nation has not actually “died “yet. This piece of “prophetic drama” was purposely done to awaken the nation to its serious spiritual plight even as it enjoyed political and economic prosperity.
Amos was a contemporary of Isaiah, Micah, Jonah and Hosea. Under Jeroboam II (around 781 B.C.) the kingdom of Israel reached the zenith of its prosperity. The gap between rich and poor widened at this time and the rich were becoming richer by oppressing the poor, taking their land, and bribing the judicial system. Amos was called by God from his rural home in the Southern Kingdom to remind the rich and powerful of God's requirement for social and political justice (2:6-16). He claimed that religion that is not accompanied by right action is cursed by God (5:21ff.), and prophesied that the kingdom of Israel would be destroyed which occurred about sixty years after these prophecies were given (e.g. 5:1-2; 8:2).
Amos instead of saying “God bless Israel” actually said “God damn Israel unless she repent”. Perhaps Amos is called because Jonah has a hard time warning Israel of God’s condemnation due to her sins because of his love of Israel as a nation which leads to his desire to see her enemies destroyed even when God may have a redemptive plan.
This “funeral Dirge” was done at one of the centers of worship in Israel located at Bethel. It was the place where the king loved to worship and thank God for all the prosperity that had come upon the nations. It was where the state paid prophets would declare how God would prosper Israel and defeat her enemies. In the midst of this optimistic and positive environment comes Amos singing a song of death and mourning over a nation that has died, but simply does not know it yet.
Amos says that Israel must repent or die. They have turned “justice” into poison. Justice is to be the source of nourishment and life to a society. But here it has been turned into wormwood a bitter poison that only brings sickness and health. Righteousness has been knocked down and pushed out of the way. All of this has happened in the gate of the city where people where people were to go to find justice.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was very concerned in what happened "in the gate" because it was the primary public arena for finding fairness, compassion, and social order in accord with the principles, personality and history of Yahweh and Yahweh’s people. The book of Moses reminded Israel that God "takes no bribe," "executes justice for the orphan and the widow," and "loves the strangers." Israel was to be a reflection of God's justice in its own life and social relationships (Deuteronomy 10:17-18). Their failure to do this was now bringing God’s judgment upon them.
The key problem here is that the poor have not been given equal justice. Their rights have not been upheld in the public square. The rich have been able to win in court and avoid punishment for their crimes while the poor have not been given fair trials. The rich have been able to manipulate the system to keep the poor from keeping their land and the truly impoverished have not been cared for with compassion. God is condemning Israel for her lack of social and political justice. The eternal creator of the universe cares that we demonstrate love for our neighbor by the establishment of a just social system. Failure to do this will bring about the end of that society and divine judgment upon them.
For believers our concern must be to know and define the nature of social and political justice. God is for justice. We are to be for justice. What is justice? What does it mean to have a just society? What actions in a society are seen as unjust and a failure to love our neighbor? How can the poor be oppressed by the rich in our society? How could the poor be protected? These are critical concerns for God. They need to also be critical concerns for us.
Christological: One of our hopes to see Christ return is that with that return perfect justice will reign over all the earth. Jesus the Messiah will bring an end to all oppression and unjust rule. He will establish perfect fairness in the governing of the earth.
Moral: We should hunger and thirst after righteousness and social justice. It should be a deep desire and need in our lives to see this fulfilled in our lives and our community.
Eternal: Rev 21:3-4 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
Prayer: Help me to hate evil and love good. Grant me a heart and mind that understands and desires justice for the weak, poor, and oppressed.
Contemplation: Seek justice and love righteousness
Action: List areas of injustice in our community. What could you do to help restore justice? What are you doing that encourages injustice? What would Amos say to us today? How should you and I change?

Planning & Prayer Meeting on Oct 17th

2009-10-07T11:04:00.000-04:00

We are having our annual meetng for praying for our ministry and developing a plan on Saturday Oct 17th. We will begin with a community breakfast, have a season of prayer and then begin developing our plans for every aspect of our ministry.

Some of the areas we will discuss and pray about are how to improve our worhip, increase our evangelism, deepen our small group experience, explore passionate spirituality, develop our spiritual gifts, improve our structures, and give more focus to our leadership. We will be attempting to develop better ministry to singles, married, men, women, childen, and teens. We want to hear your prayerful ideas.

Please call the office at 954-452-4404 if you plan to attend.

The meeting begins at 8:30 AM with breakfast and will end about 3 PM.

Why believe the gospel?

2009-04-30T18:25:00.000-04:00

Acts 3:12-19
12 When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. 17 "And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meditation

In the book of Acts we find that the early church was able to support their witness of Jesus being the Messiah in four ways.

Apologetics – There was good reason to believe the gospel. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was proof that he was the Messiah of Israel and chosen by God to be the Lord and Savior.

A dynamic community of love – The early church began caring for the poor like no other community before them. They began breaking down the barriers of human society. Eventually Jews of all different stripes, Samaritans, Gentiles, rich, poor, weak, powerful, young, old, men, and women would be in a loving community and worshiping together in a way that the world had never seen. The unity and love of the church was evidence that Jesus was alive and His life was manifested in this new community of love.

Miracles – As we see in this text here God allowed the Apostles and others to do miracles done in the name and authority of Jesus the Messiah to demonstrate that the powers of the age to come were now appearing in this age. In the age to come the sick will be healed and now in Jesus the Messiah the powers of the coming age are being released into the current age. The miracles were not just acts of power they were confirmation that Jesus the Messiah had in some way restored the Kingdom of God that the first Adam had lost.

Martyrdom – The witnesses to the resurrection were willing to die to demonstrate the amount of conviction they have that Jesus was the Messiah and had been raised from the dead. This willingness to die over the truthfulness of their testimony and the change of life they experienced after the resurrection still remain witnesses of the reality of the resurrected Jesus the Messiah even to this day.

The crippled man who begged had been healed by Peter focusing on him. Now the crowd is focused on Peter and John. They are not even focused on the healed man. Instead they are looking with awe and wonder at the apostles. The Greek word for this staring is atenizō, (3:12, 3:4). The term is commonly used in Acts for an almost trance-like encounter with transcendent glory (see 1:10; 3:4, 12; 6:15; 7:55).

Peter wants them to turn this worshipful gaze from them to Jesus the Son/servant, the holy one, the righteous one, and the author of life. This man was healed not because of the power or piety of Peter and John but because of the power and piety of Jesus the Messiah who they had crucified and declared a blasphemer. They must repent of this lie and turn to now surrender to Jesus as the true Messiah of Israel and the God given Savior to bring to them the forgiveness of their sins. They can have all of their failure to love God and others as they should wiped clean, even their rejection of the author of life, the Messiah Jesus.

Christological - This particular miracle was very much in line with the promises of Messiah coming and bringing in the Kingdom of glory to earth. The prophet had predicted

Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart, 'Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God. ...He will come and save you.'
Then the lame shall leap like deer...
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert" (Isaiah 35:3-6).

The lame were now leaping. The Kingdom of God had been restored in Jesus the resurrected Messiah. Now it was time to believe and repent that our sins might be wiped out.

Moral – Don’t worship the messenger, worship God.

Eternal – When we see our Lord Jesus the Messiah in heaven we will be focused (atenizō) on him forever. We will be in an encounter with Him in His transcendent glory and filled with joy and peace

Prayer – Lord, support the witness of your church today with your power that we might see people believe and repent. Give me boldness to witness! Amen

Contemplation – The Kingdom of God is at hand!

Action - Who do I know that has not yet believed and repented? How could I be the body of Christ to them today? Could I pray for them today? Could I say a word, do a deed, or express an attitude that would give witness of Jesus being the Messiah to them today? How could I bear witness that Jesus is the resurrected Messiah today? Could I make real the love of Christ today to some one in a real and deliberate manner?

SPRING FLING - APRIL 26TH - NOON TO 2

2009-04-22T19:06:00.002-04:00

SUNDAY APRIL 26TH - SPRING FLING!

AT FIRST CHURCH WEST

12700 WEST BROWARD BLVD

PLANTATION, FLORIDA 33325

STARTING AT NOON

GET A FREE CAR WASH

FREE HOT DOG WITH CHIPS

GIVE BLOOD TO SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY

A FREE BOUNCE HOUSE FOR THE KIDS

START THE SPRING WITH A CLEAN CAR

NO DONATIONS ACCEPTED!

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Psalm 30 - God saves a proud man

2009-02-11T08:13:00.001-05:00

The Reading

NLT Psalm 30:1 A psalm of David, sung at the dedication of the Temple. I will praise you, LORD, for you have rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me. 2 O LORD my God, I cried out to you for help, and you restored my health. 3 You brought me up from the grave, O LORD. You kept me from falling into the pit of death. 4 Sing to the LORD, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name. 5 His anger lasts for a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning. 6 When I was prosperous I said, "Nothing can stop me now!" 7 Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered. 8 I cried out to you, O LORD. I begged the Lord for mercy, saying, 9 "What will you gain if I die, if I sink down into the grave? Can my dust praise you from the grave? Can it tell the world of your faithfulness? 10 Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me. Help me, O LORD." 11 You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, 12 that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!

In this psalm we find a simple pattern. The psalmist is in trouble, he prayed about it, and got a dramatic answer from God that saved him from his trouble, and now he is dedicated to praise and worship of God. This type of psalm can be found in several psalms such as 18, 34,,40,50,66,116, and 130. This psalm is very personal. It apparently is a psalm of David that was sung after his death at the dedication of the Temple under Solomon.

We find here a parallel structure that is the characteristic of Hebrew poetry. This type of poetic structure is called chiasm. Chiasm is a literary structure used in the Torah, the Bible, as well as in other works. Concepts or ideas are placed in a special symmetric order or pattern to emphasize them.

Vs. 1. I will praise you, LORD, for you have rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me

Vs. 11 & 12 11 You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, 12 that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever!

This psalm is one of thanksgiving and praise. The reason for that there was a time of loss and mourning only which God amazingly turned into a time of blessing and joy. It would be what we would feel if suddenly we found the stock market at 40,000 and our income doubled. It would be as if the war in Iraq was over and all terrorists had laid down their weapons. Or perhaps if every person in our family that was sick was suddenly made physically whole and also all our lost relatives trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We would have reason to be thankful. We all have enemies. Either people or events can be opposed to our plans, hopes, and dreams. Imagine how you would feel if all your “enemies” were defeated and you had total victory over everything that was not as you desired in your life. Would that give you joy?

We see the parallel structure also work out as we compare vs. 2 with vs. 10.

. 2 O LORD my God, I cried out to you for help, and you restored my health.

10 Hear me, LORD, and have mercy on me. Help me, O LORD."

Here we find the simple, direct, and passionate prayer that brought about this great deliverance. It was a “cry for help”. The Hebrew suggests it was loud “shout” to the heavens for help. There was no incantation or magic here. This prayer was simply a desperate man of faith in desperate need.

The comparison of thought continues in verses 3 &9

. 3 You brought me up from the grave, O LORD. You kept me from falling into the pit of death8 4 Sing to the LORD, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name.

8 I cried out to you, O LORD. I begged the Lord for mercy, saying,, 9 "What will you gain if I die, if I sink down into the grave? Can my dust praise you from the grave? Can it tell the world of your faithfulness?

The Old Testament people of God had less revelation about the after life than we have in the New Testament. The term “grave” here is SHEOL in which it appears that the person who died was in a shadowy existence in the inner parts of the earth. It appears the psalmist may have feared that he was lost and would be cut of from God forever. In SHEOL the psalmist would be cut off from God and unable to praise God for his faithfulness. What profit did God gain from having the psalmist die in sin and defeat? Compare this with Psalm 23 in which an afterlife of great joy is envisioned.

Here the psalmist is recalling his prayer for deliverance and how it came about. It reflects the fear of being lost and the joy of being saved.

The structured comparison of thought continues in verses 5 and 7.

5 His anger lasts for a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may go on all night, but joy comes with the morning

7 Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered

These verses point out how fragile we are. Today we have the favor of God in what we do. We become proud and look at our success as coming from our own hands. God who gave us success can remove it in a moment. Our lives can be shattered because we stand by grace alone. Yet, when we humble ourselves in prayer the LORD is able to bring back our joy as quickly as it was taken away.

In the movie “God of War” which portrays the beginning of the civil war they have Stone Wall Jackson who had been victorious and unstoppable be humbled at the death of a little girl with whom he had made friends. Despite the best efforts of his personal surgeons the young girl died. As he reflects on her death he says “Everything is so fragile”. This is the insight that the psalmist is sharing as well.

The focal point and center of this psalm is verse 6.

6. When I was prosperous I said, "Nothing can stop me now!"

Here was the fault of the psalmist. The LORD’s favor had made him wildly successful. He seemed to be an unstoppable force. In the midst of his success he lost his daily humble dependence on the LORD and felt that he had things under control. The LORD resists the proud and helps the humble. We are all fragile, only dust, and need the breathe of God upon us to give us life and fruitfulness. Without the LORD we can do nothing.

What do we do when we cry out to the LORD in our defeat and desperation and the LORD does not deliver us or our loved ones from destruction and defeat? Can we trust the LORD in the dark of defeat, disease, and death? Can we wait for the victory of eternity to give us joy? This is yet another dimension of faith that has to be faced.

Christological - NLT Romans 5:6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.

Moral - Never take success as something you are “due” or have “earned” it is by grace alone. It was given by grace and will only be maintained by grace. Run from pride and turn to the LORD in humble and needy faith.

Eternal - The promise of eternal life in Jesus Christ has allowed us who believe to never have to fear being cut off from God in SHEOL. Praise be the LORD.

Prayer - LORD HELP!

Contemplation - I resist the proud; but give grace to the humble.

Action: Pray for help and pray to be humble. Look inward to see if you have pride.

Silent Before God

2009-01-28T16:00:00.001-05:00

Psalm 62:5-12

5 For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. (Selah)

9 Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. 10 Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. 11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, 12 and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work

We live in a noisy age. We have T.V. radio, ipods, and mobile phone. Rarely do we stop hearing or talking. We most likely have more noise in our lives than any other generation or culture before us.

There comes a time to tell our soul to be quiet. One of the spiritual disciplines or exercises that have been traditionally practiced is that of silence. This is a time in which we do not speak in an effort to get our soul to “wait in silence” before the LORD. To learn to be silent is part of our spirituality.

Habakkuk: the earth should be silent in the presence of God in the temple (Habakkuk 2:20)

Job reduced to silence at the end, aware of his foolishness in the sight of God (Job 40:1-3)

Revelation 8:1: silence in heaven from human awe in the presence of God

Arthur Michael Ramsey (1904-88), Archbishop of Canterbury said about silence:

“Silence enable us to be aware of God, to let mind and imagination dwell upon his truth, to let prayer to be listening before it is talking, and to discover our own selves in a way that is not always possible when we are making or listening to noise. There comes sometimes an inner silence in which the soul discovers itself in a new dimension of energy and peace, a dimension which the restless life can miss. . . Into the Christian’s use of silence there may flow the wonder of God the creator, the recollection of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, the recalling of scenes in his life, often a passage of the Bible, the glories of nature in which the finger of God is present, gratitude for personal blessings or the words of poets who tell of wonder and beauty”

In his silence the psalmist here comes to trust God as his one true hope, his rock, his salvation, his fortress, his firm foundation, his deliverer, the protector of his honor, his mighty rock, his refuge, the source of all power, the one who always loves him, and the judge of all human beings. This vision of God causes the Psalmist to want to proclaim to all humanity that they should trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well. The LORD is trustworthy, caring, secure, and unchanging.

The other reality that comes to him in his silence is; do not put any ultimate trust in human beings. We are frail, broken, and inconsistent. Both rich and poor can be deceitful. Therefore, be on guard towards other human beings but fully release yourself into the loving care of God alone.

What if you fasted from noise for a day? No electronic noise. No unnecessary talking. What if you were totally in silence for one full hour and simply sat before God and your own soul? What might you see and know in that silence? This psalmist gained a lot from being silent before God.

Christological :NAU Matthew 14:13 Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; ….

ESV Mark 1:35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

ESV Mark 6:31 And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.

ESV Luke 4:42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place…

Moral: NAU Psalm 56:11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?

NLT Psalm 146:3 Don't put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there.

Eternal: ESV Ezekiel 44:4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face.

NLT Isaiah 41:1 "Listen in silence before me, you lands beyond the sea…..

Prayer: Help me to quiet my soul like a baby is made quiet by drinking from the breast of its mother. But I have stilled and quieted myself, just as a small child is quiet with its mother. Yes, like a small child is my soul within me. Allow me to know that quiet of being with you in love.

Contemplation: Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God”

Action: Plan one hour of total silence before God. Put it in your calendar. Go to a lonely place. This could be an empty church. It could be an empty beach. For an hour just “be” before God. Center yourself in his love, promises, and commitment to you in Jesus Christ. Gently turn from any “inner noise” and come back to seeing yourself simply before God as a little child. After this then write down what came to you during this time.

How A Skeptic Became A Believer

2009-01-17T07:50:00.000-05:00

John 1:43-51
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." 46 Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" 48 Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." 49 Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." 51 And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

Meditation
1/16/2009

Literal - Jesus made a decision to go to Galilee. There he looked for and found Philip. He then told him to come and “follow me”.

Who is Philip? Philip’s name means lover of horses and some believe that the name means “war like” because of the uses of horses in battle. In this encounter with Jesus; Philip becomes an “apostle”, one chosen to be sent on a mission. The apostle Philip, was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, (John 1:44) and apparently was among the Galilean peasants of that district who flocked to hear the preaching of John the Baptist.

The manner in which the Apostle John speaks of him indicates a previous friendship with the sons of Jona and Zebedee, and a consequent participation in their messianic hopes. The close union of the two in John 6 and 12 suggests that he may have owed to Andrew his first knowledge that the hope of Messiah coming had been fulfilled. Since in this encounter with Jesus it seems Philip is already convinced that Jesus is the Messiah. The statement that Jesus found him (John 1:43) perhaps implies a previous seeking or at the very least a very intentional effort on Jesus’ part to find him.

In the lists of the twelve apostles, in the Synoptic Gospel, his name is as uniformly at the head of the second group of four as the name of Peter is at that of the first, (Matthew 10:3; Mark 5:18; Luke 6:14). This indicates that Phillip provided a degree of group leadership among the Apostles. The facts recorded by St. John give the reason of this priority and position of leadership.

Philip apparently was among the first company of disciples who were with the Lord at the commencement of his ministry at the marriage at Cana, on his first appearance as a prophet in Jerusalem, John 2. The first three Gospels tell us nothing more of him individually. The Apostle John, with his characteristic fullness of personal reminiscences, records a few significant utterances. (John 6:5-9; 12:20-22; 14:8) No other fact connected with the name of Philip is recorded in the Gospels. He is among the company of disciples at Jerusalem after the ascension (Acts 1:13) and on the day of Pentecost. According to tradition Philip was sent with his sister Mariamme and Bartolomew to preach in Greece, Phrygia, and Syria and died at Hierapolis as a martyr being crucified upside down.

Now Philip comes to share his conviction that Jesus is the Messiah with Nathanael. Nathanael name means “a gift of God. Due to Philip’s witness, Nathanael meets Jesus and becomes a disciple of Jesus Christ.

What else do we know about Nathanael? Under that name at least, we learn from Scripture little more than his birthplace, Cana of Galilee, (John 21:2) and his simple, truthful character. (John 1:47) The name does not occur in the first three Gospels; but it is commonly believed that Nathanael and Bartholomew are the same person. The evidence for that belief is as follows: St, John who twice mentions Nathanael, never introduces the name of Bartholomew at all. St. Matthew, (Matthew 10:3) St. Mark, (Mark 3:18) and St. Luke, (Luke 8:14) all speak of Bartholomew but never of Nathanael. If this is correct then he was on of the twelve apostles and according to tradition preached in India.

Here we have the encounter of Jesus with a skeptic. His doubt is due to prejudice about any good thing coming from Nazareth. Nazareth in Christ's time was a city of 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants, of some importance. The reason for Nathanael’s poor view of Nazareth, (John 1:47) is not known. All the inhabitants of Galilee were looked upon with contempt by the people of Judea because they spoke a ruder dialect, were less cultivated and were more exposed by their position to contact with the heathen. But it is clear here that Nathanael holds Nazareth in special contempt for some reason. Perhaps this is related to the Messiah coming from Bethlehem and not Nazareth and indicates a theological objection and not pure prejudice against the city (John 7:42).

The idea that Nathanael’s objection was theological seems more in line with Jesus’ evaluation that he is an honest man. Prejudice and honesty rarely are in the same person. When Jesus demonstrates knowledge of Nathanael and relates his honesty to some event under a fig tree that only Nathanael knew about, this demonstration of prophetic knowledge and insight provided for Nathanael a reason to believe. He seems in fact to go from doubt to firm faith very quickly proclaiming Jesus both Son of God (Psalm 2) and Messianic King.

Jesus seems almost amused at how little it took for Nathanael to move from skeptic to believer. He assures him that he will see far greater things. For after the resurrection he will see Jesus ascending with angels surrounding Him as He goes to sit at God’s right hand (Gen 28:12). Here is an example of one man’s doubts being overcome with an encounter with Jesus.

Many doubters today need an encounter with Jesus. Here we do not see all the intellectual and theological questions answered. But we see Jesus coming to the man and “pushing the right buttons” to create in him faith. Jesus knew exactly what Nathanael would need to believe and provides it. So today Jesus can do the same thing for those He has chosen to become followers of His way. Jesus is the creator of or our faith.

Christocentric - NAU Mark 16:6 And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.

Moral - Honesty of heart places us in a good place to encounter truth in Jesus the Nazarene.

Eternal - Every believer will see greater things than they have seen in this life. The glory of God in heaven and the vision of Jesus Christ upon the throne will be far greater than our wildest imaginations of it. Our faith will turn to seeing. We will then reach a level of conviction we have never felt before as we see the wonder of the eternal spiritual reality before our eyes.

Prayer - Lord, give me an honest heart and let me have encounters with you that will increase my faith.

Contemplation - I will show you greater things

Action: Make a list of your questions, struggles, and doubts. Set this before the Lord. Ask Him to give you encounters of faith that will help you see beyond these questions to Him as the truth.

The Almost Daily Devotional

2008-10-29T07:31:00.002-04:00

ESV 1 Thessalonians 2:1 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed- God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

Meditation

Literal: Paul’s goal as he entered a city was to form a “gospel community” of people. This “gospel community” would be the long term center for the ongoing work of making disciples and teaching them to observe all things that the Messiah Jesus had taught. In this “gospel community” those who believe in Jesus would have there spiritual family, center of worship, and school of discipleship. If Paul did not build a “gospel community” then his ministry in a city was a failure.

The first step in building such a community the first thing that Paul did was to present the gospel in boldness before God and men in presenting the gospel without fear. The Greek word for boldness is parrhsia,zomai parresiazomai and means to speak freely or boldly (Acts 9:27; 13:46; 14:; 18:26; 19:8; 26:26; Eph. 6:20; 1 Thess. 2:2) This word reflects the Greco-Roman philosophical concept of "bold speech." “This expression was used in antiquity to indicate freedom of speech and courage to speak in the face of opposition. It is used with political connotations of not allowing civic authorities to stem protests or the cry of the mob from preventing the proclamation of what is right.”[1] Although what Paul declared was unpopular, he declared it boldly. Even when such bold presentation of the gospel lead to being shamefully treated, it did not silence Paul.

The next step in building community was that Paul and his “gospel community” planting team lived lives of personal integrity. Paul and his team have been tested by God to make sure that they are involved in the ministry only to present the truth and not to manipulate the people. Their goal, as true lovers of the divine wisdom, is not to make human beings happy with their message, to teach and practice the truth. Those we minister to must know that we are not there to flatter them, take their money, or seek fame. While having a true spiritual authority there is great care not to be religiously abusive. To some extent the gospel could be trusted because the messengers of the gospel were trust worthy people. A healthy “gospel community” must have integrity as one of its core values.

The final step in building community was emotional commitment and bonding. Here we see Paul using the illustration of a nursing mother to describe how open, transparent, dedicated, steadfast, and caring he was with those who had come to faith. He shared his soul with the people he discipled. He had real empathy for them. He was not cold, professional, or distant. A healthy community must be one where the disciples are real and open with each other. There must be a dedication to giving to each other from the heart.

So this passage tells us what we need to encourage, pray for, and work towards in order for us to see our churches become healthy “gospel communities”. Every believer has a role to play in boldly declaring the gospel, living a life worthy of the gospel, and emotionally embracing the other disciples even as Christ has embraced us. As these three core values dominate our churches we will see them become fruitful “gospel communities” in the midst of our culture.

Christocentric: Jesus the Christ was the incarnation of the Gospel and came boldly into a rebellious world, living a perfect life of grace and truth, and totally giving His life in sacrifice for us that we might live. Messiah Jesus is the ultimate builder of “gospel communities” for He is the one building His Church in every nation.

Moral: To preach the gospel without living the gospel is hypocrisy. To live the gospel without preaching the gospel is cowardice. To preach and live the gospel without compassion is slander to the heart of God.

Eternal: There will be a day when we will see the wonder and glory of the eternal “gospel community” which will be made up of a great multitude of every people group, language, culture, skin color, nation, tribe, and group. We will know an eternal fellowship with our gospel brothers and our gospel sisters for all eternity before the accepting and loving face of our Lord Jesus forever and ever. Amen

Prayer
Lord, help me be a builder of your “gospel community” and not one that would tear it down or do it harm. Help me love your people as much as you love your people. Help me to believe in the gospel’s power to save as much as you believe in the gospel’s power to save. Give me boldness, integrity, and compassion for your glory and my good.

Contemplation
I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.

Action

Where could I present the gospel boldly today? How could I live the gospel boldly today? How could I boldly open my heart to another believer today?

\
[1] 1 Thessalonians 2:1–8 Commentary by Richard Ascough

Almost Daily Devotional

2008-10-26T08:35:00.001-04:00

Almost Daily Devotional

Reading

NLT Deuteronomy 34:1 Then Moses went to Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab and climbed Pisgah Peak, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land, from Gilead as far as Dan; 2 all the land of Naphtali; the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; all the land of Judah, extending to the Mediterranean Sea; 3 the Negev; the Jordan Valley with Jericho-- the city of palms-- as far as Zoar. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I told them I would give it to their descendants. I have now allowed you to see it, but you will not enter the land." 5 So Moses, the servant of the LORD, died there in the land of Moab, just as the LORD had said. 6 He was buried in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but to this day no one knows the exact place. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever. 8 The people of Israel mourned thirty days for Moses on the plains of Moab, until the customary period of mourning was over. 9 Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10 There has never been another prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face. 11 The LORD sent Moses to perform all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and his entire land. 12 And it was through Moses that the LORD demonstrated his mighty power and terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel.

Meditation

Moses was informed in advance of his upcoming death (Numbers 27:12, Deuteronomy 31:14, 16, and 32:49-50), thus giving him some time to reflect upon it. Why would God have to tell Moses on numerous occasions that he would die and not enter the Promised Land? Would not a single time have sufficed? It is very possible that Moses was having a hard time accepting this reality. He hoped against hope that perhaps God would relent and allow him to enter the land. He had sinned by striking the rock and claiming credit for giving water but he hoped perhaps the consequences of that action would be taken away (Num. 20:11). However this was not to be the case for teachers of the law are held to a stricter judgment.

Was Moses Afraid to Die? In Deuteronomy 3:24-25, Moses recalls a time when he said, "O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your might; what god in heaven or on earth can perform deeds and mighty acts like yours! Let me cross over to see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and the Lebanon. It is hard to tell whether it was death or not reaching His life time goal of brining the people into the Promised Land that Moses feared. It seems most likely that it was not reaching the Promised Land and bringing the people into that land that was what caused the heartache in Moses rather than a fear of death itself.

When Moses is ready to obey God's instruction to ascend the mountain, he takes one last opportunity to speak to his community, the Israelites, offering a generous and stunning blessing upon them. Some of Moses' best leadership skills and characteristics reveal themselves as he offers a very faith filled, optimistic prayer.

"There is none like God, O Jeshurun," says Moses, "who rides through the heavens to your help, majestic through the skies (Deuteronomy 33:26)," and then, "Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph! (33:29)."

The desire of Moses to encourage the people is demonstrated by his calling them “Jeshurun” which most likely means “supremely happy. It is used four times in the Old Testament as a symbolical name for Israel in (32:15; 33:5,26; Isaiah 44:2) It is most probably derived from a root signifying "to be blessed." With the intensive termination Jeshurun would then denote Israel as supremely happy or prosperous, and to this signification the context in (32:15) points. Though most blessed, Israel sinned, yet the LORD did not forsake them. This is amazing grace.

How Much Could Moses See from the Mountain? "Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah..., and the Lord showed him the whole land...: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain...as far as Zoar (34:1-3)." This is quite a view! This is not just a natural looking out that Moses has here but a divine vision of the Promised Land. Some have suggested that Moses did not just see the land but God showed him the whole future of Israel and the final fulfillment of every promise in the final Kingdom of God. This we cannot know. But what God did do was allow him to see what His heart so desired to claim. This was an act of kindness by God as He brought His servant home.

The Bible's Final Tribute to Moses is one that sees him as the greatest prophet of the Hebrew era. The proposal that God himself would take be concerned about Moses' burial is astounding The reason, then, that no one knows where Moses is buried is explained by the fact that God took care of it and didn't tell anyone. God was Moses pallbearer since He was Moses friend.

The Bible's final acknowledgment to Moses in Deuteronomy 34:10 is remarkable: "Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." What an epitaph! Moses, was by the grace of God a prophet, a lawgiver, a teacher, a philosopher, a general, a king, a sage, and most important a friend of God. Moses finished well. Not perfect but well.

Christological - NLT John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. Jesus was the prophet like himself that Moses prophesied would come in Deuteronomy 18:15. Jesus is the second and greater Moses. He is the final and ultimate prophet, priest, and king.
Moral: Be aware that sin can cost you even when it is forgiven. There are consequences to sin that remain even when we have been pardoned and accepted by God.

Eternal: We now just see through a mirror dimly the wonderful promised land of the eternal kingdom of God. Like Moses, God has given us a vision of that paradise. But there is coming a day when we will fully experience and be allowed to enter into the glory of the full experience of God’s promises. What total joy that will bring to our hearts.

Prayer

Dear Lord, help me to finish well. Forgive me my acts of rebellion and pride. Allow me to leave a good legacy for my children and your Church. Amen

Action

If God told you the day of your death what changes would you make in your life? Are you living today in such a way that you believe that it will produce the life that you want reported at your funeral? List the things you would change. Begin developing a plan for each of these items that will bring about a healthier and more faithful lifestyle.

The Almost Daily Devotional

2008-10-25T06:58:00.002-04:00

The Almost Daily Devotional

Reading

NLT Matthew 22:15 Then the Pharisees met together to think of a way to trap Jesus into saying something for which they could accuse him. 16 They decided to send some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to ask him this question: "Teacher, we know how honest you are. You teach about the way of God regardless of the consequences. You are impartial and don't play favorites. 17 Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to the Roman government or not?" 18 But Jesus knew their evil motives. "You hypocrites!" he said. "Whom are you trying to fool with your trick questions? 19 Here, show me the Roman coin used for the tax." When they handed him the coin, 20 he asked, "Whose picture and title are stamped on it?" 21 "Caesar's," they replied. "Well, then," he said, "give to Caesar what belongs to him. But everything that belongs to God must be given to God." 22 His reply amazed them, and they went away.

Meditation

Who are the Pharisees and the Herodians? The Pharisees were a Jewish religious party in Palestine that emerged about 160 BC in opposition to the Sadducees. The Pharisees held that the Jewish oral tradition was as valid as the Torah. They struggled to democratize the Jewish religion, arguing that the worship of God was not confined to the Temple of Jerusalem and fostering the synagogue as an institution of worship. The Herodians were a Jewish political party who sympathized with the Herodian rulers in their general policy of government, and in the social customs which they introduced from Rome. They were at one with the Sadducees in holding the duty of submission to Rome, and of supporting the Herods on the throne (Mark 3:6; 12:13; Matt, 22:16; Luke 20:20).

Normally the Pharisees were at odds with the Herodians and the Sadducees since they represented those who focused on the temple and supporting Rome while the Pharisees were more about making the Jewish faith less dependent on the temple and were less supportive of Herod and Rome. However, their fear and opposition of Jesus was greater than their opposition to each other. In Jesus they had a common enemy.

In this situation they are putting before Jesus a question that at the time there was no good answer to give in a public setting. If Jesus said that the people should not pay taxes then he would be labeled a “Zealot” which was a Jewish sect in Judea in the first century who fought to the death against the Romans and who killed or persecuted Jews who collaborated with the Romans. This would have led to his arrest and reduced his popularity among the people. If he said they should pay taxes then this would have aligned him with those who supported the Roman rulers and the wealthy elite. This again would cause the masses that followed him to abandon him as Messiah since the Messiah was coming to free them from Rome not support it. To support Rome was to compromise with pagans and to therefore not be a pure lover of God.

Jesus is aware of what they are doing. So are most of the people in the crowd. Like the question; “Have you stopped beating your child?, just answer yes or no” There is no good answer. The crowd is most likely smiling but also interested in which one of the two “wrong” answers that Jesus will choose.

Instead Jesus, points out this is not an honest question looking for an honest answer. This is a game and not a seeking after truth. Questions can be either way. They can be real questions looking for real answers or they can just be spiritual games aimed at avoiding the truth. Then he responds with his own question.

Whose head is on the coins with which you pay your taxes? This seemed silly. Every child knew whose head was on the coin with which they paid their taxes. Just like our coins and bills, that have on our coins normally the head of some former president, the coins in the Roman empire had stamped upon them the likeness of one of the emperors of Rome. So they answered with a smirk, well of course it is Caesar.

Then Jesus turns everything around. Well the coin must belong to Caesar since it has His likeness on it. Therefore, give it back to him if he wants it. He produced it so it belongs to him. Give to God what bears His image. He produced it so that belongs to Him.

What bears God’s image? Well every Hebrew knew the answer to that question. Humanity was made in God’s image. I was made in God’s image. Therefore, don’t worry about taxes; just make sure that you give God your heart. Then you will know how to handle taxes in a God pleasing way.

This answer did not please the Zealots, the Herodians, the Sadducees, or the Pharisees. It avoided the trap. It also raised the real question. Would they stop playing games and begin seeking God. Life should not be lived as a game. Politics is not a game. Our relationship with God is not a game. We need to face reality and make sure we are sincerely seeking God and truth in every sphere of our lives. This is what Jesus the Messiah confronted them with that day and that is what He is confronting us with today.

Christocentric – Jesus is the Messiah and the wisdom of God in the flesh. He should always be sought out when we have honest answers for He is the wisdom who can answer them.

Moral: God must always come before country or empire.

Eternal: All the nation states and empires of history will perish. They all will become dust. In the end of history there is only on monarchy that reigns supreme over all peoples, tribes, cultures, nations, and empires. That one true eternal monarch is our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no end to His kingdom or to Him. We are citizens of that one eternal kingdom and secure within it. We will enjoy and benefit from the rule of God forever and ever. Amen

Prayer

Dear Lord, help me not be playing games with you. Help me not be making excuses about why I don’t follow you. Help me recognize you have made me and recreated me in the new birth in your image. Your desire is that I be like you. Help me have this as the ultimate desire of my heart. Amen

Contemplation
You are mine!

Action
What games am I playing with God? Where am I using “questions” to avoid truth? Where am I holding back giving myself to God? Does God control my vote?

Socrates Cafe at 3:00 PM on Oct 26

2008-10-24T08:22:00.003-04:00

So, why should you care about these Socrates Cafés? Well answer these questions first. When was the last time you could discuss your thoughts openly and honestly with others? Have you ever questioned society and it's assumptions or your own? Do you like to have a good, safe discussion without fear of being attacked for having an opinion that is different? This is Socrates Café.Here we are, a group of individuals, who like to talk. We come from all walks of life, all nationalities, all religions, all political views, both genders. We come from North, East, South and West. We get together and discuss what is on our minds, from something on the news that day to the age old questions of "What is ...?" We want to help you learn how to think clearly and to learn from one another.

The Almost Daily Devotional

2008-10-24T08:19:00.002-04:00

Almost Daily Devotional

Reading

NLT 1 Thessalonians 1:1 This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. It is written to the church in Thessalonica, you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May his grace and peace be yours. 2 We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. 3 As we talk to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and your continual anticipation of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 We know that God loves you, dear brothers and sisters, and that he chose you to be his own people. 5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know that the way we lived among you was further proof of the truth of our message. 6 So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. 7 As a result, you yourselves became an example to all the Christians in Greece. 8 And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Greece, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don't need to tell them about it, 9 for they themselves keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God. 10 And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's Son from heaven-- Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.

Meditation

Thessalonica is a seaport in northeastern Greece on an inlet of the Aegean Sea The original name of this city was Therma; and that part of the Macedonian shore on which it was situated retained through the Roman period the designation of the Thermaic Gulf. Cassander the son of Antipater rebuilt and enlarged Therma, and named it after his wife Thessalonica, the sister of Alexander the Great. St. Paul visited Thessalonica (with Silas and Timothy) during his second missionary journey, and introduced Christianity there. The first scene of the apostle's work at Thessalonica was the synagogue. (Acts 17:2,3) It is stated that the ministrations among the Jews continued for three weeks. Not that we are obliged to limit to this time the whole stay of the apostle at Thessalonica. A flourishing church was certainly formed there; and the epistles show that its elements were more Gentile than Jewish.

Paul seems to have two attitudes that dominate in his relationship with other believers. One he thanks God for them being believers and what they bring to the kingdom of God through their gifts and talents and second he constantly prays for God to help them become more like Christ.

Paul specifically thanks God for the believers in Thessalonica for their activities inspired by their faith, their labors of joyful love, and their patient hope in the return of Christ. Here we see that Paul defines what God is doing in them as a matter of faith, hope, and love. Paul is able to see God at work in the lives of the imperfect believers in Thessalonica. He is able to see the glass half full as well as to call them to fill it more. His optimism is not based on his faith in the believers of Thessalonica but in God who is at work in them.

Paul also affirms his faith that they are truly the objects of God’s eternal love in Jesus Christ. He remembers as he preached to them that there was a true movement of God’s Spirit among them and that they gave a clear profession of faith. The Thessalonians had seen God’s power in miracles performed by the Holy Spirit but also in the lives of love demonstrated by the apostolic missionary team that had brought them the message. This team had become an incarnation of the gospel and its power.

In light of the power of the Holy Spirit in deeds of wonder and in the lives of the missionaries that brought them the gospel of Jesus they had joyfully believed even though it had brought upon them persecution and hardships. Here we see pain and joy combined. There is an ability of human beings to have sorrow and holy glee at the same time. They became like Jesus and the missionaries who had both been blessed by being allowed to suffer persecution for righteousness sake.

Now, the Thessalonians were an example of faith under fire and were providing an example to believers throughout Greece and around the world. Because they were a center of trade and travel, what happened in Thessalonica traveled around the world through the travelers and traders that went through the city.

Their faith is one in which they have not just added Jesus into their religious lives but have allowed the Lord Jesus Christ to totally dominate their thinking. They were willing to turn against the ultimate concerns of their lives before Jesus in order to make the Lord Jesus the ultimate concern of their lives. This reality, lived out in their daily existence, had become the talk of the world and a demonstration of the truth of the gospel.

Christocentric - Christ must become our operating system and not just another program we add into our lives. Our true loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ is measured to the degree we abandon our “idols” that is whatever we value or trust in more than we do the person of Messiah Jesus. Christians who do not abandon their idols lose the opportunity to become world changers because they are worldly.

Moral - Faith determines what tasks we find important enough to do, inspires in us a working faith, and allows our actions to endure disappointments because we optimistically believe that history is governed by Christ. We are called to have faith, love, and hope be the dominate attitudes of our actions.

Eternal - For Christians death and the end of the world do not hold fear. We know that at these great moments in our personal and world history we will be embraced by God and fully accepted in our Lord Jesus Christ. We have joyful anticipation of what the future holds for us in the eternal kingdom of God.

Prayer
Lord Jesus help me to abandon my idols in the way the believers in Thessalonica did when they heard the good news. Let me break my allegiance with the world system of unbelief and give to me a stronger and more fruitful faith.

Contemplation
Abandon all and follow me

Action
Today let me thank God for my brothers and sisters in Christ and take note of their virtues instead of their vices. If I find myself complaining or gossiping about others let me stop and make a compliment about the person. Let me look for and specifically define how God is working in the lives of those around me and praise God for them in this light.

Don't waste your time judging!

2008-09-19T08:08:00.001-04:00

Devotions

Friday, September 19, 2008

Reading

NLT Romans 14:1 Accept Christians who are weak in faith, and don't argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2 For instance, one person believes it is all right to eat anything. But another believer who has a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3 Those who think it is all right to eat anything must not look down on those who won't. And those who won't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to condemn God's servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him tell them whether they are right or wrong. The Lord's power will help them do as they should. 5 In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. Each person should have a personal conviction about this matter. 6 Those who have a special day for worshiping the Lord are trying to honor him. Those who eat all kinds of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who won't eat everything also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. 7 For we are not our own masters when we live or when we die. 8 While we live, we live to please the Lord. And when we die, we go to be with the Lord. So in life and in death, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and rose again for this very purpose, so that he might be Lord of those who are alive and of those who have died. 10 So why do you condemn another Christian? Why do you look down on another Christian? Remember, each of us will stand personally before the judgment seat of God. 11 For the Scriptures say, " 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow to me and every tongue will confess allegiance to God.' " 12 Yes, each of us will have to give a personal account to God.

Meditation:

Literal - Paul is attempting to get Christians to accept one another instead of judging each other concerning areas in which God has not provided an authoritative word. The very fact that Paul could write this seems to indicate that he was not assuming absolute divine revelation on every single aspect of Christian conduct. Paul shows his practice of this principle in that he did not use his apostolic position to bind the conscience of other Christians where God had allowed there to be freedom. Where God has clearly spoken we can clearly speak and where God has not clearly spoken we must allow freedom of personal conscience.

Christian fellowship is to be one where we accept each other even when we differ about how we should honor God in areas of eating, drinking, and what days of the calendar should be celebrated as “holy”. These issues had to do with the conflicts between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians and how they felt it was best to honor the Lord in these areas. The condemnation towards each other would quickly turn into the idea that one group was being “legalistic” and the other “lawless”. Self righteousness would be in both camps as they perceived themselves as the more enlightened or faithful.

Paul says let Christ be the one that every Christian has to answer to on such matters and just focus on accepting and loving each other. Each Christian belongs to Christ and is attempting to honor Christ in what they do on such matters. So why bother condemning and judging your brother or sister? Cannot Christ handle that? Why must every believer conform to your way of following Jesus? God is more concerned about our attitude of love and acceptance of each other than He is about our conformity to some particular cultural expression of devotion to Him.

One of the key points here is that the one thing that all Christians agree upon is that life is all about pleasing the Lord in what we do. It is all about living for His glory and in gratitude. Keep the main thing the main thing. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Christocentric perspective: Paul’s understanding of who we are is very simple. We have been bought by Christ’s blood and belong to Him body and soul. We are the servants of Christ and of no other person. Every action we take we take to please Christ. We will have to give an account of every action to Christ. We are lead by the Lord in discerning the best path for us to take to please and empowered to do this. Christ is our life.

Moral perspective: Stop judging other Christians. We will not be judged on how well we judged others. We will be judged for judging. So it seems wise to stop judging and condemning and strive towards loving and accepting.

Eternal perspective: The church in the eternal kingdom will finally be free of all our party spirit, divisions, self righteousness, self centeredness, politics, and condemning spirits. We will be fully in love with the LORD and with each other. We will be accepting of our different cultures and background. We will be one in Jesus!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me not judge my brothers and sisters. Free me on majoring in the minors. Show me how to show love with those who disagree with me.

Contemplation: Love one another!

Action: Who have I spent time judging and condemning in the last week? Last month? Last year? Why am I tempted to focus my condemnation on this person? How could I release my condemnation and open my heart to accept them as they are?

Remember How God Came To You!

2008-09-17T06:16:00.001-04:00

Devotions

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Reading

NLT Psalm 114:1 When the Israelites escaped from Egypt-- when the family of Jacob left that foreign land-- 2 the land of Judah became God's sanctuary, and Israel became his kingdom. 3 The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way! The water of the Jordan River turned away. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs! 5 What's wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way? What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away? 6 Why, mountains, did you skip like rams? Why, little hills, like lambs? 7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Israel. 8 He turned the rock into pools of water; yes, springs of water came from solid rock.

Meditation

Literal - What Psalm 114 means
This portion of scripture is a part of the Psalms that is called “The "Egyptian Hallel" (Psalms 113-18) has been a significant component of Jewish festival liturgy since the before the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. A “Hallel” is a song of praise. This group of psalms is read during Passover.

What happened when the people of Israel left Egypt? Several things happened:
· God led them to the Promised Land, (verse 2).
· God led them through the Red Sea, which became dry for them, (verse 3).
· God led them over the River Jordan. It also became dry for them, (verse 3).
· Mountains and hills like Sinai seemed to jump like animals, (verse 4).
· God gave them water from the rocks in dry places, (verse 8).
What caused the waters to retreat, the mountains to shake, the animals to flee, and the rocks to give forth fresh water to drink? It was the presence of the Lord God of Israel who cleared a path for His chosen people to reach their chosen destiny. It is God in the midst of His people that gives them salvation, hope, and victory.

Christological: The Exodus took place because the Passover lamb had been slain and the people redeemed from the curse of death that fell upon Egypt due to their sins. Jesus is the ultimate Passover lamb. Jesus has said that His presence is in His church now today so just as God walked with Israel through the wilderness so Jesus the Christ is walking with us today to give us salvation, hope, and victory as well.

Moral: We must tell ourselves the grand narrative of God’s acts of redemption so that we will be led to praise. One of our main ethical duties is to “remember” the wonderful grace of God which is found in the history of redemption. To forget will cripple our faith and limit our vision.

Eternal: The presence of the Lord is the main treasure of heaven. Then in that place of eternal peace and rest we will rehearse in praise and joy the wonderful deeds of God in history as we experience the fullness of His presence on every side. We will rejoice in the wonderful deeds of God for all time and never forget His love for us.

Prayer Dear Lord, keep my heart from becoming hard and my memory faint. Allow me to see clearly the wonder of your deeds of redemption, both in the Passover and even more in the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross.

Contemplation Remember!

Action: Take time today to remember the redemptive acts of God in Jesus Christ to save you. Preach to yourself the gospel. Look to your own life journey. Where has God’s presence been most real in your life? Remember all that God has done for you and rejoice over it today!

Life of Love

2008-09-12T06:50:00.001-04:00

Devotions

Friday, September 12, 2008

Reading:

NLT Romans 13:8 Pay all your debts, except the debt of love for others. You can never finish paying that! If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the requirements of God's law. 9 For the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and coveting-- and any other commandment-- are all summed up in this one commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10 Love does no wrong to anyone, so love satisfies all of God's requirements.

11 Another reason for right living is that you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for the coming of our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So don't live in darkness. Get rid of your evil deeds. Shed them like dirty clothes. Clothe yourselves with the armor of right living, as those who live in the light. 13 We should be decent and true in everything we do, so that everyone can approve of our behavior. Don't participate in wild parties and getting drunk, or in adultery and immoral living, or in fighting and jealousy. 14 But let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and don't think of ways to indulge your evil desires.

Meditation

Literal: Paul is outlining two main motivations for living a godly life. The first is the best. That is love. We love in response to God’s love. The Holy Spirit pours out the love of God in our hearts by speaking to us of the work and person of Jesus Christ. As we see Him and His sacrifice for our sins then we love Him in light of how much He has loved us. The more we recognize the magnitude of our own forgiveness the more we love and the more we love the more we consistently keep the commandments of God. As we become love incarnate like Jesus we do no wrong to anyone.

The second motivation for living a godly life is that either Jesus is coming to us soon or we are going to Jesus soon. We live in the light that the second coming could come any day or we could die any day. Every day takes us closer to our ultimate encounter with God. We are only a breath away from judgment day. It is appointed for every person to die and then comes the judgment. We should be concerned about the people who might be brought in as witnesses of our behavior on judgment day and therefore live consistently before all people. Every decision we make we should make in the light of explaining it on the Day of Judgment. While our justification on that day relies totally on Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, our ability to give God glory and be rewarded for eternity depends on being able to give a good report before the judge on that day. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and Paul calls us not to take judgment day lightly. Our goal should be to be controlled by the Spirit of Jesus the righteous one and not the spirit of sinful Adam.

Christological: Our love for God depends on our understanding of how great our salvation is in Jesus Christ. Paul has spent eleven chapters pointing to the grace of God found in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection before he calls upon us to love. Those who know they have been given abundant grace and huge forgiveness will love Jesus freely and spontaneously. Jesus is our prophet, priest, and king. We are accountable to Him. We must give a report of our life to Him. If we value that relationship then we will strive to please Him in all we do.

Moral: Augustine said: “Love God and live as you please”. He could have added that if you love God you will live as God pleases.

Eternal: Standing before the judgment seat of Christ should rule every attitude, thought, word, and deed that we produce during this life. Only those who are heavenly minded are any earthly good.
“It may be that the day of judgment will dawn tomorrow; in that case we will gladly stop working toward a better future. But not before.”
– Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Prayer: Holy Spirit show me Jesus more and more today. In the light of His love make fill me with love. Amen.

Contemplation: Prepare yourself!

Action: Let me find ways to help the victims in Haiti due to the hurricane and attempt to show the love of Christ in all my actions this day.

Take joy in the Lord's acceptance of you!

2008-09-10T05:25:00.001-04:00

Devotions

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Reading

NLT Psalm 149:1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song. Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful. 2 O Israel, rejoice in your Maker. O people of Jerusalem, exult in your King. 3 Praise his name with dancing, accompanied by tambourine and harp. 4 For the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. 5 Let the faithful rejoice in this honor. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds. 6 Let the praises of God be in their mouths, and a sharp sword in their hands-- 7 to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, 8 to bind their kings with shackles and their leaders with iron chains, 9 to execute the judgment written against them. This is the glory of his faithful ones. Praise the LORD!

Meditation:

Literal: Outline

Vs. 1 – Command to vocalize the wonder of the Lord’s great character and deeds in the assembly of those with faith.

Vs. 2. – Command for the people of God to rejoice in their redemptive creator and Sovereign ruler

Vs. 3. – Command to vocalize with passion about the LORD’s authority and character with celebration, dancing, tambourine, and lyre (which was not a “harp” as we think about it but a hand held musical instrument).

Vs. 4 – The reason for this praise is that the LORD delights ( hc'r' ratsah (953a) Meaning: to be pleased with, accept favorably) His people. He glorifies, exults, and gives them beauty for they are weak and afflicted. He gives to them “salvation” which is the word h['Wvy> (yeshuah)
The name Yehoshua has the form of a compound of "Yeho-" and "shua": Yeho- יְהוֹ is another form of יָהוּ Yahu, a theophoric element standing for the personal name of God YHWH, and שׁוּעַ shua is a noun meaning "a cry for help", "a saving cry", that is, a shout given when in need of rescue. Together the name would then literally mean, "'God' is a saving-cry," that is, shout to God when in need of help.
Vs. 5 – In light of being so highly honored and favored by the LORD those with faith are to be full of joy at all times, even when they lay down after a long day of work.

Vs. 6 - The psalm at this point turns from worship to war. They are to be praising the LORD for their salvation and ready to fight His battles.
Vs. 7 - The purpose of this war is to bring God’s judgment against those nations who have rebelled and sinned against the LORD. Israel at times was used to literally be engaged in holy wars in the Old Testament and this was seen as part of the duty that God required.
Vs. 8 – The purpose of the war is to bring heathen kings into captivity and under the rule of the LORD.
Vs. 9. – The glory of the people of faith is that God will use them to bring judgment upon the rulers of an apostate world.
The first five verses of this Psalm focus on the need and reason for God’s people to be filled with praise and wonder in the LORD. The fifth verse is the center of the psalm and the main point. We are to be filled with JOY for the LORD has taken pleasure in us and given us the gift of salvation.
The hard part of the psalm is found in vs. 6-9 for the focus there is upon God’s judgment on those who are outside of grace and a call for His people to join Him in His judgment of the nations. In the New Testament we know that our battle is not with flesh and blood and that the kingdom of God is not now to be established with literal swords. Instead our warfare is now spiritual.

ESV Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

Christological – It is interesting to not that when this psalm says that the LORD gives them salvation it is a word related to the Hebrew name for Jesus – Yeshua. God gives His people Jesus because He favors them and wants to exalt them out of sin and the rebellious world.
Moral: We have a duty to be passionate in our worship. The LORD deserves our very best praise. Our faith should lead us to positive emotions of joy and faithful loyalty to God in the midst of a rebellious world.
Eternal: The Kingdom of Heaven will be full of joy, thankfulness, praise, and passionate worship. The worship we have on earth is just a shadow of an eternity we will spend soaked in the pleasure, favor, acceptance, and embrace of our LORD.
Prayer: Lord, when I face the difficulties of my life, the disappointments of my failures, and the hardship of my circumstances, let me not lose my joy in my salvation.
Contemplation: Rejoice and again I say rejoice
Action: Take time to remember that God is for me today because He has sent Jesus to me to save me. Remember my salvation and take joy in it.

Remember God's Love

2008-09-07T07:03:00.001-04:00

Devotion

Reading

NLT Exodus 12:1 Now the LORD gave the following instructions to Moses and Aaron while they were still in the land of Egypt: 2 "From now on, this month will be the first month of the year for you. 3 Announce to the whole community that on the tenth day of this month each family must choose a lamb or a young goat for a sacrifice. 4 If a family is too small to eat an entire lamb, let them share the lamb with another family in the neighborhood. Whether or not they share in this way depends on the size of each family and how much they can eat. 5 This animal must be a one-year-old male, either a sheep or a goat, with no physical defects. 6 "Take special care of these lambs until the evening of the fourteenth day of this first month. Then each family in the community must slaughter its lamb. 7 They are to take some of the lamb's blood and smear it on the top and sides of the doorframe of the house where the lamb will be eaten. 8 That evening everyone must eat roast lamb with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. 9 The meat must never be eaten raw or boiled; roast it all, including the head, legs, and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it until the next day. Whatever is not eaten that night must be burned before morning. 11 "Wear your traveling clothes as you eat this meal, as though prepared for a long journey. Wear your sandals, and carry your walking sticks in your hands. Eat the food quickly, for this is the LORD's Passover. 12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and kill all the firstborn sons and firstborn male animals in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the LORD! 13 The blood you have smeared on your doorposts will serve as a sign. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 "You must remember this day forever. Each year you will celebrate it as a special festival to the LORD.

Meditation

Literal

The Passover was the key miracle and event that would free Israel from slavery in Egypt and release them to become the nation of God under the direct rule of God. God wanted His people to recognize the great significance of this event. He altered their calendars and said that they must now make this the beginning of everything. The Jews were most likely living under an Egyptian Calendar at the time which would have made their new year normally begin in July. God’s command here moves their New Year to March/April and it is done that they might recognize that this redemptive event is central to their birth as a nation.

God has been showing that He is sovereign over Egypt and their “gods”. In this battle over “who owns Israel” Yahweh has demonstrated that He has the power to humble Egypt and bring His people to Himself. Now in this final plague upon Egypt God is telling His people something very profound. Every household is under the sentence of death. Only the blood of the covenant can keep anyone alive. Here is the reality. All have sinned and come short of God’s glory. All deserve death. Only a God ordained sacrifice can cause this judgment to “Passover” a person and leave them alive.

Our 21st century reaction to this is how unfair it seems. We see most people as innocent. We see no reason for God to condemn us to death. Surely, we are not so sinful as to deserve devastation and tragedy. Weren’t the Egyptians doing the best they could? Why is God so angry with them? These perspectives are due to our lack of taking sin and rebellion against God seriously. The idolatry of Egypt seems primitive to us but not necessary evil. Yet, in the eyes of God it is an abomination and worthy of plagues. The passage challenges us to have a greater love for holiness and of the serious nature of sin.

Here we find a call for Israel to remember. They exist only because the blood has been shed. Death passed over them because of the blood of the lamb. They were a nation born out of the blood of God’s chosen sacrifice. This remains true for the people of God today.

Chrstocentic: ESV 1 Corinthians 5:7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

The Church is to see the fulfillment of Passover in the Lord Jesus Christ. All the Passover lambs of all the centuries were really only shadows of Jesus. His blood is the real ordained sacrifice the causes the just condemnation of God to pass over our heads and leave us safe. He is our one hope of life, deliverance, and salvation.

Moral: In light of Christ being our Passover we must be ready to leave our “Egypt”, which is that pagan culture in which we were born with all of its idols. We must be ready to walk with Jesus and leave the unbelieving world system in the same way that the Jews had to be ready to leave with God to worship in the wilderness. We must say no to our culture of origin and yes to God’s kingdom culture ruled by Jesus Christ.

Eternal: We will worship the Passover Lamb on the throne. In heaven we will always be filled with joy that God’s just wrath has not touched us because of the blood of the lamb. This will be the center of heavenly worship forever and ever.

Prayer: Lord, help me remember your sacrifice for my sins and help me see the magnitude of my forgiveness.

Contemplation: Remember my Sacrifice!

Action: Identify a attitude, habit, belief, practice, or activity that reflects part of American pagan culture that is still part of my life. Then purge this out in honor of Christ being my Passover.

The importance of sacrifice

2008-09-06T06:15:00.001-04:00

Devotions

Reading: NLT Matthew 16:21 From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that he had to go to Jerusalem, and he told them what would happen to him there. He would suffer at the hands of the leaders and the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, and he would be raised on the third day. 22 But Peter took him aside and corrected him. "Heaven forbid, Lord," he said. "This will never happen to you!" 23 Jesus turned to Peter and said, "Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, and not from God's." 24 Then Jesus said to the disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. 26 And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul? 27 For I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with his angels and will judge all people according to their deeds.

Meditation:

Literal: The Holy Spirit has just revealed to Peter that Jesus is the Christ the son of the living God. Jesus has assured the disciples that the Messianic community that he called “the Church” would be victorious in smashing the gates of hell and that they had true spiritual authority to bind or loose on earth.

Then in the midst of this optimistic and upbeat message, Jesus puts forward a dark cloud. He will go to Jerusalem and be killed. He adds that he will be raised on the third day but this seems to not be heard by Peter or the others. They get emotionally stuck on the fact that Jesus just said that he would be killed which seems to wipe out all the optimistic dreams which had just be spoken.

Peter, then takes Jesus aside privately to correct his theology. “Lord, you are the Messiah, the Messiah cannot die!” Jesus strongly rebukes Peter for this. He calls him an adversary or “Satan” since at this point he is speaking merely from the perspective of a friend and human wisdom, not inspired by the Holy Spirit. Jesus knows that suffering is part of the price of establishing God’s kingdom. Suffering is part of God’s plan.

Jesus then warns the disciples to understand that even though the gates of hell will not stand against them, this does not mean they will not suffer. No instead they must understand that their victory will come through suffering, sacrifice, and pain. Only where people are willing to suffer for the sake of God’s kingdom will the will of God be done on the earth as in heaven. The defeat of hell depends upon the sacrifice of heaven. Only by dying to earthly perspectives, pleasures, and purposes can the disciple become a source of life.

Jesus stresses that the eternal must be valued more than the temporal. The soul must be seen of greater value than the body. While His sacrifice for our sins alone the basis of our acceptance by God we must never believe that “faith” does not include turning away form immoral pleasures and purposes. To believe means to take up one’s cross and follow Jesus. We must never think to use grace and promise as an excuse for not striving to follow. Jesus will judge everything one day and He will not be mocked by people who try to “spiritually con” their way into heaven. The sincerity and reality of our faith will be tested on that day. It is therefore important that we have a faith that accepts sacrifice.

Christocentric: Jesus is Lord. He will be the final judge. He is 100% God and 100% man. His evaluation of our lives is all that matters. He will be the one that ultimately determines our eternal fate and evaluates the validity of our faith. This one person is the most important person in the entire universe. All authority and power rests in Him.

Moral: Jesus urges us to deny ourselves the comfort of false beliefs, immoral passions and uncontrolled appetites by abstinence and the acceptance of pain or discomfort from persecution and loss of ungodly pleasures as necessary elements of our discipleship.

Eternal: Every decision we make should be one that we will be proud of on the Day of Judgment when Jesus examines all our deeds. Judge everything in light of judgment day.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me have the grace and strength to take up my cross today and follow you.

Contemplation: Follow me!

Action: Let me look for ways to die to worldly perspectives and pleasures today. Help me seek the “my cross” where my will has to die in order to do the will of God. Lord, give me the grace to take up my cross today!

Love is the answer

2008-09-05T07:54:00.000-04:00

Devotions

Reading

NLT Romans 12:9 Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful. 13 When God's children are in need, be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night. 14 If people persecute you because you are a Christian, don't curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don't try to act important, but enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. 19 Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, "I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it," says the Lord. 20 Instead, do what the Scriptures say: "If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink, and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you." 21 Don't let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Meditation

Paul here defines what a life of genuine love would be like. He compares and contrasts the actions and attitudes that would reflect a sincere love. This love comes from a sincere faith that Jesus has died for our sins, was buried, and now is raised to glory to seal our forgiveness and redemption. Faith and hope in the true gospel creates love for God and others in our hearts.

Paul calls on to have an inward reality where we are sincere in our love and not pretending to be nice. He wants us to really hate what is evil and be passionate for taking the side of good. He wants our love to be an emotional experience and an intellectual value. We are to be enthusiastic in our lives. We are to actually feel delight in lifting others up and speaking well of them. We are to have gladness for God’s plans for our lives regardless of our circumstances as we patiently wait and pray in the midst of trouble. We are to be able to rejoice in when others are happy and weep when they are sad. Our hearts are open to have real and healthy empathy with what others are feeling. We are to be humble and aware of our ignorance. We are to guard our hearts from the attitude of revenge and vengeance which come from unresolved anger. We are to nurture a attitude of seeking and desiring peace and harmony in all our relationships as we seek to love our enemies.

This inward reality which is a fruit of faith in the gospel is to have practical application to specific activities. We are to be hard workers in whatever we do. We are to be ready to meet the needs of others with practical help to meet those needs. Our homes are to be open to having guests and we need to be ready to share our table with others. We are not to act better than others and put on airs of importance. We are to take actions that will lead to peace and harmony instead of conflict. Our actions are to be above reproach and we are not to do evil for good reasons. We are to give to our enemies what they need and to have a strategy of defeating evil by overwhelming it with acts of kindness and mercy.

Our modern world often asks what relevance faith has to modern life. Here we see that if every Christian sought to live this type of life on a daily basis that no one would ask that question. Paul has outlined a dynamic lifestyle of faith which would be powerful in its impact in the world. May God give us the faith to live such a life.

Christocentric: This life Paul has outlines is really a blue print of what it means to be like Jesus. Jesus was the one who was the incarnation of sincere love. While hating evil he loved His enemies. He was the ultimate peace maker and conquered ultimate evil by doing the ultimate good on the cross. This passage not only tells us what we should be like it tells us what Jesus is like.

Moral: Love is the ultimate moral demand. We are to love God sincerely with all our hearts and love others without hypocrisy. Love produces a moral life. Immorality at its core is a failure to love God or others as we ought to love them. The greatest moral responsibility we have is to love.

Eternal: Heave will be where we feel and experience only love. We will love God and God will love us. We will love everyone and everyone will love us. The true joy of heaven is that we will be swimming in love, acceptance, harmony, and peace.

Prayer: Lord pour out your love into my heart by having the Holy Spirit increase my faith in the gospel. Lord let my faith grow that my love might grow. Give me the gift of a loving heart.

Contemplation: I am love

Action: Let me seek an opportunity to take positive and practical action which reflects Christ like love today. Let me overcome evil today by an act of sacrificial love in my daily life. Lord give me an opportunity to show your love today in a concrete and real way.

Beware Bad Company

2008-09-04T06:42:00.001-04:00

Devotions

Reading

NLT Psalm 26:1 A psalm of David. Declare me innocent, O LORD, for I have acted with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. 2 Put me on trial, LORD, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and affections. 3 For I am constantly aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth. 4 I do not spend time with liars or go along with hypocrites. 5 I hate the gatherings of those who do evil, and I refuse to join in with the wicked. 6 I wash my hands to declare my innocence. I come to your altar, O LORD, 7 singing a song of thanksgiving and telling of all your miracles. 8 I love your sanctuary, LORD, the place where your glory shines.

Meditation

Literal: Here we have the Psalmist declaring that he has had sincere faith in the LORD without wavering from his reliance on God’s promises. This is what he means by being “innocent”. He is innocent of lacking trust or losing faith in God’s promises of redemption through the Messiah. Now part of all sincere faith would be the confession of sins and dependence on the blood which was shed on the altar for sin.

He is so sure of his unwavering faith that he asks the LORD to put him on trial and cross examine his inner motivations and passions. He believes that he is pure of heart. He has no doubt in his sincerity.

The focus of the psalmist faith is the faithful covenant love of the LORD which is promised to all who live by faith in God’s revelation given to the people of Israel. The content of faith is defined by the scriptures. The psalmist declares he trust in the revelation of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as given through Moses. Faith must always have content.

The psalmist knows that “bad company ruins good morals” and therefore has avoided people who are not sincere in their faith and live by a double standard. He does not make his best friends those who speak about God but whose hearts are far from the LORD. When people get together to plan to get into trouble, the psalmist is sure, to avoid such social gatherings. He does not become part of “the crowd” but keeps himself out of compromising circumstances.

Instead of this the psalmist seeks out those who gather to worship. He ceremonially washes his hands to demonstrate his desire to be pure and focuses on the altar where blood sacrifice is made to pay for sins. He sings praises to the LORD and reminds himself of God’s grand narrative by declaring the mighty and wonderful deeds of the Lord in history to redeem His people. The psalmist knows that only by drawing near to God and seeking a vision of His awesome character, love, and faithful redemption can he avoid becoming part of the rebellious world system.

Christocentric: The one person who would be truly innocent was Jesus. His faithfulness was 100% and while coming to be a friend of sinners never allowed this friendship to lead him away from God. He is the one totally righteous son of David and King of Israel. He is the only one if put on trail would really pass the test of God’s holy judgment. It is because of this total purity that He could die for our sins and pay the price of our transgressions.

Moral: Do not love the world system based on unbelief and rebellion but seek the scriptures and the fellowship of those who sincerely worship God that you might believe and remain faithful.

Eternal: One day we will spend forever free from the presence of evil and face to face with God’s wonderful and awesome glory. We will be filled with a Spirit of worship, praise, and thanksgiving. Then our eyes will see all the wonders that God has performed and we willed be overwhelmed with admiration for the LORD.

Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to your glory and the wonder of all your works. Give to me a spirit of praise and thanksgiving. Teach me to worship you in spirit and truth.

Contemplation: Guard you heart against the influence of the ungodly culture

Action: What relationships draw me away from my love for God? What relationships draw me closer to the LORD? Who encourages me to be less godly? Who encourages me to be godlier? How can I seek the LORD today?

Don't let the fear of people keep you from doing right!

2008-09-03T06:39:00.000-04:00

Devotions

Reading

NLT Jeremiah 15:15 Then I said, "LORD, you know I am suffering for your sake. Punish my persecutors! Don't let them kill me! Be merciful to me and give them what they deserve! 16 Your words are what sustain me. They bring me great joy and are my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty. 17 I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I burst with indignation at their sins. 18 Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable? Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook. It is like a spring that has gone dry." 19 The LORD replied, "If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak words that are worthy, you will be my spokesman. You are to influence them; do not let them influence you! 20 They will fight against you like an attacking army, but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall. They will not conquer you, for I will protect and deliver you. I, the LORD, have spoken! 21 Yes, I will certainly keep you safe from these wicked men. I will rescue you from their cruel hands."

Meditation

Literal:

We have more psychological insight into Jeremiah than any biblical character outside of Job or Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes. Jeremiah will suffer abuse. He will be abandoned and rejected by everyone. He will be verbally, emotionally, and physically abused for answering God’s call to be a prophet and give an unpopular message. He will have to say “Israel will lose” to be faithful to God. His great love for His nation and people will be questioned because he dares question their national morality and piety. In the midst of this abuse, it does not seem to him that God is protecting him by brining his worst persecutors to judgment.

Jeremiah loved God’s word and this was his strength. He hated sin and this was his grief. His hatred of sin led to isolation from the “parties” of his time which were prone to abuse of alcohol and sex as “parties” in all generations are prone. He also felt that the people were ignoring the real crisis they were in. He alone was mourning over the nation’s fall into idolatry and immorality. His heart was broken. How could they not all be weeping? In the midst of this Jeremiah is feeling God’s presence and help is distant. He is the servant of the LORD, yet he feels abandoned even by God.

The LORD speaks to him in this time of intense prayer and struggle. He tells him that he need to turn back to receive the LORD’s embrace. It is not God who has moved but him. The LORD encourages him to keep faithful to the words he has been given to speak. Do not abandon his divine mission. He will be attacked but God will be a fortress to him. His life will be preserved. Jeremiah must simply hold on and not give in to the fear of what others might do to him.

This passage points out that the righteous do suffer for doing righteousness. Living a life of faith does not automatically lead to health, wealth, and prosperity. We will lose our popularity and social standing at times if we remain faithful to God. We will feel at times that the presence of the Lord is far from us. Yet, the reality is that He is our fortress and strength. His word provides guidance, challenge, and comfort. Like Jeremiah we must remain faithful even when we are persecuted for righteousness sake.

Christological: Jeremiah is a shadow of Christ. He is the suffering servant. He is rejected by the nation he has come to save. He will suffer great psychological pain even as Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane. It is thought that Jeremiah was martyred by being cut in two and Christ died for our sins in order to fulfill the redemptive will of God. Here in this man of sorrow we can see our Savior as he weeps over Jerusalem who is addicted to her sins.

Moral: Never abandon doing God’s will due to social pressure or persecution. Do not allow depression to keep you from being faithful.

Eternal: In the fully manifested kingdom of heaven all the wicked and cruel plans of sinful people to hurt us will be forever stopped. We will be in total safety and joy. Our fortress from harm for all eternity will be the eternal LORD himself! We will have 100% security forever. We will not be condemned by God or humanity. Instead we will live in an environment of praise, worship, and acceptance forever and forever. Amen.

Prayer: Lord keep me from being unfaithful due to the fear of other people or failure. Give me a stronger faith and an enduring spirit.

Contemplation: I am with you always

Action; Where do I need to speak boldly God’s word into my world today?

Exodus 3:1-15 - God working in unexpected ways

2008-09-01T07:31:00.000-04:00

Devotions

Reading

NLT Exodus 3:1 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he went deep into the wilderness near Sinai, the mountain of God. 2 Suddenly, the angel of the LORD appeared to him as a blazing fire in a bush. Moses was amazed because the bush was engulfed in flames, but it didn't burn up. 3 "Amazing!" Moses said to himself. "Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go over to see this." 4 When the LORD saw that he had caught Moses' attention, God called to him from the bush, "Moses! Moses!" "Here I am!" Moses replied. 5 "Do not come any closer," God told him. "Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your ancestors-- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." When Moses heard this, he hid his face in his hands because he was afraid to look at God. 7 Then the LORD told him, "You can be sure I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries for deliverance from their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come to rescue them from the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own good and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey-- the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites live. 9 The cries of the people of Israel have reached me, and I have seen how the Egyptians have oppressed them with heavy tasks. 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You will lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." 11 "But who am I to appear before Pharaoh?" Moses asked God. "How can you expect me to lead the Israelites out of Egypt?" 12 Then God told him, "I will be with you. And this will serve as proof that I have sent you: When you have brought the Israelites out of Egypt, you will return here to worship God at this very mountain." 13 But Moses protested, "If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' they won't believe me. They will ask, 'Which god are you talking about? What is his name?' Then what should I tell them?" 14 God replied, "I AM THE ONE WHO ALWAYS IS. Just tell them, 'I AM has sent me to you.' " 15 God also said, "Tell them, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors-- the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob-- has sent me to you.' This will be my name forever; it has always been my name, and it will be used throughout all generations.

Meditation

Literal

Moses was about 80 years old when God encountered him in the burning bush. Up to this time Moses has had a life that had no real miracles and a lot of lost dreams. Saved by his mother, sister, and Pharaoh’s daughter he had become a prince of Egypt. He believed at the age of 40 that he would lead his people into a revolt against Egypt but they rejected his leadership and he ran into the desert to avoid being convicted of murder. He became the son-in-law of a Jethro, a priest of Midian, and had lived as a part of that shepherding community for 40 years feeling exiled from his people. At the age of 80 he had lost any dreams of being a great man or doing great things. There had been no miraculous intervention by God in his life. His dream of being God’s deliverer of His people had died long ago. He had become a old man who did not feel that he had gained wisdom but felt despair over the outcome of his life. At this point of despair and weakness, God comes and calls Him.

God comes to Him as the Eternal one who has made a promise to Abraham. The one who is outside of time is found in time because of His promise to Abraham. The people are to know that the God who Moses will represent is the same God that by a miracle brought Isaac to be born because He had promised Abraham that the one who would remove the curse would come through Him. God is reminding Moses and Israel of their historic faith. The name that God will forever be known by is “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” This is the covenant name of God. The God who is committed to keeping His promises of His chosen ones is the one true God.

Why does God act now? He responds to the prayers and cries of His people. God the eternal one hears His people and has compassion on them in their pain.

This passage clearly tells us that God’s ways are not our ways. His timing is not our timing. Rev. Pummel had been pastor of the First Baptist Church of Kingsville for thirty years. In that thirty years he had never seen a revival. The church had remained plateaued at about 300 people as one generation of farm and factory workers replaced another generation of farm and factory workers in the small Ohio town. Now in His sixties he did not really expect anything different. Then in a unexpected turn of events a small meeting of seven teenagers at his house explodes into 70. Dozens are getting saved. A core group want to go into full time Christian ministry. The local paper is putting the group on the front page since in a world of drugs, sex, and rock and roll there are now a group of young people turning to Jesus. No one would have guessed that at the end of the school year Rev Pummel will die having had the last year of his life be the most fruitful of over 30 years of ministry. God’s timing and our timing are never the same.

Christocentric: - Christ will be called into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tested after living a largely normal life after a miraculous birth. For thirty years he had been a faithful son and carpenter. Then he goes to be baptized by John and the heavens open and He is marked off as the anointed one of God and sent into the wilderness to be tested. It was God’s time.
Moral: Do not doubt that God has a plan just because even decades go by without a revival or reformation. God calls us to be faithful in the quiet times. We are not to doubt in the dark what God has revealed to us in the light. Cry out to God for revival and reformation and He will in time bring us seasons of awakening like we would never dream could happen.
Eternal: One day we will see the eternal one and fully experience the eternal life He has given us.

Prayer: Lord help me not fail to cry out to you and seek you for days of revival and reformation. Give me a heart of prayer. Lord, send us days of awakening and power!

Contemplation: I Am that I am

Action: Examine your life and look for the working of God that is there in the everyday events. At point in my life did I have a “burning bush” experience? How did it change me? Pray for revival without ceasing and do not be discouraged by the “quiet times”.