Well, here we are again. Republicans vs. Democrats. More name calling, blame casting, finger pointing, on and on, etc. Both sides remain in a stalemate and the country remains in a shut down. We are a little over 24 hours from hitting the debt ceiling and from having things go from bad to worse. National politics are extremely important and do effect our everyday lives. National media from both sides continue to portray the opposite side in the wrong light and move forward with their own agenda. What should our response be as believers in Christ? Our there lessons we can learn from our elected governed officials? Better yet, are there lessons our national leaders can learn from us?
The Bible is God's playbook for life. One book found in the OT in particular, I like to refer to as a Coach's handbook. The book has 31 chapters, 1 for each day of the month! Even Billy Graham said he read one chapter a day from this book so he would know how to treat his fellow man. The second greatest commandment, Jesus said, was to love your neighbor as yourself. If you have not guessed it yet, I am talking about the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is full of principles that man can follow which will allow him or her to gain wisdom in this life in relating to people who come from different backgrounds and perspectives.
Here are some words of wisdom that politicians and believers could both use:
Proverbs 3:29: Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.
Proverbs 4:24: Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.
Proverbs 11:12: Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent
Proverbs 14:34: Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
Proverbs 24:17: Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles
Proverbs 24:28: Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.
Proverbs 27:1: Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
30 years ago, we embodied these principles as a nation much more than we do today. The Bible and the name Jesus Christ both had more relevance. How nice it would be if we could return to our national roots.
Unfortunately, I think words from Proverbs 6 capture more where we find ourselves today:
"There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers."
Pray that our national leaders might look up for guidance so they can learn how to relate better to others down here. Even Jesus, when crucified, looked up in his spirit so that he could say this about those who were crucifying him, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Don't pass me by!
If Jesus were in front of you right of you, what would you do? In Mark 5:27, a woman in need of healing expressed faith in the power of Christ and received from Him what she was seeking. She reached out to touch the hem of His garment. In Mark 5:34, Jesus says it was her faith that healed her and not anything magical in his clothes.
What are your expectations, your dreams, your aspirations that you have for God-sized movements to take place in your lifetime, in your city, in your nation? If you have low expectations of Christ, don't expect anything great to come from Him. The great missionary William Carey said, "Attempt Great Things for God, Expect Great Things From God!" Will you be like the lady who did not let Him pass her by or will you let Him walk on by?
E.M. Bounds in his book, The Power of Prayer, talks about how our prayers made in faith move the hand of God. Will you take the time to tell Jesus what you would like Him to do for you? A local pastor in our area J.D. Greer has done just that. He said he has asked God to plant a 1000 churches out of his church, The Summit, in his lifetime, to send out 5000 missionaries from his church in his lifetime, to be able to minister in the Raleigh-Durham area for 40 years, to baptize 50,000 people in his city either in his church or the churches that his church planted in the city, to start 100 community blessing organizations that come out of his church, and to be a part of a great awakening that will effect the Raleigh-Durham area for 100 years to come.
When Jesus sent out the apostles, He told them, "Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them." Every day, it is as if Jesus is passing by our house. In the early church days, opening your door to an apostle was like opening the door to Christ. What Christ began to do in his earthly body (read the book of Luke), he continued to do using the early church (read the book of Acts focusing on the word "began" in Acts 1:1). In the early church, apostles and prophets were heavily relied upon. Today, Christ has given the church pastors, teachers, and evangelists. How often though are these ministers overlooked or uninvited when people truly need the Lord. I ask again, will you let Him pass you by?
What are your expectations, your dreams, your aspirations that you have for God-sized movements to take place in your lifetime, in your city, in your nation? If you have low expectations of Christ, don't expect anything great to come from Him. The great missionary William Carey said, "Attempt Great Things for God, Expect Great Things From God!" Will you be like the lady who did not let Him pass her by or will you let Him walk on by?
E.M. Bounds in his book, The Power of Prayer, talks about how our prayers made in faith move the hand of God. Will you take the time to tell Jesus what you would like Him to do for you? A local pastor in our area J.D. Greer has done just that. He said he has asked God to plant a 1000 churches out of his church, The Summit, in his lifetime, to send out 5000 missionaries from his church in his lifetime, to be able to minister in the Raleigh-Durham area for 40 years, to baptize 50,000 people in his city either in his church or the churches that his church planted in the city, to start 100 community blessing organizations that come out of his church, and to be a part of a great awakening that will effect the Raleigh-Durham area for 100 years to come.
When Jesus sent out the apostles, He told them, "Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them." Every day, it is as if Jesus is passing by our house. In the early church days, opening your door to an apostle was like opening the door to Christ. What Christ began to do in his earthly body (read the book of Luke), he continued to do using the early church (read the book of Acts focusing on the word "began" in Acts 1:1). In the early church, apostles and prophets were heavily relied upon. Today, Christ has given the church pastors, teachers, and evangelists. How often though are these ministers overlooked or uninvited when people truly need the Lord. I ask again, will you let Him pass you by?
Have we gone too far?
The gospel shines brightest amidst the backdrop of darkness and sin! The last days are usually not the best days. A cloud of unbelief and darkness will come to rest over cities in the end times. Disbelief among the nations will increase. However, portals of God's glory will also come beaming down brighter than ever before on pockets of people in places who continue to be His Church. I am reminded at this point of one of my favorite movies, Independence Day. Major cities have a alien spacecraft hovering over them and at just the right time a beam of light comes lightning down on these metropolitan areas. This light represents the attack of the aliens right before it happens. In the same way, we see a dark cloud over our cities in the end days. However, I believe the Church will experience times of revival like never before as the end approaches! The gospel light will come beaming down on those found seeking His face!
Let's go back to the founding of our great nation. Times were tough for the early American settlers. They faced death, persecution, and criticism. However, they did not give in and say let's become complacent since The Lord's return must be drawing nigh. No, they dug in and became fighters for their faith and for their country. Where is that spirit in The Church today? The church continues to look like the world because all too many Christians have given up the fight. These kind of lukewarm Christians see no hope for the world and think the best thing to do is to either follow suit or isolate themselves. They look up waiting for a return instead of looking out to help their fellow man.
God has a different view and take on things. Yes, this postmodern - post-christian culture is a dark place in time. The mindset from many that absolute truth does not exist or the mindset that you can believe what you want or do what you want as long as you don't impose those beliefs on others does make reaching others for Christ a harder task. However, we as believers seek our encouragement from the One who gave us His written Word to communicate with us in times such as these. God says in Isaiah 59:1, "The Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear." God is keenly aware of what is happening on our planet and He is still in the saving business. His mission will prevail! One day, individuals from every tribe and language and people and nation will be worshipping God in His throne room!
This is why Jesus came to us and the reason He was sent. He came to live the life we couldn't live, to die the death we deserved to die, and to rise in victory over the enemies we could not conquer - sin and death. He died for all and this includes any kind of category you want to classify people in today! The postmodern soul needs to know Jesus has come to give them meaning and purpose in this life. Will you tell them today?
Let's go back to the founding of our great nation. Times were tough for the early American settlers. They faced death, persecution, and criticism. However, they did not give in and say let's become complacent since The Lord's return must be drawing nigh. No, they dug in and became fighters for their faith and for their country. Where is that spirit in The Church today? The church continues to look like the world because all too many Christians have given up the fight. These kind of lukewarm Christians see no hope for the world and think the best thing to do is to either follow suit or isolate themselves. They look up waiting for a return instead of looking out to help their fellow man.
God has a different view and take on things. Yes, this postmodern - post-christian culture is a dark place in time. The mindset from many that absolute truth does not exist or the mindset that you can believe what you want or do what you want as long as you don't impose those beliefs on others does make reaching others for Christ a harder task. However, we as believers seek our encouragement from the One who gave us His written Word to communicate with us in times such as these. God says in Isaiah 59:1, "The Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear." God is keenly aware of what is happening on our planet and He is still in the saving business. His mission will prevail! One day, individuals from every tribe and language and people and nation will be worshipping God in His throne room!
This is why Jesus came to us and the reason He was sent. He came to live the life we couldn't live, to die the death we deserved to die, and to rise in victory over the enemies we could not conquer - sin and death. He died for all and this includes any kind of category you want to classify people in today! The postmodern soul needs to know Jesus has come to give them meaning and purpose in this life. Will you tell them today?
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Our life is one big commercial or is it?
I just wrote on the distracting vice of entertainment that
often pulls us away from the Main Thing.
Remember that old youth camp line – “Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing.” It was a call for believers to remember what
truly should come #1 in our lives. In
this second part, I would like to write about two more American idols: Commercialism and Materialism.
It appears our nation and our lives are turning into one big
commercial. It is 2013 and marketing has
taken on a fresh meaning. Think about a
football game. The game is sponsored by
a company. The halftime show is
sponsored by a different company. And
then the play of the game is sponsored by yet another company. I can’t wait until individual quarters and
then every down is brought to us by Taco Bell, Citgo, or some combination of
the like. Today, anything and everything
can take place online. VistaPrint is
mass marketing business cards and signs for individual businesses and people to
advertise their products. I, myself,
have purchased two 12” by 18” magnetic signs to put on my car to advertise www.allsportstalk.net, an online sports
magazine that I write for. I also
purchased a polo shirt and a keychain flashlight.
Materialism is an idol just the same. I just watched a video clip where a man is
telling another man they already have 4 smartphones, 3 tablets, 2 flat screens
or something like that (you catch my drift) and the man is worried about
security for all these items. That’s
just the thing. We become obsessed over
the wrong agenda. Jesus told us to store
treasures for ourselves up in heaven where moths and rust would not
destroy. We have come to a point where
we value things more than we value the condition of a lost soul.
It is so easy for the church to buy into this trap. We adopt a consumer mentality and then the
focus comes on pleasing ourselves. But
wait a second…..life can’t be a commercial and neither can church. Think about it. As much as we detest commercials, they only
last for a brief second. We pass by a
billboard, hear a 30 second radio ad, etc.
But life isn’t like that. Life
has meaning. Unlike TV shows such as
Seinfield and Frasier whose shows were all about the meaningless of life, the
Bible says we sow what we reap. That is
why one person can sow eternal life and another eternal destruction. And as for the Church…..Jesus told Peter he
was the rock and that on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it (MT. 16:18).
According to Jesus, the Church was not an afterthought.
Let’s become like Josiah (read my blog entry entitled “Gospel Recovery”) and let’s tear down the high places and idols we see warring
within us. Let’s put Jesus back in his
proper place in our life!
The Land of Fantasy
We live in a world that exists within blurry lines of
distinction. Reality has become fantasy
and fantasy has become reality. I even
know of a girl whose name is Anastasia.
Disney is just one means of entertainment and leisure that we enjoy in
today’s society. Other means include
hunting, sports, shopping, listening to music, surfing the web, and of course
watching television. Not to say any of
these distractions are wrong in themselves, but when we become oblivious to
reality, something is wrong.
Reality is this life is all we have to make one decision
that will affect our entire eternity.
That decision boils down to whether we will choose to follow Christ with
our lives or not. The truth is we make
hundreds of choices every day that will also affect our eternity. Reality is there is a heaven and there is a
hell and many believe there are degrees found in both. In other words, heaven will be cooler and
hell will be hotter for some compared to others. I do believe some in heaven will have more
jewels in their crown than others but that when we lay our crowns at the throne
of his feet, we will all be on level ground.
The Crown Jewel in Heaven will be Christ Himself, not the number of
jewels in our crown.
This all begs the question as to why we spend so much of our
time, thoughts, and money on the temporal.
These things will not last. If
hundreds of millions of people all around us were living in poverty and were
hopeless without Christ and we had one mandate to go and share the good news
with them, what should we do? Should we
add more programs, add another staff member, build another building, schedule
another meeting, or should we drop all of that and do what we were commissioned
to do: GO!
In our land of fantasy, we have become oblivious to our lost
neighbors, classmates, employees, family members, and friends. And this has occurred all at the expense of
things that will not cross over from this side to the next. Let us be honest with the Lord and confess we
have become complacent over lost souls.
We have stopped praying for them and long ago we stopped kneeling and
crying for them. I will be the first to
say I am guilty. It probably wouldn’t
hurt if from time to time I literally pinched myself to serve myself as a
reminder to this wake up call. We forget
we really are in a cosmic battle at this very point in time where spiritual
warfare is ever before us and over 7 billion lives on planet earth are at
stake.
Nowhere has the land of fantasy become more apparent than in
America where the adult entertainment industry has taken over American
lives. People are consumed and addicted
to this Fantasy Land and everyday it costs us our national stability as
families are torn apart from the inside out.
It is high time not only to pray for lost souls but also for our
country. There is an answer in the midst
of all the chaos. His Name is still
Christ and in Him rests the full gospel answer!
The gospel is not just for conversion.
It is for every area of our lives!
Monday, September 23, 2013
Gospel Recovery!
What the nation and the church are in most need of today is a gospel recovery. In 2 Kings 22-23, we see how things play out in a nation and a church when a gospel recovery begins. In OT times, Israel was set up as a theocracy. Unlike our nation today, there was no separation of church and state. Josiah became King of Israel when he was 8 years old. At the age of 26, the high priest reported back to Josiah that during the temple renovation process, God's Word had been found. Can you already see what had happened. The temple building, think of the church house today, had been given more priority than God Himself. Finding this out, Josiah was torn on the inside. He acted immediately and gave God's Word prominence by reading it aloud. He then acted further on it by destroying the national and religious idols that his people had previously set up.
In other words, God's Word was first found and then given proper authority to work in the lives of God's people. As a result, real revival broke loose. Foundational to all theology is the fact that the Word of God is without error (inerrant). It is unblemished and the Holy Spirit superseded the scriptural inspiration process as He carried imperfect men along to write down perfectly what He spoke. Many have attacked God's Word throughout the years but The Bible has stood the test of time. Over 24,000 copies of ancient manuscripts have been found over the years giving the Bible surmountable external evidence as a valid and reliable historical document.
Many church members in our country seem to have not only misplaced or lost their Bible. They seemed to have lost themselves. On a weekly basis, 10 million Southern Baptists are unaccounted for in their worship services. Biblical illiteracy rates have skyrocketed both in and out of the church. To further complicate things, many of those who have somehow found themselves and their Bibles do not give the Word of God the authority or the time it deserves to work in their own lives. We are malnourished at best. The Bible itself claims to be a believer's life and a believer's food. Bible intake is just one way a believer survives and grows.
When a person, church, or nation decides not put the Word of God in its proper place, chaos ensues. Church discipline seems to be a relic in today's church, yet we find this practice all throughout Scripture. The practice of church membership may be argued by some to have not been a early New Testament church criteria, but what I find worse today is how so many churches in our denomination accept anybody and everybody without giving any credence or proof from the individual of first being a fruit-bearing follower and a disciple of Christ. And lastly, preaching has fallen on hard times. A Pastor who is willing to preach the whole counsel of God is indeed a rarity for the American Church. When it comes to preaching and teaching God's Word, church leaders can't be beggars and choosers. Highlighting one verse, chapter, book, or testament to the neglect of another does a disservice to God's people.
However, the neglect of getting the good news to the nations has been our greatest sin. We have set up our church houses as attractions and destination points rather than missions mobilization units and launch pads for believers to go into the world. We have mistaken and substituted our model of worship with the OT model which was for God's people to come to the temple against the NT mandate of sending God's people out from the church house to reach the nations. It is a sad indictment on us to see that we have only sent out .03% as missionaries out of our 16 million roll and that as a denomination only 1 penny out of every dollar given actually makes it to the line item international missions. In essence we have done exactly what Christ commanded us not to. We have made converts, not disciples. So that you don't catch me quoting half a verse, hear what Jesus had to say to this in Matthew 23:15 (look it up if you don't believe me) - "Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you Hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are."
In other words, God's Word was first found and then given proper authority to work in the lives of God's people. As a result, real revival broke loose. Foundational to all theology is the fact that the Word of God is without error (inerrant). It is unblemished and the Holy Spirit superseded the scriptural inspiration process as He carried imperfect men along to write down perfectly what He spoke. Many have attacked God's Word throughout the years but The Bible has stood the test of time. Over 24,000 copies of ancient manuscripts have been found over the years giving the Bible surmountable external evidence as a valid and reliable historical document.
Many church members in our country seem to have not only misplaced or lost their Bible. They seemed to have lost themselves. On a weekly basis, 10 million Southern Baptists are unaccounted for in their worship services. Biblical illiteracy rates have skyrocketed both in and out of the church. To further complicate things, many of those who have somehow found themselves and their Bibles do not give the Word of God the authority or the time it deserves to work in their own lives. We are malnourished at best. The Bible itself claims to be a believer's life and a believer's food. Bible intake is just one way a believer survives and grows.
When a person, church, or nation decides not put the Word of God in its proper place, chaos ensues. Church discipline seems to be a relic in today's church, yet we find this practice all throughout Scripture. The practice of church membership may be argued by some to have not been a early New Testament church criteria, but what I find worse today is how so many churches in our denomination accept anybody and everybody without giving any credence or proof from the individual of first being a fruit-bearing follower and a disciple of Christ. And lastly, preaching has fallen on hard times. A Pastor who is willing to preach the whole counsel of God is indeed a rarity for the American Church. When it comes to preaching and teaching God's Word, church leaders can't be beggars and choosers. Highlighting one verse, chapter, book, or testament to the neglect of another does a disservice to God's people.
However, the neglect of getting the good news to the nations has been our greatest sin. We have set up our church houses as attractions and destination points rather than missions mobilization units and launch pads for believers to go into the world. We have mistaken and substituted our model of worship with the OT model which was for God's people to come to the temple against the NT mandate of sending God's people out from the church house to reach the nations. It is a sad indictment on us to see that we have only sent out .03% as missionaries out of our 16 million roll and that as a denomination only 1 penny out of every dollar given actually makes it to the line item international missions. In essence we have done exactly what Christ commanded us not to. We have made converts, not disciples. So that you don't catch me quoting half a verse, hear what Jesus had to say to this in Matthew 23:15 (look it up if you don't believe me) - "Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you Hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are."
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Where is the love?
Acts 2:42-47 is a classic passage of Scripture often used to describe what a healthy New Testament church should look like in today's world. In the passage, we find what many call the 5 purposes or functions of a healthy church: Evangelism, Discipleship, Fellowship, Ministry, and Worship. Others have substituted words like Service for Ministry or Teaching for Discipleship. Within the scope of church history, the Reformation marks of the church included the right administration of the sacraments and the pure preaching of the gospel. In modern times, some have adopted the mindset that a church must have 9 marks to be considered a healthy New Testament church. These 9 marks are discussed in detail under the topics of preaching, biblical theology, the gospel, conversion, evangelism, membership, discipline, discipleship, and leadership.
These are all great and acceptable ways to define a healthy NT church, however, all are lacking the most important ingredient. One can be found doing all of the above items yet not figured out what it is that is missing. Christianity is not a checklist. You cannot check all of the above items and say ok, everything is good. While on earth, Jesus told the Pharisees "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life yet you refuse to come to me." On Judgment Day, he will tell many who did good things in his name to depart from him and that he never knew them. This is because Jesus always has and will continue to look into our hearts. He weighs and knows our every motive.
In this famous passage of Scripture where the early church is devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers, Paul's main point goes way beyond what a healthy church is to do. Paul gives us the how and the why! Have you ever read this passage of Scripture and just noticed the love that was present in this community of people. They genuinely enjoyed being in each others company and more importantly in God's presence. They considered the people sitting beside them more important than themselves. The gospel had so much effect in their lives that they had placed others above themselves and put themselves last.
In Revelation 2:1-7, we see what it looks like for a church be considered healthy on the outside, yet Christ condemns the church for what it looks like on the inside. He says they are to return to their first love. Newlyweds are madly in love with one another. How is it then after even 20 years of marriage, some couples are at each others throats? It is because they are like the church at Ephesus. They have forgotten their first love. They may do the right things and even say the right things but inside, the love is missing.
The main mark of a healthy NT church always has been and always will be love. Without love, a person and a church is nothing. Faith, hope, and love remain but the greatest of these is love. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. But if love is greater than faith, how much more impossible does it become in order to please God? As I look around the world today, I ask the same question the music group Black Eyed Peas ask, "Where is the love?" Ultimately, God is love and love in people and churches spring from the gospel activated in our lives. Watch this music video and listen to its words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc. You may ask how could I show a secular video to talk about God's love. My answer to you is that although I may not agree everything that the group has said or done, I am commanded to love them. We are to do good to all men, believer and unbeliever alike.
These are all great and acceptable ways to define a healthy NT church, however, all are lacking the most important ingredient. One can be found doing all of the above items yet not figured out what it is that is missing. Christianity is not a checklist. You cannot check all of the above items and say ok, everything is good. While on earth, Jesus told the Pharisees "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life yet you refuse to come to me." On Judgment Day, he will tell many who did good things in his name to depart from him and that he never knew them. This is because Jesus always has and will continue to look into our hearts. He weighs and knows our every motive.
In this famous passage of Scripture where the early church is devoting themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers, Paul's main point goes way beyond what a healthy church is to do. Paul gives us the how and the why! Have you ever read this passage of Scripture and just noticed the love that was present in this community of people. They genuinely enjoyed being in each others company and more importantly in God's presence. They considered the people sitting beside them more important than themselves. The gospel had so much effect in their lives that they had placed others above themselves and put themselves last.
In Revelation 2:1-7, we see what it looks like for a church be considered healthy on the outside, yet Christ condemns the church for what it looks like on the inside. He says they are to return to their first love. Newlyweds are madly in love with one another. How is it then after even 20 years of marriage, some couples are at each others throats? It is because they are like the church at Ephesus. They have forgotten their first love. They may do the right things and even say the right things but inside, the love is missing.
The main mark of a healthy NT church always has been and always will be love. Without love, a person and a church is nothing. Faith, hope, and love remain but the greatest of these is love. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. But if love is greater than faith, how much more impossible does it become in order to please God? As I look around the world today, I ask the same question the music group Black Eyed Peas ask, "Where is the love?" Ultimately, God is love and love in people and churches spring from the gospel activated in our lives. Watch this music video and listen to its words: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc. You may ask how could I show a secular video to talk about God's love. My answer to you is that although I may not agree everything that the group has said or done, I am commanded to love them. We are to do good to all men, believer and unbeliever alike.
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