Servant of the Lord

Our Love for One Another is a Witness

2011-02-07T13:40:00.007-06:00

In Johnny Cash's song, "God's Gonna Cut You Down," he sings, "You can run on for a long time, run on for a long time, run on for a long time, sooner or later God’ll cut you down, sooner or later God’ll cut you down . . . Go tell that long tongue liar, go tell that midnight rider, tell the rambler, the gambler, the backbiter, tell them that God’s gonna cut ‘em down, tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down . . ."
He gives a testimony, "O my goodness gracious let me tell ya the news, my head’s been wet with the midnight dew, I’ve been down on bended knee, talkin’ to the man from Galilee, He spoke to me in a voice so sweet, i thought I heard a shuffle of angels' feet, He spoke to me and my heart stood still, when He said 'Man, go do My will,' . . . You can throw your rock, and hide your hand, workin’ in the dark against your fellow man, But sure as God made black and white, what is done in the dark will be brought to the light . . ."
This song speaks about people who do not follow God, and think they are getting away with it. In the trailer for the new movie "True Grit," based on the 1968 book by Charles Portis, True Grit, this song is played. The message of that book is a similar message, where a man murders another man in the old west, and the story is of bringing him to justice. It is a great book, but that's not the point.
The point has to do with what Paul wrote about in Galatians 5:13-26, where he urged the Galatians to "walk by the Spirit, and you will not satisfy the desires of the flesh," or "live by the Spirit," (NIV) (for JC Smith :)) Hold onto that thought . . .
. . . John 13:34-35, Jesus said "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Picture Jesus in the upper room, talking to His disciples, and he tells them a new commandment.

(Sorry, couldn't find a more manly Jesus picture--not one that was reverent. Got a better one? Send it to nswhiteside@gmail.com). He's not replacing the First and Great Commandment, "Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength;" He's not replacing the 2nd Great Commandment "Love your neighbor as yourself," but He's giving them a new commandment like the other two. This should flow out of your life. This command is the new bumper sticker He wants them to wear, that marks them as people trying to be like Him. The rabbi is telling His students the school mascot: Love one another.
Go back to Galatians. Paul writes to a people much like our churches today. Whether or not you believe they were in Northern or Southern Galatia, they had the same problems we have. On one hand, they struggled with legalism, where Christians believe that if they act perfectly it is the most important part of their walk with Christ. Usually these are people who define themselves by who they're against or what they don't believe in, or what they don't do. You've heard, "We don't smoke, drink, chew, or hang around those that do." Who wants to be a part of an amoeba that constantly defines itself by what others do, that it does not?
Then Galatia had the other extreme, which were the libertines, or the eccentrics carrying out their Christian liberty. A good word to describe them is irresponsible. You can spot these Christians because they believe that they prayed a prayer and now can live however they want. They do not feel guilty when they sin, or express remorse, because they think that because all sin was paid for on the cross, Jesus doesn't care. Kind of like a multi-billionaire handing us hundreds of dollars every month and not caring how we spend it because the supply seems limitless. That is also wrong.
In this context, speaking of living their lives like Christ, Paul incorporates Jesus' command in the sermon on the Mount and John 13 in the Upper Room discourse: Love your neighbor as yourself! Paul says it sums up the entire law! "So then, live by the Spirit . . ." In other words, "Because of this . . ." or "Having said that, I say to you . . ." In light of your need to stop biting and devouring each other, you need to live by the Spirit, and you will not satisfy the desires of the flesh. The two, he explains, are like oil and water and cannot co-exist. You must choose, and it isn't legalism, and it isn't irresponsible Christian hedonism, it is in the middle like Jesus. Live by the Spirit, communion with God and letting Him lead you.
Our witness is loudest in our relationships that are closest. We should be so living by the Holy Spirit that we can open our home and let people watch us argue with our spouse and see that even in our disagreements, the Holy Spirit is there and our resolution is in accordance with God the Holy Spirit. Same with our churches, so that unbelievers are awed at our love for one another. Disciples of Jesus have this. Do you? If not, are you working on it? This is something you can't put off.
Dr. Criswell, long time pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, TX, described this as if we all owned two dogs, one called the sinful nature and the other represented walking by the Spirit. Whichever dog you feed is going to grow stronger. So the question is "Which of your two dogs is healthy and growing, and which of your two dogs is starving?"
Lewis Sperry Chafer, in his book, He That is Spiritual, hits this nail on the head. He said that the problem is never God's fault (I'm paraphrasing), it is ours. It isn't that the Spirit isn't filling us enough, because the Holy Spirit comes into our lives completely when we are saved. The problem is us not giving Him enough of ourselves.
Don't miss this: Paul told Christians in Galatians 5 that in order to love one another, you must be living by the Spirit. You must be godly, because you can try to love someone completely like Jesus did (remember, it is "as I have loved you,"), but unless you depend on Him, your nature is not able to love others like Jesus did. The Spirit in you--Jesus who said He would be with you always, even to the end of the age--the Spirit of Christ which is the Holy Spirit--He alone gives us the power we need to love one another. In order to love one another, we have to live by the Holy Spirit.
So, then, how does what Paul is saying relate to what Jesus said in John 13? Jesus said loving one another is our ID. Paul explained that can't happen unless we are trying to be Godly. Godliness can't happen unless we surrender ourselves to the Holy Spirit. So then, how do we surrender ourselves to the Holy Spirit? Read Galatians 5:22 and following, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."
What Paul describes is like two people walking up the ladder of Godliness.

As long as both people continue to climb upwards, they continue to get closer together. However, if one person decides to go down and give into the sinful nature, the two naturally grow farther apart.
Followers of the rabbi from Galilee, let's be people of love, an inner joy, people of peace, people who have patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness in our relationships and to our call, people of gentleness, and people who demonstrate to the world what self-control looks like. Ask the Holy Spirit to enable you to do this. Focus on this, on what we do. Love one another greatly.
Lastly, my friend from India grew up a Hindu and now is a Christ-follower. It is interesting that He said the one thing that got him, that he could not stop thinking about when he met Christians, was their love for one another. It was their treatment of each other better than family, that got him. That eventually led him to investigate and discover the Gospel, and follow Jesus. Keep reading in Galatians and chapter 6 says, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted." Let's risk our lives for one another, help restore the fallen followers of Jesus, help the poor brothers and sisters (as well as the poor unbelievers), and that will be a loud witness to the world who thinks we're irrelevant. Let's be disciples who show love for one another.

Knowing Jesus Means Having Compassion on People," Matthew 14:13-33

2010-12-09T14:51:00.003-06:00

Picture a tired and grieving Jesus with His disciples, looking for seclusion, and finally finding it. He had just heard about John the Baptist’s death, and needed a moment alone. He and His disciples boarded a boat on Lake Galilee, pushed off the shore, and at last they would find seclusion.
When they reached the other side of the lake, crowds had anticipated their arrival. Was He disappointed? He had compassion on them. He began to heal their sick.
When evening came, which was 3pm for Jewish people, His disciples said to Him (Paraphrase) “this is our secluded spot we were looking for. We found it first. Send them away so they can buy themselves some food.”
Don’t you love it when people try to get you to do something by suggesting you do something else? The disciples didn’t care about them being fed as much as they cared about themselves resting.
Jesus wanted them to have the same compassion on the crowds, and He replied,
14:16, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,’ they answered.
“Bring them here to me,” he said.
Jesus directed the people to sit down. Luke tells us He divided them into groups of 50.
Jesus took the food, looked up, gave thanks, and broke the loaves of bread.
One of the most common Jewish blessings for food was, “Blessed art Thou, o Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth.”
Jesus possibly said that common blessing, thanking God publicly. Then Jesus gave the food to the disciples, until they were passing out food. They would return several times each and Jesus never ran out of food. He made the five loaves and two fish last for 5,000 men, and above that many women and children.
Notice: How many people did Jesus hand the food to in the crowd? None. Jesus handed the food to His disciples, and they handed food to the people.
Jesus wants to work through you to show HIS compassion through your life.
They didn’t just have enough; they had 12 baskets full. One basket for each disciple.
When you commit yourself to serve God by having compassion on people, God will take care of your needs in His way and in His time.

Jesus then sent the disciples in a boat away from that part of the lake, and then He sent the crowds away. He finally had time to rest.
If you’re available to God and watching for peoples’ needs, God will provide times of rest for you. If you avoid peoples’ needs and force times of rest, you will miss the miraculous work that God wants to do through you.
If you're thinking right now, listening to this, "I don't have any spare time now. How will I have any free time if I let people interrupt my schedule?"
If you do it to minister to them, God will take care of you and give you a season of rest in His way and in His time.

Jesus isn’t finished showing compassion. He doesn’t just require you to show compassion as His disciple.
He was by Himself, up on a mountainside praying. 14:23 tells us “when evening came,” possibly meaning the 4th watch of the night (3am-6am). Jesus was alone still in a time or resting and or prayer.
The boat was far from shore, and being “buffeted” by the waves; the wind was against it.
During the fourth watch Jesus came to them, walking on water, having compassion for His disciples caught in a storm.
Peter goes out after Jesus calls him, and Peter takes his focus off Jesus and puts it on the problems.
He cries out “Lord, save me!”
Jesus saved him, then Jesus rebuked him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
It is awesome to arrive in the safety of Jesus' hand, but it is terribly uncomfortable to leave the place of security like the boat. It is also terribly difficult sometimes to walk that space between the place of safety and where Jesus commands us to go. Yet, if Peter had stayed focused on Jesus, the story would have ended without Jesus rebuking him. Would you have succeeded?
Not even the greatest of the OT prophets walked on water. Not even deities of other cultures walked on or controlled water. They had religious texts where their gods saved sailors, but none of the other nations' gods dealt with the sea. The sea in ancient near eastern culture was a symbol for chaos and evil.
The only God immune to its appetite of swallowing people, and the only God able to calm it, is Jesus Christ God Almighty!
Matt 14:33, “Those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”
Something else to notice here, that Jesus not only tells you to show others compassion, but He is standing there showing you compassion when you fail.
Knowing Jesus means showing compassion to people. God wants you to do that. He wants YOU to get involved.
What did Jesus say? Matthew 28 records that He told us to make disciples by going into all the world, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey all He has commanded. As we do that He is with us always.
Right now as I write, and later as you read, people are dying and going to hell.
Jesus talked about hell, and how our showing them compassion fits into their eternal destiny. He said in Matthew 16, "I will build My church, and the gates of hell will not stand against it."
In some Jewish writings, Sheol (Gehenna, Hell) is portrayed as a place with many, many gates and layers of gates as you go further in, to keep the damned inside.
Jesus is saying that though their destiny is to be trapped in the painful consequences of their sin forever, My church will liberate them from hell.
That is awesome! He wants you to be a liberator. It starts with having compassion on people.

The Naaman Principle

2010-09-09T15:58:00.003-05:00

In this entry we’re taking a look at the ministry of one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament, Elisha. God used Elisha to accomplish more miracles than anyone else in the Old Testament; in fact, anyone else in Scripture next to Jesus. Elisha was used to perform fourteen miracles, but our focus is not on him. Our focus is on a non-Israelite, foreign, ungodly man named Naaman. How does this relate to our need to get back on track? You’ve probably figured out the thesis, but read on just to make sure.

The story unfolds in 2 Kings 5. His name means “beautiful or handsome one.” He was the commander of the army of Aram (also called Syria), under king Ben-Hadad I or II.

He was mighty in battle, and God had used him already (whether he knew it or not, we are not told). He came to Israel because he had heard from his servant girl that there was a prophet in Samaria who could cure him of his leprosy.

We’re told that the Lord granted Naaman success in battle. During one of those campaigns, Naaman capture this Israelite slave girl. Sometimes God places His people in positions of lowliness, suffering, humiliation, or forced meekness for His greater purpose. I wonder how many times the slave girl doubted God’s sovereignty. If you’re in a position like this, God still has a purpose for you, just like He intended this unnamed slave girl to direct Naaman towards His prophet, Elisha.

Naaman came from Aram, to Israel, with the blessings of his king. He brought a small treasure to pay to the king of Israel for healing him. King Joram didn’t didn’t see any way for him to be healed, and tore his clothes in distress. Elisha heard of it, and sent word that Naaman should come to Elisha and he would know there was a prophet of God in Israel.

The leader of God’s people, the king, should have known where to find the prophet of God. Instead, he saw Naaman’s approach through his own personal values, namely as a threat to his power. So Elisha texted King Joram just in time, telling him he’d take care of it.

Naaman arrived at the doorway of Elisha’s house with his entourage. Elisha didn’t go out to meet him, but sent a servant telling him to dip in the Jordan River 7 times.

Naaman, expecting to speak with Elisha himself, and expecting more ritual, was furious. His pride was wounded.

(vv. 11-12) “He turned and went off in a rage.”

Sometimes people are upset at God or God’s mouthpiece because they were expecting something different. You probably have faced this as a Christian before. When I was an Associate Pastor in Dallas, TX, one Sunday morning a lady called our church and asked, “Are women allowed to wear pants there?” We were a Baptist church, but not that kind. One of the greatest compliments I’ve heard was a friend telling me, “Nate, when I’m with you, I can’t imagine you as a pastor.” He goes to our church and is an active leader there. He further explained that he had a preconceived idea of pastor as an aloof, anti-social, stoic fossil who loved crowds but hated people.

I hope I don’t ever see one more briefcase-toting, coat and tie wearing, professional occupying his dust-free office, operating a 9-5 workday, preoccupied with programs and ministries as the solutions for sin. We need no more professionals writing how-to books. We need prophets of God, who will tell people not to promote a mosque at ground zero, or to be ashamed of themselves if they’ve never helped the poor while never missing their favorite TV show. We need people who are willing to be slandered as “friend of tax-collectors and sinners,” not excusing Jesus-style ministry in the name of “above reproach” or avoiding “slippery slope” lifestyles.

Naaman didn’t expect to be talked to by a servant, dismissed to wash on what he considered a dirty river. Sometimes the simple message of “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved,” is insulting to your pride. Sometimes you expect God to acknowledge your physical, mental, or spiritual eliteness. Sometimes you expect God to come to you on your terms, at your time, in your place, and do things your way.

Isaiah 55:9, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Today one of the weaknesses of our churches is trying too hard to meet sinners on their terms. God doesn’t even try hard to meet sinners on their terms and offer compromise. All people must meet God on His terms, which necessitates thinking less of self and more of Him.

We must meet God on His terms. Today He says to you, your best righteous works are not valuable to Him. Only the righteous work of Jesus on the cross, Jesus in the tomb, and Jesus resurrected in the air!

Some people have been disappointed in the church because they believe the church needs to come to them and be more seeker sensitive. That is not God’s plan for His church. I recently read a great list of reasons people don’t attend sports events, if the same excuses applied as are used for leaving church. So here are reasons people leave churches applied to sporting events:

1. Every time I went, they asked me for money.

2. The people with whom I had to sit didn’t seem very friendly.

3. The seats were too hard and uncomfortable.

4. The coach never came to see me.

5. The referee made a decision with which I could not agree.

6. I was sitting with some hypocrites–they only came to see what others were wearing.

7. Some games went into overtime, and I was late getting home.

8. The band played numbers I had never heard before.

9. The games are scheduled when I want to do other things.

10. My parents took me to too many games when I was growing up.

11. Since I read a book on sports, I feel that I know more than the coaches anyway.

12. I don’t want to take my children, because I want them to choose for themselves what sport they like best (Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, s.v. “excuses.”).

God doesn’t want to make a deal with you regarding your cleansing. He doesn’t take bribes, accept acts of penance, or need our offerings in order for us to be healed. It is only by God’s grace—His giving us what we didn’t earn and should not have—that we receive healing.

It is only by God overlooking Naaman’s status as outside the covenant people, that Naaman received God’s mercy. It is only by God overlooking our status as sinful people that we receive God’s mercy. It is only God giving good works, God giving righteousness, God giving all that we are healed. Jesus’ death and resurrection are the only good works that can pay for ultimate healing, and God did that for you. Free of cost!

God has a storehouse of treasure and He wants you to withdraw out of His account, freely!

What happens next with Naaman?

For the second time, his healing is influenced by his servants. It was an Israelite servant girl who gave him the idea of going to Elisha, and now God again used the humble to influence the mighty.

Notice what Elisha did and did not do:

He left Naaman alone for God to deal with him. Too many times, when we tell someone about Jesus and the need to follow Him, we break out our spiritual first aid kit and rush like a paranoid field medic to the scene. We believe we will be the influencing force for their salvation. God is the only influence for salvation.

Elisha did not chase Naaman. God did. Pastors, church leaders, those who have family members who reject Christ, and all who have told the Gospel while being mocked and jeered: God is still able to save, and He’s the only one who ever could in the first place. Don’t chase. Let God chase.

As this applies to winnowing out the wheat of our churches and making disciples like Jesus Christ, there will be seed that falls by the wayside, on thorns, on rocky soil, and on fertile soil. The fertile soil seed is what we must focus on. If some drop off and decide to reject the tightening of the screws, and the harder practice so that the chance of winning the game is greater, then we must let God chase them.

Naaman put his pride aside and followed Elisha’s advice.

What was his response? After seeing the results he praised God!

5:15, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel.”

Gehazi, witnessing God work, could only think of the money Elisha was passing up. Gehazi desired the money, and snuck later and lied, taking the money. Gehazi then lied to Elisha about taking the money. God cursed Gehazi with leprosy and all his descendants.

Note: Sometimes the people on the outside understand more about God than the people on the inside

What does this have to do with following Jesus? Jesus gave a commentary on this passage, saying it applied to Himself.

Turn to Luke 4. Jesus told us why God healed Naaman and Naaman came to recognize the One True God, about how God chose to heal a foreigner and be glorified through that man’s healing rather than healing one of the many leprous Israelites. Why did God choose to do this? Jesus said it was because of the very reason Nazareth rejected Him.

Luke 4:22–27 (READ IT)

Part 1 of what Jesus said is this:

If God’s people reject Him, God will go outside and find those who are faithful.

If you tell God “No,” God will find another to take your place who is willing to say, “Yes.”

Romans 11 tells us about this happening to Israel, God’s chosen people:

Romans 11:7–12 (READ IT)

Today we stand at a crossroads, where we have the decision Naaman had.

Are we similar today to the Israel Elisha lived in? Are God’s people today giving into idols and derailed from the mission of the church?

Jesus said to go into all the world and make disciples of every nation. Are you doing that?

America used to be the most involved in training and sending people for the Kingdom work. Now God is doing that work in Asian churches, and African churches, and South American churches. Before America, it was England who birthed William Carey, Hudson Taylor, and the 1800’s missionary movement that sent thousands all over the world.

Today South Korea has the largest church the Yoida Full Gospel Church which averages 800,000 people in attendance every Sunday. That means nothing, unless there is more. And there is. They purchased a mountain called Prayer Mountain, where anyone can come and pray. They send out missionaries all over the world and send out church planters all over the world.

In China, the underground church is training missionaries to go into Muslim countries that are closed. This is a closed country where Christians are persecuted, sending missionaries to countries where Christians are persecuted.

What are you doing with all the comforts and freedom you have?

We can:

1) throw away the words of God Who is saying to do something different and possibly uncomfortable

2) accept what is an unexpected word from God in an unexpected way

We can trust that God really does want you to take seriously Jesus’ requirements for following Him.

Part 2 of what Jesus said about Naaman is this:

Jesus had a habit of stirring the pot. He could have walked out of Nazareth with their lipservice approval. But he knew they were telling him what he wanted to hear. Like where we live sometimes. You and I would have to be foolish to believe everything people say about us, especially what people say to me.

#1 question you need to ask is not “What will people think about me?” but “Am I converted?” If you’re saved, then from what? Do you do those old sinful things? If you do, can you really say God saved you from it? John Wesley wrote after years of ministry, that he was not a Christian, but he desperately hoped to become one. Where are the ones who will consider that part of their salvation is their cross?

Surviving Temptation (Knowing God: David pt 3)

2010-08-17T15:08:00.003-05:00

The story of David and Bathsheba is the story of forbidden lust; er, I mean, forbidden love. All because David and Bathsheba did not survive temptation.
Today I want to give you 3 steps for surviving temptation. They are road markers as you walk through your life. You will need to keep this near you every year. If you follow these steps, you will increase your chances of surviving your next encounter with temptation.

David should have been leading his army as most kings did, but he neglected his military responsibility.
Step #1, Be where you are supposed to be
This means when you’re supposed to be at work, be there. When you’re supposed to be with your family, be there. When you’re supposed to be at our worship gathering, be there. When you’re supposed to be at our worship gathering, be there! (you get it) When you’re supposed to be at school, be there! When you are supposed to be in a place of Bible study and prayer, be there. This is so important. David wasn't leading his people as their King as he was supposed to be leading his people. He was laying on his bed, idle, and then walking out on his rooftop.
Discipleship Journal surveyed the most common sins amongst their readers. They found the most common ones were:
1-Materialism, 2-Pride, 3-Self-centeredness, 4-Laziness, 5-Tie between a) Sexual lust, and b) Anger/Bitterness, 6-Envy, 7-Gluttony, 8-Lying
They also found that 81% of survey respondents noted temptations were more potent when they had neglected their time with God; 57% when they were physically tired.
On resisting temptation: 84% said that resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer; 76% said avoiding compromising situations; 66% said with Bible study; 52% said by being accountable to someone.
Are you using your position and free time to be where you are not supposed to be? If so, you are preparing yourself to fall into sin.
Be where you’re supposed to be.

Step #2, Think what you are supposed to think
David’s 2nd problem was that he was not thinking what he was supposed to be thinking. If you’re not where you should be, then neither will your mind be where it should be.
He was restless. In v. 2, he was so restless he got up out of bed and wandered around. That’s when he found trouble.
Has that ever happened to you? Your mind wanders? Late at night, trying to sleep? The best advice I can give you if you can’t sleep is this: If you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep, talk to the shepherd.
David only had to look and a woman was bathing down below. Bathsheba knew she was in the king’s sight, probably in an open courtyard on their property. She had placed herself within David’s sights. Also, in v. 4, we’re told she had purified herself from her uncleanliness, which according to the law meant that she was available.
2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
There will always be a Bathsheba, out in the open, setting a trap for you to fall into. There will be something you want that you know you shouldn’t have, right within your reach!
Christian men, you’d better set up walls of Bible verses around your mind or your unwalled city will be invaded! Christian women you'd better set up walls around your mind or your unwalled city will be invaded. Proverbs tells us a man without self-control is like a city without walls.
At this point, David should have sent someone to Bathsheba and said, “Don’t bathe outside where I can see you!” But what does he do? He sent someone to get her so he could have her. C. S. Lewis writes, in The Screwtape Letters, when speaking of how the devil can conquer believers, “The long, dull monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather.”
You will be tempted sometime in the future to let your mind wander, and if you do, it probably will not land in a safe place.
Satan is the Master of the suckerpunch, disguised as an angel of light. He will lie to you. And you will convince yourself that you are innocently bringing glory to God! But then you will discover guilt, shame, and pain!
Proverbs 5 warns against the temptation of sin saying, “Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house, lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel, lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich another man’s house. At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, ‘How I hate discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.” You’ll say “I blew it! I wasted my life!” Don’t waste your life. Think what you are supposed to think.
God’s purpose for your mind is for you to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, one Bible verse at a time. Today, it’s 2 Cor 10:5. When you memorize that, move onto another one.

So here we go: Be where you're supposed to ___, and Think what you're supposed to ___, and step #3, in surviving temptation is Do what you are supposed to ___. That's right, do.
David violated all three principles. The author of 2 Samuel 11 records 4 times where David sent for something. In Hebrew, it is the word sha-lah, “to send, or dispatch,” a right of the King or authority figure. The excitement of sin filled David and he used the authority of his position to satisfy his lust and cover up his sin.
You want to yell into the cedar walls of David’s palace, “Stop! Don’t do it!” But he did it. David fell headfirst into sin.
One of my pastor friends in Mexico, Pastor David, and I would go out for supplies sometimes. And whenever we saw a pretty girl, short David in his high pitched voice would nudge me and say, “Fuego, fuego!” “Fire, fire!”
Not this David. He got burned.
Notice how quickly King David acted. He didn’t consult anyone, or spend time romancing Bathsheba, but it was a one night stand, based on what he could get out of it. God had told Samuel that David was a man after His own heart. Up until now, in Scripture he was a godly man. 4 chapters earlier, God made a permanent promise with him that he would always have an heir on the throne. David defeated the giant Goliath and thousands of Philistines and was the most feared warrior king in the middle east! Yet he could not conquer himself.
Here he was, showing he was also a depraved sinner, even though he was used by God. After discovering that Bathsheba was pregnant with David’s child, David had her husband killed, and for 9 months lived a lie.
I watched this second hand many years ago. One of my friends fell morally about 10 years ago, and I’ll never forget walking with him through the process of public confession and removal from his ministry.
Have you given into sin? Have you followed David’s bad example? You can say you don’t feel bad, but that’s just a cover up. If you believe in God, and are a follower of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in you and has been needling you.
David wrote about his experience of torture in Psalm 32, saying, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”
You will be tempted to cover up your sin. The greatest tool for unplugging Christians from church is secret sin.
But there is Good news:
HERE ARE TWO PIECES OF GOOD NEWS
1st piece of good news—There is a way out. I love it how for everything bad that the world offers the Bible has good news to counter it! There is good news for temptation and sin today!
It’s called Doing what you’re supposed to do. 1 Cor 10:13 says, “but God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with every temptation will provide a way of escape so you can bear it.”
God has always has a fire exit for His people! He always has a lifeboat that you can find! You can never say, “God abandoned me!” He will provide a way of escape. Awesome!
When tempted you need to look for the way of escape. Next time, Pray for the way out!
I’m not here this morning to beat you up because of your sin, because I have sinned too. I will sin sometime in the future too.
2nd piece of good news—2 Samuel 12, when David was met by God through his servant Nathan the Prophet. David finally did what he was supposed to do.
Your sin can be forgiven. In 2 Samuel 12:13, David says, “I have sinned against the Lord.” What was God’s response? “The Lord has taken away your sin.” There were consequences, but God had taken away his sin.
Doing what you need to do means saying to God “I have sinned,” and you will find that God is “slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness.” God word says, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” God’s word says, “Come, let us reason together, though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” God’s word says, “if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness!”
David sent and used his authority, but God sent His word by His authority through His prophet to talk about God’s omnipotence! All powerful! He can forgive any sin, as many times as you commit it. If you need to feel clean and healed, and get back on your feet, God sent Jesus to die for not one, two, three, four, 20, 100 of your sins, but all of your sin! And He will forgive you. Do you believe this? In Psalm 32, David didn’t end on a bad note. He writes, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’—and You forgave the guilt of my sin.” Come to God this morning. Be where you should be, Think, and Do what you are supposed to think, and do. Come to God.

A Heart of Obedience (Knowing God: David pt 1)

2010-08-17T10:40:00.006-05:00

Where is your heart? A boy in children’s hospital, was very disobedient. The nurses couldn’t’ control him. One day a visitor had the idea to use positive reinforcement. She said, “If you are good for a week, I’ll give you a dime when I come again.” A week later, she stood before his bed. The boy was hiding underneath his covers. “I’ll tell you what,’ she said, “I won’t ask the nurses if you behaved. You must tell me yourself. Do you deserve the dime?” After a moment’s pause, a small voice from among the sheets said, “Gimme a penny.”

Today we're looking at David, but you can’t fully appreciate King David until you know about King Saul. So, I want to tell you a summary of the end of King Saul’s reign and the beginning of David’s, and then some principles we can glean from this story.

The main idea as you scroll down this blog is right here: If you obey God, it shows you have a heart for God, and you will be blessed by God.

Meet Saul.

1 Samuel 9 describes him as “an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the others.” In the original language this communicates the idea that Saul was great, and the language in 9:1 for Kish being a “man of standing” most likely means wealthy, successful, prosperous—a powerful man. Saul too was impressive. Unusually tall. He was outwardly everything Israel wanted in a king. Money, power, strength, easy to look at.
At the 2009 Political Awards, I mean “Academy Awards,” this was the same tone as when Sean Penn talked about his admiration of the newly elected president Barak Obama, calling him an articulate man and other compliments, gaining applause from the audience. He looks good, acts good, and we can physically follow him.
Saul had the opportunity to be Israel’s greatest king, but he blew it. He was anointed by God, and told by Samuel in 1 Samuel 10:8, “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.” After his anointing, Saul was filled with the Spirit and prophesied, and 11:6, “the Spirit of God came upon him in power,” and Saul led God’s people to victory!
Disobedience #1, But Saul disobeyed God!
How? He Offered sacrifices instead of waiting for Samuel (1 Sam 13:11–14)
What’s the big deal? That was Saul’s response. He said, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
Principle #1 Sometimes you don’t understand why you should obey God. But you still should obey Him.
At this point, Samuel rebuked Saul and said, “the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
Disobeying God costs you.

Disobedience #2: He spared the evil King instead of obeying God and being God’s instrument of judgment (1 Sam 15:20–23)
Principle #2, obedience is more important to God than sacrifice
Sometimes you won’t see the reason to obey God. But you should anyway. Saul’s actions showed he didn’t value the things God values; he accepted the anointing by God, but then ruled for his own reasons. Again, in 1 Samuel 15:20–21, Saul made excuses for his direct disobedience.
Matthew Henry, in his comment on this passage, gives one explanation of why people swat away God’s commands and disobey Him. “God bade him kill all, and yet he puts in among the instances of his obedience that he brought Agag alive, which he though was as good as if he had killed him. Thus carnal deceitful hearts think to excuse themselves from God’s commandments with their own equivalents.”
Read 1 Samuel 15:22–23
When you disobey God, you reveal your heart is not like His. Like hijacking an airplane, so people hijack God’s plan and twist it into their own. It should be more like the military. An order is given from the Commander-in-chief, and we as His soldiers obey Him!
How can you check if you are obeying God? Ask yourself:
Is God the most important person in your life?
Do you love others? Like other people?
Do you do what God tells you to do through the Bible?

These are important questions to spend a minute and think about. So please, pause, and stop everything to answer them.

I also decided to write down why people disobey God, and not just "those guys," but why "WE" disobey God. Here's a list I came up with:
1. God is not seen, and His presence not always felt, and He gives grace instead of having a lightning bolt to zap people with.
2. It’s hard to obey God. It makes you feel uncomfortable
3. Obeying God separates you from people who want nothing to do with God.
4. In the end, if a person will not obey God, it is because your heart is not like His, there is no motivation, there is no fear of God. You have forgotten that your God is a consuming Fire. You have forgotten that your God is going to be all that is left of life as you know it, and you will need to cling to Him because every plant, animal, and person will depend directly on Him! You have forgotten that He made you, and He bought you!
If I have just described you, you need to confess that attitude, wake up, and know what God wants and then do it! That’s it! No more, add nothing to it. Just that.

There are just 2 choices before us when we read about Saul versus David. You are already walking down one of two paths. Either you are deciding when you will obey God, and when you won’t, and keeping God in a corner, or
Choice #2, you are Knowing God more, and then obeying Him.

Now the opposite, let’s meet David, described as the least of all Jesse’s sons, relegated to the grunt work, and “ruddy,” or reddish and rugged. It is the same word used to describe Esau when he was born, with his red hair all over his body. The Hebrew literally says David has “beautiful eyes.” Not from a powerful family, but a family of shepherds. Not a head taller, but young enough to be a boy, probably teenage years or young adult (though this is debated. He will marry not long into the future, and we will find out later on, when he challenges Goliath, that he fought a lion and bear and beat them).

God said in 1 Samuel 13:14, “. . . the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the lord’s command.” Still following David's story, he was anointed by God, through Samuel, just like Saul(1 Sam 16:7).

Saul and David had the same prophet, same anointing, same promise of a kingdom that would last forever, but different attitudes of obedience, because of different hearts!
Don’t miss that! It’s the most important part of this story!

David courageously fought Goliath; he did not attack Saul though many thought he should have. Let me continue just a little longer to show how David was a man of honor and integrity.
1. David asked God if he should fight certain battles and obeyed God
2. 1 Samuel 23:2 against the Philistines
3. 1 Samuel 30 outnumbered to rescue his family
4. 2 Samuel 5:19, 23, and God told him to wait until they heard the sound of marching in the top of the trees, then to act promptly.
When you obey God you reveal that you have a heart like His.

Wrapping up, here are some principles to walk away with:

1. Sometimes you don’t see the reason why you should obey God but you should still obey Him.
a. Disobeying God costs you.
b. Sometimes you don’t see the reason why you should obey God.
c. Sometimes you have a better plan than God does, but you don't.
If you are living that story, please trust God, that His plan is a better one.
2. Obedience is more important to God than sacrifice
3. When you disobey God, you reveal your heart is not like His.
4. When you obey God, you reveal that your heart IS like His. You value the things that God values!
If you're asking, "What should I do?"
Ask yourself:
i. Are there areas of your life where you are not obeying God?
ii. Are you daily obeying Him?
Check on this too:
i. Is God the most important person in your life?
ii. Do you love others?
iii. Do you do what God tells you to do through the Bible?

Did God bless David for his obedience? Big time! 2 Sam 7:8–17, the Davidic Covenant, the promise that one of David’s heirs would be the Messiah of Israel!
We have seen through Saul and David's comparisons, that if you obey God, it shows you have a heart like God's, and you will be blessed by God.
Why not obey God today?

God is Calling Your Name (Knowing God: Samuel)

2010-08-17T10:07:00.005-05:00

Emily and I took our family to Menard’s recently and had one of those parental nightmares. After I scoured the shelves for the right size screws and bolts to fix some new furniture in preparation for our new baby, I looked down and Tommy was gone. I quickly checked the next aisle, and the next, and eventually Trinity and I made a long 30 min lap around half of the huge store, calling his name in the garden center, the wood, insulation, everywhere! I called my wife on my cell phone and realized he had found her. I was exhausted after that. Every possible evil intent a kidnapper could have flooded through my brain and I batted them away, telling God I was trusting Him. Tommy didn’t answer me because he was too far away to hear me.
Another scary event happened to some friends of ours. They lost their daughter for 2hrs. The parents had similar reactions, and called her name, and the authorities were involved, until finally she came out from hiding. When they called, she didn’t recognize their voices because she had fallen asleep. She wasn't listening.
I'm not trying to terrify you, but one more story. My daughter was riding her bike last week and took off for the busy road as fast as she could. I called her, yelling for her to stop, but she didn’t listen. I called her again and she didn’t listen, a third time, and I heard my voice echo off the buildings near her, and knew she could hear me, but she did not obey.
Are all of these stories to tell you about terrifying children’s tales? Am I trying to frighten you? These stories all have a piece of what not to do when God calls your name. God called a young boy named Samuel, and Samuel was not too far away to hear Him, he was not asleep when his name was called (he recognized it), and when he knew God was calling him, he obeyed.
God will call you if you belong to Him, and tell you what to do. The question is: will you be ready?

Today you can leave here taking with you three helpful steps for how to respond when God is calling your name.
We look at 1 Samuel 3:1–3 and the story of a young man whose barren mother Hannah dedicated him to serve the Lord when he was a toddler. Samuel was a student of Eli, the priest at Shiloh, where the ark of the covenant was kept in the tabernacle. One of the commands of the Law was that the priests were to continually keep the lamp candles burning in the tabernacle all night long, and Samuel was near the ark and the lamp, most likely keeping it going. (READ IT, 1 Samuel 3:1-3)

First, in verses 1–3 Samuel was close to God. How do you prepare to respond when God calls your name? The answer is to sit close to God. In order to hear God’s voice, you need to be close to Him. Just like Samuel was near the ark, and Eli was farther away (a description of his spiritual state), you need to position yourself close to God.
In those days it meant being near the visible presence of the Tabernacle and the ark. Today it means spending time devoted to God in private worship and public worship. You need to participate on Sundays, but also at your home, when you work, with your family, with your friends. You need to always be near to God.
Notice it was rare to hear God’s voice in those days. Sometimes people get impatient when they wait and wait and wait and don’t hear anything. Samuel was persistent to do his duty for worship and stay as close to God as anyone could physically be!
At the carnival a couple weeks ago, it was busy and people were shouting and trying to get you to try their rides and buy their goods, and unless you were close to them, you couldn’t hear them.
My son Tommy couldn’t hear me calling him (for his own good), because he was too far away!
(A) Sit close to God. This week, tomorrow, give God 15 minutes of reading your Bible and 15 minutes of prayer. You will be on the road to a beginner’s level of daily devotions and putting yourself closer to Him. This is a step towards understanding Him and obeying Him.

The second step for responding when God calls, is to look what Samuel did when he heard a voice. He asked the man of God if he was calling his name. He looked in the right place for clarification that God was calling him. Even though Eli was not perfect, he got this one right. He knew how to hear God, even if he didn’t obey God.
So, if you're keeping track, write down #2, Make sure it is God speaking to you. In order to know what God wants, you need to verify God’s voice.
There are all kinds of voices out there, like New Age voices, liberal political voices, conservative political voices, socialist voices, capitalist voices, cutting edge voices, traditional voices, talk show voices, pleasing and enticing voices, scary and violent voices, and you need to know how God speaks to you. This only comes through practice of listening to Him. It involves discipline. Most of us won’t hear audible voices. Most of us will hear God through reading His word and prayer and doing that every day. Most of us will get affirmation from another person who is also following Jesus.
Like my friend whose daughter could not respond because she was asleep, so some of you are sleep in your faith! You don’t hear God because you don’t care about the Bible! You don’t value spending time with the one who died for your sin on the cross! You don’t hear because you don’t bother to verify Him. The first book that comes out saying, “God wants every Christian to be a millionaire” makes you foam at the mouth. The radio speaker says, “the world will end in 2012” and you say, “Must be God” without verifying!
Ask anyone who has served in the military and they will tell you about the training and discipline in learning the important lesson of distinguishing the right voice from the false ones. They must learn to hear only their drill instructor or the distraction could cost someone their life.
Are you that focused and waiting to hear from God? If you don't know what He sounds like, that's your first item of business. Isolate His voice from the rest.
How can we be sure it is God speaking?
This is my threefold test I use when making decisions and think I'm hearing God speaking to me: a) does it agree with the Bible? If it does not, then it isn't God. If it does, then continue to question "B." B) does the Spirit confirm it in prayer? When you pray, if you don't feel the Spirit confirming your decision, move to question "c." C) does your church family confirm it? If everyone else you know who is following Jesus thinks you're crazy, then maybe you are! But if the answer to all three questions was "Yes, yes, yes," then most likely God is calling you to do something.
And let me add one more, very important part of finding God's will. Unless you have salvation through Jesus Christ, you will never hear God’s voice. The Holy Spirit in your heart is how God communicates today, and through that same Spirit opening your eyes as you read the Bible that God Himself put here for your benefit. Unless you have faith in Jesus alone that He paid for your sin through dying on the cross and rising again, and unless you believe that, unless you follow Him, you might as well give up on ever knowing God’s will for your life.
Or you can come to Him now, confess every sin, believe in His death and resurrection (I love the resurrection), and commit to follow Him and begin to know His will. Pray that today and tell Him, and the Bible says you are saved from hell and going to heaven, and going in first class. The Bible says the angels throw a party for you if you trust in Jesus Christ today! (Luke 15:7, 10)

Again, if the answer to those three above questions was "Yes, yes, yes," then you'd better do what you think God is telling you to do. That leads to the final step, which is what happens when Eli directs Samuel. Eli tells him the next time he hears a voice calling, "Samuel, Samuel!" to reply, "Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening."
So #3, Say yes when you’re sure it is God speaking. Knowing God means saying yes to whatever God will say in the future.
That takes guts! My daughter did not do that, and suffered a serious consequence. So too, you who call yourself a Christian and ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit of God day after day, week after week, weekend after weekend, you are also going to suffer a serious consequence.
Look at the text. God says his name twice, like God did on the mountain where Abraham sacrificed Isaac (really himself) to God, and like God said to Moses at the burning bush. God said to Samuel, the most prominent male prophet since Moses, “Samuel, Samuel!”
Did Samuel wait to hear what God wanted before he said yes? Did he? No. He said yes first. Samuel gave God a blank check, and said, “I’m Yours! Here I am!” Samuel obeyed. Will you? Will you say yes when you’re sure it is God speaking?

Saying yes to God will cost you. Samuel was not always popular, he was sometimes lonely, he had fame, but he didn’t have many friends. He had an angry King Saul to contend with, and had to do some brutal, hard work. If you’re not afraid of that, go ahead and tell God “Speak to me Lord, for Your servant is listening.”
So pray to God to speak to you, as you make time to be close to Him. Make sure it's Him speaking when you think you hear something. Finally, say, "Yes."

Father's Day 2010: Building a Godly House

2010-08-16T17:34:00.003-05:00

A man walked out of his truck, into the hardware store, and asked “Can I get some 4 X 2’s?” the lady at the counter said, “Excuse me? Don’t you mean 2 X 4’s?” The man shook his head, “No, I mean 4 X 2’s.” She shook her head, “I think you mean 2 X 4’s” The confused man held up his finger, and went back to his truck, talked with the guys in the truck for a few minutes, and then came back to the store. He said, “Yeah, I mean 2 X 4’s.” the lady asked, “How long do you need ‘em?” The man replied, “We’re gonna need ‘em for a loooooong time.”

I wouldn’t want to go near that house they were building, would you? God has guidelines for building a spiritual house in your home. Fathers, believe it or not, have a huge role to play in building a Godly house.
Fathers need direction, help on how to love their wives handle their kids. You want them to grow up right, be godly, think of you as Superman. This Bible tells you how to do that

The Bible gives us a foundational verse in Joshua 24:15, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
The Bible also gives us Framing verses, in Deuteronomy 6:4, which are repeated in the Old and New Testaments in different ways. Let’s read Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (READ IT)

Today you’ll finish reading this with parts for building a Godly house. Just as a physical house has the frame, the interior, and the exterior (pardon my overly simplistic reference, it makes good preaching) so spiritually you want that for your house.
The first section of your house found in Deuteronomy 6 is this: Your Identity should be to love God and obey God with everything you are. Fathers are supposed to love God with every part of their lives (READ 6:4-6). Heart and soul communicate in Hebrew the mental and emotional, the conscious and the unconscious, the entire non-physical part of you. That means you should be loving God with your thoughts, your feelings, your plans, your ideas, your jokes, what you listen to, and what words you use. It should be your identity.
In the Riverside service baptism, those of us who went into the mighty Pec came out drenched. After changing into new clothes, those of us who passed out water bottles in the parade did so during a downpoor! Drenched! Many of us experienced this! Just as if you came out of a river or a clean bath, so you should be drenched with God and His commandments.
Is that true of you? Or do you love something more than God?
Your identity should reflect your title of “Christian.” Tom Landry said when he was coach of the Dallas Cowboys, that the first quality they looked for in every athlete they drafted was character. If character wasn’t there, then it didn’t matter how talented or big the player was, their bad character would eventually ruin everything else.
Christian fathers, is your character godly? When you’re alone, are you God’s man? Is God a part of your Sunday ritual, or is God always the one making your decisions?
Build a Godly house. Your Identity should be to love God and obey God with everything you are.

If you have never surrendered yourself to God—this is first. Prime Directive. Numero Uno. Put down the housebuilding tools and step away from the foundation. You need to start over, because without God your house will definitely fall. The Bible says “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” You need to make sure you have believed in Jesus’ giving his life for your sin, and you own that sin, and you own that death and resurrection, and God will live in you and give you the ability to love and obey Him. If you’re trying to obey God or love God without knowing Jesus Christ, you are chasing your tail! If you are trying to build a Godly house without following Jesus Christ, your house will fall down. So rebuild the foundation starting with following Jesus' teachings.

Now to the interior of your Godly house. Your impression on your children should be for them to follow your example and love and obey God. You need to Immerse them in God’s ways. (READ 6:7-9). Fathers are supposed to immerse their children in God’s commandments. It means in every aspect of your life, fathers, you are supposed to speak to and demonstrate obedience and submission to God. That means telling your kids why you do what you do. Why do you bring your kids to church Sundays? Why don’t you watch dirty movies on TV (besides your wife getting mad at you)? Why do you pray before you eat? Why do you read your Bible? Why do you cry when we’re singing about what Jesus Christ did on the cross for your sin? Tell your kids.
I'm not just saying this, but trying to do this myself and it's hard sometimes. But we keep trying. When I was trying to tell my daughter about her need to follow Jesus and find salvation in Him, I brought up the truth about hell. After she understood what hell was, and who ends up there, she was silent for a long time. Then she said, “I don’t want to go to hello.” After I tried clarifying, "No, it's called 'hell,'" she paused again, then said, "I don't want to go to hell today." I'm not perfect, but like you men who are trying, so I'm trying too to explain God's fingerprints in creation as we are walking and talking about animals and plants, stars, moon, and how God made it all.
Notice “Hear o Israel!” this is not just for fathers, but this is something parents do together.
Wives, let the father lead, and don’t quit when he starts. Why should the father lead? A) if you lead, the man won’t participate; B) your kids need to see their father’s faith to help increase their chances of having a stronger faith. (Pause while I receive the stones from the angry ones, thinking I'm neanderthal--to those I urge you to research a father's presence for adolescents and its influence in adult children. You'll agree with me that the role of a father is the single most important factor in a child becoming an emotionally healthy person).
The best way you can teach your kids God’s love is by loving them.

How do kids spell L.O.V.E.? T.I.M.E.
And train your children without anger! Resist that temptation! Go outside and have a stress break (like smoke break)—but leave if you’re about to blow!
The Bible says to leave your father and mother and cleave to your wife, and sometimes you have to leave your children or else you feel like cleaving them alright! Ephesians 6:1-4 (READ IT) Without anger. Colossians 3:21 also says, “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.”
Love your children.
A Spanish father and son had a terrible, argumentative relationship. The son finally ran away. The father searched and searched for him, but couldn’t find him. Finally he put an ad in the paper, saying, “Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you, your Father.” On Saturday at noon, Paco showed up. So did 800 other men named Paco, all looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.
Do you get what God wants for you as a father? To love Him and demonstrate that to your children.

We've got the foundation and frame, the interior, and now the exterior. Yes! That means landscaping (my forte). Your impression on the world should be for them to follow your example and love and obey God too. Fathers are supposed to publicly show their love for God and obedience to Him. READ 6:8-9) What does that mean? All of those external markings and symbols mean one thing; that is a public reminder to yourself and a public testimony that God owns you, and you belong to Him.
Like signing your name to the title to a vehicle, or some people tattoo their lover’s name on their arm—it shows ownership and faithfulness!
This means fathers should not set the example that your love and obedience to God are things to be ashamed of.
Like the flower must open up in order to spread pollen and reproduce itself, so you must man up in order to see your children one day follow God!
Men, will you build a Godly house? Or will you refuse God's power and try it on your own?

in Jesus,
Nate

True Freedom, Romans 8

2010-08-16T15:13:00.005-05:00

After being kicked out of the worship service, this faithful pastor remained in the same city and reached a new group of people. They had terrible problems with sin, but the pastor struggled daily, teaching them and discipling them. These problems made him think of a church that he heard good things about, but had never visited. He longed to visit the church where a group of Christians from different races gathered together and needed guidance that he could give, but he had made a commitment to go on a mission trip. So until he could finish the missions trip and visit this other church, he wrote them a letter to help guide their theology. He put it into the hands of a deaconess, sent her off, and while Phoebe carried the letter to Rome, the pastor—the Apostle Paul—would never make it to that Roman Church. He finished taking money to Jerusalem for the famine, but was arrested, and though he did go to Rome, it was to a prison. How ironic that he spent 3 chapters of the letter to the church in Rome on sin’s slavery of us, our attempts to wrestle free of it, and the freedom that comes finally through Jesus Christ.

Today I want to tell you what Apostle Paul wrote to Rome from Corinth about how you can find freedom. You’ll see in verses 1–4 how True Freedom comes through Jesus Christ, and staying free comes through Jesus Christ.
1)Find True Freedom through Jesus Christ (1–2)
(READ IT) True Freedom is freedom from sin and its punishment comes from Jesus Christ
There is freedom from condemnation of sin and it comes through Jesus Christ
But someone is asking, “Freedom from what?” GOOD QUESTION
The “therefore” in verse 1 means look before chapter 8 in order to understand chapter 8. Chapters 6–7 established that we are hopelessly bound by sin all our lives.
What does all this mean? The truth about our history is that we all have a common ancestor—not Cromagnum man, but Adam and Eve. They sinned, and fell from grace, and we are stuck in sin and unable to find freedom from doing bad and feeling bad. But when you believe in Jesus Christ’s death on your cross, and Him getting up from your grave, the punishment of sin is gone forever! No more paying for your sins! No more condemnation!
You can break free of prison, you can break free of a bad job, you can get freedom from an abusive relationship, but all of those things are temporary freedom in this temporary life.
The only freedom you can experience that is forever is freedom in Jesus Christ from sin by believing in His death for you, and His resurrection so you will rise again. Then, and only then, will you be in the land of the free!
Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”
Jesus said in Luke 4, after reading this from a scroll in a Nazareth synagogue worship setting, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” (Luke 4:21). Jesus came to bring freedom! You can be free. The birdcage has been opened and He holds out his hand and welcomes you to come out!
We don’t understand how good we have it in America, freedom to believe, speak, and act as we desire. It costs a lot of lives! As of February 23, 2010, 4,379 U. S. troops had been killed in Iraq since the 2003 Operation began.
Freedom from our destination of sin was free for us, but it cost God the life of His Son Jesus Christ!
When I was a student at Moody Bible Institute, our education was tuition free. It cost, but not nearly as much as it should have, thanks to generous donors. Once, a professor heard us talking about how great this was, and corrected us. He said we shouldn't say our education is tuition free because it isn't. It was free for us, but our freedom cost someone else. Instead, we should refer to it as a tuition paid education. With your salvation, it was not free. It was only free for you.
The opportunity for you to Find Freedom from sin fractured the Trinity! The error in human judgment cost God the Son His life because He loves you. Jesus came to set people free from sin. Why? God has a better life for humanity than to leave us in our sin.
That means when you see an oil spill, a terrible economy, political and spiritual leaders failing morally, friends and families breaking apart because of sin, that there is hope for a better life in Jesus Christ!
If you’re waiting for political leaders to change the world for the better, you’ll wait a long time.
If you’re waiting for everything to be like the good old days, you’ll be waiting a long time.
If you’re waiting for a little more money, that husband or wife to change, that car to die so you can buy another, that house to get fixed—if anything in this world is your hope for happiness you’ll be waiting a long time!
But if you’re counting on Jesus of Nazareth, and His freedom, and counting on releasing your life to His hands, you can find peace and happiness today!
Like tired soldier whose heavy pack is suddenly lifted, so Jesus Christ will lift the load of sin today! In time the guilt will fade, and you will experience freedom.
Find Freedom in Jesus Christ

Not only can you find freedom through Jesus Christ, but . . .
2) Staying Free comes through Jesus Christ (v. 3–4)
That which freed us and continues to free us from sin and its results is the new law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, not the law of sin and death (v. 2–3)
This word for “set you free” is eleutherosen, that means “to cause someone or something to be free from domination.” That word is used also in John 8:32, “then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” v. 36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
It means Jesus Christ not only sets us free once, but is the One who sets us free daily from the domination of our own sin. Vv. 3–4 (READ IT)
Remember “therefore” in v. 1? It’s there because of chapters 6–7. 7:16 tells us, “And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.” When you sin, you feel guilty, and you desire to be better. How do you know when you’re acting “better”? God’s Law.
V. 7:17, “As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.”
V. 21–25a (READ IT) “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Although the Law of God is perfect (Psalm 119), reviving the soul, we made it weak by staining it with our sinful hands (8:3), and no matter how many good works you do, they can’t affect your salvation. All of humanity's best isn't enough, and humanity made God's law weak due to infecting it with sin.
Recently I heard of a terrorist plot discovered and disarmed in NY. Russian spies recently were caught and rounded up in Texas. These people were planning on hijacking the nation! When you take your salvation back into your own hands, you are hijacking the new life God is trying to build in you!
This is practical, because everyone sins. Daily, weekly, we slip and sin or deliberately do what we should not. Then we feel guilty (unless it’s such a habit that you’re callous), and then you desire to “fix it” by fasting, giving more money, punishing yourself somehow, doing something good for someone else.
But you didn’t save yourself, and you can’t erase sin by doing good! But Jesus Christ can fix our sin not only the day we’re saved, but the day afterwards, the month after that, 10 years later, and forever!
That’s what this means in Romans 8:4, “so that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not walk according to the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit.”
So how do we live in true freedom? Verse 4 says to walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:16, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” WALK IN THE SPIRIT, AND HAVE FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. Again, it was not possible any other way except by God, and we owe God an enormous debt because God did it!
A little boy once made a wooden boat, working and slaving away until he thought it was the image he had in his mind. He put it into the water, and a wind carried it unexpectedly away from him, and kept carrying it away until he lost sight of it. The boat didn't turn up anywhere. Months went by of him looking for it. Finally, near Christmas time, he spied it in a toy store window. It had his specific marks of craftsmanship and planing. He raced into the store and told the owner, "That's my boat! Where did you find it?" The owner replied, "I'm sorry, but that's my boat. If you want it, you'll have to pay for it." The price was high, but the boy paid it without thinking. As he left the store, with a smile that couldn't be erased, the boy carressed the boat and said, "You’re twice mine. Mine because I made you, and now, mine because I bought you.”
That is exactly what God did to each person who found freedom in Jesus Christ. When you came to Him and threw your future into His lap, His word says in Luke 15:7 and 10 that the angels in heaven throw a party over every lost sinner who repents! God achieved what the best standard of achievement could not—freedom from sin and its condemnation
Maintaining holiness is not within our power; it is available through the power of the Holy Spirit in you. But you can’t fix it yourself.
We try to fix our own lives, and that’s why it doesn’t work. The spiral of sin keeps going downward, because as we sin and try to fix our salvation ourselves, we can’t do it. So we try harder. Then we can’t do that, so we try harder.
No matter how hard you try, you will never plant a neat row of corn on a paved highway in the middle of Darlington! In order to grow corn on Highway 23, you need to completely change the nature of the ground! Tear it up! Out with the old asphalt, and in with the new, fertile soil!
God did it! He completely changed your heart by His grace so that you heard and understood His offer of salvation. That’s why you need to depend on the Holy Spirit in you when you sin, and confess it to God, and walk by the Spirit.
The reason some of you are hurting is because you are caught in sin and like an animal in a trap you got into it but can’t get out. The more you are in there, the worse it gets, and now you’ve lost hope. You say, “I can’t fix it. I don’t know how I’m going to make it. I, I, I, I, I!”
Christian, God didn’t save you to abandon you. He’s waiting for you to call to Him “Help!”
Like a child learning to walk, who needs to be picked up because he falls, so you need to be picked up. God wants to, and reaches out His hands every time we fall.
Verse 4, “that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in . . .” who? “in us!” You! Me! Every true Christian since this Bible was written!

What will you do? What should you do? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Call on Him today, and tell God “I want the freedom that comes through Jesus Christ.” If you are a believer stuck in Romans 7, cry out to Him and depend on Him. Reclaim that freedom in Him.

Please contact us with any prayer requests, questions on this, or needs.
in Jesus,
Nate Whiteside

Revelation 22:17, Quench Your Spiritual Thirst

2010-06-14T17:00:00.004-05:00

Have you ever experienced dehydration? During a working trip in Mexico when the weather was consistently near 100 degrees, we worked every morning from 6am-12noon outside, pouring the foundations for buildings, with cement we mixed by hand, into holes we dug with pick axes and shovels. Cutting edge technology. During one of those hot summer days, we were near completing one of our six foot by six foot by six foot holes in the ground, and when everyone else took a coke break, I kept working. I thought I was helping the team, and that if anything, people would think I was really hard working for skipping the break. I was wrong. On the ride home, something terrible happened to me. Suddenly I had a burst of energy, and remember talking really, really fast, and then my legs went numb, and the numbness and tingling went through the rest of my body. I said I needed help, and we stopped the van and pulled off the road by a drink stand. One of our helpers was a nurse, and she realized I was dehydrated, and according to her I was on the verge of heat stroke. She and others hauled me out of the van, and over to the drinking stand, and I drank 5 12 ounce Joya drinks in a row before I started to feel better. It took the whole ride home and the rest of the day to recover, and a lot of fluid later, but I finally did. I was desperate, and dangerously thirsty, and by God’s grace I was satisfied.

Need: Whether or not we’ve been to Mexico, whether or not you’ve worked all day without a break, all of us are thirsty this morning. We are thirsty spiritually for something that will satisfy

Look with me in your Bibles at Revelation 22:17. If you’re looking for a place to satisfy that desperate thirst, here it is. You can be a Christian and still be thirsty, or someone who has never heard about Jesus Christ and be thirsty.
(READ IT)
This book of Revelation is just that—John’s vision from Jesus Christ Himself, as he was on an island as a form of imprisonment for his faith in Jesus. He is at the end of his vision and after everything he has seen, both the positives of the blessings of following Jesus that wait for us, and the judgment and suffering that waits for everyone who rejects Jesus, John says, “Come!”
Notice there are three parts to this verse: The Spirit and the Bride, the one who hears, and the one who is thirsty. All of them are different persons, but all of them are thirsty for the same thing—Jesus Christ.
Like a three leaved clover, they all have a life giving stem in common—the life giving Jesus Christ who died and is alive again so you can believe in Him and have that eternal life.
The first ones are the Holy Spirit and the Bride. The Holy Spirit was sent after Jesus went away, in Acts 2, to occupy every person who follows the teaching of Jesus Christ. He groans, in Romans 8, waiting for that time when Jesus will come back. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to give you guilty feelings when you sin and to give you feelings of assurance when you are obedient to God, to open peoples’ eyes to Jesus Christ, to work through Jesus’ church until He comes! The Holy Spirit waits and desires for Jesus to come.
The Bride—which is the New Testament’s way of describing the Church (Eph 5). It says, “And the Spirit and the Bride say ‘Come!’” This is in response to Jesus’ words in verse 12 before, where he said, “Look, I am coming soon!” This is an informational statement, meaning “this is what the Holy Spirit and the Church do—they desire that Jesus Christ will come, and come soon!”
It means God the Holy Spirit and the history of Christians for 2,000 years have wanted this! Jesus is coming back in order to fix everything broken, heal, help, and to make “all things new.”
It means Jesus is coming back
A few days ago I was in charge of making my kids' lunch. I decided to have peanutbutter sandwiches and the first compliment I found was fudge. So I told my kids we were going to have peanutbutter and fudge sandwiches. You should have seen their faces! They were so excited because they were about to receive peanutbutter and fudge. Some of them tasted the fudge and were even more excited. That's expectation, and how we should feel about Jesus coming back!

The second group spoken of is “the one who hears,” and instead of John saying “people who hear say come,”
The word “say” here is a command. John commands the people who hear everything he has said to also desire Jesus Christ to come back. John wrote about the churches needing to be faithful, about how there will be evil to sway us away from following God, about how your faith will be tested, about how terrible judgment waits for people who decide not to follow Jesus, about how we who follow Jesus must endure to the end (the one who endures to the end will be saved) and then says, “let the one who hears say ‘Come!’”
In the Bible, Deuteronomy 6 is called “The Great Shema” among the Jewish people, and it says (quote), and when they said, “the one who hears” they meant “the one who hears and obeys.” Jesus said, “let him who has an ear, let him hear!” He meant “the one who hears and obeys.” John knew that all of you who are sitting here today would not understand or appreciate what he is saying. So he says, “let him who hears and obeys” say come!
Jesus said in John 7, “let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the Scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’”
This is the picture of someone who has drank from the water of life Jesus has to offer and turns around, waving his hands, saying, Come! Come on! Trust me, it works!
A man was walking in the desert, and came to a jug of water by an old well pump. The jug had a sign on it that said, “you have to pour the full jug of water into the pump in order to get fresh, cool, clean water out.” The man hesitated, debating whether he should take what he knew was drinkable water (though it probably was old and had bacteria), or take a risk so he could get clean, pure water. He took the risk. He poured the water into the pump to prime it, and the jug was soon empty. He pulled the pump handle and worked it up and down, but nothing came out. Again he pumped it, and nothing. Again, nothing. Finally, he was thinking it was a hoax--a cruel trick, when he pumped one more time and water began dripping. He pumped again, and more water slowly trickled out. He pumped again and it became a steady flow, and the more he pumped the bigger it got until it ran all over the desert ground, and he filled up the jug and drank, and drank, and drank until he couldn't drink anymore. He filled up the jug one more time, put the cork on it, and took a pen (don't ask where he got a pen in the desert--just work with me) he wrote on the jug, “It works! Trust me!”

We who have tasted and know should say, "Hey! It works! Trust me!"
Desiring Jesus to come back is the natural outcome of a follower of Jesus.
The ones who follow Jesus, believing in His death and resurrection have had their thirst quenched, but haven’t drank enough! Because life has a way of making us thirsty for God! We try to find all kinds of things that satisfy, but only God satisfies.
Have you become satisfied with what little water you have received? Do you want Jesus to come back more than anything? Do you want His healing? His power? His new life?

3) The third group of people John appeals to are the people who thirst, and haven’t yet discovered that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to relieve your thirst. This third part is for those who don’t yet have Jesus to quench their thirst, but they are thirsty.
What does God say in response to you when you need help? When you can’t make it? He says, “Come!”
In the Bible, God has always said, “Come” to those who are thirsty and needy.
The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark with you and all your household.”
In Exodus 32:26, Moses said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!”
In Isaiah 1:18, God says, “Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow.”
Jesus said to his disciples when he called them, “Come to me!”
Jesus said to go to the highways and byways and compel people to “Come in”
Now, Jesus says in Revelation, “Come! Come! Come! Come!” “I am the bread of life, so come! I am the water that you can drink from forever, so come! I am the comfort, the peace, the love, the awesome party you’ve been waiting for! Come! I am the father, who welcomes every rebellious son or daughter home and says, “Throw a party, he’s back! She’s home! Come!”
Like in Mexico, there was no doubt that something was wrong with me. I didn’t know what until the nurse started handing me drinks.
You, who don’t believe in Jesus Christ, you are desperately thirsty, and know that something is wrong with you! But you don’t know what. You don’t know it, but the thing that is wrong is there is a hole inside of you that is shaped like the 1st Century carpenter from Nazareth in Israel. It’s a thirst that water can’t quench, that only by giving up your life to Jesus Christ can you find this water of life!
At the end of Revelation, Jesus speaks again, and says, “Come! Come, all who are thirsty!” Do you hear his cry, see his hands with nail holes in them, see his feet and side, the head with deep thorn scars?
Are you looking for a high that will last longer than a bottle of brandy or roll of weed, or a weekend of sleeping around? Have you tried your best but keep coming up with emptiness? Are you lonely? You don’t know it, but you long for that water of life.
What did Jesus say, “And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge.”
If you’ve never understood until now that you can have eternal life simply by believing in Jesus’ death and resurrection, and that He paid what you had to pay so you can have life with Him, and you want to believe in Him and have that life, then pray now and tell him.

Knowing God, Ruth

2010-06-14T16:51:00.003-05:00

It was a cold day at Sunset Lodge in Michigan, and nearly 100 teens were gathered for our annual winter retreat. I was one of the teens listening to the speaker as he urged us to remain pure and godly, and he said something that shaped my entire dating life. He said to pray for your future wife, asking God to protect her, keep her pure, and make her more like Christ. From that point on I prayed that prayer every day. While I waited, I prayed, and allowed God to lead me to the woman I eventually married. After we were married, we had Trinity, and when Trinity was a little over a year, we wanted to have a second child. We again had to wait, because (for reasons we still don’t know) for a time we could not have anymore children. We came to the point of adoption, and began to discuss options with those who had already gone through a successful adoption process, and while we waited we prayed, and then God allowed us to have another child—Tommy.

You are waiting for something today. Either you are waiting on God for someone to marry, someone to call your child, the right job to open up, enough money for medical expenses, a cure for a sickness, someone who needs Jesus to come to Him, a friend or relative who is making bad decisions to make right ones, or world peace. Everyone is waiting for something to happen! While we wait—you must trust in God!

Today we’ll see 4 Lessons from Ruth as a model for what you can do while you wait for God

Ruth is someone who we should not even be talking about, an unlikely hero from an unlikely region—Moab, an unlikely gender—female. Our story opens with Ruth having married Mahlon, son of Elimelech and Naomi, from the 200 person town of Bethlehem. Mahlon and his parents, along with his brother Chilion, traveled from Bethlehem to Moab, going at least 50 miles around the Dead Sea to find food during a time of famine. Even though they were close geographically, it was possible because of the landscape for one area to have plenty while another had famine. In 1931, the same thing happened in that region, where Bethlehem had famine while the other side of the Dead Sea had plenty. In the land of Moab, Ruth and Mahlon remained married for 10 years until Mahlon, his father, and his brother all died. Ruth was a widow with only her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. So Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, heard that God had provided for His people (1:6) and so she said goodbye, and Ruth’s sister-in-law decided to stay behind. But we’re told with very strong Hebrew language that Ruth “clung to” Naomi, with a strong, unconditional love. Ruth made a strong statement of faith and dependence on God, despite her desperate situation, saying “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God,” (1:16).

The first Lesson we can learn from Ruth, is while you wait for God, love people.
1) Love people unconditionally
God shows His unconditional love to His people, who are supposed to show it to others
Ruth took a step of faith by clinging to Naomi, disowning everything and trusting in Naomi’s God, and helping Naomi. God showed His hesed for Naomi in 2:20 through Boaz providing for Ruth and Naomi. So the way God shows His unconditional love for people is many times through other people!
It means that when you are hurting, suffering, praying, begging God for help, continue to have others in mind and devote yourself to loving others. If we stop loving others because we feel bad, there will never be a time when we love each other.
It’s like your family, how you stick together, stand up for each other, defend each other, give of yourself to each other—God’s people should be like that to their family, church family, and even those who aren’t Christian.
Who has God put in your path who is also hurting? Love them.

The second lesson we learn from Ruth is not only to love others unconditionally, but to:
2) Lean on God
God has a redeemer for those who decide to trust in Him, so trust in Him!
Leaning on God does not mean sitting still. In fact, Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God,” but doesn’t mean being sedentary or lazy. It means stop trying to do things your way and do things God’s way! Ruth did what the law provided for them—she gleaned in the fields of grain, picking up the leftover grain that fell as the harvesters cut it down.
Boaz noticed her, and her work ethic, and offered her better grain, more grain, and protection. Ruth met Boaz, who was kind to her and also trusted in God
While she waited for God to provide, Ruth did not just sit still, seek free money or handouts, or give in to laziness. Ruth worked in the fields gleaning grain in order to do what she could.
Leaning on God means we do our best and after you’ve done everything you can do, leave the rest up to God! Leave room for God! It means when your money runs out, your sin overflows, and you’re lonely and discouraged, you should stretch out to God and lean on Him!
Remember the words from that song, “Lean on me, when you’re not strong, I’ll take your hand, I’ll help you carry on,” is not just for one another, but for God! Lean on God more than anyone or anything else!
A few weeks ago Trinity and I were playing with helicopter seeds from a maple tree. We decided to take a few seeds and plant them in a pot of dirt I mixed together, and then we watered the seeds in. A few days later, someone accidentally took most of the dirt out of the pot, and Trinity was sad that the seeds wouldn’t grow. Two days ago, we noticed a healthy 4 inch maple shoot sticking up out of that pot. That’s perseverance!
You can be exactly like that, as you trust in God, despite life’s problems, in spite of people taking things from you, in spite of bad decisions, in spite of obstacles, you can still grow if you lean on God! God can provide everything you need!
Lean on God by trusting Him while you wait and persevere. Don’t give up! God has a redeemer for you who trust in Him! Now is the time when people need to see your faith in God. Now is the time people need to see a Christian who endures suffering! Now is the time when the world full of violence, fighting, crime, sexual perversion, abuse, broken families, crumbling nations, weak economics—now is the time they need to see that Jesus Christ didn’t just die on the cross for your sin once upon a time, and rise from the dead once upon a time, but He is alive today and giving strength today, and you have hope today in Him, and you know that you know that you know that you know you have eternal life, and an abundant life now! That’s leaning on God!
Steven Curtis Chapman came out with an album on November last year, called "Beauty From Ashes." The secular music industry praised it more highly than a Christian Contemporary artist’s album has been praised in a long time. Why? Because it was about how he still believed in God even though he lost his five year old daughter. The entire album is the story of his grief, worry, pain, joy, and hope. Leaning on God

3) Leap in faith by asking the redeemer to save you
when people want God’s redemption, they must take a step of faith
Ruth took a leap of faith in order to find redemption, by going to the threshing floor at night and proposing to Boaz. Read what happens in chatper 3 (3:1-18, skim). Ruth had already taken refuge under God’s wings (2:12) and Boaz noticed it. Now she knew Boaz was a redeemer, and Naomi commanded her to pursue it, and she did!
When birds are in a nest, there comes a time when they need one day to take a leap of faith! Don’t’ stay in the nest forever, you eventually have to go out in faith.

4)Let God work and be redeemed
God redeems those who trust in Him for redemption
Boaz showed unconditional love towards Ruth and Redeemed Ruth. But beyond Boaz, God was the One who orchestrated this marriage. God worked so that Ruth had been married for 10 years and hadn’t had any children before her husband died, and that must have hurt. God had planned for Ruth—someone who wasn’t supposed to be accepted in God’s community—to marry Boaz (someone who did not have to redeem Ruth) in order to provide for Ruth and Naomi, in order to provide for the line of King David (Israel’s greatest king and leader to this day), and in order to provide a Messiah for the world! Ruth 4 tells us how Ruth’s lineage led to David, and Matthew 1:5 shows us David was an ancestor of Jesus Christ.
This means that when you let God work to save you from your problems, you get better results than when you come up with a solution that is ungodly. This means that after you worked
Ruth’s act of faith
You may not need to be redeemed for salvation, but someone today does! And they are waiting to see if you will Love, Lean, Leap, and Let God work and bless you.

Nichole Nordeman sang a song "Brave," where she said "I am small and I speak when I'm spoken to, but I'm willing to give it all for you . . . so long status quo, I think I just let go, You make me want to be brave."
While you wait for God, love people, lean on God, leap in faith into God’s hands, and let God work.

4 Changes for Knowing God in an Ungodly Culture, pt 2

2010-06-14T16:42:00.005-05:00

In his prime, Mike was sought after by Six Flags Great America and Walt Disney for writing music group performances, like the show Glee. In the late 1980’s, if you went to Six Flags Great America, you could catch a show or musical written and sometimes performed by Mike and his group. He was called to the ministry, and God used his music talent and athleticism to reach hundreds of young people for Christ, and to lead God’s people in inspiring worship every Sunday. I worked with him in praise and worship, and with teen ministries for several years. When I went to Moody, he was one of the only ones who kept in touch with me and encouraged me to continue in my call to the ministry. Unfortunately, one day Mike revealed some sin that had crept in, and ended up resigning. We were shocked and devastated, and it was an ugly church-split situation. Mike had everything going for him with his talent and skill, and yet spiritually he had become weak and gave into stealing. I love him still very, very much, but it caught up to him.
If you remember, we’re studying Samson in Judges 16. So far, we have said:
1) Change your lifestyle, before God changes it for you
If you don’t live for God, sometimes God will cause problems so you will start to live for Him.
When God’s people accept an ungodly culture, sometimes God causes dissension between His people and unbelievers in order to free His people from them.

2) Confess your sin, while God is patient
When God doesn’t punish you for sin, and still uses you, it isn’t because He thinks your sin is okay. It’s because He’s giving you a chance to repent.
God’s patience is not the same as God’s forgiveness

Follow the downward spiral with me, and see that in Judges 16:1-3, Samson continued his life of immorality.
Keep going and he meets Delilah, who, after her fourth attempt to seduce him into telling his secret, finally gets it out of him. Delilah is a Philistines woman (idol worshipper), and Samson not only wants a woman without marriage, but an ungodly woman. The Bible says that the first two attempts to get Samson’s secret to his strength came from the rulers of the Philistines, who supplied Delilah with the thongs and rope to tie up Samson, and offered her 1,100 shekels (28 lbs) of silver per ruler if she could subdue him. Knowing there were 5 top leaders of the Philistines, that would be 5,500 shekels, which was 550 times the annual wage of the average Philistine. If the annual wage were $25,000, Delilah would have been offered $15 million to seduce and subdue Samson. She could not resist.
Delilah was the driver the last two attempts, using everything in her power to get Samson to tell his secret, and finally succeeding. On the day she lulled him into her lap and shaved his head. Judges 16:18-21 tells us (READ IT)

I want to say two more truths about Samson and then I’m done.
3) Consider godly character as more valuable than anything else

God doesn’t care about your physical abilities or appearance as much as He cares about your character and conduct. It’s the motives that will be judged one day!
It means that though Samson had unmatched physical strength, it wasn’t enough!
God cares about the inside. Samson was unmatched physically, the most feared Israelite by the Philistine superpower of his region. He was the war hero, the mvp, the Olympic gold medalist, the NBA superstar, the hockey mvp, all of it! Yet spiritually he was weaker than a pee wee toddler just learning to play ball.
It means you can be the most handsome, beautiful, strong, fast, most skilled, but if the inside is full of ungodliness, in God’s eyes you are not handsome, beautiful, strong, fast, or the most skilled. Remember what Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:8, “for bodily discipline is of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life, and also for the life to come.”
God cares more about the inside of you than He does about the outside of you. God cares more about WHO you are, than WHAT you do for a career, or HOW MUCH money you make, or HOW MANY hours a week you work, or WHERE you came from.
This is important! Because some of you Christians think your musical or athletic skill is enough to please God, and you don’t care about growing spiritually! That’s just like Samson!
IMAGE: Would you drink out of a cup at a restaurant that was shiny clean on the outside, but dirty on the inside? God wants people who are beautiful on the inside as well as on the outside!
Everything physical is doomed to end one day, but godliness is forever!
Isaiah 40:6, 8, says, “All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flower of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of God endures forever”
We need a group of Christians who will be the first to make spiritual strength their priority. It starts with disciplining yourself to act more like Jesus and follow His teachings.
Like in the military: Would the Army take someone who just came to a recruiting center and put a gun in their hands and send them to Afghanistan? Would the Milwaukee Brewers take just anyone who could swing a bat and throw a ball and put them on the pitcher’s mound and in the batting rotation (some would say yes). No! In the military, it would be bad for two reasons: 1) the army’s chance of success would drop dramatically without a trained soldier, and 2) your chance of survival would drop dramatically without training.
Spiritually, we are involved in a war far more deadly than anything physical, especially because you can’t see it! It’s a war inside of you, and all around you, where Satan our enemy disguises himself as an agent of light, and your sin nature (and mine) desire to follow the devil’s temptations. And without you spending time training, the mission of Jesus building His church will not benefit from your involvement, and 2) your chances of finishing this life committed to Jesus Christ will also drop drastically.
You need to become familiar with the spiritual disciplines. Here are some basic disciplines that all believers need to be aware of, as listed by Donald Whitney in his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life: Bible reading/intake, prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling what God is doing, and learning about the Christian life. Also, confession, accountability, humility, submission to authority, submission to each other, celebration, affirmation, and sacrifice are necessary. These take a lifetime to master, so you need to start now!
So today decide to search more for God and being like Him than any other goal you have! Young people graduating, if you want a happy life, make knowing Jesus Christ the most important thing in your life. If you get hooked on God, He will show you the good life.
Like Charles H. Spurgeon said
What the hand is to the lute, what the breath is to the flute, what is fragrance to the smell, what the spring is to the well, what the flower is to the bee, that is Jesus Christ to me;
What’s the mother to the child, what the guide in pathless wild, what is oil to troubled wave, what is ransom to the slave, what is water to the sea, that is Jesus Christ to me.

4) The last point I have is in Judges 17. Though Samson had been humiliated, and fell morally and physically, he had one more chance to be redeemed.
He was in the temple of Dagon, mocked and forced to perform for the crowd. With all the rulers in the temple, and 3,000 men and women on the roof (meaning it was full), Samson received God’s strength one more time in Judges 16:28-31. Samson sacrificed his life to glorify God!
4) Create a fresh sacrifice if you have fallen down.
If you have failed to
1) Change your lifestyle before God stirred you; and failed to 2) Confess your sin before God’s patience ran out, and failed to 3) Consider godly character above everything else in the world, then 4) Create a fresh sacrifice
God is slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness, and accepts people who humble themselves and repent.
It means you are never too bad to be used by God. It means God is the God of 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 10th, 100th, 1,000th, infinite chances to change! It means God is not cruel towards people who repent! If Samson could be used again, so can you! God has a purpose even for you in 2010, even after you’ve blown it, so get up, dust yourself off, and cry out to God again.
Like a gentle mother who carefully corrects her children, so God will keep correcting you, and open His arms to use you again.
Don’t get satisfied if you’ve fallen down. Get back up. Create a fresh sacrifice.
Did you hear the key word, though? Sacrifice. What did Samson give up to glorify God? Everything! He is listed in Hebrews 11 as a man of faith who served God, but he didn’t serve God by his life, but by his death. Look at Judges 16:30. It says, “thus he killed many more when he died, than when he lived.”
You, Christian, who are living with everything physical and nothing spiritual, you need to take your life and sacrifice it to God!
I have a box full of musical awards. This box represents 7 years of practicing, performing, playing music for church, school, the Christian Youth Center, Daycamp, jazz band awards in Illinois and Tennessee and in between. I say with Paul in Philippians 3, that “I consider them “skubula” that I may gain Christ and be found in Him!” That I may know Him more!
These physical abilities, mental abilities, looks, talents, and skills, mean nothing if you have no spiritual life! That’s why Jesus is so important, because He is the ONLY one who can give you life!
The great news is, no matter where you have been, you can CREATE A FRESH SACRIFICE!
Samson brought down the temple of Dagon, and all the Philistine rulers. He killed the rule of sin in his culture and in himself by one man’s sacrifice! If you will take this bold step today and throw yourself down at the cross of Jesus Christ, you will not only start clean in your own life, but God will demolish the hold of sin in your life! Do you need to break free from the habit of drinking? Create a fresh sacrifice today! Do you need freedom from the habit of gossip? Slander? Your wild tongue? Hurting yourself or others through physical abuse? Hurting your marriage through verbal abuse? Are you hateful towards your brother? All of these are traps that you can be free from! Throw it all down before Jesus Christ today. First trusting in Him as your savior by believing in His death and resurrection, and 2nd by giving Him the driver’s seat.

1) Change your lifestyle before God stirred you; and failed to 2) Confess your sin before God’s patience ran out, and failed to 3) Consider godly character above everything else in the world, then 4) Create a fresh start
Remember Mike? All talent and skill, without spiritual discipline? He was restored to ministry. He went through the hard work of confession and repentance, and God began using him again.
What about you?

"4 Changes For Knowing God in an Ungodly Culture," pt 1

2010-05-26T13:35:00.005-05:00

I once worked with a man who was being used by God on the outside to help with our youth group, but little did we know he was living a life of deep sinfulness and immorality at the same time. Fortunately, God protected us by not letting him get too close to our kids. Unfortunately, this man is in prison today because he did not change.
A friend of my friend, who was a pastor, and the best man at my friend’s wedding was being used by God to draw thousands of people to his church every weekend, and the church exploded with growth, but he too was taken away for sin he committed.
Another man, who was being used by God to lead God’s people in worship and lead hundreds of teenagers to Christ, suddenly had some skeletons that came out of the closet, and this man was asked to resign and his ministry ruined because of stealing.
Let me clarify: I know many pastors and ministry leaders between here, Chicago, and Dallas, and by far most I have met are Godly men and women, serving the Lord faithfully, and in their private lives they are passionate as well as in their public lives.
But some of you can identify with the 3 men I mentioned earlier, can’t you?
According to the May 2009 American Religious Identification Survey by Trinity College in Hartford, CT, “America is less Christian than it was 20 years ago, and Christianity is not losing out to other religions, but primarily to a rejection of religion altogether . . . 75% of the Americans surveyed called themselves Christians . . . in 1990, the figure was 86%. William Donahue, president of the Catholic League said he thinks a radical shift towards individualism over the last quarter-century has a lot to do it. ‘The three most dreaded words are thou shalt not,’ he told Lou Dobbs. "Notice they are not atheists -- they are saying I don't want to be told what to do with my life." At the same time there has been an increase in the number of people expressing no religious affiliation. President Obama and Mitt Romney have addressed “those of no faith,” as a religious group.

According to a gallop poll of 1,500 Americans 18 and older in the Pennsylvania region in 2010,the responses indicated

“I believe that the God of the Bible is one in essence, but distinct in person—Father, Son and Holy Spirit” 75%
“I am willing to risk everything that is important in my life for Jesus Christ” 52%
“I believe the Bible has decisive authority over everything I say and do” 49%
“I believe that nothing I have done or do can earn my salvation” 48%
Less than half believe in salvation by faith alone through God's grace alone!
“I take unpopular stands when my faith dictates” 42%
“I have inner contentment when things go wrong” 35%
“I regularly study the Bible to find direction for my life” 28%
A little more than 25% regularly study the Bible! If this sample reflects the rest of the culture, there is a lack of influence of the Bible in the culture.
“I control my tongue” 22%

Christians, we need to take God seriously and live a godly lifestyle. Even if God is using you, you must change any ungodly ways and confess sin, or you may share our hero's fate.

Today we see Samson, a man who God had a plan for and gave strength to, but who lived immorally, and God no longer used.
Today I want to tell you 4 C’s to change your ungodly lifestyle, a.k.a. “SIN”. These are important, and it might save your life to listen.

In Judges 13, the Angel of the Lord came to Samson’s parents, Manoah and his wife, and told them they would have a son, who was to be a Nazarite and would begin to deliver God’s people from the Philistines (Judges 13:5).
When Samson grew up, he wanted to marry a foreign wife. This was against God’s law, because Deuteronomy 7:1–3 says, “you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.”
What does God say about this in Judges 14? In verse 4 we’re told (READ IT)

1) Change your lifestyle, before God changes it for you
If you don’t live for God, sometimes God will cause problems so you will start to live for Him.
When God’s people accept an ungodly culture, sometimes God causes dissension between His people and unbelievers in order to free His people from them.
Also, later in Notice the story of the donkey jawbone battle: Judges 15:11 (READ IT), where the Judahites came out against Samson with 3,000 men, but didn’t care about being oppressed by the Philistines. They were comfortable with the ungodly culture they were living in!
It means if you’re living an ungodly lifestyle, and know Christ, today you need to ask His forgiveness and change. If you won’t change, God might come to you like He did to Samson, and open up a hurtful situation so that you will have to change.
It means God is in the business of stirring things up! Why? Because Christians constantly drift towards a lifestyle of comfortable camouflage.
We’re like in the movie Avatar, where Jake Sully goes into the culture of the Na’vi people in order to find out what they’re like to exploit their weakness, and turns into one of them.
Do you know what Jesus said about people who claim to know Him and don’t? Listen to His own words in Matthew 10:
32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.
33 “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;
36 and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.
37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
38 “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
39 “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
A doctor or nurse must sometimes re break a bone in order to set it and help it mend, or slash the Achilles heels of a newborn baby who is born with clubbed feet. All of this is short term pain for long term gain.
We are in a culture going farther and farther from God.
Are you following God or the culture? Are you knowingly sinning? Are there more problems than normal? Change it! Pray and confess the sin, and ask God to help solve whatever needs fixing.
Continue with me as we watch Samson.

Along the way to the Timnite girl, Samson killed a lion, later took honey from the lion, and made up a riddle with it for the guests of his wedding feast to guess. It was against the Nazarite vow to touch a dead body, so Samson broke his vow. In addition to marrying an idol worshipper, Samson broke his Nazarite vow. God used Samson to defeat the Philistines by a) beating up 30 men and stealing their clothes when his riddle was solved; b) tying 300 foxes’ tails together in pairs, with a torch in each of the 150 pairs. Burning down shocks, standing gran, vineyards, and olive groves (huge financial loss); c) killing 1,000 Philistines with a donkey’s jawbone. But God wasn’t happy with Samson’s immorality.
2) Confess your sin, while God is patient
When God doesn’t punish you for sin, and still uses you, it isn’t because He thinks your sin is okay. It’s because He’s giving you a chance to repent.
God’s patience is not the same as God’s forgiveness
Later, Samson will get the consequences he has earned for choosing to disobey God. For now, while God uses him, Samson has opportunity to confess sin and change his lifestyle.
This means for us that God is patient with you, waiting for your confession and repentance of sin, sometimes even while He uses you.
Simile: It’s like a fisherman who arrives on the dock and gets his gear ready, and then realizes his pole is cracked and broken. He’ll use it one last time if he can, but unless it can be fixed, he throws it aside.
It’s like getting dressed in the morning, and half way through the day you realize you have a big hole in your pants. You have no time to go all the way back home and change, so you use those pants the rest of the day but never again unless they are fixed.
God will use you even if you stray into sin, but only for a time. Don’t think He’s silent or patient just because He doesn’t care. He is waiting for you to change, and unless you get fixed, He might throw you aside too!
Romans 2:4 says, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”
If all of you took this seriously, and set the rest of your week this week by this principle, God would be glorified in your marriage, fellowship with others, at work, at school, and people would see your change!
Just as a farmer plants and waits patiently for the crop to grow, so God lets you come today on Sunday morning, hear how you need to confess sin, and will give you a window of time to change. But eventually, the planter of the Word of God will come back, and gather his crops. Jesus talked about this in a parable, saying how he will wait until the harvest, but then its too late. The weeds and the wheat will be gathered together, and the weeds will be cast out and the wheat brought in.
God wants to use all of us, but He won’t use a broken tool for very long. Please get on your knees and bow to Him, and open your hands and offer to Him everything good and bad, and let Him change you.
This is the scariest prayer you could pray today, from Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Did God use Samson? Yes. Did Samson repent? No

After Samson beat up the 30 men and used the torched foxes to destroy the agricultural economy of southern Palestine, he defeated a group of Philistines, and then killed 1,000 men with a donkey jawbone.
The summary in Judges 15:20 that is given before the end of his life, is disturbing. Normally that summary would happen at the end of the Judge’s life, but with Samson, it tells us at this point his life is basically over.
Samson was no longer useful to God
(A) Don’t let it ever be said of you. Please make this your goal, that your obituary won’t come out until AFTER you die.
Proverbs 10:30, says “the righteous will never be shaken, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.”
Proverbs 11:8, says “the righteous is delivered from trouble, but the wicked takes his place.”
(A) Are you abusing God’s patience by living in sin? Lying? Cheating? Gossipping and slandering others? Confess it. John 8:32 says, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Jesus, who said "I am the way, the truth, and the life," offers Himself posthumously yet more alive than ever before, to all who believe He died and rose again to pay for your sin. Will you trust Him?
Christian, will you change your ways that are ungodly? Will you confess the sin that God is being patient about?

Knowing God: Jephthah, "God Accepts Unwanted People"

2010-05-18T13:38:00.006-05:00

If you look at my 7th grade year book, you will see that I had a crush on a girl named Jennifer. It was a big crush. I wanted her to be my girlfriend. Yet, no matter how much I tried, asking her, writing letters, and other ways to woo her, she rejected me. She never gave me the chance. Although I prayed to God for Him to show her the light, I was outcast, rejected, and it hurt.
I’ll come back to this story at the end of the sermon, because there’s more to it.
Today many people feel rejected.
Sharry Langburt wrote in AOL Personal articles, on how young people are feeling rejected because of their premarital flings.
This isn't supposed to happen to nice Christian girls, but pre-marital hook-ups are happening everywhere. According to a study conducted by Barna, half of Americans in their twenties and thirties find no fault with pre-marital sex, while two-third believe that unmarried cohabitation is morally acceptable.
But when it comes to sexual flings, it seems that women still suffer more regret than their male counterparts. A survey conducted by researchers at Durham University in the United Kingdom showed that 80 percent of men and only 54 percent of women reported feeling good after a hookup; men also feel more confident and sexually satisfied afterward, and are more likely to brag to friends about it. And how many times have you felt rejection, even if it wasn’t like this?

Has someone you loved more than a jr high crush shoved you away? Pushed you aside? Become apathetic towards you? Hurt you on purpose, and left you alone? Do you feel like trash, tied up and taken out and told “Good riddance!” If you feel like this, you are like Jephthah.
Jephthah was born of Gilead and a prostitute, as opposed to Gilead and his wife, and in Judges 11 we’re told that Jephthah was rejected (READ IT)
He probably felt like he would never amount to anything good, and he gathered a group of men around himself that thought the same.

Today I’ll show you four truths about how God feels about outcasts—2 Do’s, and 2 Don’ts.

Judges 10:6 is where the author of Judges takes his paintbrush to color the landscape for our story, telling us once again that Israel “did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” If you remember the cycle of the Judges, what usually happened was that they did evil like this, then God punished them by handing them over to another nation, then He raised up a Judge to deliver them, then they had peace until that Judge died. This time, though, when the Ammonites oppressed them, they cried out to God, and in verses 13-14, says, “No!” (READ IT)
He says, “Let the false gods you worship save you!”
They plead again with God, and in verse 16, God “could bear Israel’s misery no longer.”

It was in this environment of worshipping false gods, that Jephthah was
The first truth of how God deals with your rejection is that God accepts unwanted people. So Look for God.
Look at verses 6-11, (READ IT). While Jephthah thought his family, and God’s people, and possibly God Himself had thrown him out as garbage, God was waiting to use him. It means that if you have been rejected because your parents didn’t want you, your spouse abused you, your friends left you, your ethnicity, your height, your weight, or whatever—God accepts you when no one else does! You are important to God. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life!
So Look for it! Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest!”
Dumbo, an elephant born with gigantic ears, made fun of, laughed at, kicked out of the circus, homeless—and one day discovers he has a gift that his ears are wings and he can fly.
Clarification: God accepts you, but don’t confuse the acceptance of a Holy God with the cheap acceptance of relativism. God accepts you while also making you get your life right with Christ. To the alcoholic, God accepts you and at the same time will not use you until you stop getting drunk and repent of that behavior. To the person practicing homosexual behavior, God loves you, but will not use you until you repent and stop practicing that behavior. So what are you waiting for? Remove those obstacles and look for God.
Jephthah discovered one day that God had a plan for him, and gifts that God could use!

Which brings me to the Second truth—God not only accepts unwanted people, but He has a plan to use your unique gifts! At the proper time, God used Jephthah. What were his gifts? He was a valiant warrior (11:1), good at persuasion (convincing the Gileadites to make him leader with a vow at Mizpah, and his letter to the King of the Ammonites), and he was a strong leader. God needed him at this point in time, and God used him.
The letter was written to communicate 1) the land was justly conquered, 2) if the Ammonites had really wanted it, why did they wait 300 years to try and take it back, and 3) verse 27, “I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.”
If you are rejected, then God accepts you, and wants to use you and the gifts and talents He has given you. God used Jephthah to free His people from the Ammonites, (READ 11:29, 32-33)
He not only pushed them away from Gilead, but devastated 20 of their towns. He was on fire! A valiant warrior!
Is it your time to shine?
April 20, 1999, Cassie Bernall, high school student in Columbine Colorado, had no idea the impact she would have on thousands of others by standing up for her faith. When looking down the barrel of a loaded gun, she was asked if she believed in God, and said, “Yes.” She had searched for acceptance, and found it in Jesus Christ, and her testimony of faith has been used by God so that, according to http://www.cassierenebernall.org/, since 1999, hundreds of thousands of people have heard her testimony through the speaking ministry of her parents, Brad and Misty.
What should you do? God has a plan for you! He wants to use you, and if you would give yourself 100% to Christ, surrendering and dying to yourself, and letting Jesus live through you, your best gifts will become better, the ugliness of your heart will fade, and you will be used by God!

There are 2 more truths. #3, is found in Jephthah’s very costly, rash mistake, where he makes a vow. (READ 11:30-31, 34-35)

#3, When God gives success, Don’t try to control it. Many times, God will grant you blessings, wealth, victory, broken relationship renewed, children when you had been infertile, and whatever you do, don’t tarnish God’s blessings with your fingerprints!
God will use you in great ways, and do not have the ego and pride to say afterwards, “I’ll make a deal, God. I scratched your back, so you scratch mine.”
Jephthah was at the edge of battle, having successfully convinced the Gileadites to have him as head, and having successfully provoked the King of Ammon to fight, and thought he could successfully wager with God. He wanted credit for the victory—in line with pagan, Canaanite practices.
The most tragic thing of it all, is that breaking a vow with a deity meant falling under the wrath of that deity for life, and he had made a vow to turn the first thing coming out of his door into a burnt offering! Jephthah had to fulfill his vow, even when his daughter was the first to come out of his house, greeting him as the women traditionally greeted the men coming home from battle. His one and only daughter!
IMAGE: It’s like taking a dirty rag from the garage and using it to wipe off gold flatware before you set the table—makes it worse!
like one of my child’s Bibles, and we bought this Bible and still read to the child from it, but the child has added pictures to the picture Bible. So Jesus is accompanied by a mouse on his shoulder, or Moses has rabbit ears. Don’t do that! Jephthah was like dancing with the stars, and his partner led him one way, and he suddenly decided he would lead the dance, and paid for it!
Isn’t it just like you and me? Before you’re so hard on Jephthah, think about how last week you tried to control a conversation so that you could look good, or how you performed well recently and bathed in the accompanying applause!
Because of evidence on both sides, the jury is still out as to whether or not Jephthah’s daughter was burned alive and cut to pieces as a burnt offering, or symbolically sacrificed and lived the rest of her life as a maiden. I believe, because God gave Jephthah victory over the Ephraimites later, that Jephthah did not murder his daughter and use her for a burnt offering to God. God would not have accepted that. Either way, Jepthah lost any hope of offspring.
Don’t try to control God’s success.

So look for God because He accepts the rejected; Look for how you can be used by God because God has a plan for the rejected, Don’t control it when God grants you success, and finally . . .

The Fourth truth about how God accepts the rejected starts with a Don’t:
Don’t be an Ephraimite. That’s right, an Ephraimite. Not a tick or microscopic parasite, but a tribe of Israel who became jealous to the point of causing civil war. What was their jealousy based on? 12:1 (READ IT)
Put this down for the fourth point as well: If you are the least of these, and want to be used for God, expect to be criticized by the Pharisees!
If Jesus was criticized, so will you be! If God can’t please everyone, there is no sense in trying to do what God can’t do!
Jephthah was confronted with this, and God nearly wiped out the Ephraimites!
If you are the kind of person who has thoughts of envy when someone else succeeds, you might be an Ephraimite!
After spending the summer in Mexico for my missions internship, I came back and was on a high. I was so happy that God had used our team to reach so many people, and we were praising God. Then I discovered it. The knife in my back. One of my teammates on that trip had been so nice to me in person, but written a terrible report about me in one of the areas of leadership, and it hurt. I went to that person right away and asked them about it (with emotion), and it changed our relationship. That person should have said something to me, but never did. That person, in fact, hadn’t fulfilled the requirements of the missions intern, but I gave them a glowing report, and while we were working and doing extra evangelism, they flirted with someone they had a romantic interest in. I had been attacked by an Ephraimite! We have since made up and are friends, and a couple times have talked about it.
If you can’t bring yourself to compliment someone else, you might be an Ephraimite.
If you are mad because God used that person, and you don’t feel good about yourself, so you demonize them behind their back, you might be an Ephraimite.
If you like to sit off to the side and wait to burst peoples’ bubbles, you might be an Ephraimite.
If you have to have a problem to fix, or have to make things better, or are always criticizing others, you might be an Ephraimite.
If you can’t explain why you’re mad at someone, and admit that God is using that person, then, you might be an Ephraimite.
If you frequently talk badly about someone, or have an enemy in the church, you might be an Ephraimite.
Every pastor, youth pastor, staff person, leader in the church has faced the spirit of Ephraim and it is Satanic! If you are being used to discourage God’s people who He is using, you need to stop. Today! Or you will end up like an Ephraimite, and I won’t be able to help you.

After all I said, are you still feeling rejected? Unusable? God has a plan for you, and gifts in your hands, if you will say to Him today, “I’m Yours, Lord. Use Me.”

The story with Jennifer in 7th grade was not the end. Though I was rejected by her, and for a while didn’t understand it, and was hurt, it was because a few years later God had Emily for me. God had a plan for me while I was rejected, and He has the same thing for you. What are you going to do about it?

What does Revival look like?

2010-05-08T19:19:00.004-05:00

I'm taking a different approach to this entry, and instead of writing a manuscript of a sermon, I wanted to update the few faithful who read this on what God is doing in Darlington.

Three months ago the pastors of the community of churches in Darlington began meeting once a week to pray. Our focus, that lost people come to know Jesus Christ and turn their lives around. We had a clergy meeting, as we have every month, and in January at our meeting we all expressed how nothing was changing, and we wanted to reach our community. We decided to start praying together, and began to see things happen. At our church, an elderly man and a teen came forward two weeks apart and prayed to trust in Christ. Then at another church, the week after Easter, ten people came forward to trust in Christ. Then at our after school program, eight kids prayed to receive Christ, and we're still following up with them to verify the commitment, but at least three of those kids are for sure.

It hasn't been all good. At the same time we have been praying each week together, and everyday on our own, we have seen the enemy work to discourage, cause division, and defend a claim to the souls of those who are blinded to the good news of Jesus. People with addiction problems and physical or mental chronic illnesses have seen those problems flaring up, but then we pray. God has also been faithful to deal redemptively with each of those problems as they surface, and without going into detail, there is a noticable difference in the amount of problems as well as salvations, for now.

More people are coming to faith in Christ, and our efforts to disciple need reinforcing. We are still meeting to pray, and hopeful to see more and more come to Jesus and follow Him.

Because of this, I was attending a conference by RHMA, and the sessions on revival, studying four historical revivals in America, Wales, England (if there is a difference between England and Wales--maybe that shows cultural unawareness of a Midwest American) and India. The common themes--they all started with lay people getting together to pray for God to forgive and cause salvation.

So we have asked people to pray, and you, would you pray for God to be glorified through unchurched, unbelieving people coming to know Him? If you read this, I don't have the answers to How a revival should start, nor do I think we've seen the peak of what God plans on doing in SW Wisconsin. I would imagine there are other places where God is doing similar things (it would be great to know where). I believe you can trust that God wants revival in America more than anyone and if His people humble themselves and pray, and call on His Name, and confess our sin, and turn away from idols (power, money, and ourselves, most of all), and ask Him to change hearts, the unbelievers will come to Him and never stray. He will forgive.

One other thing--these ecumenical prayer meetings each week are unheard of in terms of unity and acceptance without compromise, and none of us boasts of a large congregation, or of being famous authors, or having TV or radio ministries. If numbers are a pastor or a church's goal, those may be for the Kingdom of God, or they may be idols (pray about it). Whether you are large or small, reviving hearts of the nation for God can happen if we pray, and it is far more important than numbers of people who are unwilling to follow Jesus with more than their mouths. (No, I'm not just a pouting rural pastor who wishes he had more numbers. I've had the numbers, and you have to make them count before you count them.)

Or, if you don't want revival, then don't pray. Market, gimmick, sell, organize committees for each problem, and you can have the church that (fill in your name)______ built, and when you die, it will too.

In closing, I learned at the conference I mentioned above that most churches in America are growing by transfer growth--swapping members like sports teams. Then Sunday attendance is flouted as a sign of growth, while the community around the church has not changed eternal status, and wonders "is that what Jesus called you to do?" People see caterpillars entering the cocoon each Sunday--lots of them sometimes, but never see butterflies coming out. Make the goal to glorify God, and ask Him to redeem more who will worship Him in spirit and in truth, and make it a goal to make disciples, not just to attract a crowd.

These are the days of revival, and it is just in the very beginning. What will you do? Will you pray? Pray daily for God to be glorified through people receiving His grace, believing in faith that Jesus died on the cross and rose again, and that by placing their faith in Him they have eternal life. Jesus said in John 17:3, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom You have sent." Jesus said HE would build HIS church. Let's ask Him to do it.

Knowing God: Abraham, pt 2

2010-04-05T15:23:00.008-05:00

This story we read earlier, in Genesis 22, coincides with what we read while praying in Luke 14, that there is a cost in following God, and it involves giving up your possessions.
(we placed a marker board up on the platform).
When I think of possessions, I remember playing football in high school. We were practicing with all the upper classmen. We were short jerseys. A guy a lot bigger than me needed the jersey to play in this practice. He didn't have to take my jersey, but he needed one. There were plenty of other people wearing jerseys, but he decided to take mine. The important thing to remember, was that everyone needed a jersey to play. So I didn't want to give mine up. Unfortunately, after the scuffle, this bigger, older guy had successfully taken my jersey off of my body.
I remember fighting tooth and nail for that jersey, and how small I felt after that. What God was asking Abraham to do was similar, and it is what God is asking us to do today, is to come with our possessions and lay down them down.
If you think you don't have any possessions to lay down, then go through the list of things you have, what you look like, your identity, the impression you try to make on others, and go through your profile, your career, your tangible and intangible possessions.
As we come closer to knowing God, this is part 2 of Abraham's story. Abraham had to come to this point where he was no longer clinging to his son, Isaac.
In Genesis 22, Abraham was tested by God. God said, "Abraham," and Abraham said, "Here I am." God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." If you stop there, you see that what Abraham did was he listened to God.
A lot of us would say, "I don't think so." We'd say, "That's enough. What God? You're breaking up!" As tough was it was, Abraham listened to God.
The idea of human sacrifice was not foreign to Abraham, coming from Ur. You learn, though, as you read the rest of Scripture, that it was something God did not permit. No human sacrifices for Him. But He did want everyone to give up everything, without there being competition for Him. God still wants that.
Abraham had been 75 years old when God first told him he would have a son. Later, in Genesis 15, Abraham was told again he would have a son. Then Abraham took matters into his own hands with Hagar, Sarah's servant, because God was taking too long. God said that wasn't the way God promised, and Isaac was still on the way. 25 years after the promise in Genesis 12, and Abraham laughing in Genesis 17, and Sarah laughing in Genesis 18, Isaac was born.
When we arrive at Genesis 21, Isaac was born, and Ishmael, the other child, was sent away. God comes to Abraham, describing Isaac as the one Abraham loved. God told Abraham to sacrifice him as a burnt offering.
When you made a burnt offering, you would kill the animal, cut it up, and set it on fire so that only the ashes remained. It was a symbolic fire, representing the offerer being given up completely to God. God's asking Abraham to do that with Isaac.
Abraham had some faith! He listened to God! He didn't tune God out. Have you ever tuned God out?
God wants us, in a culture of materialism, to give Him first place in our heart. He will work on you and me until we come to this point, where God is first.
God may be speaking to someone today about something you own. It doesn't have to be a son or daughter, but could be a house, career, car, clothes, education, relationship with someone, and God wants it. He wants to be Lord, and Lord means ruler over everything, and everything means everything.
God may be speaking to you about your possessions, just like He did with Abraham.
It could be an emotion, like bitterness. This doesn't mean you can't be rich or that you can't be successful, but that you can be a wealthy person without possessing any of it.
Once I had a friend who understood it that way, and took all his money out of a savings account, went to a subdivision, and threw it in someone's front yard. I asked, "Why didn't you throw it in my front yard?" He said, "Aha!" But he was wrong. This is a true story.
Think of people God uses greatly, and how He gives them difficult messages sometimes. Like Hosea, where God tells Hosea to go marry an unfaithful woman. Really, God? I was thinking, beautiful, funny, Godly. No, God said to marry an unfaithful woman.
God told Jeremiah to tell words to the people of Judah, and for over fifty years Jeremiah suffered abuse, seeing hardly any fruit from his ministry. But God used him.
Isaiah was called, and went forward, and God told him he would speak a message the people did not want to hear, and that they would rebel.
God may be speaking to you and telling you a difficult message today. Listen to God. Abraham listened.
God wants us to lay things down (I wrote an "L" on the marker board)

The second thing Abraham did in verse 3 was that he rose up early and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance, and he said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey, while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you. Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, and placed it on his son, Isaac, and he himself carried the fire with the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up to his father, Abraham, 'Father.' 'Yes, my son,' Abraham replied. 'The fire, and the wood are here,' Isaac said. 'But where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' Abraham answered, 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' The two of them went on together. When they had reached the place God had told them about, Abraham built an altar there, and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife, to slay his son." I'm stopping in verse 10.
Abraham acted in faithful obedience. He didn't just listen, but when God said something hard, he acted in faithful obedience. Honestly, if I was Abraham, I don't know what I would do. I pray I would have the strength. If God said, "I want you to take your son, or daughter, and put a knife to their throat, and offer them up as a burnt offering," I don't know if I'd have the strength to do that. But this man did. He acted in faith and obedience.
Before you think that Abraham was just going to kill his son, remember that Abraham wrestled. There is a lot that happened between this two day period of verses 2 and 3, where God comes to him and early the next morning he obeys. The book of Hebrews sheds some light on this. Hebrews 11:17 is a divine commentary on this passage, where God tells us about another part of Scripture. "By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, 'It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.' But Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from the dead."
See that? Abraham wrestled and wrestled, and you picture this older man having a shouting match with God, questioning everything! He probably shouted, "God, You're not fair! You promised! How could You ask me to do this!"
25 years of waiting for this? Then all these years of raising Isaac and investing in his life?
Finally Abraham went through with this because he believed in God's promise.
Abraham acted in faithful obedience.
It's not enough for us to mentally assent to what God says. We are people of the mind, and we know what the Bible says. It's good to know what the Bible says, but what God wants is for us to do what the Bible says. When we read the words of Jesus, maybe someone had that passage memorized, and if so, then great! But to do it, is what counts!
God wants us to do what He tells us to do, especially with our possessions. God wants us to lay them all down. God has plans for the things He owns that you manage. Act in faithful obedience.
When I think of faith, I remember that story of the tightrope walker in Niagara Falls. He stretched out his line across the falls, and walked back and forth. Then he rode a unicycle back and forth. Then he pushed a wheelbarrow back and forth. He had gathered a large crowd, and he asked them, "How many of you believe I can push this wheelbarrow across the tightrope with a person inside it?" Everyone raised their hands. He asked, "Which one of you wants to come into the wheelbarrow?" No one raised their hands. Faith in God is getting into the wheelbarrow.
You rarely see God testing someone, but here God tested Abraham. I believe God never intended to kill Isaac, and that Scripture shows us that here. But He did intend to test Abraham and rid him of his attachment to his son. Why? God wants to be your only possession.
I urge you to commit yourself to follow Him today; commit your wife, husband, kids, family, friends, clothes, food, money, bills, debt-all to God. Give them up to God.
Remember the commercial where the athletes are running around the track and their sweat is green, and then the Gatorade label comes onto the screen with the words, "Is it in you?" God wants to know today, "Is it in you?" Do you have what it takes? God is asking, "Am I in first place in your life?"
In Communist Russia, the believers met in house churches, in small groups as an underground church. They would trade Scripture with each other, because not many people had the whole Bible. Each week they would go home with a new page of Scripture, and memorize it, then bring it back, and gradually memorize a lot of Scripture. They were in one of their meetings, when two KGB burst into the doors, armed with guns. The first of the two soldiers said, "Everyone line up against the wall. If you wish to renounce your commitment to Jesus Christ, leave now." Two or three quickly left, then another. After a few more seconds, two more left. The second soldier shouted, "This is your last chance. Either turn against your faith in Christ, or stay and suffer the consequences." Another left. Finally two more in embarrassed silence slipped into the night, and no one else moved. Parents with their trembling kids beside them looked down reassuringly. They fully expected to be gunned down, or at best to be in prison. After a few moments of complete silence, the other soldier closed the door, and said, "Keep your hands up, but this time in praise to our Lord, Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters. Because we too are Christians, and we were sent to another house church several weeks ago to arrest a group of believers," and the other soldier interrupted, "but instead we were converted! And we have learned by experience, that unless people are willing to die for their faith, they cannot be fully trusted."
I think of what would happen if something like that were to occur here. How attached are we to what we have?
(we watched a video of Abraham and Isaac, displaying what I had been saying)

Knowing God: Abraham, pt 1

2010-02-22T17:49:00.007-06:00

When you think about your high school days, do you think about them as a time you wish you could go back to? Or a time where you say, "Whew! I'm glad I'm done with that phase of life!" Maybe a mix? When I was in high school, I had a very interesting class. By the time I graduated, about 25% of my class was no longer in school. Some of them were in jail or put away for drug abuse or bringing guns to school. I remember one friend who was a great football player, who was a friend of mine. One day I was saying hi to him, hanging out with him, and the next day he was being escorted out of school with the drug dogs for possession and having a hand gun. I never saw that one coming. A couple of girls had to drop out due to pregnancy.

That's the setting for an important lesson I learned. One day in a teacher's class, she was trying to get our attention, and we were arguing and goofing around, not paying attention at all. When I think of people who teach high school, I think of this scenario, and I pray for them. In fact, a teacher who teaches at any level in our church has my prayers. My mother is a teacher, and I hear a lot of stuff and I pray for you guys. This teacher finally had an idea.

She took us into the hallway, paired us up, had us stand in our pairs, and handed us one blindfold per pair. The one person had to guide their blindfolded partner one lap around the school hallways. The first pair to do it successfully without injuring his partner and leaving the blindfold on would be the winner. At first it was fun to make your partner bump into walls and stub their toe, but then it became serious when we realized we were losing the race. At the end, I don't know who won the race, and I don't think it was my pair. We learned an important lesson about teamwork and depending on each other.

This teacher decided to bring us together and give us this gift of teamwork that we hadn't yet developed. This teacher's class was never the same after that. We all felt a little different about this teacher after that and respected her more. It may be discouraging to the teacher to hear that I can't remember what she taught us in class (though since I know certain things I must have learned something from her), but I remember this way that she decided to invest in us and teach us about life.

In a similar way, God came to someone who had no order, a pagan person in need of God, and brought this benefit and blessing to a man named Abram. In a place called Ur of the Chaldeans, God began to bless Abram. The Chaldeans were also called the Babylonians, and that region is modern day Iraq. The Bible says the Lord had said to Abram. They were in Haran, coming from Ur when God spoke, so it is possible that God had begun working on Abram when in Ur.

When we read Genesis 12, it says "The Lord had said to Abram," meaning God spoke to him before chapter 12. Terah, in chapter 11, had this plan to take his family from Ur to Haran. When they arrived in Haran, Terah died. God had spoken to Abraham either before that time, or here when they were at Haran.
We read this frequently, but do we think about the setting? Think about how Abram didn't know this God who came to him. He had no reason to believe this God. Now he hears and obeys God. If you're taking notes, the first thing to write down is:
1) It's never too late to get to know God. Abraham was 75 years old when God came to him. He was 20 years past the point of getting senior's discounts. God said, "Leave your country, your people, and your father's household, and go to the land I will show you." Verse 2, "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse. And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
Imagine God speaking to you like that. We know God. If He spoke to us like this we would be amazed. How much more amazing for God to speak like this to a man who did not know Him. Most of the commentators say Abraham was a pagan man worshipping someone or something else, probably the local gods of Ur. For 75 years of his life he had done this! Now he changes.
The unknown God comes to him and he listens. Is it any wonder the Bible continually talks about Abraham's faith?
I was reading a biography of Billy Graham, written by Jerry Jenkins, and at the beginning Jenkins describes how he was talking with Billy Graham one day and the secretary came in and said to Billy, "It's for you; it's the President." Jenkins' first reaction was, "Yeah right, it's the President." After Billy Graham got off the phone, he confirmed that it was in fact the President of the U.S. who had called for Billy Graham.
Imagine Abraham's position, that there was a God who came to him and said, "I'm going to give you all these things." It'd be like getting a letter from Donald Trump saying, "Hey, you, I want you to come to this city in Florida, I'll meet you there, I'll have a lot of money waiting for you, I'll have real estate for you that you can invest in, and I'll give you all these things." You would say, "What's the catch?"
Abraham was going to be blessed. Since the beginning of Genesis, this was the first time God came to an individual to begin blessing the earth through a singular family. What does this mean for us? God has a purpose for the Godly people and the ungodly people. Abraham was ungodly, until God showed him His purpose for him.
God came to Abraham like if you were summoned to the White House and given money, position, and welcomed by the President. Abraham had to check his pacemaker.
They took all the people and their possessions and set out to Canaan, as far as the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. There Abraham built an altar to God, Who had appeared to him.

Note the second point: 2) Knowing God also means blessing others with what God gives you. In verse 2, God tells Abraham, amongst all the ways God will bless him, that "you will be a blessing." That is a command in Hebrew, to be a blessing. This jumped out at me! God also told Abraham in no uncertain terms that he was to take what God had done and bless others. Abraham himself was supposed to be a blessing. As you read the story of Abraham's descendants, Israel, eventually their name had become like a curse when God judged them. Either you are a blessing or a curse to others. God commanded that they be a blessing. Galatians 3 talks about us in Christ being descendants of Abraham, through our faith in Jesus as Abraham's seed. We too are to be a blessing, as inheritors of the Genesis 12 promise to Abraham.
What do you have that could be a blessing to someone else? Spiritual gifts, promises from God about God providing, Hebrews tells us God will never leave us or forsake us. We see new mercies every morning. I believe that God wants people He blesses to be a blessing to others. If you have received financially from God, are you blessing others with it.
We purchased a 2000 Mitsubishi Mirage in 2001, and the reason that 4 cylinder runs so well is, I believe, because we use it for God. When someone needs a vehicle, we have let many people use this car.
In our church, every week I'm teaching, preaching, leading worship, counseling and encouraging people, managing the church, and using my spiritual gifts. I need you to encourage me in the same way by using your spiritual gifts. God has blessed each of us with spiritual gifts. Are you using yours? Are you using your blessings for God's people?
Another king, Abimelech, said later to Abraham, "God is with you in everything you do." The world is watching us, and looking to see if we are a blessing to others, and if God is working through us in all we do.
If we don't share the blessings God gives us, it's kind of like ordering your food at a restaurant, and you're starving. You're drinking water, eating tortilla chips, and the server comes in with your tray of food that you've been waiting for. You notice his mouth is full, and can't understand what he's trying to say. He lowers the tray and then before leaving he takes another bite of your food, saying, "This is really good stuff!" He licks his fingers, then he takes some chips, saying, "That's really good too!" He tastes the soup, "Wow. I think I'll take the rest of this food!" The server is not supposed to taste the food.
If that were to happen, you'd leave without paying (some would still pay). That is how it is when we horde our spiritual gifts to ourselves in the church. They are not for us, they are given to us for others.
This is also like a man who was in a desert, and found a well. He was parched. The well was an old hand pump well. Next to the hand pump was a jug with a cork in it, and a note attached, which said, "Please use this water to prime the pump, and you'll get fresh water out of the pump." He pops the cork and sees that there is water in the jug. He can take a risk and pour it out, or be safe and drink the water. After deliberating, he decides to go for the fresh water. He pours the jug into the well, and begins to pump. Nothing happens, and he continues pumping (squeak, squeak. Squeak, squeak). He continues pumping, and the spout starts to drip a little, then increases to a slow dribble, and then a smooth flow of water, and then a gushing amount of water flows out. A small stream develops on the sand, and then it grows as he keeps pumping. He has much more water than a jug! He fills the jug, drinks his fill, douses himself, runs the water through his hair, and drinks some more! He fills up the jug one last time, then pulls out a pen (where he got one in the desert, I don't know. Use your imagination!), and scribbles in the paper, "Believe me, it really works!" That's what God wants us to do when He gives us blessings.
The reason for those blessings is not so we can be king or queen of your little world, but so that you can bless others. This is part of the Great Commission, to be a blessing to the world! Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you! Be a blessing! Be with someone's kids, and when someone is grieving, put a hand on their shoulder.
The early church even sold land so others could have money. Be a blessing. I believe God is saying this to Darlington, Lafayette County, to be a blessing here and in the world.
Number 3) Last thing, chapter 15. This is so important, because we start off the Christian life so well sometimes, but then we taper off a little.
Abraham was experiencing in Genesis 15 what Christians still struggle with, that is, "God, You said it, but I don't see it." People say, "God, if You're good, and You promised, and You're with me, then how come I don't see this?"
Some people say, "How come there is evil in the world, if God is good?"
It is very important to understand, that knowing God means having faith, when what we hear is different than what we see.
When God is telling us one thing, but our eyes are seeing something else, that's when faith is tested. God had told Abraham that his offspring would inherit the land, but Abraham had decided that since he was childless Eleazar would inherit everything. God was coming to him, saying, "What are you doing? Did you forget My promise?"
Today, God is asking some of you, "What are you doing there? Did you forget My plan for you? My promises? Why are you going in that direction? Didn't you hear Me? Don't you remember Me?"
Abraham said, "You have given me no children, so a servant from my household will be my heir." Watch what God does with this man who has already stepped out in faith. God does this still today. He not only corrects him, but He goes one step further, by taking him outside and showing him the stars. God takes the time to give Abraham an object lesson, to persuade him, to convince him and assure him. What does Abraham do in response? Verse 6, "Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness." Right there. Knowing God means believing what I hear from God over what I see with my own eyes.
This is the point where many people say, "That's it, God! I'm done! Because I don't see it! God, show me the money! I've been enduring this situation for years, and You promised!"
Abraham was 75 when God made His promise. How old would he be when God fulfilled it? 100 years old. I have prayed for one of my uncles since I was in 7th grade, that he would come to faith in Christ. Not only has he not trusted in Christ, but he might be further away from the Lord than he ever was before. This is without a promise.
Imagine God promising. It will take 25 years before it is fulfilled, but Abraham had faith in God. That is so encouraging, because it means that if God has promised you something and it hasn't happened yet, you can keep trusting, keep praying, and keep having faith in Him. Tomorrow you'll wake up and be tempted to be discouraged. Knowing God means having faith in Him no matter what. Believe what you hear over what you see.
Faith in God through Christ is the only thing God sees as a way for human beings to be righteous.
But maybe you're a person who is saying, "God hasn't done anything, so maybe He needs my help. I'll help God fulfill His promise." No, no, no. Abraham tried that, to speed things up, eventually sleeping with Hagar, his wife's servant, and having a child. But that still was not God's plan. God specifically said through Abraham and Sarah the child would be born. We are tempted to speed up God's plan, because we think God needs a little help.
When Emily and I were living in Dallas, three times we tried to buy a house, but God kept shutting the doors. We couldn't figure it out. We had a chance to speed up the process, by taking a financial risk, but after praying decided not to. Then God moved us here to Darlington. We have friends who are still trying to sell their houses in that part of Dallas and the suburbs. We thank God for saving us from that.
There's an old country song, "I thank God for unanswered prayer." God is always moving. Stay faithful to Him.
Remember, it is never too late to know God; God wants you to be a blessing to others, and Believe in God even when what you hear is not what you see.
If you don't know God like Abraham didn't know Him, He has come for you in Jesus Christ, and made a way for you to know God through Jesus' death on the cross and coming to life from the dead. If you believe in Jesus, you will be saved.

Knowing God: Noah

2010-02-04T09:35:00.007-06:00

Have you ever been disappointed greatly in life? Have you ever disappointed someone else? Maybe a friend, an employer? Once when I was working in landscaping, I worked for someone who wanted a lot of plants all in one place. When we arrived, my crew had not brought a few peripheral items because someone thought they weren't important. I remember how upset and disappointed my boss was at that. It was a very big event, and we had to hurry in order to get things where they were supposed to be. I remember disappointing someone I respected. His expression is in my mind.

I also remember times when someone has been extremely impressed with what I have done. Do you? You went above and beyond and were recognized?

Noah, in Genesis 6, fit into the latter category of greatly impressing God, when everyone else around him fit into the first category of disappointing God.

We know the story of Noah because of the Flood, the Ark, and the animals. Noah's Ark is a common theme for nurseries and baby rooms. That is a big part of what happens with Noah and his family. But more importantly, it is what happens before the Ark that matters to God, and in light of our theme--Knowing God. It was because of who Noah was before the Flood came that he was in the Ark and trusted with the responsibility of these animals. It was because Noah found favor with God, because Noah was righteous in God's eyes, that he was used by God to preserve life on earth.

We're looking at the story of Noah and what it means to be favored by God. Adam knew God as provider, righteous Judge, Hope of salvation in the Last Adam, and Enoch walked with God and had a close relationship with God, and God took him. Those who know God through Jesus Christ will experience God's mercy. Noah has another lesson on Knowing God.

In chapter 6 verse 8, before it says "This is the account" which shows it is a new section in Genesis. The previous section ended with God saying, "I will wipe mankind whom I have created from the face of the earth, men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air, for I am grieved that I have made them." How terrible! What would make God to be grieved that He had made mankind? As we get closer to the end times events--by the way we are closer now than we have ever been before (am I going too fast?) :) Jesus said in Matthew 24, that this is what it will be like, as it was in the days of Noah before the flood, so it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Violence. God says in Genesis that "I will not endure with man forever." Then verse 8 comes on the end of that, "but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord."

Have you ever been the only one who did what was right? You're the only one and everyone is pressuring you to do the wrong thing. The "everybody's doing it" crowd is pushing you to be one of them? This is Noah's environment, where he stands out like a needle in a haystack as the one who serves and follows God. The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 16 that the eyes of the Lord wander to and fro throughout the earth seeking to strengthen the hearts of those who are loyal to Him. God is working and moving, and He has a plan, and He's looking for people where He can say, ". . . but her, she found favor in my eyes." or ". . . but him, he found favor in my eyes." Or ". . . but that little boy, he is more righteous than anyone else of his time."

This is an important part of knowing God, and we learn from Noah that it is possible even when life is disintegrating around us and there is chaos, and it is dark, foggy, things are going bad, continue to serve God. Keep on doing what is right. The same old thing is still good enough. The same old Gospel does work, is great news, and does need to be told to people.

The word for favor is a word meaning "popularity," or "to find favor." Genesis 39:21, "The Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer." The same word for favor is also in Exodus 11:3, "The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, furthermore the man Moses himself was greatly esteemed in the land of Egypt, both in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people." This word is used of Esther, in Esther 5:2, when she comes in boldly to the king's chamber and the king raises the scepter because she found favor in his eyes.

Joseph, Moses, Esther. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord! God is looking for these kinds of people--this kind of person. D. L. Moody used to always say, "The world has yet to see what God can do with someone who is fully committed to Him." D. L. Moody heard it from a man named George Mueller, who, at his own expense, started an orphanage, and many, many kids had a home because of his ministry. He said, "I don't know how this is going to happen, but I'll do it." He tried to be that man that the world has not seen yet, and D. L. Moody tried to be that man, and said, "by the grace of God I'll be that man!" He wanted what Noah had--to stand out!

Later on, Ezekiel said God would judge a certain people, and said even if Noah was in that group, God would still judge them. In other words, Noah had a reputation as a righteous man.

In Haiti right now, people are looking for food, clothes, medicine, relatives, and they are desperate. In the same way, God is looking desperately for people who are going to be righteous, and holy, and blameless; people who would be spared from judgment. What an extreme there!

The world is getting wiped out, but because of your faithfulness to me, Noah, I'm going to spare you and your family. I bet Noah said to himself, "Boy, it's a good thing we've been obeying God all these years. Man. It's a good thing we still serve the Lord."

What was it that made Noah get God's attention? Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. What made him find God's favor? Before the whole building of the Ark, Noah is righteous.

There aren't that many times when the Bible calls someone a righteous person. There are only four people that the Bible calls righteous. Noah was the first person the Bible calls a righteous man. Simeon was the second one, in Luke 2.[1] The Bible says Simeon was a righteous man, waiting for Jesus the Messiah, and prophesied about his life. Later on, in Acts 10, Cornelius is called a righteous man, and God sends Peter to his house. This man was seeking God, and Peter told him about the good news of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 11, finally, calls Abel a righteous man. Those [five] people.

So, aside from God, Jesus the Messiah (prophesied or in person), there is a small number of righteous people. Job is spoken of highly later on. I think righteous refers to Noah's faith in God, because later he's called blameless in his time, which would refer to his works and his actions. Genesis 15:6 tells us Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Noah believed in and followed God, a righteous man. God is looking for this type of person, even in 2010, even in Darlington, even in this church! And as we say all kinds of things about vision, planning, and what to do, we can't say as a Christian "that's somebody else's job to be a righteous person." "It's somebody else's job to know God more. Don't we pay staff members to pray and read their Bibles all day? Isn't that what they're supposed to be doing? Let them be righteous and blameless." No! This is for everybody! This is walking with God and knowing God! Everybody's job is to be more like God!

Noah is such a role model of this. He did things that caught God's attention. Have you ever tried to get someone's attention? When I was dating my wife, I tried to get her attention. It worked the second time. The first time was--a long story.

Look how old Noah is at this time. God comes to Noah, and he has his sons, and 5:32 told us Noah was 500 years old when he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, so if you're saying I've walked with God for a year, and nothing happened, you've got 499 to go. In other words, it's not on my time table, but God's. My job is to be righteous, faithful, and trust God that He's going to do the best thing for me, and I may see a reason not to believe, but can't be discouraged. Keep on following Him. You may have too much month at the end of your money, but keep on being faithful to God and trusting in Him. Maybe you have a terrible relationship with one of your parents. Keep on serving God and being blameless. You take responsibility for your actions and serve Him. God eventually will honor that. Look at Noah--500 years of walking with God. Wow!

Noah would have looked at some of you in your 80's and said, "That's just a spring chicken." "I was a reckless teenager in my 80's. Didn't have children until I was in my 500's."

We can't say I've arrived at a point where I no longer need to do all this stuff. We can't say church is for kids, isn't it great to see the kids' program? Let's just talk about the kids, and support them. Isn't it great to see the teens? Let's just talk about the teen program and support them. But it's about you and me too! All of us! Our whole goal with the kids and teens is to teach and train them so they will serve as adults. Can you imagine what God can do with one person completely sold out to Him. Anyone in here can be the person who says they will serve God like that. Can you imagine if everyone in the sanctuary today said in unison "Yes God, we will be those people! You just say the word, and we'll do it!"

It's scary! God may say, "I want you to move to Haiti, and I want you to build an orphanage there, because I have many people who will trust in me, and they need a home!" But you say, "That's not God speaking! Is it? God will never ask me to do something like that." Yes, He might. I think sometimes that's our fear, that if we sell ourselves out to God He might get us out of our comfort zone. Well, the only way you can grow is to get out of your comfort zone. Take that as a challenge. Noah was out of his comfort zone, in a time of people who were not blameless, in a time that was so bad--worse than what we're experiencing most likely--so bad, that God wanted to wipe them all out. And Noah still was righteous, and blameless in his time.

I hope that hits you! How Noah stood out, and how God favored him.

This word for blameless also--Noah was the first of three people in the Bible who were called blameless. Job in in Job 1:1, and King Asa in 2 Chronicles 15 finish the list. Wow. Wouldn't you love to be in that number. "Nate is also called blameless." That would be awesome. Wouldn't I love for God to say, "Look, there's Nate, he's also righteous." Wouldn't you love to be able to put your name on that list?

This is all great, and many people here are saying "Amen," but its what happens tomorrow that counts. What happens tomorrow when what God wants us to do is not popular? Bill Cosby said, "I don't know the secret to success, but the secret to failure is trying to please everybody." If you want to fail, just keep pleasing everyone around you. Sometimes we're looking for peoples' approval as well. Winston Churchill grew a mustache early in his political career. He had an aunt who disagreed with him about most things. His aunt one day said, "Winston, I don't like your mustache, and I don't like your politics." He replied, "My dear aunt, you will not need to come into contact with either."

We don't need everyone's approval or permission to obey God. God is probably working today and speaking to you about something, and I urge you to pray about it and ask what God wants to do with your life. Everyone who is still on this earth--God has a plan for you, even if you will only live another 30 days. My grandfather gets ill all the time and comes back. He's up there in age, but he prays. We think God has him here because he's a prayer warrior, and he can't physically do anymore, but he prays. I think it's perfectly normal for God to have someone just to pray. He takes the prayer requests and he's been in the church his whole life, and he prays for these people.

God has some purpose for us.

What is God's challenge for us? He wants us to be righteous, and looks for that needle in a haystack. If you've been watching American Idol, they look and search for the next American Idol! (Pants on the Ground).

How much more is God looking for that person who will be the next Noah. It doesn't matter where you come from.

I read an interesting story recently about recommendations. A Chicago bank was looking at a Boston man, considering him for their employment. This Boston investing house could not say enough about this young man. "His father," they wrote, "was a Cabet. His mother was from the family of Loathe (sp), further back, he has genes from the Saultinstalls, the Peabody's, and other of Boston's first families. We recommend him." Several days later the Chicago bank wrote back and said, "We are not contemplating using this young man for breeding purposes. Just for work." We get caught up in all of that sometimes. The thing that matters, is not the outward appearance, as Samuel said from God. It is the heart.

We can't go by the outward appearance, and don't be discouraged. You say, "But God I have a limitation! I have a handicap!" Moses said, "I can't speak," but God used him to speak to the people anyway. I always tell people, when they say "I don't have a spiritual gift," "Look, God could make Balaam's donkey talk and God used him. If God can use Balaam's donkey, God can use any of us!"

God can use you. What is God doing in your life. Noah was a blameless man, and God looks for that kind of person. What God does with Noah is amazing. He not only saves him and his family from the Flood, but God goes beyond that and looks to make a covenant with him in Genesis 6:18. "I will establish My covenant with you and you will enter the Ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you." Then after the Flood, "I now establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you, the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the Ark with you." And Noah, showed his righteousness and blamelessness after the Flood by coming to God with a sacrifice. And the Lord loved it and said in 8:21, "The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in His heart, 'Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every indication of his heart is evil from childhood, and never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never cease. And God tells Noah in chapter 9:12, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and earth."

So the rainbow is a reminder to Noah and God of this covenant.
God's covenant extends to those who are righteous in His eyes. The Bible tells us to be righteous is not just by what we do, but by Who we believe in, in Jesus. The sad thing is we can't be righteous on our own. But the good news is we can trust in the righteousness of another person, who was perfect, and Who did everything right, in Jesus Christ. We can have that status in God's eyes. That's the beginning. You need to come to faith in Jesus Christ. That's where God wants to meet us. Believe in Him and trust in Him.

Even today, if you're saying to yourself, "this thing about Jesus--I've heard it, and it's baloney, I don't accept it." Even for you who don't believe in God, God has a plan for your life! If you will come to Christ, you will see the beginnings of that plan, but you have to trust Him enough to put everything in His hands, all the eggs in one basket, and follow Jesus.

I love God's reaction to what Noah did, and the covenant He established with him. There is good news today in Jesus Christ if you will believe. If you have believed, what can you take away? It's possible to have favor in God's eyes. How? Maintain that steady course. Read your Bible. Pray. Even if you just mute the commercials and pray, that's a start. Even just five minutes a day, that is a start. Make an effort to know God more.

There is great news, that God has a plan for each of us, if we will just follow Him, if we will just walk with Him and be blameless.

I urge you who are reading to pray about being more committed to God. Know Jesus, and believe in Him. This is the beginning of knowing God. Jesus said in John 17:3, "This is eternal life: that they may know You, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom You have sent."

[1] I neglected to include Joseph, who Matthew calls a righteous person, making the list five people the Bible calls righteous. Thank my wife for catching that in my sermon and pointing it out to me!

Knowing God: Enoch

2010-01-20T18:37:00.010-06:00

My son Benjamin turned 1 in October. One thing we're trying to teach Benjamin is how to walk. He has demonstrated that he knows how to take a few steps, but he doesn't want to walk. He would rather crawl. It isn't that he can't walk, but he doesn't want to walk yet. He can get all the food, clothes, toys, and drink he wants without walking at all. He doesn't even need to inconvenience himself to go to the bathroom; he just sits there and goes in his diaper. We expect that one day he will walk sometime in the next couple years.

Some of us are like that too--maybe you. It isn't that we can't walk with God, it's that we have decided not to because it's more comfortable the way things are. Crawling and making messes are not a problem. We don't need to learn to walk more with God because we like things the way they are. It would require change.

Many Christians go through their whole Christian life crawling, when God wants us to walk. They miss so many opportunities!

In a similar vein, when I was a boy, my parents would send us to my grandpa's house (who we called Papa). We would help him with work that he couldn't do anymore. He would usually pay us a little money or take us out to eat. Sometimes he would take us with him on these trips to his farm, and we'd walk the farm with him to check it out. He would talk to us about life and even current issues, and how to do what was right. I remember once while we were walking down the dried up creek bed he told my brother Mark, "Mark, when you were younger, I didn't think you'd amount to a dime. But look at you now." That was how Papa gave a compliment.

We learned more than just how to work from walking with Papa. I learned about serving and ministry. He was a Gideon, and my first impression of that organization. He would go to nursing homes and distribute Bibles and speak, and encourage people.

There are advantages to walking with God too. Today we're looking at Genesis 5 and how Enoch walked.

We know that God is working and on the move with a purpose. The question is not will God walk with you, but will you walk with God. Will you? Will you do what is necessary to walk with Him? Sometimes, like my Papa, there is work involved before you gain a benefit.

The Bible says in Genesis 5:21 and following, "When Enoch had lived 65 years he became the father of Methuselah. And after Enoch became the father of Methuselah, he walked with God 300 years, and had other sons and daughters. Altogether Enoch lived 365 years." It says again, "Enoch walked with God. Then he was no more, because God took him away."

What does it mean to walk, as the Bible says walk here? This is the Hebrew word halach. I share Greek and Hebrew words in sermons because if I were in the pew I'd want to know that. This word means literally to walk, and is used metaphorically to have a relationship with someone. It didn't just mean physical walking when it was used of someone walking with God. It means a relationship existed between Enoch and God.

In Genesis 6, it is used of Noah, to say he walked with God. In Genesis 17, God tells Abram (before his name was changed) "I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless." Wow! I still think God commands that of His people. He's saying for us to walk before Him and be blameless. In Genesis 48:15, Jacob is blessing his son Joseph before Jacob dies, and says this about his relationship with God, "the God before Whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, the God Who has been my Shepherd, all my life, to this day." What a statement of a relationship!

In other words, I know Him too! I've walked with Him, and am walking with Him today!

In Isaiah 38:3, the good king Hezekiah said this about his relationship with God, "Remember now, oh Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth, and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight." Hezekiah wept bitterly. What happened to him? I'll write that later.

Can you say what Jacob and Hezekiah said? The Oxford American Dictionary describes walk as this, "to move at a regular and fairly slow pace by lifting and setting down each foot in turn, never having both feet off the ground at once."[1]

Doesn't that describe walking? Physically? Spiritually? It means I have an ongoing journey with God, and walking is a means to an end, in order to get somewhere spiritually.

I believe God wants to do something in every person's life, even if they say they don't believe in Him!

It is our responsibility to find out how God wants to use us, and what can happen if we walk with God. He wants as close of a relationship as Enoch had.

Something interesting that happens as we walk with God; that is knowing God personally, not just knowing about Him. If we were to ask God, "Who is that person reading this blog?" Would God say, "I know him." "I know her." Or would God say, "I don't know."

Don't you want God to say, "I know them intimately."

I am pushing a personal pursuit of God so much, that someone may object, saying, "What about focusing on fellowship? What about unity?" Wouldn't 100 guitars all tuned to the same tuning device all sound better together than if 25 were tuned by device A, 25 tuned by device B, 25 tuned by device C, and 25 who tuned themselves, each differently? Wouldn't 100 soldiers all trained by the best commander be better equipped to accomplish the mission than if 100 people came together and someone threw them some guns and said, "Accomplish the mission!" Each Christian being trained, studied, and intimately walking with God will result in greater worship, teaching, discipleship, stewardship, service, and fellowship for our mission.

Consider Enoch as an example of our walk.

Something else happens when we walk with God. Jude tells us something fascinating about Enoch and his walk with God. We're told in Jude 14-15 that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about people who weren't walking the talk, saying, "See the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones, to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly, of all the ungodly acts they have done, and the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

This is what Enoch prophesied, living in fellowship with God. God told Enoch a message for his time, which was before the great flood. If you remember, the reason for the flood was the violence and sin of mankind in the world, and God intended to wipe out humanity from the earth, except for Noah. During this time where the evil was building up, Enoch had a prophecy and a message to share.

If you and I are walking with God, we understand the times that we're living in. A Christian in the 21st Century is different than a Christian in the 20th Century. In the Postmodern world there are differences in the way we communicate. When I pray and read the Word God will reveal ways to communicate with people. If you ask, "God why aren't you doing anything in my life? I haven't been able to witness to anyone, I haven't seen anyone come to faith in Christ, and I haven't felt any spiritual blessing, or I don't know my spiritual gifts."

It starts with that time alone with God. If you just pray 5 minutes a day, that's a starting point. If you pray during your lunch break, that's a start. If you confess any sin you have to God, and just meditate on one Bible verse--do that five days in a row and you will notice a difference.

You could even watch your favorite TV shows, and mute the commercials and pray. If you add all the commercial time, that would be a lot of prayer time. I'm not saying throw out the TV (again, understand the times), but park time aside for God, to walk with Him.

This is the beginning of walking with God, and God working, and giving us a message for our times.

As Christians, knowing our times and culture is so important. We should not be shut-ins, hiding out. We are not of the world, but we are in it. Hold the Bible in one hand, and hold the newspaper in the other.

When the earthquake happened in Haiti, we began praying and collecting resources to know how to best work to help them, with a spiritual goal of salvation and discipleship.

Knowing our culture means knowing this: Our culture is liberal, postmodern, there are many Christians in name but not action, we live in a post-Christian area, and the younger you go the more there is an ignorance of Scripture. When I was a Youth Pastor, I would quiz the kids sometimes with Bible stories. The three people in the fiery furnace were? The person in the Lion's den was? The person on the ark during the flood was? Which prophet was used to part the Red Sea?

(answers: Shadrach, Meshech, Abednego; Daniel; Noah; Moses)

We could go on and on. I used to test the kids every year when I was a youth pastor, and less and less they were familiar with the Bible. There is a transcending ignorance, and not always intentionally. Some would say "Great, our culture is going to pot!"

Actually, we have a great opportunity. We don't have as many hurdles to climb theologically with presuppositions and assumptions, or false doctrine handed down. We have an opportunity to talk about the Bible in a fresh way! What an opportunity! And anyone can do it!

Another thing about Postmodern world is that people like stories. People want to hear your story. If you say, "I don't know how to witness," and the good news is that all you have to say is, "Can I tell you a great story?" "Do you want to hear my God story from this week?" "Can I tell you something great that happened?"

If we were in fellowship time and I said, "Did you see the Saints game last night?" And someone else said, "No, I missed it. Tell me about it." You'd be excited until I finished telling you about how the Saints won, blew out the Cardinals, and Kurt Warner got jacked on one of the plays (I love Kurt Warner, and I wish you the best, Kurt! Hope it didn't hurt too much). You'd be listening to me.

How much more should we share about what God is doing in our lives!

Something else we see in Enoch, is that he walked with God, God gave him a prophetic word for his times, and finally God took him. This was the first instance of transporter technology. We aren't told if it was in a whirlwind with chariots of fire like Elijah; we aren't told if it was like Jesus when He ascended and He was in the clouds, but we know that somehow God took him, and he was gone! No more! Couldn't be found! He has never been found on earth!

The way the writer writes this in Genesis it points to Enoch as an exception to the rule that we all die because of Adam's curse. The great news is that if you walk with God, which means knowing Jesus Christ (as we said last blog) as your Savior, then we have the hope that God will give us life and we won't have to experience death one day.

Remember, because Adam and Eve sinned, everyone since then has to die, because we have inherited the genetic disease, the terminal illness, and the original plague. Genesis 5 tells us this, that Adam dies, his son dies, his son dies, his son dies, his son dies, his son dies, but not Enoch. With Enoch, God breaks the rules! God shows up with mercy, telling Enoch he can have life!

Today, you can experience that same mercy if you are in Christ. You don't have to experience the death that sin created in all of us. Jesus already died that death on the cross, and He did it so we could freely receive God's mercy and life. God Himself died on the cross, and that one death paid for all the deaths that have to be paid, as a result of sin. If I decide I will take Jesus' sacrifice, I don't need to pay for my own sin with my own death. Does this make sense?

Just as Enoch walked with God, and God took him, I can walk with God and God will take me! I may die in my body, but my spirit will live on! Jesus talked about this in John 14, saying don't you know I've prepared a place for you? I go there to prepare a place for you, that where I am you may be also."

1 Thessalonians 4 tells us also that the Lord Himself will descend with a shout, the cry of the Archangel, and the dead in Christ will rise first, and we who are alive and remain will be caught up with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." At any time that could happen.

One way or the other, God is going to take those who are in Christ, walking with Him, just like Enoch.

Again, it isn't a question of if God wants to walk with you. He's ready. It's a question of if you want to walk with God. God wants to do more with you than you could ever imagine, if you will just surrender yourself to Him. Will you walk with Him. If you had to answer right now, what would you do?

Hezekiah's story ends, by Isaiah coming to him. There is a knock on the door, and it's the prophet. He tells Hezekiah, "God has extended your life 15 years." If you want to walk with God, there are two choices. You could say, "That's okay. If I want food I'll cry, if I make a mess I'll sit in it. I'll pray for you while you walk, but I'm comfortable right here." You will miss everything God has for you if you don't walk. God wants people like Enoch, who will defy culture and the curse, and not fearing what people think, and will walk with Him.

I challenge you to walk with Him. Make a few minutes of prayer time each day. Make a few more minutes to read at least one verse each day. Put one foot in front of the other, and walk with God. If you're introducing yourself to God, it starts with accepting Jesus Christ and His payment for sin, and committing to make your walk with God in His pattern. Walk with Him.

Give Him your cares. Talk to Him. Share with Him. Understand His principles in Scripture.

Please email me at nswhiteside@gmail.com if you want to talk more about this.

[1] Oxford American Dictionary, s.v. “walk.”

Knowing God: Adam

2010-01-16T16:33:00.005-06:00

Some time ago I was at the store, checking out with my goods, and as I left I said, "Goodbye," to the attendant. She said, "Have a good day, pastor." I stopped. Shocked. I didn't know her, but she knew about me, even though we didn't know each other.

On a similar note, I wrote a letter to President Obama a couple of months ago. I know a lot about President Obama, but if you were to ask the President, "How's Nate Whiteside doing?" He would say, "Who?"

In Spanish there are two words for "to know" something: saber, meaning "to know about or have knowledge about someone or something," and conocer, meaning, "to know someone personally." The second word means to know someone more than just being able to recite facts about them.

What I want to challenge you to do is not just to know about God, but to conocer Him. Is that how you know Him today?

I want to challenge you all year in 2010 to know God. We will be looking at different characters in the Bible and how they knew God, and things we can take away from their relationship with God.

John 17:3 is the only time Jesus defines eternal life, a subject He talks about a lot. John 3:16, for example, is one of the most well-known Scripture verses recited, saying, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." That's how to have eternal life. But what is it?

Jesus says in John 17:3, "This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent."

So when we are saved, we are not just saved to be stored somewhere until heaven, but we are saved to know God more and Jesus Christ more--that we would develop a fresh, deep pursuit of God this year.

In Adam, we will see how Adam knew God as Provider, as Judge, and how Adam's knowledge of God was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

The first thing we see in Genesis 2 is that Adam knew God as Provider. One might make the case that no one except Jesus Himself knew God more intimately than Adam in those early days. Take your Bible and read Genesis 1:28-30, and 2:5-9. God provided for Adam and Eve, even making a garden and moving them there. God provided food for Adam, work for Adam, companionship for Adam in Himself and intimate companionship in Eve. Genesis 2:25 says, "the man and his wife were both naked and felt no shame." When was the last time you did not have a secret or something to be ashamed about? When was the last time you were able to be yourself and feel no shame? God wants to provide that for each of us.

Their relationship was as natural as a child and parent. My son came up to me the other day and said, "Daddy, I need some milk." There was no hesitation about whether or not I would provide for him, but he knew that since I had always provided for him, I would always provide and he could ask. We too need what God can provide: food, clothes, work, transportation, but also emotional well-being, companionship, freedom from loneliness.

Do you have a close relationship with God? Do you know Him?

A couple of months ago I received a call from my mother while driving back from Madison, and had to pull off the side of the road. My mother told me about some bad news, that they had found a cancerous spot on her back, and I had to tell God my bad feelings about this. I was angry, and not doubting God's powers to heal her, but frustrated and over the edge!

Do you know God? What do you need Him to provide?

I challenge you to look at God as the great Provider. God may say "Yes," "No," or "Wait!" If you're looking for a god who provides, this God is the One!

Second, when you get to know God, something else happens. We get to a certain point in our relationship with God, we will be like Adam, where we are tempted to cross the line. We don't think rules and commands are a blessing, but like Moses wrote in Psalm 103, part of God's blessings are His statutes and judgments. He gives us the 10 Commandments so we can have a better life, a better marriage, a better relationship with our family, a better relationship with our friends. God is an accountable God who makes us give an account of our actions.

Who loves their children more, the parent who says, "Here's $20, get out of my face," or the parent who rolls up her sleeves and spends time cleaning up the messes, correcting the bad behavior, and confronting her child.

If you want to find a church or group of people who believe God is only goodness and never disciplines you can find them out there. Today we have taken God and recreated Him to fit our wants, not our needs. We're like the scientist and the flea. The scientist put a flea in his petri dish and took off one of the flea's legs, and told him to jump (but don't worry, no fleas were hurt in the experiment). The flea could not jump. The scientist took off another leg, and repeated the command with the same results. Again the scientist repeated the process until the flea had only one leg remaining. The scientist took off that leg too and yelled, "Jump!" Then louder, "Jump!" Then at the top of his lungs he shouted, "Jump!" Nothing. The flea did not move. So the scientist went to his notebook and made the following observation, "When you remove all of the flea's legs, it loses its sense of hearing."

But that's how we treat God so many times! We put God in a box and expect Him to conform to our logic and principles, and if God doesn't, we make the wrong conclusion about God. We say, "Because you let my loved one die, you are no longer good!" But God is and was good long before any of us were born. We say, "Since you allowed me to experience pain you do not exist!" But God uses suffering for His good many, many times, and always will.

The closer we get to God, the more He will correct what is wrong with us, and the more He will want to make us better. As we get to know Him more, we must admit our faults and correct them.

But that is the reason some of you do not attend church, listen to teaching or preaching (such as this blog), or want to read the Bible. You figure that if you don't spend time with God in prayer you won't be confronted with sin and won't have to change. We have a decision to make. Either stay where you are and don't grow, or get to know God more and grow, even if it means sometimes dealing with your sin.

Part of knowing God more is dealing with my sin.

Several nights this past week I was at the church until later, and it was dark. I came to the back door of our home and pulled out my keys, but could not tell which key it was until I got closer to the porch light. I brought my unidentifiable wad to the light, and was able to see the right key to open the door. Not only was I able to see the right key, but I was able to see some unpleasant things about myself in the light, that I couldn't see in the dark. I saw scuff marks from where my elbow had brushed the dirty car, and dirt on my shoes.

The same is true with God, as 1 John tells us, "if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ covers our sin." We start to see our sin and need to deal with it.

So do you want to have the blessings of knowing God more? Do you want to take the challenge, even if it means changing something?

Maybe there's a conflict between you and someone else, and because of your pride you've decided you're right and you're holding onto it. Maybe there has been a significant loss and you have never dealt with it.

Not too long ago I visited a man in an uncomfortable situation who lost his best friend, mostly due to his mistake. He has lived with the death of his friend and never dealt with it properly yet. do you think that affects him? Come to God, know God, and deal with what needs fixing, and find greater blessing.

Not only can we know God the Provider, and need to examine ourselves more as we know God, but we can know God as the solution to Adam's problem.

What was Adam's legacy? Job 31, "have I covered my transgression like Adam?" Hosea 6:7 also "but like Adam, they have sinned." Adam: the one who introduced sin. What a legacy.

My Whiteside theology, though, says that if Adam wouldn't have blown it, someone else would have. Romans 5:12 tells us, "Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all have sinned. For before the Law was given, sin was in the world." v. 14, "Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses even over those who did not sin by breaking a command as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass, for if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace, and the gift that came by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflow to the many."

1 Corinthians 15 tells us that if sin came by one living soul, then life also came through the life giving Spirit Jesus Christ. God decided to redeem what the first Adam messed up through the last Adam Jesus! 1 Corinthians 15 tells us Jesus Christ is that Last Adam! To know God as Adam did, is not complete unless you know Jesus Christ.

Adam's problem isn't solved until we know Christ. Each of us is born into this sin that Adam created. If you've never known Jesus Christ, you've never dealt with that sin. Come face to face with who you are, and that legacy of wanting to do wrong, and take Jesus Christ, the solution to the unsatisfying life.

The good news is that Jesus Christ came to this world, died, rose again, so that we may know Him, and know God.

Remember John 17:3, "This is eternal life: to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom You have sent."

Knowing God happens when we are in a jam, or when things are going great. You may be suffering, needing a job, praying for a sick relative, looking for help with your marriage, and maybe really looking for help with your marriage. The solution starts with knowing God, and knowing God starts with knowing Jesus, believing He died on the cross for your sin, rose again, and only He can get you out of this pit and give you this eternal life.

Why not bow now and pray this to God? "God, I know I am a sinner and that Jesus Christ died for me and rose again from the dead. I believe He paid what I should pay for my sin, and commit now to follow Him."

Do you know God in Christ already? Pray today, "Lord, forgive me for staying comfortable and accepting less than my best for God. I want to know You more. Please help me to read my Bible each day and pray, and hear from You. Please bless me. Amen."

If you have prayed either of these prayers, I hope you consider emailing me at

nswhiteside@gmail.com to let me know.

Back to the Basics

2009-11-15T08:31:00.006-06:00

On October 25 this year, I was involved in a freak motorcycle accident. It is still "under investigation." I was riding, and going 55mph, and began drifting off the road. Slowing down did not help, and eventually I was in the grass on the embankment. The next thing I knew, I was picking myself up from the pavement, with a badly injured left hand (broken finger), a cracked rib, and a concussion. I was thrown from the motorcycle about 15 feet before skidding to a stop. I had blacked out, so the only reason I say I was thrown is because I got up that far from the bike. Possibilities for losing control include wind and terrain (dips,etc). Wind caused a motorcyclist on our country roads to have an accident like mine earlier this year. By God's grace I was wearing my helmet and walked away from the wreck. Also, the bike was able to be driven from the scene with only minor damage.

Since this accident, I spent 2 weeks recovering from the concussion. Confusion, lack of judgement, and lack of short term memory were side effects that kept me from working. My church was very generous to allow me to heal, and support me with prayer and concern.

Coming away from this, God brought me back to the basics. I have shared this with our Board of Administers/Overseers.
In recent past, before this accident, I and others have gotten away from the basics. Matthew 28:19-20 tells us "Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Read also Mark 16:15, and Acts 1:8. We, followers of Jesus, are to keep making disciples. It doesn't say try, it says make them. We all know God is ultimately the mover of peoples' hearts, but we received this command.

Revelation 2:1-7 describes many modern churches today, when it describes the church of Ephesus. They were full of "deeds, hard work . . . perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles and are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary." Yes! Awesome church! Can you say that about your church? Can we say that about First Baptist Darlington? Wouldn't it be great to have this label? But read the next verse, verse 4, "yet, I have this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place."

WOW! I'm still figuring out how a polished, well-oiled machine that is busy for God can be so condemned and rebuked. I can't believe that God doesn't approve of them.

Why are they in danger of God removing His presence (symbolized by the lamp stand) from them? Because they have lost their first love. They are in danger of God removing His presence from them because they have already replaced His presence with something else. It is amazing that as individuals and as a whole church we can forget what we are here to do.

Individually, we are to glorify and enjoy God. If we do that, we will want to express our pleasure and closeness with God in the form of sharing God's love with others, and making disciples. It should come naturally.

God has spoken to me about getting back to the basics, through reading His Word and meditating on it. Through reading Jesus' words and His actions, we read how to keep our first love. Jesus was not only devoted to the Father's will and to prayer, but to reaching lost people. Mark 2:13-17, Jesus called a despised tax collector, telling him, "Follow Me." he went to the man's house. The religious leaders condemned him for eating with (thus culturally accepting) saying to the disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" What was Jesus' Response?

Verse 17, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

To regain sight of our first love means to a) understand we are currently focusing on the wrong things. Maybe not always, but at an unhealthy level; b) ask forgiveness for personally and corporately getting off track. If programs, perfection, the way we do things, and "things" are more important than people, then we have gotten off track. If things are more important than spending time with God alone, then we have gotten off track.

This means we will not worry about being busy, because "to obey is better than sacrifice." This means we won't worry about being in "inappropriate" places to reach people, because we're not afraid of being called a friend of "tax collectors and sinners." (It would be my honor to be called anything that Jesus was called). It means our leadership meetings will focus on accomplishing the Great Command and the Great Commission, and less on equipment, building, policy, and making sure we stay in the black. It means we ask "What is God's will?" and not "how much money can we afford to spend?"

I urge those in and outside of our church to take a long, careful look at yourself, and answer the question, "Have you lost your first love?" If so, repent, devote yourself more to time in prayer alone and with others, and devote yourself to a consistent discipline of reading the Bible daily. As a church, devote ourselves to praying together and reaching out to the lost, and to making disciples.

Book Review, The Alchemist

2009-08-02T23:52:00.002-05:00

The Alchemist has been on the New York Times Bestselling list for trade paperback for 96 weeks. After nearly so long of being one of the best sellers, what does Paulo Coelho’s text have to say about God? What does it have to say about life? Why are so many people reading it?
The O Alquimista, it’s 1988 title in Coelho’s native Portuguese, is about a shepherd boy Santiago in Spain. (No, I don’t read Portuguese, but it was published in English in 1993). Santiago is a shepherd by his own choice, and not because he likes sheep, but because he likes to travel. He travels all over the country side helping protect his sheep and selling the wool at various towns on a route he has made up over the last two years. Santiago has a recurring dream that a child is touching his sheep, and the child tells him to go to the Pyramids of Egypt where he will find treasure. One day he meets a gypsy fortune teller, who tells him what the author thinks is the most important point of the book—his personal legend. The dream he has been having is true.
Coelho defines the personal legend on pages 21–22, through the common literary character of the guardian figure—in this instance Melchizedeck, King of Salem (yes, the same one Abraham met). He says, “ ‘It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend . . . It’s a force that appears to be negative, but actually shows you how to realize your Personal Legend. It prepares your spirit and your will, because there is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on earth.’” The boy replies, “ ‘Even when all you want to do is travel? Or marry the daughter of a textile merchant?’ ‘Yes, or even search for treasure. The Soul of the World is nourished by peoples’ happiness. And also by unhappiness, envy, and jealousy. To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only real obligation. All things are one. And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.’”
Although Coelho professes to be a Roman Catholic, the idea of all people being of one soul and that one soul being one with all the universe is not what we believe. We believe we are not one with creation, but are placed on the world to have dominion over it. The Scriptures tell us we were made by God in His image (Gen 1:26), and that we are separate from God (“God is not man, that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He said and will He not do it? Or has He spoken and will He not make it good?” Num 23:19). We are not one with God.
There are good things in this book, and I hate to say it, because the book is a rare quality of thrilling adventure, but it is worse than a direct contradiction against what we believe. The worst lies always carry parts of the truth, and they are the worst because they lead people astray. Many good ideas for being confident and happy arise in this book. It is one of those books full of good wisdom. In the introduction, Coelho cites how President Clinton and others have read the book. It seems to be an influence, and if you read it you find out why. The Alchemist teaches that Positive things lie ahead for everyone if they pursue their dreams, and the unhappy people are those who stop pursuing their dreams and get stuck. You be yourself, and the omens of the world will speak to you so you can arrive at and achieve that legend. Santiago’s personal legend is to follow the recurrent dream and go to the Pyramids of Egypt and there he will find a treasure.
Helpful truths such as how in seeking the end goal we find happiness (friends, companions, a wife) are very generic truths that Santiago experiences. We watch the confident young Santiago listen to Melchizedeck’s advice, watch him face difficulty, watch him sacrifice for the dream of treasure in Egypt, watch him find happiness, and eventually watch him as he is tested. The desert, the sun, and the wind talk to Santiago, and he speaks back. The spiritual climax of the book is on page 152, “The boy reached through to the Soul of the Word, and saw that it was part of the Soul of God. And he saw that the Soul of God was his own soul. And that he, a boy, could perform miracles.”
It is here that the book is not Christian, but embraces the spirituality of Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, Helen Schucman and A Course in Miracles, or the writings of those who follow these. (If you wish to hear more about this, there are two very good, concise sermons on this whole topic by Erwin Lutzer, at http://www.oneplace.com/, and see the archives of The Moody Church Hour, message title “Oprah, Miracles, and the New Earth,” parts 1 and 2). When Coelho was interviewed by Beliefnet about his faith, he was asked (on page 181 in my copy), “In the Alchemist, you refer to the Soul of the World. What exactly is this? How is it tied to religion or spirituality?” He replied, “Well, let’s distinguish religion from spirituality. I am Catholic, so religion for me is a way of having discipline and collective worship with persons who share the same mystery. But in the end all religions tend to point to the same light. In between the light and us, sometimes there are too many rules. The light is here and there are no rules to follow this light.”
Confused? The reader will come to one of two conclusions at the end of the book:
1) Each of us can do anything and the universe will obey our command, and even point us in the right direction so we can fulfill every dream. Everything we want is good, we are good by nature, and no desire is evil. Evil is getting stuck in routine and not having adventure.
2) This book teaches wrongly, teaching that we are gods.
If you are very, very mature in your faith, it is a good story and you can read it without frustration (but pray). But, for most Christians, it will be like eating a delicious bowl of oatmeal with gravel buried in it, where you have to keep picking it out lest you break a tooth. Hopefully not too many teeth will be broken, and we will still be able to eat our oatmeal. That is my opinion of The Alchemist and its teaching. Let the reader have wisdom.

“The Teaching in the Church,” James 3:1–2

2009-06-17T15:36:00.013-05:00

Some teachers stand out in my mind. I remember Dr. Louis Barbieri, Dr. Ron Sauer, Dr. Kent Berghuis, Dr. Stephen Bramer, Dr. Darrell Bock, Dr. W. Hall Harris, Dr. Oscar Lopez, Dr. Howard Hendricks, Dr. Mark Heinemann, Dr. Reg Grant, Dr. Ray Badgero, Dr. John Hannah, and a couple of professors who have since passed on (Prof Ken Hannah and Dr. Harold Hoehner). Each of those teachers had particular traits that were specific to themselves, and they invested in me. Can you remember your favorite teachers? I also remember my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Bergstrom, who believed in me--an ADD type kid trying to fit in with a mostly minority class (at least that's my perspective). I remember Mrs. Pruss, 3rd grade teacher when I moved into a new school, and she read stories and made life real. Many more people have influenced and taught me directly and indirectly. My parents and grandparents taught me much without ever standing behind a lecturn. My pastors and youth pastors have taught me much from their intentional teaching and preaching, and from their lives.

There are also those who teach, who we should not model our lives after. Harold Camping, for example, teaches we believe a different gospel and that Jesus is coming back in 2011. Also he and some who follow him believe God tricks us sometimes and his camp takes what they wish from God's Word. He believes formal training in seminary or Bible college is of little or no value, and that we who have such training are suspect (because he never benefited from it, I would guess). I don't usually name names, but the subtlety is to much that a person can follow Camping for years without realizing the frog treatment, and one day be all alone and having rejected the church and many friends, possibly family.

Teaching in the church is a high responsibility. One day all my favorite teachers, those who disagree with me, and I myself will stand before God. With false teachers in the world, teaching what is wrong, and with some up and coming men and women wishing to teach, it is very important to hear what James has to say in James 3:1–2.

It says, "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check."

First, we need to be cautious about teaching in the church. Christians should be cautious about teaching in the church. James would know from experience. He was a prominent teacher in Jerusalem, the one who held that group of believers together, and was eventually martyred preaching the great truth of Jesus Christ. Foxe's Book of Martyrs tells us James had knees with callouses like camel knees, from kneeling and praying at the Temple. James spoke from experience. He says, "not many of you," here and later will refer to himself, "we who teach."
Possibly many who desired to teach and were spreading differing teachings. It doesn’t mean we should discourage people from being teachers. James is giving a warning.

Why warn people who might want to teach? Don't we need teachers in the church? Yes! We are always looking for potential teachers. But you need to know the eternal consequences of teaching in the church. There are some immediate consequences: Teachers endure long hours, hardship, lower pay, under appreciated, and unless you are a Pastor or on staff you do not get paid money to teach in the church, yet you still give it everything you've got. Teachers not only endure much preparation and work, but criticism. They also think ahead and Biblical teachers are the prow plowing the waters for the ship, the keel hitting whatever is on the bottom of the vessel, the sails to catch the wind of the Spirit’s leading, and the rudders steering the church according to the great navigation charts. Teaching carries awesome responsibility!
Have you ever seen a teacher who is great at teaching? It inspires us. There is tremendous power in teaching. A good teacher is like a good baker, preparing and delivering a hearty meal that appeals to the ears, eyes; we taste it, we feel it, and it energizes us for living!
A bad teacher is like being served rotten food! Unprepared, unskilled cooking/preparation, and the whole thing is ruined!
We need good teachers, but be cautious. Teach because you must and are able, not because you want to be up in front of people or are a good speaker. A one-time friend of mine in Dallas wanted to preach, and had not worked or served in the church at all. He lived somewhat for the Lord, and somewhat for himself. He was waiting for me and the others to allow him to preach. No one had ever heard him do anything up in front, and I explained to him we would never allow someone to teach without being able to watch their life and approve they had the skill, and more importantly approve of what they believed. He ended up leaving discouraged at not getting an opportunity, and I heard he was at another church waiting in the same way he waited at ours.

If you're in love with the idea of teaching, don't teach. Teach if you have passion, but not because you seek gain. Just like a political office, a teacher should serve and contribute towards a need.

Why be cautious? Because we who teach will be held in stricter judgment (v. 1). This is always on my mind, as I prepare for sermons, Sunday school, small groups, and any written form of teaching. God will hold me accountable for every word one day. You too, teachers. Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

If you are a pastor or elder in a church, you are supposed to be able to teach. This passage applies to you:
1 Peter 5:1–4, "To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away."

We should be able to tell people we teach, "Watch me! Follow my example!" Can you say that, teacher?

Another important concept is found in Ezekiel 33:1–6, "The word of the Lord came to me: 'Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: 'When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head. Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.'"

We who teach share this responsibility as watchmen, because we proclaim the Word of God and tell people to live by it. Do you see the responsibility involved when someone comes and says, "I want to teach?" Whenever someone approaches me about teaching, I first try to watch their life for a year at least. They can assist and help, but if I don't know them, I would never allow them to teach. I also have to give account for that.

There are people I'm watching now whenever we fellowship, as they communicate, how important their spiritual growth is to them—all these areas. I pray God will raise up powerful teachers in our church and beyond.

I would have loved it if the man in Texas would have been willing to develop into a teacher.

There will be punishment for false teachers.
Matt 5:19, “Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

There are also other warnings. Paul said, "let them go all the way and mutilate themselves," when false teachers were adding to the Gospel.

There are some who teach today that it is okay to practice habits of homosexuality even in the church. I grew up with and have since met some who practice a lifestyle of homosexuality, and love each of these people. However, my love cannot change God's definition of sin. Teachers teaching that this is okay are wrong, and one day God will hold them accountable for it. In the same way, there are those who will be held in account because they wrongly teach that murder is okay if it is a fetus. Likewise, some wrongly teach that two people can live together physically as if they were married but not be husband and wife. God calls any type of sex outside marriage sin, but there are those either teaching it is okay or allowing it, thus endorsing it as okay. God will hold them all accountable.

What God calls sin is always sin, and never okay. God loves the people caught in sin, as Jesus demonstrated when the woman caught in adultery was brought before Him. Yet, loving people doesn't make their sin okay, and it doesn't mean we love sin.

Teachers should take the Bible and relay that to others. That's why I'm telling us what James says. Even now, there are political leaders celebrating what God calls sin. Not just accepting it, but celebrating it.

The culture we are in is asking, "Did God really say that?" Just like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Teachers must be the voice to respond, saying, "God said it."
This doesn’t mean no one should teach. It does mean that we should monitor what we say very carefully, especially in passing along truths of Scripture; teaching.
For teachers, ask yourself this question: How would you teach differently if you had Jesus sitting in the classroom?
Let me give some advice humbly to those who are teaching in the church. I give it knowing I have a long way to go before I am like Christ, but this is what I know so far.

First, teach from the Bible. There are great commentaries, helpful books, and study guides, but the Bible is the best commentary on them all. Once in a church where I served as Youth Pastor a Sunday school class was led by a prominent businessman in the area. He had them reading a book full of different peoples' opinions of God. They discussed such things as conversations with God (the popular book). Don't be like that. They should have been digging deeper into the Bible.

Second, plan ahead. If you know today that you need to teach next week, then today jot down a tentative outline, or "the bones," and as the week progresses you can always add "the meat" to those bones.
Third, spend more of your time on the “there and then,” and the “here and now” will be easier.
Fourth, be creative.
Fifth, tell stories. In the Postmodern world and culture, people more and more have moved away from the "Modern Era" and "Enlightenment" and "abc, 123" kinds of teaching. Use stories whenever possible and imagery or examples to relate and communicate points.

Give examples of "How this works for me is . . ." or "How this works for [so and so] . . ."

Finally, as to Nate's teaching tips, be yourself. We have one of me, and one of everyone else, and don't want another one. We only have one of you. God brings each of us to a specific local church to be ourselves, because that church needs the individual contribution.

The overall third point, asking Why should we be cautious about wanting to teach in the Church? Because everyone makes mistakes
Teachers are public persons, standing and speaking the Word of God. So then, a teacher’s mistake will be greater than that of a student’s. I have made mistakes, and will in the future.
There are errors and unintentional mistakes. For these, teachers must be willing to do what ever mature follower of Jesus should do when making a mistake.

1) Admit it, 2) clean up or fix it, and 3) move forward
Then there are intentional mistakes or people misguiding others. Jesus warned us about leading others astray in Matthew 18:6–7, "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!'" Woe was a cultural funeral cry as they carried someone's body. Mourners yelled it, and for Jesus to say that is a saying of sadness to false teachers. Their death is so certain the Lord already mourns it.

Verse 2b tells us if someone makes no mistakes he is perfect.
Directly causing people to stumble carries a heavy, eternal penalty. This is why I beg people to keep in prayer for me and our leaders. Just because things are going well, pray anyway. Whenever a leader falls he takes someone with him.

I also caution you, if anyone wants to take over their church or teach their own agenda, you are dealing with Jesus directly, as He will build His church. I caution anyone thinking of using the Church for personal gain (see 1 Peter 5 above).

When I was a leader on a team Mexico 12yrs ago, we had a woman who said the most insulting, offensive things to people and laughed. Her laugh made you feel good, but her words dug deep. After a few times, many people got upset. She nearly got sent home. There came a point when we all realized that this person was trying to lead everyone in a different direction from the leader, and we had to deal with it.

Those who teach, love it and be creative, and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you intend harm in the church, don't do it. If you make a mistake, admit it and fix it and move on. Enter teaching in Jesus' Church with reverence as one who will one day give account. In a culture that is shifting locally and nationally, the Church needs to remain the moral compass. Teachers maintain that course. Teach God's Word well.

The Sin of Favoritism, James 2:1–9

2009-05-06T15:10:00.010-05:00

In Luke 16:19–31, Jesus told a story, not a parable--but story, of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. Here's Jesus' story:

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"

Why is this story important? Why do we need to read what James has to say about favoritism? Because many of us would have acted like the rich man when we saw Lazarus. Many of us do. You too. In fact, we would have paid more attention to the rich man, if we're honest, than to Lazarus, the poor disheveled man laying by the gate. James calls that "sin!"

Here's what James says on the same topic:

“My brothers, do not have partiality in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory. For if a man enters into your synagogue with a gold ring and bright clothing, and a poor man enters in filthy clothes, and you show special respect to the one who wears bright clothing and say, ‘Here, you sit in the best seat and to the poor man you say, ‘You stand there or sit by my feet.’ Have you not been judged by yourselves and become judges of evil reasoning? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to those who love Him? But you dishonor the poor. Is it not the rich who exercise power over you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the good Name that was called upon over you? If you really fulfill the royal law according to Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well, but if you show partiality you yourselves sin, and are exposed as violators of the law.”[1]

The first thing James says is that we must resist the urge to show favoritism to the powerful (v. 1–4). James instructed the audience not to show favoritism to the wealthy oppressors and so dishonor the poor. (v. 1–7). So he says, "Don’t show favoritism.”
What does it mean to resist the urge to show favoritism to those who oppress us? The people were being oppressed, and so honoring the rich oppressors out of fear.
To resist showing favoritism doesn’t mean you shouldn’t love and witness to those who mistreat you, or you should ignore those who take advantage of you. See verses 2 and 3 above again in James 2. Picture the story taking place in First Baptist Darlington, during a church service when you read it. It' s almost unbelievable. Except in Baptist churches they would probably put the poor person in front, since that's where no one wants to sit; otherwise it would be equally tragic.

To resist showing favoritism means:
You should love the person who can’t do anything for you, as if they were the wealthy and powerful. See that James says in verse 5 the wealthy were also the ones exploiting the people, dragging them into court, and slandering the Name of Jesus. These people showed favoritism to their rich oppressors and blasphemers. Why? To earn favor. Out of fear. What is favoritism? It is not helping people try and fit in, helping people realize their need for Christ and trust Him.
When I was in high school, a kid a couple of grades younger than I was usually sat alone at the lunch table. A couple of times I sat next to him during lunch, even though it was my senior year, I was in band, football, NHS member, and had been in baseball, so could have sat anywhere. I left all those other crowds to sit by this guy. I had no idea how much that meant to him until later on, and he eventually became president of a youth group of about 150 senior high students. I didn't know how much sitting by him meant until he wrote a note to me in the yearbook, "thanks for always sitting by me in lunch. It really made a difference." (something like that).

Fear as a motivation always leads to suffering without rewards.
When we disregard the poor, we dishonor the poor. In the context of suffering for what is good, you lose the reward when you suffer for what is not good. If you're in a situation where you find yourself 1 Pet 2:19–20, says, "For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, but how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing wrong and endure it, this is commendable before God."

Someone would come into the church in James' audience, persecuting Christians, and Christians, out of fear, would favor those people! What does it look like not to show favoritism? It means Love the one who hugs you, as much as the one who hates you; favor the person who is merciful as much as the one who shows no mercy; show love to the one who can't help you as much as the one who can; show love to the one who looks up to you the same way you show love to the one who you look up to.

Proverbs 25:26 says that when a righteous person gives way to the wicked, it is like muddy water or a polluted well. If an unrighteous and powerful person approaches me, and I give into them, I am like a polluted well or muddy river--so are you if you follow Jesus and are righteous in God's sight. All the while someone is being left out.

Secondly, we must resist the urge also to show dishonor the poor (v. 5–7)
“You have insulted the poor.” We must resist the urge also to dishonor the poor. What does it mean? Insulting the poor means to regard those who have less money as if they had less value.
Question: Is value in God’s eyes measured by money? Possessions? How does God determine the value of a person’s work? By what they do for God! V. 5, It is the poor who will inherit the kingdom of heaven.

This is a message the church James addressed needed to hear, and it is a message the church today needs to hear! We get so caught up in the rat race of life we wake up one day and we are not honoring the ones Jesus tries to save, but honoring those who can do something for us, and there needs to be a change.
As a student at Moody Bible Institute, a couple times as a security officer (part time job I was glad to quit), someone would find a homeless man who was dead, and no one could be found who would care for the person. It wouldn't make the news, and no one aside from us who had to "clean up the mess" knew this person had passed. No family, no friends, and the message that was communicated was "nobody cares about this person!" The church should care. We care for all those who don't have family or friends, who have needs because Jesus cares for them.

Jeremiah said, "send me your orphans . . . your poor . . . your widows; I will care for them." Deuteronomy 15 shows how God's people on earth should make certain that no one is without. God’s intent was that no one should be poor! Deuteronomy 15:4–11 (READ IT) Jesus restated this intention! Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor . . .” Some people short circuit the system of providing for the poor by taking more than what they need and abusing the system. Some short circuit it by not allowing the truly needy to partake. We who are God's should give freely, because it was freely given to us.

I heard an example of dishonoring the poor from a Georgia man I met. I told how a poor man came to a church one Sunday, wearing his best clothes, which were his t-shirt and holey jeans. Everyone else was dressed in a coat and tie, fancy dresses, and the only seat available was one seat in the front row. He stood out, and attracted the attention of the preacher. Finally the preacher stopped mid-sermon and said, "Sir, do you know what the dress code is at this church?" "No sir," replied the visitor. The preacher said, "I want you to go home and ask God what the dress code is at this church." The man sheepishly stood and walked out of the service. The preacher continued preaching. The next Sunday the same man visited, wearing the same clothes, sitting in the same place, and mid-sermon the preacher couldn't concentrate anymore. He stopped again, irritated, and said, "Sir, didn't I tell you last week to go home and ask God what the dress code is at our church?" The visitor, obviously embarrassed, replied, "Yes, sir, you did." "Then why are you dressed the same way as last week?" The man composed himself and replied, "Preacher, I asked God what the dress code of this church was, and God said he didn't know; He's never been to this church before."

Hopefully we don't treat people that way. God welcomed the beggar Lazarus into Abraham's bosom. Jesus told the thief who belonged on the cross, "Today you will be with me in paradise." We should be where people can come when they can't come anywhere else. There are problems in the church, but there are problems in the world too. The difference is we know we have problems and we're trying to fix them. There are problems here because everyone who has trouble comes here, and tries to find hope in God. Rightly so.

God’s church is on the earth so that those who can’t help themselves have assistance. God’s plan is that, even at our own expense, we honor those who are poorer than we are.
We must resist the urge also to dishonor the poor.
Lev 19:15, “You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.”

Thirdly, we must love everyone as we would love ourselves (v. 8–9). “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.” We must love everyone as we love ourselves. Look at the intense phrasing of "really keep the royal law."
James instructed the audience to love their neighbors as themselves, without partiality/favoritism, and so do well (key term). (v. 8–9)
What does it mean to love others as I love myself? Look at the progression in James: Don’t become part of the system of oppression and domination: that’s power over others. Don’t enable that. Second, give honor to those who, being poor, live for God. Ultimately: Love better than others.
It means:
If you want someone to notice and honor you, then notice and honor others.
If you want someone to hug you when you’re sad, give someone a hug who is discouraged.
If you want someone to respect you in public, respect others
If you want someone to call you, write letters, email, ask how you’re doing, then do that first!
If you want someone to help you financially if you get into trouble, then help others with what you have.
Showing favoritism to someone prevents someone else from receiving love or attention they need. All followers of Jesus love their neighbors as themselves. This fulfills the royal law, see 1:25, “law of liberty,” freedom to love! In Jesus Christ, we have the ability to break out of any bondage; including the ability to:
Receive love from Him. Give love to others because of Him
Warning of sin: v. 9, “But if you show favoritism you sin, and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” This is the sin of favoritism. We must resist the urge to show favoritism to the powerful, to dishonor the poor, and we must develop an urgency to love others like we love ourselves.
Application: If you are showing favoritism, it is a sin.
It means literally, “You yourselves sin, and are exposed as violators of the law.”
Favoring anyone for anything exposes a lack of love towards someone else and God hates it! Sin!
So, repent of each instance before God.
Favoritism might be because of: wealth, power, popularity, race, gender, ability/disability.
“We must love others as we love ourselves.”

If we as believers began to love others like we love ourselves, not just what is good enough, we would change our community over night. Then we would change the world.
We must resist the urge to show favoritism to the powerful, the urge to show dishonor to the poor, and we must love others as we love ourselves.
The greatest expression of loving others as we love ourselves and showing no favoritism is when Jesus died on the cross, letting His life be taken so He could take ours, rising again with all power from the dead. If you feel like you are that person in rags, poor, helpless, the great news is Christ has shown you the love you need. You can believe and get out of the rut you're in. God changes people.

[1] My translation.

James 1:26–27, "Pure and Faultless Religion"

2009-05-05T10:49:00.014-05:00

Tim Bowden, in his book One Crowded Hour, describes an incident in Borneo in 1964. Nepalese fighters known as Gurkhas were asked to help fight in the war, specifically if they would be willing to jump out of airplanes into combat against the Indonesians. The Gurkhas replied that they would, only asking that the plane fly slowly over a swampy area and no higher than 100 feet. When they were told that they would not have enough time to deploy their parachutes at 100 feet, the Gurkhas replied, "Oh, you didn't mention parachutes before!"

That's devotion.

Elizabeth Elliot told of her first date with her husband Jim, which was a missions meeting at Moody Church in Chicago. One of the speakers was a daughter of the famous missionary to Africa, C. T. Studd. C. T. Studd gave up a pro Cricket career in order to serve the Lord in Africa. The daughter told of her father's final moments. He lay on a cot, gazing around the little hut and at his few possessions. "I wish I had something to leave to each of you," he said to his family. Then he concluded with these words: "But I gave it all to Jesus long ago."[1]
That's devotion.

Devotion, by one definition, means, “ardent, often selfless affection or dedication, to a person or a principle.”
Devotion according to Webster means, “a religious exercise or practice other than the regular corporate worship of a congregation; the act of devoting (devotion of time and energy); the fact or state of being ardently dedicated and loyal." [2] (ardent = “eager, zealous”)

James writes in verses 26–27 about "religion," using a form of the word three times in two verses. What is the topic he's trying to get across? Religion.

When you hear “religion” it means devotion. James says, "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Starting in verse 26, James describes pure and faultless religion or devotion. This is important for every believer. Why? We were created to glorify God, and are left on earth after salvation so that we can reach others and grow in our walk with Christ. Devotion is a large bone in the skeleton of Christian faith.

On that note, James says first, Pure and Faultless religion is devotion with our words (v. 25)
There is a reason James devotes a verse to this type of devotion, and splits the other two in one verse. If anyone believes he is religious and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this religion is in vein. The verb for "bridle" means "to bridle something” such as with animals, horses, etc. The word for "deceives" means just that, “to deceive, mislead.”[3] It was used in 1 Tim 2:14, “and it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.”
So religion equals devotion. Some of us are passionate; some of those who have a passion for God are also devoted to Him. There is a difference.

David Brainerd was a missionary to the Native American people during the time of Jonathan Edwards, in the 1700's. He told Edwards, "I do not go to heaven to be advanced but to give honor to God. it is no matter where I shall be stationed in heaven, whether I have a high seat or a low seat there . . . My heaven is to please God and glorify Him, and give all to Him, and to be wholly devoted to His glory."[4]
The first part of pure and faultless religion is this: devotion to God with what we say. In other words, James says to bridle your tongue. Put some reins on it. Have you met someone who controlled what they said, didn't talk badly about others, and would never lose control of their temper? People who are devoted to God have control over what they say.

I remember reading an epitaph, which is on a grave in England somewhere. It says:

"Beneath this stone, a lump of clay,

Lies Arabella Young.

Who on the twenty-fourth of May,

Began to hold her tongue."

If you fit this description, you might need to work on controlling your tongue:

- you frequently or regularly find yourself waiting for someone to leave the room before you speak.

- your kids know your friends' secrets

- your kids' friends know your friends' secrets

- you find yourself suddenly in great animosity around a certain person, and then realize it was for no reason at all . . . wait, maybe that's the guilt of having talked about them when they weren't around.

The main idea is back in v. 22, don’t say it and not do it. Be doers! Faith that works! Later in 2:12 James will tell us to speak and acts as those who will be judged by freedom (grace). An unbridled tongue can mean also that we say things that don't match what we should believe.

We must devote our words to God first of all.

Secondly, not only should our tongues, words, mouths, and all forms of speaking be devoted to God, but we should devote our actions towards others to God (v. 26).
Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father includes taking care of orphans and widows, and keeping oneself pure from the world.
What does it mean? The verb used here meaning “to purify,” means “undefiled.” It is used also in Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled, for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” How do you know if your practice of faith is pure and undefiled? The answer is: How well do you control your tongue, how often do you assist needy orphans or widows, and how stained are you by the world.
In case the inquiring mind wishes to know, "orphan" means “being deprived of parents; being without parents.”[5] The word for widow means here "a woman whose husband has died.”[6]
What does taking care of them in their distress mean? It means a time of need. "Distress” is “trouble that inflicts distress; oppression, affliction, tribulation.”[7]
Defending Orphans and Widows sums up the way God always intended to meet social needs—through the compassion of His people.
Orphans and Widows are near to God’s heart because they are needy. In this culture, income and earnings were possible by two general methods:

1) a man in the family worked,

2) a woman sold herself into slavery or prostitution or both.
You can see then, the reason that it was very important for God's people to help prevent tragedy when a woman's husband died, especially if he was the only capable male in her life. You can also see why a devoted follower of Jesus helps not just widows but orphans, for they too would be left as victims of slavery or worse.

Look at what God says in his Word about the need to defend orphans. He cares about children without parents (could also apply today to children from broken home or with absentee parents).

1. Exodus 22:22–23, “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. If you afflict him at all and he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear His cry.”
2. Proverbs 29:14, “If a king judges the poor with truth, his throne will be established forever.”
3. Proverbs 31:9, “Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and the needy.”
Look in the same way at widows. This could also apply to elderly who have no one, whether shut in or forgotten. The command is to “plead the case of the widow,” or to see that she gets what she needs.
1. Deuteronomy 10:18, "He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.”
2. Isaiah 10:1–2, “Woe to those who enact evil statutes, and to those who constantly record unjust decisions; so as to deprive the needy of justice, and rob the poor of My people of their rights, so that widows may be their spoil, and that they may plunder the orphans.”

I love this third verse. Take comfort, all who lack parents or who are elderly and alone!

3. Jeremiah 49:11, (the Lord speaking) “Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in Me.”
4. Psalm 68:5, “A father to the fatherless, and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy mountain.”
5. Psalm 146:9, “The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widows, but He thwarts and way of the wicked.”
See how God has a heart for those in need! If you are a part of the Church, we need to show the world the heart of God.
James reminds us of this: How does God measure our devotion to Him? Our devotion to others, namely those who cannot help themselves, and who can never repay us for helping them. Later on, James will apply this same principle to how we treat the wealthy or powerful and mistreat the poor.

The third item of pure and faultless religion is devotion in my actions towards myself (v. 27)
People who are devoted to God keep themselves undefiled from the world
I read a book by Sam Harris entitled Letter to a Christian Nation, in which part of his argument is against Christianity because we care about sexual purity and a standard of personal morality; as opposed to caring solely for world hunger, the environment, world peace, or AIDS. Christians care about all of those things as much, but what Harris missed was how God has always demanded purity of His people. It's not that God is mean or a drill instructor, but God is the definition of holiness and righteousness. Sin, unholiness, unrighteousness--these all are wrong because they are against the character and commands of God. If God were any of those things, they would not be wrong (does that make sense?). He can't have those things in His presence because of Who He is, not because of arbitrary commands and laws. So since the best thing we can do is to be like Him, then the best thing we can do is to change our lives to reflect god-likeness (Godliness), and Christ-likeness.

The third and final way to practice pure and faultless religion is to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Hey ya'll, this is tough! Easy to say, tough to do! Do you know anyone who lives a sinless life? Me either. George Sweeting said, "We can never be sinless, but we must always sin less." That is sanctification in a nutshell.

James says we are to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world. The word means, “being of highest quality and without defect; spotless.”[7]
The principle is described in Ephesians 5:25–27, as we're given a peek into what Jesus desires in His bride, the Church, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."

Piece of cake! Yesterday! Are there stains on you? Wrinkles? Will Jesus need to pull you aside and iron you a bit? Is the wedding dress white? It's a life long goal, one day at a time. The key question is "Are you more pure than you were yesterday?"

Dear reader, please stop now. Especially if you're skimming really fast and need to hurry. Five minutes never hurt anyone. Ask yourself and God a question in light of verse 27 and the previous verse 21, "Is there a stain on me from the world? Music I shouldn't have listened to? Pictures or videos I shouldn't have watched? Words I shouldn't have said, and need to make right? Money or things that I have that aren't mine?" Verse 21 said, "Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you" (we covered this is situational not eternal salvation. If you missed that, see the same word for salvation used in Matthew's Gospel for healing the sick).

What do I do if there is a stain in my life? 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from most of our unrighteousness?" NO. "ALL unrighteousness." Confess it to Him.

On that note, how are you doing altogether? I get the privilege to mull this over for at least a week before preaching it. I found some stuff I'm working on, and still find stuff. Confess to God, and if someone else was offended, own that stuff. Confess it.

If you discover you were the one offended, and the opposite party is either gone or refuses to make it right, forgive them. Forgiveness is God's bolt cutter that releases us from our ball and chains in life. Think of how Jesus said on the cross, "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do." He was innocent, still is, and yet cruelly abused and killed for our sin. But He rose on the third day and has remained alive since, so that all who believe in what He did can have eternal life. The Bible says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." Do you believe? Why not. Make that decision now and enter a life of pure and faultless devotion to God.

There's no close second to a life lived for God.

[1] Taken from http://bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=375, 12:40pm, 4/18/09. Originally from Our Daily Bread, January 30, 1994 and Elizabeth Elliot, Passion and Purity, p. 43.
[2] Taken from http://www.answers.com/devotion, at 8:50am, 4/17/09. Second definition from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/devotion, 8:54am, 4/17/09, Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online, s.v.

[3] BDAG, s.v. All Greek definitions taken from Frederick W. Danker and Walter Bauer, eds., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3d ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000). This reference is the most popular and is commonly abbreviated BDAG for the initials of the four editors (Bauer, Danker, Arndt, and Gingrich). S.v. is an abbreviation meaning the cited definition appears under the word if you were to look it up.

[4] Taken from http://bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=375, 12:30pm, 4/18/09. Originally from Our Daily Bread, November 19, 1997.

[5] BDAG, s.v.
[6] BDAG, s.v.
[7] BDAG, s.v.

[8] BDAG, s.v.

James 1:22–25, "Hearing and Doing the Word."

2009-04-27T14:44:00.026-05:00

First, let me apologize to those who have checked and not found anything new. I hope that there is enough meat to last the occasional busy season, as this blogging is fun for me, but it is subject to the needs of the service (to quote Russell Crowe in Master and Commander). With Palm Sunday and Easter, and sick kids, and hospitalized relatives, along with the needs of the local church, many irons have fought for the fire. Yet, my apologies and I thank you for engaging. I hope that your time will always be well spent on this blog, not because of me, but because of to Whom I am pointing the reader. Be blessed, and I hope you can meditate well on not just hearing God's Word, but doing it . . .

. . . James 1, read verses 22–25, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does."

Have you read a disclaimer recently? The sign on a paranormal psychology meeting room read, "The meeting has been cancelled today due to unforeseen circumstances." I read another one, which explained on a rice cereal box that due to shifting during transport the amount on the label might not be what is inside. In other words, "It's not our fault!" Have you ever bought a 3/4 bag of potato chips? Why pay the same for less, especially half of the product? Have you ever found that in your walk with Christ, following Jesus, you have to give a disclaimer? You say, "I'm a Christian, but . . ." Or, "I know, I know, but I'm still a Christian." "I'm still saved, even though . . ."

This comes after James told us to have joy during trials, persevere, try and mature through trials, and if you lack anything ask God for wisdom and He will give it. When you pray and ask for wisdom (or anything else), pray in faith that God is good and will do what is best for Himself and then for His people. James then wrote not to worry about rich oppressors because their wealth would fade, but to persevere for the crown that doesn't fade. Seek (v. 17 following) good and perfect gifts, which are all from God, no matter where they originated. Verses 19 through 21 James warned of "Speed Limits."

Last time, we saw how James urged us to be in a hurry to listen, not just to others, but most of all to God in receiving the Word planted in us. Now James adds to that. See how James is building actions and steps in a staircase of practical theology? It's like a Master saying, "Very good, very good. Now that's you've accomplished that, move up to the next level."

So, James says now, "Don't just merely listen to the Word (which is a good thing) . . . Do what it says."

Wow. Think about the difference and the bridge he's asking us to cross there. The Bible contains some hard sayings, such as Jesus' command in Luke 6 "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you." James does not say "Quote Scripture," "Teach the Bible," or "Make your own translation." He says, "Do it! Do it! Do it!" (remember Nike? Just Do It?).

First, God’s people don’t just hear His word.
The Christians should have heard the word, but not JUST heard the word, (v. 22b–24). A “hearer” is “one who hears.” In 1 Timothy 4:13, Timothy was instructed by Paul to “devote yourselves to the public reading of Scriptures.”
Read Rom 2:12–16 (READ IT) Especially Rom 2:13, “For it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”
What is James teaching? This: The question to ask is not "Are you into God's Word?" But:

IS GOD'S WORD INTO YOU? Has it made it's way into your lifestyle?

As Tony Evans said, "When I'm cut, let me bleed the Bible." Let it be like the Gatorade commercials, "Is it in you?"

A boy watched a pastor working in his wood shop. The boy stared as the pastor worked, and in the midst of his frustration the pastor turned and asked, "What are you staring at?" The boy replied, "I just want to know what a pastor says when he hits his thumb with his hammer." I know all Christians say, "Amen. O darn, O brother."

For you, reading, is God's Word in you? Could people point to evidence that you follow Jesus?

There is the word, "And" in Greek at the beginning of this sentence, verse 22. It is as if James is saying, "And another thing . . . make sure when you listen to the Word, you do what it says."

We will see in verses 23–24, an illustration of what not to do. There are 3 verses on this and 1 verse on what TO DO. Emphasis on what not to do.
Look at James' illustration, in verses 23–24. A picture of a man looking into mirror at natural self, forgetting what he has seen.

At this point, it would be good if you have a mirror nearby to look at yourself, and make sure your hair is in place; there's no food in your teeth; no zits or blemishes. We use a mirror to check up on ourselves. We ask "Is my hair okay? Do my clothes match? How do my clothes look on me? Did I miss a hair while shaving? Is there food stuck in my teeth?" We use a mirror to make sure we look okay, right?

What if someone noticed his hair was messy, there was food in his teeth, he hadn't shaved, he had the crusty stuff in his eyes from just waking up, and then he walked away? People would be looking at him saying, "What happened to old so-and-so?"

(Get this) When we read God's Word and close it before asking, "What should I do about what I've just read," we have done just that. We will walk around and as James says, deceive ourselves.
What DO you hear and remember? A lot of influences are going into your mind through your eyes and your ears. Do you have thoughts and memories about:
1. Music lyrics
2. Language
3. Violence
4. Sex and sensuality on TV, Internet
5. Abusing and mistreating others through speech and violence?
The four most major influences in your life are:

1. The God we worship (whether or not that being/thing is the true, living God. This can be idols, sports, drugs, music, etc).

2. The family who raised you (mainly parents, but also siblings and extended family).

3. The friends we associate with.

4. The books we read.

The word “blessed” appeared in v. 12 and here only in James (2nd of 2 times). In verse 25, James emphasizes of “blessed is the man who perseveres through trials for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life.” He says, "he will be blessed in what he does," referring to the man who doesn't forget what he finds when he examines his life in light of Scripture.
What we do defines who we are.

What do you do? What do you do after you read or hear God's word?

A hearer only is not a person who will receive the crown of life; thus not a person who is a doer of the Word, and not a person who has been saved! Followers of Jesus follow Jesus.
At this point, you should read Matthew 21:28–32, five verses, but a loud story. Pause and read it.

Now, after reading that (did you read it? If not, please do so), Who did the master’s will?

If you think you’re going to heaven because of a prayer prayed once upon a time, and you hear God’s word week by week and do not follow it, I think it is very possible that you are not saved. If there is no fruit, then God is not in you, and you need to repent of your sin and ask Jesus to come in and save you. The idea that following Jesus is praying one time is a hearer-only theology.
Some in James’ audience were making this mistake, and he had to correct them. When God’s people forget what they have heard, they drift into ungodliness, such as James’ “hearers” did.
Have you ever known someone who really committed themselves to reading and doing God's Word?

I read of Dr. Louis Evans, Pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church, had both the Old and New Testaments memorized. He would challenge the college group to memorize verses. They would discuss many of these verses. He would teach them how to study the Bible and how to teach and preach the Bible. Once he challenged them to memorize all of 1 Corinthians 15. The following Sunday he recited the whole chapter (58 verses) by heart, and then preached on it.[1]
What is the application (what should the "doing" be)? Do whatever it takes to read, listen to, hear, and remember God’s word.
Memorize book and chapter of God's Word (book and chapter, chapter and verse if you can, but book and chapter). Have a regular reading time in God’s word. Everyday I read an Old Testament passage, New Testament passage, and most times translate for myself afresh from Hebrew or Greek to see it come alive. Make observations and applications, and try to live it out. I pick the verse that applies most to me, and try to remember it the rest of the day, applying it.

When we study God's Word, we should do at least 4 things. This is not in the sermon version, but only in this blog. The four things are four questions. This can take 4 minutes for beginners, and even four hours if you are persistent. The questions are:

1. What does it say?

2. What does it mean?

3. What am I doing?

4. What should I do?

Then, respond to question #4. If you do that, it's amazing how much you will grow spiritually.

The problem comes not when we know what we should do; the problem comes when we need to leap, dive, jump in; when we put action behind what we know we should do.

A person might read this and think, "But I'm mostly good. I follow Jesus in 99% of my life. I just want a little portion to myself."

Here are some scary facts about what would happen if 99% were good enough:

Michael Pinto wrote in ihsn.com, May 19, 2000, some scary things that might happen if 99% were good enough.

- 466,750 annual takeoffs and landings of commercial airplanes in the U.S. could end in tragedy (but hey, 99% of the time . . .)

- a light curtain on a power press, which averages 200 pieces an hour, could cause 16 lost fingers a day of the operators (if it operated correctly 99% of the time).

- the safety trainer who is only accurate 99% of the time would seriously jeopardize the lives of 20 construction workers per year. (but hey, 99% of the time everyone would go home at the end of the day)

We try to reason with God like this, don't we? "God, I'm obeying You 99% of the time?" While a lost world suffers without their Savior, and we fail to deliver the most important news that could save lives, we rest in our "mostly" obedient status. (but hey, 99% of the time . . .)

Another source (http://www.snopes.com/) has a posting that has calculated that if 99% were good enough (based on popular, average surveys. FYI, snopes is designed to correctly research false Internet facts and disprove them, so this is "99%" accurate, and even allowing for a margin of error lets us see the danger of being only 99% accurate--ironically):

- 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily

- 114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped this year

- 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled every hour

- 2,000,000 documents will be lost by the IRS this year

- 2.5 million books will be shipped with the wrong cover

- 2 planes landing at Chicago's O'Hare airport will be unsafe every day

- 315 entries in Webster's dictionary will be misspelled

- 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written this year

- 880,000 credit cards in circulation will turn out to have incorrect cardholder info on their magnetic strips

- 103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly during the year

- 5.5 million cases of soft drinks produced will be flat

- 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly

- 3, 056 copies of tomorrow's Wall Street Journal will be missing one of the three sections

But hey, if we're 99% good, that's good enough, isn't it? Think again, follower of Jesus. He deserves nothing less than 100% doing what He says.

I think it's important to pause and explain why it is so important for a follower of Jesus Christ to regularly read God's Word. Why listen to this book?

When we say we believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, and we have God’s words recorded, we understand that happened over 2,000 years. We acknowledge that occasionally as copier A passed onto to copier B, then onto C and D, etc. possibly B or C didn’t cross a “T” or dot an “I” that D saw, and then he corrected it. The looking back to find the closest to the original documents as we can and study them is called Textual Criticism. IMPORTANT: this is why the church has always held a collection of manuscripts going back as far as possible, and why we specify we believe “in the verbal inspiration of Scripture complete and without error in the original manuscripts.”
Is our English Bible reliable today? Absolutely! Because pastors and theologians have been keeping records for thousands of years, we have the Bible as it was given to God’s people. How do we know for sure that the Bible we read today is reliable? How do we know it is the Bible as God gave it to men?
I'm glad you asked.

Let's look at a summary of answers on the Old Testament:
Until the 1930’s, when the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, our earliest manuscripts of the Old Testament were copies from around 900AD. Now we have copies from 125 B.C. (1,000 years earlier!). We also know that a Greek version of the Old Testament between 250 and 150 B. C., was copied by 70 men in Alexandria Egypt. We have the first five books of the Old Testament copied and preserved from the 4th Century B. C. by the Samaritans (Samaritan Pentateuch). We have Jewish translations into foreign language during their time of exile from the 6th Century B.C. I have read portions of the Babylonian works by Jewish rabbis from the 6th Century and on (very difficult, but it’s there!). Finally, if those works are considered authentic, then we must trust their references to history that show us all the way back to 1,400 years before Christ when Moses compiled the first 5 books, and 2100 years before Christ (Abraham).
What about the New Testament?
We have much more evidence for the New Testament. Compare it to the other historical documents of the same period. Of the major historical documents written around the time of the New Testament, we have the following with their oldest manuscripts and number of them:
1. Livy (59BC–17AD). The oldest copy we have is from the 4th Century AD, 27 copies survived.
2. Tacitus (AD56–120).The oldest copy we have is from the 9th Century AD, 3 copies survived.

3. Suetonius (AD69–140). The oldest copy we have is from the 9th Century AD, 200+ copies survived.

4. Thucydides (460BC–400BC). The oldest copy we have is from the 1st Cent. AD, 20 copies survived.

5. Herodotus (484BC–425BC). The oldest copy we have is from the 1st Cent. AD, 75 copies survived.

We have over 5,700 Greek manuscripts (papyrus and other forms) of the New Testament! Within 100 years after it was written (2nd Century AD) we have manuscripts. We have older and more manuscripts than any other historical document of that era. Over 10,000 in Latin, and more than 1 million quotations from the church fathers and others.[2]
God’s Word is more reliable than any other historical document of that time!

God’s Word should be heard, and done, especially by those of us who claim to follow Him.
We need to do what God says in His Word!

Verse 25 says, "But." He will contrast what he has just said.

The second and final major point to make is this: Not only should God's people hear His Word, but God’s people are doers of the Word

The Christians should have done the word (v. 22a, 25)
The word for “doer” means “one who does what is prescribed.”[3]
Like looking into the perfect law of freedom.
Compared in James with looking at oneself versus looking at God (previous verses).
Just like looking into the mirror exposes physical flaws, so God’s word is a better mirror for checking ourselves for flaws: spiritually, physically, mentally.
“he who looks into;” “look into” is “to bend over for the purpose of looking, with the focus on satisfying one’s curiosity, take a look.” It was also used in:
John 20:5, “And stooping and looking in, he [John] saw the linen wrappings lying there, but did not go in.”
John 20:11, “But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb.”
Luke 24:12, “But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in, he saw the wrappings only, and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.”
It is always used to describe someone focusing, taking a very good, close look at something. It meant tunnel vision, or rapt attention. This is how followers of Jesus should treat God’s Word. Focus, intent, anxiously expecting to have something to walk away with that will change the way we live.
When was the last time you opened the Bible, read it, thought about it, and said, “aha!” You went away seeing something needing correction and were changed! You were a doer of the word!
Psalm 19:7, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul”
Those who did the work would be blessed in their doing
James' phrase in verse 25 for “perfect law,” is the first time James uses “law.”
James 2:8, “love your neighbor as yourself,” fulfills the “royal law” (King’s Law)
James 2:10, “whoever keeps the whole law and stubmels in just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”
Jesus said, Matt 5:17, “I did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them.”

Jesus gave a new law—the law of freedom. It involves hearing and doing, and blessing for workers. The perfect law that gives freedom is to bind oneself to the law of God, "perfect, reviving the soul."

How are you doing in this area?

The reason you should be a doer is seen if you go to Atlanta Georgia, and eat at The Church of God Grill. One person was so curious about the name of the restaurant, that he asked one of the servers how they picked it. The reply was that once upon a time that building and location was The Church of God. Then they started serving fried chicken. Eventually the fried chicken attracted many people, and they served it with every service. The church died out and gave way to serving people friend chicken. But, they liked the name, so they kept it.

Can you imagine one day driving to Darlington and seeing, "The First Baptist Church Grill"? "The First Baptist Civic Center," or "The First Baptist Recreation Park"? Or how about your church if it isn't Darlington? May it never be! Never!

Let's practice what we read, and hear God's Word. Then, before closing the Bible, pledge ourselves to answer the final question, "What should I do about it?"

If you're reading this and I'm writing in a foreign language, it might be because the Holy Spirit is not with you, which would be because you have yet to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Acts 16:31 gives the answer to the question, "So what do I do about how Jesus died to pay for my sin on the cross? So what if He came to life on the third day? So what if it was prophesied to happen that way? What does that mean for me?" The answer is "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved."

Do that first, becoming a doer of God's Word. Then continue, as James says, "Do not merely listen tot he word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

[1] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, And 1,501 Other Stories, (Nashville: Word Publishers, 1998), 52.
[2] Darrell L. Bock, Daniel B. Wallace, Dethroning Jesus, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2007), 51.

[3] BDAG, s.v.

James 1:19–21, "Speed Limits"

2009-04-07T13:21:00.022-05:00

James 1:19–21 says, (NIV) "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."

When my wife and I were students at Dallas Theological Seminary, I was dropping her off for a class and returning home one morning. This was the time of day when schools were about to start their regular, daily session. I drove a different way back home, taking a side street. I turned into the middle of a school zone speed limit area. I had turned in after I should have seen the first sign that warned me to slow down to 20 mph. A second sign should have warned me, but that sign was partially hidden in the bushes, so I didn't see it. The third sign got my attention. It was a police officer standing in the middle of the road. I thought to myself, "There must have been an accident. Something is wrong. Hopefully there's nothing wrong with the students at the school. I switched lanes to move around the police officer, and the police officer also switched lanes to stand in front of me. He wanted me to stop, holding out his hand. I had no idea what could have gone wrong, but figured it was terrible if it was bad enough to stop traffic between 7 and 8am on a weekday morning in the metropolis of Dallas, Texas. Then I saw the sign on my right that said "End School Zone." I thought, "Great. A speeding ticket." My first reaction was to explain to the officer what happened, that I didn't see the sign. He didn't care, just nodded his head and kept writing. The speed limit was there for the kids' protection. Reflecting later on this, I thought that since I was driving by a school I should have gathered that I should have driven slower.

Like this, there are speed limits posted in life. Whether or not we acknowledge them makes no difference. The consequences for breaking God's speed limits happens no matter what we think about them.

God gives us speed limits for our benefit in James 1:19–21. This is one of those passages where we could read it quickly and get an idea for what it says, but we have to remember it and do it. The problem with God's speed limits for human beings is on our end. We get too emotional sometimes and before our brain has a chance to filter us, something comes out of our mouth that we wish we would not have said.

James pleaded with "my brothers," his fellow believers, not to let that loss of control happen. Later he writes about the tongue in the same way. This follows James' warning in verse 13 not to give into the trial of temptation. Closing ears and opening mouths too quickly is a serious temptation that can damage the Church of Jesus Christ.

James urges us, first of all, that we should be quick to listen and slow to speak (v. 19)

God’s people are quick to listen and slow to speak (v. 19)
“Quick” is used to mean great urgency and haste, as in:
Luke 15:22, “But the Father said to His slaves, ‘quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him,’” prodigal son story Jesus told.
Matt 28:8, Mary and Mary after the angels announced Jesus’ resurrection and they saw the empty tomb, “And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to report it [the resurrection] to His disciples.”
A good way to rephrase this would be, “be in a hurry to listen. Especially compared to how much you speak.”
The emphasis is on not opening our mouth too fast. God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason.
“Slow” is used in:
Luke 24:25, “O Foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!”
2 Pet 3:9, adjective of it, to mean slowness, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”
James says, paraphrase, “be slow/hesitant to speak and slow/hesitant to anger.”

James’ admonishment was for the audience, spread all over, to do more listening and less talking.
Why? Later on see how speaking mixed with anger would not accomplish God’s righteousness.
Have you ever been in the presence of a good listener? Someone who listens well? There are times in life when the best thing we can say is nothing. There are times in ministry where a ministry of silent presence is all that is needed; all that is allowed.

Here at First Baptist Church, we too have to be careful of this. You (whether here or another church) can fall into the trap of thinking you are the Oracle of Delphi and you gift others whenever you smell a problem by dumping words on them.

In marriage, husbands listen to their wives and then try to solve the problem. That's why wives get frustrated and say, "You're not listening!"

Listening more and talking less is difficult, because our western world of corporate influence believes that talking more and listening less is the way to get ahead. The person who is loudest, more verbally dominant, controlling, harsh, and quickest to open their mouths will get ahead. That's the way the world is setup, and therefore when we live that way we also gain worldly rewards (see last entry. Seek God's gifts, not the world's).

If you obey God here and don't give into the temptation to be the first with the right answer all the time, or the pushy person who uses rage to get his way, but are quicker to listen and take your time when speaking, you will not get ahead according to the world. Count the cost.

Christians should pause and ask, "Am I living for Friday, or for 20years down the road?" You won't get ahead by Friday if you live according to the "ready, fire, aim" motto of the world. But if you are more concerned about 20 years in the future, you should consider what God says about how to get ahead. Start with listening more, and speaking less. Speak in quality not quantity. It's easier on the ears too. People will start to listen to you every time, because they will learn that when you speak you have wisdom, and you don't speak unless you have something valuable to contribute. It takes time to "train" others to identify this, and in the process we get stepped on, but it outlasts the "shoot from the hip" "fast money" because God's way can be done whether 20 or 90 years old. No one can dominate everywhere, all the time, for their entire life.

I urge the reader to think about this because what you start with, you must maintain. "Don't start what you can't finish," (to use an old mantra).

There are a lot of times when someone is speaking and you know what to say before they finish. But if you wait until they finish, sometimes you realize you almost made a terrible mistake, and they didn't say what you thought they were going to say.

Dr. Rascher, a professor of mine at Moody Bible Institute, used to minister among Native Americans in the U.S. and Canada. He shared with us that in one tribe where he ministered, when you were with an elder, especially as a newcomer, you would never speak first. You let the elder speak. He said that as a newcomer he sat next to the elder to talk, and waited for him to speak first. He waited for a long time. For hours and hours he sat, before being spoken to, and if he had talked he would never have gained access into the community in order to share Christ with them.
People have misconception: More words means more is accomplished.
If you have a problem keeping the mouth closed, this verse was written for you! Proverbs 10:19, “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” Let he who has an ear hear!
Lee Iacocca was a busy man running the Chrysler Corporation. Even so, he knew the value of taking time off: “I’m constantly amazed by the number of people who can’t seem to control their own schedules. Over the years, I’ve had many executives come to me and say with pride: ‘Boy, last year I worked so hard that I didn’t take any vacation. ‘ It’s nothing to be proud of. I always feel like responding: ‘You dummy. You mean to tell me that you can take responsibility for an $80 million project and you can’t plan two weeks our of the year to go off with your family and have some fun?”[1]
Is reading the Bible a necessary part of your day or does it have a low priority in your life? George Mueller, after having read the Bible through one hundred times with increasing delight, made this statement: "I look upon it as a lost day when I have not had a good time over the Word of God. Friends often say, "I have so much to do, so many people to see, I cannot find time for Scripture study.? Perhaps there are not many who have more to do than I. For more than half a century I have never known one day when I had not more business than I could get through. For 4 years I have had annually about 30,000 letters, and most of these have passed through my own hands. "Then, as pastor of a church with 1,200 believers, great has been by care. Besides, I have had charge of five immense orphanages; also, at my publishing depot, the printing and circulating of millions of tracts, books, and Bibles; but I have always made it a rule never to begin work until I have had a good season with God and His Word. The blessing I have received has been wonderful.”[2]
Application: Slow down! No one says at the end of their life, “I’ve spent too much time with family. If only I could have had more time to do my work!” Many say, “I should have spent more time with my family and friends!” Slow down!
A hurried, stressful life leads to hurried, stressful responses, which leads to hurting, stressful relationships.
Listen: first to others in conversation, but there is another audience that requires ever believer’s attention. We’ll come back to that in a minute.

Secondly, we should be slow to anger, because it accomplishes nothing for God (v. 19b–20)
A person’s anger does not work out God’s righteousness. It hinders it.
James told them to be slow to anger, because man’s anger does not accomplish the righteous life God desires (v. 19b–20). Same word for “slow” meaning “be slow/hesitant to anger”
James commanded God’s people not to be quick to get angry.
Sometimes people are quick-tempered. Hot headed. Get angry fast. React fast. Can’t change their mind once they march off with a head full of steam!
James says, “That should not happen except once in a lifetime, and not even then if you can help it.” Why? For “man’s anger does not accomplish the righteousness of God.”
People in the Bible who lashed out in anger and did not accomplish God’s righteousness:
1. Adam and Eve quick to speak and anger in blaming
2. Abraham quick to have an offspring through Hagar instead of waiting
3. Jonah leaving for Tarshish instead of Ninevah b/c quick to anger!
4. Peter taking a sword and cutting off Malchus’ ear b/c he was quick to anger!
All of us are in one of two schools of anger management:

Jefferson

or Twain. Thomas Jefferson said, “When angry, count to ten. If very angry, count to 100.”
Mark Twain said, “When angry count to four. If very angry swear.”[3]
James dealt with people in his audience who from time to time had lost control of their temper. James says that our anger does not accomplish God's desires. Our desires don't always accomplish God's.

We get an idea in our minds sometimes and then it suddenly blurts out. Sometimes people don't say everything they're thinking, but they let it build up until finally it explodes. Being slow to anger doesn't mean being slow to lose one's temper, but it means being slow to have a temper at all.

I think that there is a dangerous idea in Southwest Wisconsin. We have different problems than I came into contact with in Dallas, but we have our own problems to deal with. We sometimes get to the point where we think we have grown up already, whether through confirmation or through a process in our church, and think we have learned everything there is to know.

The Christian life is a process of constantly seeking new ways to be more like Christ.

When we are upset, we need to think about two things: 1) What we say, and 2) the Way we say it.

If we say something to a person in anger it is different than if we say it calmly. Sometimes people can't hear us because of all the emotion that is coming out.

Anger can become such a monster that it overrides the content of our words and destroys relationships, as we seek to massage our feelings and hurt and give someone a piece of our mind (which we cannot afford to lose).

James says, "Don't do that. You will not accomplish God's mission on earth."

Once again, what feels good is not always healthy, and not always godly.

Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
If you master these, you will be pleasing both to God, and everyone you know.

What does James say next? After saying to be quick to listen and slow to speak, and slow to anger, and telling us what NOT to do, James tells us what TO DO.

Third, James told them (therefore) to receive with humility the word planted in them, which can save them, getting rid of all moral filth and evil that is so prevalent, (v. 21)
Therefore, “therefore/for this reason,” (ask “what is it there for?”)—referring to quick listening and slow speaking and slow anger.
James tells them another path to take: receive God’s word, getting rid of moral filth and evil.

"With Humility!" Not proudly, or with arrogance, but serving the person who angered us and serving God by humbly receiving the word planted in us.

Being slow to anger involves having humility, as well as being quick to listen and slow to speak.

v. 21 says "Accept the word planted in you," or in some translations "receive."

What is James saying? We are supposed to be quick to listen to others in conflict, but most of all who are we supposed to listen to?

Listen to the Word of God which is inside you, follower of Jesus. Listen to the "Word" that "became flesh and dwelt among us." Receive by reading Scripture, following Jesus.

Once again, James uses conception terminology, like above where James had said (verses 13 and following) to be careful that evil desire doesn't conceive and create sin, which gives birth to death. Instead, here James says to be impregnated by the Word of God.

Try this: When we're upset, instead of giving into anger, seek other possible outcomes by reading God's Word, the Bible. Do you have verses about anger? Here's a great passage for those who have problems with anger management.

Ephesians 4:25–32, (NIV) "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 'In your anger do not sin.' Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according tot heir needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

However, getting rid of moral filth and evil are a secondary step.
The command here in v. 21 is “receive” the word planted in you, and the "dependent clause" is getting rid of moral filth and evil.
So then, the main verb in verse 21 is our accepting of God's word. It's like if I were going to the store to pick up groceries and my wife calls and says, "While you're going to the store, can you pick up eggs and milk?"

Here is an important point: Part of my receiving God's word is my getting rid of all evil and moral filth! Look quickly at "lay aside."
“Put off” is “lay aside,” used in Heb 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
1 Pet 2:1, “Therefore, put aside . . .” names specific sin. This phrasing in James was common language for getting rid of sin. He tells the hearers this phrase in a summary of all kinds of various evils: uncleanliness or vulgarity and abundance of evil. Implied above in the “therefore” is that these all came from slowness to listen and quickness to become angry and speak.

So here is another important point: Instead of my anger leading to the righteousness of God, what can I do that leads to God's righteousness? Listening to the Word of God.

My anger won't get rid of moral filth and sin; it will only add to it. James says that there is excessive evil within his audience. It needed to be rooted out! My talking when in sin will not help in this.

If you're reading this, why not follow what James teaches?

Someone is asking, “But wait! What about the people who make me mad? How can I listen while they’re angry, and I’m not supposed to get angry?
Someone else is saying, "I don't get mad. I get even!"

God doesn’t want us to get even; He wants us to get better. We can only get better through getting into His Bible.

A friend of mine, Sherry, worked with me years ago in a ministry for youth in the Chicagoland area. She told us once that she, as a nurse, was bandaging a man who had been in a fight. She looked his shirt and it was a promotional shirt for the ministry we were a part of. She had our attention. Before finishing working on him she told the man, "Don't you dare wear that shirt again until you change your ways."

We need to put aside all the sin in our lives or else we look like the man who got into a fight with his Christian T-Shirt on.

I urge the reader to accept God's Word, be quick to listen, and quick to obey it. Sometimes when we are with others we also need to listen. If you're the wisest person, then forget this part. But for the rest of us, we need to read God's Word.

Bernard of Clairvaux has good to say about humility, which applies to having the ability to listen. The proud or arrogant won't listen. Let's be listeners.
Humility will save you from consequences of rash, unrighteous anger. Bernard of Clairvaux, monk in 12th Century AD wrote about humility: “So long, then, as I am not united to God, I am divided within myself and at perpetual strife within myself. Now this union with God can only be secured by love. And the subjection to him can only be grounded in humility. And the humility can only be the result of knowing and believing the truth, that is to say, having the right notions of God and of myself."[4]
Humility will save you from rash, unrighteous anger.

i. We should be quick to listen and slow to speak (v. 19)
ii. We should be slow to anger, because it accomplishes nothing for God (v. 19b–20)
iii. Receive with Humility the word of truth which is inside you
Look finally at the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, especially verses 16–23. It's about listening. He who has an ear, listen to the Word of God.

Not only should we listen to and receive God's Word, but Jesus is the Logos, or Word made flesh. First, before listening to anything else, you must hear Jesus and believe He is Who He says He is. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He died in our place and came to life again, confessing sin to Him and repenting of it, and the Bible says we are saved from our sin.

[1] Taken from http://bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=192. Originally from Lee Iacocca, An Autobiography by Lee Iacocca & William Novak, Bantam, 1988, quoted in Lifeline, Summer, 1997. My late beloved Dr. Harold Hoehner would not approve of this footnote for citing second level sources. So I leave it partially to show the loss of losing him a few weeks ago to a heart attack. I would not be where I am if it were not for him and his investment as the second reader for my Master's Thesis.
[2] Taken from http://bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=192. Originally from Counter Attack, Jay Carty, Multnomah Press, 1988, pp. 155ff

[3] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1998), 33.
[4] Swindoll, s.v. humility.

James 1:16–18, "The Rewards of Faith"

2009-03-30T16:54:00.026-05:00

Have you heard of Tony Dungy?

Have you heard of Laroy Rocquemore? Laroy Rocquemore was a person who influenced Tony Dungy tremendously, and if not for Laroy Rocquemore we probably would not know Tony Dungy as we do today. Tony Dungy, the first African-American coach to win a Superbowl, writes that when he was in high school he quit the football team. One of his closest friends, Bobby Burton, a receiver, was passed up as a team captain while Dungy, the quarterback, was picked. This happened between their junior and senior years playing high school football. Dungy writes in his book, Quiet Strength, "I just couldn't understand this. It seemed obvious to me that both of us should have been captains. I could only think of one explanation. For some reason the school didn't want two black captains. It seems impossible now." He writes that his football team had never had two black captains. He was so upset and no one could convince him the votes were counted correctly. He reacted according to his hurt and anger, and quit the team to show his disapproval. Because he was such a leader, many other African-American players quit the team too. A walk out had started. He writes, "I hadn't really thought about the possibility that when I decided I wasn't going to play the other kids would quit as well, but it didn't bother me. I just figured everybody had to make his own decision." His dad wanted to know what he would do to make the situation better instead of just reacting, but he said, "I was seventeen and I didn't care if the situation got better or not. My feelings were hurt, Bobby's feelings were hurt." He said, "I'll just play basketball."

As the team was preparing to practice again before the senior season began, a former school administrator of Tony's who tried to help young African-American kids asked him over for dinner. His name was Leroy Rocquemore. He said, "'Tony, you enjoy playing football and these other kids enjoy playing football. You should have your senior year to play. At the end of the day, what are you really upset about anyway?'" Tony writes, "I began to answer but he continued, talking over me, without waiting for a response." I hadn't realized his question was rhetorical. Mr. Rocquemore continued, "'Even if the issues are that important, should they spoil the fun that all of you should be having playing football as seniors? Thirty years from now you don't want to look back and see that you missed out on something you really loved doing.' Then he asked the question he really wanted me to answer, 'Why would you let anything stop you from doing what you have the ability to do?' Although I was convinced he was right I had always had quite a temper and my pride wouldn't allow me to back down."[1]

We'll come back to that story's outcome at the end of this entry. But for now, Dungy lived out what James warns against in verses 13 through 15, our own desires. The previous entry goes over how not to give into our evil or our own desires and lusts.

James says, (v. 13–15, NIV) "When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death."

Now, in verse 16, James gives us a hinge verse, linking what "not to do" with what "to do." He says, (v. 16–18, NASB), "Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren," (hinge verse). "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures."

It is a common misconception that God and the Bible only tell us what we can't or should not do. Last entry was an example of that. But, when God tells us what "not to do," He also tells us what "to do." If you've worked with someone who has an addiction, or had one yourself, you know that those people need not just to quit, but to substitute it with something better. In Christianity, it is not about what we "don't do," but what "we do" for the Lord.

The first point I see in these verses is this: There are better rewards for keeping the faith, so
do not be deceived by what feels good (v. 16). God’s people should not be deceived by what feels good. This is that hinge verse, finishing the thought “do not be dragged away, abort evil desires,” and replacing pursuit of evil with pursuit of good. A comparison is coming, and vv. 13–15 were the negative, “Do not do this” and now we get to hear the “instead, focus on this.”
James is calling people's attention to this very important teaching, because he uses “my brothers,” a phrase mentioned at least 12 times in James; used to draw reader’s attention to what is being said. It's like his hearers have ADD or ADHD because he has to repeatedly address them. It is an attention getter when the letter was read out loud, and also a reminder that James says this in love (as we should always do when correcting one another--and we should be correcting one another in church more than we probably are--every church).
James uses "my brothers" twelve (12) in:

1:2— to have joy on trials; 1:19—warning us of speed limits; 2:1, 2:5—Don’t show favoritism to rich or poor; 2:14—faith without works is dead; 3:1—not many should presume to be teachers; 4:11— slander; Chapter 5 climaxes with four of them 5:7, 5:10—patience (takes a lifetime to master! Even then!); 5:12—not swearing; 5:19—Benediction summary.
James alerts us: DON’T MISS THIS! YOU WERE CREATED FOR MORE THAN TO GIVE INTO EVERY EVIL DESIRE.

What's the big deal? We know we should do what is right, not what is wrong. But is it just in our heads or has it made its way to our hearts? Our feet? Our mouths? Our eyes? Our hands? When we're alone?

Remember the image of the fish: lured or enticed and then dragged away by our own evil desires.

The fish went for what looked good. A lure is something neutral used for something evil. "Lust" can be good desire in Scripture, or the same word can mean evil desire. Be careful not to use the strong forces within you for evil or selfish gain, when God meant for them to be used towards His Kingdom.

An example of chasing after evil desires happens every fall in Wisconsin. The male deer, bucks, get one thing on their mind (and you know what that thing is). They will not stop until they have accomplished that mission. They get hit by cars and trucks all the time as they blindly chase these evil desires. If you see a doe racing across the road, stop. There might be a doe chasing it. This is the picture of us when we are led away by our own evil desires. We chase and pursue what feels good until we are suddenly interrupted and "smacked" by the consequences, just like the bucks are "smacked" by a passing vehicle.

2 Tim 2:22 says, “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

How do I apply this? What do I do instead of my own evil desires when they come? Instead of gossip, love your enemies and do good to those who hate you
i. Instead of pride, be humble 1 Pet 5, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble, therefore humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord that He may exalt you at due time, casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you.” Instead of lust/longing for what we don’t have, be thankful and content with what God has given us.

LUST IS AN OVERWHELMING DESIRE FOR SOMETHING I DON'T HAVE

Lust is not just physical or sexual lust, but can be for material things or money, power, control, or things we ingest into our body (food, drink, alcohol, drugs).

The opposite of lust is not boredom, but as 2 Timothy points out the opposite is using that God-given drive or hunger for more to ingest Godly attributes (see 2 Timothy passage above).

This doesn’t mean be satisfied and not try to better yourself, but thank God for what He has given you.
Start thanking God for what He has given you as well.

Proverbs 7, remember from last entry, (v. 25 and following), "Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng." She has a ditch like a holocaust picture full of dead bodies. Beware!

What God does in Proverbs next, chapter 8, is portray wisdom (God's point of view) as a woman as well, doing a similar dance of enticement for our attention and benefit.

Proverbs 8:1 and following says, "Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud; 'To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding. Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge. Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.'"

He goes on about the benefits of wisdom.

James tells us this going into verse 17, CHOOSE GOD'S GIFTS, NOT THE WORLD'S.

Sometimes I can get led astray by all the discount book offers I get in the mail. Books are great, but wasting my money every time I feel curious about a new book is the opposite of wisdom, and wrong.

Have you tasted everything in the world and found it lacking? Don't be led astray by anything, James warns!

Apart from God, we will never find "gifts" that fulfill our needs. Our itch cannot be scratched unless we consider what God has to offer.

Secondly, Verse 17, James tells us God has much better gifts for us! There are better rewards for keeping the faith, so secondly, choose God’s gifts, not the world’s. THIS IS THE REWARD OF FAITH AND FAITHFULNESS. God is the source of all good and perfect gifts, and God does not change, so the source of good gifts will not change. All good and perfect gifts are from above, coming down from the Father of lights, in Whom there is no change, nor shifting shadow. James connected the negative desires giving birth to temptation and sin and death, with those things we should desire, rooted in the One who gave us birth to produce the greatest fruit of all He created.

Every good or perfect gift is not where you always feel guilty afterwards. It's not over where you always feel regret, or where you beat someone up to feel better.
There are two different words used for gifts. In the NIV it combines the two, using only one word for "gift," but in the original there are two distinct words for "gift." "every good gift and every perfect gift/endowment." The first one:
Every good gift (DO-sis, from BDAG and TDNT meaning gifts more common or given among men. This is used in Phil 4:15, of Paul’s reception from the Philippians and none other, “no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone”)
This first word for “gift” means more common, or given among men, such as:
Phil 4:15, “no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone.”

The second word is “complete/perfect gift” or “perfect endowment.”
"Every complete/perfect gift," DOE-ray-ma, is a more elevated style.[2] This word is used of God’s gifts to men, such as in:

Rom 5:16, “the gift [DOE-ray-ma] is not like that which came through the one who sinned, for on the one hand, the judgment arose from one transgression, resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand, the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.”
“is from above”

See James 3:17 too, where the wisdom that comes from above is preferred, coming from God. THIS IS PART OF THE GOOD/PERFECT GIFT TO SEEK
Is the point of James that there are different gifts? The point is where all good things come from, which is from God.

Yes, we should seek God's gifts over worldly gifts, but in the end, whether we receive from a man's hands or supernaturally from God, the truly good things come from God.

So then, no matter where you find kindness, goodness, peace, self-control, joy, or agape love, it came originally from God. No matter where you get the rent money at the last minute, or the health care for your baby, it came ultimately from and because of God.

This means also that the truly good things are what God desires for us, not our own evil desires. Thus, the seeking of what is Godly instead of our own desires results in receiving the best gifts from God.

Notice how James words this, in the passive sense, as in 1:5 speaking of wisdom, "it will be given to him," now saying, "comes from God." By saying this instead of "God gives wisdom" or "God gives the best gifts," James tells us God is sovereign, good, gracious.

Application: Seek God and His righteousness—that’s where you will scratch the itch to your deepest desires.

What if you don't believe or follow Jesus and are reading this? You ask, "Where do I begin?"

Begin by believing that Jesus died because of your sin and confess that sin. Confess you are a sinner, and need God's forgiveness. Believe that God loved you in spite of your sin and Jesus Christ was crucified because sinners should have been (sinners like me). Believe Jesus died for you but also didn't stay dead. He was alive for good on the third day as many witnesses admit, and commit to follow Him. There is a God shaped hole in everyone’s heart, and temporarily fillings leave you wanting more. Only in believing and following Jesus can we have satisfaction and fill the void in us.
My prayer for those who have heard this and don't follow Jesus is that you would never rest until you find rest in Him.

God is the source of what feels good and lasts.

I bought some Easter candy recently for the kids. When you eat that, you get a sugar spike and temporarily have a lot more energy, but when the sugar low hits later you are lower than when before you ate the candy. But eating proper food gives energy that lasts. So too, pursuing God's best instead of our natural desires produces longer lasting satisfaction.

A blacksmith worked for a Tyrant king a long time ago. His only desire was to please that Tyrant. He came into his king's presence once, and his king ordered him to make a chain. Upon finishing the chain, the blacksmith presented it to the king. The Tyrant was not happy, and told him to make it twice as long. The blacksmith complied and later returned with the chain as ordered. The Tyrant commanded him to make a second chain of equal length. Again, the blacksmith complied and later returned now holding two chains of the same length. The last time the blacksmith came in, with three chains, the Tyrant ordered the guards to take the three chains the blacksmith had made and bind him in jail.

That is a picture of what happens when we continually give into our evil desires. We think we're pleasing the tyrant master called sin and don't realize we are slowly creating a cell of bondage for ourselves. When we least expect it we wake up to find we are bound to the desires we once controlled!

But not if we seek God's great and perfect gifts. Loving people with agape love is how we grow, as are patience, kindness, goodness, joy, self-control, slowness to anger.

Tonight 10 minutes after sunset, with binoculars, look to the West, and you will see the planet Venus reflecting the sun. Think of the awesomeness of all the planets out there in our solar system, our closeness to the sun so we neither freeze nor burn, within a solar system, within a galaxy, within a universe of many galaxies. God is the Father of all lights! All we can see above us. The Bible says God knows them all by name. The lights may change, but what does James say about God?

“change” was used to describe the way the planets and stars moved in their apogees; “shadow of turning” also a phrase for heavenly bodies in their rotation. The language in Greek for these terms were familiar to astronomy or astrology, describing the changing planets in the sky. It is very important to understand that though God is Lord of all the heavenly bodies we can see, and those planets and bodies continuously move and change, God Himself does not change.

If you look at Venus like I suggested, you will have to keep adjusting your telescope. Why? It is slowly but surely moving, as are we on Earth.

But not God! If today God is good enough to do what is best for me and has the best gifts for me to seek, and gives them to me, then tomorrow that will be true too!

Right now the world is scary, the economy has resulted in layoffs and hard times. But I say even if I lost everything, I would trust in God to provide all my needs, not necessarily all my wants. We can have confidence that God will supply all our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.
Call out to Him. Ask God. James says in 4:2, “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives that you may spend what you get on your pleasures!”
I urge the reader ask God now, today for that need that no one has been able to meet. Experience the greatness of God.
God is the giver of all good and all perfect gifts, and God has not changed, nor does He ever change. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Thirdly there are better rewards for keeping the faith, which result in fruit.

In other words, we are chosen by God to be the highlight of creation (v. 18). We are to be God's first fruits. James 1:18 says, "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created."

We read in Leviticus 23:10–25, how God instituted a law that the people would bring Him the first and best of the land called the first fruits. In our worship for this topic when it was preached, we read that passage in Leviticus together. You should take a minute to read it too before continuing.

Now, having read the background for what a "first fruit" was, it is amazing that James refers to us as God's first fruit of all creation. God's harvest, the first (especially in James' time) and the best in His eyes.

Out of everything God has made, mankind is the pinnacle of creation. Out of mankind, Jesus said "I will build My church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it," and out of the church, Jesus looks for that first fruit, which are the believers sold out to God to do His good works.

It means a faith not just in my head or heart, but in my hands and feet. Faith that works.

James switches in v. 18 to past tense. He's giving a history lesson.
Every since James 1:1, James has spoken in present tense. Look at it.

He has said in the last few verses, "Don’t give into evil desires, that will conceive sin, and give birth to death, don’t be deceived [by what feels good], choose God’s gifts, not the world’s, God does not change!"

Now he switches to past tense. James switches from present to past tense. By His will he gave birth to all believers so that they are the firstfruit of all He created.
What single event was the Word of truth? Jesus Christ—God becoming flesh, and believing the Gospel for salvation. Jesus coming into a person's life has brought that person new life, and because of that new life, we can have a first fruit for the Lord.James connected the negative desires giving birth to temptation and sin and death, with those things we should desire, rooted in the One who gave us birth to produce the greatest fruit of all He created.
The one thing you need to know if you are stuck in mire, filthy, sinning, feeling guilty, not wanting to crawl out of bed in the morning—is that God made you with the purpose to make the greatest parts of His creation.
What is the peak of God’s creation? Mankind. What is the peak of mankind, the peak of God’s creation? The church, the redeemed saints. What is the peak of mankind, the peak of God’s creation, the peak of the church? Those believers who are producing good works for God.
Don’t be deceived by what feels good!
Choose God’s gifts, not the world’s
And Know that God has chosen His people to be the highlight of creation
God wants to do a work in you that you could never do yourself. Look at the pictures of the hubble telescope, galaxies far, far away, beautiful paintings and artwork, music that makes grown men cry; deep sea creatures, millions of species of plants and animals all over the world, and nothing comes close in God’s sight to when a child He redeemed does good works for Him.
You and I have the ability to gain God’s favor—make Him smile—like no one else, if we will devote ourselves to doing His good works! But it happens only by the word of truth—which is the gospel of Jesus Christ taking root in your life. Then you are reborn in Christ, and the Holy Spirit comes in to begin a new nature.
Do you have the ability to be the highlight of God's creation? You can only say yes if you have already said yes to Jesus Christ, and believe that His death for your sin is acceptable, and that His resurrection is true. You must commit to follow Him.

I always end with this note, because it is the most important decision a person could ever make. Consider it, won't you? If you are already following Jesus (a disciple, not just a decision) then examine your life and find an area where you can devote yourself more to following Him.

Tony Dungy concludes this section of Quiet Strength by telling that he thought he was right. He said, "I alwasy had quite a temper and my pride just wouldn't allow me to back down. I could understand Mr. Rocquemore's point but from a moral standpoint I still was pretty sure that I was right. Plus at seventeen pride and hurt feelings can be pretty overwhelming emotions. Mr. Rocquemore knew that I would have trouble asking Coach Driscoll to return to the team, so he said that he would talk to him and do his best to smooth everything over. 'I'll tell him you want to play and make everything alright. Don't worry about it.' So after he talked to Coach Driscoll, Mr. Rocquemore arranged for the three of us to meet. Coach was a very principled guy and he set the tone for the meeting. Here's what he said, 'Tony, you can come back, but you've missed winter conditioning, you've missed summer workouts. You guys,' he knew that if I came back the others would coem back, 'are going to have to do some extra stuff to earn your way back.' He mentioned extra running, washing the dishes at camp, and so forth as his requirements, 'If I'm going to let you back.' When he had finished I think the only thing I heard was 'If I'm going to let you back.' I was getting mad, thinking, 'If he's going to let me back?' I started to get visibly upset, and Mr. Rocquemore gave me a look. It was the same look I would later give John Lynch during a press conference before the 1999 championship game in St. Louis. That look that kept me quiet and in my seat. For all the while, even Mr. Rocquemore was thinking 'Now why did Coach have to go there.' After the meeting he took me aside and said, 'Coach is the coach and you're the player. And there are times in life when you're just going to have to do certain things. That's just how it goes. That's a lesson you're going to have to learn to get through life.'"[3]

What happened when Tony Dungy gave into his own desires and quit the team? Was he able to just join again and act as if he had never lost his temper? Was he able to act as if he had never led the walkout and cost the football team other valuable players? No. He had to do some cleaning up to fix what he had damaged.

There may be some cleanup when we decide to seek after God's gifts, which are better. The rewards for serving God faithfully, consistently, everyday, are much much greater and longer lasting than the rewards for serving our own desires.

[1] Tony Dungy, Quiet Strength.

[2] See A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third Edition, and Theological Dictionary of the New Testament for all my research on Greek to English meanings.

[3] Tony Dungy, Quiet Strength.

James 1:13–15, "The Trial of Temptation"

2009-03-29T21:34:00.021-05:00

As I preached this a couple of weeks ago (yes, I'm behind in posting this), I mentioned I was recovering from a sickness. That sickness made the rounds here in Darlington, and I felt sick to my stomach still (among other things) as I stood to preach. However, I could stand and speak, so God be glorified. It will take more than that for me to not preach. Right before the sermon we have offering at church, and our Youth Pastor and Children's Pastor Russ and Nichole Paul sang a beautiful song for offering about Jesus going up the hill to die for our sin. We paused and prayed. That's a great idea for you now, if you're reading this. Press "pause" on life and thank God for not being satisfied with justice, but reaching down to save us in His mercy and love.

Now we come to the topic of James 1:13–15, "The Trial of Temptation." I read a funny story. Have you heard the folk story of the bandit Jose’ Rivera, who became notorious in several little towns in Texas for robbing their banks and businesses? Finally the townsfolk, weary of the constant plundering, hired a ranger to track down Jose’ Rivera in his hideout in Mexico and retrieve the money. The ranger at last arrived at a desolate, ramshackle cantina. At the counter he saw a young man enjoying his brew. At one of the tables, hands over his ample stomach, hat over his eyes, snored another patron. With much gusto, the ranger approached the young man at the bar and announced that he was on a mission to bring back Jose’ Rivera, dead or alive. “Can you help me find him?” he asked. The young man smiled, pointed to the other patron, and said, “That is Jose’ Rivera.”
The ranger shifted his southern girth and ambled over to the sleeping bandit, tapping him on the shoulder, “Are you Jose’ Rivera? he asked. The man mumbled, “No speak English.” The ranger beckoned to the young man to help him communicate his mission.
The ensuing conversation was tedious. First the ranger spoke in English and the young man translated it into Spanish. Jose’ Rivera responded in Spanish, and young man repeated the answer in English for the ranger.
Finally, the ranger warned Jose’ Rivera that he had two choices; the first was to let him know where all the loot he had stolen was hidden, in which case he could walk away a free man. The second choice was that if he would not reveal where the money was stashed, he would be shot dead instantly. The young man translated the ultimatum.
Jose’ Rivera pulled himself together and said to the young man, “Tell him to go out of the bar, turn to the right, go about a mile, and he will see a well. Near the well he will see a very tall tree. Beside the trunk of that tree is a large concrete slab. He will need help in removing it. Under the slab is a pit in the ground. If he carefully uncovers it he will find all the jewelry and most of the money I have taken.”
The young man turned to the ranger, opened his mouth...swallowed...paused—and then said, “Jose’ Rivera says...Jose’ Rivera says...’Go ahead and shoot!’”[1]
Read James 1:13–15. To review, James started by telling us to determine it joy when going through suffering; that we are supposed to have perseverance when going through suffering so we can be mature and complete, lacking nothing; if we do lack wisdom, we can ask of God Who gives graciously and without reproach; to pray in faith for wisdom or anything else; how to handle the trial of poverty when some who are wealthier are oppressing you; and this time how to handle temptation as a trial.

So far James had focused on trials dealing with the outside. Now he changes focus, switching from external trials to internal trials. Temptation could be said to be the subtitle for the next 4 1/2 chapters in James except for a few verses. These people were suffering on the outside, but they needed to have not only a Godly attitude about the outside trials, but they had to deal with trials within the body.
We'll see in 1:19–21 to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

In 1:22–25 we'll see how we need to resist the temptation to be hearers only of the word and lazy. We must do what we hear in God's word.

2:1–13, we'll see how we should not favor people over other people.

2:20–27, we'll see how we should avoid the temptation to have unbelief. We should believe. Jesus commanded us in Matthew 6 and Luke 12, "Do not worry . . ."

3:1–12, we will see how we should tame the tongue. James will explain that the tongue is the most divisive, dangerous part of the body.

3:13–18, careful of falling into bitterness. Don't let your circumstances control you.

4:1–12, different kinds of fighting amongst ourselves; Chapter 5 warns the rich not to use their wealth at the expense of others. Some wealthy were also within the congregation.

Temptation is a huge problem! Wherever you find a population of human beings you find temptation, and you find sin.

Why? Because we have a sinful nature. Whenever the bird of temptation lands on our head, we honestly hope it makes a nest there; but once the droppings and chaos begin, we realize we have made a mistake. People are like the richest, most fertile soil, and temptation is like throwing the best seed of sin on it. What do you expect? We are such a fertile soil for sin, because a part of us desires it. Better luck getting the spots off a leopard, or finding a cow without hooves, than to find a human who does not struggle with temptation from time to time (or more often).

In Systematic Theology we have ten (10) categories of systematic theology, give or take one depending on which systematic theology you read. We have Theology Proper (the study of God), Christology (the study of Jesus Christ). But we don't have to teach students about the category of Hamartiology (the study of sin). Why? Everyone knows how that one works already! We live it. I pray that as a pastor I can be used by God to teach us well from God's word, and I can say, "We sin less than when I came here." We won't ever be sinless, but we should always sin less (thanks Dr. Sweeting).

James doesn't say "if you are tempted," but "when you are tempted." It will happen.

The first point is to avoid the blame game, especially towards God (v. 13). When someone is tempted, God is innocent, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt.

The same word used in Luke 4 talking about Jesus being tempted is the word used here for us to be tempted; which is the same word as "trial" used earlier in James. But this time the context demands it is "tempted." Jesus was tempted from the outside by Satan, but not the inside as James explains we are. Hebrews tells us Jesus was tempted in all ways as we are, yet without sin. But only from the Tempter's point of view (read Matthew 4 and Luke 4). James will describe a process of birthing sin and death which begins inside us, which Jesus did not experience. God could not have sinned, because sin is anything opposite of the will or nature of God, so if God appeared to sin that would no longer be called sin, for sin by definition is opposite God, resulting in evil. (God being the definition of good).

The Jewish believers scattered all over should not have accused God of tempting them because God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself tempts no one (v. 13). Neither should we! We should not blame God, or others--but especially God when tempted!

Sooner or later you will be tempted to blame God during temptation. "If God loves me, He would not let this happen! He would stop this! It's His fault!" James, leader of the Jerusalem church, probably pastored many people. He probably had seen one of every type of problem (pastors see one of everything, and many repeats. Hard to surprise a pastor). No doubt James wrote from experience, that we are tempted to blame everyone except ourselves when we are tempted.
How do we apply this today? When tempted, take responsibility.

Secondly, God teaches us this: Don’t let desire drag you away. James 1:14 says, (NIV) "Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed."

See the picture of the fish. One moment he's swimming along, and then he sees the silver hook in the water, so he says to himself, "I've always wanted to eat a cold, hard metal hook!" No! A fish would never try to eat a bare hook. The fish tries to bite the lure, and is deceived into biting the hook. The audience of James scattered over the known Mediterranean world would have recognized the fishing terminology in "lured" and "dragged away."

We too are lured and enticed, and then after sampling sin a little bit we suddenly are dragged away.

Fishing can be interesting. Last year I went fishing once and caught two coolers full of bluegill in four hours. Later someone returned to the same spot and caught nothing.

I took my kids fishing at Yellowstone Lake last fall, and the first time caught a small fish, showed my daughter, let her hold the pole with the fish on there for a while. She was so excited. The next day, she wanted to go fishing again, so we loaded up the van and went to the exact same spot. After having her hold the pole for 15 min, nothing happened. She handed it to me saying, “I’m done,” and walked away.
But you always need two things to catch a fish: 1) lure, 2) hook.
Sin is like this in our life. It never shows up and says, “Hi, I’m sin, I’m gonna cost you everything, ruin your marriage, family, and friendships, and lose money you could have earned, and waste your time, and leave you feeling guilty all over! I'm going to lead you down the wrong road and make you hate yourself!” If it weren't for the enticement of sin and attractiveness of it, we would all stay away from it.

Sin is like a hand grenade hidden in a chocolate donut. We take the first bite and "boom!" it's all over.

If you have sin in your life and have said for a long time, "It's not my fault. It's God's fault! It's my wife's fault! It's my husband's fault! It's the devil's fault!" The fish swims towards the attractive lure. We can only blame ourselves when we go after that attractive desire.

We should say "No!"

How do I apply this? If you have sin in your life, confess it to God (admitting it) and take the blame. We can't blame Satan, even though he tempted Jesus from the outside.

The devil has an inside agent, the flesh, and that desire inside us (sinful nature) is the root of our desire to do what is wrong.

Paul said in Romans 7 that he did the things he did not want to do, and did not do the things he did want to do. He felt so guilty he said, "what a wretch I am!" Don't read Romans 6 or 7 without reading Romans 8, because Romans 8 tells us in Christ there is no condemnation or separation from God's love.

If you sin and are in Christ, that sin was paid for on the cross when Jesus died once for all. Does that mean we should continue in sin if we have been saved from it? No! To say you love God and to act the way you want to anyway probably means you never truly believed and follow Jesus.

Jesus came so that we could have life and have it more abundantly, and sin appears to be that abundant life, but it is not! Look at what sin does!

How do you want God to view you for eternity when you arrive in heaven?

Thirdly, "after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is full grown, gives birth to death." So point #3 is Abort evil desires (v. 15)
This verse is pregnant with birth analogy words. Two different words are used for giving birth, words that were used for Jesus' and John the Baptist's birth in the Gospels. Conception and birth are gifts from God, beautiful, and a part of how we are to obey Him in “be fruitful and multiply.” But when we give into our evil desires, instead of giving birth to life, we give birth to sin, which gives birth to death.

James uses this to show us the results of our evil desire, which leads to temptation, which leads to sin, which will lead to death.

The ancient proverb says, "you can't stop a bird from landing on your head, but you can stop it from making a nest there." When the bird lands on your head, when you hear a voice saying, "Stop! Hold back! Don't give in!" That's when the desire is starting to conceive like a fetus trying to implant itself on your inner womb. It will grow, not stopping there. Sin is contagious, addictive, and once it gets a hold of you, it gives birth eventually to death.

So, Nate, you're saying I have to be bored the rest of my life, I can't have any fun? I'm saying that sin comes from three sources: the world, the devil, and here it comes from the flesh--sinful nature--evil desires. I'm saying if you follow the definition of fun according to any of those three sources, you will eventually experience death.

But, there is another definition of fun and excitement, found in following Jesus Christ, which results in eternal life and an abundant life starting here and now. If you're reading and saying, "That's boring to me." Give God a try. Otherwise, you know that your own self-serving desires will lead to sin and death. God will lead you to life.

(Gustave)

In John Milton's Paradise Lost, Satan reaches gates of hell, to exit, and two beings greet him with some hostility. First, he meets his daughter, an alluring woman from the waist up and a horribly disfigured creature from the waist down. She informs him she was born when he disobeyed God, and her name is Sin. She introduces him to her offspring, who battles Satan with overwhelming power. His name is death, and when she gave birth to him he disfigured her on his way out.[2]
This is the process of what happens. That is why we must prune it, cut it out, tear it down, deny it, refuse it, replace it with good desires--cut it or it will flower and produce death!

Does this "death" mean that if I sin I will die immediately? It says sin will finish it’s work and lead to death.
Genesis 2:16, 17 ,"The Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat of any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.'" But they did eat, and they didn't die that day, did they? The Hebrew language said the same word twice in a row, strong emphasis, "Dying you will die." But Adam's longevity of 900+ years is much longer than ours.

Another passage of Scripture illuminates what "death" means in Genesis, and in James.

Out of all the sermons and writings in James, this is the most important and practical so far. It sets up the rest of the book.

Proverbs 7. Take five minutes to read it.

She promises him she has a lot of food, because she has made a fellowship offering and the meat must have been eaten right away afterwards. She has prepared a bed, her husband is away, and all the man's problems and excuses to do what was right were removed by her. Did she lead him away as a man's man, taking his woman? No, like "an ox going to the slaughter."

Proverbs 5:7 and following speaks of adultery as well. Verses 9 and following says, "lest you give your best strength to others and your years to one who is cruel, lest strangers feast on your wealth and your toil enrich another man's house. At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, 'How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.' Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well."

What does death mean in Scripture? You may live a long life, but you will watch everything leave you. You will suffer. In adultery you break your family, shame yourself in front of your children, have a child with someone else and give your best to someone else's family. Your life is gone, and though your heart beats and lungs breathe you live a death. God doesn't tell us to avoid certain desires because He wants us to suffer, but because He doesn't want us to suffer, and He sees more than we do. He sees the line above the water, and the lure and hook below, and he warns us loudly, "Don't be dragged away and enticed!"

God loves you and is telling you not to sin because of that. So let's act on it, and resist.
If you feel stuck in sin, read Romans 6 through 8, about presenting bodies as instruments of righteousness instead of sin. Psalm 103 says God knows our frame, is mindful that we are but dust.

I watched an interview years ago about Ted Bundy telling James Dobson that everyone he met on death row was like him, not just addicted to pornography but hopelessly addicted to it. Our culture has many spores and deadly flowers reproducing throughout it.

Stealing, lying, greed, drugs, excessive drinking, individualism creating pride and arrogance, trying to gain all of God's benefits without giving back to Him--these are all evils our culture promotes. They appear good, but they all give birth to death in the end.

I watched a video of an ant with a parasitic fungus called Cordyceps inside it. The cordyceps starts as a tiny spore, and gets inside, feeding off the ant while slowly killing it. The ants exhibit irrational behavior, and the others ants, upon seeing their behavior, take them far from the colony so the others are not contaminated. When the parasite kills the ant, it grows inside, finally bursting from the body and sprouting long stems, from which it will shoot new spores to contaminate other ants.

This is the picture of us conceiving of an evil desire, that desire giving birth to sin, and sin giving birth at last to our death.
How do we find happiness, life, fun? Jesus didn't say, "I'm here to ruin your life," but Jesus came and said, “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly!” Live in Him. If you want to get the most out of your 6, 7, or 8 decades on the earth? Follow Jesus. Even now, believe in Jesus Christ nad you will be saved.
To Review: First, avoid the blame game, especially towards God (v. 13); Secondly don’t let desire drag you away (v. 14); Thirdly, abort evil desires (v. 15).

[1] Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God, (Word Publ., Dallas: 1994), pp. 98-99

[2] John Milton, Paradise Lost, ……

"The Treasure of Poverty," James 1:9-12

2009-03-10T11:18:00.014-05:00

originally from www.cartoonstock.com/.../jdu/lowres/jdun624l.jpg

What do you think of when you hear "status symbol?" Is there something in your life that you have, that you didn't have, that makes you feel more important? In some places my wife and I have lived we met many people who valued different things in life as symbols of their status. Accomplishments. What I drive, where I live, family, friends, salary, husband (my wife's problem . . .just kidding), wife, etc.

James will speak this time about status, and lack of it. Poverty is a status, and we will see how high or low. Richness is a status, and we will also see how high or low in God's eyes. Abraham Lincoln said that anyone could withstand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. Thomas Carlyle said, "Adversity is hard on a man. But for everyone who can handle prosperity, there a hundred who can handle adversity."[1]
Take a moment to read James 1:9–12. Go ahead.

James will show us the following. Here's a synopsis of what to expect. Vv. 9–12: Poverty is an external trial, yet it is highly valued by God while riches are something to be humble about. In the context of rich who were oppressing poor, and Jesus’ caution that it is more difficult for the rich to enter the Kingdom, the trial of poverty becomes the treasure of poverty, freeing one from relying on wealth instead of God. Both rich and poor should rely on God and not their wealth, but this is easier for the poor, so their poverty has become their treasure. The rich have a "rock in their shoe" in their wealth, or a humble status. Also, enduring a trial results in riches that far outweigh riches on earth—the crown of life.
James' word to the humble, which is translated poor. If you are poor, be proud of your high position (v. 9). James is referred to as the proverbs of the New Testament. Here is one. It takes time to think it through. At first glance, it is a contradiction. The poor have reason to be proud about their high position. Yet, James says, "The one who is poor should boast in his 'high position' (NIV). Am I to read this right, that those who lack material goods should be proud
Jesus brought reversal of social, economic, and spiritual law. Jesus said, quoted in Acts but not the gospels, "It is more blessed to give than receive," and also better to give than receive; blessed are the “poor” “meek,” “hungry” “those who suffer.”

Doesn't saying, "God bless you," or "blessings" mean the recipient is supposed to get better? Elevated status? Jesus taught a reversal of it.

The next time you say, "God bless you," be careful.

Why would He do this? Jesus devoted a whole Beatitude to the poor. In Luke 4, Jesus read Isaiah and the prophecy of Him coming to preach the gospel to the poor was fulfilled.

Maybe it will shed light to see how this fits into the whole context of James so far. Let's see:
We've seen that trials create perseverance and perseverance creates a faith not lacking in anything. Wisdom is something very important that we should not lack, but if you lack wisdom, ask of God and it will be given to you. Ask for it in faith, as with any prayer, without doubting, or you show hesitation which is the opposite of persevering faith. Doubting when asking God is guaranteed to result in receiving nothing, nada, zip, zilch.
Then, comes poverty.

Poverty is a trial, the first one James mentions. He goes from generalizing to specifics. Financial poverty for followers of Jesus is a treasure—because it forces/allows one to trust in God alone.

God has a soft spot for the poor. Doesn’t mean throw all your money to the wind to have this treasure. I knew of someone who did this once; the person emptied their bank account and threw it into a neighbor’s front yard. That's not what this means, and I would recommend to that person if I knew how to reach them that they should not do that again.

James did not instruct them to become poor, but to rejoice in the status where they found themselves. Why? What does a poor person have to celebrate?

Caution here: Jesus' teachings on the poor have been misinterpreted many, many times. It doesn't mean you should try to be poor, but if you find yourself poor, God regards you as having a high status.

Why am I in a higher status if I'm poor?

First, if you have ever been in a situation where you don't know where the next dollar is coming from, you know what it means to cling to God (or you should).

Once, when I was in junior college, I remember driving my '78 Ford Ranger King sized F250 pickup truck, rusty and held together with bubble gum and duct tape, not having enough money for gas to get to school the next day. God came through, but I was listening intently to Him and praying.

I think (Whiteside theology) that the answer to "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" is because if it wasn't for the bad things making us look up, we would always look inwards. Sometimes, we only relate to God when we have a need. Sadly, most who read this (me too) if we're honest, by far pray when we have a need we want God to meet. We rarely pray to commune with God and know Him more.

The poor are more like the wealthy than they think; both wish they had what they don't. God's word shows us it's not about what you don't have, but about what you do have, and the poor have opportunity and a clear vision. Poverty releases you from the tentacles of money.

That should encourage the reader.

That was one of the most important points of this entry.
Also, poverty and doing without creates an attitude of gratitude.
To the poor, be encouraged, because in the world you are nothing, but to God you are highly exalted! You are able to trust in Him and He can be a part of you without the barrier of money!

Second, if you are wealthy, you are humble in status (v. 10)
Later, James will talk about internal trials (temptation, the tongue, arguing, impatience), but now he’s dealing with the external trials. Get this: the wealthy have a humble status, and therefore reason to boast. “But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position/humble status,” (v. 10).

In verse 10, see how James writes, (NIV) "But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower." Read verse 11 and see it is quick and complete in its destruction. How do you think this struck the wealthy people, sitting in the pews of the first century churches? "Great, thanks a lot James. I'm hiding out for my life, daily dodging questions about my activities so I don't get persecuted for my faith or lose my business, and this is what I get? I'm lowly or humble, and going to pass away like a wild flower?"

Is what James said true? Search the Scriptures, and see that the wealthy are the humblest of all in God’s economy. Not regarded less, but wealth is only a blessing among men, not when dealing with God. It gives us no leverage, but it can keep us from growing spiritually. The more power it brings, the less we seek the power of God.

This too is a very important point.

I have met some whose relatives were at the end of their life, still clinging to their money. Does that make sense? Don't they understand that you can't take it with you? I heard of one man who took his gold with him when he died, brought it to the heavenly gates, and St. Peter met him and said, "Bring the truck over here, we've got more pavement!" Don't forget to wipe the gold dust off your feet--don't get it on my clean floor.
There is an inversely proportional ratio of God’s wealth and our wealth. The greater our need, the more He can give us. The greater we have self-sufficiency, the less we cry out to Him, and the less we receive. Outwardly the wealthy appear powerful, but to God He longs for them to guard their hearts against the tentacles of money.

That was one of the most important points of this entry too. (let the reader understand). Did James, thus God, hate the rich? Keep reading and you will see them come up again and again in James, and you'll get a picture for the wealthy. See the following passages: in 2:6–7 James describes these people: obviously not believers in Jesus, but slanderers and persecutors of Christians and Jesus Christ’s name. See also 5:1–6, and the character of those specific rich oppressors is evident.
Though there were wealthy in the congregation (read 2:1–4). It was a very hard source of suffering externally. Wealth has never been called a sin in Scripture. If God blesses you to gain more money, go for it. Barnabas sold land and laid all the money at the apostles' feet (Acts 4:36–37). I know many fine men and women sold out for Christ, who use their wealth for the kingdom of God. Be successful, but be careful!
It’s like having a pet elephant: It will demand to be fed and cared for, and attract friends you never knew you had, and problems you never knew were there.
I have some relatives and friends who have done quite well for themselves, and even those who hated them suddenly warm up to them. Wealth can become a horrible monster, and corrupt even the godliest person! Be successful, and be careful!
Why are pride and humility important? Humility is the goal of followers of Jesus. Poor = financially humble; rich = spiritually humble.
Pride in riches creeps up quickly. Those who deal with money have to constantly struggle against lording it over others.
Proverbs 22:22 “Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the Lord will take up their case, and will plunder those who plunder them."
To the rich, be careful. Riches fade, but the word of God does not. God knows those who are His.

Finally, persevere through what is temporary and you will have what is eternal. All people and things on earth are vulnerable to decay, but not God’s. James is still banging the drum of "persevere," even if it is through an inner struggle that comes with having or not having money.
Riches fade as the flowers wither, but persevering through a trial results in riches that are not earthly and will not fade (v.11–12)
It is not if, but when a person’s wealth fade. Look at verse 11, and see it is not just fading away, but the wealth accumulated on earth is destroyed. The imagery here probably suggests the sirocco hot wind of the Middle East. E. F. F. Bishop, Apostles of Palestine, wrote about the sun’s ability to scorch, “no one who has lived in Palestine ever forgets as it blows continuously night and day once it has started. The temperature hardly seems to vary. Flowers and herbage wilt and fade, lasting as long as “morning glory.” Anemones and cyclamen, carpeting the hillsides of Galilee in spring, have a loveliness that belongs only to the past when the hot wind comes. Drooping flowers make fuel. The field of lupins are here today and gone tomorrow.”
Since I've moved to Darlington I've officiated 10 funerals. In Texas, I officiated 10 funerals, and before that I've attended dozens of other funerals. I have never seen a U-Haul on the back of a hearse. I've never seen someone stashing cash into the deceased pockets as they viewed the body, saying, "This is from your mother and I, you'll need this."
A comforting word to the poor, and a caution to the rich not to get too attached to earthly wealth. Two things James points out about earthly wealth and rich oppressors:

1) Gaining riches on earth may or may not happen, but

2) their complete destruction will.
If you're asking the question, "Then how do I invest my wealth in something that will not be destroyed?" The answer is "Use it for God's Kingdom!" The best thing you can do with what God blesses you with is to invest it in His Kingdom work. The Kingdom of Heaven is what the church of Jesus Christ is doing on earth, trying to help people understand and believe that Jesus died for them so they could have eternal life be believing in His death and resurrection for their sin. The Kingdom work is also trying to make those who believe into disciples who use their gifts and abilities for the Lord, and glorify God. Invest in your local Church, missions, privately helping those in need for the Gospel. Jesus Christ’s Kingdom is the only live market that guarantees high return, and has been guaranteeing it for 2,000 years! Not money, but better than money!
Note: Not just any old ministry. it is wise to consider that, though there are many good para church ministries that I too give regularly to, nothing except the church is guaranteed to withstand the gates of Hell. Jesus only said He would build His church, and all other ministries can receive above and beyond what we give to God's kingdom through what God has decided is more important.

When we die, we lose access to money. We will wish we had spent our time on what we have access to—God, His word, people.

Pause here. If God had stopped His word here and had James move onto the next topic, both the poor and the rich would be left thirsting after worldly wealth, with no good substitution. But he answers that need in verse 12.
What does verse 12 give as a word of hope? As we said above, persevere through the temporary until you get to the eternal. Enduring a trial results in riches that far outweigh riches on earth, because all the rich and their riches will pass away, but all who persevere through trials will receive the crown of life.
I'd like to give some free information here, some research on the crowns mentioned in the New Testament. There are 5 crowns mentioned in the New Testament, using the same word "stephanos."

1 Cor 9:25, “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive an imperishable wreath (stephanos), but we an imperishable.” Crowns were given for those who competed and won, also who competed and won according to the rules. It was for finishing, but for finishing well. God has crowns for us to look forward to if we persevere.
1) The crown of “glory and honor” which every human is crowned with by God; Hebrews 2:7, 2:9 (Read that). Most likely indicates the rule and dominion mankind is supposed to have under God’s authority over this earth, as the only created thing in God’s image.
2) Those we lead to Christ are a crown of saints.
1. Philippians 4:1, “Therefore my beloved brethren, whom I long to see, my joy and my crown.”
2. 1 Thessalonians 2:19, “For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you at the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.”
3) 2 Timothy 4:8, a crown of righteousness is laid up for all who have loved Jesus Christ’s appearing (future).

4) 1 Peter 5:4, a crown of glory awaits faithful shepherds/pastors who finish well (not fall away). Pastors, ministers, priests who fall away do not qualify, for they do not faithfully finish. Certainly the false teachers and teachers who veer off Scripture for their own agendas or pleasures also forfeit their stephanos.
5) The crown of life, probably metaphor for salvation, which we will have if we persevere, James 1:12.
1. Rev 2:10, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison; so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for 10 days, be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
2. Again in Rev 3:11, “I am coming quickly. Hold fast so that no one may take your crown.”
Emphasis is not on what type of crown, but that it is life, unaffected by sun, wind, heat, cold, rich who oppress the poor, or evil men who persecute followers of Jesus. It is a crown of life, eternal, given (Rev 2) after death!

Is salvation something we only receive if we do enough good works? Acts 16:31 tells us that if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be saved from our sin. We take that in faith. Jesus also said in John 10:28-30, Jesus shows us no one can snatch us from His hand, or His Father's hand (even ourselves--no one means no one, we would not want to leave Him if we are saved, but the longer discussion of this is for another entry). Other passages lead to this too.

Why seek a crown? This is salvation! This is eternal life! You have it already, and James is saying to persevere through the “testing of one’s character” (trial) and you can expect this crown! Look in Revelation 4, the 24 elders around the throne of God cast their crowns down at His feet, as we sing, “All the saints adore Thee, casting down their golden crowns upon the glassy sea.” So you want to have a crown in that day. You want to persevere through trials!
How do I apply this? Who cares about money! We pray for what we need, but compared to the crown--salvation--that cannot perish, we will be embarrassed if all we lived for in these 7, 8, or 9 decades was for money.

Poverty is an external trial, yet it is highly valued by God while riches are something to be humble about. In the context of rich who were oppressing poor, and Jesus’ caution that it is more difficult for the rich to enter the Kingdom, the trial of poverty becomes the treasure of poverty, freeing one from relying on wealth instead of God. Both rich and poor should rely on God and not their wealth, but this is easier for the poor, so their poverty has become their treasure. Also, enduring a trial results in riches that far outweigh riches on earth, because all the rich and their riches will pass away, but all who persevere through trials will receive the crown of life.
Luke 12:27-32 comforts us. Don't worry (command), either about eating or wearing clothes. He urges us to take care of His business, and He will take care of ours. Verse 31, "But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well."

[1] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1998), 22.

"Praying in Faith," James 1:6–8

2009-02-28T18:45:00.016-06:00

Olympic gold medalist Darrel Pace was to give an archery exhibition in New York City’s Central Park, and the event received coverage by all the news stations. Shooting steel-tipped hunting arrows, Pace punctured bull’s-eyes without a miss.

Then he called for a volunteer. “All you have to do,” said Pace, “Is hold this apple in your hand, waist-high.” ABC correspondent Josh Howell took a bold step forward. He stood there, a small apple in his hand, a larger one in his throat. Pace took aim from 30 yards away as we all held our breath. Then THWACK-a clean hit that exploded the apple before striking the target behind. Everybody applauded Howell, who was all smiles—until his cameraman approached with a hangdog look. “I’m sorry, Josh,” he said. “I didn’t get it. Had a problem with my viewfinder. Could you do it again?”[1]
James calls for us to have faith when we pray. It seems like a simple thing. He's speaking to an audience who are sometimes running for their lives. This is the time when those who killed Jesus were chasing down the church trying to persecute and kill them too.

James says in 1:6, "when he asks, he must believe and not doubt." Remember he's talking about the need to determine to have joy when going through trials. Attitude is so important. Also James taught in verse 4 to persevere through trials, never giving up, gaining maturity so we are complete and mature, lacking nothing. If you go through a trial, and lack wisdom, ask of God, who gives graciously. Then comes verse 6, ". . . because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. (v. 7) That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; (v. 8) he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."

So that's it. Easy, huh? Just pray in faith, and "walla!" If you've been following Jesus for a while you know that every time we pray God doesn't always go "walla." Some will tell you that you didn't have enough faith, and that's why you were told "no" by God. Some will say you didn't deposit enough into the holy vending machine (a.k.a. God), therefore you lost. I submit to you that faith is more than a guaranteed "yes" when we pray.

First, though, the believer must understand this: we must pray to God with faith.
We must pray to God with faith (v. 6) God’s people should pray to God with faith for wisdom and all else. Christians should have prayed in faith for wisdom during trials. It was taught to James' audience, and to us as well, not doubting.
Verse 6 expresses what Ralph P. Martin calls, “a painstaking and concentrated effort to obtain blessing for oneself or for others, material or spiritual, inspired by a confident belief that God in Jesus can supply all human need."[2]
I used to pray when I was younger for patience or humility. I used to have some of the most frustrating experiences; the most humiliating experiences. God was giving me exactly what I asked for. The ability to be patient comes through practicing patience in trying times. The ability to have humility and be humble comes from enduring humbling experiences, being reminded of how lowly we really are.

Now I ask God to help me be a humble person, like Jesus, but don't ever have to humble me please.

Re-read Martin's definition above. Philippians 4 tells us God will supply our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. But what is the difference between a want and a need?

When I was in 7th grade, I prayed that God would make a girl at school my girlfriend. I said, "God, I have a need. I need that girl." That wasn't God's will and he had a much more beautiful and a godly woman for me to meet much later in life. I thought it was a need, but it was a want. Later, in high school, I again prayed to God for a "need." I said, "God, I have a need. I must play football for the Chicago Bears one day." It happened. I was convinced that this was God's will for my life. But God showed me He had something else for me.

Later, when I was engaged, I believed God wanted me to continue in youth ministry and a position opened. I interviewed and was rejected, and was so confused. I was convinced that God wanted me in full-time vocational ministry, and had worked for several years in youth ministry, and needed to provide for my new marriage and possible family. I cried out, "God, what is happening? Is this not a need? If this is not a need, I don't know what is?" But I trusted God. I had faith that He knew something I didn't know.

Later on, I applied for youth ministry positions in Dallas in 2000, and was still convinced that God was calling me into full-time vocational ministry and to continue building on the five years of youth ministry I had. Out of seven (7) churches I applied for, only one was not youth ministry. It was pastoral ministries. I almost did not apply. They were the first ones to call, while I still lived in Chicago, and they asked, "Why don't you send us your resume anyway." That pastoral ministries position not only was a good fit, but by seeking God and accepting it, I learned that God had gifted me for pastoral ministries better than for youth ministry.

Maybe you have a similar stories. Each of those situations where we pray and don't get what I want is an opportunity to say: 1) God I tried it your way and it didn't work; I'm not going to serve you anymore. I know I can't fix things, and it doesn't seem like you can either.

2) God is good, faithful, gracious and compassionate, will not give us a rock when we ask for a loaf of bread, so obviously what I think I need is not. God must know something I don't.

This is crucial for following Jesus. The key word for Christians is "following."

The persons reading this probably can relate. Has this happened to you?

See, the prayer of faith is not claiming that I know what's best. It's not saying, "God, fill out my order and I'll pick it up." It's coming to God saying, "I know Your character is good and just. I'm coming to you saying I think I know what I need. But I have faith, not in my request, but in Your ability to supply what is best for me and what will glorify Your Name more."

I have prayed by the bed of many people suffering from cancer who eventually died. I asked for healing. More often than not, God has answered those prayers with a "no" and the person passed away. Did God answer my prayer? Of course. Just as He thought was best. I have begged and wept over people in my churches for God to heal them. Sometimes I have seen family members coming to faith in Christ because of the death of a loved one. The loved one died and went to be with the Lord, and was healed in that way. The family came to faith in Christ, and so the person was better off, and the family was too. God knew what He was doing.

This is not just with prayer, but with everything in the Christian life. We have to continue to put ourselves in position where we see things from God's point of view. Many skeptics of Christianity fail to see things from God's point of view, and so come to conclusions about God that are wrong.

God has a greater long term purpose than just the 70-80 years we walk the earth.

When we pray, we cannot doubt, which is the opposite of faith. "Doubt” means, “be at odds with oneself, to waver.” Doubt is not the same as non-belief regarding salvation; rather doubt here is disbelief in the character or capabilities of God. Doubting when we pray is to doubt the character or capabilities of God. So what is the application? Don’t pray to God with doubt.
To pray without faith is like asking someone to fix your car when you know they can’t do anything about it. Why bother? Either it’s laziness and you’re just trying to justify it, or its confusion. God knows exactly what He is doing. Pray to Him in faith.
Have faith when you pray.
Are you suffering through a trial and need wisdom? Ask God, knowing He will give it to you. What do you need God to do for you today? Ask Him in faith.

There is a repercussion to doubting. That brings us to the next point I want to make on praying in faith.

We must pray without hesitation (v. 7–8) Christians should not doubt, for that shows instability and double mindedness.

Why do I mention hesitation? Because when we doubt, we hesitate. We pray but we don't proceed because we aren't sure if God is able to answer our requests, or we aren't sure if God is aware of everything we are aware of. We're telling God, "I really don't believe You can do all that You say You can do, but here goes anyway . . ."

Verse 6 and 8 sandwich verse 7, but they speak of the same thing. Being tossed and blown and being double-minded or unstable speak of the same thing: Hesitation when praying to God.

“Blown” is a-ne-MEE-zo (still no good Greek text I've found), meaning “moved by the wind.” “Tossed” is hri-PEE-zo, meaning “to blow here and there; to toss.”[3]
Are you a wave? Are you floating without an anchor?

Are you thinking, "I know God knows best. I will have faith." Or are you thinking, "I'm not sure, God. What if I ask You for something and it doesn't happen?"
I worked day camp one year and each week we took our kids to a lake where they could swim. One of my campers wandered out too far, and I could tell he was in trouble. I waded out to him and held my arm at a distance, and reached out to him. I was standing flat footed, and as soon as I reached him he pulled himself onto me with all his weight and I nearly lost my balance, even though I was standing flat footed. If I had not been standing firmly, there is no doubt he would have drowned us both. Was there any doubt in that kid's mind that I had the ability and intention of doing what was best for him? If so, he didn't realize it. No, there was none. As soon as I touched him, he was all over me.

This is how we must view God: "God, You're in control. Sometimes You give; sometimes You take away, but blessed be the Name of the Lord all the time."

A Christian who doubts and hesitates is not a functioning Christian. God wants us to relate to Him and rely on Him.

As someone wrote in a commentary, "To waver in the presence of the Lord is to hold oneself back from Him."

My wife and I practice this with our kids. Since before our first was born, we have tried to practice good stewardship, reminding ourselves that these kids are God's, and they are loaned to us for a time to mold and shape them until they one day are released. Some days I really look forward to that time, "God, I'm ready to give them back!" Of course, I'm just kidding. I love those kids more than I could write here. One day, however, God will call those kids to serve Him somewhere in the world. If He sends one to Ethiopia, one to the west coast, or one to the far reaches of the earth. Wherever God wants to use them, that is up to Him.

When we travel, pray in faith. I traveled yesterday (2/21) through a snowstorm with Dave. We prayed for God to give us safe travels as we would end up spending an entire day traveling through a serious snow storm to attend a prototype short term missions planning meeting for the state of Wisconsin. We prayed that God would keep us safe, and in faith. If God thought that the best thing for our good and His glory was to allow us to be killed in that weather, and through our deaths many would come to faith in Him, then so be it. We trusted in Him.

This is where God wants us, and has always wanted His people. The condemnation God had for the people in Joel 2:13 (and other passages) was never for outwards acts of piety as much as for inward belief. God said in Joel, "rend your hearts, not your garments!" God led Moses, centuries earlier, to a dead end at the Red Sea, so that God could get the glory and Moses and Israel would draw closer to Him. Have that kind of faith when we pray!

What are the limits to what God can do? I've seen God take a married couple who were determined to divorce, and after their divorce reunite them so they are still married today to each other. 2nd marriage. God can do anything.

Faith is trusting more in what God has said than what I can see.

Third, let me communicate this: Doubt is the only Biblical “Name it Claim it” teaching. (v. 7)
The one who doubts receives nothing from God. Can Christians ask God for things and get a guaranteed response? Yes. If you ask without faith, and respond with hesitation, you can expect nothing.

Two very important ideas that come to play with prayer and faith are:

1) we need to have faith in God

2) but we struggle with control, and letting anyone have control over us.

We must have faith in God, and also give control over to Him. Taking control is to take things out of God's hands.

Matthew 13:53–58, (Jesus’ denounced as a local, regular man) (v. 58) “and He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”
This doesn’t mean that he who asks in faith always receives exactly what he wants.
We can only control what we do in unbelief, not what God does through our belief.

It is possible that we go through the motions, but don't mean it. We pray the Lord's prayer at our church once a month. Do we mean it? "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed (holy) be Thy Name." We ask Him for His kingdom to come, for His will to be done on earth. Just the same as in heaven. We ask God to provide for our daily needs, for forgiveness and to see that we have (hopefully) forgiven all who wronged us. We ask God to deliver us from all evil and not lead us into temptation. We proclaim that His is the kingdom, power, and glory forever.

A man named John Huss trusted in God to do what God would be most glorified in doing. He was promised by the government that he would not be killed for standing up for his faith in Christ. But he was killed after the government magistrate tore up the signed document. But his death sparked something: the beginnings of the reformation that Martin Luther would later pickup and spread. Because of this, the church returned to the truth of faith alone in Christ alone. I'm sure John Huss thought his work if left alive could accomplish more than in his death, and as he was tied to the stake, waiting to be burned alive, he probably had difficulty trusting God. But God used his death more than his life.

Homer wrote of Achilles, in the Iliad, that his heart was divided. This is the same wording for "double-minded" in James. Are you like that today?

Don't pray, "God, I think You can do something, so here goes. Oh well, it didn't work. Amen."

Pray like Hudson Taylor. In 1853, when young Hudson Taylor was making his first voyage to China, his vessel was delayed near New Guinea because the winds had stopped. A rapid current was carrying the ship toward some reefs and the situation was becoming dangerous. Even the sailors using a longboat could not row the vessel out of the current. “We have done everything that can be done,” said the captain to Taylor. But Taylor replied, “No, there is one thing we have not done yet.” There were three other believers on the ship, and Taylor suggested that each retire to his won cabin and pray for a breeze. They did, and while he was at prayer, Taylor received confidence from God that the desperately needed wind would be sent. He went up on deck and suggested to the first officer, an unbeliever, that he let down the mainsail because a breeze was on its way. The man refused, but then they saw the corner of the sail begin to stir. The breeze had come! They let down the sail and in a short time were on their way![4]

What faith in praying! Taylor was on his way to preach the Gospel to possibly millions in China. What is it in your life today that needs you to take the sail down? Pray to God, and put down the sail. Focus on what James says, "when he asks, he must believe and not doubt."

To start this faith journey with God, one must follow Jesus. Following Jesus Christ begins be believing what God's word says about Jesus in 1 Corinthians 15:3–4, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." Acts 16:31 says, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved."

This is the first and most important step of faith. Believe that God is Who He says He is. After that, give Him control.

[1] Taken from http://bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=526, on February 19, 2009, 3:45pm. Originally from Bob Teague, Live and Off-Color: News Biz

[2] Ralph P. Martin, James, Word Biblical Commentary vol 48 (Dallas: Word Books, 1998), 19.

[3] BDAG, s.v.
[4] Warren Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching & Preachers, (Chicago: Moody Press, ), p. 240

"Faith That Works: The Treasure of Trials, pt 2," James 1:4–5

2009-02-15T19:21:00.022-06:00

One of the most fascinating characters in early American history has always been our 7th president, a man who went by the nickname "Old Hickory." Andrew Jackson. If you were to ask his neighborhood friends growing up, he was the least likely of all of them to become president one day. Jackson’s boyhood friends just couldn’t understand how he became a famous general and then the President of the United States. They knew of other men who had greater talent but who never succeeded. One of Jackson’s friends said, “Why, Jim Brown, who lived right down the pike from Jackson, was not only smarter but he could throw Andy three times out of four in a wrestling match. But look where Andy is now.” Another friend responded, “How did there happen to be a fourth time? Didn’t they usually say three times and out?” “Sure, they were supposed to, but not Andy. He would never admit he was beat—he would never stay ‘throwed.’ Jim Brown would get tired, and on the fourth try Andrew Jackson would throw him and be the winner.”
It’s not if you get “throwed,” or how many times; but what you do about it! (From Our Daily Bread).

The first point to observe is James 1:4, "perseverance must finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." God’s people must persevere so they may be mature and complete. The twelve tribes of scattered believers should have continued persevering so they might be mature and complete, and so should we.
What does "mature" mean? "Complete"? The word for mature in Greek means “to meeting the highest standard; perfect.” This is the same root for the word “finish” in v. 3, meaning “finish, complete, end.” Persevering during trials is not just an end in itself; but for the purpose of becoming more mature; eventually “Holy as God is Holy.”
It's like going to work everyday. Some of us do it because we like it. We’re “special.” Most people work because at the end of so many days of working they receive money. So too, persevere through trials because you will receive the reward of spiritual growth and maturity: one step closer to being like Christ Jesus.

The same way with trials. They are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. We're supposed to be more mature in the end, so if that trial comes up again we are not as affected. If someone picks on you, makes fun of you, or gossips about you everyday, and everyday it affects you terribly, then you have passed through the trial without perseverance or maturity. Ralph P. Martin, observed correctly that the idea of maturity pertains to character, not works.
Maturity = WHO YOU ARE; NOT WHAT YOU DO.
James emphasizes later in 2:14, “what good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?”

The goal of being "Holy as I am Holy" is such a high and lofty goal. I watched a martial arts instructor show his students a new form, and it was very difficult for the students to hold that stance for 15 or 30 seconds. He calmly said the goal was to hold it for 4 hours. What! The instructor did not expect them to hold that stance for 4 hours that day, or the next day, or the next week, or even the next month! Perhaps in 5 years if they were disciplined.

That's what James is telling us. Eventually, after a life of discipline and perseverance, you should be mature, complete! Lacking nothing! By God's grace it is possible! One step at a time. Just keeping taking one step.

One of my mentors in ministry used to tell me, regarding reaching the world for Christ, "How do you eat an elephant?" (I have to admit, the first time I was confused, maybe like you are right now, but stay with me). "One bite at a time. It's too big." Take maturity one step at a time. One trial at a time.
Another question comes to mind then: Isn’t perseverance performing the proper acts or actions that please God? Isn’t God happy about that? Yes! But God wants people whose hearts are changed for Him, not just their outer acts. The prophets condemned Israelites for outward acts without an inward motive towards godliness. They said to “rend your hearts not your garments." They had a habit of repenting and showing their deep repentance by grabbing their front shirt collars and ripping them in two down the center, reflecting the broken heart. In Isaiah God said, “I hate your worthless sacrifices and festivals," or in 1 Samuel "to obey is better than sacrifice."
God always has and always will desire character over all.

Ask the question: Who are you when no one else is around? Are you meeting the highest standard or perfect? Are you better than the last time you were alone? How about with others?

Have you heard of a grindstone? DEFINITION OF A GRINDSTONE: a disc-shaped stone that revolves and is used to sharpen, grind, or polish edge tools. James Hewitt said, “Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends on what you are made of.”[1] What are you made of? Think about that. D. L. Moody said, “Character is who you are in the dark.”[2]

James spoke exactly about this when he said "determine it joy when you encounter various trials." The grindstone will come, but you persevere.

This concept is very important to me as a pastor. Every pastor has a different emphasis, usually one of these five: teaching/discipleship, worship, evangelism, fellowship, or service. My focus has always been the first one, on making mature believers. Jesus called us to make disciples not decisions. A mature Christian will properly worship, witness, love the other brethren, and serve the Lord. Mature Christians will understand that God is the owner, they are the manager. James' point is to become such a mature Christian.

Character and perseverance working together combine to make the great "d" word. Discipline.

Jerry West said, “You can’t get too much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.”[3]
Another word is here, the word for complete, which means in the original language, “being complete and meeting all expectations.”

Principle #1: Trials are guaranteed; treasures are not.

Review what James said earlier: "consider it joy whenever you encounter various trials," not "if ever," but "whenever." Trials are guaranteed.

Now he says to let perseverance finish its work so that you "will definitely" be mature and complete? No, so that "you may/might" be.

We have a choice when we come to a trial, that we don't automatically experience a trial and come out with a treasure. It is possible you're reading this, and disappointed because during a previous hardship you think you came out without anything in the end. It may not be over, but it you may have missed the treasure too.

It's not just the people who come on Sundays and show more flamboyant expressions of their faith who are more spiritual. If you're in a trial, God is interested in you, and is looking for your character and nature.

Attitude is so important enduring a trial. We have to have the attitude of persevering through it if we are to become more mature. Joe Theismann illustrates this. For twelve years he quarterbacked the Washington Redskins, and during the 1983-1984 seasons he helped lead his team to two Superbowls. He finished his career as Washington's all time leading passer. He had an interesting insight reflecting on the two Superbowls, and the two different rings. The first Superbowl he was so passionate and excited, and the team won. The second Superbowl he left with the loser's ring instead of the winner's. He said later on, "I got stagnant. I thought the team revolved around me. I should have known it was time to go when I didn’t care whether a pass hit Art Monk in the 8 or the 1 on his uniform. When we went back to the Super Bowl, my approach had changed. I was griping about the weather, my shoes, practice times, everything.
Today I wear my two rings--the winner’s ring from Super Bowl XVII and the loser’s ring from Super Bowl XVIII. The difference in those two rings lies in applying oneself and not accepting anything but the best."[4]
Can attitude make that much difference when we experience a trial? Absolutely! Fill a glass half way with water, and ask someone if it is half full or half empty, and it will reflect their attitude.

So first, we must persevere through trials in order to be mature. I pray for our church, family, friends, community of Darlington, and other family and friends spread out all over the world that they might be more mature and that they might persevere. I especially pray for our church family to persevere and become more mature.

Second, if you lack wisdom, ask of God who gives it graciously. Earlier James had said we should be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (remember, hold that stance for 4 hours!).

If a Christian finds him or herself lacking wisdom, they should ask from God.
If any of you lacks” piggybacks off of the previous conditional phrase: “you may become mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

So James, do I have the ability to persevere through the trial not lacking anything, or will I discover after my trial that I am lacking something? Which is it?

Someone may be reading this, and despite all that has been written, you have come through a trial and can't find one good reason for it.

That's why James wrote verse 5. For the times when we cry out, "What good was my suffering?"

Ask God. He gives better and more graciously than the haughty people around James when he wrote this. Many gave to be seen by men (see Matthew 5-6), but God gives without haughtiness or arrogance, or spite. He gives graciously. Aren't you glad?

Implied is that we have to realize we don't have wisdom in order to ask of it. In spite of all our accomplishments, our house, cars, kids, symbols of status, we don't have all the wisdom that we could have.

This verse has been so instrumental to me and my faith. I claim it and pray it all the time, especially as a pastor. Sometimes I cry out to God saying, "Lord, I have no idea how You want us to handle this situation! If you don't give me the wisdom, we will sink!" That happens once every two years or so (hopefully you're laughing. If not, well . . .).

Proverbs 2:6 says, “The Lord [Yahweh] gives wisdom.” Isn't that good to have memorized? Proverbs also tells us more on how to find wisdom. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom,” (Prov 1:7)

If you've decided to be god in your life, you're off to a bad start on finding wisdom. Seek God, find wisdom. If someone is crying out for help, God is listening! Asking here means prayer, talking to God. I have yet to ask for wisdom and God not provide it. The wisest people I have met are those who have suffered through a trial.

I am amazed at finding some teachers once in a while who say that if you're suffering it's because you don't have enough faith. Then I have to take out 2 Timothy 3:12 from the Bible, which promises everyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Also tear out James 1, "whenever you encounter various trials." (by the way, all those I've known who are preachers and teach this--they all suffer greatly. I find that interesting).

Jonny Erickson Tada, 1967 driving accident left her paralyzed (CLARIFICATION; yes a DIVING ACCIDENT—updated 2/15/09 after finding out from http://www.joniandfriends.org/ I at first said she was in a diving accident, then during the audio copy of this message I had found a misinformation capsule, and changed it to "driving." However, I am sure now it was a "diving" accident.) She could have remained anonymous and paralyzed, but the treasure of her trial was to use her disability and good attitude to share the love of Christ with the world. She has done so.

Some trials in life invite perseverance, and leave us a choice. We can grow and mature if we take the initiative. For example, we can witness, attend the Contagious Christian class, and possibly find a way to share Christ with that person who we know who is lost. Or we can wonder what would have happened to them eternally if we had stepped out in faith, and how we might have matured. Part of the process of trials is the gift of wisdom.

Principle #2: Every Trial is an opportunity for a treasure

God is sovereign. James doesn't say, "God will give you wisdom," he says, "it will be given to him." It means that when you find that wisdom, you may not find it in a vision of Jesus like Paul saw on the road to Damascus, it is from God directly or indirectly.

“It will be given” is passive, even though we know it comes from God. It shows God’s sovereignty, as the Mover behind all the scenes.
We miss so much of what God wants for us because we go through trials, but don’t get the treasure.
Let me leave the reader with one last illustration that shows sometimes our trials have treasures we miss. Persevere, have a proper attitude, trust in God, look for wisdom. A boy went everyday from his cottage to the river to collect water in his bucket. He had a pinhole in the bucket so it would leak all the way home along the trail. He complained everyday because ¼ of the water in his bucket never made it home. One day in spring a long row of flowers budded, and gradually grew all along the pathway between the cottage and the river, and though the boy still complained that he had a hole in his bucket, he really liked the flowers. Their scent of honey and the swarms of butterflies and bees made the trip to the river everyday fascinating. Yet he complained even more about his imperfect bucket. Finally he was so irritated and consumed by the bucket that he threw it away and spent all he had to get a new one. His problems were solved. It cost him a lot, but he no longer felt so frustrated. Life was good. Yet, after a few days the flowers wilted by the path, and the bees and butterflies were gone. He was consumed by his own trial so much that he didn’t realize it was also a blessing to him, and to others.
Will you do me a favor, and everyone else in your life? Will you stop during your next trial and look around. Maybe there is a treasure in that trial; maybe you are suffering for a greater good; maybe God wants to use you to bring joy and happiness into someone’s life.
Maybe the very thing that is a pain in your life is a blessing in someone else's, and one day will be a blessing in yours.

Review:
We must persevere to receive the treasure of maturity (v. 4)
Principle #1: Trials are guaranteed; treasures are not
Maturity = WHO YOU ARE; NOT WHAT YOU DO.
If we lack wisdom, we can ask God who gives graciously (v. 5)
Principle #2: Every Trial is an opportunity for a treasure

[1] Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, s.v. character.
[2] Swindoll, s.v. character.

[3] The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell, p. 65.
[4] Reader’s Digest, January 1992, also on http://bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=98, as of 2/28/09, 6pm.