In the Hood

www.bible.com/1713/col.4.2.csb

It doesn’t take a genius to realize that 2020 has not gone as planned. It seems everyday has become a feature news story. My only explanation that ties all of these various events together is that it is an election year, and every possible weapon (short of nuclear) has been expended to change the political landscape of America. However, if you’ve seen 24 (the TV show), nuclear weapons may still be on the table if America’s enemies figure it out.

I titled this blog specifically because of the image from the Youversion app. But I think it also speaks to where our attention is diverted today. We’re no longer concerned about social distancing in Minneapolis or in many other cities across the nation. So it will be interesting to see if COVID-19 is still a potent threat, or just a fear created by the media. I think at some point the media will have to start manufacturing stories about how protesters are testing positive for the virus and overloading the hospitals if they are to maintain their credibility.

But wearing a “hoodie” as this gentleman is in the picture doesn’t not constitute in and of itself an issue. I think many people could look at this picture and see someone who is engaged in serious Bible study. Others can look at it and see a criminal planning his next big score. It’s not what’s on the hood but under it.

The average person’s ability to make snap judgments these days is impressive. The ability to do a “hot take” on a single image I believe is what has driven most people’s understanding of George Floyd’s death based on a single image of a police officer holding Mr. Floyd down with his knee. Just like the image above, I don’t have context for it. I don’t know everything that officer and Mr. Lloyd did up to that point. I don’t know what context the officer had for holding Mr. Lloyd down. I don’t know what context Mr. Lloyd had for being held down in such a fashion. Do you? Can you confidently assert that you know everything about that situation? Do you know the course of events which led to each man meeting in such a way? I don’t, and I consider myself an intelligent person.

The Bible is wise in its advice. Be slow to speak. Be quick to hear. Be slow to anger. Be quick to listen. Two (independent) witnesses are required to verify testimony and they must agree. Don’t make judgment until you have enough information to do so.

Oh but the injustice! Oh but the racism! Really? Is that what this is about? Give me a definition of justice where the punishment far outweighs the crime. Oh but you don’t understand. This has been building for decades. They had it coming. Who had it coming? The shop owners whose businesses have now been destroyed twice, once by COVID and now by protesters? The “white folk”? There are WHITE people in the protests! The cops? All cops everywhere ought to be punished because some committed crimes? That’s like saying all blacks need to be punished because some committed crimes.

Something we need to remember is that all of us, all of us live in the ‘hood. Someone once asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” I might ask the same, “Who lives in my neighborHOOD? Everyone does. There is no “us vs. them”, because it is all US.

Something to chew on on this Monday.

God, please forgive my neighbors who do not know what they are doing. Please forgive my nation because we have lost our way. Help me and my neighbors find the light again. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Happy Birthday, Church!

www.bible.com/1713/act.1.8.csb

Today marks another birthday for the Church. Today the church is 1990 years old (assuming an early date for the resurrection of AD 30). We mark today as the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after Passover, and the day that the Holy Spirit fell upon the early disciples and empowered them to deliver the good news to the people gather in Jerusalem. By contrast, Tabernacle/ Temple Judaism lasted from 1440 BC to AD 70, which was about 1509 years (you don’t count the zero year). From a group of 120 on the day before 3000 were added, to today, where a quarter of the earth’s population (about 2 billion) is considered Christian, that’s quite a feat. I think the Church is here to stay.

The church has suffered countless persecutions and been nearly wiped out in one area after another, and yet even today “the gates hell will not prevail against it.” The Church survives, thrives and continues. Jesus is that important. So a three-month closure of church buildings in the United States is not the worst thing to ever happen to the church. Asking Churches to close due to COVID-19 will not destroy the church.

I don’t know who said it, but I have heard the saying that the tree of liberty has to be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots. I think that means that from generation to generation, there need to be tangible examples of why we continue to strive for freedom. I also hold that the same ought to be true for the church. For the church to resist complacency, there ought to be from time to time the onus of persecution placed upon the church. The church needs to suffer occasionally to remind everyone that we do not belong to this world. This world is not our home. We are citizens of heaven. And when Christians are made to stand out in a crown of their peers, mocked or even jeered, we find faith tested and made sure. Will you still believe when the world singles you out? Will you testify to your faith or duck behind the cover of conformity?

1900 years ago or so, Christians were ordered, along with everyone else, to pay homage to the Emperor by coming before an altar, pouring out a little oil or wine, and saying, “Caesar is Lord.” This was no casual usage of lord, as it was meant to say, Caesar is the almighty deity. Christians in good conscience could not do this. They could not bow to the will of the state. But not all. Some Christians reasoned among themselves that it’s only words. It’s only a little oil. And they looked down on their brothers who would not give such “respect” to the governing authorities. Those who refused were arrested for atheism (yes, that was a legal charge in ancient Rome) for refusing to worship the Emperor. Many were beaten, some even put to death. All because they wouldn’t pour out a little oil and say a few words.

I think we need this “light and momentary affliction” upon the church. We need a little persecution, and little inconvenience, to put our faith to the test. Do we really believe what we believe, or is it just words? Do we really believe God is sovereign? Or do we allow the State to tell us when and where to worship? I can admit that for a short time, the Church can listen to Science and heed its warnings. I also believe that short time has passed. States that continue to hold on their their power of forbidding assembly, particularly for the Church, are putting themselves in the place of God, and have never had the right to do so.

If Science is true, then in a few days, we will start to see the rioters and looters begin to get sick, and their hospitals will be overloaded, and Science will be vindicated. But if they do not, why should Christians be arrested to meeting together peacefully and worship the Creator and the Savior through the Spirit on the Lord’s Day when they let pass hordes of rioters and looters without reprisal?

The time for abundance of caution has passed. Now those who love God will be revealed as they emerge from their homes to worship in the Lord’s house. Can you worship in your own home? Absolutely. I hope you do everyday. But let us not forsake the meeting of ourselves together in the assembly. It is a strong statement to the world that the Church is alive and well, even after 1990 years.

God grant us the strength and courage to stand against those who would keep us from You, who by their demands for “an abundance of caution” and “flattening the curve” keep peaceful Christians from meeting together for worship. Lord I know the issues are complex, and the Church is flexible, but Father let us not shun one another. We were not called to shun and “social distance” but to love, to expand the gospel, and this You have placed upon us as Your ambassadors. Lord grant us wisdom in this. Help us to be as peacful as doves, but as wise as serpents. In the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Appropriate, Don’t You Think?

www.bible.com/1713/eph.4.26.csb

I have been told repeatedly that I need to feel guilty about how my race, the white race, has kept the black man down. How my ancestors kept the black man from succeeding and continues to perpetuate a system where whites are favored over blacks. I have been told this many times. I haven’t witnessed this personally. And that’s the problem. It’s called cognitive dissonance.

I have been told repeatedly how I ought to think. That what is moral and just and right is the way of looking at a whole “race” of men, based on the color of their skin, as a single unit. And looking at my own “race” of men, based on the color of our sin, as a single, unified group. However that is eastern thinking. In the east, it is typical to consider yourself as only part of a group. Identity is discerned based upon what group you belong to. This is why Communism tends to do very well in eastern countries, like China. Group-think defines how people think, and people are not to think for themselves or have opinions that differ from the group. That is foreign to western thinking.

In the west, starting with the classical Greeks, we are allowed to think for ourselves, and decide for ourselves what we think. Everyone is “entitled” to an opinion, right or wrong. This is reinforced by western religion, Christianity (which incidentally started in the “center” of the world) which calls for individual salvation, and each man stands or falls before God based on his own choices, not the choices of his group.

So tell me. Do people act as individuals, or as a group? Do we place blame for a criminal act on an individual, or upon his entire “race”? Excuse me for doing some individual thinking here. Do we excuse an entire “race” from criminal acts because an individual of that “race” has been wronged? That’s absurd, in western thinking.

Yet there is a narrative being forced upon a group of people, based in eastern thinking, forcing us to reconsider our “whiteness” or “blackness” based on “justice”. Can a crime be committed against a “race” of people? Or do individuals commit crimes against one another? Do we hold an entire “race” accountable for the acts of an individual?

Oh, but its “systemic”. Everyone in that racial group to one degree or another commits acts of micro-racism all the time, don’t you see. I believe the word you’re looking for is “different.” We treat people we don’t know differently than people we do know. There are some be give more “benefit of the doubt” than others. Yes, we practice sterotypes in our own mind, and rightly so. These are defense mechanisms. Do not allow “white guilt” to redefine what are natural and normal defense mechanisms. Why do white folks treat black folks differently? Because they are different. It is the same way we react to someone who is handicapped, or between males and females. Our sterotypes are formed based on this instinctual behavior and information we collect through experience that either reinforces or dispels the stereotype. We do this all the time without thinking about it because it is built in to us. Blacks and Whites (and Yellows and Reds, and Browns, etc.) all do the same things. We don’t naturally trust those who are different. As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, he would rather judge someone by the content of their character than the color of their skin. That is a Christian worldview:

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
(1Sa 16:7)

God says that a man looks at the outward appearance. We look at skin color. We look at facial features. But we have to learn to look as God sees, to look at the character of a man’s (or woman’s) heart. And the only way to do that is to 1) talk with them, and 2) observe the fruit of their actions.

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
(Luk 6:45)

And

“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “So then, you will know them by their fruits.
(Mat 7:16-20)

The Jews once practiced this subtle form of racism (which is why many did not like them) because they considered themselves God’s chosen people because Abraham was their father. Jesus introduced an counter-cultural idea into their faith by saying that all who trust in Him and have eternal life in Him are brothers and sisters in Him.

But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
(Luk 8:21)

Jesus established a new kind of family. Not one based on skin color, national origin, or even a common ancestor. He based this new family on faith in Him. So that my brother in Christ in the Philippines is just as much my brother as the one in Nigeria. In Christ, we unite western thinking (we all must choose for ourselves Jesus Christ as our personal Savior) and eastern thinking (we are all One in Christ Jesus) with tribal thinking common in Africa and the subcontinent (we all identify with Christ Jesus, our King and Tribal Leader). These are admittedly broad brushstrokes, but they also come from personal and eye-witness experience. But there is no place for “racism” in Christian culture. I don’t care who you are or where you come from. There is no excuse for the kind of us vs. them mentality on display these days.

If you see injustice, you are right to be angry. But in your anger, do not sin, but instead to see Christ’s justice done.

Lord, help me today to see with clear eyes and clear thoughts. Though the world may seek to pit me against my brother, my fellow image-bearers, may my eyes and mind be clear, so that I may see others as You see them. Lord, let me be quick to see and quick to hear, but slow to anger, and slow to act. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

LORD

You may not be aware of this in English Bible translations, but when you see the word LORD in all capital letters (though this does depend on translation) it usually means it is translating the Tetragrammaton, or the four-letter word which God revealed to be His Name, YHWH, blessed be His Name. English translators do this out of respect for the Name of God, so as to not overuse it. I think this is a mistake.

If you were to be reading in the original Hebrew, you would see His Name written. He chose that His Name be written down so that we would not forget It. He wants us to know His Name. By the same token, the fact that we often see LORD instead of YHWH actually lessens over time, as we rarely use the term lord anymore. Lord, as with all English words, change meaning over time. The only time I ever hear the word used outside of church or historical dramas is in the word “landlord”, which often leaves a bad taste in the mouth. In American culture, we has eschewed titles of nobility because we are all “free men!” So a title such as “lord” just doesn’t carry the same weight it used to.

But YHWH has never been used for any other purpose than the Name of God. It’s connotation has not been diminished by common usage. There are no little “yhwh’s”, no diminutive of the Name. It has and always will be the Name of God. Whether you pronounce it Yahweh or Yehowah (please, not Jehovah) is still a matter of how you insert vowels, but the Name is unchangeable. In it is the nature of an unchanging God, who still loves, cares, and helps. He is the Rock that cannot be moved.

If you need an anchor today, a Rock as your sure foundation, then you can’t go wrong with putting your faith and trust in YHWH. He not only made you, but formed you and molded you to to be the person you are today. He loves you, and despite the fact that others have harmed you, or you have harmed yourself, His love for you has not diminished. He does not consider you “unforgiveable.” Even though we are enemies of Him by our deeds and thoughts, He sent His Son to die for us. He reaches into the pool of history and calls out to us, “Take my hand! I can save you!” and it is up to us to choose to take His nail-scarred hand and be pulled to safety.

Dear Heavenly Father, My gracious and precious YHWH, You alone are great. You alone are worthy. You alone are God. By Your Holy Word, Jesus Christ, I am saved today, certain of my eternity because the God I trust in is certain. His promises are sure as stone. May my life fall aligned to Your Word and promise. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

Shaken

www.bible.com/1713/psa.55.22.csb

How often do you get “shook”? I have to admit it’s not often, but it does happen. I am sometimes subject to stories that curl my toes and cause me to be thankful that I have my family and my wife. I hear some stories that make me question how people can be so cruel to each other. How do people go from one day to the next without God?

But I have also heard stories about the inhumanity of a church to a person, and wonder if the institution that I serve deserves the care and nurturing I offer it. I have seen some churches that dishonor the message of grace and should not call themselves Christian, and they are usually the ones that consider themselves blameless. I just don’t understand sometimes why some people think that the church is their personal power playground and that they ought to be able to do whatever they want without consequences. Should we not at least remember that the Church belongs to God?

But that’s kind of the point to this verse, isn’t it? We ought to cast these kinds of burdens upon the Lord. We know that trusting in His solid foundation we will never be shaken. And that is where we should all be. We can and should never trust in a preacher, or a church. Those, as good as they are, are based on men. They are only as good as their trust in God goes. But when pride enters the picture, well, pride goes before destruction.

I guess I need to speak from humility this morning and remind myself that it’s not about me. It’s not about what I want, or how I want things done. I need to remind myself that this is God’s plan. This is God’s work. And God will put the men and women in the place he sees fit to accomplish His purposes. Some will appear to be greatly successful, but like a turtle on a fencepost, no one gets there because of their own greatness, but by the grace of God. If there is anyone great within the church, anyone of note, it is because God has put them there. And sometimes they need to be reminded. And yes it is a humbling thing to be a pastor.

God help me today to resist shaking by putting my trust and foundation in You. I have no more sure place to establish myself than in Your promises. Thank You Lord for Your grace, and reminding today that all that I am I am in You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Enough

www.bible.com/1713/mat.6.25.csb

What is enough? Something that I’ve discovered over the course of the last few months is that I have enough clothes. I have more than enough clothes, so much so that since Goodwill finally opened back up, I have been able to donate a dozen bags of clothes. I don’t know how I’ve been able to gather so much, but over a lifetime, with a little here and a little there, It’s not much of a mystery.

I suppose this is the first time I’ve had to do a purge. I possessed a hoard of clothes that just don’t fit me anymore, or needed to be discarded for one reason or another. But I’ve never lacked having enough clothes to wear. That is a blessing. And I know that it comes from the Lord. I also know that I am blessed to live in this nation, because there are many places in the world where having a week’s worth of clothing is considered a luxury.

So I’ve never really worried about what I am going to wear. Neither is food that much of an issue here, and there is always plenty of water. By those standards, I have no reason to worry. If there is a land of milk and honey, then we certainly live in it. And I know it is because of God’s blessing over and over, blessing our land for being founded and continued as a Christian nation. I also know that this is eroding, and our ability to supply food and clothing are also being affected.

My wife went to the grocery store last night and told me a grim story. The beef was mostly gone. What was left was overpriced. I have heard this isn’t because of a lack of beef, but the break in the supply chain. COVID19 has affected everything, but in this case, it seems to have affected the processing plants for the big meat packers the worst. I think as Christians we ought to have our eyes open on this. We have been so blessed for so long, that these interruptions become noticeable. Christians should notice when these basic blessings are interrupted. I think we ought to remember this, because when these things take place, we know that our nation is gently coming under judgment.

It is something that is a long time coming. Anyone familiar with the Scriptures know that Israel stumbled repeatedly, and the Lord sent invaders to chastise them until they fell to their knees and repented of their sins, and then then God restored them. This is a cycle we see repeatedly in the Scriptures. In our case, military invaders are always a threat, but not a serious one. Rather, it is the political invaders, the social invaders, and the medical invaders. Our politics are constantly being subverted, to where today we are willingly closing churches (for health reasons). Our social system is being overwhelmed because strangers and foreigners are overwhelming our social structures (and politicians support this subversion) while veterans and homeless are ignored. Our medical system is being overwhelmed, not only by diseases entering in through illegal  immigration but also in more subtle ways, like COVID-19. We may not be a nation overcome with military invaders, but we have invaders nevertheless. Like Rome, our chief problem isn’t that we aren’t the most powerful nation in the world. In many ways we are. But it is the chinks in our armor, the gaping holes where other kinds of invaders creep in and engage in rot and corruption within.

As a Christians, I want you to first be aware of when our basic blessings like food and clothing are being affected. This is a sign that God is placing our nation under judgment. But second, like Daniel (Dan 9) and Nehemiah (Neh 1) we must intervene for our nation before God. We must pray for national repentance, and national forgiveness. As citizens of this country, enjoying the freedoms we enjoy, we cannot ignore the fact that our nation is being eroded, and the strongest power we possess isn’t at the ballot box, but at the altar of prayer. You cannot afford to sit by and shake your head. This isn’t something that is happening to someone else. This affects all of us.

I encourage you as a believer to pray for our nation. Pray against this virus, yes, but also pray that the Lord stays His hand on our nation. Pray that the Lord preserve us for a while longer, that we appeal to His mercy, not because we are good, but because He is.

Dear Father, please hear our voice today. Father please spare our nation. Please do not lift Your hand from our leaders or our nation. We know that if you do, disaster follows, because by Your hand we are blessed. Please Lord, hear our prayers today. May You offer mercy. May You heal our land. May Your judgment complete its perfect work, but that You save Your people, and let this nation once again stand for Your great Name! In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Blessed are the Blameless

www.bible.com/1713/psa.119.2.csb

Would you know if you were blameless? Would you know if anyone has anything to say about you? I remember reading somewhere in the Old Testament (the reference escapes me) about a person who was in trouble if they had done something that someone else didn’t like, and complained to God about it. Now the first person may not even be aware of their trespass, but since the second person took offence, the first person is liable. Have you ever done that?

Having been in ministry, I have stepped in it more than once. I have managed to offend people without even intending to, simply because I used the wrong illustration or didn’t pay enough attention when another thought it should have been paid to them. It reminds me of something Captain Picard once said along the lines of “you can do everything right and still be wrong.”

A few years ago, I had a young woman in my office who was seeking my services to officiate her marriage. I asked some pertinent questions about her living situation, and she admitted she was currently living with her boyfriend (who was also the son of one of our church members). I said I had no problem conducting the service, but I asked that she and her boyfriend refrain from physical relations until the ceremony. Apparently, this was too much to ask, as I had a phone call from the boy’s mother asking why I upset the woman so much. I didn’t feel I needed to explain myself, since as a minister I feel it is important for marriage to be pure. I know we live in a fallen world, and people sin, but I also feel that if a couple desires to be married in a church (as opposed to a courthouse or out on the lawn) and to have their service officiated by a minister (as opposed to a judge or a celebrant) then there are certain requirements of both groom and bride, certain expectations. Its no secret what God expects from His people. If people choose to have their marriage recognized in the eyes of God, God’s nature and holiness calls for certain behavior. I assumed too much. I didn’t end up doing the service because I am cold and heartless.

You can do everything right and still be wrong. That’s why it’s so hard to be blameless. So my prayer today is that the Lord forgive me for being offensive, especially when I don’t realize it. May the Lord smooth the way of others around me, so that in whatever way I have offended others, the Lord may forgive me, make me aware of how I have offended others, and convict me when I am wrong. Lord help me if I have caused someone to stumble because of something I said or done. Though I may stumble often in things I know I’ve done, Lord forgive me for those things I don’t know anything about.

Lord in Heaven, I don’t know enough about this world and her people to know whether I am blameless. Though I try to be and work to be better everyday, I can’t know if I’ve never offended anyone. I know there are times I have offended and caused others pain by my actions and words, and Lord I beg for forgiveness for those. But Father please forgive me for those things I have done that I don’t know how they have hurt people, people who I don’t even know, that because of me have taken a path away from You. Lord please forgive if I have ever caused one of these little ones to stumble. I pray that their hearts may be softened and prepared again for the grace of Jesus Christ. Please Lord guide them back, through some other voice, so that I may ask their forgiveness too. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Lay Down

www.bible.com/1713/jhn.15.13.csb

I don’t know what kinds of friends you hang out with, but I think I’ve got some pretty good ones. But as good as they are, I don’t know if any would lay down his life for me. I am just being honest here. By the same token, I don’t know for which of my friends I would lay down my life for either. You are talking here about a serious commitment to friendship. When push came to shove, would you willingingly intercede for a friend to the point of giving up your life? I’m sorry. For me that’s a tough call. I can’t sit here and tell you that I’ve ever had that put to the test. I am reminded of the text in Romans:

(Rom 5:7)  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—

Even as well as we know our friends, do we know them to be good? Would we consider them worthy enough to die for?

I am reminded of a situation which occurred in our community a few years ago, when one woman was in need of a kidney. Another woman, found that she had a compatible kidney, and without being forced or under any duress, she willingly gave her healthy kidney to the sick woman. And both are alive today. But giving up a kidney isn’t the same, since you expect to live if you donate a kidney. What would it mean to donate a liver, or a lung, or a heart? Would you be willing to do that for a friend?

I know this verse is often quoted around Memorial Day to remember those who gave up their lives for our nation. And I believe they do deserve such honor. But would say they didn’t die for their country so much as for their mothers, their wives, or their children. “I will stop of the enemy horde here if it means my family will live.” Many no doubt died not for someone they longed for back home, but for the person beside them, their battle buddy, their friend and comrade. Training, battle and foxholes make for powerful friendships.

I think for each of us, where the line is drawn that we cannot cross is drawn in different places for different people. Your ability to tolerate inconvenience is probably different for different people in your life. But this little post may be a way to get that thought going in the back of your head. All of us will die of something. But it is up to you to choose who you will die for.

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Rom 5:8)

Live like Jesus.

The Way of Jesus

www.bible.com/1713/luk.9.23-24.csb

The way of Jesus follows the way of the cross. The path of the cross begins at the place of torture and beating, and ends with the impaling of nails into flesh. Jesus says this path, as a disciple, is to be taken daily. The path itself is one of humiliation, which the crowds who witnessed Him mocked him for the criminal they assumed He was, shouting at Him that He deserved His fate. So it should not surprise us when the crowds do the same. Jesus says from the outset that His path isn’t one of glory and joy, wealth and blessing. We are blessed surely when we receive such, but that shouldn’t be our expectation. Our problems don’t go away in Jesus. In fact the temptation becomes much harder, because once the Enemy has lost us, he has to work twice as hard to try and get us back. And he will.

But while the path of the cross is painful, it is brief. There is an end to that path, and once achieved, you will receive the reward of a life lived for Jesus. In some ways it seems Jesus works very hard to reveal to us that this life isn’t our ultimate goal. This life is merely temporary. It is the next life, the eternal life in heaven that should inspire us and give us hope.

So the question laid to us is this: If I am not experiencing any of the suffering normally associated with being a Christian, am I really being a Christian? Am I truly living the life He has called me to?

I have asked myself these kinds of questions for years. It is one reason I desired full-time Christian service, feeling that was one way to put myself at the Lord’s mercy for work. Of course asking the rest of my family to live with my choices is another matter.

I feel in part that because I live in America, I do not receive the kinds of threats to my life and faith as I would in Indonesia or Iraq. In this nations all points of view are tolerated. It’s live and let live. And even though churches have been forced to closed due to the pandemic, we still worship and function, and in my part of the country, being a Christian is socially approved. Lucky me, I guess.

But my temptations come in other ways. My Christianity is more sorely tested, because my living and lifestyle must stand out more to be distinct from the world around me, and it is far easier to be a “nominal” Christian. If Jesus were the only words from my lips, I would be considered “crazy” and “hyper-religious.” Neither of those are particularly winsome or persuasive. I am more free to be a Christian, but it is far harder to stay a Christian.

But I want to encourage you fellow believer, wherever you are, that Christ is for you. Christ has work for you to do, in whatever walk you are in, because the path of Christ is for all of us. be watchful today for those opportunities to share with others the faith that is within you. God bless you all today!

God, show me today those opportunities that are unique to me and my station that only I can do to share the hope that is within me. May You work in me to share a gift so gracefully given. Thank You Jesus. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

 

Trained

www.bible.com/1713/heb.12.11.csb

In order to do a job right, you need to be trained for it. While you can be trained by being cast into a situation and forced to come up with something with your wits alone, but it isn’t the best way. Rather, everyone who undertake a new task or position is employed in some training to discipline themselves to follow a new protocol. However, with faith in Jesus, it’s a little different.

When you come to faith in Christ, it does seem like you are thrown into the deep end. Suddenly all these expectations are placed upon you: how you are to dress, talk, act, and witness. It’s not exactly fair, largely because most people in that position have not been properly trained even as the New Testament instructs. Jesus told his disciples this way:

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
(Mat 28:19-20)

Did you notice the sequence? First, as apostles, they go into all the world (technically, it is “as you go”, meaning that “as you go about the business of life”), then second, make disciples. Making disciples in those days meant finding those willing to learn and taking them alongside, instructing them and teaching them as you go about your work, much as Paul would working as a tent-maker. Then, once they have a recognizable commitment, third, you baptize them into the Name (of the Triune God, Father, Son and Spirit), and then fourth, teaching them everything to observe everything Jesus commanded of the Apostles, i.e., going out and making disciples.

So in this many of us I am afraid have made a few mistakes. We have tried for the “win” of the baptism or the prayer of faith or whatever your church does. We count that as a “salvation” and then expect that person to suddenly know what to do. We forget there is a time of discipleship, both showing and teaching what a Christian is, both what he believes and how he lives. These are both important, as many of our Christians today would rather not people follow them into the workplace. We are to be examples everywhere we are, so that others know how to become Christians everywhere they go.

Therefore as Christians, we could actively be teaching others about our faith, the reason for our beliefs, so that we can encourage others to become Christians and grow in turn to teach others. I believe that baptism can occur both early and late, as there is not set time to baptize a person in this process. But this process must include “counting the cost” of salvation in Jesus (which can be very costly for some coming out of other cultures), but also learning basic discipleship, prayer, Bible study, etc. When a person is finally baptized, they are not thrown into the deep end of the pool unprepared, but they are thrown into the deep end. It’s just that by the time they take the dip, they know how to swim.

Why do you think there is such rescividism among new Christians, especially in our culture where they quickly become Christmas-Easter attenders? Its because they’ve never had the chance to witness Christianity in a person’s life. It’s only been on Sunday morning. They didn’t follow the pastor home, or an elder home, or another believer to find out what it means to live as a Christian before they gave their life to Jesus. That is a critical and vital piece that has long been missing from our modern “revivalist” mentality in the Church. We yearn for the altar calls and the decisions, but we don’t take the time to make disciples.

And making disciples is painful. But as Jesus taught, if we are going to make disciples that make other disciples, we have to make disciples first. That starts with you. That starts with you living your life in an obvious way that shoes others what living in Jesus means. It takes time and deliverate effort, but it is worth it.

So heavenly Father, help me to grow in You and show others today how I have grown so that they will want what I have. Let Your Name be on my lips so that I can draw all men unto You who is lifted up in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.