Loose Your Life, Invited Into Joy

The Apostle Paul had just told them that they had to have the same mind that the Lord Jesus had.  They, like the Lord, should take on the job of a slave and serve others. They should do as Jesus did and be obedient, even to death.  They should obey not grumble but stand as light in this wicked world.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.  

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.

He said that he was being poured out like a drink offering   He then called it joy and invited them into the joy.  This is the abundant life that Jesus promised.  This is the joy of losing your life for Christ's sake.  This is the joy of walking close to God. This is the purpose and plan we have all been waiting for. It is also the plan we're supposed to invite others into, including our children.

Philippians 2, John 10:10, Mark 8:35Mathew 28:20, 19:14

Make Sure, You Are Leaky

Last week, a seven years old boy, in my Sunday School class said "I want to make sure I'm saved." It was the end of class.  We had been working through memorizing the names of the books of the Bible. Our teaching was about Joseph and the coat of many colors.  I wondered what had spurred the question. This young man has a particularly Biblical name. But up until the question about salvation, I thought his name was the only bit of Bible he knew. He and I worked through the Romans explanation of salvation. He already believed that God had raised Jesus from the dead.  He confessed that Jesus was Lord.  He seemed to have a clear enough understanding of the concepts.  So clear, that I could tell him "if these things are true, you are saved!" I took him to the lady who brought him to church.  She brings lots of kids to church, as do all our leaders. I found out that he and his brother had gotten into so much trouble that they were not welcome in another church.  Of course he was worried about his salvation.  

This is the case for all of us who know the Lord. We receive Christ. We grow in our knowledge and relationship with the Lord.  We learn more of His Word. We begin to live the abundant life.  We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We have prayed the prayers.  Then we find our feet dirty from living in the world.  Sin has intruded into our fellowship with the Lord and we feel a need to make sure that we are in Christ. The Apostle Peter tells us to make our calling and election sure.  We are people who should be in the habit of confessing our sins to each other and especially to God, so that the faithful and just One will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  For those who attempt to keep short accounts with the Lord, we can agree with DL Moody, the best known evangelist of the eighteen hundreds.  He answered about the filling of the Holy Spirit, "I need a continual infilling, because I leak." We all must agree with the Apostle Paul, "Oh Wretched man that I am who will deliver me from the body of this death? But thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

The victorious life is one of moment by moment submission to God. But when sin stands in the way of the deep parts of walking with Christ, then we feel like that seven year old in my Sunday School class.  Yet we have an answer.  Make sure you are in the faith.  Look to Jesus, the author and finisher our our faith. Then press forward with the confidence of a seven year old.  And know that unless you change and become like a little child, you can not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Romans 10:9-10, John 10:10, 13:1-17, James 5, I John 1:9, II Peter 1:10, I Thessalonians 5:19, Romans 7:24, Hebrews 12:2,  Matthew 18:2-4

Good Friday, What Will You Do?

I was dead in my sins and then I was made alive in Christ on a Good Friday in 1971. At least that is how I experienced it. I have never been so silly to think that I found God, even though the "I found it" stickers of the 70's and 80's and now 2000's spurred evangelistic questions. I recognized from my earliest days that God drew me to Himself.  I was in the Baptist movement.  We had lots of terms for salvation.  They were: 

"accepted Christ,"

"prayed to receive Christ,"

"went forward",

"washed in the blood,"

"got saved," 

and to clearly date my self "born again."

These were useful descriptions of the work of God in my life from a human perspective. These terms did little to describe the magnificence of God. They do not describe the suffering, or intense love that called the Savior to the cross. They do not hint at the perfection of life that Jesus Christ lived. No. These words and all such words are limited. They can not describe the perfect, powerful God, who made all things by speaking them into existence. They can not express how God saved me from the penalty of my sin, by the blood spilled on the cross on that first Good Friday.

So, if the words we once used are inadequate, how do we express the wonder of God and His work? First, words are only limited, but not useless. When we use God's own words we find out those words are powerful to describe and powerful enough to change people.  Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  Words, yes! Actions, too. We obey Him! If He is Lord of our lives, then we must obey.

On this Good Friday I glorify God for what He has done.  I am thankful for what He has done for me. As part of fulfilling Jesus commands, I invited my neighbors to hear the Word of God at our church's service tonight. There is more I will say today. There is more that I will do today because of what God has done for me.  I want to glorify my Lord by talking about Him and obeying Him. What will you say and do today?

 Ephesians 2:1-5, John 1:12, 3:7, 14:15,  Revelation 7:14, Romans 10:17

God Bless You, I Mean Something "Nice"

It has done our souls well to memorize parts of the Scripture. We wish we had more, so we work at it. I mull passages through my mind long before I preach them. Difficult situations arise and my mind goes immediately to Biblical narratives, or proverbs. Debbie and I talk about the Scripture every day. I love the wisdom of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, James, and Jesus short sayings. They resonate in my inner being. I have been reminded lately that "wisdom is proved right by all her children." Time will tell you, and every one around you, who was wise. Time tells so much. Time tells that the Scripture is true.

As you might imagine, I quote a lot of Scripture in my conversations. I believe the verse that says "the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." (Ok, I believe all of them :-) ) I know that I have been simple and I have seen God bless others too. He has made them wise and hopefully He will continue to make me wise, but it is a process. The Scripture is a great part of the story telling I do. It gives me another standard, a true standard, to handle the world.   

In the process of communication I have developed my greeting. Any Saturday, it is my job to be door man and cheerleader at the free clinic at our church building. Most clinic days I great dozens of people individually. I resort to calling on God to bless perfect strangers.  "God bless you!" to a poor, sick, neighbor is almost universally a welcome, healing, balm. It is the help that the poor people know intuitively is our ultimate help. Those neighbors, the patients, usually smile and greet me with "God bless you too!"  I am equally helped and healed by this interaction. 

I greet the students who come from three Universities at the same door as I do the patients. These students hear the same greeting, "God bless you!" The students reaction calls to mind one of Jesus sayings "However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" The students, with rare exceptions, put their head down and rush in to the clinic area.  It has become so noticeable that I have told the students in our group gathering that I mean something "nice" when I say it. They laugh, and now a few know that they should respond with "thank you" or "God bless you too." Yet it is an indication that Biblical literacy, a common place in American history, has long turned to illiteracy. God help those who know His Word to believe it enough to share it.

Psalm 19:7, Luke 7:35, Luke 18:8

Rich in Faith, More Mustard Please

Lets get right to it!  We think that Christian people should identify with the poor on purpose. We have said for years that “we don’t minister to the poor. We are the poor.” The book of James says “did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith?” Of course, no sane individual wants the discomfort, disease, oppression, and sheer frustration that accompanies poverty. Who would want the lack of amenities, difficulties of blight, or crime that accompany poor areas? Who’s got time for that? None of us. Life is short! But we embrace what it means to be poor for the sake of being “rich in faith!” And we gently invite you to look squarely at what can be gained.

Individual Christians and churches of every stripe call out to God to work on their behalf. They read the Scripture and see that faith can move mountains. They then wonder why God doesn’t answer. What is lacking? Our God can do anything. He loves His children! Yet, no answer. No movement. The answer seems to be no.

Moving mountains takes faith the size of a mustard seed. You don’t even have to be rich in faith to see God act. It seems that such a small thing, like a seed, could be purchased for little cost.  After all, mustard is not rare. It covers the fields of the world in a beautiful yellow.  It springs up as a nuisance all over the midwest. Yet, you don’t see it spring up in sophisticated places. No, wealth mows down the opportunity for mustard plants to grow. Therefore mustard seeds are few. Affluence often does the same thing to faith. “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Faith is hard for that individual to find.

More than a mustard seed of faith comes easily to the poor. The poor look to the Lord for every help, every moment. With that close of a relationship to God our provider, someone might want to rethink their view on what makes a person poor or rich. Someone might figure out where real riches are and how they are measured. Faith is worth the trouble of enduring some poverty.  It is worth the trouble of sharing what you have.  Having less money or stuff is a fair exchange for walking in faith.  It seems that the church should rethink its definition of poverty.  We think that the classification of who is rich and who is poor might need to be reversed. We want to be rich in something.  Faith!

James 2:5, Matthew 17:20, Matthew 19:24,