Tommy Mitchell / The Rurban Church Blog

Who won?

"Who won?" is the most common question you will hear on Election Day evening!  Indeed!  By the time the results are counted - much money has been spent - much work had been done - and many speeches and information flyers have been given!  It is all quite remarkable actually!

So "who won?"  Perhaps the candidate you voted for won!  or not!  And in elections, there are always winners and losers!

But "who won?"  In my opinion, the larger answer is, "We the voters won!"   No matter how anyone voted on anything or for whom they voted - the voters - the people who actually cast their votes, were all winners!

We participated! We tried to make a difference - one way or the other!  We exercised a precious right - the right to choose who leads us and the right to express our opinions on issues before the state and community!

We won!  Who lost???? It is fairly obvious! The people who did not vote!  They have NO reason to gripe about any outcome! They have NO reason to complain about who is serving and who is not! They made no attempt to make a difference - either way in any race!  

If you voted - you won today!  And if you were one of the candidates who ran and lost - well, yeah - you lost!  But I appreciate the guts and gumption and the expenditure of time, money, and effort that it takes to give everyone of us a choice!  So, in a weird sort of way - I suppose that makes you a winner too! At least in my book!

Strong Delusion!

Things are quite a bit upside down in the world these days!  It is amazing what we see before our very eyes each and every day!  Things people say - positions people take - are completely incredible and mostly indefensible! But they go on anyway!   To name a few:

We are in great debt as a nation!  Solution: Borrow more (lots more) money!

We have a lot (whole lot) of unemployed people! Solution: Extend unemployment benefits so they don't have to find a job!

Marriage is in trouble! Solution: Finish it off by basically saying that ANY kind of partnership is the same as marriage!

There are people who are advocating every "nut case" position you can imagine. And some formerly competent organizations seem strangely interested in rewriting the rules to allow for all the nuts.  

People are constantly trying to shoot down all absolutes -  A creator God - right and wrong - moral certainty - for a big blob of gray!    

OK - there is so much more than I have space for  - so to the point.  Enter the scripture!

11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. I Thessalonians 2:11-12

We do not need be too surprised over the bizzarre behavior and beliefs on display in our society.  The society has largely rejected the Lord! And for that very reason - the rejection of the salvation of the Lord - God will allow them to be deluded into really believing their bill of goods - their lies.  You see, I think that this scripture makes it plain that much of the bizzarre we see in our society is not just people who know better trying to get one up on the rest of us!  No! They really believe their junk!  And they believe their bizzarre predictions and expressions because they have rejected the Lord and He has said fine - reject me - but I am sending you "strong delusion" so that you will have to live in what you believe!  

Well, it may not be the most happy happy post - but it should explain a lot of things!

Just Wondering?

I was thinking a little this morning!  What if.....

I walked in the worship center this morning and said, "I welcome you to ABC to worship the one and only Almighty God!"  and the place broke out in rapturous applause towards heaven!

I invited the church then to join me in prayer - and they did - a concert of prayer to the Lord in heaven!

The Worship Pastor began to lead the first song of praise and the sound of enthusiastic singing was like the angels of heaven rejoicing! 

We invited the people to open their Bibles - and the sounds of Bibles being opened and pages being turned was unmistakeable!

We took an offering and people clapped and cheered as they gave - encouraging one another!

We preached the Word - and people laughed, cried, applauded - all convicted by the Holy Spirit and thankful for the matchless Word of God!

We gave an invitation and practically everybody responded in some way!  There was not a stream to the exits! Everyone stayed - watching and wondering what God would do!

People brought people who had come to Jesus during the week - you know - rejoicing, bringing their sheaves with them!

What if when we were done - people just kept cheering the Lord - shouting His praise - hanging around!

WHAT IF INDEED!  Then I remembered - this is just Jesus, the Savior of the world! Not a football team!

I long to be in the worship service I described above - where people give God praise unashamedly! We should reserve our highest praise for the Lord!

Signs that You are a Genuine Christ Follower!

1. You Do What Jesus Says!  I suppose that one should be obvious!  If we are following Christ - then we have to follow Him by doing what He says! Jesus put it this way - 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Matthew 7:21

and this way....  “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?  Luke 6:46

2. You Love Jesus More than Anyone or Anything!  A supreme love for Jesus is life-changing!  When we love Him properly, it change how we see Him and everyone and everything else!  Loving Jesus means to lay aside our wishes and wants to receive from Him new desires and new outcomes.

Jesus put it this way....  “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ Luke 10:27

3. You Love the People that Jesus Loves! This is a very bold truth!  When we really are Christ followers, we will love the people Jesus loves - and He loves all the people!  He especially loves His own disciples!

you find this strongly in 1 John.  7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  
                                                                                                                           1 John 4:7 - 11

and this.....14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother[c] abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.     1 John 3:14 - 15

Certainly one could make a longer list - but I tend to think that these three cover most everything directly or indirectly.  Are you a genuine Christ follower?

Accepting a Challenge!

What do you do with something way bigger than you - but that requires you to see it through?

1. Bolt and run!  This is a fairly well known strategy - and is used quite often.  A large challenge is before us and we just decide - "no way!"  We cut and run!  The problem is that kind of like Jonah, we usually can't get completely away from it!

2. Try to get someone else to do it!  A lot of people have ideas for great things - but are always trying to get someone else to do the work!  Then, there are many times that the Lord just hands us this huge assignment - and rather than just bolting and running - we try to heap the challenge on the shoulders of someone else in hopes we will not have any guilt or further burden over it!

3. Pray and Prepare!  This is a step in the right direction! God given challenges will only be understood, to the point we can understand them, through talking with Him!  One has to be cautious not to spend to much time praying, "God show me all the details!"   Prayer is probably better spent asking for help with the boldness, obedience, and faith we need to step out!  Pray that understanding will come as we obey!  Preparation may be an option - and to the extent we can - we should! It may be a gathering of knowledge - or methods - or looking at the examples of others who may have faced similar challenges!  But again - sometimes our preparation will be slightly limited by the extent of how far we are willing to obey!

4. Act and Watch God Work!  When we follow Him, He leads the way! He provides the resources! He opens and shuts the right doors!  Don't look back!  We will never accomplish much towards meeting a huge challenge if we are looking back - longing for simpler times, easier times, or the status quo! 

What do you do with the challenges God brings into your life?

Seven Reasons You May Not Ever Accomplish Anything Significant in Life! (Perry Noble)

Sometimes you run across a post that you just have to repost. You can read the post below  - or you can click on the link to go to Perry Noble's blog and read it there along with his other posts!

#1 – Procrastination!  (Remember, procrastination is assassination on the amazing future God has for you – James 1:22!)

#2 – You are allowing your past to identify you rather than Christ to identify you!  (See I Corinthians 6:9-11!)  You are not who you were…you are who you are in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17) and if you don’t let your past die then it won’t let you live.

#3 – You are more obsessed with what others think about you rather than what Christ thinks about you!  (See Colossians 3:2-3, Galatians 1:10)

#4 – You do not understand the fact that God’s Holy Spirit lives inside of you (Ephesians 1:13-14) and has gifted you and is calling you to do something greater than you could ever imagine (Ephesians 2:10, Ephesians 3:20)

#5 – You are afraid (see Isaiah 41:10) – and remember, no one who ever accomplished anything significant for Christ didn’t have to take a significant step of faith (Hebrews 11:6!)

#6 – You believe the lie from hell that says you are an accident when Scripture says that God custom designed you (Psalm 139:13-16) and that you were clearly created on purpose, with a purpose and for a purpose.

#7 – You are obsessed with things that have ZERO significance when it comes to eternity (I John 2:17).

 

Are You Either of These?

Recently in a Sunday morning message, I pointed out a challenge that we have in the thinking of the modern Christian!  Over the years I have observed that many, many people who claim to follow Christ come at it from one of two faulty perspectives.

Faulty Perspective #1 - What is the least I can do and still be a Christian (and probably that means still get in heaven!)?   What is the least I can attend worship? What is the least I can love? What is the least I can give? What is the least amount of pain I have to bear?  What is the least amount of participation I have to serve up? What is the least amount of engagement with the unreached people I can do? What is the least amount of Bible I can read and know what I need to know?  What is the least amount of praying I can do and still get through when I need God?

Again - what is the least I can do?

The next one stems from the same problem - and is most often present in the same people - it is just that most people seem to have one of these a bit more predominantly.

Faulty Perspective # 2 - What is the most I can get by with and still be a Christian?  What is the line on ugly words? What cussing is passable and what will get me in trouble?  What is the limit on partying? How many bases can I hit on a date before I am in real trouble?  How far can I go looking at women? How far can I go looking at men? How mad can I get before I am in trouble?  How far can I go to make someone miserable and give them what they deserve?  

These two perspectives are far more present in the church than the church wants to admit.  I would submit that in the average church, you will find more people sporting one or both of these perspectives than you will find people who will see themselves as dead to self and alive in Christ!  

Are you living in one of these perspectives? Are you constantly asking yourself - do I really need to do this? Do you find yourself wondering what its really going to hurt if you "live" a little?  

We need to give ourselves fully to Christ - who gave Himself fully to us!  Love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength!   We really need to be "all in" with our Lord!  

The Kingdom is not built on the least we can do or the most we can get by with. It is built by the Lord Himself as He includes the faithful and obedient in His work!  Make sure you have the right perspective.

Personhood Amendment!

It was my privilege to meet and talk with the person who actually wrote the personhood amendment! He was very articulate and shared some wonderful information. It is rather fascinating to see all the misinformation being generated by outside groups regarding this amendment. The amendment will simply define life as beginning when most people know it does - at fertilization.

Basic reproductive facts! An egg - a sperm - they join together - and life is formed! If left alone, a baby will be born!  This union of the egg and sperm will not result in anything else being born. The mother will not have a mass of tissue - a bowling ball - a chicken - a cat - or an "it!"  The mother will give birth to a boy or a girl!

While we have watched the courts for the last several decades wrestle with the question of when life begins, we have seen over 60 million BABIES, not blobs, be lost to abortion. Life is important. However,  Amendment 26 will not end abortion, limit women's services, prevent birth control etc.. It will define life as beginning at fertilization. 

Yes - I would suspect that if life is so defined, then further action will arise in the courts down the road.  It is really amazing to me that people get so worked up over an obvious truth about life!  I am supporting the Amendment - and I urge others to as well.  And one reminder - THERE IS NO PROHIBITION regarding the church or it's people supporting the amendment! It is a moral issue - not an endorsement of a candidate!

 

The Detractors!

How do you handle the "detractors" in your life? A detractor is a person who disparages someone or something! You know - a constant critic!  

Almost all of us have one or more of these people in our lives at any given moment in time.  Depending on what you do, how publicly you serve, and how many things in which you are involved, you will have more or less detractors.  

What do you do with the unrestrained detractor or detractors - the folks that just always disparage and criticize everyone?

Well here are some observations and suggestions.

Remember:

Constant critics are not interested in solving anything!  They want to criticize and disparage! Solving the problem would rob them of that pleasure!  We make a mistake when we think we can do enough to satisfy the constant critic! You can't!

Constant critics don't do anything! They just criticize!  Through the years it has been my observation that the people who constantly complain and criticize are never people who do anything!  They won't volunteer - they won't work on a project or do something to help with the thing or person they are criticizing.  As a general rule - the more a person criticizes, the less they actually do! 

Constant critics should not be given much attention! It would be a mistake to totally ignore them - after all they can disrupt things! But it is a mistake to do everything you do based on a few critics who mainly like to hear themselves talk to each other.  If you let critics determine the course of your life - you will be letting the most negative people on earth run the show!  Not only will they still not be happy - you will not be happy either.

Constant critics do deserve our prayers!  I am certainly not perfect with this - but I try to just turn them over to the Lord! I ask the Lord to limit their damage to themselves - and to break their stronghold of criticism with the Spirit of God.   They need joy! 

Constant critics are out of fellowship with God! or without a relationship with Him! The word of God clearly teaches us to "let no corrupt communication come from our mouths!" 

Constant critics are a fact of life - but they do not have to be a factor in our life! We have to choose to just let most of it go - and ignore most of it!  It is especially important that you never become like them - criticizing their criticism.  It is frustrating, I know!  But leave them to the Lord and let Him deal with them. 

Be positive and full of joy!  For what it is worth, it will probably bug your critics!