Tommy Mitchell / The Rurban Church Blog

A Matter of Forgiveness - Part 4

I will never forgive you!!!!  I hate you!  You are the scum of the earth!!!  All of these statements may indeed reflect how we feel at some moment during a passionate fight, disagreement, or when we have been genuinely wronged.  But where do we go from there?  According to Christ, we must travel the road of forgiveness.

We have been examining Matthew 18:21 - 35.  (For previous posts see   PART 1   PART 2   PART 3 ) In the final verses, a servant who had been forgiven an impossible debt by his compassionate master went out and found a debtor who owed the servant money and cast the debtor into prison.  The one who had been shown much mercy now showed none to others. 

31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.

So, a few quick notes on this.

1) An Unforgiving spirit will “find you out!”   - Not having a forgiving spirit as a child of God makes us stand out like a sore thumb.  People around us notice our actions.  

2) An Unforgiving spirit is to not act in the character of our Lord.  God is first and foremost holy. Without His forgiveness we cannot withstand His holiness.  His forgiveness is undeserved. It is unmerited. It is amazing.  We have been granted it.  To not be forgiving is to act completely outside the character of the one who has forgiven us.  Being unforgiving stands out.  In this scripture the master says, “Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?"

3) An Unforgiving spirit will have consequences.  In this story the master then delivered the servant to prison until he would pay all that was due. When we fail to forgive, we allow a person or circumstances to victimize us twice.  The original offending act hurts us, and then we add to the hurt by harboring it.  We further compound our misery be walking outside the will of God. 

Can I remind us of a few things in closing? 

1) We must  forgive because Christ commands us to.

2) We must forgive because to fail to do so is to hinder our relationship with God - for example being unforgiving hinders our prayers. (Matthew 5:23 - 25)

3) We must forgive! Don’t pray about whether or not you should forgive. That is the same as praying about whether or not you will be obedient to God. 

4). We must simply forgive.  When talking to God about forgiving, don’t pray, “Lord, help me to forgive this person!”  Just pray, “Lord, I forgive this person.”  Get to it. Don’t avoid it.

Through 38 years of pastoring churches, I can say that a lack of forgiveness between people ranks as a top issue in the church.  Hostilities between spouses, parents and children, between friends, between committee members, between people in leadership - all harm, hold back, and sometimes destroy the church.  

For everyone who has experienced the love of God through His blessed forgiveness of our sins, how can we not walk with Him in extending the same to all around us?  Forgiveness is challenging.  It may or may not always be easy to do.  When we forgive, we relieve ourselves of a great personal burden, and we fulfill the will of God.  May we be like our Lord!

A Matter of Forgiveness - Part 3

Today let me deal with the heart of the difficulty of forgiveness.  When we extend forgiveness to someone it means we are willing to bear the pain of what others have done.  In the first part of  Matthew 18: 21 - 35, a desperate servant who could not pay his debt was marvelously forgiven.  Literally, his debt was canceled by the master who had come to take everything the servant had.  But moved by compassion, the master marvelously canceled the debt. 

This act on the part of the master meant that he would absorb the consequences of the unpaid debt.  He agreed in that moment to just bear the disappointment and frustration and let it go.  Be sure to understand that I don’t mean the master just agreed to be disappointed and angry or frustrated the rest of his life.  It is at the moment of forgiveness that you bear the pain of what another person has done. But then you let it go to the mercies and ministry of the Lord.  It is part of that “casting all your care upon the Lord!”  

What the master did for the servant is obviously a picture of what Christ did for us. He bore the pain of our sin. Even on the cross as others mocked Him, spit at Him, and hurled insults at Him, Christ said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do!” Luke 23:34. We tend to forget that forgiveness, while essential to a right relationship with God and with others, is also a painful thing.  There is a cost to forgiving. 

Sadly, our account of amazing forgiveness in the scripture does not end as well as it begins. Again, in Matthew 18:21 - 35 the forgiven servant, having had his debt canceled, went out and found a man who owed him a much smaller sum of money.  The servant demanded that the man pay him.  The servant attacked the man, and choked him. Though the debtor begged for mercy, and in spite of the fact that the servant had just had his own debt canceled, he went to the authorities and had the debtor thrown into prison.  What an amazing response from a man who was forgiven everything, who had his family spared, and who had his possessions restored to him.  The one who had been shown mercy and grace was now showing retribution and nastiness towards others.  

Well, you can certainly say the servant was unwilling to bear the pain of the actions of his debtor.  In the next part, we will examine the remainder of this scripture.   But notice this.  We have been forgiven EVERYTHING by the Lord. If you want to think about how much that is, try to remember for just about one minute the worse sins you have committed in your life - you know - the stuff you hope nobody ever finds out about.  Christ forgave us.  He bore the pain of our sins on the cross.  And not just the ones we hope nobody discovers - but all of them. Having been forgiven, and having Christ bear the pain of them, how could we then EVER be unforgiving, unwilling to bear the pain of the actions of another.  I think of how many times I have doubted God’s love, accused Him of not being there, and fussed at Him for His plans!  All sinful. Yet, He did not walk away. He forgave me.  He bore the pain of my faithlessness, hopelessness, and doubt. 

We cannot walk in a right relationship with the Lord if we are unwilling to pay the cost of forgiving others.  It will mean that for a little while, we will bear the pain of what another person has done, and we will release it to the Lord.  Bearing the pain and letting it go will become practically simultaneous as we walk and grow in our relationship with the Lord.  

My prayer is that I will be forgiving - that it will be my default position!  Most assuredly I have benefited greatly, not only from the Lord’s forgiveness, but from the forgiveness of others as well. 

 

 

 

A Matter of Forgiveness - Part 2

In my previous post (CLICK HERE FOR PART 1)  I introduced the topic of forgiveness.  Today, the Necessity of Forgiveness.

In Matthew 18:21 - 35 the passage begins with these verses. ²¹ Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

We simply must forgive.  At times we forgive people who ask us to forgive them.  But whether they ask or not, we are to forgive them.  The scripture asks the question of how often we should forgive when our brother sins against us.  The Lord’s reply of 70 times 7 does not mean 490 times.  The point of the multiplication is we forgive as often as we are offended.  To stay offended places us in the likely position of bitterness towards others and a growing bitterness in ourselves.  

The Lord followed these verses with a little illustration.  ³ Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. ²⁶ The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ ²⁷ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

The servant had a debt he could not pay.  The master had every right to take everything from him. The servant threw himself down and implored him for his help.  He cried out for patience.  The master was moved with COMPASSION  - He RELEASED the servant - HE FORGAVE THE DEBT!  

That means - he released him. He no longer held him responsible.  It was wiped clean.  How glorious. The Bible teaches us that God forgives us our sins and remembers them no more.  He removes our sins as far as the east is from the west.  Our sin, when forgiven, no longer has any influence over Him.  It is as if it never happened. 

When we forgive we must release it.  From a mere human perspective, we will always have memories of what has happened in our lives.  I suppose we actually might forget some of the circumstances we forgive over time.  But we certainly must make the commitment to release people from the debt of sin against us.  We must forgive - and forget so far as possible - and no longer allow wrongs against us, both perceived and real, to hold any sway against us.   

ON TOP OF THIS - if we all take the initiative in forgiving, then we will all be better off in our relationships.  It may or may not always be possible to have a conversation with people with whom we find ourselves at odds.  But we can always forgive. We can because Christ has forgiven us our debt which could never be paid from anything that we have. Christ took the initiative to forgive us, and so we must take the initiative to forgive others. 

It is not an easy thing - but it is certainly a blessing TO the forgiven - and to be forgiven.  

A Matter of Forgiveness

Over a few brief posts, I want to share some preaching and teaching I once did on the topic of “forgiveness.”  Neil T. Anderson heavily influenced my thinking on this topic several years ago.  It was a liberating experience. However, we all struggle with the issue of forgiveness from time to time.  A man named John Oglethorpe, in talking to John Wesley, once made the comment, “I never forgive!”  Mr. Wesley replied, “Then sir, I hope you never sin!”  We certainly need to be forgiving towards all that have hurt us and towards all against whom we have hard feelings.  This is a challenge for all of us at various points in time and circumstances.

Part of the struggle in forgiving is caused by our perceptions of the “other” party.  Perhaps another person has truly wronged us, but they have no clue or don’t see their action or actions as wrong.  Indeed, the other party at times may be right and we are wrong, but can’t see it.   How do you work through that?  Well, pray for clear vision from the Holy Spirit.  Understand that this side of heaven no two people will necessarily agree on everything.  And most of all - if you have hard feelings toward anyone, whether you are actually in the right or not, you must forgive.  

The default position of being forgiving towards all grants us our greatest freedom while on this earth.  God will square things up.  With this same default attitude of forgiveness in mind, sometimes folks ask for our forgiveness and we don’t really want to grant it.  We must! Christ forgave us.  We must forgive others - and it needs to be genuine. 

We all mess up in relationships from time to time. Sometimes we are aware of what we have done.  Sometimes we are not aware.  And sometimes people are agitated with us when they have no right to be.  But if all God’s children default to a forgiving spirit, love and unity will overcome disagreement and dissension.    

So, that is the introduction.  I will post some particulars over the next few posts.  I praise God for His forgiveness.  Certainly I do not merit it. Forgiveness is an amazing gift of God extended to me purely from His grace.  My prayer is that I will be as quick to extend and seek forgiveness as He was ready to do the same for me.

Father of the Bride Part 1

At one point today, I thought about watching Father of the Bride.  However, there are parts of that movie that aggravate my allergies and make my eyes water, so I didn’t. Our middle child, Lesley, will be married a week from today.  As a matter of fact, we should be kicking up our heels at the reception about this time next week.  

Lesley, somehow, grew into a Daddy’s girl through the years.  I love all my kids uniquely, but I have to admit, Lesley fits the bill as a Daddy’s girl.  Maybe it was all the times I have knocked her in the head with something.  Maybe I just felt extra sorry for my slip-ups.  I hit her in the head with a golf-club when she was little.  Another time she was standing under the lift-gate of our Expedition and didn’t notice as I closed it. 

It could be that she was so busy pursuing her interests in high school and college that  she did not really make much time for guys - and that was most certainly ok by me.  No doubt that afforded me time with her I did not have with Kelsey.  It could also be that she got into the legal field and as she advanced, I began to treat her as much as a confidant as a daughter.  Anyway, she is a Daddy’s girl and she is also my attorney, so be careful!!!!

We are certainly proud of all our children and their spouses. (had to get that one in there!) And I am proud of and for Lesley and Anthony.  Being the minister of record in the family, it has fallen to me to perform this wedding ceremony.  It will be a great day next Saturday. I will enjoy it.  But as every Dad who has ever married off his Daddy’s girl knows, the joy is a mixture of sadness and love and joy.  It is not sadness in the typical sense.  Just that while she will remain a Daddy’s girl, there is now someone else with whom she will share the majority of her feelings and who will take care of the majority of her needs.  

It is no small thing to give the hand of your daughter in marriage.  Which is why this is part 1.  I will write Part 2 after the wedding next Saturday, just in case I change my mind about all this!!!!!!!!!!

Christ - The Main Attraction!

Attractional church!  This term is most often used these days to negatively describe churches that use a variety of methods to attract people to attend worship.  The alternative term (and seemingly preferred method) is missional church.  This church supposedly reaches people by being on mission out in the community.  In my personal opinion, a church should be both - attractive because of a loving, caring, worshiping congregation and missional because they are inspired to go out and make disciples. 

Yet, neither the attractional church nor the missional church get very far without Christ! When did Christ cease being the main attraction in our churches?  In Colossians Paul wrote, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  In Corinthians he wrote, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.  In Philippians Paul wrote, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”   

These are not proof-texts.  The New Testament is chocked full of Christ. Paul didn’t need the promise of a pizza or the most expensive lighting for the worship sets to be attracted to church.  He didn’t need a preacher who looked like someone’s local majority view of “cool!”  Rather, he was totally, hopelessly, wonderfully, and devotedly in love with Christ.  

And Paul didn’t go to church! He was the church.  As am I. As are you!  And Paul was the church proclaiming Christ.  For Paul, Christ was sufficient.  Again at Corinth, Paul spoke of his approach with them, saying, "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2   

So, I wonder when Christ ceased to be enough for us.  I wonder when the sheer wonder of His marvelous forgiveness, the wisdom of His amazing teaching, and depths of His incomparable love ceased to be enough to propel us to gather together to praise His name and inspire us to go out into the community to proclaim His name. 

In my lifetime, and to this day, I have been hearing a plethora of things that the church must do to grow.  Sometimes the instruction is a method and sometimes it is an audience.  Get the right kind of worship (music) and the church will grow.  Get the right kind of management style and organizational structure and it will grow.  Or focus on the right demographic group and it will grow.  It seems that most of these things have failed since the church in America continues to decline overall.  

But Christ never fails.  And never will fail. Sometimes it seems that we get to feeling like Christ is not a sufficient message - or too rough a message - or too holy a message.  So the attempt is made to help people into the church with Christ watered down a bit. Listen to this word from Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:23 "but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.”  Paul knew that the claims of Christ about sin and salvation were tough - a stumbling block and foolishness depending on who was listening.  But the claims of Christ are backed up by the convicting, convincing power of the Holy Spirit.  

We need to return to Christ.  We need Christ in our message.  We need Christ in our worship. We need Christ in our moment by moment lives.   In this day nearly every church is struggling with participation by the membership.  I say the real problem underlying struggling attendance, anemic giving,  slack participation, and missional impotence is the lack of Christ in our lives.  

Is Christ central in our churches? Is Christ central in our lives?  Is our devotion to a church (institution) or to Christ?  Is our interest in a program or ministry or is to Christ? Are we following a person or Christ?  

I more and more often ask myself, “Is Christ sufficient for me?”  or am I looking for something else - something more?  There is nothing else and there will never be anything that is more than Christ.  

May the unchanging Christ overwhelm our lives. 

Imitating Chirst!

This past Sunday I preached on the topic of imitating Christ.  It really bugged me last week as I prepared for it.  Mainly, it made me think of all my interests and pursuits through the years.  Many of those interests and pursuits have been ministry related - some not.  The part that has bugged me is that I can not honestly say that I have always pursued Christ as vigorously as I have other things in my life - even good ministry things. 

If we are to truly be Christ's disciples, we MUST imitate Him.  That is not an abstract thing. We must imitate Him in His beliefs.  We must imitate His character.   We must imitate His ministry.  We must imitate His way in relationships.  And I could go on.   The demand on us to imitate Him is not negotiable.  Paul made the charge plain in 1 Corinthians 11:1 "Imitate me just as I also imitate Christ."

Do we pursue Him as much as fine gold?  Silver?  Ok - money?  Do we pursue Him as much as we do a great hunting spot?  Do we pursue Him as much as a fine buck?  Do we pursue Him as much as we do a great shopping expedition?  Do we pursue Him as much as fine clothes?  Do we pursue Him as much as we pursue position? Power? Possessions? 

G. K. Chesterton was the one who said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried."  The charge to imitate Christ can easily rally a few amens in the congregation on Sunday, but come Monday it is so easy to go all day without conforming my thoughts to His, my character to His, my beliefs to His, and so on.  

Without doubt, much, if not all the weakness in the modern American church scene can be attributed to a few generations of Christians who have done little to imitate Him.  To imitate Him, we must know Him, be drawn to Him, and to love Him more than life itself.   Somehow, that does not quite describe the church I have been acquainted with most of my life.

So, this is serious, but not hopeless. Repentance is needed on our end and rewarded by Christ. What has not been done in the past can be done from this day forward.  Oh for a church gathering together on the Lord's Day where we all look like, think like, sing like, praise like, obey like, and worship like Christ! 

Passive Confession

We are going through a JourneyOn Discipleship process in our church.  This past Sunday, our study and application time was on the topic of confession.   In my preparation time, I was suddenly overcome by the reality of another kind of confession – passive confession!  This is not the kind mentioned in 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  That verse reveals the proper confession we should make to the Lord.

Passive Confession is another kind of confession that we may not even be aware we are making.  We cannot avoid it really.  Passive Confession is that confession we make as we live each day – sort of like a high flying jet leaves a contrail.

Passive Confession is noted when we are angry with the person who is our clerk at the store, our boss or supervisor at work, or our spouse at home.  When we are consumed with a spirit of anger, we confess it with the trail of destruction we leave in the path behind us.  We didn’t resolve anything with the confession, but we sure told on ourselves. 

Passive Confession makes known our lack of spiritual fruitfulness.  When our lives are not lives of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self –control, then we are revealing our lack of walking with and keeping step with the Holy Spirit. 

Passive Confession outs us as undevoted every time we choose ANYTHING and EVERYTHING over corporate worship with God’s people. When Sunday becomes the most negotiated day of the week with Kingdom of God issues always ranking last, our Passive Confession  is that worship (and therefore God) does not matter very much.

Passive Confession is revealed by our lack of interest in the things of God – His purposes, His ways, His teachings, His will!  When people “lose interest” in church, they have really lost interest in the Lord, who ordained His church.

Passive Confession reveals our lack of fruit in regards to prayer.  We might not openly confess to God or others that we do not pray, but our lack of fruit and answered prayer tips our hand.

Passive Confession reveals our lack of knowledge regarding the Word of God.  Again, we might not admit to not reading or knowing the word of God, but our lack of knowledge of basic bible facts, principles, and core Christian teachings reveal our biblical ignorance.  Indeed, our rationalization of every sin and our resistance to truth that reveals the sin is a confession of how we stand in the Word.

The fact is, our Passive Confessions reveal much about us to one another.  We must go further and make our confession of sin to the Lord.  Because then our lives can make a better Passive Confession.   When we are truly walking in a righteous relationship with the Lord, our Passive Confession will be one of self-control, fruitfulness, faithfulness, knowledge, and engagement.   There will be joy in our back-trail, and people will be drawn to Christ. 

Be assured, we are all Passively Confessing something!  May our Passive Confession be Christ.

How Do You Make Tough Decisions?

Nothing is more frustrating than having decisions to make and coming up with nothing but questions instead of a decision.  In fact, the more you try to decide, the more uncertain you become because there is just no clarity. The frustration of that process is really compounded by the fact that as a child of God, you want to trust God, follow God, and obey God.  If only God would make it clear! If He would just sent something akin to a spiritual text message.  Maybe it would just come as an almost audible voice while praying about the decision.  Or, He could make an almost visual difference in a verse or verses in the Bible as we search the scriptures for an indication of His will.  God could take an influential friend and just tell them and they could tell us!  A fleece seemed to work for Gideon, but when I have tried laying down the fleece in my decision making, nothing at all even happens related to my fleece. 

Just about then, the enemy gets involved.  I must not be holy enough to see or hear the answer.  That may or may not be true, but the enemy sure likes to use it on me.  Or you get too close to listening to all the earthbound wisdom that may or may not be true in your circumstances – that could be God or could be the enemy.  You know – if there is no clear answer it means “no!”  Or it means “wait!”  Or it means you are asking the wrong questions!!!  We often have the equivalent of the friends of Job when we start asking for advice.  Some will tell us whatever we want to hear – others will tell us we are spiritual losers because we don’t have clarity.  And in my case, I have found talking to other folks usually disappoints because most people don’t want to be bothered – they don’t like their friends not having it all together! 

So, what to do?  What do you do when you have to make a tough decision, and you have made the Pro / Con list? What do you do when you can see merits to more than one side of the decision?  When you could go with it or ignore it?  When you could see where God could be good with you regardless of the decision?

Sometimes I suppose the urgent decision is not as urgent as we think.  For me, I cannot just make a decision without a clear word from God. So, my weakest trait has to be dealt with.  Impatience. A church member friend of mine told me one time that my impatience was a lack of faith.  Perhaps he was right.  If you struggle with decisions from time to time, as I do, I have some suggestions from the frying pan!

1. If possible, don’t put yourself under too quick a timetable for making decisions.  Some decisions are of such magnitude that they deserve more than a few days being made.

2. Truly trust the Lord.  He does want you to have clarity.  Wait on Him even if you have to wait longer than you or others are comfortable.

3. If clarity continues to elude you for an extended time, it is likely a closed door that perhaps you wanted opened but God did not.

4. Be careful about putting God to the test.  I’m not saying you can never lay down a fleece, but be very careful with that. 

5. Also be careful with the practice of cherry picking Bible verses – you know – the open and point method.  That one can truly get you in trouble depending on what scriptures present themselves.

6. Finally, recognize that if you are reasonably serving God,  if you are walking in the Word and praying, you will ultimately do what God wants you to do – because your desires will actually be His!

How Do We Get This Done?

Sometimes I have one of those days that is equally gratifying and frustrating at the same time!  That was yesterday.  Yesterday I was in New Orleans with our Missions Team as we met in a morning strategy session with our mission partners in the 9th Ward and in an afternoon strategy session with our Metairie partners.  Several things were whirling around in my mind.

First I was again struck by the contrasts.  Although this is oversimplified, one might say the 9th Ward is an area where people are down and out while in Metairie they are up and out!  Whether “down” or “up” – they are out!  In one area the people are burned out by crime, poverty, and the neglect of caring communities.  The other is bound by clinging to a religious system rather than Christ, and seeing very little need for the family of God. They are easily neglected by faith communities because we don’t really think they need anything.  

But the similarities are striking.  In both communities families have problems.  In both communities the Gospel is desperately needed. And as I listened to both missions partners, it was amazing that they basically identified the same foundational needs – they need the Gospel presented, relationships built, and they both desperately needed their folks to be discipled!

Reflecting on that at 4:00 am this morning, my first thought is to be overwhelmed – because those are the same needs we have at Agricola.  So the question comes to mind – “How do we get that done?”  The task is enormous. Because God has commanded us to a worldwide mission, I am pondering how do we help those precious folks in New Orleans with the enormous task of reaching that city?  Because God has commanded me to shepherd the flock of God, I ponder how to disciple all these folks in Agricola! 

Well, I came to this conclusion after being awake for a few minutes – I can’t! We can’t!  All I can do is be faithful to God, faithful with the Gospel, and determined to disciple and provide discipling resources.  At some point – I have to trust God!  I have to trust God that He already has key relationships unfolding.  I have to trust that He will awaken sleepy-headed Christians to one day care more about His kingdom than this decaying, dying, temporary world and its stuff and distractions.  I have to trust that God who has commanded us to reach the Agricolas and New Orleans of the world will be faithful to bring it to pass as we proclaim the Gospel.

There were 9 of us adults yesterday planning some strategy for reaching our areas in Agricola and New Orleans.  There are more as well. Some we know about.  Some we don’t.  But what I do know is that God is faithful.  My life has already been amazingly blessed by our mission partners.  My ministry skills are being sharpened.  And I am more dependent on God than ever before.  And I am more optimistic than ever that God is going to do something amazing with the Gospel in our time.  God will get it done!

Everything But Christ!

In this modern day of instant communication it is interesting to watch the conversational trends regarding the church.  Daily my facebook feed is inundated with blog posts about various “great concerns” in the church.  Among these concerns are great and weighty matters such as how we are to greet guests without driving them away; how and what we sing; how long we are to preach; what kind of committee structure or team structure we should have; how we should or should not make announcements – the list is endless.

I suppose when Christ and His mission are no longer our primary focus, all these “grave” concerns fill our time.  Observation of the church around the world informs me that where Christ is the primary focus of the church, His Great Commission will be the primary task. And where people love the Lord and are obedient to make disciples, they aren’t worrying about how to greet people – they are scrambling to disciple them.  We cry out for the church to fulfill the Great Commission and then sit back and enable endless discussions about trivia in the church.  I realize that to the church where Christ is not central and the Great Commission is not the primary task, all these other things become the “cause of the day, week, month or year!” 

My own denomination does a lot of “peddling” regarding Christian interests.  Afraid you are driving your guests away?  For $49.00 they will tell you how to stop that.  Even though they could list the 5 themes, 10 ideas, 12 ways to not drive them away on a single blog post, you will need to pay $49.00 to know.  Or, we could just get busy loving Christ with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength – and our neighbor as ourselves. We could just get busy being in the Word of God, obeying it, and making disciples.  The church that is seeing professions of faith every week and baptisms every Sunday and new member classes filled to overflowing and the evident work of the Holy Spirit powerfully present in the body is probably going to be able to say “hey” to guests.  They are probably going to sing joyfully without getting all cranked up about their preferences.  They are probably going to to be hungry to hear a Word from God no matter how long it takes.  They are probably going to fill churches for prayer, and they actually do even fill stadiums at 5:00 am in the morning for prayer.  These folks aren’t worrying about how to make an announcement!

We really need to beware of being concerned about everything but Christ.  And we need to quit peddling ideas in the name of the Gospel!

Successful Bible Reading!

With the New Year just having started, I’m guessing there are a good many people out there who have resolved to read their Bibles daily this year.   Great resolution!  I’m also guessing there may be a few folks who have already broken that resolution.   How does a person successfully read their Bible?  Here are a few ideas.

1. Consider a plan – but don’t let it defeat you!  “Through the Bible in One Year” plans are out there and easy to find.  Just google them.  But be forewarned –  those plans can cause you to hate reading the Bible!  There is a fairly large reading assignment each day – some more difficult passages than others – and it can get discouraging when you get behind.  I know a lot of people who just give up.   I have read the Bible through in a year a couple of times – but I never had the time to enjoy the reading as much as I do when I read shorter passages.  However, some folks thrive on the one year plan.  Just know that there are multiple approaches to reading the Bible.

2. Consider reading through a single book – for a month!  I like to read a few verses at a time and really “mull” over them.  I like to taste them, smell them, put myself in the story.  In the past I have said that new readers of the Bible should especially consider shorter passages – but I don’t limit that to new readers anymore.  I have been reading the Bible for about 50 years.  Reading a few verses, a passage, a chapter, has been and I suspect will always be my preferred reading style.  The more you read in a session – the less detail you can enjoy.  So, on a shorter book, I will read a few verses, maybe a chapter a day – and when I finish it, I will read it again, staying in it for a month.  I will usually read the book through once without taking a note – then the next time make some notes about it.  

3. Read the Bible Daily!  This is the most important part of Bible reading.  Read it daily. Just pick it up and read some verses.  Become accustomed to this time with the Lord, because a believer in the Word is going to encounter God.

4. Understand Your Help in Reading!  We are accustomed to the “Help” tab in software and apps.  You come to your Bible with no less than the Holy Spirit to help you through each reading.  The Spirit of God brings the Word of God alive like no other book.  I enjoy reading all kinds of books, but when I read the Bible it is piercing, life-changing, and always timely.  It addresses me directly.

5. Read it for the relationship – not just to read it!  Some people can read the Bible and still act like ….. well…..the devil.  I have known folks who bragged on their reading of the Bible but treated other believers like garbage.  What’s up with that?  They just read it to say they read it– to check off a list.  When we really “read” and “hear” the Word, it will transform us into His image.

6. Read it Prayerfully!  Prayer is one of your helps! You might pray before you read, asking the Lord to open up your heart to His Word.  Pray while you read, for understanding.  Pray after you read, thanking God for the time together.  Don’t be surprised if the Word comes rushing back to your heart and mind at a later time as the Lord continues to illuminate your heart.

7. Don’t let a missed day get you down!  I have been a pastor for 36 years, and there are still days that I miss sitting down to read the Bible.  I used to beat myself up about it.  I don’t anymore.  Some days the work and activities get away from me.  However, having spent so many years reading the Bible, I can easily call scripture to mind on those days.  So, while I may not sit down with a physical Bible, it does not mean that I have not thought about His Word.  Don’t become slack in reading the Word, but don’t become a legalist about it either. 

Remember this – God rejoices every time you pick up the Word and respond to Him!  Just enjoy the Word, and be faithful.  The Word is all about Him – and He will bless you for reading it!

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What Did you Just Say?

Over the last few years, I have heard this “words” theology thing!  It is pretty simple – be careful what you say or you will become it. Therefore, don’t say, “I’m sick – or you will definitely get sick, or be sicker!”  Another iteration of this is to say in the face of sickness, “I am well, and therefore you will be well!”  The applications of this are endless – and not grounded that much in the Word of God.  However, the Bible does speak about us, our character, and what comes out of our mouths. 

I submit to you that saying, “We are our words” gets it out of order.  We are “who we are” or “are not” based on how we are relating to Christ.  Whatever our character actually is will be revealed by our speech.  The Bible makes this kind of statement in James 3:8 – 10  ⁸ But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.

It is only by submitting our lives to Christ that the tongue can be tamed by the Holy Spirit.  So what is coming out of your mouth?

1. Blessing or Cursing  - or worse, both?

2. Words of edification – or words of destruction?  (Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.)

3. Words of forgiveness – or words of strife?

4. Words of envy and jealousy – or words of praise and admiration?

5. Words of gossip – or words of blessing?

6. Words of faith – or words of faithlessness?

7. Words of encouragement – or words of dismay?

The list can go on and on!  A Christ follower will “check their tongue” before they open their mouth!  Follow Christ and be a blessing with your speech!

Christ Was Forgotten Long Before Christmas!

Christmas traditions are being played out all around us right now.  Great music and sounds of Christmas, holiday cheer and gatherings of friends,  parades and lights and decorations and adorned trees are all a part of our traditional Christmas.  A relatively recent tradition has appeared where there is a great turmoil over Christ and Christmas.  Some are “offended” by the religious aspects of Christmas and the mention of Jesus Christ.  Of course this amuses me because there would have never been a Christmas at all apart from the incarnation of Jesus Christ.  Then the church folks get “offended” by the non-church folk and campaigns get underway to “keep Christ” in Christmas!

I do realize that “Christ is in Christmas” no matter how a person feels about or views Christmas because Christ is Lord.  But, all this back and forth about “keeping Christ in Christmas” really didn’t begin with the Christmas season.  It began when people in the church started rewriting and rewiring Christianity to suit their own needs.  I have noticed through the years that Christ is often forgotten about by large segments of the church during the summer.  Also during great weather. Also during bad weather. Also during so-so weather.  Also during hot weather. Also during cold weather. Also during football season.  Also during busy times.  Also during slow times. Well, you get the idea. We have a pretty noticeable track record among Christians of forgetting Christ.  It is evident in lack of regard for reading and obeying scripture. It is evident in little praying.  It is evident in Christian lives that resemble the world more than Christ.

It seems rather disingenuous for the church and church folks to get stirred up about “Christ in Christmas” when the church seems to have already forgotten Christ so much of the previous parts of the year!  A new year is fast approaching along with many new resolutions! Perhaps the best one we could make would be to “remember” Christ in our life as Lord each and every day.  That would certainly line up with scripture and we would already be celebrating Christ as Lord when Christmas arrives next year! 

Don’t worry about keeping Jesus first! He is!  Rather, be concerned about submitting to Him 24/7 – 365 days a year!

A New Normal?

Yesterday I was leaving my parent’s home in Columbus.  On the western edge of town, I stopped to fill up with gas and was just a little aggravated that I had to pay $2.41 a gallon for fuel. You see, where I normally buy gas in Agricola, it has been $2.33 for a couple of weeks.   So, I felt like I was paying too much.  Even though it has only been a couple of months since I was, in some places, paying $3.49 a gallon, I have quickly become accustomed to “a new normal!” 

It is amazing, really, how quickly we become adjusted to new normals.  A few weeks ago, the state highway department started a repaving project in front of our church.  For reasons I still don’t understand, they put new asphalt down on the south bound lane, and then did not return for a few weeks.  Though it was always noticeable, I got used to the “new normal.” I would pull across it and thing nothing of the uneven pavement. I was actually surprised one day when I finally realized they had finished it.  Again, we get accustomed to a “new normal” with some ease.

Unfortunately, some of the “new normal” to which we become accustomed is not good, and really, in God’s eyes, not normal.  It is not normal to become adjusted to a life devoid of prayer, the reading of the Bible, or the silence of our lips in sharing the gospel.  It is not normal in God’s eyes to live a life devoid of relational purity, wholesomeness, and honor.  It is not normal in God’s eyes for us to live as consumers in His church instead of servants to the most high God.  Yet everyday, I see people and churches becoming quickly adapted to a new normal of just about everything. 

People are becoming bold in “new normals!”   God calls much of the “new normal”, sin!  We have gone from fornication, to pre-marital sex, to fooling around, to making out, to exploring our love, to NORMAL!  We have gone from adultery, to infidelity, to cheating, to exploring our inner needs, to just being happy!  We have gone from being a slave of Christ, to a servant, to a member, to needing my felt needs met, to seeing what this church can do for me, to being a consumer!   In each case, we started with what the Bible calls it and progressed to what we call it.  We seldom call things by what they really are anymore.  Instead, they are a “new normal!”

Remember, Christ is the unchanging Christ.  We can’t use the term “don’t judge me” to excuse every sin we desire to live in and live out.  Christ is merciful, forgiving, and gracious.  We must always be willing and ready to repent and return to His full fellowship.  But beware, the “new normal” is so easily accepted by us.  God will certainly judge us all one day, and it will not be by whatever standard of “the new normal” is in play at the moment. We will be judged by His holiness and His revelation of holiness in His word, the Bible.  Be careful, especially in moral matters, of “the new normal!”

The Benevolence of the Many

There are, by some counts, as many as 59 “one another’s” in the scripture.  I believe to get to that number some of them are repeated – but that probably just serves to remind of the importance of those particular ones.  The scriptures also teach us to practice hospitality.  In Romans 12:10 – 13, Paul gets to it right plainly - ¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; ¹¹ not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹² rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; ¹³ distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

This year we are encouraging all our church members to be “kindly affectionate to one another,” so they may distribute to the need of the saints, being given to hospitality.  I hear of many folks adopting needs and meeting them.  It is exciting when members of the ABC fellowship call you and inquire about needs they desire to meet.  They are indeed being given to the practice of hospitality.

Practicing hospitality is so much the example we have from Christ.  Though He did not possess much by the world’s standards, we know He shared whatever He had.  And He certainly gave and gave and gave of His time, His teaching, His love, His forgiveness, and His compassion.  He healed the sick, sometimes raised the dead, and cast out demons as acts of generous hospitality to those who were in need.  The lame walked and the blind received their sight.   These were no small miracles then and would be no small miracle of grace today. 

Christ’s ultimate act of hospitality was on the cross.  He simply gave everything He had to give on the cross.  Amazing!

In the holidays, we can never separate one from the other – Christmas has a bearing on Easter – Easter has a bearing on Christmas.  Yet both holidays are centered on Christ.  The hospitable Christ.

As we share and exchange gifts this Christmas, think of how powerful the church can be if every member, every individual, finds a way to give expression to hospitality in a personal way. No matter how great or how small, so much more can be done to lead people towards Christ if ALL the church practices personal hospitality.  And not just for Christmas.  The teaching of Romans 12 is intended to be our daily practice.  Let us be given to hospitality.

Have you ever??????

Have you ever _____________?  This is a reasonable question about so many things? To a heart surgeon, have you ever done open heart surgery?  To a mechanic, have you ever fixed a car?  To a teacher, have you ever taught a class?  To a pilot, have you ever flown a plane?  To a cook, have you ever cooked a meal?  To a skater, have you ever skated?  To a football player, have you ever played in a game?  To a band member, have you ever played with a band?  To a furniture maker, have you ever made any furniture?

All of these questions to those professions are the most elemental questions one might ask.  Yet, it would seem preposterous to ask – and even more preposterous if they said, “Well, no!”   Then they really would not be the person of the profession you are asking about!

Ask a Christian this question……have you ever made a disciple?   After all, it is our Great Commission!  “Therefore, go into all the world and make disciples…..” Matthew 28:19a.  As completely bewildering as it would be for you, facing knee replacement surgery, to ask your surgeon if he had ever done a knee replacement surgery – to which he said, “NO!” – it is bewildering when Christians claim to follow Christ but not as disciple makers.  Our greatest commission is to make disciples of all the nations.  It is to bring them into a personal and growing relationship with Christ Jesus.  We are to “disciple” them! Pour our lives into them being proper reflections of Christ ourselves. 

So, ask yourself this question – “Am I a disciple maker?”  If not, why not?  We will not go far in God’s blessing while failing to be about His Kingdom business of reconciliation.  Perhaps it is time for a change. 

Are We Humble Enough to Trust Him?

One of the most wonderful events of my life was the thirty-one day sabbatical I just completed in July, thanks to the love and generosity of Agricola Baptist Church.  The entire thirty-one days was a restful experience because I had no “work oriented” deadlines to keep.   However, I spent nearly all of the sabbatical studying and researching the matter of church revitalization – or to put it more plainly – how to help churches recapture the spirit of Christ in their daily walk and work. 

God has a funny way of bringing things to your attention that you did not expect.  I expected to enjoy a renewed and improved prayer life (and I did) and some purely recreational (meaning not for sermon preparation) reading of the Bible (and I did).  But the thing God brought to my attention was humility.  My humility! Or lack thereof!  As much as I hate to admit it, the Lord made it clear to me that I cannot really increase in my sanctification, gain much insight into His work and way to awakening, unless I am willing to completely trust Him.  It is a lack of humility that stops us from trusting and obeying the Lord! 

Pride makes us believe that God really needs a little of our insight.  Pride makes us believe that we can pick and choose the how, when, and where we will obey Him.  Pride makes it hard for us to see we are prideful!  Yep! That sentence was correctly written.  It was time spent in His Word that helped me realize that we truly are missing brokenness and repentance in the church.  But it is a lack of humility – and a gross oversupply of pride that keep us from brokenness and repentance. 

Pride helps us ignore the scripture.  Pride helps us read the Word selectively, sparsely, and without real regard for what it says.  A lack of the Word in our lives means we will be misinformed on how to live any kind of life pleasing to God.  Pride prevents us from praying effectively.  With pride we will pray in self-absorption and self-deception for what we believe we need rather than what His Spirit wants to do to us, in us, and with us!

Everything the church needs to happen spiritually today requires the church (each one of us) to become truly humble.  Humility is evidenced in our life by living in total trust, total obedience,and total consumption for Christ! 

Are we humble enough to follow Him? To truly listen to Him?  To truly obey Him? 

It was perfectly fine for me to go on sabbatical with an area of study in mind! God blessed that study! But He humbled me.  In that humility, my eyes have been opened to such striking needs around me that I simply could not or would not see before.  Most of these needs are spiritual in nature.  I’m looking forward to walking with God through the solutions to major spiritual needs of our community and our church and myself. Part of my daily prayer these days is, “Lord, lead me in the paths of humility so I can see and know your will!”   As the Word says, “He must increase, but I must decrease!” John 3:30

You Shall Know the Truth!

One day in the give and take of the usual office chatter among our staff, our Worship Pastor was making a point about truth and error regarding how people view other religions.  He used the illustration of how government agents know the difference between authentic and counterfeit money.  They do not study counterfeit money so much – but they do study everything about real money – how it looks, how it feels, how it smells.  They become so familiar with authentic currency that a fake bill stands out like a sore thumb. And so it is for the child of God! We don’t need to study world religions nearly so much as we need to know the word of God.

How desperately the church today needs to immerse itself in the word of God so that it recognizes false teaching and steers clear of it.  Though I am disturbed when I hear a member of the body of Christ adopting some unbiblical behavior, I am absolutely alarmed when I see and hear my brothers and sisters co-mingling the false with the truth.  A half fake, half real dollar bill is considered all fake!  And a biblical belief that is some portion Bible and some portion something else is altogether something else!

Most believers who read this will just say “AMEN” and move on.  Yet, I hear statements like this nearly every day.  “I know the Bible says something different, but I just got so much good out of it!”  (it being something totally against scripture!)  “Even if this doesn’t really portray what the scriptures say, it really makes us think!”  When the books we read, the movies we see, the influencers we listen to do not line up with the word of God, then the books we read, the movies we see, and the influencers we listen to are false! Co-mingling the false with the true is not an advantage – it is a distinct disadvantage.  The easier it is for us to take in the false, the easier it will be to purge ourselves from the rigors and demands of Holy Scripture.

If your husband / wife came home late one day from work, and told you that they saw a beautiful / handsome person of the opposite sex and just had to ask for their name and address and talk a bit over coffee, would you say that was good or bad?  Nothing happened! Just an exchange of info – a friendly conversation – and some good coffee!  Unless you have lost your mind, you would say that it was not only bad, but something of the marriage covenant had been violated.  And even more dangerous is the inevitability of a moral fall coming soon down the road! 

When we co-mingle false theology and false teaching with a wink and a nod into Christian doctrine, we have, according to the word of God, played the part of the spiritual harlot who goes whoring after other gods! Yep! God takes this stuff pretty seriously. 

There are a lot of “pop-spiritual” books, movies, and teachers in our society. Some of our preachers are so riddled with falsehood that they sound like a mixture of proverbs and fortune cookies when they speak.  How will the child of God know the difference between the authentic and the false?  Psalm 119 says it best  - By taking heed according to Your word. 10 With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! 11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You! 12 Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes! 13 With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth. 14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. 16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

Movie Critics All!!!!!

The last few weeks have been interesting to me.  I have watched, listened, and read as ministers and other prominent leaders in church ministry have turned into the Christian version of Siskel & Ebert!!! We (Christians) can watch this movie but probably not that one! We should know this one is fairly accurate and this one is not.  We should know that there are errors in this one and our faith might be destroyed if we watch it! Really???

Here are some things that I ponder! When I go see a movie produced by the secular entertainment media, I certainly put it through my own “moral” rating system.  I’m not going to go watch a “skin-flick!”  I’m not going to watch a movie where practically every word is vulgar!  This is not because my faith can’t handle it, it is because it is abhorrent to my faith.  Christ has changed my heart so I am careful with what I take in! 

That being said, I also go to a movie to be entertained!  When I watch a Star Trek movie, I don’t sit there exclaiming that warp drive does not exist in the real world!  When I watch “Top Gun” I don’t exclaim that the hero would have been court martialed for all his antics!   When I watch “The Hunt for Red October,” I don’t point out all the incredible military “non-realities!”  I go to be entertained.

So, now I have some people (my own kind – church folks) telling me it is ok to go see “God’s Not Dead” – but it is not ok to go see “Noah” – because “Noah” is not anywhere close to scripture!  Well, really, I did not think it would be. What movie, based on any scripture, has been totally accurate.  Even though “The Passion of the Christ” made a fair attempt to demonstrate the suffering Christ, I knew He suffered before I saw the movie.  I know that heaven is real even before a movie comes out that says it is.  I know that Noah built an ark and God destroyed the world with a flood no matter what the movie “Noah” purports itself to be. 

My question is this – how well do Christians know the word of God?  How strong are you in your faith?  Is your faith and witness unable to withstand the rough and tumble of this world?   And why are we so collectively easy to be offended at the lost, secular world?  People who are without Christ are going to act like they are without Christ!  And such were all of us before we came to know Christ! For many years Christians, instead of being powerful warriors and witnesses in the hands of God, have become holy huddlers – withdrawing from the world – hiding in our churches – scared that if we exercise, shop, entertain, and educate alongside the lost world our faith will be lost! Why?  Is our faith that weak? Is our knowledge that thin?  Are we really so weak and scared in our faith that one movie named “Noah” may rob us of all that is holy? 

So, what am I saying?  Go see these movies – don’t go see these movies!  That is up to you and the Holy Spirit living in you! Everyone can and should run that decision through their personal, spiritual buffers.  But don’t miss the opportunity to share the Gospel with people who may have their interest stirred in the spiritual through a secular movie! Don’t miss the opportunity to make friends among the unchurched at the gym. Don’t miss the opportunity to make friends among the unchurched at the ballfield.  Don’t miss the opportunity to build relationships with those who have no clue about the claims of Christ.  The American version of Christianity has a habit of getting all revved up over movies and such!  It is sad that we are not just as revved up about our primary mission in the world – to go and make disciples.   And I know we aren’t – because less than 5% of our churches are meaningfully reaching those without Christ.