Thursday, March 31, 2011
Office Posters I'd Like To See
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sins of The Fathers (Part 3)
1 Corinthians 7:14, "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy."
What does that mean to you, and what does it have to do with the sins of the fathers being visited upon the children?
This scripture deals with a family who has one parent who is saved and one who is not. That describes a large portion of the church world today.
What is meant by this sanctification that is passed on from one person to another?
A believing spouse will do their best to teach the ways of God and uphold the standards of righteousness to the rest of the family. They may not always succeed and they may never reach the place where they are living the way that they would want to, but how much better is the family because of their belief in God.
The unbelieving spouse will surely be affected in some manner, or they will leave the family, one or the other. God’s spirit and God’s Law, through his Word will constantly work on them and it will have an effect and accomplish something in them to either change or run away.
The believing spouse will keep the house in such a manner that honors the Lord. They will do their best to train up their children in the ways of the Lord. They will take every opportunity to lift up the name of Jesus to their family.
The net result of all this is that the family is sanctified somewhat by the believing parent. They will have a cleaner life, a more stable home environment, and a better view of what a normal home should be like.
As a result, at least some of the righteousness of God is passed along, and some day, the unbelieving spouse and the children could come to know Jesus as Lord too.
The righteousness of the fathers can sometimes be passed along to their children if those children accept God’s ways, but the sins of the fathers are always passed along to their children because the nature of that child is to follow the paths of sin to begin with.
What are our children learning from us?
Are we passing our sins to our children, or are we passing our faith to them?
One day, we will all face the judgment of God! I pray that we are found faithful in teaching our children about Jesus so that they will enter Heaven’s gates.
God forbid that any of us would have to stand before God and watch our children be cast into hell because we failed to teach them the ways of God and tell them about Jesus.
Will the next generation in your family benefit from the example you give?
What does that mean to you, and what does it have to do with the sins of the fathers being visited upon the children?
This scripture deals with a family who has one parent who is saved and one who is not. That describes a large portion of the church world today.
What is meant by this sanctification that is passed on from one person to another?
A believing spouse will do their best to teach the ways of God and uphold the standards of righteousness to the rest of the family. They may not always succeed and they may never reach the place where they are living the way that they would want to, but how much better is the family because of their belief in God.
The unbelieving spouse will surely be affected in some manner, or they will leave the family, one or the other. God’s spirit and God’s Law, through his Word will constantly work on them and it will have an effect and accomplish something in them to either change or run away.
The believing spouse will keep the house in such a manner that honors the Lord. They will do their best to train up their children in the ways of the Lord. They will take every opportunity to lift up the name of Jesus to their family.
The net result of all this is that the family is sanctified somewhat by the believing parent. They will have a cleaner life, a more stable home environment, and a better view of what a normal home should be like.
As a result, at least some of the righteousness of God is passed along, and some day, the unbelieving spouse and the children could come to know Jesus as Lord too.
The righteousness of the fathers can sometimes be passed along to their children if those children accept God’s ways, but the sins of the fathers are always passed along to their children because the nature of that child is to follow the paths of sin to begin with.
What are our children learning from us?
Are we passing our sins to our children, or are we passing our faith to them?
One day, we will all face the judgment of God! I pray that we are found faithful in teaching our children about Jesus so that they will enter Heaven’s gates.
God forbid that any of us would have to stand before God and watch our children be cast into hell because we failed to teach them the ways of God and tell them about Jesus.
Will the next generation in your family benefit from the example you give?
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sins Of Our Fathers (Part 2)
Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
We often use this scripture as a basis of hope for the repentance and salvation of a wayward child when we know that we did our best in teaching them the Word of God and we did all we knew to do to bring them to Jesus.
But what we often fail to realize is that this scripture carries a double meaning. If we train up our child to walk in the paths of sin, to hate the church, to ridicule those who live for the Lord, to stay away from the House of God, to ignore the Word of God, and to only focus on the good times and worldly pleasure and riches of this world, we will also reap what we have sown here too. Those children will grow up to believe that the way we have taught them is the right way and they, too, will not depart from it.
Just walk into any school in our community right now and you will see how much the training of the children has affected their children. If you really want to see the difference, just go to a middle school. I would like to take you on a tour with me just once. You would be appalled at the attitude of today’s youth. Oh, we may have some attitudes around the church to deal with, but they are nothing compared to the attitudes of those who have no knowledge of God in their lives.
With each passing generation, the sins of the fathers are visited upon their children. But the sins of each passing generation only become stronger, more evil and more destructive. Then the sins of the fathers are passed on again, and again and again.
It is no surprise that this world is growing more evil everyday. Mankind is bringing about his own judgment for sin. The only thing that can stop this cycle of sin from generation to generation is for someone to find the Lord and their Savior and be born again.
That’s the key to turning your family around. But the answer is not just in accepting Christ for yourself, you have to train the next generation to follow the Lord or nothing will change for them. That’s where your faithfulness to God, your commitment to his Word, his work and his church are so very important.
What’s the best way to train a child – by your correct example! They will see what you do more than they will hear what you say!
Who is training your children today? (This if for parents, grand-parents and even great-grand-parents for we carry this responsibility to the grave and even beyond by our legacy)
Are you training them or are you allowing the world to train them by default?
Are you training them by your example or are you allowing their friends in the world to do the work for you?
Are you really teaching them to go in the right way, or are you just hoping that somehow it will all turn out right?
Will the sin of their father and mother be visited upon them?
Will they one day face the curse of God for what you have taught them, or for what you are teaching them now?
Will they accept the ways of the world, and the way of sin and rebellion against God’s commandments as the normal and right way to live?
Or, will they really know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and God as their refuge?
The answer lies in what we are teaching them today!
We often use this scripture as a basis of hope for the repentance and salvation of a wayward child when we know that we did our best in teaching them the Word of God and we did all we knew to do to bring them to Jesus.
But what we often fail to realize is that this scripture carries a double meaning. If we train up our child to walk in the paths of sin, to hate the church, to ridicule those who live for the Lord, to stay away from the House of God, to ignore the Word of God, and to only focus on the good times and worldly pleasure and riches of this world, we will also reap what we have sown here too. Those children will grow up to believe that the way we have taught them is the right way and they, too, will not depart from it.
Just walk into any school in our community right now and you will see how much the training of the children has affected their children. If you really want to see the difference, just go to a middle school. I would like to take you on a tour with me just once. You would be appalled at the attitude of today’s youth. Oh, we may have some attitudes around the church to deal with, but they are nothing compared to the attitudes of those who have no knowledge of God in their lives.
With each passing generation, the sins of the fathers are visited upon their children. But the sins of each passing generation only become stronger, more evil and more destructive. Then the sins of the fathers are passed on again, and again and again.
It is no surprise that this world is growing more evil everyday. Mankind is bringing about his own judgment for sin. The only thing that can stop this cycle of sin from generation to generation is for someone to find the Lord and their Savior and be born again.
That’s the key to turning your family around. But the answer is not just in accepting Christ for yourself, you have to train the next generation to follow the Lord or nothing will change for them. That’s where your faithfulness to God, your commitment to his Word, his work and his church are so very important.
What’s the best way to train a child – by your correct example! They will see what you do more than they will hear what you say!
Who is training your children today? (This if for parents, grand-parents and even great-grand-parents for we carry this responsibility to the grave and even beyond by our legacy)
Are you training them or are you allowing the world to train them by default?
Are you training them by your example or are you allowing their friends in the world to do the work for you?
Are you really teaching them to go in the right way, or are you just hoping that somehow it will all turn out right?
Will the sin of their father and mother be visited upon them?
Will they one day face the curse of God for what you have taught them, or for what you are teaching them now?
Will they accept the ways of the world, and the way of sin and rebellion against God’s commandments as the normal and right way to live?
Or, will they really know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and God as their refuge?
The answer lies in what we are teaching them today!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sins of the Fathers (Part 1)
Elisha, God’s man for the hour, anointed with a double portion of Elijah’s calling when the mantle of Elijah fell upon him as his mentor was taken away in a chariot to Heaven, was coming through Jericho on his way to Bethel.
God performed a miracle for Jericho by healing the bad water in the area and making the land fertile for them to grow crops for food.
If only they had accepted the worship of the God of Israel as easily as they accepted His blessings. God’s grace could still have made Jericho and the land of the Benjamites a blessed place to live. If only they had allowed God’s love and His Spirit to possess their hearts and change their lives, God’s mercy would have been poured out on them, but it was not to be. If only they would have trained their children to love the God of Israel instead of hating him, things could have been so different.
Their wickedness and the attitude of rebellion against Israel, against the God of Israel, and against the prophet of the God of Israel was going to come back to haunt them with a vengeance. We cannot mock God, we cannot sin against God, and we cannot continue to come against the chosen people of God for long without God’s justice falling upon us.
As Elisha left Jericho, the children, most of them were probably teenagers or a little younger, were roaming the highways in a form of a Bible times gang. It is certain that they were up to some mischief.
When they saw Elisha they began to ridicule him and persecute him. They cried out, “Why don’t you leave us alone, Baldy? Get out of our city, Baldy!”
Can you see the sins of the fathers being visited upon these youth? Can you see the results of allowing sin to remain in the camp against God’s will?
It wasn’t just Elisha that they were ridiculing now they were also ridiculing the God of Israel who had called Elisha.
We can pick on the preacher all we want. We can cut down on the leadership of the church all we want. We can complain, grumble and gripe about what goes on at the church all we want. We can gossip, spread lies, and even try to discredit our Brothers and Sisters in the Lord all we want, but at what point does our action become an offense to God? How long will God allow our attitude and our sin to go unpunished?
Matthew 18:6, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
Mark 9:42, "And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea."
Luke 17:1-2, "Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."
Elisha may have been an old gray haired, balding prophet of God, but he was still one of God’s “little ones”. God will not tolerate the persecution of his own children forever. Sooner or later he will rise with vengeance and every debt of sin will have to be paid in full.
Under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, Elisha looked back at these youths who were ridiculing him, and blaspheming the God of Israel. He cursed them by God’s command and then God sent two she bears into their midst.
Perhaps these youths had taken the bear cubs of these mother bears because they came out with fury and killed 42 of the youths before they could escape. That night there were a lot of families in Jericho who mourned for the loss of their children.
Mothers and dads who had taught their children to hate Israel, to hate the God of Israel, to love the idols of Jericho, and to fight against anything that Israel stood for, now began to cry and weep for those same children.
God performed a miracle for Jericho by healing the bad water in the area and making the land fertile for them to grow crops for food.
If only they had accepted the worship of the God of Israel as easily as they accepted His blessings. God’s grace could still have made Jericho and the land of the Benjamites a blessed place to live. If only they had allowed God’s love and His Spirit to possess their hearts and change their lives, God’s mercy would have been poured out on them, but it was not to be. If only they would have trained their children to love the God of Israel instead of hating him, things could have been so different.
Their wickedness and the attitude of rebellion against Israel, against the God of Israel, and against the prophet of the God of Israel was going to come back to haunt them with a vengeance. We cannot mock God, we cannot sin against God, and we cannot continue to come against the chosen people of God for long without God’s justice falling upon us.
As Elisha left Jericho, the children, most of them were probably teenagers or a little younger, were roaming the highways in a form of a Bible times gang. It is certain that they were up to some mischief.
When they saw Elisha they began to ridicule him and persecute him. They cried out, “Why don’t you leave us alone, Baldy? Get out of our city, Baldy!”
Can you see the sins of the fathers being visited upon these youth? Can you see the results of allowing sin to remain in the camp against God’s will?
It wasn’t just Elisha that they were ridiculing now they were also ridiculing the God of Israel who had called Elisha.
We can pick on the preacher all we want. We can cut down on the leadership of the church all we want. We can complain, grumble and gripe about what goes on at the church all we want. We can gossip, spread lies, and even try to discredit our Brothers and Sisters in the Lord all we want, but at what point does our action become an offense to God? How long will God allow our attitude and our sin to go unpunished?
Matthew 18:6, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
Mark 9:42, "And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea."
Luke 17:1-2, "Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."
Elisha may have been an old gray haired, balding prophet of God, but he was still one of God’s “little ones”. God will not tolerate the persecution of his own children forever. Sooner or later he will rise with vengeance and every debt of sin will have to be paid in full.
Under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, Elisha looked back at these youths who were ridiculing him, and blaspheming the God of Israel. He cursed them by God’s command and then God sent two she bears into their midst.
Perhaps these youths had taken the bear cubs of these mother bears because they came out with fury and killed 42 of the youths before they could escape. That night there were a lot of families in Jericho who mourned for the loss of their children.
Mothers and dads who had taught their children to hate Israel, to hate the God of Israel, to love the idols of Jericho, and to fight against anything that Israel stood for, now began to cry and weep for those same children.
They learned the hard way that we will reap what we sow. They sowed hatred, rebellion, and blasphemy into the hearts and minds of their own children and now those same children had faced God’s judgment. They parents had no one to blame but themselves.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Great Debate
I really do miss the days when things were simple and not so complicated. I have seen changes in people in the past 5 years that I never thought I would see. Sometimes it's rather frightening because instead of people getting closer to God, they seem to be drifting further away.
Anyway, there are some things that I will never be able to stop and that's what creates the great debate about church in the day that we live. We do so many things out of tradition of men that we overstep our heritage as believers. That's the problem that I am having in my mind and really need some prayer to help me understand how to change that thinking. Here's the great debate:
-On one hand the Bible says that we are not supposed to be men pleasers (Ephesians 6), but we are supposed to do all things that are pleasing to God. Paul writes this to the bondservants, but says the same thing is applicable to their masters as well. However, if we don't please men today and do exactly what they want they get mad, leave the church, and try to ruin your reputation.
How many pastors out they will say "Amen!"
-Another is that we do not let the traditions of men superseed the directives of God, but no matter what you do somebody always wants to stop the direction of God if it changes what they consider to be their personal property. Paul again said in Colossians 2:8, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
-Lastly, the Bible says that God wants us to bring Him our best gifts or more easily understood, our best efforts. Numbers 18:29 says "Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it." However, I talk with pastors all the time who find their congregations are satisfied with mediocrity and are not willing to present their best gifts to the Lord.
No matter what I do I can't seem to find what I need to answer these questions in this great debate. Do we let down the standard and just let things slide just to keep the peace? Do we say that certain things don't really matter anymore in the sight of God because we don't want to deal with junk? Or do we fight the influence of the enemy and hope for the best no matter what happens? Yes, the great debate rages on.
So, where do you stand on this issue? My last statement is very simple and really says where I'm at with this thing. I don't want to stand before the Lord on the Judgment Day without knowing that I did my best. My prayer is God don't traditions of men stand between me and Your will for my lift and don't ever let me give less than my best effort. If I can't give my best effort then God don't let me be a stumbling block to others. Just help me to do the best I can and through my efforts influence some else along my journey.
Anyway, there are some things that I will never be able to stop and that's what creates the great debate about church in the day that we live. We do so many things out of tradition of men that we overstep our heritage as believers. That's the problem that I am having in my mind and really need some prayer to help me understand how to change that thinking. Here's the great debate:
-On one hand the Bible says that we are not supposed to be men pleasers (Ephesians 6), but we are supposed to do all things that are pleasing to God. Paul writes this to the bondservants, but says the same thing is applicable to their masters as well. However, if we don't please men today and do exactly what they want they get mad, leave the church, and try to ruin your reputation.
How many pastors out they will say "Amen!"
-Another is that we do not let the traditions of men superseed the directives of God, but no matter what you do somebody always wants to stop the direction of God if it changes what they consider to be their personal property. Paul again said in Colossians 2:8, "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
-Lastly, the Bible says that God wants us to bring Him our best gifts or more easily understood, our best efforts. Numbers 18:29 says "Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it." However, I talk with pastors all the time who find their congregations are satisfied with mediocrity and are not willing to present their best gifts to the Lord.
No matter what I do I can't seem to find what I need to answer these questions in this great debate. Do we let down the standard and just let things slide just to keep the peace? Do we say that certain things don't really matter anymore in the sight of God because we don't want to deal with junk? Or do we fight the influence of the enemy and hope for the best no matter what happens? Yes, the great debate rages on.
So, where do you stand on this issue? My last statement is very simple and really says where I'm at with this thing. I don't want to stand before the Lord on the Judgment Day without knowing that I did my best. My prayer is God don't traditions of men stand between me and Your will for my lift and don't ever let me give less than my best effort. If I can't give my best effort then God don't let me be a stumbling block to others. Just help me to do the best I can and through my efforts influence some else along my journey.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Say What?
It's raining outside today and the weather is bleak. So after so many theological statements in the past month, I decided to go with two days of fun things to bring a smile to your heart. I hope you enjoy this on as much as I did.
A teacher in fourth grade in Ventura County, California gave her students the beginning of a list of famous sayings and asked them to provide original endings for each one. Here are some examples of what her students submitted.
A teacher in fourth grade in Ventura County, California gave her students the beginning of a list of famous sayings and asked them to provide original endings for each one. Here are some examples of what her students submitted.
- The grass is always greener when you leave the sprinkler on.
- A rolling stone plays the guitar.
- The grass is always greener when you remember to water it.
- A bird in the hand is a real mess.
- No news is no newspaper.
- It's better to light one candle than to waste electricity.
- It's always darkest just before I open my eyes.
- You have nothing to fear but homework.
- If you can't stand the heat, don't start the fireplace.
- If you can't stand the heat, go swimming.
- Never put off 'til tomorrow what you should have done yesterday.
- A penny saved is nothing in the real world.
- The squeaking wheel gets annoying.
- We have nothing to fear but our principal.
- To err is human. To eat a muskrat is not.
- I think, therefore I get a headache.
- Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry, and someone yells,
"Shut up!"
- Better to light a candle than to light an explosive.
- It's always darkest before 9:30 p.m.
- Early to bed and early to rise is first in the bathroom.
- A journey of a thousand miles begins with a blister.
- There is nothing new under the bed.
- The grass is always greener when you put manure on it.
- Don't count your chickens -- it takes too long.
Friday, March 25, 2011
And this is why we go to the doctor?
The following statements are reported to have been found on patients' charts during a recent review of medical records. These statements were written by health care professionals, including doctors and nurses, at major hospitals:
- The patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.
- She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life until 1989 when she got a divorce.
- She is numb from her toes down.
- When she fainted, her eyes rolled around the room.
- Patient has been married twice, but denies any other serious illnesses.
- The patient was in his usual state of good health until his airplane ran out of gas and crashed.
- Patient experiences difficulty swallowing tires easily.
- History: Patient was shot in the head with .34 caliber rifle.
Chief complaint -- headache.
- Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year-old white male, mentally alert but forgetful.
- The patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
- On the second day the knee was better, and on the third day it had completely disappeared.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
When You Leave A Church
I met a few days ago with a family who is leaving our church. We had a good conversation about their reasons for leaving (they are legitimate) and then some discussion about how they can “leave well.” I told them that, based on my experience with people leaving our church or coming to our church after leaving another one, most people don’t leave well.
Here are a few ideas on how to leave a church well:
1. Have a good reason for leaving. Before you go, evaluate whether your reasons are good, legitimate and God-honoring.
2. Communicate your decision to leave with the appropriate leaders. If you’re an active part of the church and serving in any capacity, leaders will need to know you’re leaving. Personal communication is preferable to written communication, but make sure you communicate.
3. Tell these leaders the truth about why you’re leaving. If you have legitimate reasons to leave then you have nothing to hide or worry about. If the reasons for leaving will sting church leadership, deliver it in the spirit of Proverbs 27:6, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Scripture commands us to “speak the truth in love” (Eph 4:15), which means you don’t couch the real, sometimes difficult reasons behind a bunch of spiritualized nonsense. God may use your reasons for leaving to help the church or its leaders. I’ve had at least one “exit interview” that was immensely helpful to me as a leader — some of the truth of it stung, but it helped me grow. Whatever you do, don’t just leave without telling your leaders.
4. Appropriately transition or conclude your ministry commitments. If you’ve been an active part of ministry, your role will need to be transitioned. Hopefully you’ve been training and developing somebody to take your place anyway, but if you haven’t, give your leaders an appropriate time to find others to serve in your capacity. This period shouldn’t drag on, but you also should not just drop the ball on the people you’ve been committed to.
5. Leave graciously. Leaving graciously means you refuse to speak evil of those who remain in the church. Look forward, not backward. Focus on your new church, not your old one. Think carefully before you speak about your former congregation. Don’t say anything that could be remotely construed as criticism. Even casual comments could stir up needless controversy. Let the Golden Rule guide all your comments public and private.
If you’ve read this post and realize that you didn’t leave a church well in the past, it might be wise to circle back to seek forgiveness and reconciliation. If you have gossiped or stirred up division, you should make it right, apologizing not only to the leaders of that church but also to the people to whom you gossiped.
In the end, remember that Jesus loves the church you’re leaving and the one you’re going to — His blood was shed for both. Both churches are part of his bride. Do his bride the honor of leaving well.
Here are a few ideas on how to leave a church well:
1. Have a good reason for leaving. Before you go, evaluate whether your reasons are good, legitimate and God-honoring.
2. Communicate your decision to leave with the appropriate leaders. If you’re an active part of the church and serving in any capacity, leaders will need to know you’re leaving. Personal communication is preferable to written communication, but make sure you communicate.
3. Tell these leaders the truth about why you’re leaving. If you have legitimate reasons to leave then you have nothing to hide or worry about. If the reasons for leaving will sting church leadership, deliver it in the spirit of Proverbs 27:6, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” Scripture commands us to “speak the truth in love” (Eph 4:15), which means you don’t couch the real, sometimes difficult reasons behind a bunch of spiritualized nonsense. God may use your reasons for leaving to help the church or its leaders. I’ve had at least one “exit interview” that was immensely helpful to me as a leader — some of the truth of it stung, but it helped me grow. Whatever you do, don’t just leave without telling your leaders.
4. Appropriately transition or conclude your ministry commitments. If you’ve been an active part of ministry, your role will need to be transitioned. Hopefully you’ve been training and developing somebody to take your place anyway, but if you haven’t, give your leaders an appropriate time to find others to serve in your capacity. This period shouldn’t drag on, but you also should not just drop the ball on the people you’ve been committed to.
5. Leave graciously. Leaving graciously means you refuse to speak evil of those who remain in the church. Look forward, not backward. Focus on your new church, not your old one. Think carefully before you speak about your former congregation. Don’t say anything that could be remotely construed as criticism. Even casual comments could stir up needless controversy. Let the Golden Rule guide all your comments public and private.
If you’ve read this post and realize that you didn’t leave a church well in the past, it might be wise to circle back to seek forgiveness and reconciliation. If you have gossiped or stirred up division, you should make it right, apologizing not only to the leaders of that church but also to the people to whom you gossiped.
In the end, remember that Jesus loves the church you’re leaving and the one you’re going to — His blood was shed for both. Both churches are part of his bride. Do his bride the honor of leaving well.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Who Let The Air Out Of Your Balloon?
The Bible tells us of the responsibilities of old age, but did you know that the Bible gives no retirement age to Christians? Did you know that even in your older years you have responsibilities as children of God?
The Bible outlines four clear responsibilities for older Christians.
-First, continue to praise God to the end. Our retirement years, our older years, are not for us to enjoy apart from God. Solomon spent his entire youth and into his later years trying to enjoy life and find meaning in life apart from God. He did not want to make the same mistake in his old age that he made in his youth. That is his unique perspective looking back over his life. And it must be our perspective too.
Hebrews 13:15 “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-- the fruit of lips that confess his name.”
It is clear that every day and every moment of our Christian lives, even into our old age, we are to continue to praise God to the end.
(2) We are also to continue to know God to the end. In Philippians 3: 10-14, the apostle Paul expressed his desires and how he would attain them: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Here Paul expressed that he wanted to know Christ in ever deepening ways and that he had not yet arrived at his destination. Did you notice that he was going to keep striving forward? Did you know that Paul was not a young man when he wrote this? And he was still working on growing in his relationship with God and the One who save Him?
-We are to continue to serve God to the end. Again, old age may mean retirement from earthly work, but old age is not an excuse for retiring from God’s work. Sure, your work may change form in your old age but it does not end. This is affirmed in Psalm 92: 12-14, the psalmist writes, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green…”
The picture here is of believers flourishing in a wonderful way. Believers will be strong too. When the psalmist said that they would be like a cedar of Lebanon, he was saying that it was a very strong tree. The wood from cedar trees was so strong that it was used for shipbuilding by the Egyptians. The cedar tree was no wimpy tree that could be knocked down by a strong wind. It stood strong and that is the psalmist’s picture for believers, that they too would stand strong and flourish in the courts of God.
But they would not stand strong only in the days of youth when we are the strongest. The psalmist went on clearly to say that believers would “…still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green…” That means that we are to still bear fruit for God by serving God even in our old age. God has given us all gifts to be used for His church. And while our physical capabilities will change with age, service is not supposed to end. We can only bear fruit by continuing to use our gifts and serve Him in our old age.
-We must continue to proclaim God to the end. The psalmist said in Psalm 92:14,15, “They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
When we are Christians, we are to praise the Lord always. That can be both public and private. But proclaiming God to the end takes on a very public meaning here. We as believers, in our youth and our old age, are to always proclaim who God is and what He has done in salvation. We are to proclaim that God is righteous; that He alone is our Rock; He alone is our salvation; and there is no sin or wickedness in Him.
Isn’t that the Gospel? In Mark 16:15, 16 Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
In Matthew 28:19 -20a, Jesus also said, “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
What is the Good News? What are we to teach? The Good News, what we are to proclaim is this: Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life; He is the only way to heaven, the only name by which anyone can be saved. He was and is sinless and He gave that life as an atoning sacrifice, a payment for our sins. And through faith in His Name, people are saved. Is there supposed to be an end to proclaiming that Good News? No. We can never retire from proclaiming the Good News of salvation. We are to proclaim it in our youth; and we are to continue to proclaim God to the end as older Christians.
I know that many of you feel the pains and changes of old age. I know that life has changed from what it was 10 and 20 and 30 years ago. Some of you think and have even said that your best days were behind you. But the Bible tells us and challenges us to remember that these are still the best of days of life because every day, including our old age, is a gift from God to enjoy.
We can never retire from the responsibilities of old age as Christians. We are to still bear fruit for God. We are still to live for him and proclaim and praise Him for what He has done for us through Jesus Christ. God has given you your old age as a gift to enjoy, as time to be spent profitably for Him.
So, don’t be a grumpy, retired, fuddy-duddy old Christian. Rather, enjoy and use the gift of long life God has given you by never ceasing to serve and praise the One who saved us.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Who Let The Air Out Of Your Balloon (Part 4)
Solomon closes out this section by writing about what happens after old age: “Then man goes to his long (eternal) home and mourners go about the streets.” All throughout Ecclesiastes, Solomon has spoken clearly about the fact that death comes to all people. Suffice it to say that, unless Jesus comes back while we are still alive and takes us into heaven at the Rapture, every one of us here will die. Our lives will end one day in the future and that is the conclusion of old age.
So, what do we do in our old age? Do we just sit around somberly with sad faces and wait for death to take us? Absolutely not!
In Verses 6 & 7 Solomon addresses the joy of old age. Solomon says things are going to start breaking down in our bodies; things are not working like they used to; and, in our old age, we are obviously a lot closer to the end of our lives than to the beginning. But, Solomon says, this should cause us to take the time to remember God before the end comes; to remember who He is while we can; to honor Him with our lives and remember all He has done and all He continues to do for us.
Solomon addresses the joy of old age. Solomon says things are going to start breaking down in our bodies; things are not working like they used to; and, in our old age, we are obviously a lot closer to the end of our lives than to the beginning. But, Solomon says, this should cause us to take the time to remember God before the end comes; to remember who He is while we can; to honor Him with our lives and remember all He has done and all He continues to do for us.
The prophet Isaiah clearly shows why we should remember God in our old age in Isaiah 46: 3, 4 where the Lord said,
“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
God doesn’t just carry you or walk with you when you are young. He walks with you and talks with you and sustains you and carries you and cares for you to and through your old age! That is why we can and should have joy in our old age and really in every age.
Ecclesiastes 11: 8a says, “However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all.”
Old age may have its own unique set of problems as Solomon has so clearly described. But those problems and realities are not supposed to drag us down to the point where we do not enjoy life. Old age is just another phase of life and as with all the other phases, we are to enjoy it despite its problems! The joy of old age is the ability to remember God and thank Him while you can.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Who let the air out of your balloon? (Part 2)
There are also many older people who often experience a weakened singing voice. In Ecclesiastes 12: 4c, “…when men rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songsgrow faint…” A better translation, more word for word, is found in the New KingJames where it says, “…all the daughters of music are brought low…” The daughtersof music are our vocal chords. And like everything else in the body, even our vocal chords are subject to the aging process. We just cannot belt out tunes in old age the way we once could in our youth. That is all Solomon is saying here: namely, older people often experience a weakened singing voice.
In Ecclesiastes 12: 5, Solomon moves on to the picture of a fear of heights. I am already afraid of heights. But Solomon talks about a time in old age “…when men are afraid of heights…” People are less steady on their legs and climbing would be more fearful.
There is also a fear of traffic. Solomon talks about not only the time when men are afraid of heights but also afraid “…of dangers in the streets…” Now, in Solomon’s day, the traffic was different. But certainly, people riding on horses on narrow roads in the city or shepherds and farmers bringing their flocks through the same roads would make walking along the road a dangerous thing. Certainly, in our day and age, older people are much more timid in traffic. Not much has changed since Solomon’s day.
In the middle of verse 5, Solomon moves on to another picture. He talks about a time “…when the almond tree blossoms…” Do you know what this is? The almond tree, when it blossoms, blooms with basically whitish leaves. So what is the almond tree? It’s a picture of white hair! The Bible actually looks at this as a wonderful thing, though. In Proverbs 20: 29, Solomon wrote that “The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.”
Then Solomon talks about the fact that “…the grasshopper drags himself along…” When it gets cold, the grasshopper, who energetically leaps all over the place in the summer, drags himself along in the winter with very little energy. So, the picture Solomon gives here is a picture of no energy in the winter of old age.
The last picture is seen at the end of Ecclesiastes 12: 5 where there is a lack of sexual drive. Solomon simply says that, in old age, “…desire no longer is stirred.” Enough said. Solomon was definitely speaking of that which he was experiencing as he wrote this section of Ecclesiastes. And isn’t it amazing that the pictures of old age are not at all different from what is experienced today.
(end part 2)
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Who let the air out of your balloon (Part 1)
Solomon addressed the joys and responsibilities of youth regarding life on earth as children of God. In chapter 12 of Ecclesiastes, Solomon takes a look at old age.
You know when you know you’re getting old?
You know you’re getting old when…
Everything that works hurts, and what doesn’t hurt doesn’t work.
You look forward to a dull evening.
Your knees buckle and your belt won’t.
Your back goes out more than you do.
Your little black book only contains names ending in M.D.
You sink your teeth into a steak…and they stay there.”
Solomon takes a look at the reality of old age.
In Ecclesiastes 12: 1 – 2, Solomon wrote,
"Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”-before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain..."
Here Solomon is simply saying that no one stays young forever. We may stay immature…but we all age. We all grow older each passing day. And even youngsters at heart grow old. There is no escaping it.
And the days to come get harder too. Many older people suffer through aches and pains that they never could have imagined not all that long ago. They can suffer through memory loss and all kinds of debilitating physical problems. Unlike the vigor and strength of the young, Solomon aptly states that old age can certainly be the days of trouble indeed. Unless some sickness or tragedy befalls us when we are young, we all grow up and that is the reality of old age.
Solomon then has some fun talking about the pictures of old age. We have to remember that Solomon knew what he was talking about here because when he wrote Ecclesiastes, he too was an old man looking back over his life. And he gave twelve pictures of old age in this passage with his tongue firmly placed in cheek.
Let’s take a look at Ecclesiastes 12: 3 – 5 and see all twelve pictures. Solomon gives us four pictures alone in Ecclesiastes 12: 3, the first picture being about growing weaker: “…when the keepers of the house tremble…” When we are young, our arms are strong and they keep the house safe. In old age, our muscles start to break down and people sometimes start to shake.
Solomon then talks about growing shorter. (that’s something I’m not looking forward to because I’m short enough already!) Solomon talks about “…when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop…” As people get older, their strength begins to crumble. Their knees can’t get them around like they used to and their backs hunch over.
How about this one? “…when the grinders cease because they are few…” Of this you can be certain: Solomon was not talking about submarine sandwiches when he spoke of grinders. One of the things old people often lose is their teeth and that is what he meant by grinders.
Growing weaker; growing shorter; losing teeth; and now losing eyesight. As he closes out verse 3, Solomon talks about the fact that “…those looking through the windows grow dim…” This is simply Solomon’s way of saying that, while we may have been blessed with good eyesight in our youth, our old age usually sees a decrease in our ability to see clearly through the windows of our eyes.
But it isn’t just teeth and eyes where older people lose something because Solomon next talks about losing hearing. In Ecclesiastes 12:4a, he talks about “…when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades…” We might have been able to hear a pin drop in our youth. But in old age, as many of you know, you couldn’t hear a rocket blast off in the back yard.
Despite the fact that many in their old age experience hearing loss, they are still waking with the birds. I remember the days when I could sleep until noontime or after with no problem in my youth. But, when you get older, you seem to wake now at the crack of dawn or before. Solomon goes on to say, “…when men rise up at the sound of birds…” Come on, you know it’s true. You used to sleep late and stay up late. Now, you’re practically in bed before the sun goes down and you wake with the birds before the sun comes up. (End Part 1)
Friday, March 18, 2011
Will God Send Revival Again?
Two decades ago evangelical philosopher and theologian Carl Henry predicted that as America progressively loses its Judeo-Christian heritage, paganism would grow bolder. What we saw in the last half of the 20th-century was a kind of benign humanism, but he predicted that by the start of the 21st-century, we would face a situation not unlike the first-century when the Christian faith confronted raw paganism–humanism with the pretty face ripped off, revealing the angry monster underneath. His words have come true, and we see the proof with every passing day. So Paul warns Timothy, “After I am gone, things are going to get worse before they get better. Terrible times are coming.” That’s why Paul said, “Mark this,” or “Understand this,” or “Pay attention to this.” Don’t be naïve and think that everything is going to be okay. It’s not all going to be okay. But forewarned is forearmed. If we know what is going to happen, we won’t be surprised when it does.
2 Timothy 3: 1 says, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.” The word translated “terrible” occurs only here and one other place in the New Testament. In its other occurrence, it refers to the two violent men who were possessed by demons in the region of Gadara in Matthew 8:28. They were wild, uncontrollable men who lived among the tombs. The “last days” will be fierce, violent, dangerous and frightening. Savage times will come as men cast off all moral restraint and society begins to disintegrate.
There is a sense in which these things have always been true for the last 2000 years, and there have been many periods of extreme spiritual darkness. When Jesus uses the image of “birth pains” in Matthew 24:8, he may be telling us that we should expect these hard times to increase as we near the end of the age. The moral collapse of the end times will be like labor pains before a new world is born where Christ reigns as king.
I’ve read about great revivals in the past. Note the last three words. “In the past.” Sometimes those stories sound so amazing that you wonder if such things could happen in our day.
Could there be another Welsh revival in our day?
Could there be a Third Great Awakening?
Could there be another Laymen’s Prayer Revival?
Could we see whole nations shaken and changed by the preaching of the gospel?
We know the answer is “yes.” Of course those things are possible in our day. God is not limited by the moral decay around us nor is he bound by our unbelief.
Acts 2:16-21 "But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
This passage is extremely important because of where and when Peter uttered these words. It’s as if Peter is saying, “The Age of the Holy Spirit is now upon us.” It certainly means that God intends to pour out the Holy Spirit across a wide swath of humanity. What Joel predicted and Peter preached not only characterizes this entire age, it will come to a climax in the final days of human history. There will be amazing signs in the heavens and on the earth surrounding the Day of the Lord. And there will be a great movement of evangelism in the last days, starting 2000 years ago on the Day of Pentecost, continuing through the Church Age, and coming to a vast climax just before Jesus returns.
We may be the generation that sees the return of Jesus Christ.” And that’s truly how I feel. I’m optimistic about what God is doing in the world today.
In light of all this, how should we live?
-Be bold.
-Hold on to each other.
-Live without fear.
-Be ready.
-Don't be fooled.
Satan will unleash his full arsenal, knowing that his time is short. Therefore, we should not be surprised when hard times come. But this age will also end with an unprecedented spiritual harvest around the world. I can’t imagine a better time to be alive.
We are fighting a battle we cannot lose and the Lord is looking for some soldiers who will serve in his army. Will you answer the call?
2 Timothy 3: 1 says, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.” The word translated “terrible” occurs only here and one other place in the New Testament. In its other occurrence, it refers to the two violent men who were possessed by demons in the region of Gadara in Matthew 8:28. They were wild, uncontrollable men who lived among the tombs. The “last days” will be fierce, violent, dangerous and frightening. Savage times will come as men cast off all moral restraint and society begins to disintegrate.
There is a sense in which these things have always been true for the last 2000 years, and there have been many periods of extreme spiritual darkness. When Jesus uses the image of “birth pains” in Matthew 24:8, he may be telling us that we should expect these hard times to increase as we near the end of the age. The moral collapse of the end times will be like labor pains before a new world is born where Christ reigns as king.
I’ve read about great revivals in the past. Note the last three words. “In the past.” Sometimes those stories sound so amazing that you wonder if such things could happen in our day.
Could there be another Welsh revival in our day?
Could there be a Third Great Awakening?
Could there be another Laymen’s Prayer Revival?
Could we see whole nations shaken and changed by the preaching of the gospel?
We know the answer is “yes.” Of course those things are possible in our day. God is not limited by the moral decay around us nor is he bound by our unbelief.
Acts 2:16-21 "But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
This passage is extremely important because of where and when Peter uttered these words. It’s as if Peter is saying, “The Age of the Holy Spirit is now upon us.” It certainly means that God intends to pour out the Holy Spirit across a wide swath of humanity. What Joel predicted and Peter preached not only characterizes this entire age, it will come to a climax in the final days of human history. There will be amazing signs in the heavens and on the earth surrounding the Day of the Lord. And there will be a great movement of evangelism in the last days, starting 2000 years ago on the Day of Pentecost, continuing through the Church Age, and coming to a vast climax just before Jesus returns.
We may be the generation that sees the return of Jesus Christ.” And that’s truly how I feel. I’m optimistic about what God is doing in the world today.
In light of all this, how should we live?
-Don't be negative!
-Be bold.
-Hold on to each other.
-Live without fear.
-Be ready.
-Don't be fooled.
Satan will unleash his full arsenal, knowing that his time is short. Therefore, we should not be surprised when hard times come. But this age will also end with an unprecedented spiritual harvest around the world. I can’t imagine a better time to be alive.
We are fighting a battle we cannot lose and the Lord is looking for some soldiers who will serve in his army. Will you answer the call?
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Why Bad Things Happen To Good People (Part 4)
Romans 8:26-27 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”
It sounds strange to say that our suffering can somehow be beneficial to us. Some would say it even sounds un-Christian. How can cancer be beneficial? How can the loss of a job be beneficial? How can a broken marriage be beneficial? How can public humiliation be beneficial? How can tears at midnight be beneficial?
Our text explains it this way. Our suffering reveals our weakness. It strips away the mask of self-sufficiency and reveals our utter helplessness. It forces us to confront our own inabilities. It makes us say, “I’m not as strong as I thought I was. I’m not invincible." Verse 26 says the Spirit “helps” us in our weakness. The word translated “help” means “to come to the aid of someone in desperate need." You are in the stands watching a race and you see a runner faltering in the final turn. He stumbles and is about to fall. Seeing that he is not going to make it, you rush from the stands, come to his side, put your arm around him, and say, “Brother, I see that you aren’t going to make it. Let me help you to the finish line." That’s what the Holy Spirit does for us. He sees when we are in trouble and he comes to our aid.
How does he do it? Paul tells us that the Spirit “intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." The Holy Spirit prays for us. The Spirit who is himself the third member of the Trinity prays to the Father (the first member of the Trinity) in the name of the Son (the second member of the Trinity) for us in our moment of weakness. It is God praying to God on behalf of God’s children! What an amazing thought this is.
Have you ever been in a situation so desperate that you couldn’t pray? Have you ever been so emotionally exhausted that you tried to pray but the words wouldn’t come out? Have you ever been so frightened that all you could do was cry out, “Oh God"?
It’s happened to me a few times. That leads me to make this observation: The more you care about something, the harder it is to pray for it. The reason we can pray so easily for others is that we’re not that deeply invested in them. It’s easy to pray for people you don’t know because it doesn’t matter that much whether or not your prayers are answered. The more you care, the harder it is to pray. When it comes to those things in your life that really matter–your husband, your wife, your children–those things are hard to pray for because they are close to your heart.
Paul is telling us that in your weakness, when you feel desperate about the things that truly matter to you, and you don’t know what to say, and all you can do is cry out “Oh God!” the message is, “Don’t worry. That’s enough because there is someone inside you who is praying for you.”
We know that Jesus is in heaven praying for us. But Paul goes a step beyond that. When you come to the moment of complete exhaustion and can no longer frame the words, you don’t have to worry. The Holy Spirit will pray for you. In your weakness he is strong. When you cannot speak, he speaks for you.
When we lean against the wall of desperation, crying out to God, when we whisper, “God, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to pray about this,” the Holy Spirit comes alongside and says, “Don’t worry. I’ll pray for you.” And he does.
Does that mean our prayers are in vain? Not at all. Does it mean we shouldn’t pray? Not at all. It simply reveals our inherent human weakness and the limitation of our perspective on life. We see the part, the Holy Spirit sees the whole. We see one little piece, the Holy Spirit sees the big picture. We pray according to the little bit that we see, the Holy Spirit prays according to his perfect knowledge.
It sounds strange to say that our suffering can somehow be beneficial to us. Some would say it even sounds un-Christian. How can cancer be beneficial? How can the loss of a job be beneficial? How can a broken marriage be beneficial? How can public humiliation be beneficial? How can tears at midnight be beneficial?
Our text explains it this way. Our suffering reveals our weakness. It strips away the mask of self-sufficiency and reveals our utter helplessness. It forces us to confront our own inabilities. It makes us say, “I’m not as strong as I thought I was. I’m not invincible." Verse 26 says the Spirit “helps” us in our weakness. The word translated “help” means “to come to the aid of someone in desperate need." You are in the stands watching a race and you see a runner faltering in the final turn. He stumbles and is about to fall. Seeing that he is not going to make it, you rush from the stands, come to his side, put your arm around him, and say, “Brother, I see that you aren’t going to make it. Let me help you to the finish line." That’s what the Holy Spirit does for us. He sees when we are in trouble and he comes to our aid.
How does he do it? Paul tells us that the Spirit “intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." The Holy Spirit prays for us. The Spirit who is himself the third member of the Trinity prays to the Father (the first member of the Trinity) in the name of the Son (the second member of the Trinity) for us in our moment of weakness. It is God praying to God on behalf of God’s children! What an amazing thought this is.
Have you ever been in a situation so desperate that you couldn’t pray? Have you ever been so emotionally exhausted that you tried to pray but the words wouldn’t come out? Have you ever been so frightened that all you could do was cry out, “Oh God"?
It’s happened to me a few times. That leads me to make this observation: The more you care about something, the harder it is to pray for it. The reason we can pray so easily for others is that we’re not that deeply invested in them. It’s easy to pray for people you don’t know because it doesn’t matter that much whether or not your prayers are answered. The more you care, the harder it is to pray. When it comes to those things in your life that really matter–your husband, your wife, your children–those things are hard to pray for because they are close to your heart.
Paul is telling us that in your weakness, when you feel desperate about the things that truly matter to you, and you don’t know what to say, and all you can do is cry out “Oh God!” the message is, “Don’t worry. That’s enough because there is someone inside you who is praying for you.”
We know that Jesus is in heaven praying for us. But Paul goes a step beyond that. When you come to the moment of complete exhaustion and can no longer frame the words, you don’t have to worry. The Holy Spirit will pray for you. In your weakness he is strong. When you cannot speak, he speaks for you.
When we lean against the wall of desperation, crying out to God, when we whisper, “God, I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to pray about this,” the Holy Spirit comes alongside and says, “Don’t worry. I’ll pray for you.” And he does.
As we pray from our weak and limited perspective, the Holy Spirit “corrects” our prayers, so to speak, so that God’s will is always done even in our most wrong-headed prayers. Since the Holy Spirit knows what God’s will is, and since he searches our hearts (see verse 27), he is able to pray for us in ways that always correspond with God’s will. One sign that this is actually happening is that we pray for one thing and God does the opposite.
Does that mean our prayers are in vain? Not at all. Does it mean we shouldn’t pray? Not at all. It simply reveals our inherent human weakness and the limitation of our perspective on life. We see the part, the Holy Spirit sees the whole. We see one little piece, the Holy Spirit sees the big picture. We pray according to the little bit that we see, the Holy Spirit prays according to his perfect knowledge.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Why Bad things Happen To Good People (Part 3)
Romans 8:23-25 “Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
We groan inwardly, Paul says. We groan because of a job we hate. this week a man told me he was going to make a move after 15 years in the same job. “I can’t take it anymore.” We groan because of unfulfilled dreams. We groan because our bodies break down. We groan because our marriages break up. We groan because our children go astray. We groan because our friends disappoint us.
Why does God allow such groaning among his children? Why doesn’t he do something about it? Doesn’t he know what we’re going through? Doesn’t he care?
Sometimes we begin to question God’s character as if he somehow enjoys seeing his children suffer. We imagine him laughing in heaven as we weep. But it is not so. He knows what we are going through. He cares about our suffering. He feels our pain.
The Bible says God allows our pain for a purpose. Verses 24 and 25 tell us that through our suffering God wants to develop two qualities in us:
Hope
Patience
Hope is that settled confidence that looks to the future, knowing that God will someday keep all his promises. Patience is the ability to endure present hardship because you have hope in the future.
Our suffering teaches us hope and patience–two qualities that can’t be gained any other way. You only hope for that which you do not have. If you have it, you don’t have to hope for it. But if you don’t have it, then hope teaches you to wait patiently for it.
What is it that we are waiting for? Paul calls it “our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” We’re waiting for the day when our bodies will be redeemed, when we can turn in the old model and get a brand new one from the Lord. In that day we will be adopted as sons. We will enter into our full legal standing as the children of God. Right now we are children of God living in decaying bodies. You can’t tell by the outside who we are on the inside. We look like everyone else. We get sick, our bodies decay, we eventually die. But because we are related to Jesus Christ, we will someday be given a body like his–incorruptible, immortal, undying. We don’t have it yet, but we’re eagerly waiting for that day to come.
Our bodies wear out, they sag, they expand, they wrinkle, the joints get creaky, the arteries harden, the heart slows down, the eyes grow dim, the teeth fall out, the back is stooped, the arms grow weary. Our bones break, our muscles weaken. The body bulges in the wrong places. It happens to all of us sooner or later.
There is coming a day when your body won’t need changing. You won’t grow old and you won’t get cancer. Jesus Christ will give you a brand new body. Until then we live in hope, waiting patiently for that day to come.
That perspective explains so much that happens to us. God is weaning you away from putting your hope in the things of this world so that your hope will be in him alone. The only way he can wean you away from the things of this world is through suffering and difficulty. He brings you to the place where you must say, “Lord, it’s you and you alone." He’s teaching you to wait on God. Right now you’re trying to scheme your way into a better situation. But eventually you’ll say, “Lord, if it takes forever, go ahead. Take your time. My hope is in you.”
We groan inwardly, Paul says. We groan because of a job we hate. this week a man told me he was going to make a move after 15 years in the same job. “I can’t take it anymore.” We groan because of unfulfilled dreams. We groan because our bodies break down. We groan because our marriages break up. We groan because our children go astray. We groan because our friends disappoint us.
Why does God allow such groaning among his children? Why doesn’t he do something about it? Doesn’t he know what we’re going through? Doesn’t he care?
Sometimes we begin to question God’s character as if he somehow enjoys seeing his children suffer. We imagine him laughing in heaven as we weep. But it is not so. He knows what we are going through. He cares about our suffering. He feels our pain.
The Bible says God allows our pain for a purpose. Verses 24 and 25 tell us that through our suffering God wants to develop two qualities in us:
Hope
Patience
Hope is that settled confidence that looks to the future, knowing that God will someday keep all his promises. Patience is the ability to endure present hardship because you have hope in the future.
Our suffering teaches us hope and patience–two qualities that can’t be gained any other way. You only hope for that which you do not have. If you have it, you don’t have to hope for it. But if you don’t have it, then hope teaches you to wait patiently for it.
What is it that we are waiting for? Paul calls it “our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” We’re waiting for the day when our bodies will be redeemed, when we can turn in the old model and get a brand new one from the Lord. In that day we will be adopted as sons. We will enter into our full legal standing as the children of God. Right now we are children of God living in decaying bodies. You can’t tell by the outside who we are on the inside. We look like everyone else. We get sick, our bodies decay, we eventually die. But because we are related to Jesus Christ, we will someday be given a body like his–incorruptible, immortal, undying. We don’t have it yet, but we’re eagerly waiting for that day to come.
Our bodies wear out, they sag, they expand, they wrinkle, the joints get creaky, the arteries harden, the heart slows down, the eyes grow dim, the teeth fall out, the back is stooped, the arms grow weary. Our bones break, our muscles weaken. The body bulges in the wrong places. It happens to all of us sooner or later.
There is coming a day when your body won’t need changing. You won’t grow old and you won’t get cancer. Jesus Christ will give you a brand new body. Until then we live in hope, waiting patiently for that day to come.
That perspective explains so much that happens to us. God is weaning you away from putting your hope in the things of this world so that your hope will be in him alone. The only way he can wean you away from the things of this world is through suffering and difficulty. He brings you to the place where you must say, “Lord, it’s you and you alone." He’s teaching you to wait on God. Right now you’re trying to scheme your way into a better situation. But eventually you’ll say, “Lord, if it takes forever, go ahead. Take your time. My hope is in you.”
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
When Bad Things Happen to Good People
There are three unchanging truths regarding suffering. These truths are propositions that form the Christian attitude toward sufferings.
We live in a frustrating world, don’t we? Nothing works the way it is supposed to. You buy something, it breaks, you fix it, it works for awhile, and then breaks again. Eventually it wears out completely and you have to replace it. That’s what Paul means when he says the creation was subjected to frustration. Nothing lasts forever, nothing works right. We live in a Murphy’s Law universe.
But it’s not just creation, it’s also you and me. We don’t work right either. Children are born with horrible defects, we get cancer or Alzheimer’s or AIDS or some other wasting disease. If you live long enough, you’ll have a stroke or a heart attack or grow senile and end up in a nursing home. That’s ahead for all of us, and there is no escape for any of us. Unless you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and get shot at a freeway rest stop in Florida–or on the streets of Chicago.
Verse 21 speaks of the “bondage to decay.” Every Thursday morning two trucks come by my house. One picks up the newspaper and glass bottles for recycling; the other picks up our garbage. The trucks come every Thursday. Why? Because the flow of garbage never ceases. The more we make, the more we spend. The more we spend, the more we use. The more we use, the more we waste. The more we waste, the more garbage we produce. If you doubt that, just let the garbage truck drivers go on strike for a week or two. Just see how fast the mountains of garbage pile up all around you. We live in a decaying, frustrating world.
Open the newspaper in the last 10 years and you read about the Mississippi River flooding. You read about storms, tornadoes, famines and earthquakes. You read about children that are being shot almost everyday. You read about famine and starvation in Haiti and Somalia and Bosnia. You open the newspaper today and you see where the leaks from the damaged reacters in Japan have created havoc.
Something has gone wrong with the world. This is not the world as God meant it to be. This is a world full of pain, suffering and death. This is the world as it has been messed up and knocked out of kilter by the entrance of sin.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the most powerful man in the world. It doesn’t matter if you are President of the United States. If you live long enough, you will know pain. You will know heartache. If you live long enough, you will brush the tears away as death comes to your door. We live in a frustrating world. A world filled with pain and suffering and death.
The Christian viewpoint on suffering is to say, “Yes, it’s bad. But it’s not going to last forever. Yes, it’s terrible, but this isn’t the final story. This isn’t the last chapter. Yes, we suffer, but God has ordained that our suffering is temporary. Something better for us is on the way.” That’s the first proposition. Our suffering is temporary.
(1) Our Suffering is Temporary-Romans 8:19-22
“The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
We live in a frustrating world, don’t we? Nothing works the way it is supposed to. You buy something, it breaks, you fix it, it works for awhile, and then breaks again. Eventually it wears out completely and you have to replace it. That’s what Paul means when he says the creation was subjected to frustration. Nothing lasts forever, nothing works right. We live in a Murphy’s Law universe.
But it’s not just creation, it’s also you and me. We don’t work right either. Children are born with horrible defects, we get cancer or Alzheimer’s or AIDS or some other wasting disease. If you live long enough, you’ll have a stroke or a heart attack or grow senile and end up in a nursing home. That’s ahead for all of us, and there is no escape for any of us. Unless you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and get shot at a freeway rest stop in Florida–or on the streets of Chicago.
Verse 21 speaks of the “bondage to decay.” Every Thursday morning two trucks come by my house. One picks up the newspaper and glass bottles for recycling; the other picks up our garbage. The trucks come every Thursday. Why? Because the flow of garbage never ceases. The more we make, the more we spend. The more we spend, the more we use. The more we use, the more we waste. The more we waste, the more garbage we produce. If you doubt that, just let the garbage truck drivers go on strike for a week or two. Just see how fast the mountains of garbage pile up all around you. We live in a decaying, frustrating world.
Open the newspaper in the last 10 years and you read about the Mississippi River flooding. You read about storms, tornadoes, famines and earthquakes. You read about children that are being shot almost everyday. You read about famine and starvation in Haiti and Somalia and Bosnia. You open the newspaper today and you see where the leaks from the damaged reacters in Japan have created havoc.
Something has gone wrong with the world. This is not the world as God meant it to be. This is a world full of pain, suffering and death. This is the world as it has been messed up and knocked out of kilter by the entrance of sin.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the most powerful man in the world. It doesn’t matter if you are President of the United States. If you live long enough, you will know pain. You will know heartache. If you live long enough, you will brush the tears away as death comes to your door. We live in a frustrating world. A world filled with pain and suffering and death.
The Christian viewpoint on suffering is to say, “Yes, it’s bad. But it’s not going to last forever. Yes, it’s terrible, but this isn’t the final story. This isn’t the last chapter. Yes, we suffer, but God has ordained that our suffering is temporary. Something better for us is on the way.” That’s the first proposition. Our suffering is temporary.
Monday, March 14, 2011
When Bad Things Happen To Good People (Part 1)
In recent days we have seen the devastation that has taken place in Japan and are moved by the images with compassion on the losses suffered there. We have expereienced so much tragedy in the US within the past 10 years it's easy for us to understand what the Japanese people are going through.
I also received word that a precious child (4yearsold I dedicated to the Lord is facing brain surgery and another young man (4 years old) that I've been praying for with cancer has just a few more weeks to live. My heart is broken this morning over these two.
We ask God many times simply "Why?" when we see the trials, tribulations, and troubles so many are facing today and wonder where God is. That leads me to the creation of my blog for today and most of this week on "Why Bad Things Happen To Good People">
First, let me say there are four ways that most people use to cope when they’re facing suffering and difficulty.
A. Denial.
This is where most of us begin in dealing with suffering. It’s the John Wayne mentality. Grit your teeth, smile even when you’re hurting, never let them see you sweat. When someone is in denial, they won’t admit the truth even when they know you know the truth. You’ll say, “How are you doing?” They’ll say, “Great! I’m doing great!” You know they’re not telling the truth. We’re all like that occasionally. There’s something in all of us that makes us pretend that everything is going OK even when it’s not. We pretend the problem is not there or we pretend that it’s not as bad as it really is.
B. Getting angry.
Sometimes we react to difficulty by getting bitter, by getting recriminatory, and sometimes by shaking our fists at God. When you don’t deal with your anger constructively, it affects every relationship in life–including your relationship with God. It is impossible to go through life angry at others and maintain a warm and positive relationship with God. You can’t hate your neighbor and love God at the same time. Some believers live that way for years–and then they wonder why God seems so distant and their prayers so empty and their Christian experience so lifeless. If that describes you, please take a good look inside, because you will never get better until you deal with the anger within.
C. Blaming others.
This is a very popular option. We all use it sooner or later. Not long ago I met a man who went through a bitter, bloody, difficult divorce. He told me in all seriousness, “My divorce cost me one million dollars.” He was not exaggerating. I said to him, “Whose fault was it?” “Hers!” he said–and he meant it! He went on to say, “I taught Sunday School, I studied the Bible, I went to church, so when our marriage broke up, it was basically her fault.” I thought to myself, “A million dollars and he still hasn’t figured it out.”
D. Accept it and learn from it.
Our final option regarding suffering is to accept it and to learn from it. You can deny it, you can get angry, you can blame someone else, or you can accept what happens to you and begin to learn from it. Of those four ways, only the last one is a truly Christian way of dealing with the difficulties of life. When trouble comes, you really only have two choices. Either you can become a victim or you can become a student. How much better it is to be a student than a victim. Being a student means asking yourself, “What have I learned from this? What is God trying to say to me? How can I grow from this painful experience?”
Having said that, I have to admit that there are many questions I can’t answer about why bad things happen to God’s people. Sometimes the reasons are obvious; more often they are obscure. If I had all the time in the world, I still couldn’t answer all the questions about suffering because some of them simply defy any human explanation. However, what I do want to do is call your attention to one of the central passages in the New Testament on the issue of the believer and his suffering. The New Testament contains a number of helpful passages on this subject, but this one is one of the most important. We find in our text a liberating perspective. It will lift you up if you are in the throes of despair. All of us need to learn what God is saying in this passage of Scripture–Romans 8:18-27.
The theme of the passage is given to us in verse 18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Underline the word “sufferings” and the word “glory.” Paul invites us to make a comparison of those two things. Most of us see only our sufferings. We’re acutely aware of the bad things that happen to us. As I said, we all have a story. All of us know what difficulty is all about. But there is a another side–the glory side. There are sufferings and then there is glory.
If you could put all the difficulties of your life on one side of the scale, and the glory that will someday be revealed to you on the other side of the scale, the glory would be so much heavier than your present sufferings that they would be blown away like a feather. The sufferings of this life, although they are terrible, are not even worth comparing with the greatness of the glory that will be revealed to us. That is a revolutionary perspective on life. If you ever let that thought grip you–that what God has for you is incomparably greater than what you are going through right now–it will revolutionize the way you look at your problems.
(Part 2 tomorrow)
I also received word that a precious child (4yearsold I dedicated to the Lord is facing brain surgery and another young man (4 years old) that I've been praying for with cancer has just a few more weeks to live. My heart is broken this morning over these two.
We ask God many times simply "Why?" when we see the trials, tribulations, and troubles so many are facing today and wonder where God is. That leads me to the creation of my blog for today and most of this week on "Why Bad Things Happen To Good People">
First, let me say there are four ways that most people use to cope when they’re facing suffering and difficulty.
A. Denial.
This is where most of us begin in dealing with suffering. It’s the John Wayne mentality. Grit your teeth, smile even when you’re hurting, never let them see you sweat. When someone is in denial, they won’t admit the truth even when they know you know the truth. You’ll say, “How are you doing?” They’ll say, “Great! I’m doing great!” You know they’re not telling the truth. We’re all like that occasionally. There’s something in all of us that makes us pretend that everything is going OK even when it’s not. We pretend the problem is not there or we pretend that it’s not as bad as it really is.
B. Getting angry.
Sometimes we react to difficulty by getting bitter, by getting recriminatory, and sometimes by shaking our fists at God. When you don’t deal with your anger constructively, it affects every relationship in life–including your relationship with God. It is impossible to go through life angry at others and maintain a warm and positive relationship with God. You can’t hate your neighbor and love God at the same time. Some believers live that way for years–and then they wonder why God seems so distant and their prayers so empty and their Christian experience so lifeless. If that describes you, please take a good look inside, because you will never get better until you deal with the anger within.
C. Blaming others.
This is a very popular option. We all use it sooner or later. Not long ago I met a man who went through a bitter, bloody, difficult divorce. He told me in all seriousness, “My divorce cost me one million dollars.” He was not exaggerating. I said to him, “Whose fault was it?” “Hers!” he said–and he meant it! He went on to say, “I taught Sunday School, I studied the Bible, I went to church, so when our marriage broke up, it was basically her fault.” I thought to myself, “A million dollars and he still hasn’t figured it out.”
D. Accept it and learn from it.
Our final option regarding suffering is to accept it and to learn from it. You can deny it, you can get angry, you can blame someone else, or you can accept what happens to you and begin to learn from it. Of those four ways, only the last one is a truly Christian way of dealing with the difficulties of life. When trouble comes, you really only have two choices. Either you can become a victim or you can become a student. How much better it is to be a student than a victim. Being a student means asking yourself, “What have I learned from this? What is God trying to say to me? How can I grow from this painful experience?”
Having said that, I have to admit that there are many questions I can’t answer about why bad things happen to God’s people. Sometimes the reasons are obvious; more often they are obscure. If I had all the time in the world, I still couldn’t answer all the questions about suffering because some of them simply defy any human explanation. However, what I do want to do is call your attention to one of the central passages in the New Testament on the issue of the believer and his suffering. The New Testament contains a number of helpful passages on this subject, but this one is one of the most important. We find in our text a liberating perspective. It will lift you up if you are in the throes of despair. All of us need to learn what God is saying in this passage of Scripture–Romans 8:18-27.
The theme of the passage is given to us in verse 18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Underline the word “sufferings” and the word “glory.” Paul invites us to make a comparison of those two things. Most of us see only our sufferings. We’re acutely aware of the bad things that happen to us. As I said, we all have a story. All of us know what difficulty is all about. But there is a another side–the glory side. There are sufferings and then there is glory.
If you could put all the difficulties of your life on one side of the scale, and the glory that will someday be revealed to you on the other side of the scale, the glory would be so much heavier than your present sufferings that they would be blown away like a feather. The sufferings of this life, although they are terrible, are not even worth comparing with the greatness of the glory that will be revealed to us. That is a revolutionary perspective on life. If you ever let that thought grip you–that what God has for you is incomparably greater than what you are going through right now–it will revolutionize the way you look at your problems.
(Part 2 tomorrow)
Saturday, March 12, 2011
What Does A Pastor Do?
I have been on the road this week back and forth to hospitals, visiting, in meetings, trying to get ready for services, and getting vehicles worked on. Whew! When I hear people say that the only thing the preacher does is preach on Sunday I wish they would go with me sometimes.
A couple weeks ago, I heard a beautifully succinct summation of pastoring. I was worshiping with a congregation made up mostly of twenty-somethings who had not been raised in church. As the service began, the pastor introduced himself and his calling.
"My name is Tom," he said. "I'm a pastor here. It's my job to pray for you, whether you're a Christian or not, and to talk with you about Jesus, whether you're a Christian or not. That's what I do."
It's just that simple, and it's just that complicated. Because talking about Jesus leads us into all aspects of life. And when we pray for people, the deeper, unresolved parts of their lives inevitably surface. It has always been this way.
Around A.D. 400, famous North African bishop Augustine described a pastor's job: "Disturbers are to be rebuked, the low-spirited to be encouraged, the infirm to be supported, objectors confuted, the treacherous guarded against, the unskilled taught, the lazy aroused, the contentious restrained, the haughty repressed, litigants pacified, the poor relieved, the oppressed liberated, the good approved, the evil borne with, and all are to be loved."
How's that for a job description!
In fact, a vice president of human resources for Motorola once told me, "Pastors have more transferable skills than they realize." Especially supervising volunteers. "If you can describe your experience working with volunteers, you'd be surprised how quickly that gets the attention of [hiring] managers."
So, the next time someone asks you what you do, just give them the ABC's of the pastor's task. A pastor is …
ambassador, advocate, administrator,
baptizer, building usage consultant,
confidante, confronter, community builder,
discussion leader,
encourager, emotional baggage handler,
funeral companion,
grace giver, grounds inspector,
historian,
interpreter,
justice seeker,
knowledge dispenser,
latent gift discoverer,
mediator, missionary,
nurturer,
organizer, opportunity spotter,
public speaker, problem solver,
questioner, quarterback,
reviewer, Robert's Ruler,
spokesperson, spiritual director,
teacher, trainer,
unifier, utility player,
volunteer coordinator, vision caster,
wedding ceremony presider,
X-traordinary ingenuity with limited resources (like figuring out a way to use the letter X),
youth advocate, yule celebrator,
zeal stoker, zoo keeper (okay, so it just seems that way).
baptizer, building usage consultant,
confidante, confronter, community builder,
discussion leader,
encourager, emotional baggage handler,
funeral companion,
grace giver, grounds inspector,
historian,
interpreter,
justice seeker,
knowledge dispenser,
latent gift discoverer,
mediator, missionary,
nurturer,
organizer, opportunity spotter,
public speaker, problem solver,
questioner, quarterback,
reviewer, Robert's Ruler,
spokesperson, spiritual director,
teacher, trainer,
unifier, utility player,
volunteer coordinator, vision caster,
wedding ceremony presider,
X-traordinary ingenuity with limited resources (like figuring out a way to use the letter X),
youth advocate, yule celebrator,
zeal stoker, zoo keeper (okay, so it just seems that way).
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