The Deep Love of Jesus

Two guys were walking through the woods and came across this big deep, hole. "Wow...that looks deep."

"Sure does... toss a few pebbles in there and see how deep it is."

They picked up a few pebbles and threw them in ... no noise.

"Man! That is REALLY deep... here.. throw one of these great big rocks down there. Those should make a noise."

They picked up a couple football-sized rocks and tossed them into the hole and waited... and waited. Nothing.

They looked at each other in amazement. One got a determined look on his face and said, “Hey, over here in the weeds, there's a railroad tie. Help me carry it over there. When we toss THAT sucker in, it's GOTTA make some noise." The two dragged the heavy tie over to the hole and heaved it in. Not a sound came from the hole.

Suddenly, out of the nearby woods, a goat appeared, running like the wind. It rushed toward the two men, then right past them, running as fast as it's legs would carry it. Suddenly it jumped in the air and into the hole. The two men were astonished with what they had just seen.
Then, out of the woods came a farmer who spotted the men and ambled over. "Hey, have you two guys seen my goat out here?"

"You bet we did! Craziest thing I’ve ever seen. It came running like crazy and just jumped into this hole!"

"Nah", says the farmer, "That couldn't have been MY goat. My goat was chained to a railroad tie."

As deep as that hole was, there is something deeper. That something is the love of Christ for us. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3 these words about his prayer for them, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Could we really have any doubt that Jesus loves us? Doesn’t his death on the cross for us shout “I love you!” louder than any shout you’ve ever heard? His tremendous love motivates us, or it should motivate us, to obey him from the heart! His tremendous love reassures us, or should reassure us, that he’ll do anything for us that will bring salvation to our souls. Love him back and obey him. Trust him in his love to work the circumstances in your life out for your eternal good. That's Life at Work!

Mountain of Reverence

You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned." The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear." But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly… (Hebrews 12:18-22).

Mountains play important roles in our background as people of God. One of those mountains the one described in Exodus 19:10-20. It is the mountains specifically written about in the Hebrews 12 passage. It is Mount Sinai. I don’t know if you’ve ever read that passage, but it is truly majestic. There are strict instructions given to the Israelites about contact with the mountain. You touch it, you die, basically. Then, just as Moses had said, on the third day after the instructions were given, thunder, lightening, and thick clouds came on the mountain and a loud trumpet sound came from it. Everyone was trembling at the sight.

While the mountain at which we assemble is spiritual. The scene of this mountain teaches us an important lesson. We assemble at the Mountain of Reverence. We must always be conscious of the majesty of God. David wrote in, “Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy” (Psalm 99:9).

In Touch and Live, George Vandeman wrote: "A young stranger to the Alps was making his first climb, accompanied by two stalwart guides. It was a steep, hazardous ascent. But he felt secure with one guide ahead and one following. For hours they climbed. And now, breathless, they reached for those rocks protruding through the snow above them - the summit. The guide ahead wished to let the stranger have the first glorious view of heaven and earth, and moved aside to let him go first. Forgetting the gales that would blow across those summit rocks, the young man leaped to his feet. But the chief guide dragged him down. 'On your knees, sir!' he shouted. 'You are never safe here except on your knees.'”

Come to the living God. Come to the joyful assembly. Come to the spiritual mountain. That’s Life at Work!

More Transforming Worship

You are the strength that keeps me walking.
You are the hope that keeps me trusting.
You are the light to my soul.
You are my purpose...you're everything.

How can I stand here with you and not be moved by you?
Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?
“Everything” sung by LifeHouse

The assembly of Christians is critical for our exposure to the strength of the God, the truth regarding our hope in God, the light of God, and our purpose in God. When our songs, our Supper, our attention to the Word, our prayers, and our sacrificial offering are designed to direct our hearts, minds, and bodies to God Almighty, how could we not be moved by him?

“Viewing assembly as a means of grace means that God is at work through this event to transform us into his image. Encountering God transforms us. His holy presence sanctifies, encourages, and empowers us” (Hicks, Melton and Valentine in A Gathered People).

The words we say and hear, the memories and visions of the future, the bread and drink that demonstrate our fellowship, the participation in worship and encouragement are not merely sections of a one hour exercise that we leave behind like we are walking away from a gym. Our participation in the assembly of the saints is supposed to transform us. It will only transform us, however, if we participate with the goal of transformation in mind. We are not led into worship, we enter into worship. Our assembly is not a gathering in which we are passive observers who might be dragged into participation if the show is particularly good. From the first reading to the last prayer we engage because we know that our engagement will change our lives and we can then change our world. That’s Life at Work!

A Recent Post on Another Site about Current Events

I make the case for a cappella music in the assembly like Everett Ferguson makes it. He examines the NT passages, considers the life of the early church, and considers any theological significance to the practice.

The New Testament delivers and reflects apostolic teaching, and playing is not mentioned. For 600 years instruments were not used. Jesus alwasy led us to the heart of the matter and perhaps the theological significance of apostolic teaching reflected in the epistles is the heart involvement in singing.

I make this case. And I believe it. I believe and teach that instrumental music in the worship assembly is outside of God's will.

For many people, the case for a cappella music is strong and convincing. I am among them. Many of these people I have found have a heart for God, a great desire to please him, and their lives reflect their commitment to godliness.

For many people, the case for a cappella music is weak and unconvincing. Many of these people I have found have a heart for God, a great desire to please him, and their lives reflect their commitment to godliness.

Those who contend so vigorously against the case for a cappella music would do well to admit that those of us who believe it are not stupid, we are not all legalists, and we don't come to our conclusions without evidence.

Those who contend so vigorously for the case of a cappella music would do well to admit that simply on the basis of godly people who don't believe the argument, the case is not as cut and dried for some as it is for others. It is not like the works of the flesh that are obvious. Instrumentalists are not stupid, self-centered, nor
do they draw their conclusions without evidence.

At the end of the day, many of us are going to believe just as we believed at the beginning. Some of us are going to have been convinced to change our minds in both directions. And we are going to have to deal with the bigger question of what do we do with each other; and the answer is going to refelct what Jesus is going to do with both of us.

Father, please deal mericfully with me. I want to do right, but I'm sure I've got some stuff wrong. Father, please help me deal mercifully with other children of yours who disagree with me.

In Jesus Name,
Amen

He is Perfect!

Perfect! He is perfect!

Some girls have said those words having gone out with the young man they have become convinced is THE MAN for them. I remember saying those words as I looked at the face of my newborn son. The words were slightly changed for obvious reasons as I gazed at my daughter. She’s perfect!

In a much grander way, Jesus is perfect. He is perfect! That’s important to say because not everyone believes it. According to some surveys by George Barna who does a lot of religious surveys, “Most people have traditional views about Jesus Christ: His historicity, virgin birth, humanity and deity, resurrection from the dead, etc. Many adults, however, remain uncertain about the perfect (i.e., sinless) nature of Christ, and have little knowledge regarding the prophecies preceding his life and death” (George Barna in The Index of Leading Spiritual Indicators).

Isaiah told his listeners years before Jesus that when the savior came he would take up our infirmities, carry our sorrows, be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:4). Jesus did all that; and he could because he had no transgressions nor iniquities of his own. He was innocent – totally, completely guiltless – and he died for all of us who are totally, completely guilty. Perfect! He is perfect! That’s Life at Work!

Back to the Heart of Worship: Transforming Worship

Spiritual transformation is the change in a person from the old way of living in sin to the new person living in the ways of the Spirit. Paul wrote about the Christian metamorphosis resulting from the renewed mind, the mind dedication to offering living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). As we are transformed, we no longer conform to the ways of the world.

Can this transformation be measured? In other words, is there a way that I can examine myself so that I can be sure that the transformation that Christ wants for my life is being accomplished? Yes, there is. One way is by considering carefully if these seven elements are present and growing in my walk in the Spirit: (1) Am I worshipping God intimately and passionately? (2) Am I engaging in spiritual friendships with other believers? (3) Am I pursuing faith in the context of family? (4) Am I embracing intentional forms of spiritual growth? (5) Am I serving others? (6) Am I investing time and resources in spiritual pursuits? (7) Am I having faith-based conversations with outsiders?

Those seven biblical points of self-examination are the seven elements on which the Barna Group focuses as they examine the passions that their research indicates that people moving from the old person to the new person in Christ possess (UnChristian by David Kinnaman). I’m going to be asking myself those questions? Will you do that, too? That’s Life at Work!

We're a Bit Busy

My heart aches this week as I watch brothers in my own family fight with each other. The worship war spilled out into the street for everyone to see. An issue that few understand was taken to the world. The world watches and they report. What they say is not, “Those people sure know their Bibles.” They sure don’t say, “They must be followers of Jesus. Just look at their love for each other.” What they say is that the Church of Christ is fighting. Not fighting poverty. Not fighting addiction. Not fighting abuse. Not fighting biblical illiteracy. Not fighting Satan. The Church of Christ is fighting itself.

That’s a lose-lose-lose deal. Both sides in the fight lose. And the world that we are trying to influence for good and for God; the world that is supposed to see the light of Christ in us loses, too. The lost see in us the same kind of fight that they see in their homes, their hangouts, their alleys, their workplaces, their parks and their playgrounds. They have fights all around them all the time. Why come to Christ to find another?

Other churches don’t always do what we believe they ought to do in the way we believe they ought to do it. Still other churches who don’t like what other churches have done don’t always respond in the way that we believe they ought to respond. While all that has happened around us is very disheartening and tragic, this is a trustworthy saying: On our watch right here and now, there are orphans and widows who need care, families who need uniting, poor who need fed and warmed, addicts who need a hand, abused children who need protection, and unbelievers who need faith and hope. And we must serve them.

In our own local church family there are probably six hundred different reactions to the polarization occurring in the body of Christ in the metro – one for every person who assembles in our church home. I hope you’ll say with me that we are heartbroken over the fight, but God has a big job for us to do giving care, direction, food and warmth, a helping hand, protection, and hope to our communities – and we’re a bit busy. Definitely too busy to fight with our brothers. That’s Life at Work!

Trustworthy Things to be Stressed

As Paul closed out his letter to Titus, he seemed so concerned that the relationship that Christians had with other Christians and with the general population be healthy. The relationships would be healthy if Christians were subject to authorities, eager to do good, kind with their words, peaceable, considerate, and humble. He said that when we live that way we are accomplishing what is excellent and profitable for everyone. That means it’s good for you and good for me. That’s good!

The motivation Christians have for treating everybody, including unbelievers in a good way, is that we used to be unbelievers. Saved people ought to do what is good for unsaved people because we used to be lost. But God saved us. Even then, that wasn’t because we did something great. He didn’t save us because of who we are. God saved us because of who his is. He is kind, loving, and merciful.

Since we have experienced the baptism of rebirth and since the Holy Spirit has been poured out on us for the sake of our renewal, justification, and sonship; let’s do all we can to open the doors for the same blessings to come to others.

Paul said this is trustworthy information, and he calls Christians to stress it among ourselves so that all of us can do those things that are excellent and profitable for everyone. That's Life at Work!

Everybody Ought to Read

What Virgil Fry wrote about grieving.

I still have both of my parents. I've never had to bury one of my children. My wife of 21 years is still right beside me.

I had two childhood friends to die. I grieved when my grandparents passed away. I've presided at the funerals of a lot of my friends and sat quietly in many more memorial services while others led me in grief. I cried uncontrollably when my best friend's wife was killed within the first year of their marriage. My best friends from an earlier hometown called us to come to them when their son, our son's best friend in that town, was killed in a car wreck. I've grieved a lot. You probably have, too.

Unless my loved ones grieve over my passing first, I've still a lot of grieving to do. Thanks, Virgil, for your transparency. Thank you for your ministry. Thank you, God, for the impact that Virgil and Caryl have had on us. Amen.

Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Jonathan Edwards

When God created Adam and Eve, he created them with bodies to move, minds to think, and hearts to feel. Your body, intellect, and emotion make up who you are as a person, and God wants all of you involved in life with him.

Having confirmed that the Colossians were risen with Christ Paul told them, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:1-2). This focus of emotion and their intellect on heavenly things would have an impact on the actions of the body. Specifically, sexual immorality, slander, and lying would be put to death.

A little later in that passage, Paul instructed the Colossians that their singing involving the body, should teach and admonish engaging the mind; all the while, expressing gratitude in the heart (Colossians 3:15-16). Paul told the Corinthians who seemed quite happy to engage the spirit as they spoke in languages that no one present understood, that they would do better for themselves and others if they would pray and sing (bodily functions) with both mind and spirit – intellect and emotion (1 Corinthians 14:13-17).

John Ortberg and Pam Howell wrote about Scarecrow Worship (worship without a brain) and Tin Man Worship (worship without a heart) in the article "Can You Engage Both Heart and Mind?" [Leadership (4-1-99)].

If we lean, as a group, toward one of these kinds of worship, it is toward the Tin Man Worship. We do lean. And, it’s important to note that we don’t lean toward a worship disengaged from emotion because we can demonstrate from scripture that it is supposed to be that way. We lean that way because of our church history. Those through whom we trace our spiritual background did what we do; but not all the way back to the first century. God has called us to engage the heart.

Jonathan Edwards wrote in his Religious Affections, “That religion which God requires, and will accept, does not consist in weak, dull, and lifeless wouldlings raising us but a little above a state of indifference.” Wouldlings is a word coined by Edwards to refer to weak drives to do those things which a Christian has said he “would” do. Weak inclinations are to be replaced with a fervent spirit. So he continued, “God, in his Word, greatly insists upon it that we be in good earnest, fervent in spirit, and our hearts vigorously engaged in religion: ‘Be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord’ (Romans 12:11).”

It’s time for us to create a better balance of worship. We have excelled in worship with mind and body. Let’s now excel in worship with mind, body, and spirit. That’s all of who you are! That’s Life at Work!

The Heart of Worship

Sunday morning I'm starting the series "Back to the Heart of Worship." I wrote this article for our bulletin as prep for that series and Sunday's sermon.

I'm coming back to the heart of worship,

And it's all about you;

It's all about you, Jesus.

I'm sorry, Lord for the thing I've made it.

It's all about you;

It's all about your, Jesus

(Michael W. Smith- "Heart of Worship")

    It's easy to see the loss of proper focus in the Israelites as they made idols for themselves at the foot of Sinai. The idol was their focus. It's easy to see the loss of focus in the people of Judah as they quit just long enough to offer their sacrifices at the temple. The temple was their focus.

    It's pretty easy to see the misplaced focus of the Corinthians, too. Some of them gathered early, without the rest, to eat the Lord's Supper. They ate to their fill, they drank to excess, and they despised the poor. Their focus was on their little group.

     Others focused on themselves. Worship was a talent show. It was a contest for bragging rights. It was a time for self-promotion, putting down the others, interruption when necessary, and disruption for the sake of being noticed. Their common Lord was insignificant. Greatest gifts – now that's a topic of interest.

    Graven images would be quickly noticed and punted around here.

    But for the rest of the misplaced focuses aforementioned, there is call for caution for us. There are a few of us who will steal, murder, commit adultery – or commit our "lesser" sins – throughout the week believing that our time in the building appeases our righteous God. That's not a perfect parallel to Judah's total miss of the heart worship, but it's close enough.

    I don't hear anybody among us arguing that their talent for singing is more important than another person's talent for publicly praying; but that doesn't mean that there are none of us who focus on ourselves or on our own little group of friends rather than focusing on the Spirit, the Lord, and God (1 Cor. 12:4-6). Those who give more can think less of those who give less; and vice versa. Those who have been around forever can believe that they are more important because of their tenure. Those with more public roles can believe that their work is more significant.

    Let's get back to the heart of worship. God wants his will for worship to become our will for worship. That's Life at Work!

The Pharisees Missed Jesus

The Pharisees missed Jesus. They were supposed to know the scriptures, and they should have seen how the scriptures pointed to Jesus. Yet, though there are exceptions like the Pharisee Nicodemus, the Pharisees as a whole let Jesus slip through their bloody hands. Paul wrote about taking hold of that for which Jesus took hold of us (Phil 3:12). The Pharisees could have taken hold of Jesus in faith; instead, the signs and scripture that should have convinced them of his identity went right over their heads.

Why? Why would a group of religious leaders be so clueless about Jesus? I think the answer lies in the first encounters that they had with matters regarding Jesus. I say “matters regarding Jesus” because Jesus’ cousin, and more importantly, his forerunner John the Baptist, confronted the Pharisees (he called them poisonous snakes; Matt 3:7) with the need to repent. It would seem they didn’t appreciate the rebuke. And then, John pointed to Jesus as the one to follow. They were not likely to follow anyone recommended by John.

A subsequent encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees was in the vicinity of Matthew’s house. Jesus was there associating with tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees stood on such high moral ground that they couldn’t believe that Jesus was associating with these people of low moral fiber. “Evil companions…,” they thought.

Maybe there are a lot of us who are a lot like the Pharisees. I don’t deal with rebuke very well. I’m not one who retaliates with cross-rebuke; but some of you do. I have a tendency instead to think that if someone sees something wrong in me, something must be wrong with their eyesight. Others walk out of a room or out of life when they are confronted with wrongdoing. Furthermore, there those of us who have grown up believing that something was right or that something was wrong; and we have seen in the life of Jesus or read in his teaching that he believed just the opposite. Our values actually keep us from the life of greatest value. Jesus really is the Truth.

Don’t miss Jesus due to some Pharisee DNA. If you’ve been rebuked by Jesus, repent and live. If you see something in the life of Jesus that challenges your perception of truth, investigate with an open mind and heart to see the world though his eyes – the eyes of the “one and only who came from the Father full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Giving Gifts Like the Magi

It could have been as many as twenty-four months since Jesus had been born by the time the Magi arrived in Jerusalem to enquire about the birth of the King of the Jews. Jesus was likely at least six months old; yet, he was still in Bethlehem. King Herod had to ask “the peoples chief priests and teachers of the law” where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethlehem,” they told him; and they referred to the prophet Micah to prove their point and included in what they reported some of their own expectation regarding the Christ, that he would be a shepherd to the people. The fact that Matthew included their rendition, “a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel,” probably means that he agreed with their perception of the Christ.

As the Magi approached where Jesus was, they overflowed with joy. As they gazed on him, they bowed and worshipped. As they considered who he was, they opened their treasures and gave him gifts.

Much has happened since that night of rejoicing and gift giving. Jesus grew up and he submitted to God’s will that he should die on the cross. He resurrected through the Spirit of Holiness and was declared with power to be the Son of God. He received the glory that he had before his incarnation, and now he sits at the right hand of God waiting until he comes again in glory.

Our gifts are offered to Jesus in his glory. There are many gifts that we offer, but like the Magi, we have treasure that we call money. For the benefit of the kingdom and of people we open our treasures and offer gifts to Jesus knowing that when we’ve done if for people, we have done it for him. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, asking them to be motivated by the generous spirit of others to complete an intent to give that was yet uncompleted.

As we consider giving for the year 2008, some questions from Matthew 2 and 2 Corinthians 8 come to mind. Answer these questions for yourself:

1. Does It Reflect Belonging to the Lord or Fearing for Our Own Little Kingdom?
2. Does It Reflect the Gifts We’ve Received?
3. Does It Reflect the Love We Have?
4. If It Is Not As Much As We Would Like To Give, It Is It Growing Toward Our Desire?

That’s Life at Work!

Did the Inn Keeper Ever Know?

I wonder if the inn keeper ever knew who was in his stable. He was probably too busy to notice the commotion that came with the arrival of the shepherds. Besides that, they were shepherds – whose going to take notice on a busy night of shepherds in a stable?

Many of us don’t even take time to read something like this at a time when we can digest it. You may be reading this during a bible class or during the song service, communion, or sermon. Reading it that way, might cause us to miss something significant – after all great things happen in bible class and during our assemblies. Reading it while other in setting where concentration is low might cause you to miss something significant in this article.

“Nothing important is happening right now.” Oh, really? I wonder if the inn keeper ever had a break in the census rush, and thought “Nothing important is happening right now.” We don’t know about the important things, big and small; but we are entangled with the everyday, mundane events.

The Son of God was in the womb of Mary, and Mary’s husband Joseph was knocking on this inn keeper’s door. Nothing in the stories of the birth of Jesus give any indication that Mary and Joseph told anyone the Holy Spirit story to try to get some room in the inn. Yet, don’t you know, that if the inn keeper had just taken a moment to look up from his ledge, he would have seen what the shepherds saw; and he would have done what the shepherds did.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen… (Luke 2:20).

The Son of God was born in his stable, and we don’t even know his name. I wonder if he ever knew the name of Jesus.

Don’t let the everyday things keep you from seeing or hearing or reading something that is out of the ordinary and out-of-this-world important! That’s Life at Work!

We've Been Elfed

It's time I gave this blog a little life. Enjoy the Elfing that we were introduced to by Jason and Phyllis and Matt and Mel.

It’s been a group thing from the beginning (Acts 2:44-47). Since the church began, mutual encouragement at Sunday gatherings have been a staple. Relationships designed for accountability, reciprocal teaching, and shared ministry are all a part of God’s eternal plan for his group of saved people – the church. Surveys since the 1960s, including a recent one co-sponsored by Leadership Journal (Fall 2007), have revealed that only 19% of people who identify themselves as Christians believe that participation with a local church is important to their Christian walk.

The Hebrews were walking out on the assembly, so they were commanded, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). The reasons for rejecting the communal concept of Christianity are many, but none are good enough. The church in its time of mission, the era in which we now live, will not be perfect – after all, I’m in it. Yet, it is God’s plan – for you and me.

The assembly is not the entirety of your Christian walk, however. There are many who identify themselves as Christians whose Monday walk is quite different from their Sunday confession. Follow Jesus everyday! That’s Life at Work!

I Long for a World

I long for a world in which babies are born into homes where they have resources and love for a good life; where peace is in great supply; where justice prevails; where mercy is bountiful; where God’s creation is respected; where violence is abhorred; where war is unnecessary; where the marriage bed is honored; where others come first; where marriages last a lifetime; where virtue abounds; where people are hungry for God’s word; where forgiveness is quick; where hypocrisy is missing; where joy is in every heart; where Jesus reigns in every life; where God is glorified.

It begins with my community.
It begins with my church.
It begins with my family.
It begins with me…and you!

That’s Life at Work.

What would you add to my list?

Top Ten Reasons to NOT Follow Jesus from Matthew

10. He is too demanding (19:16-30).
9. He embarrasses the self-righteous when they are wrong (15:1-12).
8. He’s small town and too familiar (13:53-58).
7. He’s on the demon’s team (12:22-37).
6. He heals people on Saturday (12:1-14).
5. He hangs around all those sick people (9:9-13).
4. He kills pigs and threatens our livelihood (8:28-34).
3. I’ve got other important things to do (8:21-22).
2. I like my comfort (8:18-20).
1. I think he wants my throne (2:1-12).

They followed him across the lake, but would they continue in discomfort and would they make following him their first priority. I don’t necessarily think about a choice regarding following Jesus in Matthew until the challenge to count the cost and prioritize the responsibilities of Matthew 8:18-22. Earlier in the Matthew account, Matthew himself and the magi seem really eager and Herod is completely resistant. No drama in their choices, at least as Matthew tells it. The teacher/disciple and the other disciple in this discipleship story of Matthew are willing to consider the plunge, but they only have one foot in the water. Now there is drama. Jesus sees the reservation in one; the other admits his reservation without recognizing that it is a problem.

We know his teachings. The source of happiness isn’t what we thought. Real followers have a real impact. Jesus interprets and lives the law perfectly. Murder, adultery, divorce, and promises have more to do with the heart than we thought. Turn the other cheek and love your enemies. Act in a way to gratify God, not impress people. Treasures in heaven are better. Worrying is for pagans. Don’t give pearls to pigs; save your best judgments for those who will appreciate you. God is a great giver and we should be great givers, too.

We know his miracles. He cleansed lepers, healed servants from a distance, and touched the feverish so that they could immediately serve.

We also face the same choice as these people in Matthew 8. The choice isn’t simply, “Will you follow Jesus?” The question is “Will you make following him your first priority and will you keep following regardless of the cost?”

Kenneth Grider said that many Christians follow close enough and long enough to make them decent, but not enough to make them dynamic. Will you follow Jesus first and forever? Will you let him impact you for the dynamic – the abundant – life? That’s Life at Work!

Richard Schwieterman tells a story about doing some remodeling on his house. He was fixing an attic fan. He said that as he lifted himself us from the ladder into the attic, he scratched his head on a crossbeam. As he crawled through the attic, he got several splinters in each hand. He actually cut one of his hands as he replaced a fan belt, then on the way down he slipped over the last two rungs and twisted his ankle. He says that when he limped into the kitchen where his wife was cooking, she took a good look at him and asked, “Are those your good pants?”

David and Teresa Ferguson try to help us get the point about paying attention when they write in Devotions for Couples that a wife might say, “I’ve had a really rough day, especially when I went to the shopping mall;” to which too many husbands will respond with a compassionate, “You went to the mall? Did you get that shirt like I asked you?”

Husbands and wives who respond in thoughtless ways like these are not usually, in my experience, rude; they are, well, just thoughtless. The natural tendency of people is to think about themselves. Because it is the natural tendency to think about your own interests first, it takes thought to consider others first.

The sad thing, in this regard, about the state of the American family is that we use our homes as safehomes in which we let our guards down. What I mean is, we let our guards down to the point that we quit practicing the command of Jesus through the Apostle Paul to consider others better than ourselves and to look to the interests of others in addition to our own interests (Phil 2:3-4). We come home from school, work, or play where we have humbly been courteous and considerate; and become discourteous and inconsiderate to our spouses, our parents and our children. And it isn’t because we are choosing to be rude. It is because we quit choosing what to do and we let the natural tendency take over.

So we have to change our minds. I mean literally change our minds. In order for me to be considerate first in my home and then outside my home, I must have the mind of Christ. That’s right. I need a renewing of my mind, so that I begin to think like Jesus all the time, everywhere.

How can you develop the mind of Christ? First, expose yourself often to Jesus in the gospels? Second, be deliberate as you make every effort to add the ways of Jesus to the faith with which you began your Christian walk. Third, pray for the mind of Christ.

The more you develop the mind of Christ, the less thoughtless you will be to your family and to everyone else. That’s Life at Work!

God Shaped Hole

When Jesus found someone hungry, he gave them food. When he found them sick, he gave them health. When people were cast out by the elite, he gave them security. When people mourned, he gave them comfort. Jesus gave, and gives all these things, but Jesus is not grocery store God, hospital God, security blanket God, or an ease-my-emotional-pain God. God is much bigger than any of those and bigger than all those put together.

When people face issues of life, often they become aware of their need for God. I’ve heard people say, “I’ve got a God-shaped hole in my heart.” The truth usually is that there is a hole in the heart, something is missing, but it is actually the shape of something God can help with; not actually shaped like God. As a church, which is the body of Christ – meaning that we do his work in this world – we face a dilemma when we want to present Christ as someone who cares about your hunger, your health, your security, and your tears. The dilemma is expressed by N. T. Wright in an interview with Tim Stafford for Christianity Today magazine (Jan 2007). “… If you simply address the God-shaped blank that people think they’ve got, the God you end up with is the God shaped by the blank.”

As a church, like Jesus, we are dying to help you! The greatest help we can be, though, is to show you all of who God is, not just what God can do. If you’ll let him in – and he is knocking – you’ll discover that he is much, much bigger than any hole in your heart can hold! That’s Life at Work!

Casting Crowns: LifeSong

Empty hands held high,

Such small sacrifice

If not joined with my life

I sing in vain tonight.

May the words I say

And the things I do

Make my lifesong sing

Bring a smile to You!

Let my lifesong sing to You,

Let my lifesong sing to You

I want to sign Your name to the end of this day

Knowing that my heart was true

Let my lifesong sing to You.

Lord I give my life,

A living sacrifice

To reach a world in need,

To be Your hands and feet.

So may the words I say

And the things I do

Make my lifesong sing

Bring a smile to You

Crowns: LifeSong

My life is a song that I sing to God. My song includes my words, but it is not the sum of my words. If my words are not a reflection of my life, my song of words is vain. If I sing “Take my life and let it be,” yet my day is all about me and not about God, my song of words is meaningless. If my song of words is “If I have wounded any soul today,” yet I am unapologetic and cold, I song is useless. If I sing with my mouth, “I love thy kingdom, Lord,” while I harshly judge my fellow disciples, my song does not bring a smile to God.

The writer to the Hebrews wrote, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased (Heb 13:15-16).

We can bring a smile to the face of God! Does that interest you? We can please him. Is that the desire of your heart? Then sing songs and live a life that proves that what you sing is a true expression of your heart.

Understanding "This Is God's Word to Me"

I believe it is important as we approach a sermon that we understand that the Word upon which that sermon is based is God’s Word to us. When Jesus spoke, he wasn’t offering commentary like one of the scribes; his message carries the authority of heaven. His words will judge us in the last day (John 12:47).

To stress the origin and significance of a section, Paul would sometimes write, “I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you” (1 Cor 11:23; 15:3). The Corinthians failed to recognize a message of authority when they heard it; we do that too, sometimes. While what I say in commentary on a passage is just commentary, the scripture we read is “God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17).

I talk to people all the time about scripture and their approach to it. Many in our community and in our church understand the concept of inspiration and believe the Bible is from God; yet a great number of us don’t respond to the Bible as if it is the message to which we are accountable. Lots of people say the Bible is God’s word and then live like it’s not. Plenty of people will walk out of the auditorium, say something about the truth of the message I have preached, and leave without a bit of change. Including me. That’s why I have begun to engage God’s assembly in sermon time with the recitation of “This is God’s Word to Me.”

Recitations are nothing new to God’s people. Worship in the Old and New Testament era has encourage congregational engagement through antiphony (responsive alteration between two groups – often as part of song) and litany (recitations). Psalm 136 has been used for centuries as a leader among God’s people would read the first line of each verse, and the entire congregation would chant “for his love endures forever.” It is an engaging and powerful reminder of how God’s love is evident in creation and his daily care for his people. Do you think that our generation needs some reminders about how the food every creature receives is evidence of God’s enduring love? Seems to me, we take that for granted.

This kind of recitation is not a violation of passages about worship like 1 Corinthians 14:34 or 1 Timothy 2:11-12. Singing is a congregational activity in which everyone, male and female, participates – even when the song is a prayer put to music (i.e. “Father, Hear the Prayer we Offer”). Recitation of a Psalm or a common pledge is in the same category.

Reciting “This Is God’s Word to Me” is certainly not intended to make anyone uncomfortable, unless the discomfort is because of inattention to God’s authoritative word. Certainly, no one is required to participate in the recital. The intent is to raise awareness that the Bible we are studying reveals the authority of Jesus; and our approach to it must involve our love for the hope it makes known and our determination to be transformed! That’s Life at Work!

This Is God's Word to Me

In the past few months, I have initiated a recitation prior to my Sunday morning sermons regard the role of the Word in our lives. It is a litany that I wrote to move our assembly to good thinking as we approach the Word.

This Is God’s Word to Me
It Has the Power to Light My Path
To Judge My Heart
To Convict Me of My Sin
And the Power to Set Me Free

I Will Meditate On God’s Word to Me Day and Night
I Will Search for Its Meaning
I Will Desire the Knowledge It Provides
I Will Receive God’s Word to Me
And I Will Do What It Says

I Expect that My Life Will Be Changed
That Who I Was Before God’s Word, I Will Never Be Again
I Expect to Be Built Up by God’s Word Today
And by the Power of God’s Word I Will Receive the Inheritance of the Holy.

Foundation for Kingdom Explosion

Where do we begin? If we are going to do personal work like Jesus, if we are going to start telling people the good news, where do we start. Peter and Jesus offer a good idea. Start at home.

“When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him” (Matt 8:14-15).

You’ve heard me say that our homes are to be evangelistic centers. Let’s call our homes Foundations for Kingdom Explosion! If you and I were to use our homes as the entry points for people to whom we want to give the gift of the gospel, we would have no trouble knowing where to start.

First, as I challenged you a few weeks ago, put your home back in its place as the primary location for discipling your children. Let the church help, certainly, but the church’s role is secondary. Teach your children the good news in your own home.

Next, whoever is in your home on any kind of consistent basis is a great person with whom to begin revealing the gift of Jesus. Teenagers, you’ve got friends who play video games in front of your TV, swim in your pool, jump on your trampoline, crash on your couch, and drink your Dr. Peppers from your refrigerator. Let them open your gift from your hand. You received the gift of eternal life – regift it! Your friends will receive it better in your home!

The people in your home may be your relatives who live close enough to come over regularly. They may be your friends who you invite over for dessert and Bible Study – just the few of you. They may be people you met at church for the first time on a Sunday morning that you invited to your home for a small group study on Sunday night. They may be your golfing buddies or fellow card fanatics. Whoever they are, open your home and open your mouth about Jesus. Make your home your Foundation for Kingdom Explosion.

Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law without anyone asking. She immediately got up and served him. People appreciate it when you care about them enough to help them – it can mean more if you’ll offer before they even ask!

The Meaning of Freedom

“Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose…” (Janis Joplin in “Me and Bobby McGee”).

“And freedom, oh freedom well, that’s just some people talkin.’ Your prison is walking through this world all alone…” (Eagles in “Desperado”).

“Some say that freedom's the power to do what one pleases; you can live like the devil or hold on to Jesus…” (Kenny Chesney in “Freedom”).

We can appreciate the sentiment behind each of the ideas of freedom expressed in songs like those. I hope we can appreciate the concept of freedom expressed in scripture. Peter wrote, “They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity-for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning” (2 Peter 2:19-21).

You are a slave to whatever overcomes you; and if what overcomes you doesn’t bring life in the end, then you aren’t free. You can live your life nearly any way that you want, but if you end up in everlasting destruction, you haven’t been free. As a country, we can do nearly anything we want, but if our way doesn’t bring us life in the end, we aren’t free. We are slaves to whatever overcomes us and many are moving toward slavery to sin. Move toward Jesus in whom there is life eternal life! That is freedom! That’s Life at Work!

Better than Jesus?

Is there anything better than Jesus? Can any gift better than eternal life be offered by anybody? Maybe when these questions are asked point blank the answers are quickly shouted, "No!" But often the questions are not that pointed: and the answer is one made not with the mouth, but with actions. It seems that for many the answer to both questions is "Yes."

Some of you continue in sexual immorality. You know that your actions are not pleasing to God, yet you won't repent. With your actions you are saying, "This relationship is better than a relationship with Jesus." Some of you are so enamored by money that you'll do nearly anything to have more. You're unethical, if not a thief; you're a gambler; or maybe just plain covetous or stingy. What you say by your actions is, "The blessings of my possessions are greater to me than the gift from God."

There is surely some "cross bearing" for the Christian in this life, but we consider it all joy to suffer here, to do without here, to resist pleasures of the sinful ways here, if it means heaven later. Every day Jesus asks, "Will you pick up your cross?" (Luke 9:23); and everyday we answer "yes" or "no" by the choices we make from the heart. That’s Life at Work!

Gospel and Rescue: Care for the Nations

“Free At Last: Another One Down And 27 Million To Go. How Christians Are Becoming Modern Slavery’s Worst Nightmare.”

“Hope In The Heart Of Darkness: 3.9 Million Dead. 40,000 Raped. Christian Survival In Congo’s Killing Fields.”

“Red Light Rescue: The Business Of Saving Girls From A Life Of Prostitution.”

Those are the front cover stories in some of the most recent Christianity Today magazines. Some readers may initially scoff at the stories because of political influence and abuse, but the problems are real – and so are the people. And they have souls. Our compassion must be equally real!

The dispersed, the persecuted, the hungry, and the enslaved were on the mind of Paul and other disciples as they evangelized the world of their generation. Paul wrote to masters and slaves instructing them about godly treatment, and when he could, strongly encouraged masters to set their servants free (Colossians 3:22-4:1; Philemon 12-16). Slave trading, often involving kidnapping, was specifically condemned by Paul, and Timothy was charged to call his church out of such practice (1 Tim 1:10). When Agabus prophesied about the upcoming famine in the days of Claudius, the disciples were quick to offer their gift of help to their brothers living in Judea.

God is just, and we are to be concerned for those facing injustices, and especially where they cannot help themselves, Christians must step in. We cannot walk by on the other side of road. We cannot stand aside. It looks too much like we are holding coats and giving our approval.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers (Gal 6:9-10).

What can we do? We can support mission efforts that involve helping the dispersed, the persecuted, the hungry, and the enslaved. We can be more involved with the missions we already support, paying special attention to these hurting human beings. We can read to become more aware of the plight of others, and have our eyes open to the doors God will open for us to help! That’s Life at Work!

Consumerist or Religious Reading

Frederick Neidner, with some creative feeding from Paul J. Griffiths, wrote about the consumerist reader and religious reader of scripture. Which sounds more like you? The consumerist reading “makes us users, buyers and sellers of texts. Consumerist readers are interested primarily in moving quickly from one text to the next in search of things that will excite, titillate, entertain, empower and give them some advantage over others.”

“Religious readers, on the other hand, assume they have come into the presence of a text with inexhaustible depth. They read with reverence, humility, obedience and the presumption that difficulty in understanding reveals more about their limitations than the excellence or effectiveness of the text. Religious readers incorporate, internalize and memorize texts. They read slowly, hoping not to miss anything.” [“Forming Students Through the Bible,” The Christian Century, (April 18-25, 2001) pp. 16-20].

Since scripture is God’s communication with us, shouldn’t we read it hoping not to miss anything? Scripture has the power to light our paths, soften our hearts, convict our minds, and change our lives in the present and in the future. Don’t pass over it too quickly. Read slowly to incorporate, internalize and memorize. That’s Life at Work!

There Are No Friends Here

Lost Boys of Sudan follows the lives of young African refugees who start life fresh in America having been crushed by the civil war in Sudan. These young men, most of whom are under 18 years old, struggled to survive in Africa where they faced lions and local militia—and they continue to struggle in America where they face loneliness and learning an entirely new way of life.

The documentary focuses on a group of boys who are relocated by the U.S. government into an apartment in Houston. After job training, several of the boys head into the workforce, trying to become self-supporting.

In one scene, Peter Kon Dut goes out to lunch with two coworkers from his factory job. Peter talks openly with them about his struggles in America. Over the lunch, Peter unveils deep and piercing insights into American culture—which are all the more fresh since he's only lived in America for one month. Over his first-ever hamburger, Peter says, "I see different things. Everybody is busy. You can't get friends. Time is money—but in Africa, there is no 'time is money.' Everybody is busy here. How am I going to find friends here? I feel like going back and saying, ‘There are no friends here.’” (Edited summary of Bill White, Paramont, CA for Preaching Today)

Notice the similarity of these passages early in Acts:

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:44-47).

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. (Acts 4:32-34).

The church of Jerusalem made a concerted effort to live in unity and with a mutual concern. Though they would experience some problems later when the Hellenistic widows were being neglected, even then the problems were recognized and resolved in a wonderful fashion bringing about incredible results (Acts 6:1-7).

We should follow their example so that no one should ever come crushed by the world and say about their church experience, “I feel like going back and saying, ‘There are no friends here.”

The truth is, it happens. What will we do, what will you do, to ensure that no one will say that when they have been among us. That's Life at Work!

Gambling and Griefs

Paul wrote to Timothy, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs”
(1 Tim 6:10). Those of us in “people helping” roles see those who have “pierced themselves with many griefs” way too often. I have seen husbands who spend more time playing cards online than they do with their wives and children, and their marriages are destroyed. Far too many men and women have secretly gambled all their money away and have wrecked their lives and their faith. The National Council on Problem Giving (www.ncpgambling.org) offers self-diagnostic tools to get you thinking about your gambling habit. Here are a few of the questions:

· Have you often gambled longer than you had originally planned?
· Have you often gambled until your last dollar was gone?
· Have thoughts of gambling caused you to lose sleep?
· Have you used your income or savings to gamble while letting bills go unpaid?
· Have you made unsuccessful attempts to stop gambling?
· Have you gambled to get money to meet your financial obligations?

Paul warned us by the Holy Spirit that loving money would bring disaster. Ask yourself these questions, consider what you do to gamble, and remember that you can’t serve God and money (Matt 6:24). That’s Life at Work!

Deliver Us or Deliver Myself

Sam Gardner, the preacher for the local Quaker group in the town called Harmony, had mistakenly unplugged a refrigerator in the church building causing a ton of noodles to be ruined. The noodles were homemade by the women’s group and were going to be sold in a major annual project. Sam did everything he could short of lying to keep the truth from being revealed. Before the ordeal was over, though, and in a moment of reflection about the sign on his desk that read “Lead Us Not Into Temptation But Deliver Us From All Evil” he prayed this prayer: “Yes, Lord, teach us this lesson. For sometimes we are too tricky for our own good. Help us to depend on you and not on our own cleverness” (Philip Gulley, Home to Harmony, p 122).

Is there something that you are working hard to keep covered up? Do you pray the prayer, “Deliver us from evil,” but trust more in your own trickery to deliver instead of trusting in God?

Isn’t it time to drop your defenses, admit the truth, and let the truth set you free? That’s Life at Work!

We All Eat Something

We all eat something. We all experience hunger pains that pull us like magnets toward the tables of satisfaction. Some seek satisfaction and believe they find it in drugs and alcohol, pornography or illicit sexual behavior, gambling, risky activities, friendships or other relationships. Others believe they really “get their fill” from the job experience, traveling, children, hobbies, or entertainment tables. Obviously, as Paul wrote to the Galatians, some of these tables are taboo for the person walking with the Spirit (Gal 5:19). However, even the legitimate meals for the Christian in that list are not ultimately satisfying. Jesus calls us to greater satisfaction at a table most never approach.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matt 5:6).

In Matthew the person pursuing righteousness wants to be right by doing right, as “right” has been revealed by Jesus. You can’t be right if you follow the Pharisees, they don’t know what’s right. You can be right if you hear Jesus and do what he says. That’s Matthew’s point, and that is Jesus’ point in the Sermon on the Mount.

Most of us know that following Jesus is the right thing. For different reasons perhaps, I believe we end up at other tables too often to eat what he has prepared for us, and the “filling” we get from those tables makes us think we are sufficiently nourished. When we believe we are nourished, our hunger pains are not as noticeable, and we pass by righteousness like we drive by Cracker Barrel because we just ate at IHOP.

Perhaps your time at the table of righteousness has not been satisfying for you. That could be, and you’ll need to evaluate it, because you’ve enjoyed the food from other tables so much, you never really gave the table of righteousness a chance. Tables of sin can deceitfully cover hunger pains for righteousness. That lack of satisfaction could also be that those of us who helped set up the table for Jesus, put something on your plate that we felt like was important; but wasn’t really all that Jesus has prepared for you. We do that sometimes. Sorry. Really.

Jesus said, “But I, when I am lifted up, will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32). In the context of the table of righteousness, Jesus means that if we sit at his table because we are hungry and thirst for what he has prepared, we will be satisfied.

Time for a hunger check. That’s Life at Work!

Blessed be Your Name

It had to be hard for Job to praise the name of the Lord after learning that his property had been destroyed, his animals had been killed or stolen, and his servants and children had been murdered.  If his words are read as though they are passionless, he may sound delusional when we read:  

"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."  
(Job 1:21; NIV)

Whether living in a time of abundance or a time of disaster, we have to remind ourselves that the name of the Lord is worthy of praise – always.  God is not more or less deserving of praise because of the circumstances of my life.  In abundance I will honor God, and when in loss, I will still honor him in my tears!    After all, he is still God.  That’s Life at Work!

We're All a Little Weird

All of us are a little strange, because to be strange is to be out of the ordinary; and there are way too many human varieties to ever define what is absolutely normal. We can define what is right, but not what is normal.

A college student had just heard a lecture on psychopathology. He raised his had for permission to ask a question. “Yes,” the teacher said, acknowledging him. “You have a question?”

“Yes, Professor. You’ve told us about the abnormal person and his behavior, but what about the normal person?”

“Well,” the professor responded after a pause, “If we ever find him, we’ll cure him.”

It’s because of that common trait of weirdness that Paul instructs the Ephesians to “put up with each other in love” (Ephesians 4:2). Putting up each other means keeping the relationship between us strong despite fault and weirdness. We need to do that in all of our relationships. Keep your relationship strong with your spouse, your kids, your brothers and sisters in Christ, your neighbors, your coworkers, and the family you’ll visit for Christmas. I know they are strange, but so are you. That’s Life at Work!

Giving Challenge

The rich man didn’t walk away sad because he had nothing to give. The poor widow didn’t give all she had just because she only had one coin. The rich man walked away sad and widow gave all she had because of attitudes about God and money.

We’ve got a real challenge before us in 2007. We are being asked, as the body of Christ in our community, to give more each week than we have ever given. Some might say, “Have you seen gas prices recently?” Others might ask, “Don’t you know that debt loads are increasing for the average family?” Still others ask, “Are you watching the housing costs?”

The truth is that while gas prices are higher, debt loads are heavier, and housing costs are often through the roof, all that has little to do with whether people make the choice to be generous in their spiritual, charitable giving. Our choice has to do with how we answer these five questions:

Is my spiritual, charitable giving my first decision regarding money? The principle of giving firstfruits to God is longstanding. “Bring your firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God,” was God’s expectation for the Israelites (Exodus 34:26). After the captivity in Babylon, the Jews who heard Ezra read the Law promised they would give the firstfruits of the flocks and the firstborn of their herds and flocks to God (Nehemiah 10:35-36). Therefore, when we consider how we will spend our income in the future, we should consider spiritual, charitable giving first.

Am I seeing the need to support the ministry of the body of Christ with my income? The church does important work. As the “fullness of him that fills all in all” our obligation is to the mission that Christ began and placed in our hands.

Do I see my money as a gift from God and something to be used according to his direction? Paul told Timothy that money, like all other good things, is a gift from God for the purposes of enjoyment and sharing with others (1 Tim 6:17). We are stewards of our time, our abilities, and our money. We are to use money for the glory of the God, who has graciously given it to us.

Do I have allegiance to God above money? The Pharisees loved money and Jesus warned that one can’t serve both? The rich ruler (Matt 19) apparently loved his money and he walked away from Jesus though he pursued Jesus at first. Paul cautioned Timothy regarding those who pierced themselves with many griefs because they loved money and were led to all kinds of evil.

Do I trust Jesus when he says that if I will seek the kingdom of God first, then God will give me what I need? Do I really believe that I will reap what I sow?

When you consider spiritual giving first, understand the importance of supporting the ministry of the body, see your money as a gift from God, are committed to God instead of mony, and trust Jesus to provide for you daily; then you will meet the challenge of 2007 with your highest level of generosity ever! That’s Life at Work!

Circumstances for Good

In his recent book, Prayer, Philip Yancey quotes author John Baille about using the circumstances of life for good instead of evil.  “Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life today that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin.”  Specifically he prayed:

Let me use disappointment as material for patience.
Let me use success as material for thankfulness.
Le me use trouble as material for perseverance.
Let me use danger as material for courage.
Let me use reproach as material for long suffering.
Let me use praise as material for humility.
Let me use pleasures as material for temperance.
Let me use pain as material for endurance.

What have the recent circumstances of your life been turned to by you?  More importantly, what are you going to make out of the circumstances of your life today and tomorrow, assuming tomorrow comes?  Use everything today as material for good.  You won’t be working alone; God is leading the way.  That’s Life at Work!

Life at Work

Herbert Spencer was a British philosopher and economist. He is known best perhaps coining the phrase “the survival of the fittest.” Spencer was a supporter of Darwinism. Knowing that, it was interesting when I came across an anecdote ascribed to Spencer. He was playing billiards with a subordinate who was really good. Spencer missed his first shot, and the young man ran the table. The frustrated philosopher remarked, “A certain dexterity in games of skill argues a well-balanced mind, but such dexterity as you have shown is evidence, I fear, of a misspent youth.”

A misspent youth? That's strange from a man whose writings about society and philosophy have evolutionary ideas oozing out of them. Here's a man who argues that mankind's youth was no different from that of my golden retriever's or that salamander whose tail broke off as he ran into the hole in the bricks of my garage. Misspent youth? Weird words from a man who would teach that this world is all there is and that when I'm dead I'll be like Rover -- dead all over.

If human life evolved from single-cell organisms and all animals came from that same source, then why should my youth be spent in any noble or God-fearing way? If life is simply the survival of the fittest, then how can youth be misspent if I am still alive today. Today is all I could have hoped for yesterday, it would seem. If this life is all there is for me and when I'm dead, that's it, then why would playing billiards everyday mean a misspent youth. Give me what is good for me now! I want to spend my youth doing what is right in my own eyes, grabbing at every pleasure possible, if this life is it.

But this life is not all there is; and while I love to play pool, I love my creator, too. Loving him gives me purpose in life. I’ve got things to do today that impact eternity. You do, too. That’s Life at Work!

Anything Better than Jesus?

Is there anything better than Jesus? Can any gift better than eternal life be offered by anybody? Maybe when these questions are asked point blank the answers are quickly shouted, "No!" But often the questions are not that pointed and the answer is one made not with the mouth, but with actions. It seems that for many the answer to both questions is "Yes."

Some are continuing in immoral sexual behavior. You know that your actions are not pleasing to God, yet you won't repent. With your actions you are saying, "This relationship is better than a relationship with Jesus."

Some are so enamored by money that you'll do nearly anything to have more. You're unethical, if not a thief; you're a gambler with your families resources; or maybe just plain covetous or stingy. What you say by your actions is, "The blessings of my possessions are greater to me than the gift from God."

There is surely some "cross bearing" for the Christian in this life, but we consider it all joy to suffer here, to do without here, to resist pleasures of the flesh here, if it means heaven later. Every day Jesus says, "Will you pick up your cross!" (Luke 9:23) Everyday we answer "yes" or "no" by the choices we make from the heart. That’s Life at Work?

Denominationalism

I’ve always thought that denominationalism was a dirty word. I still think that. Most often denominationalism relates to grouping within a group, particularly a religious group. Grouping within a group is contrary to Paul’s teaching in 1 Cor 1-3 and is in defiance of Jesus’ prayer that believers be united (John 17).

Contemporary definitions emphasize naming the group, as if giving the group in a group a name is what distinguishes it from the other named groups. Certainly naming the group in a group does that, but denominationalism begins long before that happens.

Denonimationalism doesn’t begin with a sign in front of a building, and taking down the sign is not the cure for denominationalism. Denominationalism begins in the heart and usually is exhibited in other divisive ways before anyone ever thinks of a name or a sign. Denominationalism begins when one Christian decides he or she will have nothing to do with another Christian because of some disagreement. Denominationalism is first seen by in a sneering looking, a harsh word, a refusal of fellowship, an inhospitable act, a move to another pew, or an act of avoidance in a foyer.

Denominational lines were drawn in Corinth according to favorite preachers, convictions regarding food, gifts of the Spirit, and bank account size. They made groups within the group, dividing from the others in their hearts; and they never made up any names or painted any signs. The body of Christ was divided. Denominationalism was in the body of Christ, and Paul’s response was to call them to repent.

You would call me an amillennialist, non-instrumentalist, pro-cooperation, multi-cup, Bible Class Christian. Some call me progressive, some call me liberal. Others would say I’m conservative. Some might say I’m balanced. I believe it's fine to pay a preacher to work in a particular place. I could use fermented or non-fermented grape juice for the communion, and I break off the large loaf instead of picking up a pre-cut piece of the unleavened bread. I think it's fine to eat and play basketball inside a building that the church owns, though it’s probably not a good idea to eat and play at the same time. Christmas parties are fine with me and so are Halloween parties. I preach about the resurrection at Easter, but I don’t celebrate the day any differently than I do any other Sunday. All these things are true about me, but here’s one thing: I’m not going to say you are less of Christian or not a Christian because you are not quite like me in these areas. That would be denominational. As much as in me is, I will keep the unity of the Spirit though the bond of peace. I will agree with you that division between us will not exist. I will seek to be with other Christians what Jesus prayed we would be. That’s Life at Work!

We Believe Jesus is Coming Back

We believe that Jesus is coming again, at a time unknown, to judge the world according to the Word.

When the Terminator said, “I’ll be back,” he was threatening, though the threat was veiled. A few minutes later, he drove a vehicle through the doors of the building he had left moments earlier. In Independence Day, former Air Force pilot Russel Casse flew his plane into the belly of the Mother Ship of the aliens whom he said had kidnapped him years before. As he flew in to their destruction and his own, he said, “Hello, boys. I’m back!”

As the disciples stood gazing into heaven trying to catch one more glimpse of the ascending Jesus, two men dressed in white affirmed just as they had seen him go, he would come back. To some, the return of Jesus may be threatening. For some, the return of Jesus will be a complete surprise and his return will involve destruction. But for the apostles, and for us, the return of Jesus is the most glorious event we will ever witness. For us the return of Jesus is about resurrection, immortality, worship, and salvation.

One of these days
I'm gonna see the hands that took the nails for me
One of these days
I'm gonna hold the keys to the mansion built for me
One of these days
I'm gonna walk the streets of gold that were paved for me
One of these days
I'm gonna see my Savior face to face
One of these days

(FFH, “One of these Days”)

He is coming. Don’t allow the delay to cause you to doubt. There are good reasons for waiting (2 Peter 3:3-10). The time of his return is unknown, be ready today and tomorrow. The purpose of his coming is not to bear sin, like his earlier coming. This time he is coming to bring salvation to those waiting for him (Heb 9:28). If you want to be ready, you’ve got to know his word. His word, he proclaimed, will be the standard of judgment when he returns (John 12:47-50).

Come, Lord Jesus. That’s Life at Work!

If I Lost Everything

Lindsay Lohan was in Heathrow Airport and discovered that her handbag with jewelry and asthma medicine in it disappeared.  Apparently, it was recovered later, and according to some reports, the jewelry which was worth a million dollars was still in the bag with the medicine.  Imagine her happiness at the return of her bag.

If I lost everything I had right now, I would feel devastated.  But then, if somehow everything that I lost was returned to me, I would be incredibly happy.  Since that is true, why can’t I be happy with what I’ve got?  Why would I have to lose it, and then get it back, to be content with what I possess?

At a time in his life when his possessions were few, Paul wrote to some friends who had wanted to help him earlier, but had been unable.  When they were able to help him, he thanked them and taught them:

“I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:10-13).

Don’t live in jealousy or lust for what you don’t have.  If you lost everything you owned, you would be happy if you got it back.  So be happy with what you have today.  That’s Life at Work!

Life at Work

We believe our responsibility to God can be summed up: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.”

When I hear Martina McBride sing Love’s the Only House, I’m reminded in a contemporary way of this important foundational belief. She sings:

“You drive three miles from all this prosperity
Down across the river and you see a ghetto there
An' We got children walking around with guns
And they got knives and drugs and pain to spare
And here I am in my clean, white shirt, With a little money in my pocket and a nice warm home
And we got teenagers walking around in a culture of darkness Living together alone...all ll I could say is
Love’s the only house big enough for all the pain in the world.
Yea, love’s the only house big enough for all the pain.

And I can't explain it, and I can't understand
But I'll come down and get my hands dirty and together we'll make a stand.”

Loving God with all of who you are and loving your neighbor as yourself are the greatest commands (Matt 22:34-40)! There is a difference between reducing the demands and summing them up. To reduce is to speak as if other commands are unimportant as long as you do the significant. To sum them up is to state them in a concise way. That’s what Jesus did.

Loving God sums up the commands regarding our response to him. John’s readers needed to remember “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome…” (1 John 5:3). The Romans needed to how love sums up our commands regarding others, so Paul wrote to them, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom 13:8-10).

When you practice lovingkindness with others you fulfill the law. Sometimes that may mean carrying their burden, or being merciful, or doing for them what you would want done for yourself. Consider what you are doing and ask yourself if it is the way of love. That’s Life at Work!

No Peer Pressure

A 104 year old lady celebrating her birthday was being interviewed by a TV reporter for local airing. He asked her, “What’s the best thing about being one hundred and four?”

This was an easy question. “No peer pressure,” she replied.

I suppose she’s right, but the rest of us youngsters do experience peer pressure even in adulthood. That’s why it is vital that we keep reminding ourselves of the principle of passages like these:

“He who walks with the wise grows wise,
but a companion of fools suffers harm” (Proverbs 13:20).

“I am a friend to all who fear you,
to all who follow your precepts” (Psalms 119:63)

As I walk with those who avoid immorality, alcohol and drug abuse, godless chatter, and dishonesty, I create in my life greater strength and motivation to avoid them, too. As I befriend those who respect their marriages and spouses, who think more about others than they do themselves, who speak in ways that build up instead of tear down, I will conform to that kind of goodness. That’s Life at Work!

We Believe that Salvation is by Grace through Faith

We believe that salvation is by grace through faith.  Continued trust in Jesus, demonstrated by Spirit-led life, is a must for the Christian.

We are saved by grace.  The vehicle through which grace saves us is faith.  That’s true at the moment sins are forgiven, and that continues to be true as I live out my post-baptism walk with Christ.

If then, my faith is gone, the vehicle through which God’s grace saves me, is gone.  In this way, the salvation that was once mine has been forfeited along with my faith.  In scripture, this happened with some of the formerly faithful in Galatia.  Paul had preached the gospel, they had responded in faith, been saved by God’s grace; and then, they believed “another gospel.”  When their faith in Jesus was gone, having been replaced by trust in their own efforts, Paul told them the horrible consequence:

“Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.  You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (Galatians 2:2-4).

It is also true that since faith is the basis of my discipleship, if I turn from the way of righteousness to walk the path of sin, I am no longer a person of faith.  That’s why Peter could write:

“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.  It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.  Of them the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and, ‘A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud’” (2 Peter 2:20-22).

My faith causes me to look to Jesus for my salvation.  My faith causes me to walk according to the Spirit.  If I look elsewhere for my salvation or turn back to the works of the sinful nature I do so because of a lack of faith.  If salvation is by grace through faith, then when that faith is gone, so is salvation by grace.

I demonstrated my faith when I repented of my sins and was baptized for the forgiveness of my sins.  I demonstrate my faith still as I keep in step with the Spirit and look to Jesus for forgiveness when I fail.  That’s Life at Work!

We Believe in Baptism

We believe that believers in Jesus must repent and be immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins.

When people are convinced that the good news about Jesus is true, they are called in scripture to respond to that faith by repenting of their sins and being baptized so that their sins will be forgiven.

By definition, baptism is an immersion. Acts 8 helps us understand that this immersion is in water. Acts 10 lets us know that even in the incredible event of someone being given the Holy Spirit so that they could speak in tongues; they were still responsible to the call to be baptized. Acts 19 explains that if someone had experienced the baptism of John, which was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, but had not been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, they were subjects for baptism in the name of Jesus.[1]

Many people who profess the Christian Faith agree with what we believe regarding the Oneness of God, the deity of Jesus, the work the Holy Spirit, and the authority of Scripture; but do not believe what we believe about the significance and necessity of believer’s baptism. They contend that baptism is a work; and since salvation is by faith, not by works, baptism cannot be mandatory.

We believe that salvation is by faith, not by works. We believe that one must be baptized to be saved, too. Furthermore, we believe that those beliefs do not stand in contradiction to each other. Baptism is not a work by which we earn salvation – we have no reason to boast when we have been baptized. Baptism is our response of faith, and God does the forgiving and saving in that faith response, so the work is his, not ours. Baptism doesn’t save in a meritorious fashion, as if I’ve earned salvation. Baptism saves through the resurrection of Christ; once again, the work of God.

It cannot be denied that Peter preached that believers were to “repent and be baptized… for the forgiveness of sins” (Acts 2:38). Ananias did say to Paul, “Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16). Whatever one believes about the meaning of “saved through faith,” it should reflect the significance of baptism, not dismiss it.


[1] Later in Acts 18, Apollos; who spoke about Jesus but only knew about the baptism of John, was instructed by Priscilla and Aquila regarding the information that he lacked. One would suppose that their instruction was about baptism, considering the context. There is no mention of Apollos’ baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus like there is regarding the disciples of John in Acts 19. We are only told that he was given fuller instruction, we are not told whether he was baptized on that occasion. We know that his response was positive enough to what he had learned that when he left he wanted to go to Achaia to continue teaching about Jesus and the disciples were told to welcome him there. I believe that he was baptized at that time.

Customs

My wife ordered enchiladas with sour cream sauce, Mexican mashed potatoes, and Mexican corn (in a white cream sauce). Everything was white, including the plate. Our youth minister Josh saw her plate and remarked, “You know, you can’t order that after Labor Day.”

Customs are interesting, aren’t they? White shoes on August 30 are fine, but not on September 4. The bride’s family arranges the wedding, and the groom’s family provides for the rehearsal. Men remove their hats when a prayer is being offered.

Laban justified his trickery by claiming that it was against custom to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older. John and Mark remarked that customarily a prisoner was released around time of the Feast. Mary and Joseph took their infant Jesus to be consecrated before the Lord because that is what the “custom of the Law” required.

Sometimes customs are cultural. They may stick around for a long time, that’s what makes them customs, but they are subject to change with time and location; and if they change, that’s fine. Other customs have their roots in Scripture, and if they change, that’s not fine. Men and women marry when they seek lifelong companionship. Adult children take care of their aging parents. Believers in Jesus are immersed for the forgiveness of sins. Followers of Jesus pray for those who persecute them. To live, you work instead of steal. Some customs are not supposed to change. That’s Life at Work!

We Believe the Bible

We believe that the Bible is the only written revelation from God. The Holy Spirit moved men to write the messages from God. Those messages, combined in the Old and New Testaments completely equip us to do God’s work.

There are Buddhist texts called Tripitaka, the “three baskets," containing the discourses of the Buddha, commentaries on those discourses, and rules for monks and nuns.

There are Hindu writings called Vedas which many Hindus believe have no author because they are eternal texts. Historians have determined that the writings are old, but not eternal. Most Hindus have never read the Vedas or the other texts sacred to the Hindus.

The sacred text of Islam is the Koran. Muslims believe that the Koran is the revelation from Allah to the prophet Mohammed through the angel Gabriel. They believe this revelation is superior to the Bible because it is a later revelation than was given through Jesus.

The Book of Mormon, according to Latter Day Saints founder Joseph Smith, is the result of revelation being given in North America so that the ancestors of Native American Indians could know about Jesus. That revelation was written on gold or brass pages and hidden until the angel Moroni led Smith to their location. Smith was given the ability to translate these writings which to the Mormons carry the same authority as the Bible.

The Buddha, the authors of Vedas, Mohammed, and Joseph Smith are all dead; and once dead, they stayed dead. Jesus, on the other hand, though crucified on the cross, resurrected from the dead. He had promised that his apostles and prophets of God would continue the story begun in the Jewish scripture, revealing the good news about salvation in him. His resurrection which backs up his claim regarding his authority, declares all these other “sacred” writings as bogus teachings. They have no real authority and can offer readers nothing in the way of wisdom from God.

When Jesus asked the disciples if they were going to desert him like so many others had, they replied, “To whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life!” They were absolutely right. The Holy Spirit has revealed Jesus’ words to us, and they are in the Bible! The Bible is the only revelation from God and is the only authority from heaven for our faith and practice. That’s Life at Work!

Ears to Hear

When Ben Franklin was still young, he told his mom,” I have imbided an acephalous mullouscous.”  She was convinced that he had swallowed something poisonous, so she forced him to take some medicine that prompted him to lose his lunch.

When he was over the trauma of the medicine, he told his mom what he had said before, but in a better way.  “I ate an oyster,” he said.  Then, his mom punished him for deceiving her.  He vowed that day that he would never again use big words when little words would do.

The communication problem between Franklin and his mom was one of vocabulary.  When Jesus’ communication with the Pharisees failed, it was a problem of the heart.  Jesus used common words and familiar word pictures in his stories (parables), but the hearers weren’t listening to hear.  They were listening to accuse and reject.  So Jesus told them, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving” (Matt 13:14).

There were others around who did want to learn, and Jesus had a message for them, too, “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear” (Matt 13:16).

Jesus has some incredibly important thing for your ears to hear, but your heart has to prepare the way for the message.  That’s Life at Work!  

We Believe that Jesus is the Son of God

We believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God – God in the flesh. He is the Christ about whom the prophets prophesied. He was virgin born, lived perfectly, died for the sins of every person, was buried, and resurrected. Because of his death, burial and resurrection forgiveness of sin, access to God, and eternal life is available for us. Jesus is the only one through whom salvation can be obtained.

The Word, who was God, “…became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14).

There is a powerful negative side and a powerful positive side to belief in Jesus. Both sides are expressed by John in his gospel story. If we disbelieve, there are dire consequences. “If you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins,” Jesus said. Then John reveals what Jesus said about belief and life: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26). If we believe, there are rewards.

“Do you believe this?”

That’s what Jesus wanted to know after he told Martha about the connection between belief in him and eternal life. He wants an answer from you, too.

Do you believe that Jesus was the one about whom the Prophets spoke when they told about the Anointed One? Do you believe that in Jesus “all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form” (Col 2:9)? Do you believe that Jesus was perfect; and, therefore without spot or blemish, making him the perfect sacrifice for your sins? Do you believe that the story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is the message by which you can be saved? Do you believe that through Jesus, your relationship with God can be fully restored?

Do you believe that Jesus is the only one about whom these things are true?

Do you believe this? Believe and live! That’s Life at Work!

Saturated

I was reading Norman Wright’s The Perfect Catch: Lessons for Life from a Bass Fisherman this morning. Like my family, Norm likes retrievers, so when he wrote about his retriever falling out of his bass boat, I pictured our dog, Rocky in that situation. It brought a smile to my face.

Norm makes a point about a wet retriever that is significant for us. When a retriever gets wet, he doesn’t get all wet. He gets sorta wet. His coat is thick enough that water doesn’t get to the skin in a short swim. He gets wet, but not saturated. That’s good for a retriever who has fallen out of the bass boat.

God used language sometimes, though, to describe how saturated we should be in him. “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psa 1:2). “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (Jn 6:53).
Steven Curtis Chapman sang in “Dive” (Speechless, 1999) about the plunge we should take and the reward of being saturated in what Jesus has to offer, “But we will never know the awesome power of the grace of God until we let ourselves get swept away into this holy flood.” Don’t get out of the water yet. Whether you dove in or fell out of the boat, get soaked to the skin in Jesus. That’s Life at Work!