Month: January 2018

CONFLICTS DO NOT HAVE TO ALIENATE….


Spiritual Blog - Disagreement

Acts 15:36-41 – “After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.” NASU

Those who have studied the Book of Acts will remember that this was not the only time the apostle Paul had a disagreement with another brother.  We are told that he ‘withstood Peter to his face’ over what he considered hypocrisy and seems to have been correct.  However, that did not end his relationship with Peter.  In this account the split in the TEAM of Paul and Barnabas was so severe that Paul took another co-worker Silas and Barnabas took John Mark and separated.  Their disagreement was not the foundational truth that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God but in how to walk out what they believed was their commission and purpose from the Lord.

I have some friends that I love and respect deeply who disagree with me on some aspects of how to accomplish what we believe to be our purpose from the Lord.  Sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that because we think something that means it is the ‘only way’ or the ‘right way’ and anyone doing something different is riding 2nd Class on the Gospel Train.  There was a time in my life that I was like that and very dogmatic about not only ‘what’ people should believe but ‘how’ they should walk out their purpose and ministry.  I had a view and so completely believed that I had HEARD GOD that I could not fathom any other interpretation.  The truth is I had HEARD GOD for myself but that did not mean that I had HEARD HIM for everyone else.

I have some dear Christian friends that regularly censure or criticize my involvement in the political discussions of our day.  Oh, they don’t necessarily tell me that to my face but the things they say publicly and to others leaves little doubt that my involvement is, at least, part of the reason for the statements if not the reason.  I take no exception to that because I know that they love God dearly and want nothing but the best for me and the Body of Christ and believe honestly that they are right and I am totally wrong.  I am at peace with what I do and how I do it and believe that God has directed me to not only speak to people about their spiritual condition but the condition of man that is reflected in the out-workings of life that are demonstrated in politics.  I believe that God has called me to be a ‘watchman on the walls’ both to sound the alarm spiritually and to warn of impending danger and evil in other areas of life.

What I am saying is that just because you do not agree with another brother or sister on how they perceive their path to walk out their purpose does not mean you have to alienate them or reject them.  If we agree on the core foundational truth that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God most of the other things can be worked around.  So, I encourage you to realize that while God has a specific plan for our lives He does not have a ‘one size fits all’ plan.  He does not always give the specific details on exactly how to walk out what he directs so realize that each person is unique and how we walk out our ministry and purpose are likely going to be very different.

God bless you richly is my desire and prayer!

 

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PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY OUR RESPONSIBILITY…..


Spiritual Blog - Accountability

Romans 14:12 – “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” NKJV

The beginning of this Chapter in Romans is so filled with important things and worthy of consideration by every believer.  We need to consider these truths and realize how critical they are to victorious living.  They are so numerous it would take a virtual lifetime to cover them all.  I have chosen to isolate this passage for the purpose of addressing the issue of PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY.  I cannot recall the last time I heard a sermon or message on that subject in church, yet it is critical to Christian living

To give a brief synopsis of the early portion of this chapter Paul begins bringing to light our responsibility to those “weak in the faith”, frequently, fledgling Christians trying to find their footing in their new life.  He gives some specific instructions:

Receive them but reject disputes, debates, and arguments over doubtful things.  We need to realize that to major in dialogue regarding things which the Bible is silent on or does not clearly define is not beneficial to spiritual growth and development.  It may be an interesting study and one that could prove valuable in the long term through individual study but open debate over these issues tends to become a hindrance to faith and truth and should be avoided.

Example:  What you can eat as is discussed in verses 2-4.  What day you should worship on as discussed in verses 5-6.  Paul reminds us that none of us live in a vacuum and that our lives affect other people and our lives are a reflection upon the Lord Himself, so we should avoid these kinds of open debates and judgments which often led to divisions and separations rather than mutual sharing and encouragement.

Verse 11 is particularly important:

“As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”

Thus, Paul tells us that in light of all this we should remember that each of us shall give an account of HIMSELF to God.  He further encourages us that we should not judge each other but seek agreement and mutual sharing of the faith rather than put or become, a stumbling block to cause another to fall or hindered.  As we mature in the faith we realize that we should not look to or at other people but look to the Lord.  If we compare ourselves among ourselves we are not wise and will either become Pharisees or will develop a false sense of piety rather than a realization of our own individual responsibility for our lives and actions and that we will ultimately stand in accountability before the Lord.

Notice he says, “Each of us shall give account of HIMSELF to God.”  He did not say, “Each of us shall give account of OTHERS to God.”  You and I may differ on some things theologically and that is okay.  We may differ on some things regarding eschatology and that is okay.  I heard a preacher say ones, “Some are Pre-Trib, some are Mid-Trib, some are Post-Trib, but I’m Pan-Trib.”  He explained what he meant by saying, “I believe it will all pan out in the end regarding the coming of the Lord.”  I believe he is right in that reality, but that does not mean we should not study the prophecies of God.  I have a particular view but that does not mean it is etched in granite and that there is not a possibility that I am wrong.  My core and foundational belief is that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God and that He died on the Cross for my sins, rose for the dead and is now seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for me and is returning as He said so that I can spend eternity with Him in Heaven.  That is etched in stone for me!  I believe that in confessing my sins and believing in Him He has extended grace to me that brought about the new birth (Salvation) and I have been transformed from darkness into light.  That is etched in stone for me!  I believe that I am personally accountable for my actions, words, and attitudes and will give account before God for me.  You will give account for you; therefore instead of fretting over theological disagreements that are, in my view, minor, we should be focused on pleasing the Lord in our lives and giving others an example of Christianity that draws to the Savior.

So my, plea is for each of us to focus on our personal accountabilities and seek to help others but rather than judging them, encourage them in both our lives and with our love.  Educate them in truth whenever possible but always with an open mind and heart knowing that we see in part and look through a glass darkly while walking in these human temples.  So as you go through your day consider your actions, words, and deeds and know that you are accountable for you!  May God’s best be yours on this day!

 

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THE CURSED FIG TREE…


Spiritual Blog - Fig Tree

Matthew 21:18-22 – “Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen.  22 “And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”  NASU

Have you ever wondered about this account in the Bible?  Was this simply an example of Jesus being angry and since the fig tree had leaves but no fruit, he cursed it?  The disciples were amazed, not only by his words and action but by the result.  If Jesus cursed it out of anger or frustration, then He tainted His piousness and holiness by succumbing to the emotions of man and retaliated against an object that could not strike back.  Not very, Messianic if that were the case. 

In Mark this account records that Jesus took note of the fig tree from afar or at a distance.  Clearly, he could see leaves and in Palestine, the fruit appears before the leaves, therefore He was right to expect it to have fruit.  However, it had the appearance of fruit but no fruit.  It was “show” but no “substance.”  Jesus was hungry for fruit and saw an object that cried out, “I have fruit” but had none.  What was His purpose in “cursing” the fig tree rather than simply walking away?

I believe it was an “object lesson” for the disciples and all who would read and hear the account in perpetuity.  But, an “object lesson” of what?  What was the lesson to be gleaned from this event?  I believe He had multiple lessons He desired to convey and one that is often missed, so it seems is that of APPEARANCE without corresponding FRUIT.  People may talk the talk without truly walking the walk. The Pharisees, in that day, loved to APPEAR pious and holy but inside they were full of corruption.  Jesus repeatedly taught on the HEART versus the APPEARANCE and seized upon this opportunity to not only teach a lesson on prayer and faith but on RIGHTEOUSNESS and FRUIT BEARING but also the danger of appearing to be something you are not.  If you remember in the Book of Acts, Ananias, and Sapphira where they PRETENDED to be something but when exposed it cost them their lives.  That is a situation that is repeatedly warned against in Scripture.  Simply, our Confession must be backed up by our manifestation of “Christ in us, the Hope of Glory.”  Jesus even said, “Not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord will enter in but the one that DOES the will of the Father.”

A second lesson He was conveying was the power of Prayer and Faith in facing any obstacle in life.  The statement of Jesus, “…if you have faith and do not doubt…” is directly connected to what is manifest in our hearts not what we PROFESS or CONFESS.  It is not what we appear to be but what we are that opens the door to faith that dries up fig trees or moves mountains in life.  In the last verse, our Lord says, “And…”  that is a very important word because it connects the message to the previous verses including the cursing of the fig tree.  He says, “And, all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”  Not to chase a rabbit down another trail but how much does ALL cover?  The directive was Prayer, Believing, and Receiving which includes expectation.

If we are to develop our prayer lives and our faith lives to the place of moving mountains and seeing problems wither WE MUST become what we are appearing to be.  If we are professing and confessing that we are Christians, then we MUST manifest the life of Christ in us.  It is imperative that we have the Gifts of the Spirit operational in our lives and manifest the Fruit of the Spirit in our hearts.  It is one thing to talk the talk but another to back up that talk with the walk that manifests what we profess.

The Fig Tree is a warning and an appeal.  A warning against be all Show and an appeal to allow the Holy Spirit to make Jesus so alive in our hearts that we have His mind in us, and trust Him completely in all things.

God bless you richly as you go through this wonderful day!

 

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PERVERSION OF THE GOSPEL…..


Spiritual Blog - Perversion

Galatians 1:6-10 – “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!  10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.”  NASU

 

I have written and preached about ‘schisms and divisions’ in the Church.  Many years ago the Holy Spirit instructed me to be less ‘exclusive’ and more ‘open’ to what others that I disagreed with had to say.  That being said, I do not want to convey the idea that we should become so politically correct that we ‘tolerate’ tenets and doctrines that PERVERT the message of the Bible.  Paul addressed that in this passage.  He was so bold as to say that even if an angel preached something different that the Message of Christ he should be rejected.

In the context of this passage, we find that some were preaching a different gospel and a suggested a door to God other than Jesus, the Cross, and the sacrificial sacrifice for the sin of man.  I have had some tell me that EVERYONE will go to heaven because a God of Love could send no one to hell.  That is a PERVERSION of the truth of the Bible because it clearly and plainly declares that not all will enter that eternal abode we call heaven.  All will not accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior, which is the only access to the Father as declared by our Lord Himself and validated throughout Scripture.

Some have suggested that Jesus is not the only Savior and that no matter what supposed deity you believe in God will accept that just as He accepts Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross.  That is a PERVERSION of the Gospel and I will not silently sit by and hear it without response, especially to those that I have responsibility for.  I am not seeking to please men or have favor with men.  I want to please God.  I like for people to like me but if it is a choice between declaring what God declares and having people like me I will have to endure being disliked and even hated because I would be demonstrating something other than love for my fellow man if I did anything less.

Jesus is the only Door to God!  The Cross is the only acceptable sacrifice for the sin and condition of man.  It is a straight gate, a narrow way and as the Bible declares few (in comparison to the billions who live and have lived) will find it.  Do not turn from the Message of Jesus to some other supposed Savior that will lead to death not life.

May God be with you as you go through your day!

 

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BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING……


Spiritual Blog - God

Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  NASU

 As we begin 2018 it is my firm conviction that we should begin at the beginning and move forward, from a solid and sure foundation.  Too often we try to plug in somewhere rather than begin at the beginning.  Some will attempt to begin in the middle and have no history or foundation for the past, fail to understand the present and miss the future.  Some want to go to the end and see how it turns out with no foundation, experience, or history to lead them to that point of ultimate culmination.  I believe that it is imperative that we ‘begin at the beginning’ and lay a proper foundation that is anchored in God’s Truth.

How did it all begin?  Genesis Chapter One, Verse One tells us that it began with GOD.  God the creator created the ‘heavens and the earth’.  I believe that the first twelve chapters of the Book of Genesis are foundationally critical to any understanding of the rest of the Old Testament and any of the New.  I consider Genesis the ‘seed book’ of the Bible and know that God is systematic and orderly in His presentation and progression and therefore fully believe that He gave us a clear guide or basis of information here in the beginning of the most important book that any of us will ever read.

If you begin with a ‘Big Bang’ you will not and cannot see God as the creator because you are a believer in ‘random chance’ for the explanation of the entirety of creation and the existence of man.  That would be, to me, like taking a few railroad cars of printers type, a shovel and scooping them up throwing them into the air and expecting a novel of epic proportions to come forth.  It would be like taking the pieces of a watch and placing them in a bag shaking them up and expecting a finely tuned precision timepiece to be the result.  Scientist cannot explain the complexities of man’s nervous system with the miles of blood vessels, nerves, etc.  Design implies a designer and it would take far more ‘faith’ for me to believe the theory of evolution, the big bang, or some other theory other than that “In the beginning God created….”

I believe that if we begin at a wrong starting point and from a wrong premise we will arrive at a wrong destination and if we begin anywhere other than “In the beginning God….” We begin wrong and will come to a wrong conclusion.  If you want me to explain everything about God you are asking the wrong person and frankly I do not believe you will ever find a human that can fill that request.  But let’s turn the tables and you explain to me the complexities of the human body, the universe and its operation and life in general.  Oh, I’m sorry I asked a very difficult question and plainly declare that what you believe you believe based on what you have been taught and your willingness or unwillingness to consider the Bible’s account.  Your scientific evidence is not evidence but theoretical postulations from the likes of Charles Darwin and others and you ignore the holes in the theories and still cling to them because it makes you feel secure not having to acknowledge the existence and power of God because that would make you accountable to Him.  I do not mean you as inclusive of all who read this for I doubt that many who read this believe that and most are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, as you begin this New Year make a commitment to go back to the beginning and begin there with God as the starting point of your life.  It does not matter where you are in your journey from the cradle to the grave going back to review the foundation is never a bad thing.

May God be with you as you go through your day!

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THE NEW YEAR IS UPON US……


Spiritual Blog - 2018

Jeremiah 29:11-14 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  NIV

The context of this passage was the LORD speaking to Israel about their return from Babylonian captivity and that after 70 years there would be an awakening and God’s plan would be put into play.  Israel would seek Him and find Him as they sought Him with their whole heart.  As we come to the first day of 2018 my heart cries out for us to LOOK FORWARD rather than BACKWARD.

God has plans for us individually and collectively and those plans include a HOPE and FUTURE.  In any situation or time when people truly begin to seek the LORD with a whole heart, He demonstrates His power and reveals Himself to them.  He has promised that if we SEEK Him we will FIND Him.  He is not trying to hide from us or make knowing His will, plan, or purpose difficult or impossible to discern.  It is in God’s interest for us to KNOW what He wants and then to DO what He directs.  Hiding that from us would not serve the purposes of the Kingdom.

Rather than looking back on any disappointments of 2017 let’s look toward the possibilities of 2018.  Rather than lamenting over any of the failures of the past let’s look toward the victories of the future.  At 12:01 AM this morning the year 2017 faded into history and 2018 has begun.  Now, it is incumbent upon us to fully embrace the plan and purpose of God for our lives and this new year.  God is still God and His plan and purpose for our lives still real and possible.  Nothing anyone or any power can do will change that.  The devil may try and will try to get you to lose focus on the prime objective and discourage you but resist his temptations and FIX or AFFIX your focus squarely on the Throne of Heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Take these words in Jeremiah as your personal word from the Lord for 2018 and enter this New Year with HOPE, FAITH, ENTHUSIASM, and CONFIDENCE. 

I dare say that none of us saw in totality what we wanted to see although we may have seen some significant and wonderful things.  The New Year affords us somewhat of a ‘clean slate’ and we have the opportunity to begin on this day, January 1, 2018, a journey of faith that will be the most exciting and productive year of our lives.

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

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