Wednesday, October 30, 2013

“What’s Your Sign”

Have you ever run into someone and you said something that you regretted, because you didn’t realize earlier that they had gone through something traumatic or maybe even tragic? You realized you kind of stuck your foot in your mouth or had what I call a “Hee-Haw” moment. Perhaps we should have post-it notes on our foreheads or a bigger sign we wear on our back that lets people know to beware. Maybe we would be more cautious, careful and less callous with our words toward one another. Maybe we would be more sensitive and understanding and cut one another some slack. If I know your dog just died, maybe I take it easy on the dead animal jokes (I know that’s a weak analogy, but you get what I’m saying.). Stay with me. What if we did walk around with these signs, but it wasn’t about what happened this morning or yesterday or even two weeks ago? What if we wore signs about things that have scarred us or made us who we are today? The signs could read: I was beaten or abandoned as a child. I was molested or raped. I had an abortion. I never met my daddy. My mom died when I was young. On and on the signs could let us know what the person standing before us has gone through. Would it change how tenderly we deal with one another? Would it make me pause before I rushed to judgment about their outlook on something? It should, and I bet it would. ---So next time someone does something that you really are puzzled by, don’t be so swift in your judgment. You don’t know what junk they dealt with that morning or the previous week, much less their whole life. Often times, the things that cause scars end in great testimonies as it makes some people stronger as they persevere through it. Yet, some people are still working through the process of being all that God wants them to be. And still, others are lost and looking for a glimmer of hope. The truth is that you and I don’t know where that person standing before us is at in the process. Speak softly. Listen a lot. You may be the one that needs mercy next time.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Jesus is fully God or a liar

Jesus is fully God or he is a liar. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father except by me.”-Jn.14:6. This is the separation statement. Some groups or man-made religions may not like it, but he said it. You don’t have to believe it, and you don’t have to be a christian either. The Scriptures also tell us, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.-speaking of Jesus (Jn.1:1-5) Jesus also testified to being the Messiah, The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”-Jn.4:25-26. Furthermore, the Apostle Paul calls him the “...image of the invisible God”. He agreed with John that “by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth”; even the “...visible and invisible (things), whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities---all things were created through him and for him.” He gave Jesus the preeminence! And the preeminence only belongs to One, God.-Col.1:15,16. He is the head of the church, that’s why we can sing.-Col.1:18. But you can’t miss who He is and what He has done unless you’re just unwilling to see and hear:  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.---Col.1:19,20. For what it’s worth, I believe Jesus.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Made-Up Religion Is Convenient

If man were to make up a religion, it probably wouldn’t look like any of the religions you see today. It certainly would not look like christianity. Christianity is the only religion that does not involve man earning his way to heaven or paradise. ALL of the others give man a chance on his own, if he can be good enough. Christianity blatantly says that no one is good enough. But it does provide a Savior, who was prophesied of and met every prophecy about himself even to the point of his death being done in public for the whole world to see. To really cause an uproar and to show this Lord Jesus Christ to be all that, he was resurrected to life. His true life lives on through his followers. A man-made religion would be more like this. A world just happens to come into existence by a series of amazing coincidences. We are just stuff, thus we don’t really matter; nor does what we do matter. We are the end-product of chance. Albeit some very hard-to-believe (Cosmic explosions, walking catfish, apes to men kind of stuff) evolution of dust particles to intelligent beings without the hand of a Creator, thus no ONE to answer to when it comes to our morals. It requires belief, but it is quite convenient. Thus, we can live like we want to. “No one is the boss of me.” In a world like this there is no absolute truth, no right and wrong. There is only your truth and my truth. So I can do what I want. ---That is the kind of religion man would make up. It would be an “If it feels good, do it” kind of religion. There is no way man would make up a religion that places himself in second or third place. By nature, we want it all. We want first place. We want the biggest piece of the pie. ---So, when someone tells me that man made up christianity to feel good about himself or to rule over other people...please! It is a call to live for the One who died for us and rose again. It is a call to bring others into His kingdom. It’s a different way of life. It is counter-cultural. It is not about me. It is a better way of life. More than this life, the acceptance of Jesus’ great sacrifice offers eternal life. So, you can choose your convenient untruth or the inconvenient truth. But when it comes to making a religion, you better check your dust particles.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

A Night at the Fair

I believe the church should be Jesus’ hands and feet by loving the community through service as well as the obvious of sharing the Good News about Jesus Christ. These acts of love often move the world to hear our message. And bring the message of reconciliation is what every christian is called to do. As a church we do many of these mission/service opportunities via our small groups throughout the year often joining groups that have already organized and set things up. Yet, a few times a year we go hard-core, old-school whatever you want to call it, and we take our 8x8 hot-dog-selling-looking trailer (we lovingly call the Godmobile) out to places like the Fair and just try to share the Gospel with people. It is engaging, but non-confrontational. We don’t argue with people. We simply share Jesus without fear. We understand that if one person gets saved that it was a result of the Holy Spirit. We understand that some may be hearing the Gospel for the first time and it’s not harvest time. In our loving approach, we have no problem with people that come angry with God or hell-bent on going to hell. The agnostic is not a problem, neither is they young guy that tries to act like he is a satanist. You see, we go in the strength of the Holy Spirit. Most of us are extremely uncomfortable doing this and slightly scared to death. We are not the group that yells at people, and we understand just because our booth has questions about eternity on it; people likely have a bad first impression of us. Yet, once they meet us it is a different story. We are real people with our own stories of God’s glory sharing the great love story, the great redemption story. I’ve been doing this probably over ten years now, so I have a clue of what is going to happen. It’s like the Scripture says, “some will jeer, some will receive Christ, and some will say ‘maybe later’.” So on the ride over with my team, I wanted to give them an idea of what it would be like. Suddenly on the ride over, I realize I had a car-load of rookies. They had never done this before. They were like lambs before the slaughter (haha). Yet, they were doing what Jesus said, “Go and tell.” I told them that you will see people primarily from ages 11-20ish open to hearing the Gospel. I told them that most often they will come in packs, and you will have to dish out the Gospel like a fast food window, because Satan will have his hand on one in their group trying to drag them away from the Good News. I told them that it would be possible that two, three or more people might get saved at the same time depending on God’s will of course. (We don’t manipulate or try to talk people into false conversions.) I told them that you would have Christians walk by and see the sign and give you a thumbs-up, and people angry at God would pass by and curse or give you another hand-signal. And I told them, sadly, the people that will be the biggest pain would be christians that want to push their “pet” verses on you. All of these things happened, and God even welcomed many into His kingdom on this night.---We were all glad we went. My favorite part was watching these rookies become seasoned veterans in one night at the Fair. It was awesome to see the Holy Spirit work through these warriors. It gave me a chance to share Jesus with some people in mass quantities. It gave me a chance to represent Christ in a way that giving away bottle waters just doesn’t satisfy. It made me come home and brush up on Scripture as I felt like I mishandled some situations (particularly dealing with cults and fanatical christians). But it was good for me to run into that. I got to meet people that are totally different than me, thereby understanding where the world is coming from. So perhaps, I can do better in my gospel presentation in the future. It made me hurt for a lost, desperate, dying world as I saw them and heard them face to face. ---After I walk away, I’m always glad that I went, and I readily know that I will be scared to death the next time I go. That’s just the way it is.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Great Explanation

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.Rom.3:25-26. God the Father presented His One and Only Son as a sacrifice of atonement (the covering for our sin, once and for all) to make things right between man and God due to sin, because man was powerless to do so. The atonement is complete through faith that His blood does takes away our sin. ---He did this to demonstrate His justice, because up to this point He had let the sins of the world go unpunished. Men were seemingly "getting away with it". Thus, He proved himself to be the Just One, the One who can justify those who have faith in the Lord Jesus. God has dealt with sin on the cross. God has made salvation available through the blood of Jesus Christ. Innocent blood covered the sins of the guilty. The demands of righteousness was met on the cross. This is where our unattainable-by-works righteousness comes through God's great mercy and grace. The righteousness of Christ is available to those willing to receive it. (Some might call it a scandal of grace.) God demonstrates His justice and provides salvation at the cross...in public. This was no secret. Jesus' death served God's glorious purpose of dealing with sin, and His resurrection was the icing on the cake that proved Him to be Truth. ---That's why Jesus came and died.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Rom.2:5-11 (Devo)

God's righteous judgment will come against the stubborn, unrepentant sinner on the day of God's wrath. Like Jesus, Paul preached that judgment was coming. God's righteous judgment will be based on truth, not conjecture. It won't be a matter of man's opinion. People won't be compared to other people. It will be based on God's truth. God will give to each person according as he or she has done. Those who do evil without repenting will reap the wrath of God. Those who do right (Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”-Jn.6:29)will gain eternal life. It doesn't matter if you are Jew or Gentile. The ground is level at the cross.---Stubbornness leads to unrepentance. It is the key element that will lead to man facing the wrath of God. Unfortunately, telling a stubborn person not to be stubborn is one of the hardest things in the world. Look in the mirror, and be honest. Your salvation depends on it.