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Posting beyond the “Like”… part 2

1 Kings 19:1-7 (NIV)

19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

3 Elijah was afraid[a] and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

Life is tough.  Life itself can suck the life out of you and make you want to give up.  As a Believer, you may feel that you just aren’t strong enough to continue. You are not alone in feeling this way. Many people do.

When you are in the pit mentally, physically, and/or emotionally as Elijah was do as he did. First, make your petition to God.  Not facebook and not Dear Abby. Elijah prayed honestly.  So should you.  God hears you and He will send His angel(s) to minister to you as He did with Elijah.  It may be directly or it may be through people that are led into your life.

Secondly, change your diet.  Not your physical diet but your spiritual and emotional one.  Your life diet.  Consuming the world’s “keys” to life is junk food. The Dr. Phils, the <fill in the blank> self help book, or the hip new motivational speaker are the foods you should never eat.  They provide instant gratification, no real nutritional value, and leave you hungry an hour later.  God fed Elijah bread and water and he lasted 40 days and he was able to climb a mountain! Begin to consume God’s instruction on life. Commit to His diet and you will receive the strength necessary to live this life.

Pray. Eat. Live…

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Truth Sessions (Part 5) – Worshiping God doesn’t get you to Heaven..

Acts 16:13-15(NIV)

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized,she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

There are many subjects in the Bible that God choose not to fully reveal the answers to. But, there is one that He has made very clear. In order to have eternal life with God you must accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Why isn’t worshiping God enough? I mean, I acknowledge Him as my creator, I follow the 10 commandments, I love people and help the less fortunate, I attend church regularly… isn’t that enough?

The answer is NO it is not. God is holy by nature and infinite. His requirement for living with Him in Heaven is to be holy. Sinfulness​ is the antithesis to holiness. We humans have a sinful nature and are finite. So, there is nothing a person who is finite and sinful can do on  their own to satify a requirement of a being that is infinate with a holy nature. It takes someone who infinate and holy to meet a requirement of someone who is infinate and holy.

God’s word states that forgivesness of sin must come through the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). God provided a way for sinful finite people to meet this by allowing Jesus who is God (infinate and holy) to come down to earth and shed his blood as a remission for all sin. By accepting Jesus’ gift, our sins are forgiven and God sees us as holy. Through Jesus alone has the requirement been met. Worshiping God in and of itself is good but does not get you into Heaven (John 14:6). Lydia is an example of this. Are you Lydia?

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Truth Sessions (Part 4) – People don’t need money…

Acts 3: 1-8 

“3 One day Peter and John2 Now a man who was lame from birth3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping,

The Word teaches that there will always be poor amoung us. It also teaches that we should give to and take care of the poor. That is part of our ministry on earth. As a Christian that is not our mission. Our mission is to make deciples (Matt 28:16-20). Often we give money to the poor, which we should, but we stop there feeling satisfied with our “good work” or we don’t give at all because we don’t have any cash on us. Both cases yield the same result…A failure to provide what they need. Wholistic ministry is ministering to the mind, body, and soul. This failure to fully minister bleeds into our everyday walk and becomes a habit in all our interactions. 

People want our time, money, and help but do we give them what Peter did? Peter didn’t walk away because he didn’t have the money the crippled man asked for. He stopped and gave him freedom. He mentioned the name of Jesus and through Jesus the man was healed and began praising God. In this life, the ability to walk represents freedom. Freedom to move. Freedom to live. It is only through Jesus can we experience true freedom. We can’t make disciples by just giving. We must live like Jesus and we must speak the gospel. People don’t need money. They need Jesus. As a Christian you may not always have money but you have an abundance of Jesus. Give abundantly!

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Truth Sessions (Part 3) – Blessings don’t come from prayer…

One of the most frustrating things that happen when people become Christians is that they don’t experience the radical life change and blessings raining down from Heaven as they are lead to believe by what I call the “Slot Machine in the sky” sermons so prevalent today.  Say the prayer and accept Jesus, go to church, tithe (if you want to), be a good person, and pray and God will bless you with health and prosperity.  That is the checklist straight from the “Christians for Dummies” book.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a big proponent of the “…for Dummies” books.  But, there are no shortcuts or clef notes when it comes to God.  He already provided complete instructions called The Bible,  the perfect example in Jesus Christ, and the consummate instructor in the Holy Spirit.

Joshua 1:6-9 NIV

6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.

7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

In this text, God was speaking to Joshua just before Joshua was to take over leading the Isrealites after Moses’ death but this instruction is a recurring theme through God’s word and is still speaking to us today.  God’s blessings does not come from prayer even though prayer is of the utmost importance in a Christian’s life.  Blessings come from obedience.  Ephesians 2:10 states that we were created in Christ to do good works which God had already planned for us. Once saved we are remade and re-purposed.  When you get a new job you don’t continue to do your old job and expect raises, bonuses, much less a continued paycheck!  Yet, we apply that logic to becoming reborn in Christ.  Jesus provided the new job discription in Matthew 28:19-20, demonstrated how to do the job in the life He lead on earth, and provided a life coach in the Holy Spirit to ensure we will always have the proper guidance. To unlock the ubundant life we are so desperate to have is not through prayer, it is through obedience…Matthew 6:33

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Truth Sessions (Part 2) – Real doesn’t equal truth…

Deuteronomy 13:1-4

” If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder,2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.”

One of my daughter’s LOVES these beans her grandmother makes that they call Paw Paw’s beans.  She will not eat any beans except her grandmother’s Paw Paw beans.  I tried many time unsuccessfully to get her to eat the beans I made so in a last desperate attempt I contacted MeeMaw and asked for the recipe.  She said “Steven, it is just a can of Ranch Style beans.”  So, I proceeded to get some Ranch Style beans and served them for dinner.  My daughter takes one bite and I can see her eyes light up for a brief minute.  I took the opportunity to exclaim “Paw Paw’s beans…BAM!”.  She put her spoon down and looked at me with a solemn look and said “No, this isn’t it.  MeeMaw didn’t make them.”

I presented her with the reality of her Paw Paw’s bean. They looked like them, smelled like them, and even tasted like them but she was locked into the ultimate truth which was that what comes from MeeMaw’s kitchen is what’s real.  Wow, she gets it.   Just because it is real and tangible doesn’t make it the truth. There is a truth, God’s truth.  Anything in front of you that points you away from God or is contrary to His teachings (the Bible) is just a can of Ranch Style beans…

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Posting beyond the “Like”…

Life can be so heavy and burdensome.  The weight of responsibilities can be too much to bear.  The pain and evil in this world can seem relentless.  I’ve noticed a trend where people are now only posting positive things to stem the tide of negativity and provide a brief respite from the craziness.  Posting for the “like” is what I call it.  The problem is that the “like” is brief and you find yourself scrolling and scrolling looking for more “likes” never really finding the rest we are seeking.  I recently had a very discouraging bit of news about a ministry activity I was involved in where what I shared about Gospel didn’t stick.  In the midst of my pouting God impressed on me “you did all that to get the Like”.

Deuteronomy 12:9-10 NIV

” 9 since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the LORD your God is giving you.

10 But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety.”

This instruction from the OT was to the Israelites in crossing over into the promised land.  This rest or easing of life’s burdens as told in chapter 11 (v. 18-20) comes through complete faith in and relentless meditation on God. Not in ourselves. No measure of cute post about puppies or unicorns, self help quotes, or inner strength statements to garner “likes” will give us the rest, the life easing balm we so desperately seek.  “Likes” change moods. “Life” which is only found through complete faith in and total obedience to God will bring us into His rest.  We must go beyond getting the “like” to giving the “life”.

 

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Truth Sessions (Part 1) – People don’t go to hell for not believing in Jesus…

The God of the Universe, the creator of all, is so powerful and grand yet will send His creation to hell for not believing in His son???  Through the ears of non-Christians that makes God seem rather petty.  To be honest, I can’t say that I disagree. Yet, this very message is spouted from the pulpit, the pews, out on the streets, and in the mission fields and it couldn’t be more wrong!

Revelation 20: 12-15 (NIV)

“12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

John the apostle was very clear in the above passage that people are judged by their deeds and punished, or sent to hell, based on them.  The Bible states that no one is righteous on their own. Every one has sinned (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10).  Because of this our deeds are evil.  All men and women have broken God’s moral law and the punishment for such an infraction is eternal separation from God or hell in other words.  Sin is the problem. Not believing is Jesus doesn’t send people to hell.  Sin does.

Just as a judge has the prerogative to grant a pardon to whomever they wish, God has exercised His holy prerogative by sending His son, Jesus, to pay the punishment for human’s sin.  Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection is God’s pardon offer.  This offer is the only way to get into Heaven (John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

This is a very important distinction.  If you don’t understand that and sign on to Christianity under any other pretenses (i.e. to get blessings) you will feel like you were sold a bill of goods.  That is how Christianity gets a bad rap and it all starts with the message. As rough and sobering as it is, it must be told. We all are sinners, we can not do enough good on our own so we are damned, yet God is gracious and He offered us a pardon…that pardon is Jesus!

Either Jesus can pay for your sin or you can.  It’s that simple.

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Ok…what now?

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A very popular and effective tactic in evangelism is to ask the person the question “If you were to die tonight are you sure you would go to Heaven?”  Now let’s say that the person accepts Jesus as their savior and they happen to wake up the next morning.  What are they supposed to do?

Matthew 28:19-20 

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always , even to the end of the age.”

In this passage, famously known as the Great Commission, Jesus is speaking to the Apostles right before His ascension.  He provides clear instruction as to what His followers are to do until He returns.  Asking the “If you were to die tonight…” question is not bad as we are to be concerned with their soul.  But that question alone is missing the mark.  A second question should be asked as well which is “If you don’t die tonight, what will you do with your life?”  Jesus didn’t command Christians to gain supporters for Him.  He commands Christians to make Disciples for Him.  The Church is filled with many more people who believe that Jesus is Lord than those who believe in Jesus as Lord.

Do you agree?

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a church with a view…

 

wpid-wp-1420523760583.jpegIt seems like every other day I see an article or blog post talking about how more than ever people are walking away from church or the faith.  Various reasons are cited yet I will not focus on these reasons because they are no the true reasons for this departure from faith.  They are rationalizations to help people explain their actions.  The true reason is far more simplistic.  A recent poll by the Barna group found that 19% of American adults that profess to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ also have a Biblical worldview.  That percentage drops to less than 1% of young adults (18-29 yrs of age) of believers that have a Biblical worldview.  Now view those figures in light of the fact that 77% (approx. 247 million) of Americans profess to be Christians.

To give perspective to those figures, the Barna survey defined a “biblical worldview” was as believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to a real being or force, not merely symbolic; a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or do good works; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.

Gypsy Smith, a famous European evangelist,  once said “There are five gosples: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Christian.  Most people will never read the first four.”  Based on the statistic listed above, the “most people” in this quote I believe include the vast majority of professing Christ followers.  It is as if many turned to Christ in a reflex reaction to an alter call as a means to solve an immediate problem in their lives. Although Jesus can certainly solve any issue in our lives, His death and resurrection was to solve THE problem of our ultimate demise which was eternal damnation.  Coming to Christ for any reason short of that reason leaves open the validity of your conversion.  It leaves open the posssibility to hold to a Non-Biblical worldview while clinging to the notion that Jesus saves.

To believe that Jesus died for your sins means you realize you are sinner in need of a Savior. That means you believe the Bible which tells the story of Jesus and His teachings. If you beleive His teachings then you believe the truths revealed in His teachings.  If you believe the truths that He taught then you would have a Biblical worldview.  If you don’t have a Biblical worldview a domino fell somewhere in the chain and you are left plugging in the world’s beliefs to complete your belief system.

If we as Christians don’t believe what we say we believe, how do we expect the world to believe?

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Which story do you believe (Part 4)

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Isaiah 45:5 NIV
“I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me”

In context this Old Testament verse was written to the Isrealites but the story it tells extends to all humanity.  This story is rich and gives a precious insight to who God really is.  Even though we fail to acknowlege and appreciate it, God says He strengthens and equips us.  When we rise in the morning God says it is I who provides you the strength to do so.  When we succeed at our job and get that promotion God says it is I who equiped you will the ability to do so.  When we do good for others God says it is I who provided the means for you to do so. God’s love for humanity and His common grace is at work 24/7.  Do you believe that?  Or do you believe the world’s story that we pull ourselves up from our bootstraps?

My oldest daughter came home from her first symester at college to spend Christmas with us. I asked her what were some of the things she learned being on her own for the first time.  The first thing she said was “I finally started to realize all the things you and mom had done for me.”  At that moment I wanted to give her everything her heart desired.  How much more would our heavenly Father want to bless us if we would just acknowledge Him?  How much more could our heavenly Father bless us if we would just achnowledge Him?

Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV “5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”