Coming to you from CentriKid

I am writing this blog entry from Centri-Kid camp, at Skycroft Camp in Maryland. The theme verses for the week are two of my all time favorites:

Romans 12:1-2 "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."



The theme of the week that goes along with the verse is "Game On! Living a transformed life." The kids will be challenged to not just know about Jesus, but to know Him in a way that transforms their lives. It is real easy for kids that grow up in church to know all "about" Jesus without ever really knowing Him intimately and personally. It is the intimate, personal knowledge of Christ that is a transforming knowledge.


Can I challenge  you to do what the children are being challenged to do? Examine your life. Does it reflect the transforming power of Jesus? If not, what can you do to know the Savior better so that His power transforms you?


Remember, the bible was not written simply for your information.....it was written for your transformation.

VBS at Bethel

One thing that has always amazed me at Bethel is our VBS. It is top notch down to the last detail. I have marveled at how our people come together and work as one to get the job done with excellence. there is a culture that has developed with Bethel's VBS over the years that simply will not accept mediocrity. It is truly a team effort. Everyone is willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. In spite of the long hours, and the hard work, I never hear anyone complaining. There are smiles and laughter everywhere as God's servants do the work of the ministry. The joy of the Lord is apparent in the lives of the workers as they interact with the kids, and each other. Our VBS workers are a visible example of the people of God being the servants HE has called them to be.

Thanks Bethel VBS workers for your hard work and dedication. No matter what your role was this week, you were a partner in a venture that has sown seeds of the gospel into the lives of precious children. You will have to wait to get to heaven to understand the full impact for the Kingdom of God that your service to the Lord has produced this week. 

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

The enemy of your soul has so many weapons to throw at you child of God. He knows how your flesh operates and he knows how to appeal to it in the right way so as to entice you. He knows where your weaknesses are and therefore knows what to throw at you and precisely when to throw it at you. He waits just like the lion for the opportune moment to pounce on you. When he pounces he has one goal.....to devour you.

That's why you have to be sober. That's why you have to be alert. Do not be ignorant to the schemes of the devil. You do not have to fall prey to him. You are in Christ Jesus who has overcome the devil.

Might I encourage you today in with three keys to victorious living over your adversary the devil. First pray for wisdom. Ask God to give you wisdom in regards to the way that the devil operates. If you are wise to his devices it makes it more difficult for him to get a foothold in your life somewhere from which he is able to operate. The Lord will answer that prayer if you earnestly ask HIM to give you the wisdom to know how the devil works.

Second ask the Lord to give you strength. It is one thing to know how the devil operates. It is another thing entirely to be strong enough to resist his devices. You need the strength of the Lord to overcome.

Third talk to other Christians about your struggle with the devil. We need relationships in our lives that can help encourage us to be what God is calling us to be. If you have people in your life that you feel comfortable around, and that you trust enough to be transparent with it will help you. Share with them how the enemy has attacked you, and get them praying for you.

Do not let the enemy devour you. Jesus has won the victory over him and so can you. 

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob

Then Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.'" - Genesis 50:24 

Why do you suppose God referred to Himself as the "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"? Why didn't He simply say, "the God of Jacob"? 

The Scriptures do not really tell us why this is so, but let us consider why today.

Could it be that the Lord has given us sort of a picture of the trinity in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? The nation of Israel looked to Abraham as a father. He took his only son Isaac up a mountain to sacrifice him. Jacob struggled to learn to deny his flesh and walk according to the Holy Spirit.

Also consider this: In Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob the Lord has given us three different men through whom He accomplished His divine purposes. Abraham  went out into unknown territory and was considered righteous for his unusually great faith. Isaac was a man who was simply faithful to follow in his inheritance. He had a consistent steady walk with God. He experienced the fewest difficulties among the three. His call was to simply to be faithful to be a good steward of what had been given. Jacob on the other hand had extreme conflict in his life. He suffered more trials than either of the other two. He had a lot of conflict in relationships. He had to learn to navigate life through much difficulty. We can all relate to these men on some level. But certainly one of these men will be more familiar to your own experience in life. 

God works in each person's life in a unique way. The bible has given us examples from the Scriptures. Who is it that you relate too the best as you evaluate your own Christian Journey? Let your heart be encouraged as you seek to learn from the stories of those who have gone before you.

21 years ago today

21 years ago today at Kempsville Baptist Church in Virginia Beach an event took place that has shaped my life more than any other single event outside of my salvation. I was married to the former Kay Davis Alexander. I can not even to begin to express how deeply my love for this amazing woman has grown over these years. We have shared many difficult days and many triumphs together in these 21 years. We had no idea when we stood at that altar together and exchanged vows the journey the God had planned for us to walk together. Life in the ministry has been both exciting and heart breaking, exhilarating and devastating. Through it all her steadfast faith has been a bedrock for me to lean upon. This woman trusts God and I am so grateful for that. Her love for her husband and her three children runs deep, and she shows it in so many ways.

Thanks Kay, for 21 years. I don't deserve you. I am so glad I have you. I love you with all my heart. 

Stand strong

1 Peter 4:4 In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;

Living for Christ in an ungodly world brings with it certain challenges. Since coming to Christ most of the places I have worked had certain "extra curricular activity" associated with the culture of the organization that I had to distance myself from in order to walk with Christ in holiness. Such activities are not only associated with certain work places, but even with certain family gatherings, neighborhood gatherings......even when parents get together who's children play little league baseball together. When you voluntarily choose to absent yourself from some of these activities that do not glorify God, that carries with it a certain stigma that tends to brand you in the eyes of all the others. They don't understand why you do not wish to participate in all that they are doing. They look down on you, exclude you, they often talk about you behind your back.

The temptation to compromise can be intense. Stand strong believer and do not let them persuade you to compromise. It can be very tempting to just blend in. It is even easy to justify in your thinking. It starts with just one little compromise here, and another there.....then you look back and discover that you have gone down a path that you never wanted to be on. Remember that when you distance yourself from ungodly things your heavenly Father is pleased with you. Let that be a consolation to your heart when you know that people in the world do not think very highly of you. Live out the joy of your Savior before them. You may just discover that some of them find it interesting that you are full of contentment without some of those things in your life. Your abstention may even be something that they secretly wish they were able to do. And maybe, just maybe, some of them might be attracted to investigate a relationship with Jesus based on your witness.

Power of the tongue

James 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!

The tongue is such a small part of our anatomy and yet in it is great power. James under inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote about the tongue in his epistle and used the metaphor of a forest fire to draw analogy to what a misdirected tongue can produce. Every forest fire begins with a spark in the wrong place. The spark turns into a blaze, which turns into a forest fire that does great damage.

Just a few weeks ago on March 26, a wildfire broke out just a few miles southwest of Denver, Colorado. Before the fire was contained over 4000 acres of land was destroyed, 25 homes burned to the ground and three people were killed because they did not get out of their homes in time.

Most people do not realize the power of their tongue. With it is the power to build up and the power to tear down. One little comment (the spark) is all it takes to ignite a fire storm (the forest fire) of gossip that destroys reputations, ministries, churches, and people's lives.

Let us be children of the light and use our tongues to build up, to edify, and to bless.

And if we don't have anything good to say, I suggest we just keep our mouths shut.

United we stand

Nehemiah 5:9 Again I said, "The thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?" 

God put it in Nehemiah's heart to lead an effort to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem that had been decimated during the Bablylonian captivity of Judah. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were taken into captivity and Jerusalem lie in ruins. Years have gone by, the Babylonians have been overtaken by the Persians. The Persians allowed the Jews to start returning to Jerusalem. Nehmiah got special permission from the King to rebuild the Jerusalem wall. In Nehemiah's thinking, the honor and glory of the Lord are at stake. There is more to it than just rebuilding a wall.....a strong Jerusalem with a fortified wall occupied by the chosen people of God once again represented a strong testimony for the Lord. As long as the wall is in ruins, Jerusalem is a reproach to the name of the Lord. 

As they start to rebuild the wall, the morale of the workers is challenged by the actions of some of their own countrymen. Some of the Jews were charging very high interest to those who needed to borrow money in order to buy food or pay their taxes. Nehemiah condemns this practice and tells them to stop doing it. In Nehemiah 5:9 Nehemiah appeals to them based on their fear of the Lord, and their testimony to the world. What Nehemiah is saying to them is this: Your practices are jeopardizing this project, and if this project is jeopardized then this damaged wall will continue to be a poor witness among the nations. A completed wall shows the world that the good hand of God is with us. For the sake of the witness of Jerusalem to the nations, stop what you are doing so you no longer jeopardize the mission.

What do we learn from the story? Anything that threatens unity among the people of God threatens the mission. In the New Testament we are not trying to build a wall around Jerusalem. But God has us on another project called the Great Commission. We are building the Kingdom of God. That is what God has told us to do. And we can not do it without each other. If the devil can manage to divide us he can keep us from the mission.

What type of church member are you? Are you a peace maker? Easy to get along with? Or are you always keeping something stirred up? Are you quick to forgive and difficult to offend or do you get upset over everything that happens that doesn't go your way?

Be the type of church member that guards the unity of God's people. Be a peacemaker. By protecting the unity of the church, you are helping to build the Kingdom of God.

Confidence

Psalm 27:3 Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident.4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.

When trouble comes the natural reaction for us is often fear. Questions arise. We wonder about what is going to happen next. Uncertainty can be extremely intimidating. We begin turning over and over in our thinking all the possible scenarios dwelling upon all that could potentially go wrong if things get worse.

How are we to handle the uncertainties of life? This passage teaches us to handle them with confidence. Who can approach the uncertainties of life with confidence? The one who seeks to dwell in the house of the Lord.....the one who beholds His beauty and meditates in His temple.....that is, the one who pursues intimacy with the Savior.

When you have achieved that type of intimacy with Christ, in the day of trouble He becomes a refuge in which you can hide. You can therefore approach uncertainty with confidence! Confidence in yourself? Certainly not.....confidence in HIM!

Pursue intimacy with Christ. Seek Him. You will find Him if you do.....and through Him you will face uncertainty with confidence.

Tribute

Matthew 25:40 "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

For the last six years of my life I was privileged to know and work along side a man named Rev. Robert Earl Ange who served as Minister to Senior Saints at Bethel. He went home to be with Jesus Monday a week ago. I want to talk a little bit in this blog post about what I learned from Him.

The verse above catches the essence of Rev. Ange's life. He loved to minister to "the least of these". That is where his heart was. He spilled his life out ministering to people that would never be able to do anything for him. He was drawn to the helpless, the hopeless and wanted to be used of the Lord to bring a ray of sunshine into the life of people who would otherwise live a very gloomy existence on this earth. His heart broke for people who had become home bound, and for those whose health had deteriorated to the point that they were confined to nursing homes. I was half his age, I was his pastor, and yet he taught me. I am challenged by the life that Rev. Robert Earl Ange lived to never forget those who would fall into the category of "the least of these".

I have used what I like to call "my sanctified imagination" to imagine the interaction that Rev. Ange has had with Jesus since Monday a week ago. I wonder if Jesus has already said to Rev. Robert Earl Ange, "Thanks for what you did for me!" I suspect that Rev. Ange would respond with something like, "What did I do for you Jesus? I never felt like I did enough." And Jesus perhaps responded, "When you ministered to all those people who were the least of my brethren, you did it to me. Well done my good and faithful servant."

Thank you Rev. Robert Earl Ange for loving and living for Jesus. I am more like HIM because I knew you.

Die to self

John 12:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Galatians 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

As we have been through the Easter season, and as I have meditated upon the death and resurrection of our Lord, I have been contemplating all the implications for believers. They are many. Certainly we have the hope of eternal life in heaven to look forward to as a result of the death and resurrection of Christ. However, there are tremendous implications for this life as well.

Jesus died on the cross. He had to die in order to be raised from the dead. From His death came life!! And the bible says that Jesus was the "first fruits". Through this one who first conquered death, hell, and the grave many will conquer those things as well. Fruit comes from death.

The same is true of the believer. The believer produces fruit because he in a sense has died. He has been crucified with Christ in the sense that he is dead to self, and dead to this world. He is not interested any longer in selfish pursuits or ambitions. He has died to those things and crucified his own wants and desires. The chief aim of his life is now to please and glorify Christ. Christ is now on the throne of his life calling the shots.....The counsel of Christ is sought on all of life's decisions because the main interest is to be right in the center of God's will. The fruit of righteousness is the result. It only happens when there is a death. When a person dies to self, they are raised up by Christ to do HIS will.

That is what Jesus meant when He said that you love your life you will lose it. Jesus is painting a picture of the born again person. When a person is truly born again, they die to self. Sadly, some are too in love with themselves and their own agenda in life to ever be born again. Some of them even attend church. They attend church, but outside of church, life is pretty much about what they want, not what God wants. They may not born again. They may be lost church attenders.

But even for the truly saved crucifying the flesh continues to be a daily decision. That is why Jesus said you have to take up your cross "daily" and follow Him. It is a new decision every day for the believer to crucify the flesh or you will back slide on God.

Have you crucified your flesh today?

Do not fear

Isaiah 41:10 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

Last night at our deacon's meeting Rob Cornet gave a devotional from this passage of scripture. It really spoke to my heart. I went to bed last night meditating on it and woke up this morning with it on my mind.

The Lord is speaking in this passage and saying, "Do not anxiously look about you..." What does that mean? It means do not be looking around worrying about what could potentially go wrong. I know at times I look at circumstances and get my eyes on them, and then I start to imagine all the things that could possibly happen if those circumstances get worse. I then am paralyzed by a sense of dread in regards to the future. The Lord says not to do that. On what basis does the Lord tell us not to let anxiety rule and reign in our hearts? On the basis of His ability to strengthen us! He says that He will strengthen us and uphold us with His right hand. So if that is true there is no reason to worry, fret, or fear. No matter what we face, God will help us.

Rest in Him today, and do not fear what the future holds. He will give you what you need to face whatever is ahead.

Walk in your calling

"If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me." - John 21:22 

Jesus has just revealed to Peter that Peter will one day die for his faith. Peter asked Jesus about John and whether he would die also. Jesus reacted sharply to Peter's comment. He basically told Peter to not worry about John. John's role or purpose in life was none of Peter's business. All Peter had to do was worry about doing what God had called him to do

.

In His discussion with Peter, Jesus was getting at the very heart of the matter of a person's calling. Peter was worried about whether his friend John was going to get the same lot in life as he was. Jesus told him it should not be his concern. He was to concern himself only with one thing: his own calling before God.

Are you tempted to compare yourself with others? Be careful. The end of that is predictable. It will make you make you dissatisfied with the path in life God has called you to walk. "Man, that guy has it so much easier than I do. If only God would do for me what He has done for him." 

Don't worry about what God is doing with others. That is not your concern. Concentrate on discerning His will for your life. You busy yourself with that and you won't have time to think about what God is doing with someone else. And by the way it will keep envy from taking roots in your soul as well.

The tree that Jesus killed

Mark 11:13 Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening...........20 As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up.

Pat Mcarty preached at Bethel last night. If you did not have the opportunity to make it you missed a real treat. For the full treatment I urge you to go to the website and listen to the sermon. But I will recap. He preached on the fig tree that Jesus cursed. Pat did a masterful job of showing how the fig tree in scripture is often used as a representation of the nation of Israel. Also he pointed out that the fig tree was often used as a covering in their culture serving as sheltered protection from the harsh elements. In the story of the cursed fig tree in Mark 11, the fig tree represents the nation of Israel. The covering of the fig tree represents Jesus who came to the nation of Israel as Messiah and yet was rejected by them. Oh how Jesus longed to put His people, the chosen people under His protective covering. However, He could not because they did not bear the fruit of faith and repentance. But instead they rejected the Messiah and clung to their own selfish desires as opposed to having eyes to see what God was doing in their midst, all the while being convinced in their own minds that they were actually doing the will of God when in reality they did not know Him. The fig tree with leaves but no fruit becomes a picture of the nation of Israel. They looked good from a distance.....lots of leaves. But upon closer inspection there is no fruit. So Jesus condemns the tree.

This story becomes a warning to all who live religious lives but do not bear fruit. It is particularly applicable to a lot of church goers. On the surface everything looks good. They attend church regularly and live decent, moral lives. From a distance they look good, just like the fig tree with a lot of leaves in the story looked good from a distance. But upon close inspection you begin to see the reality. There is no fruit. Many church people go to service regularly and yet never lead anyone else to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Many who have been supposedly been Christians for decades have never even led one other person on the planet to Jesus. Hundreds of sermons, bible studies, Sunday School lessons over the years, and they have not led one single person to Christ? Someone who has never led anyone else to Christ has failed to put into practice what they have learned in all those bible studies.

May I ask you today, are you bearing fruit? Who knows God because of your influence? Who have you shared the gospel with lately? Are you regularly looking for, and taking advantage of opportunities to share your faith in Christ Jesus? Remember that Jesus is looking for fruit in our lives in the form of others who know God through your witness. He is not looking for the leaves of religious activity, He is looking for fruit. As believers our faith and our relationship with God is not just something for us to enjoy privately. God lets us experience Him so we can in turn share Him with others. Are you sharing Him with others or are you keeping your faith to yourself?

In your life, do not just grow leaves of religious activity....bear some fruit. 

Out of the comfort zone

Nehemiah 2:11 So I came to Jerusalem....

Nehemiah has a vision to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem that lies in ruins in order to bring glory to the Lord. Nehemiah leaves his comfortable position as a cup bearer to the King in Persia, to go to Jerusalem for that reason. The journey there was dangerous, and the task was enormous with many obstacles. Nehemiah was willing to move out of his comfort zone to do what God wanted him to do.

It seems to be a pattern in scripture, that every time something great is done for God, somebody in the story is called to do something that takes great faith. Great stories in the bible are great because someone in the story exercised great faith in a GREAT GOD, and moved in the direction He was leading in spite of the discomfort it caused them. 

As the story of your life is being written, God will continually ask you to move out of your comfort zone if you are walking with Him. "Stepping out of your comfort zone" takes on different forms for different people based on how God is working in their lives. For some it may mean witnessing to that neighbor that they have never talked to about Christ. For others it may mean moving into some new area of service to the Lord. For others it may mean taking a current area of service and expanding it to new levels of fruitfulness.

If you are walking with God He will stretch you. What does "stepping out of your comfort zone" mean in your journey with God?

Abounding grace

Someone shared their devotion with me this morning via email, and it blessed me so much that I wanted to share it with all of you:

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)

When you relate to God you always deal with abundance, for God does nothing in half measures! This is true regarding His grace. The Lord is not miserly when it comes to providing grace to His servants. When you seek to perform a good work that God has asked you to do, you will always find an ample supply of God’s grace to sustain you. If you begin to lose heart in the work you are doing, God’s grace upholds you and gives you the love for God and His people you require in order to continue. When you face criticism and are misunderstood, God’s grace enables you to forgive your accusers and to sense God’s pleasure even when others do not understand what you are doing. When you make mistakes in the work God has appointed you to do, God’s grace forgives you, sets you back on your feet, and gives you strength to continue the work. When you complete the task God gave you and no one expresses thanks for what you have done, the Father’s grace surrounds you, and He reminds you that you have a heavenly reward where everything you have done in the Lord’s service will be remembered.
God does not promise to provide all you need for your dreams and projects. He does assure you that, for every good work you attempt, you will never face a shortfall of His grace in order to successfully complete the task God has given you.

Aim your conduct

1 Peter 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,

The bible teaches us to be intentional with our lives, not to walk through life aimlessly. We can simply let life come at us and deal with it as it comes. Or we can go on the offensive. The devil can come up with plenty of distractions to keep you from serving the Lord. What I have found is that serving the Lord faithfully requires a resolute spirit that says, "I am going to serve Him, no matter what!" Then when some distraction, difficulty, or drama comes along we are not swayed.

I know people who are always intending to get started serving God. But any little distraction that comes into their lives keeps them from serving. Then I know others who have decided that they are going to serve God no matter what. I knew of a man that used to attend our church (he is at home with the Lord now) who had major health issues. He had to get up at 4:30 am to start getting ready to come to church, and he came every Sunday on an electric wheel chair / scooter. He had every reason to stay in, but he had already decided nothing was going to stop him from worshiping. He had adopted a "whatever it takes" mentality. We need more people like that.....people that have said, "I am going to serve and worship God and I am willing to do whatever it takes."

That type of attitude produces conduct that is aimed at something. Aim at nothing and you will hit it. What is your conduct aimed at?

I am a proud Pastor

I am so proud of Bethel Baptist. I can't help it. Wow!!! 144 professions of faith at Judgment House...Stories abound of those who are Bethel members that invited family and friends who were saved. Glory to God.

One man stopped me who is a key lay leader in a sister church across town. He said to me something that really blessed my heart, "Please tell your people thank you. I cannot even begin to imagine the time, effort, and energy that it takes to pull something like this off. And you guys are making such a significant contribution to the body of Christ and the effort to bring in the harvest in this area through Judgment House. I am not aware of too many churches that are willing to pay the price that you have been willing to pay to do this. Thanks from the bottom of my heart."

Several others expressed similar sentiments. I just wanted those who participated to know that the entire community takes notice of the sacrifices you made to be part of Judgment House. Now I know that you did not do it for the approval of man.....I get that....but I hope it does encourage your heart to know that others in the community, particularly the other area churches were blessed by it. I talked to one staff member of a local church who brought about 30 people from his church who said, "Wow, we are going to have a lot of baptisms at our church. We brought 8 teens and 2 adults that got saved tonight!" That is the way it is when you serve God faithfully, even those around you get blessed.

The vast majority of the 144 people who were saved will never attend Bethel. A lot of them were brought by other church groups and will attend those churches. But that is okay. We are not here to build our kingdom......we are here to build His Kingdom!!! And as long as we make that our focus, God will send the people to us we need to get it done. He always has, and he always will as long as we make HIS goals our goals. Amen?!

Thank you Bethel for letting God use you to build the Kingdom. You are truly remarkable people.

Judgment House

1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God's fellow workers

I want to say a word to all my fellow workers participating in Judgment House. AMAZING!!! Best word I can think of to describe Judgment House at Bethel Baptist. One of the things that excites me about it is how the church pulls together and works together to accomplish the goal of pointing people to Christ.

There are some characteristics of the Judgment House participants that stand out to me.

MUTUAL RESPECT - Everyone values every other member and honors all roles. There are no insignificant roles. We need every single person who serves in every single role. We need the registration people, the tour guides, the set builders, the scene directors, the technical folks, the actors and actresses, the counselors......there are no unimportant roles.

COOPERATION - There is a willingness to pitch in and help wherever there is a need. I rarely hear anyone during Judgment House say, "That is not my job, I'm not doing that." There seems to be such a keen awareness of the importance of the mission, that people adopt a "whatever it takes" attitude. The "me" mentality disappears, and it becomes a "we" mentality.

SACRIFICE - People are willing to sacrifice time and sleep. It is exhausting. The hours are long. I hear no complaining or whining during Judgment House. The participants seem so focused on the mission that their own personal needs seem unimportant to them.

LOVE - There is a genuine love for the people who come through Judgment House, and there is a special connectedness that all the participants share with one another that is hard to describe unless you have experienced it. No matter what your role you feel a special connection to everyone else who is participating.

SYNERGY - One of my favorite spiritual concepts is the concept of synergy. The law of synergy states that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. That means that instead of 1+1+1 equaling 3, it starts to equal 4 or 5. The idea is that the combined efforts of people working together produces a greater result than those same people working equally as hard but as individuals, not as a team.

To all of you who are serving in any capacity let me say to you.....WELL DONE!! And hang in there. The long hours and exhaustion are worth it. God is bringing in a harvest of souls and you are part of it. Remember that when you are so tired on Sunday night that you feel like you are about to drop.

Gird your loins

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, 

When Peter says to "gird up the loins" it is the picture of the Roman soldier preparing for combat. He is saying, get ready to fight. Where is the battle ground? It is in the mind. That is where the battle for living the Christian life is. It is in your thoughts. The bible says to "be sober". What does it mean to be sober? It means to be controlled. A drunk has no control of his thoughts. He therefore has no control of his actions. Out of control thoughts = out of control actions. It works that way every time. That is why the bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to "take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

When you know you are having thoughts that are not obedient thoughts, that is when the battle is really on. Now the fight is full blown. Who will win? Will God be victorious in our lives or will we give in to the world, the flesh, and the devil? It all depends on whether or not we are able to take the thoughts captive.

Child of God, you have a choice what you think about. You have a choice as to what kind of attitude you adopt. You have a choice as to whether or not you choose to frame everything in your thinking in a positive way or whether or you can choose to be negative. Make no mistake....it is your choice.

May God grant you the grace to take your thoughts captive today.

Inquiry of the angels

1 Peter 1:12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven -- things which angels desire to look into.

Peter makes a most interesting comment about angels in this passage of scripture. He offers the notion that angels do not completely understand grace. How could they? They have not been saved. You and I have, so we have a perspective on the grace of God that comes from experience. We know what it is like to be the recipients of "so great a salvation", translated from the dominion of darkness into the Kingdom of God, cleansed by the blood of the lamb, and guaranteed a place in heaven when what we really deserve is hell!!!! HALLELUJAH WHAT A SAVIOR!!!!! Pardon me. Just had a spell. I'm better now.

This gives us insight into a very important aspect of grace. It is on some levels incomprehensible to angels. We must also say, on some level, it is incomprehensible to us. We have experienced it, yes.....but do we really understand it? I would say that as we mature as Christians, we continually grow in our understanding of it. I would also flip that statement around and say, we mature as we grow in our understanding of it.

Some have said, "I am saved now, let me move on beyond the gospel to the deeper things of the Christian life." I would submit to you the idea that such an understanding of things is misguided. My friend, there is nothing deeper than the gospel. There is nothing deeper than the amazing grace of God. When we all get to heaven all our eschatology will be correct. But we can go on for an eternity of eternities meditating upon the glorious gospel and never get to the bottom of that deep well.

So meditate today on the glorious gospel, what it means to be saved, and how much God loves you. And walk in the peace that passes all understanding, and walk in joy inexpressible. 

Trials

1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,

How do you tell if faith is genuine? How does it hold up to trials? That is the test that Peter puts forth in this passage of scripture. If your faith holds up during the trials of life it is genuine.

It is easy to praise God and serve Him when everything is going well. It is quite another thing to praise God and serve Him when you are in the middle of a fiery trial. When you go through trials but your faith is not shipwrecked by them, it brings glory to Jesus. Many believers suffer silent pain. There are circumstances that occur that produce fear. Many live with anxiety over the future. There are private struggles that we as believers go through that we just do not want to burden other people with. We think to ourselves, "They have their own problems, they don't want to hear about mine." So we pour our hearts out to God. And when we do it legitimizes our faith. When you depend on the Lord to help you deal with your pain, He notices whether or not any one else does. One day when we get to heaven, all that private pain that we experienced that we allowed God to see us through, it will be proclaimed openly in heaven that we suffered well, and made it through with our faith in tact. That testimony will be the testimony that the Savior glories in!!!

Pour your heart out to God today. Give Him your pain. It is when you take your pain to Him, and rely on Him to get you through that your faith is shown to be most genuine. 

Kept

1 Peter 1:5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Is it not wonderful to know that if you are truly a born again child of God, you are kept by His power? As the writer of Hebrews communicates to us toward the end of the 6th chapter, this assurance becomes an "anchor" for the soul. Since it is HIS power that keeps us, we know that it is a sure thing.

I know that there are well intentioned folks out there who believe that you can loose your salvation. I get to talk to some of them every time I preach a message on the doctrine of eternal security (smile). I want to lovingly and gently say, they are wrong. I will not go into a defense of my position here. If you would like a detailed defense, let me encourage you to go the church website www.bbcva.org and listen to the sermon from this past Sunday night in which I give a detailed defense of the security of the believer.

I feel sorry for people who do not have assurance. I know in my own life, I have found the writer of Hebrews to be so correct.....assurance of my salvation is an anchor for my soul.

The anchor holds, in spite of the storm. Hold on to your anchor today.

Your heavenly inheritance

1 Peter 1:4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

Life comes at you fast. And sometimes it can be brutal with what it dishes out. But I am reminded that this world is not our home. We are just passing through. As we pass through we have the opportunity to work on our inheritance. Every day of our lives we have the opportunity to build on what is waiting on us in glory. What is waiting on us? An imperishable and undefiled inheritance! Jesus said:

Matthew 6:19 " Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.


Remember that whatever you do for Jesus today builds your investment portfolio in heaven. Do something today to lay up treasure in heaven!!

Email exchange

In Sunday's sermon I spoke about the doctrine of election. It generated the following email exchange with one of the members of our church. If you did not hear Sunday's messages, Sunday morning and Sunday night, you may need to go to the website www.bbcva.org and listen in order to have context. I have removed certain parts of the email exchange that could give the identity of the person away. I think it is an example of how two brothers can be on different sides of an issue and have a God honoring discussion about it. I also wanted to put it here to help clarify my position. The sender of this email was unclear where I stood after listening to the sermons. I hope my responses to the emails at least clarifies where I stand whether you agree with my thoughts or not.

Pastor Reggie,

As far as Sunday's sermon I love that you will be doing verse by verse in 1 Peter. I certainly struggle with election and did not envy your efforts to define the ground between free will and predestination.  Heady stuff.  I ended the night still not quite sure where you plant your flag - although it is clear that you're not on either extreme.  Here are some of my thoughts on the doctrine of election; how does this align with your thinking?

a.       Definition: God’s decision to choose us to be saved which was made before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4,5).  This act is compatible with all of His attributes and demonstrates His matchless grace (Eph 2:7,8) and displays His glory (Eph 1:6, 12, 14).  Considered the first step in the process of God bringing us to individual salvation and its cause lies completely in God and is grounded in His grace.  Election is necessary because man is totally depraved, hopelessly lost in sin, and so God makes election a prerequisite for faith and salvation and, thus, receives all of the glory for salvation.

b.      Election is unconditional – God chose us because He decided to bestow His love upon us, not because of any good, faith or merit on our part (Rom 9:16,18,22-24).  It is not a matter of fairness – God would be perfectly fair to save no one.

c.       God’s choice of people to salvation was made freely and for His own purposes before the foundation of the world (1 Cor. 1:27,28; Eph 1:4).  Election may assure that those chosen will be saved, but it does not alone save them. People are saved by faith in the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross.  Election is not based on foresight or foreknowledge.

d.       Reprobation – sometimes referred to as “double predestination” - a very difficult doctrine whereby the condemnation of sinners lies within themselves and is the sovereign decision of God, grounded in His justice (2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Peter 2:8; Jude 4; Rom 9:21-23).  The Bible does not present the idea of reprobation and God must not be accused of tempting with evil (James 1:13).  Some Christians follow Augustine’s teaching that God is only active in the salvation of the elect and He is passive with regard to the non-elect.  At the end of this difficult and challenging road, however, we must affirm that God’s sovereignty must reign over all of creation, and yet He is in no way culpable for evil or predestination to hell.

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My response:


Thanks for sharing your thoughts on election. I will try to clarify where I stand. I can not affirm most what you have shared with me, even though none of what you have shared would be a "test of fellowship" in my thinking. However, I will say that I am not a reformed theologian, and most of what you have shared is right out of the reformed theology hand book. Reformed theology sounds too close to the "double predestination" line for my taste. Points "a" and "d" seem to be in contradiction. As I said in the message, "Any theology that makes God responsible for sending someone to hell is a bad theology in my view." God deciding ahead of time who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, makes Him responsible for condemning someone to hell. The bible says that "whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) Scripture also says that it is not God's will that any should perish but that all would get saved. (2 Peter 3:9) So it is not God's choice before the foundation of the earth that condemns them, it is their rejection of Christ that condemns them. If election is prerequisite to salvation, then there is no opportunity for salvation for those who are not "elect" in that sense, which seems contradictory to John 3:16. If God is responsible for condemning someone to hell because He did not "elect" them, that to me seems to contradict 2 Peter 3:9. So I look for a different definition of election. Election in scripture is presented as being tied up in foreknowledge: Romans 8:29  "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." God knows who will be saved ahead of time, and they are elect from God's point of view before the earth was formed, because He knew that they would choose Christ before the earth was ever formed. Anything less than that means man does not have a choice. I reject the notion that man is "totally depraved" and has no ability therefore to choose God. Joshua said, "Choose this day whom you will serve......as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24). Peter called his listeners to faith and repentance in Acts 3 because He knew they had the ability to make a choice. He pleaded with them to repent and turn to God. Paul said, we "persuade men" in 2 Cor. 5:11 because he knew they had the ability to choose Christ.

Isaiah 56:3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from His people." Nor let the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." 4 For thus says the LORD, "To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, 5 To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.

To me this passage helps illustrate the point I am trying to make. These people described were not part of the chosen people in Isaiah 56. They were foreigners who chose to join themselves to the Lord. They had the ability to choose to put their faith in, and to follow God. Their election was based on their choice to follow God, not a predetermination. The foreigner described here becomes part of the elect in the sense that God knew ahead of time that he would exercise his "free will" by choosing to "join himself to the Lord."

Agreed on one point.....it is a very difficult issue. And one that takes great maturity to engage without deteriorating into attacks.....and I hope and pray that nothing that I have said, even though I did refute some of your thoughts, is taken as an an attack. I love you and respect your perspective, even when it does not mirror my own.

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Response I received:

I just LOVE this kind of discussion and your email is a real blessing. However, the engineer in me always wants to figure "it" out.  I have learned that the more I move down that path, the longer the road gets... The pragmatist in me also screams that in light of eternity it doesn't really matter whether we understand it or not, just be obedient and get out and spread the Good News and God will do what God will do.

Your points are good and I find myself nodding as I read and wrestle with this.  But I can't leave just yet (smile) as I have 2 more thoughts/questions: if God's foreknowledge of who will choose Christ and who will reject Him is the basis for their election, does that not place salvation totally in human hands?  In that case, the omni-everything God acts based upon the actions of sinful man...  That makes me uncomfortable.

Second thought is more fundamental and has to do with the starting point - If all mankind deserves damnation then we'd agree, I suppose, that God would be Righteous and Holy and Just even if no one was saved.  Starting from that presupposition then, the free gift of salvation is based upon God's grace and mercy and He may, therefore, chose those whom he chooses.  After all, His will may be that none will perish but has He not chosen them to do so (or allowed them to) when He has the power to have all come to Christ?

I am not set in my ways or my thinking and I truly enjoy the discussion as it causes me to study, reflect and consider alternative views.  Thanks Pastor for the exchange.  And I have never looked at Isaiah 56 and so especially appreciate that perspective.
 

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My response: 

As I read your thoughts I love what you have to say "In that case, the omni-everything God acts based upon the actions of sinful man...That makes me uncomfortable." I must tell you brother that is a compelling notion. It is a breeze that sways me. And in the spirit of Agrippa's conversation with Paul in Acts 26 let me say, "Thou almost persuadest me"...but I have to say, it doesn't totally blow me over there. Let me see if I can articulate why. That line of thinking starts with a base line and works from that place. Here is the base line: if man makes a choice in the salvation equation, then that diminishes the sovereignty of God. For me, I see no conflict between God giving man a free will whereby he can choose God, and the concept of His sovereignty. In fact I would argue that He has such a comfort level with His own sovereignty, that He chose to create beings with free moral choice. They could choose to follow Him, they could choose to reject Him. For me, to limit man as simply acting out in a cosmic play, some script written in heaven before time began, seems to limit omni-everything God to an insecure control freak that is uncomfortable with any beings in the universe making choices other than Himself. That somehow seems to limit God to me. Actually, I think that giving humans the ability to choose or reject Him, strengthens the notion of His sovereignty as opposed to detracting from it.

You make the statement: "If God's foreknowledge of who will choose Christ and who will reject Him is the basis for their election, does that not place salvation totally in human hands?" I want to respond to that part of what you say. I do not see it that way. The fact that the Father wanted to redeem man kind is the basis for salvation / election. And yes God would have been totally Righteous, Just, and Holy if it had been His choice to redeem no one and cast us all into hell. But His desire was to redeem man. So He made a way. It is the Father's desire to save man, followed up by the sending of His only begotten Son, the sinless life, the substitutionary death, bodily resurrection of Christ....it is these things that that provide the basis for salvation. And that was all in God's hands. He did not have to do any of it. All you and I had to do to get saved was believe it. That is why the bible says "It is by grace we are saved". Grace is the Father's desire to save us, and the Son's obedience in allowing Himself to be the propitiation. So grace as displayed in these things provides the basis. Oh, there is more to that thought...it goes like this: "through faith. It is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast." Eph 2:8-9. In this passage the bible teaches us that "faith" is that "through" which we are saved. There was God's part, that was "grace" because He did not have to allow a way, and then there is our part "faith". The spirit of the passage compares His part and our part, presenting the idea that a healthy understanding of salvation is going to always place way more emphasis in the equation on God's part than man's part. God did all the work, really. Man just simply believed that Jesus is who He says He is, and that He did the necessary work as our propitiation. That is why salvation is called a gift. All we really did to get saved was accept the gift. In this sense, believing, or exercising faith is not really a "work". The first century Jew would have the back drop of the law in his thinking, and following the law as a means to salvation. By comparison, having to follow the law to get saved with all its stringent requirements, or having faith in Jesus....having faith in Jesus as a means to salvation and not having to follow the law...now that is a gift. 



 

The greatest love of all

I caught a few minutes of one of the early shows on television this morning to see an over head shot  from a helicopter of Whitney Houston's burial. They were playing her mammoth hit song, "The Greatest Love of All". I actually remember that song quite well. I am not sure why I know so many of the lyrics. I have never sat down with the intentions of memorizing the song. But there was a key lyric that stood out to me as I was watching the scene of the hearse pulling into the grave yard:

"Because the greatest love of all, is easy to achieve. Learning to love yourself, it is the greatest love of all." 

Whitney belted that lyric out with an intensity and quality of voice that mesmerized audiences world wide. My personal evaluation is that there has never been a more talented singer.

I must say however, that I disagree with the lyric above based on scripture. It is not love of self that is the greatest love of all.

Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live 20 "that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."



The greatest love of all, is the love of God. According to the bible, blessing and cursing are riding on it.

I heard on the news that Whitney was raised in church and got her start singing gospel songs. A close family friend stated that Whitney's whole family was Christian. It sounds to me like somewhere along the line, Whitney left her roots and bought into a worldly philosophy that brought her life to a tragic and sad end.

Just reminds us all, the greatest love of all is the love of God. No amount of success, fame, money....nothing can replace it.

Blow the trumpet

"Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people" Joel 2:15
 
Most fasting is a private matter between an individual and God. There are however, occasions of public fast. The example cited above in the book of Joel would fall into that category. Whenever there is a public fast, there are a couple of key ingredients. I want to go over them because I called our church to a public season of fasting and prayer during December to last through the end of February.

1) The corporate fast is called for by a spiritual leader
2) There is some compelling reason for the fast that typically involves emergency

I know that many of you are participating in the season of prayer and fasting in various ways and I want to encourage you as we are in the last month of our season by sharing some ways that you can pray specifically.

Pray for the families in our church for financial provision. Several are out of work. Many have had to take jobs making less money. Many who own businesses are struggling to make ends meet. Many of our Senior Saints are living on fixed incomes, but their expenses are constantly rising.

Pray that God would provide the resources that Bethel needs to do all that God is calling us to do. Pray that there would be no ministry effort that goes undone, that God is calling us to do, that is not done because of a lack of funding.

Pray for spiritual growth in our church, so that we as individuals, and corporately would bring much glory to God.

May God richly bless you as you continue to do the hard work of intercession!!!

Practical considerations for fasting

In the forty days of Jesus' fast in Luke 4 we are told that "he ate nothing" and that "he was hungry". Satan tempted Him to eat. That seems to indicate that Jesus was abstaining from food but not water. This is usually what is involved in a fast, that is abstaining from food but drinking water.

There are several examples of an "absolute fast" where people abstain from food and water. All of those situations appear to be a desperate measure of dire emergency. For example Ester instructed in Ester 4:16 "G, gather all the Jews......and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do." Ester had been informed that an edict had been declared by the King to have all the Jews exterminated on a particular day. She was going to approach the King and ask him to repeal his edict. Ester knew that if her request displeased the King, that her life could certainly be in jeopardy. So she requested to have all the people engage in an "absolute fast"  for 3 days to seek the intervention of God in the situation. 

The human body cannot go without water much more than three days. Moses and Elijah did absolute fasts of forty days that must be considered supernatural. I would caution you that the absolute fast is the exception, and should never be attempted unless you have an absolute very clear command from God, and unless is it absolutely clear to you that God wants you to do otherwise, do not go beyond three days.

Most fasting will involve abstaining from food but continuing to drink water.

I also want to offer a practical word of caution to those who have health issues.

If you take medications that will burn a whole in your stomach if you do not eat food, I would caution you not to totally abstain from food. For you a fast may be a reduction in food intake as opposed to totally doing without food. During your "semi-fast"eat enough food to get you out of the danger zone for stomach problems that your medication would cause if you took them on an empty stomach. But eat no more than what would be required to get you out of that danger zone.

If you have diabetes or some other health issue that causes you to have to pay special attention to your diet, exercise great caution in regards to totally abstaining from food.

It may be wise to consult your physician about fasting if you have extenuating medical issues. It may give you the opportunity to have an interesting spiritual dialogue with your doctor. Imagine having this conversation with your doctor:

"Doctor, I don't know if I ever mentioned it to you before or not, but I am a Christian. I am really sensing a drawing from God lately to develop more intimacy with Him. The bible teaches Christians that fasting is a way to do that. However, I also want to consider practical matters before starting a fast. Now Doc, you know the medications that I am taking. You know my health issues. How much food would I need to consume if I wanted to cut my consumption to the absolute minimum without putting myself in danger physically?"

Think about the witness that would be to your physician if he or she is not a believer!!!

Now by all means, if you have a clear command from God to fast, and you absolutely know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have heard His voice......then far be it from me to give you any advice that would cause you to disobey God. If it is not that clear to you that you are hearing from God on it, I urge you to take the advice that I have offered on this blog post if you are an individual with health issues that need to be considered before entering a fast.

The right motive for fasting

Matthew 6:17 "But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,

Throughout the bible fasting is abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. There are health benefits. You can find plenty of articles on the internet regarding the potential health benefits of fasting. That must never be the motivation if you are going to achieve anything that will aid your spiritual life. In fact, motivation is the single most important factor. Wrong motivation when it comes to fasting will render it unproductive for your spiritual life.

The Pharisees wanted everyone to know when they were fasting. They would let their appearance become disheveled to give the outward impression that they were suffering through a fast. They were fasting and they wanted everyone to know. Jesus was teaching that they had their motive wrong. The motive ought to be to grow in intimacy with God, not to put it on display so everyone else can see how spiritual you are.

That brings us to a major reason for fasting....intimacy with Christ. Consider this passage:

Luke 5:33 Then they said to Him, "Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?"


The Pharisees were watching Jesus and picking him apart attempting to find fault with him. They thought they had an issue that they could get some traction on, so they bring it up. Notice how Jesus responds to their criticism:

Luke 5:34 And He said to them, "Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 "But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days."

Jesus is saying, the purpose of fasting is to achieve intimacy with Me......I am with them face to face, so there is no need for them to fast now.....but one day I will be crucified and ascend to the Father, and when I am no longer with them physically, then they will fast.


So the motive is intimacy with Jesus.

To what degree do you desire intimacy with Jesus?

I played some football in High School. I had had a football coach that during a tough game would get us huddled up and say, "This game is going to boil down to who wants it worse. We are in a dog fight. The dog that wants it the worst is going to win. YOU GOTTA WANT IT!"

Can I say to you that when it comes to achieving deeper intimacy with Christ, YOU GOTTA WANT IT! If you are just fasting so that you can feel better about yourself because you did something spiritual you won't grow closer to Christ.

Before you fast, check your motive. Make sure there is but one thing and one thing alone that is driving your soul to fast.......to know God deeper.

It's time

It's time to move on from making a case for fasting to other matters concerning this lost biblical discipline. But one more blog entry to make an appeal that I feel in my heart and spirit needs to be made to some of you out there reading this.

Reggie, you ask, "Why are you going to such lengths to try to make a case for fasting?" Because you need to be totally convinced in your spirit that what I am saying about fasting is true or it will avail you nothing. If you have not totally bought into the notion that it is a biblical discipline that absolutely needs to be just as much a part of your Christian experience as prayer and giving, you will not approach it in the right frame of mind and heart. If you approach it with the wrong frame of mind it will not work for you. You can not approach fasting with an "experimentation" attitude. "Let me try this to see if it works for me." You have already doomed it to fail. I want to get into reasons to fast on the next blog post or two.......but before I do......if you are not totally on board with this idea, please understand that you are rejecting something that has been portrayed in the bible as something Jesus assumed people would do. I must lovingly say to you that if you are not on board, it is because you are stiff necked and not responsive to the Lord, and are resistant to the Holy Spirit. You have defined what your Christian experience will consist of according to your own tastes and not according to biblical revelation....and the Holy Spirit is not involved in anything that does not line up with the Word of God. Folks this is serious stuff. Fasting is not some item on the Christian buffet that you choose if it suits your fancy. "Well, that fasting stuff just isn't for me." Then biblical Christianity isn't for you. You have created a Christian experience that you like instead of being instructed by the biblical revelation.

It is a very dangerous thing to be presented with truth and reject it. It is not even the fruit of a true child of God.

May the Lord soften every heart that has hardened itself against the truth of God.

Who's who list when it comes to fasting

Scripture has so much to say about prayer and fasting that I think we would do well to recapture this discipline of the Christian life. I am sure if you have been following my blog posts that statement is no surprise to you at this point. I will continue to make the case by pointing to some of the people in scripture of whom it is said they fasted. It reads like a who's who list of the faith, and many of these characters are people who's lives you have studied in great detail hoping to glean from their lives things that will point you toward increasing godliness. Yet you may have you overlooked the fact that fasting was a great part of the spiritual lives of the following according to scripture:

Moses the law giver (Deuteronomy 9:9)
David the king (Psalm 35:13)
Elijah the Prophet (1 Kings 19:8)
Ester the queen (Esther 4:16)
Daniel the seer (entered a partial fast Daniel 10:3)
Anna the prophetess (Luke 2:37)
Paul the apostle (Acts 9:9)

and last but certainly not least.....Jesus the Christ (Matthew 4:2)

This is not a total list. There are many more who could be named. But this is just a smattering.

Do we think that this is a list of people who would be good examples for us to follow? Of course the only perfect one on the list is Jesus, but certainly the scripture teaches us many valuable positive lessons from the lives of some of these other individuals. Why would we ignore a discipline then, that was a significant part of their spiritual lives?

More to come in future blog posts regarding fasting.

Only by prayer and fasting

Matthew 17:14 And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 "So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him." 17 Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me." 18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20 So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21 "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

Okay folks let's get out of the shallow end of the spiritual pool. Time to swim out to the deep end. As I continue to make a biblical case for fasting on these blog posts, today I point your attention to this story recorded for us in the gospel of Matthew. A man brings his son to the disciples of Christ for healing. The son is obviously afflicted with something like epilepsy or as the father in this story describes it in the King James Version "he is a lunatic." The context of the story helps us clearly understand that this young man's condition was the result of demonic possession. The disciples were unable to cast out the demon. So Jesus comes behind them and does what they could not do, and the boy is healed. After the incident, the disciples inquire privately of Jesus, "Why could we not cast it out?"

Jesus' answer to this question provides some great insight into the role of fasting in the life of the believer. Jesus tells the disciples their lack of faith prevented them from casting out the demon.

The next thing Jesus does is He refutes a conclusion that could be easily drawn from His remarks. The disciples might have easily believed that Jesus was saying the amount of your faith is the key. Actually HE SAYS THE OPPOSITE!! Jesus says, it only requires the faith of a mustard seed. Wow, only the faith of a mustard seed? I would think to cast out a demon, it would require at least a dump truck load of faith, but you are saying Jesus, that it only requires the faith of a mustard seed? That is exactly what Jesus was saying.

Okay, I get it. So what was the missing ingredient for these disciples? Allow me to answer that. WHAT WAS MISSING FROM THE DISCIPLES WAS THE POWER AND ANOINTING OF GOD ON THEIR LIVES. What does it take to cast out a demon? Power...spiritual supernatural power.....accompanied by the faith of at least a mustard seed. I think most of us can handle the mustard seed faith part.....but where does the power of God come from? Glad you asked because Jesus answers the question for us.

"This kind does not go out but by prayer and fasting."

Where does the power and anointing of God come from? Prayer and fasting.....

So what do you want dear Christian. You want an average Christian life, or do you want the power of God resting on you? Apparently according to the words of Jesus, there are some things that you will never experience in the Christian life, and some things that you will never be able to do in the spiritual realm apart from prayer and fasting. The choice is yours.....you can experience all God has for you.....or you can settle for part of it. Go for all of it.....consider making prayer and fasting part of your Christian experience.

Stay tuned, more to come.

Prayer and fasting

In December I called the church to a season of fasting and prayer for the next three months. The season will come to an end in February.

I have had several inquiries about fasting since calling the church to a season of prayer and fasting. I have started to realize that people have not been exposed to it very much and that in large measure, most are unsure how it fits into the Christian walk. Many have expressed to me that they are not sure that it needs to be a regular part of their relationship with God. I therefore am going to spend some time writing about prayer and fasting on this blog as a matter of information.

Let me start by laying a foundation for the practice of the discipline of fasting. I must offer that I believe that this is sad, that there is a need to do this. It shows me how far we have drifted away from biblical Christianity in America. Please do not feel guilty if you have had a less than favorable attitude toward fasting. But please realize that if it is not a discipline that you have practiced or are really open to practicing, you are more a product of your culture than you may realize. It is indicative of the drift away from biblical Christianity that has been occurring for a long time in America. I have noticed the practice of fasting more when I have gone over seas on mission trips more than I have seen it mentioned or practiced in America. Many in the modern church particularly in America are not familiar with fasting, and are not convinced that it is something that they need to consider doing. In a culture that is dotted with shrines to the Golden Arches, and Pizza Temples on every street corner, fasting seems out of touch with the times. But it is a discipline that the Christian would do well to rediscover as a vital and useful part of their Christian experience and their walk with Christ.

I will begin making a case for fasting from the life and teachings of Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Jesus said, "When you fast......" and then started to give instructions about what to do and what not to do when you are fasting. Notice that Christ did not say, "If you fast....", Jesus said, "When you fast..." Christ teaches on fasting as if it were a foregone conclusion that those who desire to follow God would practice it. It was such a part of their experience that Jesus makes no attempt to "make a case for fasting." Jesus fasted, this is very clear in the bible, and He just assumed that it was something that those who wanted to know the Father were going to do.

Consider also that Jesus' instructions on fasting were part of what we know as "The Sermon on the Mount". His teaching on fasting is in the context of His teaching on prayer, and giving. It is clear that there is an assumption that fasting, prayer, and giving are all disciplines that need to be practiced in the life of the believer, and therefore Jesus was teaching on them. Now I am not convinced that a single one of you reading this would deny that prayer and giving are two Christian disciplines that are vital elements to the walk of the believer. So let me ask this question, "Why would we exclude fasting when Jesus puts it on the same level in his teaching with prayer and giving?" I sincerely hope the answer is clear in your thinking.....the inescapable conclusion if we are going to be intellectually honest in regards to the teaching of Jesus is this: We should not exclude fasting, but should put it on par with praying and giving as disciplines of the Christian life because Jesus did.

More to come....I will talk in more detail in regards to Jesus' teaching on fasting, how we see fasting portrayed in the bible, what fasting is intended to accomplish in the life of believer, some practical considerations in regards to fasting, and much much more on the topic in future posts. Stay tuned.

Wisdom

James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

One of the themes of the book of James chapter 3 is wisdom. He mentions two things in the verse that precede our focal passage for the day. He says points out that meekness accompanies true wisdom. James also mentions that wisdom has only one source....GOD!

Then in this verse he makes a connection that I am not sure we often make when we think about wisdom. He points out the relationship between certain qualities, (namely holiness, good attitude, good behavior, pleasant disposition) and wisdom from above. From above is a careful distinction that James is making. He is giving characteristics of the wisdom from above, that is, wisdom from God. If it does not possess these characteristics then it is not wisdom.

Let me unpack here what James is saying to us. If you see someone that is not holy they don't have wisdom from above. If you see someone that is not a peace maker but always stirring something up, they don't have the wisdom of God. If someone is not gentle, but instead they are harsh and mean, they do not have the wisdom of God. Unreasonable people do not have the wisdom of God and they always demand their own way no matter what (and get nasty, back biting, and gossipy when they don't get it). If someone is not full of mercy, but is quick to judge they don't have the wisdom of God. If someone is not faithful to God but is constantly wavering in their faith, they do not have the wisdom of God. If someone is hypocritical, they do not have the wisdom of God.

Now let's consider what someone is who has no wisdom? They are a fool. Strife stirring, mean, harsh, unreasonable, judgmental, self centered, nasty, gossipy, unfaithful people are fools. Don't be a fool. Learn to know wisdom.

Follow God no matter what the cost

Ruth 1:16 But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.

Elimilech and Naomi move from Bethlehem to Moab to avoid a great famine that hits the land. They have two sons Mahlon and Chilion. Their sons marry Moabite women, Ruth and Orpah. Elimilech dies. Then Mahlon and Chilion die. Naomi, having lost her husband and both her sons, makes the decision to move back to Bethlehem. Naomi encourages Ruth and Orpah to remain behind in Moab.  Perhaps, Naomi reasoned, they could find husbands among their people.....it would probably be difficult for Ruth and Orpah to find husbands in the land of Bethlehem being Moabite women. And after all, they are both still young with a lot of life in front of them. 

Orpah stays in Moab, but Ruth insists on going to Bethlehem with her mother in law. One of the motivating factors for Ruth, was that she recognized that the God she had worshiped being part of Naomi's family, the God of Israel, was the one true God. It was an unacceptable thought for her to return to a people who worshiped false gods. But to follow God by going with Naomi would not have been the most prudent economic decision for Ruth.

Ruth becomes an example for believers in that she followed God no matter what the cost. Too many believers make decisions based, not upon the will of God, but on whatever is going to produce the most positive outcome for their family financially.

There is no shame in financial prosperity, and the bible tells us that God delights in the prosperity of His people. However, if there ever comes a time in which following the direction that God wants you to go, comes into conflict with the best economic decision.......choose God's direction. Follow God, no matter what it costs you. By the way, I hear the rewards in heaven for sacrifices made here are pretty substantial.

Share the good news

Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"

We are sent by Jesus like lambs among wolves. We are chosen as His ambassadors as if He were pleading His case through us. We are given seed to scatter. We are laborers in His harvest. We are to use our feet to carry the good news to all who will listen. We are called to be witnesses unto Him in Jerusalem, Judea and all Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. All these are different ways the scriptures tell us that we are to share the gospel.

It is everywhere in the Word of God and yet some Christians still for some reason live their lives as if they bear no responsibility in this area. They view sharing a witness for Christ as if it is exclusively the activity of paid professionals or super spiritual types. It is the responsibility of every believer to be a witness for Christ.

When is the last time you shared?

Joy not burden

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

How do you experience your relationship with God? Is it burdensome for you to keep the commandments? If you experience obedience to God as something burdensome, something that you do out of a sense of obligation rather than something that is a source to you of deep abiding joy, your understanding needs to be tweaked a little.

It all begins with the gospel, and more specifically, your understanding of the gospel. Jesus died for your sins. That was not something that you deserved, it was an act of grace. Grace means unmerited favor. You now have unmerited (undeserved, unearned) favor with God. Favor with God was earned for you because of what Christ did at Calvary. HIS favor was credited to your account when you received Jesus! Jesus did this for you while you were yet a sinner! (see Romans 5:8) All these things will ultimately culminate in you spending all eternity with God in paradise!

A deep understanding of what I have shared in the previous paragraph produces one thing and one thing only: deeply felt gratitude. When you feel that gratitude toward God, it deepens your love for Him. That in turn makes obedience to Him a source of great joy for you deep in your soul.

Where are you in regards to your walk with God? Are you experiencing it as a burden, or is it a source of joy? If it is a burden, seek to deepen your understanding of the gospel. There you will find the key to permanent joy.

Be Spirit led

1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

Paul is addressing the carnality of the Corinthian church. It was a huge issue for them that was causing lots of problems. I can testify 2000 years later carnality is still an issue in churches. Carnality is caused by people not being led by the Spirit. Reduce it to its basic element and that is what you have. We will be led by two things as Christians.....the Spirit, or ourselves. If we are not led by the Spirit we are led by our own desires. Our "self" can be broken down into three components:1) What we want 2) What we think 3) What we feel.

Self centered thinking is the hallmark characteristic of carnality. When we get carnal it is no longer about what God wants, it is about what we want. When we get carnal it is no longer about what God thinks, we act on what we think without consider God's thoughts. When we get carnal its about how we feel and what we feel like doing and not how God feels and what He wants us to do.

Let me share with you three steps to becoming a spiritual giant:
1) Ignore what you want, and accept the will of God.
2) Ignore what you think, find out what God thinks (if you don't already know search the scriptures or seek His face for wisdom).
3) Ignore how you feel and do the right thing regardless of how you feel.

If you practice these three steps in your life, you will walk with God in wisdom and power.

Remember folks, it is not about us....what we want, what we think, and what we feel....its about HIM.

The gift of the Messiah

I will give You for a covenant of the people. Isaiah 49:8

We all gave and received gifts during the Christmas season. More than likely, you received gifts that you do not really care for that much. You were certainly appreciative of the thought that went behind the gift, but the gift itself is of no use to you. You probably received a gift or two that was really what you wanted as well.

Isaiah reminds us that the Messiah was a gift. He is speaking writing the words of God the Father in Isaiah 49, so we are to understand the portion of Isaiah 49:8 above as a quote from God the Father Himself. The Father is telling Jesus the Christ that He is giving Him for the people.

We could ponder for an eternity of eternities the implications of this gift and never reach the bottom of that well. Christmas has come and gone, however pondering the wonders of the giving of Messiah is a yearlong pursuit, not exclusively a Christmas time activity. Consider what the great preacher of yesteryear Charles H. Spurgeon had to say about the implications of the gift of Messiah:

In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Consider that Word "God" and its infinity, and then meditate upon "perfect man" and all His beauty; for all that Christ, as God and man, ever had, or can have, is thine-out of pure free favour, passed over to thee to be thine entailed property forever. Our blessed Jesus, as God, is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. Will it not console you to know that all these great and glorious attributes are altogether yours? Has He power? That power is yours to support and strengthen you, to overcome your enemies, and to preserve you even to the end. Has He love? Well, there is not a drop of love in His heart which is not yours; you may dive into the immense ocean of His love, and you may say of it all, "It is mine." Hath He justice? It may seem a stern attribute, but even that is yours, for He will by His justice see to it that all which is promised to you in the covenant of grace shall be most certainly secured to you. And all that He has as a perfect man is yours. As a perfect man the Father's delight was upon Him. He stood accepted by the Most High. O believer, God's acceptance of is thine acceptance."

All that is His, is yours......let that thought encourage your heart today.

Avoid spiritual pride, spiritual despair

Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18

In one phrase found in 2 Peter is our goal as believers. The new year provides a natural time to reflect upon where we have been and where we are going. I have been prayerfully thinking through that over the holidays from a personal stand point, and also from the stand point of the church. For me the two are intimately connected, because no church can rise higher than its leader. If I stop growing spiritually I can put a lid on the church. Its a sobering thought and a challenge to me personally to strive toward growth.

This verse reminds me that real Christian growth is inseparably connected to growing in the understanding of grace. Understanding grace is what really frees us up as believers to live obediently for Christ. A misunderstanding of grace leads to a performance based Christianity. A person who misunderstands grace is compelled to serve because they are trying to earn the favor of God. The result is either spiritual pride or despair. Spiritual pride results when such people perform well according to their own evaluation. People who fall into spiritual pride become like the Pharisees, thinking more highly of themselves than they ought, looking down on those that do not measure up to their exacting standards. On the other end of the spectrum is despair. Despair results in those who do not perform well. They feel like miserable failures and tend to give up all together on living for God. Both of these are extremes to be avoided, and an understanding of grace is what keeps us from spiritual pride and despair. It helps us to live out the command of Romans 12:3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment,  

Seek to understand grace more.....It will set you free, and it will cause you to grow spiritually.