A Reminder

For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  ~ 2 Corinthians 4:17, NLT

 

Every little bit we need reminded that this world is only for a short while and the problems are short term as well; when compared to the retirement plan we have in Glory!

Hope

“So, Lord, what hope do I have?  You are my hope.  Psalm 39:7  (NCV)

 

Do you need HOPE?    Hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ!

More wondering of this Old Man

Deuteronomy 6:1-8

6 The Lord your God has directed me to teach you his commands, rules and laws. Obey them in the land you will take over when you go across the Jordan River.  ² Then you, your children and their children after them will have respect for the Lord your God as long as you live. Keep all of his rules and commands I’m giving you. If you do, you will enjoy long life.

³ Israel, listen to me. Make sure you obey me. Then things will go well with you. Your numbers will increase greatly in a land that has plenty of milk and honey. That’s what the Lord, the God of your parents, promised you.

⁴ Israel, listen to me. The Lord is our God. The Lord is the one and only God. ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Love him with all your strength.

⁶ The commandments I give you today must be in your hearts. ⁷ Make sure your children learn them. Talk about them when you are at home. Talk about them when you walk along the road. Speak about them when you go to bed. And speak about them when you get up. ⁸ Write them down and tie them on your hands as a reminder. Also tie them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses. Also write them on your gates.   (NIRV)

This is at least the second time God repeats the idea in the first three verses.  The time I saw this evening was in chapter 4 but I digress for my wondering.   My wondering thought is; Is this where we have messed up today and why the world is going to . . . down the tube."  Are we teaching anything let alone the commands of God to our children?    Well this is the wonderings of this old man!

Building the House

Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.       Ephesians 2:20 NLT


This verse was the verse of the day from either Klove or Air1 today.  It got me to wondering "what are we apart?"  I guess I see Christendom as a house divided; not together.  I am not even meaning denominations.  I am think of the clans of the Christendom like the American Baptists or the United Methodists or the Presbyterians or the  Southern Baptists.     In fact it is more like individual congregations can not even be built together into a house on one foundation.  Another man in my church and I were talking when we were the only two to show for men's group Wednesday about the church (the local congregation we fellowship in) and what it will take to get the body to care about the not-yet-Christians in our community.  As I look back at the conversation in the light of this verse it just may be a need of "coming together" allowing the cornerstone Christ Jesus himself to build the house one the foundation of His choosing.

Just my wondering wandering mind at work!

God knows more than you think he knows!

Psalm 139 New Century Version (NCV)

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ Lord, you have examined me and know all about me.
² You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them.
³ You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do.
⁴ Lord, even before I say a word, you already know it.
⁵ You are all around me—in front and in back— and have put your hand on me.
⁶ Your knowledge is amazing to me; it is more than I can understand.
⁷ Where can I go to get away from your Spirit? Where can I run from you?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I lie down in the grave, you are there.
⁹ If I rise with the sun in the east and settle in the west beyond the sea,
¹⁰ even there you would guide me. With your right hand you would hold me.
¹¹ I could say, "The darkness will hide me.  Let the light around me turn into night."
¹² But even the darkness is not dark to you. The night is as light as the day; darkness and light are the same to you.
¹³ You made my whole being; you formed me in my mother's body.
¹⁴ I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.  What you have done is wonderful. I know this very well.
¹⁵ You saw my bones being formed as I took shape in my mother's body. When I was put together there, ¹⁶ you saw my body as it was formed. All the days planned for me
were written in your book before I was one day old.
¹⁷ God, your thoughts are precious to me. They are so many!
¹⁸ If I could count them, they would be more than all the grains of sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.
¹⁹ God, I wish you would kill the wicked! Get away from me, you murderers!
²⁰ They say evil things about you. Your enemies use your name thoughtlessly.
²¹ Lord, I hate those who hate you; I hate those who rise up against you.

 ²² I feel only hate for them; they are my enemies.
²³ God, examine me and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ See if there is any bad thing in me. Lead me on the road to everlasting life.

I have read this verse a number of times; never really saw waht I was shown during men's Bible Study.  The discussion that night showed me another way this passage canbe used.  It can be used as a way of pointing out to people that God already knows what you hve done. Not just us in the church but even not-yet-christians.  Those who say God cn't love me becasue I am TOO BAD A PERSON for God to love.  If they are willing to believe the Bible then Romans 5:8 (NCV)  "But God shows his great love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners." points out that Christ died for us while we were still sinners, at odds with God, and the Psalm 139 points out that knew EVERYTHING about us and the person we are speaking with WHEN CHRIST DIED FOR US!

To me the is the GREAT NEWS of the GOD NEWS!  God was willing to die for us knowing everything about us!!

Have an Attitude 2

I wonder what would happen if the organized church had this attitude;

You’re welcome just as you are.

Your thoughts are welcome. Your doubts are welcome.

We’re all in this together.

The first one I think most churches (i.e. mainline churches) feel they have this attitude.  I am not quite sure that this is true.  Yes, we are willing for new people to come and be part of the gathering; we may even be willing for them to join but at some point they need to look like the rest of the ducks!  We want the wood ducks to become mallard ducks; those new comers need to assimilate and look like us, talk like us and especially worship just like us!!

I happen to be part of a denomination of which some one said "You can worship Buddha; as long as you say 'Jesus is Lord'!"  Well that may be true in some of our churches but I  can tell you it is not true in all of them.  If you want a good church fight just bring up the idea that a persons baptism is not an issue.  To join the church of which I am a member you are to be immersed (I think that the constitution reads that it has to be a baptist baptism but we ignore the baptist part as long as you have been held under the water.)  We especially have an issue if you doubt certain teachings of the baptist doctrine!

I do think that the idea of we are all in this together is done well; we are willing to do ministry with the other churches in the community; the building is used for a weekly community dinner.

Now for the last part of this statement "God is here, ready to connect with you in a fresh way."  All God's people would say "YES!  AMEN!" to the part up to the comma; God is here!  "Connect in a FRESH WAY!?!" "Wait a second here buddy!!"  Fresh way means we may have to do things we are not comfortable with!  I might have to do something that I am not comfortable doing!!

I do think this is the attitude we need for the mainline churches, our churches, to grow.  I think that the body of Christ need to move out of their comfort zone and do ministry in this attitude.  The minimum we must do is support ministries within and without the four walls of the church that have this attitude!  Here it is in it fullness

You’re welcome just as you are.

Your thoughts are welcome. Your doubts are welcome.

We’re all in this together.

God is here, ready to connect with you in a fresh way.

This is a sign inside Lifetree Cafes or Lifetree's site

We have a HOPE!!

1 Thessalonians 4:13 - 18 (New Living Translation) ¹³And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.  ¹⁴For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. ¹⁵We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.  ¹⁶For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.  ¹⁷Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.  ¹⁸So encourage each other with these words. 

The above passage is one that I have used for years as I did funerals; especially for believers funerals.  I see it as a comfort for the family, both blood and Spirit.  I would comment about the fact that Paul does not tell us not to grieve but that we are to grieve as a people of hope.  That hope is the knowledge that we will see the loved one when we see Jesus face to Face.

When I returned from a vision committee meeting Sunday I began to think on the vision statement we had arrived on; "Bringing the HOPE and LOVE OF JESUS to [insert city's name here] and the world.  This passage and how I and many pastors use it struck me.  If we have a hope that changes how we grieve, should not that same hope change how we live? 

I see the "sermon" starting with the passage as usual but then putting a missional twist on the passage, which I have only done at one funeral (and only backhandedly at that).  That twist would be if we have a hope which changes our grieving and we believe in that hope of Jesus then should we not be sharing that hope with others.  Meaning, are we not obligated by that hope to tell people that Jesus want to have a relationship with them?  Should we not tell them that Jesus want to know them and lead them so that at some point with when the person dies and go to heaven or when we meet Jesus in the air; that person will  also get to meet Jesus as well? 

It has been funny (not in the Ha ha concept) that in the last couple of weeks I have been able to get a word in about knowing where I will go.  On both occasions a person said something about my going to Hell.  I responded with "No thanks, I have reservation for the other place!"  Both people just looked at me and laughed but knew what I meant.

We have a hope!  Why not share it with the hopeless?!?

Can't We Just Get Along?

Ephesians 4:31 - 5: 2  (TMSG) ³¹Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk.  ³²Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.  ¹Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents.  ²Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. (The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Copyright © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)


When I read this part of the passage "Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you" as part of a devotional from the Church at which I am a member; I asked myself (and I may have said it out loud) "Is this possible?  To forgive in this way.  All the time?"  The Wednesday November 16th, I ask the men's group as we looked at the devotions  of the November 6th through 13th; those same questions.  I said that I felt it was nearly impossible!  While yes Philippians 4:13 does make it clear I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH  CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME; I also know that most of us are not living that verse out daily like we ought!

Having looked at the verse before the one I reacted to does help me a bit.  If we were to follow the words in verse 31; others would need to do a whole lot less forgiving like God forgave us!! If the rest of the church would also engage in the Don't and Nevers; we need to do less forgiving like God forgive us!

What would my church or your church look like if we Simply followed verse 31 & 31 above?  Paul is asking a lot there but then Paul goes and tells us "We should watch God and then DO what GOD DOES!!  Other versions say to imitate God like children.  As a father I know the good and the bad of a child's imitating my behavior; and we will not go there today!!  We have all had the experience of one of the teachers at the school where my mother was a paraeducator.  The teacher  chose to speak to the parent of a child who could color his sentences with words that an elementary age child should not know let allow speak.  When it was point out that Johnny could make a sailor blush; the parent was reported to have colored their remark equally as well!  Unlike this parent; God shows us how to speak, to make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk;  to be gentle with one another, sensitive and to forgive one another quickly and thoroughly!  God is the prefect parent and shows us the way to perfection as His children!  I echo Paul's statement in Philippians 3:12

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. (New Living Translation)

Here is the challenge.  Look at God's behavior toward you in Christ and then behave that way toward those around you!  I will guarantee that we will bless a lot of people we meet!!