“And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.” (Matthew 8:26)
The famous story of Jesus walking on the water is one of my favorites. There are so many rich lessons found in the story, especially when you put all four gospel accounts together. That is one of the most important aspects of the study of the life of Jesus. His life is so full that one account is not enough. The only way to see the full picture of his amazing life and ministry is to put all four gospel accounts together and see how the details all complement each other so beautifully.
We know the main elements of the story. Jesus sent the apostles away in a ship on the Sea of Galilee. A storm arose, and the apostles feared for their lives, when Jesus appeared to them walking on the water. Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water also, but began to sink. He called to the Lord who pulled him out, and the story ends there with the gallant prince riding off into the sunset with his special girl at his side and living happily ever after.
But there are a number of “side” details to the story that add incredible “spice” to the lessons of Jesus walking on the water. First of all, Jesus told the disciples to get into the boat and he would meet them on the other side. They obviously forgot those words when the storm arose. The trip across the Sea of Galilee pictures our “journey of life” as we navigate the “three score and ten” God gives us. If you know Jesus as your Saviour, he put you in the ship of life to sail to the other side. He will meet you there. Despite the adversity, Jesus is right there on the shore eagerly anticipating your arrival. Peter’s “lack of faith” is seen when he began to sink, but his seeds of doubt were sown earlier. Jesus said, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” Peter responded with one of the most dangerous words in the Bible. He said, “Lord, IF it be thou…” He doubted the words of Jesus while he was still in the boat. An old hymn says, “When the storms of life are raging, stand by me.” Don’t forget his promises in his word when those storms come.
Then in Matthew 14:32, it says, “And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.” Get the picture. Peter has been called out of the boat to walk on the water to Jesus, and he did that. Many people criticize Peter for his lack of faith, and rightfully so, but none of the other disciples had the guts to get out of the boat and get to Jesus. The safest place in a storm is next to Jesus, even when, and especially when it doesn’t make any “sense” to our natural understanding. But Peter’s walk on the water did not end when he got to Jesus and began to sink. Peter walked on the water twice – once to Jesus, and once back to the boat. We do not know how far that was, but it was at least enough paces to make it miraculous in both directions. But notice that the wind did not cease until they both got back into the ship. Peter began to sink because he took his eyes off of Jesus and saw the winds. Their trip back to the boat was just as boisterous. The difference is that Peter was walking arm in arm with Jesus. No matter how tough life gets, when you walk with Jesus, you can skip right over the obstacles in the most miraculous ways.
Finally, John 6:21 says when Jesus and Peter made it back to the boat and got in, “Immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.” In the same account, John tells us they were about half way across. The Sea of Galilee is about 8 miles wide at that point, so they were about 4 miles from the shore when Jesus entered the boat. They traveled those 4 miles immediately. One day soon, Jesus will call his people home. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we will all “stand on the beautiful shore” of heaven. God may give you your full three score and ten. He may come back today. Either way, your problems and storms in this life will finally be over when Jesus returns. Don’t doubt his word when the trials are here. Grab his hand and walk over the waves of the raging sea, “looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2).
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
The Book of Revelation
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15)
As promised, we kick off our study in the book of Revelation this Wednesday night. I have gotten more interest in this study than anything else we have done in many years. With world events as they are, the fascination with end times and Bible prophecy is at a fever pitch. All of us want to know what the future holds. The passion for knowledge is inbred in human nature from the Garden of Eden. Eve fell into sin through the temptation to “…be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:6) Prophecy students and seminar gurus fall into the same temptation with the book of Revelation because they are desperately trying to gain some secret insight into the events of the future. If they can know something that no one else does, it gives them a thrill and rush. That is where the Harold Campings of the world live and breed.
One of the downsides of a study like this is trying to position yourself properly as a teacher of prophetic events. I do claim to know a few things about the future, but only as I find them in the Bible. But much of the prophetic structure of the Bible is vague and ambiguous. God did it that way on purpose; primarily to keep man from getting “too big for his britches”. I don’t care how much you know, God has you trumped by a wide margin. Job 5:13 says, “He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” When some prophecy “expert” claims a special revelation, God pulls the rug out and lets him know who is still running the Universe. I will have much speculation in my study of the book of Revelation, and I will be right up front with it throughout. I reserve the right to be proven wrong. I have changed some things that I used to teach – not the basic truths and structures, but the details as we see life and history unfold. If I teach Revelation again in a few years, I will probably have to change a few more details. I will try to give everyone the best I have on it right now, but since these events are all future, we won’t be able to see every detail until it happens. The basic principles are factual. There will be a rapture (I Corinthians 15:50-52, I Thessalonians 4:13-18). Jesus will come to earth and reign in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 23:5). Israel will be the “head of the nations” as it was told them in Deuteronomy 28:13. A period of tribulation will overtake this world and be unlike any time this world has ever seen or ever will see (Matthew 24:21). The antichrist will dominate the world through his 666 mark and system (Revelation 13:16-18). But the specific details are yet to be revealed.
People are making fun of the rapture now because of idiots like Harold Camping. The event he is talking about will happen. The unintended consequence of his blathering is that people are now ignoring the event because it didn’t happen on May 21 as he said it would. First of all, the moron should never have set a date. Why is it we can’t learn from the failures of so many before us who have tried the same thing and become laughingstocks? But then instead of admitting that he is a fallible human with limited knowledge, he tried to justify his prophecy and explain away his failure. Now he says that the rapture really did happen, but it was spiritual and none of us could see it. Then why is he still sucking God’s air? Now he claims it will happen on October 21. When he is proven wrong again, why would anyone believe him or give him money?
It is interesting to study what the Bible says about the end times and the course of the history of humanity as God has revealed in his word. But one of the main issues in the book of Revelation is found in the first phrase in the very first verse. This is the “Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Rather than trying to gain some secret knowledge about future events that will happen to other people, keep your focus on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Far more important than what tomorrow holds is knowing the one who holds tomorrow.
As promised, we kick off our study in the book of Revelation this Wednesday night. I have gotten more interest in this study than anything else we have done in many years. With world events as they are, the fascination with end times and Bible prophecy is at a fever pitch. All of us want to know what the future holds. The passion for knowledge is inbred in human nature from the Garden of Eden. Eve fell into sin through the temptation to “…be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:6) Prophecy students and seminar gurus fall into the same temptation with the book of Revelation because they are desperately trying to gain some secret insight into the events of the future. If they can know something that no one else does, it gives them a thrill and rush. That is where the Harold Campings of the world live and breed.
One of the downsides of a study like this is trying to position yourself properly as a teacher of prophetic events. I do claim to know a few things about the future, but only as I find them in the Bible. But much of the prophetic structure of the Bible is vague and ambiguous. God did it that way on purpose; primarily to keep man from getting “too big for his britches”. I don’t care how much you know, God has you trumped by a wide margin. Job 5:13 says, “He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.” When some prophecy “expert” claims a special revelation, God pulls the rug out and lets him know who is still running the Universe. I will have much speculation in my study of the book of Revelation, and I will be right up front with it throughout. I reserve the right to be proven wrong. I have changed some things that I used to teach – not the basic truths and structures, but the details as we see life and history unfold. If I teach Revelation again in a few years, I will probably have to change a few more details. I will try to give everyone the best I have on it right now, but since these events are all future, we won’t be able to see every detail until it happens. The basic principles are factual. There will be a rapture (I Corinthians 15:50-52, I Thessalonians 4:13-18). Jesus will come to earth and reign in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 23:5). Israel will be the “head of the nations” as it was told them in Deuteronomy 28:13. A period of tribulation will overtake this world and be unlike any time this world has ever seen or ever will see (Matthew 24:21). The antichrist will dominate the world through his 666 mark and system (Revelation 13:16-18). But the specific details are yet to be revealed.
People are making fun of the rapture now because of idiots like Harold Camping. The event he is talking about will happen. The unintended consequence of his blathering is that people are now ignoring the event because it didn’t happen on May 21 as he said it would. First of all, the moron should never have set a date. Why is it we can’t learn from the failures of so many before us who have tried the same thing and become laughingstocks? But then instead of admitting that he is a fallible human with limited knowledge, he tried to justify his prophecy and explain away his failure. Now he says that the rapture really did happen, but it was spiritual and none of us could see it. Then why is he still sucking God’s air? Now he claims it will happen on October 21. When he is proven wrong again, why would anyone believe him or give him money?
It is interesting to study what the Bible says about the end times and the course of the history of humanity as God has revealed in his word. But one of the main issues in the book of Revelation is found in the first phrase in the very first verse. This is the “Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Rather than trying to gain some secret knowledge about future events that will happen to other people, keep your focus on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Far more important than what tomorrow holds is knowing the one who holds tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
A Life Well Lived
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
This past Monday, we paid our last respects and said good bye to Miss Ilah Gray, one of the most remarkable women I have ever known. Ilah lived a very rich and fulfilled life of 98 years, and got to experience things most people never do. I will share a few brief stories that I told at her funeral that highlight her unique life.
Ilah was an avid bowler, and quite good at it. We had a bowling league at the church for a couple of years, and you surely wanted Ilah on your team. She bowled a 280 once – at age 90! I would like to see if the Guinness World Record people have an entry for score plus age in bowling. A perfect game is 300. I wonder if anyone has ever topped 370 for score and age combined. One Sunday I was announcing the enrollment for our ministry training Bible Institute. Ilah came up to me after service and put her index finger in my face and said, “Young man, don’t you dare even think about not letting me in that school because you think I am too old.” I had learned my lesson well with Ilah, and I said, “Yes, Ma’am.” We enrolled her in Shepherd’s School at the tender young age of 85. Throughout the course of her studies, she earned every grade. No one gave her any special treatment because of her age. She earned mostly A’s and a few B’s, and they were legitimate. Four years later, I had one of the great honors of my life at her graduation. I spent a few minutes sharing Ilah’s accomplishments to a crowd of several hundred people, and with the backdrop of a standing ovation, handed her a Diploma of Biblical Studies at the age of 89.
One of the qualifications for graduation from Shepherd’s School is to participate in a foreign missions trip during your four year course of studies. At age 88, one month after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Ilah boarded a plane with 10 other members of Crest Bible Church for a trip to Belize. Our ministry in Belize is still ongoing 10 years later, and much greater than any of us could have imagined at the time. Ilah helped get that mission off the ground on our very first trip.
The life of Ilah Gray was an inspiration to all who knew her. She was an encouragement and a role model to me, and to many others in our church. One of her greatest accomplishments was to “throw down the gauntlet” to anyone who thought they couldn’t do something. Jesus told the story in Luke chapter 14 about calling people to God and to his service. He summed up the response and attitude of 99% of this world this way: “And they all with one consent began to make excuse.” (Luke 14:18) Every lost person has his reasons why he can’t trust Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. Far too many of God’s people have “with one consent” made excuse after excuse why they can’t serve the Lord like they should. Ilah trumps all those excuses. I am not suggesting people do things that are just physically impossible. But I venture to say that most of what we think is impossible really is not. “With God, all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27) If God can do, “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20), then we should learn to stretch ourselves for him as well. Ilah never allowed a circumstance of life to stand in the way of her love and service for her Lord. As a result, God gave to Miss Ilah Gray an incredible rich and abundant life, filled with joy and faith and experiences that most only dream of.
But more than an abundant life, God gave to her life. Her decision to trust Jesus as her own personal Saviour many years ago provided the strength and the power to live a rich and rewarding life in her 98 short years. Now she is at home with her Lord, where the riches of eternal life are far beyond our finite understanding. Trust Jesus Christ and serve him with all your heart, mind, soul, and might. One day, like Ilah, our reward in heaven awaits.
This past Monday, we paid our last respects and said good bye to Miss Ilah Gray, one of the most remarkable women I have ever known. Ilah lived a very rich and fulfilled life of 98 years, and got to experience things most people never do. I will share a few brief stories that I told at her funeral that highlight her unique life.
Ilah was an avid bowler, and quite good at it. We had a bowling league at the church for a couple of years, and you surely wanted Ilah on your team. She bowled a 280 once – at age 90! I would like to see if the Guinness World Record people have an entry for score plus age in bowling. A perfect game is 300. I wonder if anyone has ever topped 370 for score and age combined. One Sunday I was announcing the enrollment for our ministry training Bible Institute. Ilah came up to me after service and put her index finger in my face and said, “Young man, don’t you dare even think about not letting me in that school because you think I am too old.” I had learned my lesson well with Ilah, and I said, “Yes, Ma’am.” We enrolled her in Shepherd’s School at the tender young age of 85. Throughout the course of her studies, she earned every grade. No one gave her any special treatment because of her age. She earned mostly A’s and a few B’s, and they were legitimate. Four years later, I had one of the great honors of my life at her graduation. I spent a few minutes sharing Ilah’s accomplishments to a crowd of several hundred people, and with the backdrop of a standing ovation, handed her a Diploma of Biblical Studies at the age of 89.
One of the qualifications for graduation from Shepherd’s School is to participate in a foreign missions trip during your four year course of studies. At age 88, one month after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Ilah boarded a plane with 10 other members of Crest Bible Church for a trip to Belize. Our ministry in Belize is still ongoing 10 years later, and much greater than any of us could have imagined at the time. Ilah helped get that mission off the ground on our very first trip.
The life of Ilah Gray was an inspiration to all who knew her. She was an encouragement and a role model to me, and to many others in our church. One of her greatest accomplishments was to “throw down the gauntlet” to anyone who thought they couldn’t do something. Jesus told the story in Luke chapter 14 about calling people to God and to his service. He summed up the response and attitude of 99% of this world this way: “And they all with one consent began to make excuse.” (Luke 14:18) Every lost person has his reasons why he can’t trust Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. Far too many of God’s people have “with one consent” made excuse after excuse why they can’t serve the Lord like they should. Ilah trumps all those excuses. I am not suggesting people do things that are just physically impossible. But I venture to say that most of what we think is impossible really is not. “With God, all things are possible.” (Mark 10:27) If God can do, “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3:20), then we should learn to stretch ourselves for him as well. Ilah never allowed a circumstance of life to stand in the way of her love and service for her Lord. As a result, God gave to Miss Ilah Gray an incredible rich and abundant life, filled with joy and faith and experiences that most only dream of.
But more than an abundant life, God gave to her life. Her decision to trust Jesus as her own personal Saviour many years ago provided the strength and the power to live a rich and rewarding life in her 98 short years. Now she is at home with her Lord, where the riches of eternal life are far beyond our finite understanding. Trust Jesus Christ and serve him with all your heart, mind, soul, and might. One day, like Ilah, our reward in heaven awaits.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Compassion
“And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” (Jude 22-23)
Last Sunday afternoon a vicious tornado leveled about half of the city of Joplin, Mo. Unless you have been under a rock for the last few days, you are well aware of all of this and have seen many of the images coming from Joplin. Most everyone in our neck of the woods has some connection to the tragedy since Joplin is only 3 hours from Kansas City. Our office manager Teresa Dailey grew up in Joplin and still has family there. All of them are safe, having missed the storm by a few blocks, but they are obviously affected. My wife works for Jo-Ann’s Stores, and the Joplin store was right in the middle of the tornado and completely destroyed. Fortunately all of their employees made it out alive, but right now they do not have a job. Hundreds are still missing. Anyone who survived the storm will have a gruesome nightmare experience to relive for the rest of their lives every time it starts to rain. Help and relief efforts are well underway, but it will obviously be a long time before normalcy is restored.
I heard from one of our former church members who now lives in Joplin. Their family is OK, but they have friends who are still missing. She said the President is scheduled to visit Joplin in the next couple of days, and that Fred Phelps and his gang of lunatics are planning to come at the same time to picket his visit. What is it about these raving nut jobs? Anyone who would seize on the suffering of others to promote their own personal fame and agenda is sick. I cannot imagine a more twisted and perverse form of “Christianity” than to descend upon a group of people at such a time and rejoice in their misfortune and blame them for the tragedy. I know that God does not operate like that. He is kind and gracious and longsuffering with man, and the very fact that Phelps and his wacko family are still around is proof. God is compassionate even to them in spite of the venom and filth they spew.
As we step back from this for a minute and consider the verses in Jude above, we can get a lesson on how to deal with the message we carry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It says that some are saved with fear. The coming judgment of God against sin needs to be proclaimed. The sirens went off in Joplin about 20 minutes before the storm hit. Ample warning was given that a very dangerous situation was unfolding. No one could predict or imagine the exact details, but people knew that a nasty storm was imminent. Imagine the outrage if the weather service had ignored the situation and did not warn people. What if they had taken the approach so many Christians do with the gospel, and said, “We don’t want to offend anyone.” Or, “If I just let my light shine, then people will know a tornado is coming.” Fear of hell is a motivation for people to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. They must be warned, but with compassion and grace. It is not compassionate to gloss over the reality of the impending judgment of God against sin. But it is even less compassionate to gloat over the tragedy that sin produces in people’s lives. Bad things befall people because we live in an evil and fallen world, and quite often it is the direct fault of the individual. Not so with the tornado in Joplin, but God uses difficulties in the lives of the lost to get them to turn to the Saviour. It is at those times when true compassion must be manifest in the hearts of his people.
We see a massive outpouring of assistance and compassion from around the area for the people of Joplin. We are seeing it from the lost. Most of the people coming to the aid of Joplin probably do not know Jesus as their Saviour. They are just moved with genuine compassion for the plight of the suffering. As Christians, we know an even greater tragedy is on the horizon for those without Christ. Losing your home and possessions is bad enough. Losing an eternal soul is far worse. Sound the alarm, and respond with grace to those who need Jesus.
Last Sunday afternoon a vicious tornado leveled about half of the city of Joplin, Mo. Unless you have been under a rock for the last few days, you are well aware of all of this and have seen many of the images coming from Joplin. Most everyone in our neck of the woods has some connection to the tragedy since Joplin is only 3 hours from Kansas City. Our office manager Teresa Dailey grew up in Joplin and still has family there. All of them are safe, having missed the storm by a few blocks, but they are obviously affected. My wife works for Jo-Ann’s Stores, and the Joplin store was right in the middle of the tornado and completely destroyed. Fortunately all of their employees made it out alive, but right now they do not have a job. Hundreds are still missing. Anyone who survived the storm will have a gruesome nightmare experience to relive for the rest of their lives every time it starts to rain. Help and relief efforts are well underway, but it will obviously be a long time before normalcy is restored.
I heard from one of our former church members who now lives in Joplin. Their family is OK, but they have friends who are still missing. She said the President is scheduled to visit Joplin in the next couple of days, and that Fred Phelps and his gang of lunatics are planning to come at the same time to picket his visit. What is it about these raving nut jobs? Anyone who would seize on the suffering of others to promote their own personal fame and agenda is sick. I cannot imagine a more twisted and perverse form of “Christianity” than to descend upon a group of people at such a time and rejoice in their misfortune and blame them for the tragedy. I know that God does not operate like that. He is kind and gracious and longsuffering with man, and the very fact that Phelps and his wacko family are still around is proof. God is compassionate even to them in spite of the venom and filth they spew.
As we step back from this for a minute and consider the verses in Jude above, we can get a lesson on how to deal with the message we carry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It says that some are saved with fear. The coming judgment of God against sin needs to be proclaimed. The sirens went off in Joplin about 20 minutes before the storm hit. Ample warning was given that a very dangerous situation was unfolding. No one could predict or imagine the exact details, but people knew that a nasty storm was imminent. Imagine the outrage if the weather service had ignored the situation and did not warn people. What if they had taken the approach so many Christians do with the gospel, and said, “We don’t want to offend anyone.” Or, “If I just let my light shine, then people will know a tornado is coming.” Fear of hell is a motivation for people to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. They must be warned, but with compassion and grace. It is not compassionate to gloss over the reality of the impending judgment of God against sin. But it is even less compassionate to gloat over the tragedy that sin produces in people’s lives. Bad things befall people because we live in an evil and fallen world, and quite often it is the direct fault of the individual. Not so with the tornado in Joplin, but God uses difficulties in the lives of the lost to get them to turn to the Saviour. It is at those times when true compassion must be manifest in the hearts of his people.
We see a massive outpouring of assistance and compassion from around the area for the people of Joplin. We are seeing it from the lost. Most of the people coming to the aid of Joplin probably do not know Jesus as their Saviour. They are just moved with genuine compassion for the plight of the suffering. As Christians, we know an even greater tragedy is on the horizon for those without Christ. Losing your home and possessions is bad enough. Losing an eternal soul is far worse. Sound the alarm, and respond with grace to those who need Jesus.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
John Dillinger and Prohibition
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such, there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-33)
Those are famous verses. Virtually every Christian has heard them quoted hundreds of times and has heard many messages on the theme of the fruit of the Spirit. There is a lot of really good insight given on those verses by Bible teachers and commentators to provide us with strength and encouragement in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is one thing about the teaching that has always bugged me. Now that I have a blog, I can get things like this off my chest, and you have to live with my spouting off. Most of the commentators and all of the new versions of the Bible change the last word “temperance” to “self-control”. That has always bothered me. This is the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is what God produces in our lives as we yield ourselves to his direction in our lives. What part of “self” belongs in that discussion? How can self-anything be considered a product of God’s work in our lives?
The seventeenth amendment to the Constitution was passed nearly 100 years ago outlawing the sale and consumption of liquor in the United States. It was a noble attempt, but failed to really address the issue. You cannot change the heart of man by legislation. Only the Spirit of the living God in a believer can change man’s behavior. Once we know Jesus as our Saviour, God has a platform from which to work. His Spirit will produce fruit when we give our lives to his control and leadership. The Prohibition movement was immortalized in song by Frank Sinatra when he sang about the “toddlin’ town” of Chicago. He boasted that it was the “town that Billy Sunday could not shut down”. Billy Sunday was one of the main preachers during Prohibition, and one of my all-time favorite role models. Billy Sunday “shut down” sin and wickedness in a lot of cities by the plain preaching of the word of God. Now that both Billy and Frank are dead, I wonder if “Ol’ blue eyes” wouldn’t mind trading places with Billy.
They called Prohibition the “Temperance Movement”. It was not self-control of the alcohol industry, it was government control. Imagine the feds saying to Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, “You guys need to control yourselves with the production of this hooch. We will let you operate however you feel like, just keep it under control.” Talk about the fox watching the chicken coop! How in the world can my flesh (self) control my flesh? I know myself better than that. Maybe you are deluded enough to think that you can control yourself, but I am smarter than that. I need God to control me. That is temperance – the control of the Spirit of God over the raging fire of my old nature. It is a fruit of God’s Spirit in the life of a believer, and can no more be produced by “self” than you can produce fruit in a factory. There is no assembly line that can crank out tomatoes, and there is no person who has the power to manufacture the fruit of the Spirit by his own self-control.
One of the best parts of being a Christian is the daily presence of the Spirit of God in our lives to conform us to the image of the Son of God. Yes, we get a home in heaven secured for us, and a deliverance from the torment of an eternal hell is certainly the greatest benefit of our Saviour’s love for us. But he did not just cut us loose after that to fend for ourselves. We would drown in the massive sea of life. I would have no chance to bring glory to my Lord if it was all left up to me and my abilities. His Spirit in us can and will change our personalities and our lives to live as God designed man to live. As we yield ourselves to his control, we can manifest genuine love and peace and faith and all the other items on the list. As we let God be in control, we learn what true “temperance” is: the conformance of our lives to the image of Jesus Christ. He knew how to really live. So can we when we let his life shine through us.
Those are famous verses. Virtually every Christian has heard them quoted hundreds of times and has heard many messages on the theme of the fruit of the Spirit. There is a lot of really good insight given on those verses by Bible teachers and commentators to provide us with strength and encouragement in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is one thing about the teaching that has always bugged me. Now that I have a blog, I can get things like this off my chest, and you have to live with my spouting off. Most of the commentators and all of the new versions of the Bible change the last word “temperance” to “self-control”. That has always bothered me. This is the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is what God produces in our lives as we yield ourselves to his direction in our lives. What part of “self” belongs in that discussion? How can self-anything be considered a product of God’s work in our lives?
The seventeenth amendment to the Constitution was passed nearly 100 years ago outlawing the sale and consumption of liquor in the United States. It was a noble attempt, but failed to really address the issue. You cannot change the heart of man by legislation. Only the Spirit of the living God in a believer can change man’s behavior. Once we know Jesus as our Saviour, God has a platform from which to work. His Spirit will produce fruit when we give our lives to his control and leadership. The Prohibition movement was immortalized in song by Frank Sinatra when he sang about the “toddlin’ town” of Chicago. He boasted that it was the “town that Billy Sunday could not shut down”. Billy Sunday was one of the main preachers during Prohibition, and one of my all-time favorite role models. Billy Sunday “shut down” sin and wickedness in a lot of cities by the plain preaching of the word of God. Now that both Billy and Frank are dead, I wonder if “Ol’ blue eyes” wouldn’t mind trading places with Billy.
They called Prohibition the “Temperance Movement”. It was not self-control of the alcohol industry, it was government control. Imagine the feds saying to Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, “You guys need to control yourselves with the production of this hooch. We will let you operate however you feel like, just keep it under control.” Talk about the fox watching the chicken coop! How in the world can my flesh (self) control my flesh? I know myself better than that. Maybe you are deluded enough to think that you can control yourself, but I am smarter than that. I need God to control me. That is temperance – the control of the Spirit of God over the raging fire of my old nature. It is a fruit of God’s Spirit in the life of a believer, and can no more be produced by “self” than you can produce fruit in a factory. There is no assembly line that can crank out tomatoes, and there is no person who has the power to manufacture the fruit of the Spirit by his own self-control.
One of the best parts of being a Christian is the daily presence of the Spirit of God in our lives to conform us to the image of the Son of God. Yes, we get a home in heaven secured for us, and a deliverance from the torment of an eternal hell is certainly the greatest benefit of our Saviour’s love for us. But he did not just cut us loose after that to fend for ourselves. We would drown in the massive sea of life. I would have no chance to bring glory to my Lord if it was all left up to me and my abilities. His Spirit in us can and will change our personalities and our lives to live as God designed man to live. As we yield ourselves to his control, we can manifest genuine love and peace and faith and all the other items on the list. As we let God be in control, we learn what true “temperance” is: the conformance of our lives to the image of Jesus Christ. He knew how to really live. So can we when we let his life shine through us.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
AAUURRGGHH!!!!
“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” (II Corinthians 4:8-9)
We all experience those times in life when it seems the whole world is closing in and nothing is going right. Sometimes it is just the onslaught of so many different things that can take our time and attention. The modern world of “conveniences” has made all of our lives far more busy and “inconvenient” that it was a generation ago. For me, it is the “to do list” that drives me up a wall. It is a lot better now, but I remember a while back going through my list and seeing well over 100 separate items on it. That means I could have been doing any one of a hundred things that day. Most of them were totally unrelated to each other. Sometimes you can have a bunch of things on your list, but they can be consolidated and knocked out in bunches. You could get in the car and spend an afternoon running errands and take care of a lot of it. But when I get loaded down with what seems like an impossible flood of stuff, it drives me to drink – Pepsi, of course. Sometimes the fetal position is a welcome diversion from life.
I get in these positions at times like everyone does, and quite often it is my own fault. Of course, I am the king of procrastination. I mean, why do today what you can put off till tomorrow? But at times, the wave of stuff comes at all of us from sources outside our own doing. As I said a few weeks ago in this blog, we go against the grain of this world as believers in Jesus Christ. When you swim upstream, you will get bombarded directly by the “course of this world” (Eph 2:2). Paul spoke about that in the verses I quoted above. We think that our world is somehow unique, and it is in some ways, but not really. Paul could identify with the overwhelming feeling of despair that bombards us, and he did not have a “to do list”. No one called him on his cell phone with yet another problem. He never got in his car to run a bunch of errands. He did not have a “Franklin Planner” to manage his day. Yet the onslaught of the world affected him as it does us. The earth spins on its axis at nearly 1,000 miles per hour, and as often as we cry, “Please stop the world so I can catch up!” we cannot. The world spun at the same rate in Paul’s day.
We take an annual trip to our adopted mission field of Belize. One of the benefits of that trip is to get our bearings in another culture and lifestyle. We take a few people from the church every year to minister to our friends in Belize, and to be ministered to themselves. It is refreshing to spend a few days in a culture where there is only one thing to do each day. As I describe the schedule for the team in our preparations, I mention our “to do list” for the trip, and I list that one thing for each day. The “newbies” who have never experienced the trip before look at me like I have three heads. But it is a great opportunity to recharge our lives and realize how many things we put on our “list” that really don’t matter that much.
Paul’s frustration in the above verses came from his ministry. He was bombarded by things that carried eternal significance. It got so bad at times that he said he and his men, “despaired even of life.” (II Cor 1:8). I think most of us will be ashamed when we get home to heaven to realize how much emotional energy we invested in things in this life that carried no eternal weight. Peter said if we were going to suffer, why not make it for well doing (I Pet 3:17). We will experience those times when life drives us to crawl under the blankets and pray for it to just go away. But let’s invest our lives in the things that will last forever – the word of God and the souls of men and women – so that one day, those frustrations will bear fruit that remains for eternity. As one of my favorite passages says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (II Cor 4:17-18) Invest in eternal things. The dividends will pay off!
We all experience those times in life when it seems the whole world is closing in and nothing is going right. Sometimes it is just the onslaught of so many different things that can take our time and attention. The modern world of “conveniences” has made all of our lives far more busy and “inconvenient” that it was a generation ago. For me, it is the “to do list” that drives me up a wall. It is a lot better now, but I remember a while back going through my list and seeing well over 100 separate items on it. That means I could have been doing any one of a hundred things that day. Most of them were totally unrelated to each other. Sometimes you can have a bunch of things on your list, but they can be consolidated and knocked out in bunches. You could get in the car and spend an afternoon running errands and take care of a lot of it. But when I get loaded down with what seems like an impossible flood of stuff, it drives me to drink – Pepsi, of course. Sometimes the fetal position is a welcome diversion from life.
I get in these positions at times like everyone does, and quite often it is my own fault. Of course, I am the king of procrastination. I mean, why do today what you can put off till tomorrow? But at times, the wave of stuff comes at all of us from sources outside our own doing. As I said a few weeks ago in this blog, we go against the grain of this world as believers in Jesus Christ. When you swim upstream, you will get bombarded directly by the “course of this world” (Eph 2:2). Paul spoke about that in the verses I quoted above. We think that our world is somehow unique, and it is in some ways, but not really. Paul could identify with the overwhelming feeling of despair that bombards us, and he did not have a “to do list”. No one called him on his cell phone with yet another problem. He never got in his car to run a bunch of errands. He did not have a “Franklin Planner” to manage his day. Yet the onslaught of the world affected him as it does us. The earth spins on its axis at nearly 1,000 miles per hour, and as often as we cry, “Please stop the world so I can catch up!” we cannot. The world spun at the same rate in Paul’s day.
We take an annual trip to our adopted mission field of Belize. One of the benefits of that trip is to get our bearings in another culture and lifestyle. We take a few people from the church every year to minister to our friends in Belize, and to be ministered to themselves. It is refreshing to spend a few days in a culture where there is only one thing to do each day. As I describe the schedule for the team in our preparations, I mention our “to do list” for the trip, and I list that one thing for each day. The “newbies” who have never experienced the trip before look at me like I have three heads. But it is a great opportunity to recharge our lives and realize how many things we put on our “list” that really don’t matter that much.
Paul’s frustration in the above verses came from his ministry. He was bombarded by things that carried eternal significance. It got so bad at times that he said he and his men, “despaired even of life.” (II Cor 1:8). I think most of us will be ashamed when we get home to heaven to realize how much emotional energy we invested in things in this life that carried no eternal weight. Peter said if we were going to suffer, why not make it for well doing (I Pet 3:17). We will experience those times when life drives us to crawl under the blankets and pray for it to just go away. But let’s invest our lives in the things that will last forever – the word of God and the souls of men and women – so that one day, those frustrations will bear fruit that remains for eternity. As one of my favorite passages says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (II Cor 4:17-18) Invest in eternal things. The dividends will pay off!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Oh, Victory in Jesus!
“Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11)
This is a good day. We awoke Monday morning to the news of the death of one of the greatest enemies the United States has ever had, Osama bin Laden. Celebrations broke out all over the country and the world that this evil man would no longer be able to terrorize anyone. We all marvel at the skill and bravery of the Navy Seal team that carried out the mission. They landed a disabled helicopter right in his back yard, got their job done, and got out of there without any loss of life other than the enemy target and those who were with him. We will never know the names of these great soldiers who thought nothing of their own lives, and were fully prepared to lay them down to rid the world of this evil man so that others could live.
Speaking of which, we do know the name of the man who laid down his life 2,000 years ago that others might live: the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result of his sacrifice, any man, woman or child on earth can be freed from the bondage of sin. But it is only available to those who trust Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Jesus died for the sins of the world, but rejecting his offer of the free gift of grace results in the same hell that bin Laden knows of today. This is perhaps a hard thing to say and maybe even harder to understand, but God loved Osama bin Laden as much as he loved you. He sent his Son to die for his sins as well as yours. There was a day many years ago when his mother and father held him as a newborn, and they probably loved him just like you do your children. Unfortunately, due to a false religion and a culture of hatred, his life took a horrible and nasty turn into the beast he became. The outcome we have seen and lived with over the last couple of decades is a result of his rejection of the Saviour. It was that rejection of the love of God that put him in hell, not his murderous rampage. His terrorist perversion was the by-product of his refusal to accept the Son of God. Rejection is rejection. It leads some into the moral cesspool of drugs and sexual perversion. It leads others like this man into the depths of Satanic blood lust. Rejection leads many into a nice comfortable life of religion and morality, where they don’t need the Saviour because they think they are good enough on their own. But that road leads to the same hell. Many will object to that statement. A “decent God-fearing man” who has not received Jesus as his Saviour will claim he is going to heaven because he is not as bad as Osama bin Laden. Well, lah-de-dah. That is a great standard to compare oneself to, huh? Why not compare yourself to Jesus? Instead of ranking yourself ahead of a sick twisted maniac, why not recognize that you are not as good as the only sinless man who ever lived. He came to die for your sins and deliver you from hell. Receive him while there is still time.
The verse above says God does not rejoice when a wicked man like this dies. Proverbs 24:17 says, “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth…” God desires that the wicked would turn from their evil to receive his Son. James 2:13 says “…mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” God will apply judgment if necessary. He did so with bin Laden a couple of days ago; both physically by his death, and spiritually by his eternal destiny. He would rather have been able to apply his mercy, because of the two – judgment and mercy – God rejoices more in mercy. But there must be reason for his mercy to be applied. That reason is not because of anyone’s “goodness”, but because someone paid for sin. While we celebrate the victory, we also grieve the loss of a soul. The true victory will come when Jesus finally returns and conquers the “last enemy” of death. We all know that bin Laden’s death does not end the battle over terrorism. Someday soon, our Lord will return. The only true victory is over sin and death. We obtain it when we bow the knee to the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ. If you have never done so, why not now?
This is a good day. We awoke Monday morning to the news of the death of one of the greatest enemies the United States has ever had, Osama bin Laden. Celebrations broke out all over the country and the world that this evil man would no longer be able to terrorize anyone. We all marvel at the skill and bravery of the Navy Seal team that carried out the mission. They landed a disabled helicopter right in his back yard, got their job done, and got out of there without any loss of life other than the enemy target and those who were with him. We will never know the names of these great soldiers who thought nothing of their own lives, and were fully prepared to lay them down to rid the world of this evil man so that others could live.
Speaking of which, we do know the name of the man who laid down his life 2,000 years ago that others might live: the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result of his sacrifice, any man, woman or child on earth can be freed from the bondage of sin. But it is only available to those who trust Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Jesus died for the sins of the world, but rejecting his offer of the free gift of grace results in the same hell that bin Laden knows of today. This is perhaps a hard thing to say and maybe even harder to understand, but God loved Osama bin Laden as much as he loved you. He sent his Son to die for his sins as well as yours. There was a day many years ago when his mother and father held him as a newborn, and they probably loved him just like you do your children. Unfortunately, due to a false religion and a culture of hatred, his life took a horrible and nasty turn into the beast he became. The outcome we have seen and lived with over the last couple of decades is a result of his rejection of the Saviour. It was that rejection of the love of God that put him in hell, not his murderous rampage. His terrorist perversion was the by-product of his refusal to accept the Son of God. Rejection is rejection. It leads some into the moral cesspool of drugs and sexual perversion. It leads others like this man into the depths of Satanic blood lust. Rejection leads many into a nice comfortable life of religion and morality, where they don’t need the Saviour because they think they are good enough on their own. But that road leads to the same hell. Many will object to that statement. A “decent God-fearing man” who has not received Jesus as his Saviour will claim he is going to heaven because he is not as bad as Osama bin Laden. Well, lah-de-dah. That is a great standard to compare oneself to, huh? Why not compare yourself to Jesus? Instead of ranking yourself ahead of a sick twisted maniac, why not recognize that you are not as good as the only sinless man who ever lived. He came to die for your sins and deliver you from hell. Receive him while there is still time.
The verse above says God does not rejoice when a wicked man like this dies. Proverbs 24:17 says, “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth…” God desires that the wicked would turn from their evil to receive his Son. James 2:13 says “…mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” God will apply judgment if necessary. He did so with bin Laden a couple of days ago; both physically by his death, and spiritually by his eternal destiny. He would rather have been able to apply his mercy, because of the two – judgment and mercy – God rejoices more in mercy. But there must be reason for his mercy to be applied. That reason is not because of anyone’s “goodness”, but because someone paid for sin. While we celebrate the victory, we also grieve the loss of a soul. The true victory will come when Jesus finally returns and conquers the “last enemy” of death. We all know that bin Laden’s death does not end the battle over terrorism. Someday soon, our Lord will return. The only true victory is over sin and death. We obtain it when we bow the knee to the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ. If you have never done so, why not now?
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