I had a great time today leading the Sunday school class. There was a part in the middle where I got lost in my train of thought and I was so thankful that the others in my class filled in the space and allowed me time to recover.
I can see where my calling to preach is so much more different than teaching. If I get the opportunity again, I hope that I can learn from this experience and grow in my ability to lead a class facilitation.
That being said, the Lord really spoke to me in that class. After all the work in preparation, He had so much more to share. It is truly amazing how deep the scriptures can be.
I really need to find a way to serve my church on a regular basis. I have been trying to figure out what I can do within the restraints that my life dictates. This blog is intended to supplement a little by providing an interaction point. I just haven't found a way to share my blog that doesn't sound self centered. "Hey everyone, check out my blog". I'll trust the Lord to open those opportunities.
I am avoiding social media, however, I know this is popular among members of my church. Perhaps, I should join Facebook again. I so disliked the invasive nature of the site. Twitter is well, almost the definition of foolish talk. It is not intended for true interactions. This will require some waiting upon the Lord. I will follow where he leads.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Salvation to the next generation
Just a short note. God has been faithful and full of tender-kindness. Tonight he blessed me to share in leading my daughter to salvation in Christ.
His kingdom come, His will be done. All hail the King of Glory!! Amen!
His kingdom come, His will be done. All hail the King of Glory!! Amen!
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Lord and Savior
Is submission a work?
Is belief a work?
How is believing in Jesus different than believing in Santa Claus?
I can write a list of things I want for Christmas, I can put the cookies and the milk out on Christmas eve. I can genuinely think that Santa is real and live a life that reflects this belief. How is this belief not the same?
You might say that Santa isn't real. I would counter that Saint Nicklaus lived in Turkey and was a real person. Who am I to argue with the historical record. The difference between believing that Santa is real and believing in Santa is difference that matters. You can send that list and you can put out those cookies. Yet until Santa comes into your house and delivers those gifts and consumes the cookies and milk, your belief is nothing more than wishful thinking. You cannot make Santa your Lord. You cannot give him your life. You cannot "take up your sleigh and follow Santa."
Jesus is not a mythological being that people have bet their eternity on. (although to some He has become this) He is God incarnate. Unlike Santa, he interacts with His believers. Christians follow Him, walk with Him, live in Him. It is not about thinking some list of facts are true. It's not about saying the magical words and you get saved.
When a sinner encounters God through the prompting of His Spirit, he is convinced of the goodness/rightness/holiness of God. He becomes equally aware of how he has transgressed God's law and opposed God's will. This convicts the sinner of his sin, God reveals His just wrath to the sinner. Then through the testimony of the gospel, he reveals His love and mercy through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus who died and took onto Himself all the sins that man committed. The man is then offered eternal life, if he believes in Jesus. This believing in Jesus means he accepts God's offer of salvation. This includes being crucified with Christ so that you might live, not by your flesh, but by the power of God expressed through His Holy Spirit.
Faith is the conviction of things not seen. It is the assurance of things hoped for. By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed. By faith, he lived as an alien. By faith, Noah prepared the Ark. By faith, Sarah conceived. By faith Abraham offered up Isaac.
True faith results in a confession. A confession is not empty, parroted words. It is an outward expression of a new conviction. When the word of God explains that you confess must Jesus as your Savior, it's not giving you a checklist of things to do. If you confess, the meaning her is that this is an outward expression of an inward change. You are publicly declaring your new allegiance from which there is no turning back. The word of God doesn't need to explain in a subsequent verses that you have to "really really" mean it. God deals in truth. When everyone is trying to make their point and it gets down to technical points, we get so close to the words that we lose sight of the Word.
When did you deny yourself? Have you taken up the cross? daily? Do you follow Him?
When did you die? When were you reborn?
A dying man doesn't need to work at his death. Salvation is a gift, that gift includes a new creation, a rebirth. A new self and one day a new body. This new self wars with the flesh that remains corrupt in this world. Sanctification is the renewing of the new self into the likeness or image of Christ.
Surrendering your life to Christ is the other side of the coin to believing on Jesus. When you turn from sin, you turn to Christ. When you die (Col 3:3), you are reborn in Christ and are hidden with Christ in God. Hidden by the blood of Jesus. Sealed by the Spirit until the day when Christ is revealed and comes into His inheritance.
Can Christians commit sins? Yes. But this is no longer their nature. They have the flesh which longs to resurrect the old self. Thus our need to renew our minds, our new selves and live out our faith each day anew. Deny, Carry, Follow.
Is belief a work?
How is believing in Jesus different than believing in Santa Claus?
I can write a list of things I want for Christmas, I can put the cookies and the milk out on Christmas eve. I can genuinely think that Santa is real and live a life that reflects this belief. How is this belief not the same?
You might say that Santa isn't real. I would counter that Saint Nicklaus lived in Turkey and was a real person. Who am I to argue with the historical record. The difference between believing that Santa is real and believing in Santa is difference that matters. You can send that list and you can put out those cookies. Yet until Santa comes into your house and delivers those gifts and consumes the cookies and milk, your belief is nothing more than wishful thinking. You cannot make Santa your Lord. You cannot give him your life. You cannot "take up your sleigh and follow Santa."
Jesus is not a mythological being that people have bet their eternity on. (although to some He has become this) He is God incarnate. Unlike Santa, he interacts with His believers. Christians follow Him, walk with Him, live in Him. It is not about thinking some list of facts are true. It's not about saying the magical words and you get saved.
When a sinner encounters God through the prompting of His Spirit, he is convinced of the goodness/rightness/holiness of God. He becomes equally aware of how he has transgressed God's law and opposed God's will. This convicts the sinner of his sin, God reveals His just wrath to the sinner. Then through the testimony of the gospel, he reveals His love and mercy through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus who died and took onto Himself all the sins that man committed. The man is then offered eternal life, if he believes in Jesus. This believing in Jesus means he accepts God's offer of salvation. This includes being crucified with Christ so that you might live, not by your flesh, but by the power of God expressed through His Holy Spirit.
Faith is the conviction of things not seen. It is the assurance of things hoped for. By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obeyed. By faith, he lived as an alien. By faith, Noah prepared the Ark. By faith, Sarah conceived. By faith Abraham offered up Isaac.
True faith results in a confession. A confession is not empty, parroted words. It is an outward expression of a new conviction. When the word of God explains that you confess must Jesus as your Savior, it's not giving you a checklist of things to do. If you confess, the meaning her is that this is an outward expression of an inward change. You are publicly declaring your new allegiance from which there is no turning back. The word of God doesn't need to explain in a subsequent verses that you have to "really really" mean it. God deals in truth. When everyone is trying to make their point and it gets down to technical points, we get so close to the words that we lose sight of the Word.
When did you deny yourself? Have you taken up the cross? daily? Do you follow Him?
When did you die? When were you reborn?
A dying man doesn't need to work at his death. Salvation is a gift, that gift includes a new creation, a rebirth. A new self and one day a new body. This new self wars with the flesh that remains corrupt in this world. Sanctification is the renewing of the new self into the likeness or image of Christ.
Surrendering your life to Christ is the other side of the coin to believing on Jesus. When you turn from sin, you turn to Christ. When you die (Col 3:3), you are reborn in Christ and are hidden with Christ in God. Hidden by the blood of Jesus. Sealed by the Spirit until the day when Christ is revealed and comes into His inheritance.
Can Christians commit sins? Yes. But this is no longer their nature. They have the flesh which longs to resurrect the old self. Thus our need to renew our minds, our new selves and live out our faith each day anew. Deny, Carry, Follow.
Monday, July 20, 2015
A Resting ride
I was listening today to a minister that the Lord has used many times in my life. He was sharing that the Hebrew concept of rest and the Greek concept of rest are vastly different.
In the Greek concept, resting is lying still with little to no movement. An image comes to mind of lying in a hammock by a still pond with a cup of tea to calm the nerves. A pond mind you and not a stream or brook because that is not still.
This is not the concept of resting as would have been understood by the Hebrew. Resting is more like everything running smoothly without needing you to interact. Coming home when there is no leaky faucet or overflowing trashcan. A car that doesn't have a clicking sound at 55 mph. A computer that boots up and doesn't need to get an update. Resting is everything working as intended and doesn't require your maintenance to continue.
When God rests on the seventh day, he is not lying in repose. He is enjoying the goodness of it as all of nature operates smoothly as he intended. Resting is directly linked to goodness. When God spoke at the end of each day that "It was very good". It wasn't just a declaration of how it made him feel. It was a description of the nature of its existence. He made it very good. It functioned in a way that worked well with itself. Everything was in an order to be functioning smoothly. Each day he added and increased the complexity and yet He maintained the goodness of His creation.
Thus on the seventh day, He could rest and enjoy the goodness of it. When God commands the Sabbath rest, He is not saying do nothing on Saturday or Sunday. He is asking us to enjoy His goodness toward us. We struggle each day with the endless little things that need our attention. The things that steal our time and our restfulness; The car that is broken down, the coworker that got on our nerves, the family disagreement, or some other distraction that requires us to work or tinker. Even now, when I consider the curse placed on Adam, that he would have to weed his garden. That is the curse where there is no rest. There is no rest for the wicked.
When we find peace with God and follow Christ. He brings us to a continual place of rest. When we rely on Christ to live through us, we can rest in his power and grace. This rest is not one built on relaxing or laying down, but of walking and following. It is peace is like a river, and it is well with my soul.
So offer those struggles to the Lord and trust in Him. Rest in His power to do great things.
In the Greek concept, resting is lying still with little to no movement. An image comes to mind of lying in a hammock by a still pond with a cup of tea to calm the nerves. A pond mind you and not a stream or brook because that is not still.
This is not the concept of resting as would have been understood by the Hebrew. Resting is more like everything running smoothly without needing you to interact. Coming home when there is no leaky faucet or overflowing trashcan. A car that doesn't have a clicking sound at 55 mph. A computer that boots up and doesn't need to get an update. Resting is everything working as intended and doesn't require your maintenance to continue.
When God rests on the seventh day, he is not lying in repose. He is enjoying the goodness of it as all of nature operates smoothly as he intended. Resting is directly linked to goodness. When God spoke at the end of each day that "It was very good". It wasn't just a declaration of how it made him feel. It was a description of the nature of its existence. He made it very good. It functioned in a way that worked well with itself. Everything was in an order to be functioning smoothly. Each day he added and increased the complexity and yet He maintained the goodness of His creation.
Thus on the seventh day, He could rest and enjoy the goodness of it. When God commands the Sabbath rest, He is not saying do nothing on Saturday or Sunday. He is asking us to enjoy His goodness toward us. We struggle each day with the endless little things that need our attention. The things that steal our time and our restfulness; The car that is broken down, the coworker that got on our nerves, the family disagreement, or some other distraction that requires us to work or tinker. Even now, when I consider the curse placed on Adam, that he would have to weed his garden. That is the curse where there is no rest. There is no rest for the wicked.
When we find peace with God and follow Christ. He brings us to a continual place of rest. When we rely on Christ to live through us, we can rest in his power and grace. This rest is not one built on relaxing or laying down, but of walking and following. It is peace is like a river, and it is well with my soul.
So offer those struggles to the Lord and trust in Him. Rest in His power to do great things.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Peace like a river
Rivers have always been a bit of a mystery to me. All that water flows and never seems to stop. That is, unless the river loses contact with its source.
Today, I shared my testimony with my church family. Their love connected me back once again to that source. The peace of the Lord that flows through his body the church is refreshing. Home is where the heart is and what a peaceful home it is.
Today, I shared my testimony with my church family. Their love connected me back once again to that source. The peace of the Lord that flows through his body the church is refreshing. Home is where the heart is and what a peaceful home it is.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
New beginnings
This is the first of a series of posts that will outline my testimony. I will cover events where God worked in my life to lead me to salvation or to lead me back to Christ.
My walk with the Lord started with a misstep and it was a douzie. As a child I was sent to a vacation bible school as was common. In those days, a VBS was an all day event. You were dropped off in the morning and picked up after your parents got off work. Now a days, it seems like most are after hours and shorter.
All week, we played and were taught the bible. There was usually a theme or a book of the bible we went over. I have long forgotten the lessons of the VBS when I was seven. What I do remember was the end of each day. After a day of bible studies and directed play there was an altar call. Soft music played from the piano and the preacher gave an urgent call. At first none of us went forward. No one wanted to be first. I don't remember now who was first, but I clearly recall the response. The child was celebrated by the adults. He was pulled aside and had a special meeting with the Pastor. Other grown ups called him brother and welcomed him to the family.
I felt like an outsider in my own church. The next day, more went up and they all got the same response. All the more, I desired the adulation of the adults. So the following day, I pulled aside one of my friends and ask what happened. They explained what they were told, the time with the pastor and the questions he asked. They gave me the answers to the questions and knowing what was going to happen, I felt safe to move forward at the altar call.
I was nervous when he gave his call. Should I go at the beginning? Should I wait till later? What if I wait to long? These were my thoughts when I went forward. They were not those of someone being called by conviction of sin. Although I apologized for my sin, I did not repent that day. Al though I confessed with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and made a commitment to follow him, these were just the requirements to convince the gate keeper of salvation, that is to say, to make sure I could get the stamp of approval by the pastor. If he said I was saved, who would question him. After the prayer, I walked out of his office into my mother's arms. "I accepted Jesus into my heart Mom", I lied. Her happy eyes and the pastor's confirmation locked me a new life. An insincere life that would follow me through out my youth.
Later in my childhood, the Spirit of God would convict me of sin, but I would do no more than apologize to God for that sin and rededicate my life. Yet I would always fall short of placing my life in God's hands. I kept it firmly in my control. God would have to accept the scraps of my selfishness and be happy with that. I genuinely felt sorry, but I never thought I was all that bad.
For this reason, I worry about the children growing up in the church. How much they need the message of James. They grasp the message of grace without actually accepting God's grace. How many of the citizens of our churches have had this conversion.
If a man says he has faith, but doesn't live according to that faith, has he actually believed. What use does anyone get out of professing a faith in Christ, if they don't experience the transformation that comes with truly believing. When someone truly believes, they are reborn, They are inhabited by the Spirit of God and have new life. Christ by His Spirit in us, lives through us, (Gal 2:20) to the glory of God our Father.
My walk with the Lord started with a misstep and it was a douzie. As a child I was sent to a vacation bible school as was common. In those days, a VBS was an all day event. You were dropped off in the morning and picked up after your parents got off work. Now a days, it seems like most are after hours and shorter.
All week, we played and were taught the bible. There was usually a theme or a book of the bible we went over. I have long forgotten the lessons of the VBS when I was seven. What I do remember was the end of each day. After a day of bible studies and directed play there was an altar call. Soft music played from the piano and the preacher gave an urgent call. At first none of us went forward. No one wanted to be first. I don't remember now who was first, but I clearly recall the response. The child was celebrated by the adults. He was pulled aside and had a special meeting with the Pastor. Other grown ups called him brother and welcomed him to the family.
I felt like an outsider in my own church. The next day, more went up and they all got the same response. All the more, I desired the adulation of the adults. So the following day, I pulled aside one of my friends and ask what happened. They explained what they were told, the time with the pastor and the questions he asked. They gave me the answers to the questions and knowing what was going to happen, I felt safe to move forward at the altar call.
I was nervous when he gave his call. Should I go at the beginning? Should I wait till later? What if I wait to long? These were my thoughts when I went forward. They were not those of someone being called by conviction of sin. Although I apologized for my sin, I did not repent that day. Al though I confessed with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and made a commitment to follow him, these were just the requirements to convince the gate keeper of salvation, that is to say, to make sure I could get the stamp of approval by the pastor. If he said I was saved, who would question him. After the prayer, I walked out of his office into my mother's arms. "I accepted Jesus into my heart Mom", I lied. Her happy eyes and the pastor's confirmation locked me a new life. An insincere life that would follow me through out my youth.
Later in my childhood, the Spirit of God would convict me of sin, but I would do no more than apologize to God for that sin and rededicate my life. Yet I would always fall short of placing my life in God's hands. I kept it firmly in my control. God would have to accept the scraps of my selfishness and be happy with that. I genuinely felt sorry, but I never thought I was all that bad.
For this reason, I worry about the children growing up in the church. How much they need the message of James. They grasp the message of grace without actually accepting God's grace. How many of the citizens of our churches have had this conversion.
If a man says he has faith, but doesn't live according to that faith, has he actually believed. What use does anyone get out of professing a faith in Christ, if they don't experience the transformation that comes with truly believing. When someone truly believes, they are reborn, They are inhabited by the Spirit of God and have new life. Christ by His Spirit in us, lives through us, (Gal 2:20) to the glory of God our Father.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Quiet day
So happy to have a nice quiet day today. I was blessed with peace around the house and a time to recuperate after the long week. Looking for ward to Church tomorrow. What a strange thought after all these years. I pray that I would yield to the Spirit of God tomorrow and bring glory to Christ and God our Father. I mustn't muscle faith, but surrender to the mighty Lord to lead me. Not my life but His.
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