When you have nothing Good to say.. say nothing?
Posted: November 12, 2013 Filed under: Bible, Faith, Preaching, Religion | Tags: Christianity, God, Holy Spirit, Lord, New International Version, Pastor, preaching Leave a commentMatthew 5:36-37
New International Version (NIV)
36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
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I am so thankful today that our Father has put me in a position where if I have nothing good to say, I do not have to say anything. I think, much too often today, what we hear preached from the pulpits and what we see in the church are the results of fulfilling expectations, our expectations of one another, and doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with God’s purposes or plans for His Body and Bride in His world…
Congregations have expectations for their pastors and pastors have expectations for the congregations they serve. Sometimes as I served a congregation as their pastor I felt that the Lord was leading us in a very different direction than the direction we were heading. We had had all the committee meetings, business meetings and congregational votes and consensus’s and were agreed we were heading in the right direction, on the right path. Then as I prepared messages to lift up and lead the congregation in our chosen direction to our chosen goal, I sensed we had made the wrong decision and were heading in the wrong direction. Most of the time I just put off these feelings of uncertainty as an enemy attack because we were doing the Lord’s will in enemy territory as I believe many of us do today. I continued to prepare messages to lead us in our chosen directions and to uplift us along the way, after all, are we not suppose to encourage and exhort each other?
I quickly learned not to discuss any doubts or uncertainties I had with those I was supposed to be leading; because, we had prayed, and sought the Lord’s will and directions in whatever our endeavor was at the time. As their leader, I felt I was expected to ignore any signs or warnings that we may be moving contrary to, or not in time with or in line with the Lord’s leadings. We were all united in the task we had chosen to take to make a difference in this world…
I was afraid of not meeting the expectations of the congregation…
I have found out since I am no longer leading those congregations, or any congregation now, that some folks in those congregations also were not so sure of our directions or our plans at the time. They have confided in me since, that they too were suspicious of making bad decisions or taking wrong turns, but didn’t want to seem disagreeable or not enthusiastic about the endeavors we were undertaking.
They were afraid of not meeting my expectations or the expectations of the majority rule…
I will not go into all the details or even make judgments concerning whether or not the choices and endeavors were correct or not. ‘God makes all things work together for good, for those who love Him, those called according to His purpose.’ …So, even bad decisions and wrong directions will eventually work out for good… not because they are or were good in and of themselves, but because of God’s goodness towards us, even when we are in the wrong!
I am just thankful that for the time being, I am not in a position where I have others looking to me to meet their expectations and I don’t have any expectations of anyone which I am expecting them to meet. Life is much, much simpler this way!
Love in Him!
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Romans 8:26-29
New International Version (NIV)
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
New Birth… Conversion… Salvation?
Posted: October 29, 2013 Filed under: Bible, Faith, Religion | Tags: Adam, Adam and Eve, Christ, Death, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Lord Leave a comment—————————————————–
2000 plus years ago a man named Jesus hung on a cross and died. He did not die a natural death, He was not murdered nor was He a martyr. He was God, willingly releasing His life to us, into this world we live in… He was delivering New Life to, into a world governed by sin, death and the grave.. He was pouring out His eternal divine Life into the land of mortality, death, destruction and pain.
Jesus did not pour this Life out into sinful humanity to be partaken of by any who choose it. He poured this Life out for all to be taken into it… He filled all, the known and the unknown of this universe with His Glory, His Life, the Eternal Life of Almighty God. The whole world from beginning to end received the Life and the knowledge of God.
So what went wrong? Why are we still in the condition we are in today? Why are we still dying and destroying, being destroyed and living in chaos and confusion..?
Because this Life must apply to all, before any can realize it fully. We cannot receive this Life and immortality until we have been prepared to receive it… Jesus did not commit His Spirit into the hands of men, but into the hands of God Himself..
“Father into THY hands I commit MY Spirit.” Luke 23:46
Love in Him!
The Resurrection Body
1 Corinthians 15
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Jesus-the Way-the Truth-the Life??
Posted: September 16, 2013 Filed under: Bible, Faith, Preaching, Religion, Uncategorized | Tags: God, God the Father, Jesus, Lord, the life, the truth, the way, Trinity, Word 2 CommentsJohn 14:6-9
New Life Version (NLV)
6 Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one can go to the Father except by Me. 7 If you had known Me, you would know My Father also. From now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
Jesus and His Father Are One
8 Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we ask.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time and you do not know Me yet? Whoever has seen Me, has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
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picture from yahoo images
Some things are just hard to grasp… like water, air, light or spirit. Oh, we say we understand them, or we have a handle on it, but do we really? ..We are living in an information age and in a society which believes we must have all the answers to all the questions… But is that the truth??? …Can we really have all the answers?? ..I don’t think so… do you?
I am not going into a teaching on the Trinity, although I would like to, ..it would take much too much time! and I believe the picture and the verses above give enough information for you to know my position on that mystery… not that my position is important. ..Yours is much more important to you..
No, I have no problem with things that are difficult to grasp.. I have no problem with mysteries or parables, metaphors and analogies. I think they are in the scriptures for a purpose and God intends them to be there for our pleasure as well as for His purpose…
I have a problem when we use religion, theology, doctrine and dogma to try to answer these secrets and solve these mysteries, metaphors and parables for everyone on a denominational and even global level at times, instead of encouraging folks to dive into these mysterious difficulties and ambiguous teachings and discover for themselves the meanings… if there are meanings?
You see, I do not believe God intended for, or will allow His Word to be defined doctrinally, dogmatically or theologically… and this is where, we today have made our mistake.
God’s Word is intended to speak to humanity on every level, in every generation, in any and all circumstances… and stories and parables, metaphors and such are marvelous means of delivering “truth” and instruction in any ..and every situation or circumstance and on any level, individual, local, national and yes, even Global…
Example: I could use many words…definitions, formulas or theories to describe what I am trying to communicate to you… and whoever you are, wherever you live, the way you view life …and whatever problems or concerns you are facing at the time you read those words, would determine how and what you understand on a personal level from my many words and how you could apply them?… OR, I could tell a story about someone who faced similar challenges long ago and how they looked to God for the answers.. and how God was already working to help them solve their dilemma, whatever it was ….and you could relate or identify with the Person… and see how God worked on their behalf and you could trust Him to do the same for you in your personal saturation situation..
…Which would be more useful to you…?
In the first example, I am giving you information and formulas for you to attempt to use to come up with the answer to your own individual problem… In the second example, I am giving you the answer to your problem… no matter the circumstances you might find yourself in… Do you agree?
So let me stop, before I start doing the former… My point is: ..Don’t look for your answers in God’s Word… Look for God in His Word and you will have the Answer… Am I making sense to anyone? ….. Jesus is the answer, He is the way you need to go, He is the truth you need to know, His is the life of faith, trust, obedience and confidence, that is the answer to your problems, to my problems and to the world’s problems.
I know this sounds too simple to be true… but it is true …Stuff don’t have to be complicated to be useful..!! Mysteries do not have to be explained to provide answers… all the answers are in the mysteries… God’s Word will never be solved… but God’s Word will solve all the questions you have in Life… Jesus is God’s Word come to Life… and He defies definition… However He does NOT defy understanding!!!
He is to be understood by faith, trusting in Him…following His example, not by application of bible facts and figures, principles and methods… but by trusting Jesus and hearing Him in all of Life’s experiences and circumstances.. Jesus is SO MUCH more than our Savior… He is our answer to everything.!!
Now I will close… and I hope I have not upset you too bad… by not offering sound theological advice and proven, methodical ways of biblical application techniques for deducing answers to your particular problem today… All I can tell you is to trust God and ask Jesus, He already has your answers ready… before you ever know the questions to ask…
Love in Him!
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25 “I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech, but soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father. 26 Then you will ask in my name. I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, 27 for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.[b] 28 Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.”
29 Then his disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. 30 Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God.”
31 Jesus asked, “Do you finally believe?
John 16:25-31 (New Living Translation)
God Lives Here, Now.!!
Posted: September 10, 2013 Filed under: Bible, Preaching, Religion, Uncategorized | Tags: Bible, God, Heaven, Immanuel, John, Lord, New Testament, Old Testament, theology Leave a comment—————————————————————
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Matthew 3:16,17 and 4:17
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I am not going to say that “Heaven” is not some otherly place, I am going to say this; “It does not have to be”… I believe the Bible makes it clear that Heaven is where God dwells… Do you agree?
I also think the Bible makes it clear that God resides with His people, and inside His children.
This latter thought is not expressed very well today in modern preaching. We mainly hear about ..going to Heaven or Hell after death, ..going to be with Jesus, ..going to be with those who have gone before us and so on… But, is this really what the Bible teaches?
~ Let’s Explore ~
Let’s look at two verses…
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Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. —Isaiah 7:14 (OT)
And then around 700 years later..
Again, I would like to remind you and myself of this, ..Immanuel.. is a Hebrew word which means: “God with us” …Both of the above verses say basically the same thing, however they were written centuries apart. The verse recorded in the New Testament by Matthew is there to show us that the prophecy given by Isaiah in the Old Testament has been fulfilled. …When was it fulfilled..? ..When Jesus was born in Bethlehem..
I’m not going to start listing all the scriptures which say that God lives with us and in us. There would be far too many to list on this post.. and you would miss all the fun of looking them up and discovering them for yourself. ..I do hope you will take time someday to do this… It might change your mind as well as your world.. The Old and New Testaments both contain numerous verses letting us know where God lives.
It seems we speak much today of Jesus as being somewhere other than ‘in us and with us.’ I’m not sure why this is, ..unless it is simply because we do not feel apart, or as close to Him as we should or could? ..Maybe it’s because we have just not been taught the simple truth.? ..I hear statements like; “Come to Jesus”… “Ask Jesus to come into your heart”… “Ask Jesus to reach out and take you by the hand”… and other such clichés…. I am sure you have heard them too..? They seem to suggest that Jesus is somewhere other than where we are.
You see, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem that was the “Main Event” of all time and eternity. This is when God moved into our neighborhood and took up permanent residence. …He has never left!… Heaven moved to earth and has made His home with us… I’m I saying Jesus is Heaven?… Is His name Immanuel?…
I will let you decide that for yourself…
Read your bible, especially the New Testament, and even more specifically the Gospel of John the Apostle.. Concentrate for awhile on what John says about Jesus. Pay attention to how John describes Jesus as “The Word of God”… remember as you read, John was the “beloved disciple”… Jesus is the “beloved Son of God.” …One more hint.. and I hope it does not confuse you.. “David” means “beloved” also.. He was the “Beloved King of Israel” in the Old Testament. ..Your Bible is packed full of hints and clues to show you ‘truths’ that are not noticed with just a casual reading… There are so many things in the Scriptures that only become clear as one continues to “explore”… and as I have said before, these treasures are hidden for us to discover… not hidden from us ..but hidden for us!
I will close now, but before I do let me say: “Heaven is wherever Jesus is. ..Jesus is the Paradise of Heaven, ..Jesus is the Garden of Eden, ..Jesus is the “tree of Life”.. in the Garden of our God… Find Him and you find Heaven too!!! ..He is with you right were you are. He is here Today… He is here NOW..”
Love in Him!
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And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Luke 2:8-15
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The Bible.. a Love STORY?
Posted: September 2, 2013 Filed under: Bible, Preaching, Religion, Uncategorized | Tags: Bible, God, Goliath, Jesus, Lord, Scripture, Storytelling 1 Comment7 They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.
Psalm 145:7-9 (NIV)
The Bible can be intimidating sometimes, especially when you are first getting into it or have been away from it for a while… Often we feel uncomfortable with the Bible in groups such as Sunday school class, Bible studies and prayer groups. There is always someone in the group who is a living breathing Bible machine… you know one don’t you? ….I was one, who felt uncomfortable in the groups for many years.
I knew Bible stories; I had heard those since I was a kid. Mama read one to us every night before we went to bed. Sometimes I would drift away into dreamland with one of those stories on my mind. “David and Goliath, Daniel in the lion’s den, the three guys in the furnace”, Shack, Rack and Tobedugo… you remember them don’t you?…
But as far as being a Bible machine, nope, not me!
After I grew older, not being able to quote Scripture began to bother me. Now I could tell you any of the stories and relate to you how they could be used to guide us through life’s many circumstances, but I couldn’t tell you the “book” the story was in or “the chapter and verse number” where the story began. I was not able to tell the story to you word for word, exactly as it was written down. ….Can you do that?
I remember someone telling me how important the “addresses” were and how every single word in the Scriptures carried some substantial meaning which should not be overlooked and so on, and so on… So, I made up my mind to study and become a “mean lean Bible machine” and I did.
Now let me explain please…. I do not have any problem with you or anyone else if you can quote scripture word for word and know the book, chapter and verse numbers… I think that is great and I am able to do the same, now… Those skills come in handy more often than not, and if that is what it takes to have confidence and self-esteem in classes and groups, by all means, do it. …It is also a tremendous help when teaching and studying and such.
But!!!
yahoo.images
You knew it was coming didn’t you?
“But” is a great little 3 letter word, unless it follows this little 3 word sentence: “I love you.”
And that is kind of my point. You see, I view the Bible primarily as a love story, an action packed daily dramatic adventure filled episode of God falling madly in love with His Creation Bride and His Creation Bride, falling madly in love with Him… Have you ever thought about “it” like that? …and it’s ok to see it this way… and to learn it this way… In fact, it is the preferred way, if you will…?
See, after I began my studies, I discovered that “Story Telling” is the language of the Bible. …Stories are the method the Bible and all of its mysteries and treasures were handed down through from generation to generation… Story Telling was the “entertainment industry” of that day and age so to speak. … Jesus taught in “parables” a type of story with a message embedded to be discovered or revealed (realized) at another point in time… and so on and so forth.
Now lets wrap this up… Being able to Quote Scripture word for word, knowing the book, chapter, verse number and so forth is great and often beneficial, unless you do not know the story. Too often I hear folks quoting Scriptures in the wrong spirit, the wrong frame of mind… They use it in order to gain the upper hand, or to silence their questioner…to show their assumed superiority or authority… you know what I mean right? …This practice is far too common today in many circles, and it is wrong, just plain wrong!!!
Conclusion: Please learn the Story, before you learn the Bible, …more often than not this will eliminate the problem… God (Jesus in us) is a lover not a fighter! Sure He got angry at times, we all do… but He did not sin in His angry and we do… and when we do we hurt and drive people away who are in despair and only wish someone would just tell them a Beautiful Love Story!!!
Love in His Name!
1 Corinthians 13
New International Version (NIV)
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is LOVE.
Just Thinking 