Following the post from yesterday, I would pose that there were other passages that should be taken into consideration when thinking about this generation, or previous generations, living prodigally in regards to our Christian riches.
I had in mind the passage from Matthew's gospel when as he finishes letting John the Baptizer's disciples know that He indeed was the Messiah, He rebukes of the cities that had rejected Him (chapter 11:20-24). In this passage in the NKJV (New King James Version) it describes the miracles done as "most of His mighty works". These cities were being rebuked for rejecting Him in spite of the miracles He had performed in them, and that if these same miracles had been performed in Sodom even, it would have remained until His day.
This echoes the passage that the Jews did not know the day of visitation when the Lord had come for a season in their midst (Luke 19:41-44), and yet as they were blind spiritually to His presence, so too were they blind to the many clues that He gave them as to His true identity as given by the prophets of old (now known as the Old Testament prophets).
Yet, even today, as we have this abundance of spiritual wealth as Christians that seemingly we have squandered, and have need to come to the Lord repenting corporately as a church, as the Body of Christ, seeking restoration as the son did with his father. We know that we will be received as our Lord will rejoice at our returning as we who were lost (perhaps some entirely so, and just now realizing their true spiritual state?) are now found, and are welcomed home.
The point of the posting today, and it's title "what if God called?" is about the idea that God called to His people in His day, and they ignored Him at best, and at worst they just didn't hear Him. Do we hear His call to us today? Can we hear Him calling us to return to Him, and to serve Him in our generation? Are we preparing the next generation for hearing His call? Or are we endangering them by coddling them to the point that their faith is meaningless and irrelevant because they can't see the applicability and meaning of their faith in their daily lives? I am not sure; but I know that the Lord does still call us today, not on our cell phones, not by writing messages in the clouds, but by luring and drawing us with His Holy Spirit, and speaking to us in our dreams, and by those who are around us not knowing that the very words they speak at times can be done in a manner that is done by the will of God without their even knowing their purpose for telling you what has been said.
Are we listening? Please pray that our ears would be opened for hearing the voice of God today!
Soli Deo Gloria~
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Prodigal Living...
Who knows that the term "prodigal" is actually another term for "wasteful"? The story that Jesus relates in Luke chapter 15 is about the "prodigal son". We often hear this as being about someone who is separated from his father who eventually finds their way home after realizing what they had and lost. I have even read of this being understood in terms of a Christian being represented by the older brother with a jealous attitude towards those who are newly come into the kingdom, and feeling the father's extravagant love.
Truly the context is more to do with the understanding of God's desire for all of those separate from Him to find their way home, and that He will be looking for them as they come over the hill and he rushes out to welcome them home showering them lavishly with His boundless love, no matter that it is not deserved.
Yet, here is another look at the passage. If you get the chance read Luke 15:11-19. It tells of two sons; the one who appears as you read all the way through to be one who is faithful to his father, though somewhat ungrateful as to what he has always had though he didn't apparently realize it; and the son who was given his share of the riches and took them and squandered them living carelessly in a foreign (strange) land. Only after his riches were all spent did he realize what it was he had had and had wasted. This "wasted" living or "prodigal" living caused him to want to return home and live as one of his father's servants since he knew that while he nothing to eat where he was feeding the pigs for someone else, at least at home his father's servants lived better than he was living.
Stop for a moment and think of how this sounds if you rearrange the application. This is not meant to take away the context of the passage, but rather how you take the principle of Christ's teachings, and see how this same message can be applied in your life (or the corporate life of a church, community, nation). I want to have you close your eyes and think with me as I lay out the story in another way that will hopefully cause you to shudder and cry out to the Lord for revival and repentance.
The wasteful son - could there be a better metaphorical illustration of the church in America today? We have been blessed by God with so many riches (spiritually, materially, physically) and yet the evangelical church over the past generation has squandered (i.e., wasted, lived prodigally) our spiritual wealth through "riotous living". We have gone along to get along with the culture, abandoning the culture to the world, to the pagans, to those of other religions (to include the secular humanists, though they will not admit to being a "religion") when we have been given the command to "take every thought captive". In our quest for relevance, of our desire to be considered "hip and cool", we have let our Father's riches slip through our hands as we busy ourselves playing "church" on Sunday morning, and never give it another thought until the next Sunday morning. Our anemic prayer lives, spiritual power (real spiritual power, not these carnival freak shows that pass as some kind of "Jesus is my cosmic genie" kind of spiritual power); all are due to the lifestyle that we as Christians in this generation in America have come to expect as the "normal way to do church".
We are like the prodigal son who after squandering his father's riches (notice they are not his by having earned them, but rather they are given to him as his inheritance, as ours is as Christians, we can't earn our heavenly riches, but are given access to them by our Heavenly Father through Christ Jesus) finds employment feeding pigs. My friends we are like this in our culture, we are feeding the pigs! We are with the pigs down in the slop and we wallow in our misery, moaning about how things aren't like they used to be in the "good old days" when church was really church. Instead, as we have now begun to (hopefully) realize that we are truly hungry for spiritual food, all that we find that we have left now is the slop that the pigs eat, and our spiritual bodies can't or won't digest it, leaving us even hungrier than before.
What happens next is where I hope that our prayers will lead us - the desire to return home. Home to our Father's house; where there his "servants have food to spare" (Luke 15:17a). And yet here we are starving to death, and yet we have lost our moral bearings as we compromise the truth, and accept the garbage that we are fed by the culture, government, and those spiritually opposed to our Lord's message. I pray that you will stop this madness in this generation, and cry out to God for a return to "the old ways", the preaching of the gospel, not just to the healthy, but to the truly sick in a way that is bold and fearless of men, knowing that they can only kill the body, but cannot touch the soul!
We must become like the prodigal son who upon realizing his spiritual poverty and the famine that he found himself in desired to go to his Father's house and beg forgiveness, and just live as a servant in His house. We know that our Father in heaven would not take us as a servant but will be waiting on the hill from afar looking for us to come home; and will run out to meet us as we turn to home! He will tell the servants to kill the fatted calf, and to clothe us in Christ's righteous garments, and to throw away our garments of self-righteousness. We will be loved and we will love! But we must shred and shed this image of who the church has become in America, and return the our Father's house in His power, and in His Name!
For tonight, I close with this thought from Acts 13:36 - "For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed." Ask yourself if you have served God's purpose for your generation. You have not fallen asleep yet; and there is still time to turn to God and seek His face with all your heart, and in that day He will be found.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Truly the context is more to do with the understanding of God's desire for all of those separate from Him to find their way home, and that He will be looking for them as they come over the hill and he rushes out to welcome them home showering them lavishly with His boundless love, no matter that it is not deserved.
Yet, here is another look at the passage. If you get the chance read Luke 15:11-19. It tells of two sons; the one who appears as you read all the way through to be one who is faithful to his father, though somewhat ungrateful as to what he has always had though he didn't apparently realize it; and the son who was given his share of the riches and took them and squandered them living carelessly in a foreign (strange) land. Only after his riches were all spent did he realize what it was he had had and had wasted. This "wasted" living or "prodigal" living caused him to want to return home and live as one of his father's servants since he knew that while he nothing to eat where he was feeding the pigs for someone else, at least at home his father's servants lived better than he was living.
Stop for a moment and think of how this sounds if you rearrange the application. This is not meant to take away the context of the passage, but rather how you take the principle of Christ's teachings, and see how this same message can be applied in your life (or the corporate life of a church, community, nation). I want to have you close your eyes and think with me as I lay out the story in another way that will hopefully cause you to shudder and cry out to the Lord for revival and repentance.
The wasteful son - could there be a better metaphorical illustration of the church in America today? We have been blessed by God with so many riches (spiritually, materially, physically) and yet the evangelical church over the past generation has squandered (i.e., wasted, lived prodigally) our spiritual wealth through "riotous living". We have gone along to get along with the culture, abandoning the culture to the world, to the pagans, to those of other religions (to include the secular humanists, though they will not admit to being a "religion") when we have been given the command to "take every thought captive". In our quest for relevance, of our desire to be considered "hip and cool", we have let our Father's riches slip through our hands as we busy ourselves playing "church" on Sunday morning, and never give it another thought until the next Sunday morning. Our anemic prayer lives, spiritual power (real spiritual power, not these carnival freak shows that pass as some kind of "Jesus is my cosmic genie" kind of spiritual power); all are due to the lifestyle that we as Christians in this generation in America have come to expect as the "normal way to do church".
We are like the prodigal son who after squandering his father's riches (notice they are not his by having earned them, but rather they are given to him as his inheritance, as ours is as Christians, we can't earn our heavenly riches, but are given access to them by our Heavenly Father through Christ Jesus) finds employment feeding pigs. My friends we are like this in our culture, we are feeding the pigs! We are with the pigs down in the slop and we wallow in our misery, moaning about how things aren't like they used to be in the "good old days" when church was really church. Instead, as we have now begun to (hopefully) realize that we are truly hungry for spiritual food, all that we find that we have left now is the slop that the pigs eat, and our spiritual bodies can't or won't digest it, leaving us even hungrier than before.
What happens next is where I hope that our prayers will lead us - the desire to return home. Home to our Father's house; where there his "servants have food to spare" (Luke 15:17a). And yet here we are starving to death, and yet we have lost our moral bearings as we compromise the truth, and accept the garbage that we are fed by the culture, government, and those spiritually opposed to our Lord's message. I pray that you will stop this madness in this generation, and cry out to God for a return to "the old ways", the preaching of the gospel, not just to the healthy, but to the truly sick in a way that is bold and fearless of men, knowing that they can only kill the body, but cannot touch the soul!
We must become like the prodigal son who upon realizing his spiritual poverty and the famine that he found himself in desired to go to his Father's house and beg forgiveness, and just live as a servant in His house. We know that our Father in heaven would not take us as a servant but will be waiting on the hill from afar looking for us to come home; and will run out to meet us as we turn to home! He will tell the servants to kill the fatted calf, and to clothe us in Christ's righteous garments, and to throw away our garments of self-righteousness. We will be loved and we will love! But we must shred and shed this image of who the church has become in America, and return the our Father's house in His power, and in His Name!
For tonight, I close with this thought from Acts 13:36 - "For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed." Ask yourself if you have served God's purpose for your generation. You have not fallen asleep yet; and there is still time to turn to God and seek His face with all your heart, and in that day He will be found.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Saturday, February 02, 2008
After Death...A New Beginning
1 Corinthians 15:35-41
But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?" You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and other flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly one is one, and the glory of the earthly one is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
1 Corinthians 15:42-49
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
But someone will say, "How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?" You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and other flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly one is one, and the glory of the earthly one is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
1 Corinthians 15:42-49
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
Monday, July 17, 2006
What are the purposes for church? Why are we what we are, and what are we supposed to be doing here? These are questions for which I think many people in the church pews from week to week wonder. There is this thought that - "is this all that there is?" - often crosses the minds of those who are sitting and absorbing the teaching for the week.
Is there more? Are you satisfied with just the status quo of church as we experience it in the western hemisphere today? In North America today? Am I proposing or suggesting that something is broken in need of fixing? God's church is not broken, but what man has made of it is certainly not only broken but in sad need of repair!
Are you willing to follow the vision that God gives in the Word on what church is supposed to be? Then let's begin an adventure - one that just might spark a revolution!
Is there more? Are you satisfied with just the status quo of church as we experience it in the western hemisphere today? In North America today? Am I proposing or suggesting that something is broken in need of fixing? God's church is not broken, but what man has made of it is certainly not only broken but in sad need of repair!
Are you willing to follow the vision that God gives in the Word on what church is supposed to be? Then let's begin an adventure - one that just might spark a revolution!
Monday, January 23, 2006
Free Indeed!
Are we truly free? What is holding us back? Why don't we just make the decision to do what we will; not considering the consequences? What does it mean to be free? Free to choose from the dollar menu at McDonalds? Free to choose the career field into which you will commit yourself for between 20 and 40 years? (if you are truly luck these days...or is that really luck?) Or is true freedom that which frees us ultimately from the bondage that keeps all men (and women) from experiencing a revolutionizing and all encompassing freedom? Where can this freedom be found? How do we know that it will last? By turning to the One from Whom all truth flows.
Jesus said, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Who is this that can by simply saying the word can make men free? How deep does this freedom flow? Is it freedom from the daily cares and worries of this world? Is it deep enough to satisfy the hidden, but powerful longing in our souls to know the depth of life and what the future holds? Yes, and more!
Again Jesus said, "Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever, the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Are you ready to begin exploring this kind of freedom? Are you ready to follow the One who can promise the kind of spiritual freedom that can only exist and can only be given by the One who not only created us, but the cosmos as well? The trail begins with something as small as a mustard seed...faith.
Jesus said, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Who is this that can by simply saying the word can make men free? How deep does this freedom flow? Is it freedom from the daily cares and worries of this world? Is it deep enough to satisfy the hidden, but powerful longing in our souls to know the depth of life and what the future holds? Yes, and more!
Again Jesus said, "Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever, the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." Are you ready to begin exploring this kind of freedom? Are you ready to follow the One who can promise the kind of spiritual freedom that can only exist and can only be given by the One who not only created us, but the cosmos as well? The trail begins with something as small as a mustard seed...faith.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Faith, Disbelief, and Disobedience
Recently, I have had the opportunity to share messages from the Gospel of Mark in the context of understanding the works of God all around us, and how it impacts our lives and sometimes "rattles our cage". We too often in the West especially are comfortable in our faith, and that we don't want to believe in anything that smacks of "supernatural", so that we tend to dismiss or even discount anything that borders on the strange, mysterious, or (God forbid) the miraculous. But as I shared in a message lately, the evidence is all around us that it would appear that God is moving in a mighty way in the world around us.
We don't see much of it in the culture that we surround ourselves with here in America, and even Western Europe because of our spiritual blindness. We are too sophisticated to recognize these kinds of miracles or workings of God in our midst. The signs and wonders of God that accompany the preaching of the Gospel often came (and come) to validate the message being preached. There are many cultures in which this is received and gives God a powerful witness as His people come in power of not only message but in the ability to show through prayer and healing the power of God to do miraculous things in the midst of people even today.
I recently had someone ask me why we still need "signs and wonders" in our culture. I responded that due to the overwhelming disbelief that runs rampant in our culture, it would seem that only the signs from God would gain the attention of those in this culture. However, upon further reflection, I am afraid the answer isn't even that hopeful. We may indeed today be in the mindset that the Israelites found themselves in during Jesus' day. When the Pharisees asked for a sign, Jesus responded with, "There will be no sign for this generation." There reason for wanting a sign was selfish, and in the interest of entertainment (sort of), and that today if we were to see miracles in our midst, we would as a culture treat them with disbelief, and completely disregard the reason that we were given the sign.
More thoughts later...
We don't see much of it in the culture that we surround ourselves with here in America, and even Western Europe because of our spiritual blindness. We are too sophisticated to recognize these kinds of miracles or workings of God in our midst. The signs and wonders of God that accompany the preaching of the Gospel often came (and come) to validate the message being preached. There are many cultures in which this is received and gives God a powerful witness as His people come in power of not only message but in the ability to show through prayer and healing the power of God to do miraculous things in the midst of people even today.
I recently had someone ask me why we still need "signs and wonders" in our culture. I responded that due to the overwhelming disbelief that runs rampant in our culture, it would seem that only the signs from God would gain the attention of those in this culture. However, upon further reflection, I am afraid the answer isn't even that hopeful. We may indeed today be in the mindset that the Israelites found themselves in during Jesus' day. When the Pharisees asked for a sign, Jesus responded with, "There will be no sign for this generation." There reason for wanting a sign was selfish, and in the interest of entertainment (sort of), and that today if we were to see miracles in our midst, we would as a culture treat them with disbelief, and completely disregard the reason that we were given the sign.
More thoughts later...
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Are we to judge ourselves? Yes!
This is a message that I shared with a brother in Christ regarding one issue in the realm of how Christ taught His disciples to judge "justly". I make no apologies for it, unless it would be to say that I rest my arguments solely on the word of God, and that may He judge me for misrepresenting His word.
The Scripture passage that I was trying to remember earlier this evening is in 1 Corinthians, it is chapter 5:12, but to have a more perfect understanding of it someone should read it in the context of its paragraphical context, at the least, which is 1 Corinthians 5:9-13.
Paul writes:
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler - not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you.
Jesus in these passages says that we, His disciples, are not "of this world" meaning that we are in citizens of heaven in the sense that we are pilgrims that are passing through this world system. This shouldn't and doesn't mean that we don't contribute to the betterment of the world in which we live, because as Christians we are called to salt and light - meaning that as salt we are a preservative, which keeps the best part of it alive and even we are called to revive it for the glorification of God. Yet while we are not of this world, as Christ said, we are still "in" the world physically. We have already been separated out in one sense in that spiritually we are already in the presence of Christ in the throne room of heaven (Colossians 3:3), but that as pilgrims in this world we live in two worlds at once, physically here and spiritually we are according to the Colossians passage "hidden with Christ in God". Since we are here, and we have dedicated ourselves to following Jesus, we are given the commandment
to pick up our cross daily and follow Him, and that as the Great Commission was given, we are to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20)
2. The next passage that you will notice talks about how we are not to "associate with any who bears the name of 'brother' if he is guilty of the various things that Paul lists, which in other
passages he lists as things that unrighteous and which will keep one out of heaven in the
sense that the unrighteous things cannot enter into heaven. We are to judge ourselves, so
that we might have a better understanding of our standing before God, we are commended
often that we are to make sure that we are of the faith, to examine ourselves, but even in
1 Corinthians 11:31-33 we read Paul's admonition that if we "judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world." For we are also told that if we are loved truly by earthly fathers and are disciplined we love them for that, yet when we are disciplined by our heavenly Father, are we any less loved? Discipline if nothing else is a sign of His love for us as His children.
So, it is our concern to judge those who are our brothers, and let God deal with those outside the church. We are called to be among them, but not of them. We are to be amongst them sharing the bread of life, and the water which if drank will cause them to never thirst again (spiritually). We are to be salt and light in the world today. We are not to be corrupted by their influence, but rather to influence them towards a saving relationship with Christ through faith. This of course hearkens back to Romans 10:14-15, But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! I would simply ask that if we are to be separated from the world physically, then how would they ever hear the good news? Yet we do so uncritically in the sense that we present Christ to them, and leave it to the Holy Spirit to convict them of their sins, as Jesus said that he would in the gospel of John 16:8.
Even in Jesus' teaching to Nicodemus, He said, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, (in other words God has already judged them, per our conversation regarding 1 Corinthians 5) because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, les his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.
What is absolutely amazing about this text is that it states that we will not come to the light (Jesus) because our deeds are evil, and we love darkness rather than light. What then will draw us to the light? Our guilty consciences? Or is it the guilty conscience that is convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit? Yes, that is what will not only draw us to the light, but will push us onward in search of the truth, which can only be found in Jesus Christ. Our relief from our guilty conscience can only be found in the saving grace that is administered to us by the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.
Peace be with you my brother.
Jon
The Scripture passage that I was trying to remember earlier this evening is in 1 Corinthians, it is chapter 5:12, but to have a more perfect understanding of it someone should read it in the context of its paragraphical context, at the least, which is 1 Corinthians 5:9-13.
Paul writes:
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler - not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you.
- Now notice from the one passage that states we "would need to go out of the world"? Remember the words of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane? He said that "All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth." - John 17:10-19
Jesus in these passages says that we, His disciples, are not "of this world" meaning that we are in citizens of heaven in the sense that we are pilgrims that are passing through this world system. This shouldn't and doesn't mean that we don't contribute to the betterment of the world in which we live, because as Christians we are called to salt and light - meaning that as salt we are a preservative, which keeps the best part of it alive and even we are called to revive it for the glorification of God. Yet while we are not of this world, as Christ said, we are still "in" the world physically. We have already been separated out in one sense in that spiritually we are already in the presence of Christ in the throne room of heaven (Colossians 3:3), but that as pilgrims in this world we live in two worlds at once, physically here and spiritually we are according to the Colossians passage "hidden with Christ in God". Since we are here, and we have dedicated ourselves to following Jesus, we are given the commandment
to pick up our cross daily and follow Him, and that as the Great Commission was given, we are to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20)
2. The next passage that you will notice talks about how we are not to "associate with any who bears the name of 'brother' if he is guilty of the various things that Paul lists, which in other
passages he lists as things that unrighteous and which will keep one out of heaven in the
sense that the unrighteous things cannot enter into heaven. We are to judge ourselves, so
that we might have a better understanding of our standing before God, we are commended
often that we are to make sure that we are of the faith, to examine ourselves, but even in
1 Corinthians 11:31-33 we read Paul's admonition that if we "judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world." For we are also told that if we are loved truly by earthly fathers and are disciplined we love them for that, yet when we are disciplined by our heavenly Father, are we any less loved? Discipline if nothing else is a sign of His love for us as His children.
So, it is our concern to judge those who are our brothers, and let God deal with those outside the church. We are called to be among them, but not of them. We are to be amongst them sharing the bread of life, and the water which if drank will cause them to never thirst again (spiritually). We are to be salt and light in the world today. We are not to be corrupted by their influence, but rather to influence them towards a saving relationship with Christ through faith. This of course hearkens back to Romans 10:14-15, But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! I would simply ask that if we are to be separated from the world physically, then how would they ever hear the good news? Yet we do so uncritically in the sense that we present Christ to them, and leave it to the Holy Spirit to convict them of their sins, as Jesus said that he would in the gospel of John 16:8.
Even in Jesus' teaching to Nicodemus, He said, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, (in other words God has already judged them, per our conversation regarding 1 Corinthians 5) because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, les his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.
What is absolutely amazing about this text is that it states that we will not come to the light (Jesus) because our deeds are evil, and we love darkness rather than light. What then will draw us to the light? Our guilty consciences? Or is it the guilty conscience that is convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit? Yes, that is what will not only draw us to the light, but will push us onward in search of the truth, which can only be found in Jesus Christ. Our relief from our guilty conscience can only be found in the saving grace that is administered to us by the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.
Peace be with you my brother.
Jon
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Death is all around us...
Amazing isn't it how much death has been in the news lately? It's not as if death is a new phenomenon, it happens everyday, just read the obituaries, the folks that are listed there are just as dead as the three big deaths announced over the last ten days or so.
First we had the moral struggle, for some at least, over whether or not to starve a mental cripple (no I don't believe that "ending artificial life-support" meant that starving Terri Schiavo was humane). {This whole episode deserves its own post, but maybe later!} Then the Pope died, and we discover that he was widely loved, and amazing as it is to realize there are those in this world who actually, in my humble opinion, "worshiped" him. Did he wish to be idolized and worshipped? I would think not based upon what he has said and done in the past. But then once he is dead who is he to stop them from doing so? A million people it has been reported have viewed the body, and the City of Rome is expecting upwards of five million people this weekend for the funeral. What a shame there will likely not be a gospel presentation presented to these people for them to respond to and have a chance to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and thus turn this event of unprecented magnitude (imagine 2 billion people watching!) for sharing the gospel. Can you imagine the impact that this one message might have upon the world if there was a gospel presentation offered? What would happen to the world? There are six billion people on the planet by the best guesses; and a full one-third of the population of the world are estimated to be watching this event on Friday afternoon. What would Jesus think of this event if there could be just one witness of His name at this event that would shout out to the lost and dying that there truly is a water that will quench their spiritual thirst, and a bread that fill all of their natural and supernatural hungers and desires, and this all comes in the form of Jesus Christ.
But in the end, we find that the Pope, was only a man. Like you and I, a sinner, one who death has claimed physically, but if his hope was truly placed in Jesus Christ for taking his place on the cross and taking his sin upon Himself, then truly we will see Karol Wotjyla in heaven one day. I pray that he was indeed a Christ follower. Are you? "Examine yourself to see if you are in the faith. Test yourselves, or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless you fail to meet the test!" (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Death has been defeated at the cross of Jesus Christ! Its ultimate defeat came three days later when the Lord Jesus Christ walked out from His tomb, and left it empty for all the world to see.
"I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall all not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and teh dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory!' 'O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the workd of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)
"Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment." (John 5:28-29) Do you wonder about this statement of who has done good, and who has done evil? Do not wonder as it has been proclaimed from days gone by that those who know the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ are those who "know" Him, and follow Him, as their Lord and Savior. "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." (John 5:25) "The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers...I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture...I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep...My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one...I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 10 & 14, selected passages)
No greater truth exists than this. Death has been defeated! The death of the Pope, the death of Terri Schiavo, and the death of Prince Rainier all point out that irregardless of your station in life, you too will die one day. If today is that day, are you prepared to stand before the Judge of the Universe, who knows all things from the beginning to the ending? What will you say to Him when asked why you should be allowed into eternal glory in the presence of God? Are you prepared to say that you of yourself are not worthy, but instead you claim the blood of Jesus Christ as the price paid for the sins you committed? And that by doing so you declare yourself a follower, a believer, and dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ? If you do not know this as the truth in your heart that will deliver you from death, than today make it so!
Please contact me if you wish to talk further, (crossblade@highstream.net) I will be glad to pray for you and ask the Father to take the spiritual blinders or cataracts from your eyes, and to unclog your ears that you may hear the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That He might also remove the prejudices that the human heart with the help of the devil put between you and the God who loves you. Please do not let another day go by without your knowing that your eternal destiny is set and that the King of Kings awaits you in eternity.
Blessed Be His Holy Name ~ All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name!!
Peace & Grace to you,
your brother in Christ,
jon
First we had the moral struggle, for some at least, over whether or not to starve a mental cripple (no I don't believe that "ending artificial life-support" meant that starving Terri Schiavo was humane). {This whole episode deserves its own post, but maybe later!} Then the Pope died, and we discover that he was widely loved, and amazing as it is to realize there are those in this world who actually, in my humble opinion, "worshiped" him. Did he wish to be idolized and worshipped? I would think not based upon what he has said and done in the past. But then once he is dead who is he to stop them from doing so? A million people it has been reported have viewed the body, and the City of Rome is expecting upwards of five million people this weekend for the funeral. What a shame there will likely not be a gospel presentation presented to these people for them to respond to and have a chance to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and thus turn this event of unprecented magnitude (imagine 2 billion people watching!) for sharing the gospel. Can you imagine the impact that this one message might have upon the world if there was a gospel presentation offered? What would happen to the world? There are six billion people on the planet by the best guesses; and a full one-third of the population of the world are estimated to be watching this event on Friday afternoon. What would Jesus think of this event if there could be just one witness of His name at this event that would shout out to the lost and dying that there truly is a water that will quench their spiritual thirst, and a bread that fill all of their natural and supernatural hungers and desires, and this all comes in the form of Jesus Christ.
But in the end, we find that the Pope, was only a man. Like you and I, a sinner, one who death has claimed physically, but if his hope was truly placed in Jesus Christ for taking his place on the cross and taking his sin upon Himself, then truly we will see Karol Wotjyla in heaven one day. I pray that he was indeed a Christ follower. Are you? "Examine yourself to see if you are in the faith. Test yourselves, or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless you fail to meet the test!" (2 Corinthians 13:5)
Death has been defeated at the cross of Jesus Christ! Its ultimate defeat came three days later when the Lord Jesus Christ walked out from His tomb, and left it empty for all the world to see.
"I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall all not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and teh dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory!' 'O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the workd of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)
"Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment." (John 5:28-29) Do you wonder about this statement of who has done good, and who has done evil? Do not wonder as it has been proclaimed from days gone by that those who know the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ are those who "know" Him, and follow Him, as their Lord and Savior. "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." (John 5:25) "The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers...I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture...I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep...My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one...I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 10 & 14, selected passages)
No greater truth exists than this. Death has been defeated! The death of the Pope, the death of Terri Schiavo, and the death of Prince Rainier all point out that irregardless of your station in life, you too will die one day. If today is that day, are you prepared to stand before the Judge of the Universe, who knows all things from the beginning to the ending? What will you say to Him when asked why you should be allowed into eternal glory in the presence of God? Are you prepared to say that you of yourself are not worthy, but instead you claim the blood of Jesus Christ as the price paid for the sins you committed? And that by doing so you declare yourself a follower, a believer, and dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ? If you do not know this as the truth in your heart that will deliver you from death, than today make it so!
Please contact me if you wish to talk further, (crossblade@highstream.net) I will be glad to pray for you and ask the Father to take the spiritual blinders or cataracts from your eyes, and to unclog your ears that you may hear the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That He might also remove the prejudices that the human heart with the help of the devil put between you and the God who loves you. Please do not let another day go by without your knowing that your eternal destiny is set and that the King of Kings awaits you in eternity.
Blessed Be His Holy Name ~ All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name!!
Peace & Grace to you,
your brother in Christ,
jon
Saturday, January 29, 2005
New day dawning...
A few days away and it seems as though it has been months...actually it has been months. But I went ahead and returned to the board to share what I have been learning in my Bible studies and searching for a deeper understanding of the LORD.
An interesting passage is found in Ephesians 4:1-3,17-19; 5:1-2, 15-16 - I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3) This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should not longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (Ephesians 4:17-19) Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Ephesians 5:1-2) See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16).
The interesting link between these passages, as you may have noted already, is the likening of the Christian life to a "walk". Probably the closest term in today's language to equate with this would be one's lifestyle. Are we as Christians "walking the walk that we are so good at talking"? That is what most people are looking at as soon as they know that we are Christians. We are being measured against either what the world assumes a Christian should look like and act like, or we are being measured against the Word of God and how it says a Christian should behave.
The two measurements are of course polar opposites in most cases. We know, if we have read our Bibles, and have been properly discipled, how to act or at least how the Lord expects us to act. (Trust me, there are expectations from God as to how we should behave! Romans 5:20-6:2, "Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?") Are we prepared today, Christians, to pursue holiness and righteousness before the Lord?
That is the message that I would suggest that we begin the new week with, ..."A new day dawning..." - don't worry what happened yesterday. Don't let the devil cast stones at you and make accusations towards you before God. Remember that while Satan may be the Great Accuser; Jesus is the Great Advocate for our souls. (1 John 2:1 - My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.)
May the Lord and Master of All Creation Bless your day!
Peace & Grace to you,
Bro. Jon
An interesting passage is found in Ephesians 4:1-3,17-19; 5:1-2, 15-16 - I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3) This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should not longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (Ephesians 4:17-19) Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. (Ephesians 5:1-2) See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16).
The interesting link between these passages, as you may have noted already, is the likening of the Christian life to a "walk". Probably the closest term in today's language to equate with this would be one's lifestyle. Are we as Christians "walking the walk that we are so good at talking"? That is what most people are looking at as soon as they know that we are Christians. We are being measured against either what the world assumes a Christian should look like and act like, or we are being measured against the Word of God and how it says a Christian should behave.
The two measurements are of course polar opposites in most cases. We know, if we have read our Bibles, and have been properly discipled, how to act or at least how the Lord expects us to act. (Trust me, there are expectations from God as to how we should behave! Romans 5:20-6:2, "Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?") Are we prepared today, Christians, to pursue holiness and righteousness before the Lord?
That is the message that I would suggest that we begin the new week with, ..."A new day dawning..." - don't worry what happened yesterday. Don't let the devil cast stones at you and make accusations towards you before God. Remember that while Satan may be the Great Accuser; Jesus is the Great Advocate for our souls. (1 John 2:1 - My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.)
May the Lord and Master of All Creation Bless your day!
Peace & Grace to you,
Bro. Jon
Monday, November 22, 2004
A Believer or A Disciple?
Hello again,
My thoughts of the last few days have been running in the area of understanding better the differentiation (if any) of the person being a "believer" in Christ, and/or a "disciple" of Christ.
I had several questions,
1. Are believers synonymous with disciples?
2. Are all believers disciples?
3. Are all disciples believers?
4. Does it make any difference, and if so why?
5. Curious thing to read is the passage in the Gospel of Luke 14:25-33, talking about who is worthy of being a disciple or not.
One response that I received from a dear friend was that as for believers being synonymous with disciples, even Satan believes but does not relinquish his life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And that not all believers are disciples for the very reason stated for question #1. Are all disciples believers? Yes, apparently they are according to the one response (I agree). What difference does it make? Surrendering our lives to Christ's Lordship.
What of the passage that states, "whosoever believeth shall have eternal life"(KJV)? Does that confuse what we mean by "believe"? What exactly do we talk about when we say "believe"? Can we believe two completely diametrically opposed thoughts, and yet both be true? Or must one be false? The gospel we are told is so simple even a child can understand it, and yet the gospel is so complex that even the most learned scholar cannot in two lifetimes plumb the depths of its riches.
Can we know the meaning of what it takes to "believe" and what it means to be a "disciple"? Yes, I believe we can, and we shall explore that further in the next post.
Until then,
Peace & Grace in God's Most Holy Name,
Bro. Jon
My thoughts of the last few days have been running in the area of understanding better the differentiation (if any) of the person being a "believer" in Christ, and/or a "disciple" of Christ.
I had several questions,
1. Are believers synonymous with disciples?
2. Are all believers disciples?
3. Are all disciples believers?
4. Does it make any difference, and if so why?
5. Curious thing to read is the passage in the Gospel of Luke 14:25-33, talking about who is worthy of being a disciple or not.
One response that I received from a dear friend was that as for believers being synonymous with disciples, even Satan believes but does not relinquish his life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And that not all believers are disciples for the very reason stated for question #1. Are all disciples believers? Yes, apparently they are according to the one response (I agree). What difference does it make? Surrendering our lives to Christ's Lordship.
What of the passage that states, "whosoever believeth shall have eternal life"(KJV)? Does that confuse what we mean by "believe"? What exactly do we talk about when we say "believe"? Can we believe two completely diametrically opposed thoughts, and yet both be true? Or must one be false? The gospel we are told is so simple even a child can understand it, and yet the gospel is so complex that even the most learned scholar cannot in two lifetimes plumb the depths of its riches.
Can we know the meaning of what it takes to "believe" and what it means to be a "disciple"? Yes, I believe we can, and we shall explore that further in the next post.
Until then,
Peace & Grace in God's Most Holy Name,
Bro. Jon
Friday, November 12, 2004
Getting started
Welcome,
Here we go...as the story goes this is often how it begins, with a first step out into the great unknown, or is it? That is what I want to think that we will explore as we go on our way down this path, hopefully together.
Join in on the journey as we search for the Christ...and discover who that is, and what it might mean to be a follower of the Christ. Will we always agree? No. Will often share experiences that are similar in nature? Quite sure that we will, and that is the fun in the journey - sharing life's experiences.
Maybe we will learn from one another. Certainly I will learn from these occasional musings into the pursuit of the Divine, and what life should look like in the pursuit of the same. This sight will change no doubt as it matures, and as time allows for more design.
My one wish today before I sign off is that you know that simply God does love you.
Peace & Grace,
Here we go...as the story goes this is often how it begins, with a first step out into the great unknown, or is it? That is what I want to think that we will explore as we go on our way down this path, hopefully together.
Join in on the journey as we search for the Christ...and discover who that is, and what it might mean to be a follower of the Christ. Will we always agree? No. Will often share experiences that are similar in nature? Quite sure that we will, and that is the fun in the journey - sharing life's experiences.
Maybe we will learn from one another. Certainly I will learn from these occasional musings into the pursuit of the Divine, and what life should look like in the pursuit of the same. This sight will change no doubt as it matures, and as time allows for more design.
My one wish today before I sign off is that you know that simply God does love you.
Peace & Grace,
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