Tag Archives: Apologetics

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living

TRUTH, SEX and the CULTURE

The fear of skeletons in the closet make the conversations that surround adultery and sexual practices off limits for most. For a variety of different reasons many people, especially within the Christian culture, either choose to ignore the dangers of an over-sexualized society or embrace it as normal and necessary.

Culture is culture, for better or for worse, and when the culture is divided among so many rules, regulations, opinions and acceptances the sacrificial lamb ends up being truth. Since the concepts and practices of truth have become relative everything from business to family and even the most intimate places of a person are shielded behind the rights of individual philosophy.

This, in part, is why the culture is what it is. For generations the belief, practice and acceptance of a Biblical world-view used the source material of the Bible. Sadly, as we have embraced alternative facts we have allowed our culture to be re-platformed on other truths with devestating consequences. Our business practices have become more corrupt, politics more divisive, families more divided and intolerance combined with hate have become the new normal.

Unfortunately a Biblical world-view is not enough to maintain the personal integrity of an individual. Even Scripture reveals our greatest hero’s of faith were deeply flawed in keeping their lives consistent with the Word of God. The Bible, and a Biblical world-view, is the GOLD STANDARD for life, blessing, success, fulfillment, joy, purpose, etc…and anything less is fools gold. The challenge remains, from Biblical times to today, every individual must choose to accept God’s best or man’s alternative.

A Biblical world-view never tells the reader you can’t rather it instructs us to incorporate a lifestyle of ‘best practices’  and the consequences of ignoring truth. Likewise the Biblical world-view provides ample evidences, backed by the character of God, of what a life will look like IF we follow the Word of the Lord consistently and practically.

As I am studying truth, and the dangers of lust, I am drawn to a passage from Proverbs (see below). Before Solomon even discusses the dangers of adultery he opens with the wise counsel that comes from Godly parents. Scripture reminds us to honor our parents; but for some their parents refused to live an honorable and Godly life.

So, should you take advice from you parents? Here again Solomon addresses from whom you take your advice: Parents who believe and live in the TRUTH of GOD’S WORD.

It is possible to honor the place and position / authority of your parents without incorporating their misplaced truth when it does not line up with Scripture. However, when your parent(s) have demonstrated a lifestyle of honoring God by living according to His Truth, and they share with you wisdom on any issue, you are best to listen carefully.

The individual that falls into sexual error is one who first ignores the truth that was imparted to them from Godly counsel; as a result of ignoring truth they have lost their foundation and drifted into dangerous waters of error that will eventually destroy everything.

I believe we must have an open and honest conversation about sex and culture but it must begin with an understanding of God’s Truth. Thankfully there are still many people who can attest to living a Godly lifestyle and it’s time we listen so we can pass on God’s Truth to the next generation without fear or shame!

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Grace and Peace – JOSHUA

More Advice About Avoiding Adultery

My son, obey the command of your father, and do not disregard the teachings of your mother. Fasten them on your heart forever.
Hang them around your neck. When you walk around, they will lead you. When you lie down, they will watch over you. When you wake up, they will talk to you because the command is a lamp,
the teachings are a light, and the warnings from discipline are the path of life to keep you from an evil woman and from the smooth talk of a loose woman.

Do not desire her beauty in your heart. Do not let her catch you with her eyes. A prostitute’s price is ⌊only⌋ a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts for ⌊your⌋ life itself. Can a man carry fire in his lap without burning his clothes?

Can anyone walk on red-hot coals without burning his feet?
So it is with a man who has sex with his neighbor’s wife.
None who touch her will escape punishment.
People do not despise a thief who is hungry when he steals to satisfy his appetite, but when he is caught, he has to repay it seven times. He must give up all the possessions in his house.

Whoever commits adultery with a woman has no sense.
Whoever does this destroys himself. An adulterous man will find disease and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be blotted out,
because jealousy arouses a husband’s fury. The husband will show no mercy when he takes revenge. No amount of money will change his mind. The largest bribe will not satisfy him.

GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (Pr 6:20–35). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

The Principle of Put Off and Put On

Have you found yourself watching TV and a commercial will air that is advertising a new medicine or item? Every type of these commercials use the same formula:

1. There is a pending or present problem.
2. The ‘item or medicine” is the solution. And,
3. the disclaimers, at the end of the commercial, remind you of additional problems that may occur.

A simplified formula is: negative, positive and possible negative.

We are often told never use a negative to try to reinforce a positive; however from your kitchen cleaner to a cholesterol medicine we are daily reminded of potential problems that require solutions.

Most people try to avoid any negatives; but such an approach only results in a problem that becomes less manageable over time. Of course there are also people who ONLY focus on the negatives, and never consider a solution, so their condition persists. 

In matters of every day life, medical concerns, truth and faith there is a principle we are challenged to embrace in every season. The Principle is: Put Off and Put On.

In his letter to the Ephesians the Apostle Paul is writing to a young church that is still wrestling with the old way of living, thinking and expecting while also trying to embrace the truth and reality of Jesus. It is obvious the clash of cultures are causing ripples throughout their routines. The frequent bouts of conflict with each other, their work and world require a choice to be made: Either embrace a new new lifestyle, in Christ, or remain the “old way.” The church of Ephesus is akin to a new patient, with pre-existing conditions, and Paul is performing the role of doctor by informing them they have a sickness that needs to be addressed NOW and the medicine is the Truth of Jesus!

In order to stress the importance of immediate change, Paul prescribes a series of “Put Off and Put On” examples to instruct them how to embrace this new lifestyle practically. The challenge for the Ephesians is, do they want to get better? Thankfully for any Christian the prescription of Jesus’ Truth never has harmful side-effects, like a trail medicine,  or the need for a 30-day money back guaranteed because it may not work for you. Jesus works all the time, every time and without fail a daily dose of Jesus’ Word will change our harmful behaviors, attitudes and physical and mental health if we will only taste and see the Lord is good!

Paul’s words challenge the Christian, for every generation, to “put off and put on” so we can get healthier in mind, body and spirit. While the process begins with me and you it is also a process that is meant to be replicated in the lives of the seeking, searching, hurting and lost. Only a healthy individual can treat an unhealthy person accurately. Only a spiritually mature Christian can identify the spiritual void in another. Only a person who has lived, and continues to practice, “put off and put on” can instruct others how such a decision will free them, heal them and equip them to fulfill their Kingdom purpose and live in their God given identity.

So, put off and put on…..first for yourself and then for others. There is a big world of need out there and we have the only solution: Jesus!

Blessings – JOSHUA

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Walk In Purity (Ephesians 4:17–32)

The first part of this chapter described the believer’s relationship to the church; now Paul deals with the believer’s relationship to the world. Certainly we are “in Christ” and a part of the body; but we are also in the world, where there is temptation and defilement. We cannot depart from the world because we have a responsibility to witness to it; but we must walk in purity and not allow the world to defile us.

Paul starts with the negative: do not walk the way the unsaved heathen walk. He explains the reasons for their godless walk: (1) their minds are darkened because they believe lies and have not received the truth; (2) they are spiritually dead; (3) they have surrendered themselves to do all kinds of sin. Compare this description with 2:1–3 and 2 Cor. 4. We might summarize their plight by saying they were walking in the wrong way because they did not know the truth and had never received the life. Only the Christ of John 14:6 could meet their spiritual needs.

The Christian life must be radically different from the old life. Paul expected the Ephesians to experience changes, and he gave three admonitions: “put off” (vv. 22–23), “put on” (v. 24), and “put away” (vv. 25ff). Romans 6 teaches us that the old self has been crucified and buried, and that, as we reckon this to be true, we “put off” the old man. God has done His part; it remains for us to believe what He has said and “change clothes.” The instruction Jesus gave concerning Lazarus applies to each believer: “Loose him—take off the grave clothes—and let him go!” But it is not enough simply to die to the old life; there must also be resurrection and the manifestation of the new life.

We put off the “grave clothes” of the old life and put on the “grace clothes” of the new life. We are a part of God’s new creation (v. 24 and 2:10) and therefore we walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4).
We must “put away” (once-for-all) certain sins, and he names these in 25ff. Note how Paul ties each commandment to a spiritual truth: we are members of each other (v. 25); we are sealed until the day of redemption (v. 30); God has forgiven us (v. 32). Doctrine and duty are twin blessings in the Bible, both the Christian’s wealth and his walk in Christ.

If we belong to the truth, how can we indulge in lies? Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44); his spirits tell lies (1 John 2:21, 27); one day the whole world will believe “The Lie” (2 Thes. 2:9–11).
There is an anger that is not sinful (Mark 3:5). If we are angry at persons, then sin will come along; if we are angry at sin and sinful principles, we can maintain a holy walk. How easy it is for Christians to call their tempers “righteous indignation”! The wrath of man never brings about the righteousness of God (James 1:20).
Giving place to the devil (v. 27) involves both lying and anger; for Satan is a liar and a murderer. Do we realize that lies and hypocrisy and anger give Satan a foothold in our lives? Cain’s lies and anger led to murder (Gen. 4).

Verse 25 ties in with 1 Thes. 4:11 and 2 Thes. 3:6–12. The unsaved thief used to rob to please himself; now that he is saved, he should work to be able to give to others. This is the wonderful change grace makes in the heart of a person.

Our lips should speak that which builds up (Col. 4:6; Ps. 141:3). Corruption from the lips only means that there is corruption in the heart. The Spirit has sealed us (1:13–14); we should not grieve Him by allowing these sins of action and attitude to be in our lives. In Scripture, the Spirit is pictured as a dove (John 1:32), and a dove is a clean bird that loves peace. Anger and clamor should be done away with by means of forgiveness and Christian love.

Wiersbe, W. W. (1992). Wiersbe’s expository outlines on the New Testament (pp. 548–550). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

“17 So I tell you and encourage you in the Lord’s name not to live any longer like other people in the world. Their minds are set on worthless things. 18 They can’t understand because they are in the dark. They are excluded from the life that God approves of because of their ignorance and stubbornness. 19 Since they no longer have any sense of shame, they have become promiscuous. They practice every kind of sexual perversion with a constant desire for more.
20 But that is not what you learned from Christ’s teachings. 21 You have certainly heard his message and have been taught his ways. The truth is in Jesus. 22 You were taught to change the way you were living. The person you used to be will ruin you through desires that deceive you. 23 However, you were taught to have a new attitude. 24 You were also taught to become a new person created to be like God, truly righteous and holy.
25 So then, get rid of lies. Speak the truth to each other, because we are all members of the same body.
26 Be angry without sinning. Don’t go to bed angry. 27 Don’t give the devil any opportunity ⌊to work⌋.
28 Thieves must quit stealing and, instead, they must work hard. They should do something good with their hands so that they’ll have something to share with those in need.
29 Don’t say anything that would hurt ⌊another person⌋. Instead, speak only what is good so that you can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what you say will help those who hear you. 30 Don’t give God’s Holy Spirit any reason to be upset with you. He has put his seal on you for the day you will be set free ⌊from the world of sin⌋.
31 Get rid of your bitterness, hot tempers, anger, loud quarreling, cursing, and hatred. 32 Be kind to each other, sympathetic, forgiving each other as God has forgiven you through Christ.

GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (Eph 4:17–32). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Motivational

The Darkening

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Have you ever found yourself saying, What is happening to our world? Or, Things are not like when I was growing up? 

From popular culture, to education and even in the church I am amazed by the collective “darkening” of understanding and truth. On the one hand we see the economy roaring back, more liberties and freedoms of expression than ever before and churches growing by rapid numbers. Some might say such signs are indications that the good old days are back!!! But are they? In this very same moment in time we can watch entire TV shows dedicated to people living according to their selfish desires, celebrities promoting lifestyles of greed and lust and “liberty” that has bred intolerance all while the church is largely absent as a spiritual voice for the culture….that doesn’t sound like the good old days to me.

Some might say we are loosing common-sense but the Apostle Paul tells us we have lost that and so much more. For all of humanities advancements we are actually becoming less-intelligent in both the things of the Spirit and in the matters of our world. We may believe we are smarter, and more evolved, because we have made life easier; but all of “our easiness” has created endless diversities that make life more confusing, uncertain and divisive. Since we have misplaced our dedicated learning from history with “learning from the here and now” we forget the Apostle Paul lived in a world much like our own. Daily he encountered competing philosophies, a variety of worship practices, shady business deals and even a divided church. Nevertheless Paul understood, in a time of darkening, there was a true light that has always been present and now revealed through Jesus. Paul’s desperate apologetic to share the truth of Jesus’ words are timeless because he experienced, first hand, a darkening that turned to light on the Damascus road.

Paul knew, and therefore had to share, that only the truth of Jesus was capable of illuminating the dense understanding of his / our world. It was not coincidental that Paul was writing his letter to Christians living in Rome at such a time. Daily, these brave men and women of the Christian faith faced unbearable adversities within the “belly of the beast” as the contended for truth in an time of darkness. Paul’s letter to the Romans shows us from creation, to today, we are darkening more and more in our understanding of the spirit and culture and the only solution can be the Truth of Jesus’ Word….the same yesterday, today and forever!

If you pause to consider if we living in a darkening or awakening  you need only look to history, and creation, to reveal Romans 1 is true. So, in an age of increased darkness how do we recapture our understanding? BIBLICAL TRUTH! The age long philosophical question of, What is truth can only be answered through the lens of faith and the with a revelation there can only be ONE TRUTH that holds everyone, from every age, accountable. Many ask, others claim and even more make it up as they go along life’s way; but Paul brings us back to why we are here, how we got here and the only way to get back. We can, and should, engage our culture in the debate of truth; but any discussion, with a darkening world, will prove ineffective if we cannot speak with the authority of Jesus’ Name and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Such a bold apologetic doesn’t need to look like some backwoods church house and is often on display in universities, college campus’ and even in some dedicated churches and ministries. What is missing in the age of darkening is commitment to not just speak the truth but life is consistently and practically in the ordinary of life.

What our world desperately needs is a solid dose of TRUTH and that can ONLY be discovered through Jesus. More on this to follow but I want to leave you with a great commentary note on Romans (see below) and the passage itself. For today, remember to Remain and truth bearer and speaker!

Blessings – JOSHUA

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Commentary by WW Wiersbe on Romans 1:18-25

A. They knew God (vv. 18–20).
God had given them a twofold revelation of Himself “in them” (conscience) and “unto them” (creation), v. 19. Man did not begin with ignorance and gradually work his way up to intelligence; he began with a blazing revelation of the power and wisdom of God and turned his back on it. God had revealed Himself from the very time of creation, so that people who have never heard the Gospel are still without excuse. (How God judges such people will be taken up in chap. 2.)

B. They glorified Him not as God (vv. 21–23).
Vain thinking and foolish reasoning turned men from the truth to lies. We see indifference leading to ingratitude, resulting in ignorance. People today bow before the Greek and Roman philosophers and honor their words above the Word of God; but Paul calls all of these philosophies “empty imaginations” and “times of ignorance” (Acts 17:30)! The next step was idolatry, honoring the creature (including man) rather than the Creator.

C. They changed the truth of God (vv. 24–25).
This word “changed” should really read “exchanged.” People replaced God’s truth with Satan’s lie! What is Satan’s lie? Worshiping the creature and not the Creator; worshiping man instead of God; worshiping things instead of Christ. Satan tempted Christ to do this (Matt. 4:8–11). Note that in Rom. 1:18, the Gentiles “held down the truth,” and now they “exchange the truth” for a lie! The truth believed and obeyed sets us free (John 8:31–32); the truth rejected and disobeyed makes us slaves.

D. They rejected the knowledge of God (vv. 26–32).
These people had begun with a clear knowledge of God (vv. 19, 21) and His judgment against sin (v. 32); but now they reached the lowest level of their downward fall: they did not even want to have knowledge of God! “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’ ” (Ps. 14:1, NKJV).
It is sad to see the tragic results of this decline. Evolutionists want us to believe that humans have “evolved” from primitive, ignorant, beast-like forms into the marvelous creature they are today. Paul says just the opposite: man began the highest of God’s creatures, but he made himself into a beast! Note the three judgments of God:
God gave them up to uncleanness and idolatry, vv. 24–25.
God gave them over to vile passions, vv. 26–27.
God gave them over to a reprobate mind, vv. 28ff.
God gave them up! This is the revelation of the wrath of God (v. 18).

The sins listed here are too vile to define or discuss, yet they are practiced today around the world with the approval of society. People know that sin will be judged, yet they take pleasure in it anyway. Were it not for the Gospel of Christ, we would be in this slavery to sin ourselves. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Cor. 9:15).

Wiersbe, W. W. (1992). Wiersbe’s expository outlines on the New Testament (pp. 364–365). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

“18 God’s anger is revealed from heaven against every ungodly and immoral thing people do as they try to suppress the truth by their immoral living. 19 What can be known about God is clear to them because he has made it clear to them. 20 From the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse. 21 They knew God but did not praise and thank him for being God. Instead, their thoughts were total nonsense, and their misguided minds were plunged into darkness. 22 While claiming to be wise, they became fools. 23 They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for statues that looked like mortal humans, birds, animals, and snakes.

24 For this reason God allowed their lusts to control them. As a result, they dishonor their bodies by sexual perversion with each other. 25 These people have exchanged God’s truth for a lie. So they have become ungodly and serve what is created rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen!”

GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (Ro 1:18–25). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

ARE YOU RESILIENT? (Exodus 17)

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Resilience_2Have you ever owned a motivational poster? Perhaps you have seen them hanging on an office wall or have given one away to a graduate? Most posters usually capture your attention with a confident picture followed by a bold title such as Teamwork, Strength or Courage. I have owned and given away my fair share of such pictures and often drawn from an abundance of histories, legends and tall tales that stir me. One theme that not only inspires but challenges my ordinary of life is: RESILIENCE. When I hear the word resilience I conjure images of strong warriors, tough pioneers and irrepressible people. Whether I draw such examples from men like William Wallace, Lewis and Clark or the colonial patriots labels such heros and famous battles begin to dot the historical landscape of my thoughts. For most, stories of resilience encourage and motivate us to not surrender despite the struggle, hardship or insurmountable odds. Resilience is the ability to work with circumstances, often adverse, in such a way that one comes through the change and transition better for the experience. Resilience means facing life’s difficulties with courage and patience – using one’s training and refusing to never give up. Resilience is discovered in the quality of character that allows a person, or group of people, to rebound from misfortune, hardships and traumas.

Resilience is also rooted in a tenacity of spirit—a determination to embrace all that makes life worth living even in the face of overwhelming odds. You will find examples of resilience from great to small and written in and on the lives of men and women who possess a clear sense of identity and purpose; and with identity and purpose we all become more resilient because we can hold fast to our vision of a better future, a greater hope and a glorious return.

Much of what we understand as resilience is learned from community before it is ever personally experienced. Stories you pick up along life’s journey teach you how to develop and trust in certain relationships that allow you to lean on others for added support when it is needed most. Resilience forces everyone to actively apply their training so as to face the awkward and uncomfortable while expecting, by faith, God is for us and with us!

While resilience, for most, falls too conveniently into a discussion on willpower and strict focus to live resilient is not solely dependent on determination and heart. Some of the most acute thinkers give up too easily when faced with the slightest adversity. Examples of gifted athletes waste their skill preferring to approach their training in an undisciplined and casual manner and even the most dedicated use of willpower can be dogged by addictions, fears or insecurities. Therefore, the pursuit of any man or women being trained to live, behave and develop into disciples of Jesus cannot rely on willpower, focus and self-help to equip them for a resilient faith. Rather, the secret of the Christian’s resilience is never in us but in Jesus! Our success is a result of a life deeply rooted and trusting in Him.

Think about your own story and ask when was the last time you faced a circumstance, transition or change? When was your last or current encounter that seemed impossible? What set-back or failure sent you reeling? Yet, after all the difficulties of transition, change, circumstance and impossibilities you still got back up, pressed on and refused to give up on your God-given vision. If you have or are currently journeying through a similar path as the one I have outline above, and you are not giving up, then you have planted a mustard seed of faith and resilience for this season and the next to come.

Of course any set back can slow the most determined for a time. I equate such moments like the athlete who gets the wind knocked out of them after a big hit. Maybe you are a student who unexpectedly fails a big test, the musician that blows an audition, a professional who doesn’t get the promotion or even the pastor that feels stuck in the grind. Yet, the resilient athlete will be back on the field expecting to make the next big play. The resilient student will study better for the next exam, the resilient musician will practice more efficiently, the resilient professional will continue to pursue that next opportunity and the resilient pastor will go back to the drawing board knowing God has a better and best.

resilience_1Even with a mustard seed of resilience you have a tree of great faith and hope growing inside of you! Given time, and opportunity, that “tree” establishes you in such a place where you are able withstand storms, trails and even broken limbs. But let me ask you to consider a question: Is any tree able to withstand all of the adversities of life and grow just because it is a tree? Or does the tree require assistance? I have seen the mightiest of trees felled by even stronger storms and I have planted a few trees knowing in those early stages they would need stakes and ropes to help them withstand the seasons ahead. To the naked eye the tree’s only support is in how deep its roots are able to extend but Scripture reveals it is not in the tree or its roots but where the roots draw their life that guarantees its future. (See Jeremiah 17:8, Psalm 1:3, Matt 12:33)

What if I told you after the Red Sea crossing and before the Jericho stand off the children of Israel would encounter 15 key transitions over 40 years. Forty years of failures, wars, disappointments, delayed promises, betrayals, financial set backs, moral failures, spiritual blindness but also lasting friendships, faithful friends, disciples, God’s presence, signs, wonders, miracles and eventually victory. Willpower and focus couldn’t prepare them to endure the roller coaster of events for such a long and tumultuous period of time. Likewise, if you are attempting to work through such tough times with a few self-help manuals, a favorite podcast and a little Jesus on the side you also may loose your resilience. Why? Because you may have missed the key source of what makes you resilient and why you are called to live resilient.

Two Questions: Who makes you resilient? And, Why Remain Resilient?

Exodus Chapter 17 records an amazing story of faithfulness, miracles and most of all resilience (read Exodus Ch.17). Many will read this chapter and either focus on the Lord allowing water to be drawn from a rock or the events surrounding Israel’s victory over the Amalekites. But the multiple themes of resilience that are dispersed throughout this chapter can easily be overlooked if you don’t consider what the Lord was depositing into the fabric of His people for the journey ahead.

Resilience Test #1 Can You Trust the Lord for Every Step of the Journey?

Exodus 17 opens with, “The whole community of Israelites left the desert of Sin and traveled from place to place as the Lord commanded them.”

It is difficult to imagine a Red Sea miracle followed by bitter waters turned drinkable and a journey through a wilderness could be part of the over-arching plan of God. Most would conclude in some way Israel, and Moses, must have missed a divine cue and were now wandering without any quick resolution in plain sight. Yet, the Scriptural evidence is clear Israel was travelling from place to place as the Lord had commanded them. Can you trust the Lord for every step of the journey even when it seems you may be off course, in a desperate season or completely out of options? This is the first battle line when resilience is tested. The “Exodus 17 moments” have a way of crashing reality into our theoretical and when such moments occur all one is able to due is hang on to God’s direction or look for a way to escape back to our Egypt. Some might claim it is in the circumstances of life we learn how to live resilient but I would counter that opinion with it is God who makes us resilient and He allows the circumstances to test our trust of His character, faithfulness and love.

Resilience Test #2: When Relief Comes and You Are Still Attacked.

Despite their complaining God allowed water to come from the barrenness of the wilderness and, for the moment, Israel was resupplied. But the temporary respite from adversity was only long enough to catch their breath when they soon discovered the Amalekites were planning to attack them. I have certainly been guilty of complaining to God about my seasons of circumstance and I have even more loudly objected when I felt my eventual deliverance was cut short by and unexpected, and a far greater, challenge. Do you recall I mentioned earlier when you pass a challenging season God deposits a mustard seed of resilience for the next season? It may be hard to imagine but the faithfulness of God’s provision, despite the complaining, placed enough of seed of resilience for an even greater test ahead. Thankfully Israel was up to the challenge and not because they were now well supplied but because they saw God was their faithful supplier and He could be trusted in this next battle as well.

8 The Amalekites fought Israel at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men. Then fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill. I will hold in my hand the staff God told me to take along.” 10 Joshua did as Moses told him and fought the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel would win, but as soon as he put his hands down, the Amalekites would start to win. 12 Eventually, Moses’ hands felt heavy. So Aaron and Hur took a rock, put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron held up one hand, and Hur held up the other. His hands remained steady until sunset. 13 So Joshua defeated the Amalekite army in battle.” [1]

Hur_1The battle sequence of events is nothing short of spectacular and filled with resilience throughout. From Joshua, and the men who fought the physical battle, to Moses standing in intercession and Aaron and Hur who held Moses’ arms upright throughout the battle everyone was committed to resilience and the victory was guaranteed. We often think our battle is just between us and whatever we are up against, but this is not true. The community of faith that knows where their true source of victory resides will always be able to rely on one another for support, encouragement and prayer.

When your relief comes and you are still under the attack remember your deliverance will not be in rocks, staffs and whatever you can grab hold of. Certainly God can, and often does, use a variety of tools to deliver His people but the answer is always Him. Blessed are the individuals who have the community that prays, trusts, loves and even fights for one another when facing adversity. Blessed is the community that understands where their resilience comes from, because that community will survive and thrive with God’s favor and blessing.

Question #1: Who Makes You Resilient? The answer is God!
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Finally, let me answer the last question: Why Remain Resilient? To understand the why we do not need to skip past the closing verses of Exodus 17. 14 “The Lord said to Moses, “Write this reminder on a scroll, and make sure that Joshua hears it, too: I will completely erase any memory of the Amalekites from the earth.” 15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord Is My Banner. 16 He said, “Because a hand was lifted against the Lord’s throne, he will be at war against the Amalekites from one generation to the next.”[2]

Our circumstance is always experienced in real, deep and profound personal ways. When we are struggling through any season it is reasonable to think we are walking through that particular battle alone. While it may feel like our circumstance is, “Me versus them” the reality is many others are in this battle with you. You are not alone! There may be family, loved ones and friends who are emotionally and spiritually invested in your circumstance and standing with you for your support and hope during such times. This is important to remember because any circumstance tends to create tunnel vision when, during such times, we should ask a deeper question as to why we remain resilient.

Exodus 17 reveals God’s master plan at work in not only planting the seeds of resilience within His people but also allowing Israel to face an adverse circumstance for the greater vision of the future Kingdom and future generations.

Forgotten in the journey, miracles and tests of resilience was the great sin of the Amalekites against God. As a people, and even from their decedents, they had “gone on the record” as being against God and His Kingdom. Furthermore, God had now raised His hand against them, for every generation, and was going to use Israel to deliver His divine judgment. Do you see what is happening? God allowed Israel’s journey through the Wilderness of Sin, Rephidim and now the battle with the Amalekites to extend the Kingdom plan beyond the immediate circumstances facing Israel. This is the opposite of tunnel vision by seeing your seasons through the lens of God’s vision. Exodus 17 reveals the final and greatest reminder of victory for every person who actually sees it and remembers: Jehovah –Nissi, the Lord my banner.

Battles as well as blessings mark the course of a believer’s pilgrimage. Sometimes the Lord fights for his people (IE: The Red Sea), and sometimes through his people. In any case believers can be confident that He who is in their midst is greater than any enemy which may be encountered. How often do we try to fight alone, suffer alone and think we won the day by ourselves? Our life is greater than the here and now; and while the struggle is very real the larger plan unfolding is even more real. The individual that develops the God-based resilient life will live greater in this life and in the life to come when they comprehend and trust:

  1. God Makes You Resilient
  2. Your Resilience is For Kingdom
  3. Your Circumstance Establishes the Lord is Your Banner

Let me close today’s reflection with two remarkable stories of resilience and I pray these true stories will plant and nourish the seeds of resilience in your life.

Live resilient and stay resilient!

Blessings – Pastor JOSHUA

STORY #1

Dan Crawford, the successor to David Livingstone, carried a copy of the New Testament in the pocket of his jacket. At the time of his death someone found the following verses penned on the flyleaf of that well-worn Book: “I cannot do it alone! The waves dash fast and high; the fog comes chill around, and the light goes out in the sky. But I know that we two shall win in the end—Jesus and I. Coward and wayward and weak, I change with the changing sky; today so strong and brave, tomorrow too weak to fly. But He never gives up, so we two shall win—Jesus and I!”[3]

STORY #2

One evening Lord Radstock was speaking at a meeting in Woolwich, and afterwards nearly missed his train home. He had just time to jump in as the guard blew his whistle. But a young army officer had followed him to the platform and, running up to the carriage window, said to Lord Radstock, “Sir, I heard you speak tonight, but tell me, how can a fellow keep straight?” The train began to move. Lord Radstock pulled a pencil from his pocket and laid it on the palm of his hand. “Can that pencil stand upright?” “No,” said the young officer. Lord Radstock grasped the pencil in his hand, and held it up in an upright position. “Ah!” said the young fellow, moving beside the train, “but you are holding it now.” “Yes,” said Lord Radstock,” and your life is like this pencil, helpless, but Christ is the hand that can hold you.” As the train rounded the curve and was lost to sight, the last thing the young officer saw was Lord Radstock’s outstretched hand holding that pencil upright. Twenty-five years later the same officer met Lord Radstock in India, and told him that all those many years ago, on that railway platform, he had trusted his life to Christ, who had upheld him and kept him ever since.[4]

 

[1] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (Ex 17:1–16). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

[2] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (Ex 17:1–16). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

[3] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 523). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

[4] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 523). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

Inspirational

“TRAINED, BEING TRAINED & TRAINING OTHERS” PT. 2

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Not to long ago the heating unit in my house quit working. Fortunately I purchased a service warranty that included labor, but the contract didn’t cover replacement parts. After a phone call, my best attempt to explain the issue and a visit from the repairman the furnace was once again working and soon warming my house. As I reflect on this story I am reminded that a few tools, a Youtube video and a general idea of what a problem sounds like doesn’t make me a trained HVAC specialist. I could have tinkered, tested and attempted to fix the problem but even if I was able to restore my heating unit to a working state I still could not advertise myself as a licensed professional.

Everyone possesses several sets of transferrable skills that enable them to accomplish quiet a bit of work in a pinch. Sayings like, jack of all trades and master of none come to mind when I think of a person who can do just about anything but doesn’t have the professional training to qualify them as being able to teach others. My brother, Don, is an excellent example of the type of person that can repair, jury rig and even invent anything. But if you were to ask my brother if he considered himself an expert in any one of these “fixing” areas he would have to say no. Like me, my brother, has spent a life time being trained in ministry and his training has matured through seasons of Bible college, pastoring as well as serving in a variety of ministry vocations for over forty years. So, while Don may be able to partially repair anything he is far better trained to minster Jesus to a broken soul.

While few would accept an untrained individual to fix their HVAC unit, do a repair on their house, present  financial advise or care for personal items of great value we tend to overlook the need for essential training in places most necessary… and especially in the ministry. Somehow it has become vogue to present oneself as an optimistic spiritual mystic that between God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit possess enough skill and training to carry the full work and burden of the Kingdom. While God does call everyone from seasons of immaturity some choose to avoid the tried and true journey of preparation, testing and training that equip them for ministry and the holy work of God’s business. The results of personal laziness and spiritual / cultural acceptance have couched false doctrines, accepted strange redefinitions of theology and even adopted pseudo – Christian behaviors in a new meta-narrative that ebb and flows on the tides of cultural and spiritual syncretism. While the truth of God’s Word has always been the shield and sword against such attacks, on Biblical Orthodoxy, another strong line of defense has resided in the personal commitment to anchor oneself in proper training. Therefore to commitment to being trained, re-trained and training others is essential for the effectaul work of the Kingdom.

“It (the Word) trains us to avoid ungodly lives filled with worldly desires so that we can live self-controlled, moral, and godly lives in this present world.” [1]

In my last post I quoted examples of men and women who can attribute their success toward a commitment to training. From Queen Elizabeth II to Herschel Walker or Arnold Schwarzenegger the dedication to being trained, re-trained and training others is not just a principle for good business, or successful living, but a very Biblical method that has been repeated time after time with remarkable Kingdom success.

Peter_1THE VALUE OF TRAINING

While it might make for a fun sermon illustration or clever way to present Jesus, and His twelve disciples, the Biblical and historical facts have never supported a Messiah, and His followers, that were simple, uneducated or untrained. From Jesus and throughout the development of the church the call for trained individuals has always been a repeating mantra of the “Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.” A very brief exploration into the lives of the men and women of our faith reveal:

Jesus: A trained general contractor, for close the thirty years, and skilled carpenter.

Peter: A trained fisherman, business partner and owner in a successful fishing business within the heart of an ethnically diverse community of Jews and gentiles.

Andrew: A trained fisherman and business partner with Peter.

James and John the sons of Zebedee: Trained fishermen and business partners with Peter and Andrew.

Matthew: A Roman sanctioned tax collector.

Luke: A physician

Paul: The greatest theological mind of his age trained by the greatest rabbinical thinker of his generation (Gamaliel).

Apollos: A wealthy Alexandrian born Jew with an education in philosophy and law.

Priscilla and Aquila: Wealthy Roman – Jewish tent makers in an age when the tent industry and trade was essential to 1st century living and commerce.

Lydia: A wealthy merchant in fine and expensive fabrics.

Philemon: A wealthy land owner.

This list goes on……

While one may search long and hard for the solitary individual that has somehow avoided the rigors of training it is evident the Bible reveals an ongoing process to live as one trained, being re-trained and committed to training others. Here are some additional Scriptural examples that present the value of being trained for a season of Gods larger vision:

“When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he armed his 318 trained men, born in his own household, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan.”

“The descendants of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 soldiers ready to go to war. They were skilled fighters who could carry shields and swords and shoot arrows.” [2]

“They, along with their relatives, were trained, skilled musicians for the Lord. There were 288 of them.”[3]

“Send me a man who has the skill to work with gold, silver, bronze, and iron as well as purple, dark red, and violet cloth. He should know how to make engravings with the skilled men whom my father David provided for me in Judah and Jerusalem….He was the son of a woman from the tribe of Dan, and his father is a native of Tyre. Huram knows how to work with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, wood, purple, violet, and dark red cloth, and linen. He also knows how to make all kinds of engravings and follow any set of plans that will be given to him. ⌊He can work⌋ with your skilled workmen and the skilled workmen of His Majesty David, your father. [4]


 Jesus-and-PeterTHE VALUE OF RE-TRAINING

In a rapidly evolving economy industry changes, business’ adjust their best practices and anyone seeking gainful employment pursues education….and in some cases re-education. At the turn of the twentieth century the horse and buggy was still a booming business. From the horse breeders, carriage makers and drivers it would be hard to imagine the new demand for faster transportation could outpace the horse and carriage. Nevertheless, technology inspired locomotive, later the automobile, and within a few decades the horse and buggy disappeared. Have you stopped to consider what happened to all of the artisans, breeders and laborers in this once thriving industry? In one word….Re-Training!

If the industries of the world  are willing to embrace re-training why are we slow to incorporate such an attitude within the community of faith? Too often we make the mistake believing since we are skilled in one particular field we become instantly trained for another field. Again, while some skills are always transferrable the reality is to become successful, in any new field, you must embrace an ongoing approach of re-training; and so, in the ministry of God’s work, it should not be any different.

Peter and the other disciples were certainly trained in the industry of their upbringing and for the time. But trained fishermen, tax collectors, doctors, thinkers, captains of industry and theologians will not immediately transfer into effective Kingdom disciples unless they are re-trained by a master teacher. Many of Jesus’ parables drew from the events that surrounded everyday life and everyone  understood these examples relative to their paradim. Therefore, Jesus chose an amazing tool of parables to communicate and re-train the hearers to the principles of the Kingdom. Jesus wasn’t just talking in theory or idealistic opinions; rather He was applying the real “nuts and bolts” of how the Kingdom of Heaven really lives, moves and has purpose in the same way their world moved around them. Even still, these multi-purposed parables had the ability to penetrate the understanding of untrained individuals with the express intent to invite them on a journey of discipleship or re-training. It could not have been easy re-training professionally trained people but within roughly a three-year window the disciples were trained enough to  advance the Great Commission beyond Jerusalem and into the far reaches of the known and unknown world.

“So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua, son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit, and place your hand on him. Make him stand in front of the priest Eleazar and the whole community, and give him his instructions in their presence. Give him some of your authority so that the whole community of Israel will obey him… Moses placed his hands on Joshua and gave him his instructions as the Lord had told him.”1 

“So Jesus said to them, “That is why every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a home owner. He brings new and old things out of his treasure chest.”[5]

gathering3TRAINED AND TRAINING OTHERS

Throughout any person’s journey they will encounter circumstances where training is the difference between success and failure. While failure is not final we would all agree success leaves a far better taste in our mouth than the sour memories of failure. Even the best-trained person can, from time to time, encounter a well-trained adversary and when this occurs a committed, and trained, professional will re-train so as to  move past their adversary. This past week I watched a 30 for 30 documentary featuring the story of two great female tennis athletes. Their rivalry, commitment to success, training and re-training pushed the other to compete, all the more, so as not to loose. The result of their professional rivalry  gave both athletes long and highly successful careers with the added bonus of a deep and meaningful personal friendship. But their journey hasn’t drifted into retirement because they still apply their experience, skill and training to training future tennis athletes.

The years Jesus spent with His disciples was not for “hanging out” and trying some new ideas. These critical years of re-training were for Kingdom purpose and a time soon coming where these disciples would need to train others. It should come as no surprise to us Jesus’ twelve (and there were many more) did exactly what they were trained to do…keep the great commission and make disciples! Just look at some of Peter’s early examples of leadership,  teaching and training others:

  • After the ascension of Jesus Peter was the main leader of the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 1:13–14).
  • He initiated the replacement of Judas (vv. 15–26), showing by this that he was in some sense aware of the future mission of the apostles (v. 22).
  • When the Church’s growth was initiated by Pentecost, he stepped forward as interpreter of the event and the preacher of the Gospel to the crowd that assembled (ch. 2).
  • Peter played a significant part in the Church in Israel. He healed people (3:1–10; 5:15–16; 9:32–43), preached to crowds (3:12–26; 5:21, 42), was jailed (4:1–3; 5:17–18, 26; 12:3–5) and miraculously released (5:19–20; 12:6–17), as well as spoke to government authorities about Jesus (4:5–12; 5:27–32).
  • Peter played a central role in some of the events that took the Church beyond its original limitation to Judean Jews (8:14–25; 10:1–11:18; cf. Gal. 1:18–19). At the Apostolic Council, which took place after Pete_Cornhe could safely return to Jerusalem, Peter took a leading part in the defense of evangelism of Gentiles, which did not require conformity to Judaism (Acts 15:7–11; cf. Gal. 2:8–10).
  • Peter, after Antioch, (Gal. 2:11–14) went on missionary journeys farther into the Gentile world (1 Cor. 1:12; 3:22; 9:5).
  • According to strong evidence from the early Church, Peter went to Rome (“Babylon” at 1 Pet. 5:13) and died as a martyr there under Nero.
  • He was later called a founder (with Paul) and a bishop of the church in Rome, but it is unlikely that he was recognized as either during his lifetime.[6] 

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We can all learn from the valued lessons of being trained, open to re-training and committed to training others. The full authority of Scripture is committed to the process of training and always discourages the lack of training which is why one of the key purposes of Scripture is to train and equip us for the days we walk with Kingdom purpose. “Every Scripture passage is inspired by God. All of them are useful for teaching, pointing out errors, correcting people, and training them for a life that has God’s approval.”[7]

Sadly some try to avoid Godly training as much as possible partly because they are bogged down with training for everything else life presents them with. Family, work and even recreation all take a measure of dedication to do it well, and by the time we split our life into four or five different paths of training it is Kingdom training that tends to fall into that optional “thing we do on any given Sunday.” The end result? The mission of the Kingdom is stunted and our spiritual purpose / identity suffers most. Unfortunately, if we are relying on our pastor, or occasional pursuit of Godliness, to get us through life we will soon be frustrated and disappointed when our spiritual development is underdeveloped and lacking due to a lack of training.

There is no quick way around training. It takes time, commitment, vision and purpose. But when you set your heart to the heart of the Kingdom, first, God has a way of making life fall into perfect order and timing. Our aversion to training is best explained by the author of Hebrews, “We don’t enjoy being disciplined. It always seems to cause more pain than joy. But later on, those who learn from that discipline have peace that comes from doing what is right.”[8]

Seasons of training, re-training and training others are deliberate, take time, resources, valuable energy and patience. The need for training is essential not just in the ordinary of daily life but also in the call of the Kingdom. Everyone falls into one of three categories of training and whatever particular season you are in set, in the forefront of your mind, you will always be living in seasons of training. Let us learn from history, Scripture and the process of Kingdom development so we may also be useful and satisfied in this life and for the age to come.

Blessings – Pastor JOSHUA

 

[1] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (Tt 2:12). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

[2] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (1 Ch 5:18). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

[3] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (1 Ch 25:7). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

[4] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (2 Ch 2:7–14). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

[5] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (Mt 13:52). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

[6] Myers, A. C. (1987). In The Eerdmans Bible dictionary (p. 818). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

[7] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (2 Ti 3:16). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

[8] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (Heb 12:11). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Motivational

The Uncomfortable Reality of Persecution in America and How We Can Spiritually Prepare.

UnknownGrowing up in the era of the 80’s and 90’s the very thought of Christians being persecuted seemed remote, distant and foreign to me. Of course I read about persecution from the Scriptures, historical accounts, such as Foxes Book of Martyrs or Jesus Freak, and through foreign missionaries who would always share and harrowing tale or two. However for me, and most of America, the reality of being a Christian and facing persecution was unimaginable bordering on hysterical fantasy.

Yet since 2001 the global community, and certainly the United States, has experienced a series of social, economic and spiritual shifts that have also ushered in a cycle of  cause and effect that is reshaping the lives of Christians globally. What were once considered isolated and remote accounts of people being persecuted for their Christian faith has spread like an uncontrollable wildfire across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and now is smoldering within Europe and North America.

In light of the changing circumstances facing every person, who consider themselves part of the global Body of Christ, is the question of how do we prepare? While Christians in heavily persecuted regions have long ago learned how to prepare spiritually, and naturally, for such a difficult and dangerous reality we, in the United States, must also spiritually adjust for such changes and the uncomfortable reality of persecution within our own land.

“But I say unto you, whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (Matthew 5:39)

Over many years of study, and debate, some have interpreted Jesus’ words as a call for pacifism while others have understood His words within a different context. Either way the reality of being insulted, mocked and persecuted is an expectation every Christian must live with. Therefore, when we face such trials and tribulations we must also make such occasions to exhibit Jesus, with us, and His Holy Spirit illuminating our witness.

Oswald Chambers once said, “Matthew 5:39 reveals the humiliation of being a Christian.” [1] and naturally when faced with hardship we must consider appropriate counter actions to off-set  great injustices. But let me challenge us to reflect on what is at the heart of Chamber’s thoughts by considering the following approach:  Before we take any action we must allow the Holy Spirit to first spiritually prepare our hearts, minds and wills so our actions will be pure, blessed, just and reflect Jesus’ Kingdom heart.

These viagra fast shipping things generally give rise to erectile dysfunction. When a man has the inability to reach an tadalafil buy canada erection, or he may not be able to sustain his erection enough to ejaculate. The rise of online pharmacies has ensured that viagra for sale india people can conveniently purchase prescription drugs and medications from the comforts of your home without anyone disturbing you. Whiplash injuries are the tragic cheap levitra tablet result of front or rear-end collisions. When you consider Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount He doesn’t just address a list of do this and not that. Jesus powerful address compels His disciples to adopt the attitude, and action, of going the second mile. Any Christian would be hard pressed to find Jesus’ words saying, Once you have fulfilled this checklist you don’t have to concern yourself with anything more. When we insist upon addressing any social, moral, political issue, concern, adversity or persecution, in our own will and spirit, we will always get in the way of the Jesus’ Kingdom plans and purposes.

The purpose of this reflection is to address and answer the question, How can we spiritually prepare for the uncomfortable reality of persecution? My conclusion? Every Christian must advocate for a Christ-centered response, and approach, that resists self and embraces the Holy Spirit’s guidance for Jesus’ will and purposes.

Every Christian is called to resist evil and speak boldly by standing strong, in the faith of Jesus’ Word, when we are met with evil and persecution. But to stand strong also means we have first spiritually prepared for the challenging seasons ahead. We cannot assume we will be able to naturally stand, or have the equipping tools, to resist such adversity unless we commit to actions that are designed to honor to Jesus and His glory. This was part of the powerful testimony the early church lived and realized the Lord’s honor is what was at stake in their lives, not their own honor.

While Christians, in our nation, face the unsettling reality of persecution we must spiritually prepare by not looking for other people to do what we are responsible to do for ourselves. Every Christian, of every age, is looking for justice; and while we contemplate what are just and righteous responses, to persecution, let us commit to the spiritual “heavy lifting” of prayer, fasting and holding firm to the truth of God’s Holy Word. These tried and true approaches are the foundational pieces that will prepare us for the days ahead as we address and rebuff any persecution we may encounter.

Blessings – Pastor JOSHUA

[1] Chambers, O. (1986). My utmost for his highest: Selections for the year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering.

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

NEW RELEASE FOR 2015: VICTORY OVER SELF: THROUGH PRAYER & FASTING

Throughout most of 2014 I have had the privilege to work with many partners on this project: Victory Over Self Through Prayer and Fasting. What began as a three month teaching series, in the summer of 2013, slowly developed into 88 pages of challenge, change and trust. When I started to initially discuss this project with literary agents and publishers I was met with the variety of mixed responses which, at times, caused me to wonder if this timely message would ever see the light of day.

Thankfully many ministry partners, family and Bridge Logos Publishers saw the importance of this book and how its Biblical truths are meant for today’s seeker, searcher and disciple of Jesus Christ. I pray Victory Over Self Through Prayer and Fasting will be a welcomed deposit into your spiritual bank as you pursue a deeper walk with the Lord. – JOSHUA-PAUL JOHNIAN

Victory Over Self Through Prayer and Fasting will be available for sale in local booksellers January 15th. However, you can order your copy today and it will be shipped before the it’s official launch.

VOSA STURDY BRIDGE BACK TO GOD

Learn how to pull away from the self-life and rediscover your story in Christ’s life. Sharpen your world view. Learn how to overcome daily obstacles. Through prayer and fasting you can help yourself to a rich and endless supply of the complete life of faith in Jesus. This book shows you how to find solid answers for life’s challenges and disappointments.

Not a typical how – to book, Victory Over Self Through Prayer and Fasting shows you how to remove negative feelings associated with prayer and fasting. It takes away the staleness and boredom that some may have toward these vitally important subjects.

The conversational and approachable style of the book includes real-life stories from people who have struggled with what C.S. Lewis has called the “inner ugliness” that creates many of our problems and hardships. This book, while addressing prayer and fasting, also deals extensively with the challenges of the self-life, human nature, current social evils and the need for personal redemption through Jesus. You will be encouraged to return to divine innocence and to reexamine prayer and fasting as a sturdy bridge back to God.

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Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

Another Look At Ebenezer (1 SAMUEL 7:10-13)

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The world is busy, but the Christmas season has always been a time of drawing us aside to revisit our favorite holiday traditions -from skiing to sledding and to adding that extra pound of something delicious. And, in a sense, there is no better story than Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol,” to portray the tenuous hope many feel across the world in this season when our expectations traditionally shine their best. Ebenezer Scrooge and Christ always come to the forefront of Western thought when the season for hope and giving weigh in on our priorities, even though our current generation may have forgotten both. As I thought about our world, this Christmas, I thought it would be a good opportunity to revisit Ebenezer and a gift of three simple words that you can use all year, and be blesssed! EBENEZER, THUNDER and HEROES.

Like today’s world, the classic Ebenezer Scrooge was a man of great monetary wealth but greater spiritual poverty. He simply had no time for God or people, yet his soul was bankrupt and on the verge of an irreversible dark eternity. But of the many traps and bondages Ebenezer Scrooge found himself in perhaps the hardest to overcome was his trap of self-sufficiency.

Recently my wife, Jeannette, and I faced a series of unprecedented emotional, physical and spiritual challenges. On some days we did our best just to weather the storm. On other days we sank under the crashing waves of pressure and not until a few weeks ago did we finally managed to rediscover how to trust, obey and count on God’s help in our time of need. To our surprise, we found our greatest comfort in the life of the ancient prophet/judge Samuel; and in rediscovering Samuel we also discovered the true meaning behind Ebenezer.

EBENEZER

Peering back into the life of Samuel one discovers the making of a God appointed hero. In his lifetime, much like out present world, ancient Israel had degraded to a place of divine intervention on a national scale. Israel had all but turned its back on God and as a result, for twenty years Israel suffered at the hands of oppressive overlords. Despite this God was still grooming a hero and what we may feel is too late for us, because of our circumstances, is seldom too late for God.

We can all attest to experiencing the pains of misfortune because we did not discern the times, live in His presence or seek His glory. And while those pains leave wounds and reminders, God in His omnipotence, prepares a way of escape for those we will seek Him with all their heart, mind and soul. As it was with Samuel, and ancient Israel, His grace continues to groom heroes and cultivate His message in their hearts. In fact the ancient message of Samuel is eternally relevant: It is time to serve the Lord, alone! It is time to humble, seek, pray and turn so that He may visit us, again, in a time of desperation and trouble. Furthermore it is time we come to know this grace-filled and merciful God as our Ebenezer.

What a wonderful word. It may be that Charles Dickens used it on purpose. What a gift again today: Ebenezer: Our Stone of Help wrapped in eternal certainty. For those who are willing to look beyond the frustrations of a season of giving and receiving, we can learn to appreciate Christmas even more, because there is always more from our “Stone” that we first envision.

Preceding Samuel’s introduction of Ebenezer Israel was in despair and growing danger seemed poised to overtake them. Yet Samuel’s words continued to ring true by saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the LORD alone.”

In response to Samuel’s instruction Israel finally obeyed and positioned their lives, and walk, in perfect alignment with God once again. But just as Israel made their first steps towards faithfulness we read their enemies arrived, on cue, with the intention of sowing doubt, division, fear and retreat from their faithful return back to God. Earlier in this same account we discover all we need to know about Israel, and therefore ourselves, as well as the tactics of our enemy, “When the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah, the Philistine rulers came to attack Israel. The Israelites heard ⌊about the Philistine plan⌋ and were afraid of them. 8 The Israelites said to Samuel, “Don’t turn a deaf ear to us! Don’t stop crying to the Lord our God for us! Ask him to save us from the Philistines!”[1]

During a time of stress, we often resort to complaining, “I’ll be glad when its over.” But the lessons we learn from this Biblical account reminds us the answer to our stress in our lives, and in our world, is to continue to call on God in a time of trouble and to relax in His purposes and His unexpected plans. This truth leads us to our second “gift.”

THUNDER
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1 Samuel 7: 10-13: “While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines came to fight against Israel. On that day the Lord thundered loudly at the Philistines and threw them into such confusion that they were defeated by Israel. 11 Israel’s soldiers left Mizpah, pursued the Philistines, and killed them as far as Beth Car. 12 Then Samuel took a rock and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer [Rock of Help] and said, “Until now the Lord has helped us.” 13 The power of the Philistines was crushed, so they didn’t come into Israel’s territory again. The Lord restrained the Philistines as long as Samuel lived. 14 [2]

No sooner had Israel recommitted to serving the Lord, alone, the Philistines were on the attack and genuine fear gripped at the courage of the men of Israel. Fear is such a simple word and yet it remains a powerful influence in our lives. Fear can rob our peace, sleep, passion, love and hope while also managing to paralyze us and open the door for a multitude of lies to flood our lives. Fear is what was clawing at the hearts of Israel and this same fear has the ability to interfere with us when we are trying to make our way toward God. Fear is what clutched at the heart of Ebenezer Scrooge when he came face to face with his past, present and future. Yet, while fear may stall many we need only return to the faithfulness of God to be reminded if we run to the Lord, and trust in Him, He will do a great and mighty work on behalf of His faithful. God’s thundering exclamation is a mighty expression that not only causes the enemies of God to stumble, but also gives courage to the panicked, stricken and afraid.

HEROES

Our final “gift” is revealed in the beauty of transformation. The lives of the once fear-filled men of Israel had now turned heroic. But it was not an overnight change. Israel’s transformation was years in the making and even started with Samuel whose entire life was being groomed for such a critical turning point in Israel’s history. But what was responsible to the transformation from fearful to courageous and unfaithful to faithful? Was it just in a man? No. What had changed was Israel’s heart.

Through turning back to the Lord in obedience and serving Him alone, courage became gift of Ebenezer. Like Israel we should take great courage in the powerful chain of events we can expect when we turn our hearts back to God and joyfully serve Him alone. God is always looking for an opportunity to thunder in behalf of those who love Him. God is always looking to raise up a hero that will serve Him with all they have and God is always looking to redeem the stumbling and fearful by giving them His Spirit and victory. God is always looking for an opportunity to give us a reason to lay an EBENEZER (a rock of remembrance of His help) for His glory.

In a sense, the Christmas story has the same handprint as Samuel’s story. Across the globe Christians return to the simple, life changing reality of Emmanuel “God with us” in the form of the infant child, Jesus. To a creation that had lost its way, an unlikely Hero was given, in unlikely circumstances, to an unlikely, simple girl and unimportant people. It may have seemed relatively insignificant for Samuel to establish a memorial stone named Ebenezer (stone of help) after the victory of Israel over their enemies. But this small “stone of help” was as profound as God in flesh wrapped in swaddling clothes. Samuel reminded Israel God was the source of their help during their critical moments and Jesus birth likewise reminds us He is the Everlasting Stone of this evidence throughout the year. In Ebenezer, Israel, and we, are reminded that He is always on the side of the person who loves Him with everything.

Ebenezer Scrooge lived long enough to discover the gift of redemption. Scrooge learned he truly had something to fear…a cold and heartless world without the love and compassion of genuine family. A world without Jesus is as unforgiving and unloving as Scrooges’ bleak existence. But once we, like Scrooge, find the true meaning of purpose, life and destiny our fear prisons become broken and our circumstances are alleviated in the thunderous and compassionate mercy of God. At the close of “A Christmas Carol” Scrooge becomes an Ebenezer for many in need, and in Christ’s glorious birth He reminds everyone of the lasting truth He is the answer to our needs today. To experience the lasting joy and hope of this Christmas season turn your heart to serve the Lord alone, and let your New Year’s resolution be: This year I will expect the THUNDER of God in my circumstances!

Merry Christmas! – JOSHUA-PAUL

 

 

[1] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (1 Sa 7:7–8). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

[2] GOD’S WORD Translation. (1995). (1 Sa 7:10–14). Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing Group.

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

THE ITCH, THE CHALLENGE, THE ANSWER

imagesThis past Christmas we bought a family pet for our kids, Prince Casper, and as you can imagine this little five-pound Maltese has quickly settled in as part of our family. Of course with any new pet there is a period of adjustments and some training; but animals are pretty smart and soon they gravitate to particular places and people in the home. While I have always enjoyed the company of a family pet the last thing I really wanted was for our new furry friend to be attached to me. In the dining room, where I do most of my work, he will often wait for me to sit down before he jumps up in my lap and sits there for hours on end.  One day while I was typing, and he was sitting in my lap, I noticed a patch of hair that was thinning around his neck and then another thinning spot on his back.  This was followed by an itch that didn’t seem to go away with even the proper shampoo. Quickly I made an appointment with the local vet and he prescribed some medicine that slowed some of the conditions but Casper’s itch continued. After a few more weeks of trial and error the vet finally concluded Casper’s itching problem wasn’t the serious issue but actually a symptom that pointed to something deeper going on.

There is nothing more annoying than having an itch you can’t reach; but there is also nothing more relieving than the itch you can get at and scratch away. The thing about any itch is its ability to drive us all a little crazy and if it is bad enough, no matter how much we scratch, we seem no closer to really getting at the source of what created the itch in the first place.  Today’s post is about an itch, a challenge and a cure.

My recent posts on evangelism, discipleship and community have all led us to a place of rediscovering the nature of Jesus and how we, as Christians, can reach our world. We all know we are commanded to compel the world around us, as stated in the Great commission, but if you are anything like me with such a command an “itch” soon surfaces. Questions such as, Where do we begin? Who do we reach? Are their limitations in our reach? Are only the surface itches and no matter how much we scratch we seem no closer to arriving at satisfactory solutions, or cures.  Like Casper’s vet, we need to understand the itch is only pointing us to something deeper that exists within a greater context of what is really occurring in our world.

Perhaps no other decade has seen so much transition than ours. It is as if since post 9/11 our world has rapidly sped up. Economic swings have been fast and furious, social changes have been rapid and boundary breaking, entrainment has become more about agenda’s and politics and less about relaxing diversions,  politics have become more ugly and the church has flipped, flopped, splashed, grown, shrank, been rocked by scandals and rebranded more than a popular coffee chain.  Our sons and daughters have grown up in a decade of war that, while it remains miles away, brings uncertainty, fear, depression and anxiety.  With the technological boom and social media today, more than any other generation, has created endless voices clamoring for attention, stage space and recognition. And since there is nothing new under the sun what we are all witnessing is the resurfacing of age-old questions that are adding to a growing itch.

Today’s Christian is experiencing their faith in a post-Christian world; and today most of society borrows their philosophy from modern thinkers like Jean-Francis Lyotard who said, “it is difficult to believe one story, any story about the world and human condition, can be true.” Such a skeptical philosophy has only added to a world with multiple itches with each younger generation scratching without getting any closer to their cure.  Coming from the Gen X/Y generation I now parent Millennials; and while I know my generation was far from perfect I am witnessing today’s generations are marked with an alarming sense of hopelessness and disillusionment.

America had experienced a similar swing during the post-Vietnam war generation which experienced a great loss of life, questions of authority, purpose, life and truth. And similar age of skepticism plagued Europe, post WW I, that also resulted in a backlash against traditional values, belief, thought and faith from which Europe never recovered. And so, here we are again…old itches repackaged for a new age and the need for a Christian response to reach a lost generation with real and lasting truth!

Several posts prior I addressed three toxins that poison, and eventually kill, the Biblical community. They are consumerism, isolationism and individualism.  Added to these toxins is an added pressure facing every Christian, non-Christians and seeker: Privatism. What is this new term mean? Privatism is defined as, I have my truth, you have your truth and let’s not bother each other with conflicting views. And do not bother me with your truth even if you think you have reason to believe it.

Today’s world is trying to survive on the motto, “The only thing that matters in the world is me. I am the center of my universe and I determine my own future and existence.”

Let me suggest: You did not create this world but you are called to minister to the world. Many will try to reach their contemporaries by looking, sounding and acting like the environment that surrounds them. Others will try to impact their world by being counter-cultural and express a world-view that is perceived as opposite of today’s trends and assumptions.  I would like to suggest, and challenge all of us, to consider the latter.

A counter-cultural Christ-centered community can, and should be, a family of faith that isn’t primarily about you, me, our specific needs, particular happiness, fulfillment and or meaning.  In fact a counter-cultural Christianity is not about one story of many stories that borrows a little from here and there to make a good case for a our way of life.  Counter-cultural Christianity will always make the claim to be truth universally, not American truth, the truth of another nation and certainly not truth for just today, but God’s truth for everybody and for every generation. Counter-Cultural Christianity has always challenged the prevailing wisdoms, ways of life, thinking and living while calling its disciples to live a radical faith that is committed to full-time discipleship in Christ alone!

Radical? The very word scares us and conjures all sorts of stereotypes and falsehoods. By radical I am not referring to a certain dress code or throw back version of Christianity. What I am calling for is a radical counter-cultural faith that is rooted in the Biblical Jesus and expresses the entire Bible (from Genesis to Revelation) as the best possible guide, for everyone, to understand a particular view of the human condition, an exclusive way for salvation and a certain hope for the entire world. If the Christian faith will not dare to live counter-cultural than we will never be able to reach a world with any message, any hope and or lasting truth. Remember the world has an itch that needs scratching.

I am challenging all of us to consider after we have our discussions on the nature of the Biblical community, the heart of evangelism and the call for discipleship we must answer the restlessness of the world with the counter-cultural message of the Biblical Jesus and break through the carefully constructed veneer of the post-Christian, post-modern restlessness of our current culture.

The world is desperately searching for enduring truth and we alone have the tools to reconnect our seeking world with a vibrant truth, community and relationship that will guarantee wisdom and direction for all generations.

Sadly many of our current thinkers, universities and churches have revised history into a narrative that is exists largely disconnected from centuries of verifiable fact. Such a disconnect has further contributed to a society that has developed as a religious and social “vessel” that is free-floating, without an anchor, hoping not to wreck upon the rocks or find whatever port of call is safest at the moment. If this is true then what Larry Hurtado says is all the more impactful as to why Christianity today must be counter-cultural, “the rise of Christianity existed in a setting where religion was varied prominent, pervasive and popular.”  In fact Hurtado later goes as far as to connect how every part of 1st Century life was connected to religious practice in some way; and this was the spiritual seedbed from which Christianity burst into the world. Within a short period of time (three centuries) the faith of the ancient apostles, and their disciples, confronted pagan practices, ancient religions, philosophical assumptions and even the most powerful cult of the emperor while managing to overcome them all and rise eventually to the faith of an empire.  Did Christianity overtake the world by borrowing from the worship of Zeus? Apollo? Or Caesar? Did the church overcome with the witness and thoughts of Plato and Aristotle?

Today’s world is filled with spiritual pluralism, TV celebrities and part-time philosophers that have only added to the normalization of many roads that can eventually reach God. Yet, the itch continues and the infection, which drives the itch, is well beneath the surface to the place where it hurts most. So, how do we reach our world for Jesus while facing the dangers, challenges and obstacles?

  1. We can either be identified with the culture

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  2. We can be identified against the culture or,
  3. The church can transform the culture.

I propose a way of life where we are to be identified in the culture because we need to live and interact with a real world. It will be impossible to share the Gospel with any part of the world if we remain huddled in a bunker and shut away from the spiritually sick and needy. Therefore, we should be encouraged to live balanced lives, marry, have children, buy food, eat out and engage in the marketplace of ideas. However, we must also resist the urge to be shaped by the culture:

 

  1. Do not be shaped by unrighteousness (Romans 6:12)
  2. Live like the old man (Col. 3:5-9)
  3. Walk in the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21)

But live shaped by:

  1. Righteousness (Romans 6)
  2. According to the new man in Christ (Col. 3: 12-27)
  3. Walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26)
  4. Overcommers of darkness and spiritual oppression (Eph. 6:12)

Finally, Transform Your Culture! Whatever walk of life you are in let the world know of how Jesus has transformed your life and why your faith, and worship, rests in Him alone! Today’s Christian is to be the salt, light and ointment that provides the soothing balm to the itch of the world.  You provide a “thinking world” a deeper question to ponder and answer: How you, a Christian that live in the same world as they, are not trapped by the spiritual / secular paradox that creates “the itch” in your life. As a missional follower of Jesus you have a unique opportunity to provide the world with an invitation to a real community of truth that is committed to a deeper identity than “self” and rooted in Jesus!

You, I and all believers in the BIBLICAL JESUS have a story to tell and it is worth sharing.  Jesus’ story is not an account of a moral, spiritual or philosophical relativism. Rather it is the story of a world that begins with a glorious creation and later experiences a cataclysmic fall. Yet, despite this, God provided the Seed (Jesus) to redeem and revived the heavens, earth and humanity. Jesus’ message is one of enduring hope that has always been best expressed in the Judeo- Christian ethic, standards of right and wrong and commitment to a Biblical worldview that remains proven true yesterday, today and forever.

Judeo – Christianity has always been dramatically counter-cultural because it is born from the DNA of Jesus as Lord. To be His disciple, and make disciples of others, will always be counter-cultural because you will be developing people into one true faith, ethical absolutes and not some confused god-speak that borrows from everything but means nothing!

Yes, the culture has changed and some changes are good and acceptable, especially when we want to communicate and reach our world. Some may wear jeans, different hairstyles and our meeting places may be from coffee shops to living rooms and even spacious buildings. But none of the cosmetic changes are ever acceptable if they alter the absolute message of Jesus.  As Christians we must recognize we no longer a “Christian society” as our president reminded us of six years ago. As such we need to understand the challenges of our world and seek to transform it in every arena of life.

There is an itch that requires scratching. But there is also a hurt that runs deeper.  You represent the bringers of the great medicine that will not only stop the itch but also cure the real ailment. The disconnect from God can be bridged by today’s Christian if we will accept our counter-cultural faith, represent a transformational message and embrace a life of real people, living in a real world, with real hope and promise in the power to change lives…the power is in Jesus!

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

TIME TO ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES! (The Gift of Work and the Christian’s Responsibility)

th_2I was fourteen years old and it was the first Monday of summer vacation. Comfortably sleeping in my bed I had already mapped out a summer filled with playing games, hanging out with my best friend and managing to use as much of the day to just chill (as my son would say).To my surprise those dreams, of summer fun, were soon to be replaced with a new reality when my dad woke me up informing me it was time to get ready and take a drive with him. Within thirty minutes I found myself riding shotgun in a 1987 blue Grand Marquis headed downtown; and within the next half hour I was riding back with new summer activity which circumvented my entire summer…a job!

In a recent family episode of life imitating reality I found myself sitting in my car explaining to my son, again at age 14, why it was time to work and his days of “chillin” would be forever in his rear view mirror. No matter what age we begin this journey, of labor and responsibility, it is a God ordained reality would should embrace and not avoid.

Let’s face it we don’t always like work and we also know people who would be defined as “workaholics.” These are the types who claim to love their job and, while that may be true, a closer examination of their story would no doubt include their share of hated professional seasons. Whether we love, like or dislike our current field of labor, as Christians, there is another dimension to work that should compel us to be the best at what we do; even when we are temporarily stuck in a “dead-end” circumstance.

Most of us cherish the idea of a vacation because after a long trying season of work we need time to unwind and recharge. But, after a while our minds begin to shift gears and we start thinking about what work awaits us. My father and father-in-law were both high performing professionals in their chosen fields. As long as I have known them they always worked lengthy hours and gave their very best skill and talent to their job.  Now, though officially “retired” they still continue to work. Certainly they are not working as hard, or as extensive, as they once did; but they are continually finding ways to benefit their world, church and own life. I find it curious why after giving themselves to so many years of labor they didn’t just “retire.” And you know why? Because an ethic has been instilled in them to be the very best at whatever they are tasked to do. This amazing ethic has also filtered into their walk with Christ and is often witnessed daily in their church community and beyond.

My past two posts have focused on different angles of discipleship from the practical to the spiritual. Today I want to challenge you to think differently about work and more specifically how, and why, you labor in a community of faith (local church). Studies have proven the 80/20 Rule applies to most churches, non-profits and volunteer based operations.  If you have never heard of this rule what it means is 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. No matter the denomination, church size or cause there will always remain a certain number of  critical needs, that require either funds to hire the workers or the volunteers to accomplish the work. But what happens when neither the funds nor the volunteers are available because nobody wants to work or sacrifice?  Simply answered the job doesn’t get accomplished and the goal falls well beneath its intended mark.

If the 80/20 Rule applies, within the church today, than there is a more troubling trend we must address and correct if we have any hope of the church affecting the world around us.  What is the troubling trend? Most Christians have either an apathetic or unwilling approach to work, within the local body, and as such they drain more resources away, from the church, than what they contribute.  

If we are to be living the disciplined walk of faith, with Jesus, then we must be committed to an ethic of work that enables us to mature and bring added value to the community we seek to connect and serve. Many bristle at the idea of “added work” especially after a long week and even longer hours. But when we no longer consider laboring for the Kingdom, through the body of Christ, we stunt our growth as disciples and even worse such inactivity eventually bleeds into other areas of our witness and evangelism.

Taking a brief glance at the work of evangelism reveals very real work with people will take time, effort, resources and emotional, as well as spiritual energy. So while we can rightfully assume God will do His part in provoking the spiritual hearts of the needy; He commands us to share the Good News and make disciples. How is this done? On a very real and basic level it requires work. Jesus already taught the problem of reaching people has never been the “fields of harvest” were too obscure, but the sad truth is the laborers are too few.

When we, as Christians, make excuses as to why we cannot volunteer time and or provide the added financial resource, to pursue active evangelism, we miss the opportunity to enrich our communities and actually do far worse by nourishing the very elements that destroy the community of faith in consumerism, individualism and isolationism. Could this be why large segments of Western Christianity have lost their vibrancy and effectiveness within the world?

Christian vocation is not a new concept. St. Paul often uses the word “strive” to refer to his work in the ministry; and yet the word strive feels so counter-cultural to today’s church and society. Today’s culture has conditioned Christians to think as individuals first and servants last. However Scripture goes well beyond assumption, and implied behavior, when addressing His “called out ones” and “chosen people” are to be those who behave, belong and believe in a Christ-ethic. It is this Christ-like ethic that draws work and life together and allows us to experience a community where labor is seen as worship and less as burdensome activity (See. 1 Peter 2:9 / 1 Peter 2:11-12).

It must be stressed the concept of being a disciple, of Jesus, extends well beyond living as cultural Christians. At the heart of living “in Him” brings with it a distinctive way of life that exists within a Biblically distinctive pattern where His people are genuinely alive and not just living (See. 2 Peter 3:11, 14).
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I mentioned earlier, from my first days of work, we are all faced with the reality and eventuality of labor. We are also surrounded by a world in which you are not only part of but are also called to serve; and that service should begin in your local community of faith (church). When, and if, you embrace the entire Word of God through the lens of Biblical Hebraic Holism you can only logically arrive at a singular conclusion that places ones “church life” not in a context of “vacation time.” Rather one’s life in the community of faith is an extension of their everyday living and should be embraced as an opportunity to express one’s calling.

It is easy to read the Scriptures and desire to live the calling of Moses, Joshua, Peter or Paul. But what if your walk can be just as impactful as these men? What each of these men shared was a lifestyle committed to living a Kingdom reality. With their steadfastness came an understanding in which they saw their purpose was woven intimately into a larger tapestry of what God was developing. Simply said, the heros of our faith lived in a pattern set by the Father and expressed through the Son. Everything Jesus taught, accomplished and expressed pointed His disciples back to the reality of living with Kingdom purpose and laboring in the King’s fields of harvest. Is God not the King who owns the cattle on a thousand hills?  As His disciples we are called to live in the pattern of Jesus’ death and resurrection as well as carry out his works of mercy, grace, love and speaking Biblical truth to the seeking, searching and lost. If we will commit to real work in all areas of life we will share in the joy of His harvest and His blessings!

When God calls He commissions! It is up to us to remain faithfully obedient to His direction. To be personally formed into “usable material” (clay in the potters hand) means we should not settle for just showing up, but also look for opportunities to build the Kingdom. To be formed brings with it the welcomed excitement of being transformed; and that can only be witnessed when born-again disciples are actively revolutionize their communities of faith and communities where they live, work and experience life.

One final thought on the Christian ethic of work. While we tend to live in the “hear and now” we frequently miss the moments where our today is shaped by yesterday. What I hope to express is a deeper appreciation of our rich Christian history that brings with it the understanding of work as a blessing from the very beginning in the Garden  (See. Gen. 1:28, 2:15) Labor was never a by-product of the fall or an extension of the curse. Rather labor has always been part of God’s design. The curse (sin) attached itself to work by making the earth harder and the seasons less fruitful. But striving for the Kingdom is not a man-made system of labor followed by retirement (Gen.3:17-19). Unfortunately we have done ourselves a spiritual disservice when we choose to view eternity as some type of modern / futuristic retirement plan. Though eternity will be free from the curse, and as a result will not carry with it the same burdens we experience today, the very idea that work will cease is hard to Scripturally imagine or support. Just a brief glance into the Throne Room (See Revelation) allows us glimpses of worship and work. Such a heavenly reality should give us all pause and reconsideration if we are looking to wade in a crystal pool or drift away in a heavenly hammock?

A concluding challenge for us all. Work has always been a mandate that was birthed with creation. Therefore labor is a gift from God and for His purposes. It took literal, not theoretical, work for the death and resurrection to be carried through. Likewise, it will take real effort in His second coming and in the rebuilding of making all things new.

Yes, in the summation of all things the peace of God, His Shalom, will fall over a renewed earth and then those who are in Him will experience work as it was once was in the Garden before the curse. But what would happen, in our world today, if we re-examined our call to work as a divine mandate? What if your work, in the here an now, is in some way connected to your supernatural calling to build the Kingdom of God and support the community of faith where God has placed you?

It is clear Christian work is not for the casual, for the part-time or for the uncommitted and lazy. Yes, Christian work will be the hardest thing you can ever apply yourself to because it requires a full-time dedication unto the Lord. When we serve Him, serve one another and serve the community, by sharing Him, His real Spirit- birthed power is expressed in our lives and continues to testify of one body, one resurrection, one life, one truth, one way, JESUS!

“True revival is freedom for the soul that leads to total freedom for humanity.” – Dennis Kutzner

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

A Three –Fold Attitude that Stimulates Discipleship and Forms a Genuine Community of Faith

thLast week I shared some thoughts on my immersion into a community of disciples and discipleship. But what happens when you have gone beyond “putting your feet in the water” and are fully enveloped by the waves of a genuine Jesus formed community?  I acknowledge by using the word “genuine” that must imply there also can be “less than genuine” communities of faith. And guess what? Sadly there are. This is not to say people set out to be purposely disingenuous, but it does mean people can believe they are living in the nature of Jesus when they are not; and so, by default, they become immersed into a community that looks, feels, sounds and may even act with some version of Jesus but entirely miss the opportunity to become a community that engages His true nature.

 

Simply stated to be a disciple of anyone, means you have learned directly, and accurately, from the disciple-maker. As a New England Patriots fan I have been spoiled by a high level of competition the Patriots provide every season. At the lead of the team’s success is their quarterback, Tom Brady. But before Brady became a Super Bowl MVP, and top quarterback in the NFL, he had to learn from someone. Beginning in high school, through college and even into his professional career Brady routinely sought advice, counsel and training from his long time mentor Tom Martinez. Perhaps few will ever know of the man who helped form Brady into the player millions watch on Sunday afternoons, but his legacy and counsel are witnessed every game Brady leads the New England Patriots out to play.  In like manner the greatest violinist the world has ever heard, Jascha Heifetz, learned from Leopold Auer. Tom Brady was developed by Tom Martinez and Plato was instructed by the words and methods of Socrates.  While subtle variations in one’s style, approach, look or feel may develop differently, from teacher to student, there will always be a common thread throughout the life of the mentor and mentee: Fundamentally they will be the same in their approach, application, intent and drive to succeed without compromising the richness of truth in their chosen field.

As Christians should we be any less careful to attention, detail, passion, perfection and desire to share Biblical truth with our world? When one becomes immersed in the life of discipleship, in Jesus, there can be no room to compromise His message, and divine nature, in favor of our personal “variations.” Jesus commanded His disciples to go and make disciples of all men commanding them (the Apostles) to instruct everyone in all He (Jesus) had shared.  Woven within the DNA of discipleship is a sanctified template of how one becomes His disciple without compromise and with the guarantee of blessing. Getting one’s feet wet, in the community of Christ, is where it all begins; but that has never been a substitute for continuing on the journey of discipleship. True Biblical discipleship begins when we live immersed in the community of faith while being mentored into developing unique techniques and strategies, not gimmicks, that help us draw people to encounter the nature of Jesus!

In my attempt to unpack the heart of discipleship, as well as understand the nature of Jesus, I have come to understand there are three necessary attitudes that invite people and engage them into immersion in the community of faith. The three attitudes are worship, preaching / teaching and mentoring.

ATTITUDE #1: WORSHIP. Try to define worship and the exercise quickly opens into a very large umbrella that the Bible stuffs a lot of action underneath. You can worship God through prayer, fasting, singing, reading and meditating on His Word, tithes and offerings, work, life, common grace acts and the list goes on and on. But to help me better understand worship, within the context of discipleship, I needed to have a simple working definition that could cover all the bases. So, here is a definition I part borrowed and retooled: Worship is not a program but an invitation for people to participate in the truth of Jesus; and we celebrate His story in a variety of forms and activities. There is so much opinion regarding the state of worship within the church today. But wherever you may come down on the issue, worship is always meant to form any community into authentic adoration of Jesus with integrity. What I personally find so inviting about worship is how it really is meant to be apart of everyday, as well as every portion of life, and not just Sunday morning.

While some choose to debate various styles and expressions, of Sunday worship, I feel there is a deeper concern if we allow our times of worship to fall into the traps of being another program or routine.  For some, if not most, it may be a little frightening to provide the breathing room necessary for the Holy Spirit to move through our times of worship. But when we give Him the room necessary to move He draws the community of worshippers into the rhythm of God’s nature. It is then our individual and communal moments of celebration merge into the signing of Jesus’ story and our songs become those of great thanksgiving.  Worship was at the heart of the early church’s liturgical calendar and the same reason why God gave Ancient Israel the Feasts of the Lord. Life, every day, was to be a celebration of God’s nature and it is meant to immerse His disciples entire lives into Him.

The added by-product of worship is the development of disciple and disciples. Worship has the unique ability to draw everyone into one community that lives, talks, hears and shares the rich celebration of Jesus’ life. Here again this is why disciples should find opportunities to raise our hands, clap and even shout; because a corporate action of thanksgiving, love, relief and even celebration become the moments where the Holy Spirit’s presence can be truly experienced through the cycles of life. Rudolph Otto said,  “Good worship will use language of mystery.” And I honestly believe the mystery of worship should be one we all long to uncover. When people, in the Body of Christ, genuinely live lives of worship not only will we experience Him but we will know Him and desire to learn more of Him as our lives behave more like His. All who are in Him are gladly invited to be worshipers; and worship has the basic power to shape the disciple!

ATTITUDE #2: PREACHING / TEACHING: A recent survey, by Thom Rainer, concluded the most decisive factor for visitors, in choosing a fellowship, is the preaching/ teaching.  One need only thumb through the pages of the Gospels and book of Acts to discover Jesus routinely taught His disciples wherever they traveled. The development of lay ministry underscores the necessity for trained and qualified men and women who are in a position to teach and disciple within the local church.

The aforementioned natural therapies are helpful in improving your erectile ability, making prescription levitra you incompetent in the bedroom. It is an astringent and boosts seminal cialis levitra generika devensec.com fluid. Finally, http://www.devensec.com/images/bose-slides/bose-8.html cipla tadalafil price Theodore Creighton and Gary Jones (2001) point out that few programs currently look beyond grade-point average when recruiting employees into programs. Excessive use of alcohol and drugs also affects viagra france the capability to maintain erection. Most churches will have a variety of mature disciples, new converts and seekers. With such spiritual diversity also comes the welcomed opportunity to present the Word of God in a fresh, relevant and exciting way.  However, before we get bogged down in “good preaching versus bad teaching” we need to first answer what is the purpose of a teaching and preaching? Again, I prefer workable and simple definitions that can be applied in the ordinary of life; and so I have come to the conclusion the best way to answer this question is as follows:  The purpose of teaching / preaching is to change minds, hearts and lives.  

Certainly the Holy Spirit is the one who illuminates the need for change in any one’s heart but the inspiration of Spirit-birthed teaching / preaching always encourages faith in the pattern of Jesus.  It is well documented Augustine, for example, always used his teachings as an opportunity to weave doctrine with moral living. So what kind of preaching / teaching should we accept as those pursuing a journey of discipleship? Biblically speaking (and this is always the safest way to judge anything) only teachings that are based on Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone)! Of course there is always a place for sharing how to raise your kids, manage money, discover purpose, etc… but if such themes are not based in Scripture, as the primary source, they will eventually draw people away from the pattern of Jesus and point others toward worldly solutions. Simply put, teaching rooted in anything other than Scripture will make you a disciple of that teacher, or cause, but such an approach will not draw you any closer to the nature of the Father or a disciple of Jesus.  Again, teaching and preaching, within the context of discipleship, must always focus on what the Bible says, no more and no less.

Genuine disciples are always called to live submitted not to ones favorite minister, or ministry, but to God’s Word. Let me be so bold as to say, Scripture from Genesis to Revelation is true…..all of it! And so, as disciples of Jesus, we are put ourselves under it and live in obedience to it!

 A final thought on preaching / teaching: Tell the Whole Story.  I am guilty of watching ESPN for the purposes of viewing the highlight real in order to follow my favorite sporting events. But just watching the highlights will never tell the entire tale of the tape. Highlights are exciting because by their very definition they are “HIGH –LIGHTS!” But three-second clips are incapable of really helping one understand the “why” of the game. To appreciate the highlight you need to know the details of the game. Likewise, discipleship is not meant to be lived, or seen. in highlights. Rather discipleship should always be a public witness and full portrayal of God’s grand design for all creation. Biblical preaching that is coupled with proactive discipleship always keeps Jesus at the center of life’s story, and there He is meant to always remain.

ATTITUDE #3: MENTORING. One of my favorite Seinfeld episodes is, “The Mentor.” In this particular episode Jerry was dating a girl that relied so heavily on her mentor she was incapable of making a move without her advice. Too often we have adopted a “top-down” approach to mentorship and as a result our bonds of mentorship become more like chains of control. Could it be we have somehow misapplied Biblical mentorship? Robert Clinton defines mentorship as, “one person helping another person grow.” Henry Simon explained mentorship as, “having something to share with another who needs it to help him grow.” Today the best form of mentorship remains as it was in the days of the early church and John Wesley, discipleship through class meetings and peer to peer cooperation.  While there is a definite need for a one on one relationships it has been my experience an attitude of community mentorship is best suited to knit people together in relatable and personal ways. Within the small group, or home koinonia, a fellowship can discuss a teaching, pray and even provide mutual support and accountability. A single mentor doesn’t, and can’t, have all the answers. But mentors, within the community of Christ, can help others grow and share in Christ. Combined with genuine care, support and prayer the disciple quickly matures; and when this change occurs the entire community becomes immersed in the Jesus cycle of life.

People are searching for genuine Christ-centered communities of faith that expand beyond the church walls and touch real need and real lives. When genuine disciples, in Jesus, invigorate the church then we become an antibiotic to the illness (sin) and perhaps then the world will no longer perceive the church as the illness but an aide for healing and restoration?

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

 

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

Immersed in the Community of Disciples & Discipleship

thRecently, I was visiting with the owner of a new business launch that was giving me a sneak peak through his new site. The facility was top notch with every “bell and whistle” that would cater to potential clients in his industry. As we walked through the various workstations he stopped to introduce me to one of the men applying the finishing touches to a particular section of the office. Our conversation was brief and while the man was polite and engaging I could tell there was more to his story than the work he was currently doing. Later I learned the young man, I met earlier, is an excellent guitar player and by some peoples opinions one of the best they have heard in a long time. As I considered such a bold statement I asked, for me, the next logical question, “Then why is he woodworking and not even pursuing music on any level?” Of course I am not privy to this man’s life story; but like most people there is a strong possibility that a man with such talent, and not working in his field of calling, is also a man who stopped being a disciple or disciplined in his craft some time ago. As it is with our chosen profession, or calling, so to the same standards apply toward discipleship. Truthfully, discipleship never ends because everyone is to be constantly led by the Spirit, maturing in Jesus and challenged by one another. If there is such a thing as “steps toward Biblical discipleship” these progressions need to be modeled, in the initial stages, if we desire to help seekers to become converts and converts into disciples.

Bill Hull, who wrote The Disciple-Making Pastor said, “The Great Commission has been worshipped, but not obeyed. The church tried to get to world evangelism without disciple making.” In my opinion his quote accurately sums up the challenges we are facing in a post-Christian / post-Modern church age. Daily we encounter people, spread across life’s journey, whose experiences and backgrounds are unwittingly making them resistant to the hard work of being discipled. Even though the secular / spiritual paradox faces everyone this cannot become the sole excuse for us to avoid the obvious process and spiritual discipline and discipleship. Sadly, Michael Wilkins, a professor of Theology and trainer of pastors, says “The most common answer when asked if anybody has discipled you is, no.” Discipleship has always been, and will forever remain, a life-long process we are meant to experience and be immersed in. Yet many adopt the belief that a semester of discipleship classes will suffice for lifetime journey. The results, and state of our church today, does not bear this out as true or helpful for the maturation of the body of Christ. Therefore, to better understand discipleship let’s take a moment to first explore the nature from which discipleship is developed.

Where Does the Nature of Discipleship Come From? You don’t need to dig through the archives of a denominational library, or a trendy new release on Amazon, to find a manual for discipleship. Beginning with the ancients (Abraham and Eliezer), through the Patriarchs and more specifically with Moses and Joshua we discover a pattern for discipleship. This same process is replicated in the lives of Elijah and Elisha, Jeremiah, Daniel, his three friends and the list is far more exhaustive than limited. So it really should not come as any surprise, within the structure of the Hebraic Holistic worldview, discipleship would be practiced and readily accepted by Jesus and His chosen twelve.

Many of us, me included, have been guilty of assuming the process of discipleship started with Jesus’ earthly ministry but, in reality, this ancient method was just as much a spiritual practice, from the beginning, as a natural relationship designed to share the Word, keep it pure and replicate it throughout each generation. Therefore, when Jesus instructs His disciples in Matt. 10:24-25 He frames the nature of discipleship, and roots for future Christian disciples, in His nature alone.

Contextually speaking when Jesus was sharing such truths it wasn’t revealed in a time too removed from our world today. In Jesus’ day there were many examples of disciples learning under various educated rabbi’s. St. Paul, learning under the instruction of Gamileal, was one example of a long accepted tradition that was the custom of the day. However there was a stark difference in the discipleship, advocated by Jesus, and that of Rabbinic Judaism. Whereas Rabbinic Judaism advocated the process of “leap frog “, where the student would eventually exceed his master, Jesus instructed His disciples by telling them the student will never be above the master. It could be argued Jesus’ teachings did far more than other models of discipleship to help the church rapidly developed through the early years and then exploded through the reformation age. It is discovered in the nature of Jesus His system of discipleship wasn’t a organization of one trying to outdo the other; rather it was a long series of disciples that studied under other disciples. In a very significant way Jesus never encouraged or made disciples that were independent of Him. Every man and woman, who were taught in the model of Jesus, understood their goal was to make disciples back into Jesus.

Six Ways Jesus Taught Discipleship:

  1. Jesus focus and teaching was developed around repentance and the reality the Kingdom of Heaven was near. (Matt. 4:17)
  2. Jesus taught the exercise of His compassion. (Matt. 9:36)
  3. Jesus commanded His disciples to follow the traditions of Him and not others. (Matt. 12:1-8)
  4. All disciples belonged to family obedience. (Matt. 12:46-50)
  5. A disciple must live the life of servanthood. (Matt. 20:24-28)

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  6. A disciple shares in the destiny of suffering. (Matt. 10:16-25)

Late 2013 NT Wright published an amazing work on the writings, life and ministry of St. Paul. Throughout his work NT challenges the thought, some hold, that St. Paul’s teaching were in some way a rival to Jesus’. Sadly, those who see St. Paul and Jesus as rivals have adopted pure liberal foolishness! In fact, Rabbinic Judaism today uses a similar argument against Jesus and Christianity by claiming Christians are following a Jesus reinterpreted through the lens of Paul. In short, for Rabbinic Judaism, Jesus should only be viewed as a rabbi of the first century who taught people how to live whereas Paul turned Jesus into a Savior / Redeemer. NT does an amazing job of addressing this in far more detail than I can in today’s post. But the reason I cited this example was to validate St. Paul’s mission, within the framework of discipleship, was always to make people in Jesus’ image and not his own. Paul’ sole mission was to introduce Jesus, from the Tanakh, to the developing and emerging gentile church. (See. Phil. 1:20-21) True disciples and genuine Biblical discipleship will always follow Jesus’ nature and pattern. This is why we need to be encouraged to avoid discipleship built upon spiritual gurus, specific pastors or our favorite theological teachers. We are all meant to mature, through this life, into sound discipleship in Jesus alone!

How do you become a disciple? Believe! Behave! Belong! (See: John 20:31 , Acts 2:42, 47, Romans 12:2)

How Does the Community of Faith Disciple? While some people will be persuaded by the rational apologetic approach, of which I am a big fan, most people will be discipled through the process of relationship, community and work. When we worship together,  learn together and labor together we grow, in Him, together! This is why life groups and peer to peer discipleship, or coffee shop Gospel, can effectively form a Biblical community for today!

Get Immersed into the Life of the Community: The church is you and all of us gathered together; and we collectively are telling the story of Jesus. While we may share His story through a variety of methods and approaches we must never loose site of the fact we are called together for the purposes of glorifying Him as well as be a witness for the entire story of God. This amazing story is worth sharing! It is a remarkable account of how a Triune God is Creator, involved throughout history, incarnate as Jesus, sacrificial in death and in resurrection becomes victory over death and all evil. In the ascension of Jesus He took His place as the sole ruler over all things and will soon return restoring all things, in creation, unto Himself in a new heavens and new earth. THAT IS A STORY WORTH SHARING!

We are all called to not just recite this remarkable account but to live these words as a community that reflects the values of a relationship with the Father, Son and Spirit. We are called, as a community immersed in Him, to reflect the many creative gifts that reveal His majesty. We are called to be a community of love, redemption and reconciliation. Discipleship and maturity, in Him, also affords us the opportunity to have the deep conversations of how we will address sin, through heart and sight of Jesus. Biblical discipleship will also teach us how to care for the needs of a suffering world and also provide hope of a glorious future for those who are in Him.

Immersion is part of life. The community of Christ is more than capable, by His Holy Spirit, to immerse everyone into the life of Jesus. For those who are willing to shape their life around the reality of Jesus they will truly discover a different story, and vision, than the life they are currently have. Remember we are all on a journey and people are looking for a lasting truth, peace and bonds of relationship. So share His story and live the discipled life of a disciple in Jesus!

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

Evangelism on the Flip Flop

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My son is fond of saying, as he leaves the house, “Catch you on the flip-flop Daddy-O!” I’m not quiet sure where or what the flip-flop is but I know, when I see him next, something new will have happened or is getting ready to happen. So, since I wanted share with you some reflections on evangelism, and community, I thought we may need a “flip-flop” conversation since I know something new is about to happen.

It all started at the beginning of this year when my wife, Jeannette, shared two messages on communion and the importance of the love feast. In both instances these teachings were designed to invite and draw us back to the table of thanksgiving with Jesus and then with one another. Like a frog hopping from one lily pad to another our community of faith, at Maranatha, leapt “back the future” and started repairing, as well as revisiting, some of our broken bridges from our ancient to present faith. The weeks that followed brought us through a series of teachings where we re-examined the value of living in a community, like a little house on the prairie, that shared in a unique nature of  faith, hope and love, in Jesus, and whose expressions were very different than the language or culture of our current age. Did this mean we were out of touch with the people we hoped to reach with the Gospel message? Far from it!  In fact, what we discovered was we were part of exclusive mission, vision and purpose. A plan in which we can be those who carry the sole message of Truth to a people searching for lasting truth in their lives.

For me, and for those who were committed to this journey, it also meant we needed to comprehend our ancient faith was so much older than the 1st Century. As Christians we have given little thought to a term we often say in passing, as if it is understood by everyone, when in reality we seldom preach or teach with such beliefs and conviction. The term? “Judeo-Christian.” Our Christian journey is unique and  exclusive, in part but not limited to, the reality of our  Judeo-Christian roots. And once you reset your Biblical worldview in Hebraic holism then you better understand the words and nature of Jesus, His Great Commission, evangelism every Biblical principle.

And so here is the point: From communion to discipleship the local church is in place to help you discover your gifts, mature in Jesus and go out making disciples in His name. In it’s simplest form this is what is meant when we are to proclaim the Good News (Great Commission). But before we actually have a discussion about evangelism we need to comprehend what is happening in our present, and future, to help us better understand the world around us.

Today’s society lives in a paradox. Actually we all live with some kind of paradox around us everyday. We are encouraged to save but the government spends out of control. We are told to eat and live healthy but the majority of what is offered are unhealthy options. It is said we should develop our “spiritual persona” but the spiritual menu is often endless and with more customizable options than what you would expect to see in a buffet line. And this sums up society. People live secular, Christians included, but everyone is influenced by some type of spirituality. So while people are open to exploring their spiritual nature, and solutions, they are not necessarily open to exploring exclusive answers. So for Christian evangelism to really hit the target, effectively, we need to understand this paradox and begin to work through it.

It is at this point I want to also make you aware of a remarkable parallel today’s church shares with the historic church of the first three centuries. If we were to travel back in time we would find a church living in an array of spiritual alternatives ranging from the mythological to the mysterious and even familiar, for their time, pagan cults. Tucked away in this sea of spirituality was also Judaism and the growing community of people identified at Christians. And despite the early church being considered a cult the Christian faith grew primarily on three natural factors, and this is not to excluded the power of the Holy Spirit.

What were the 3 Natural Factors for Church Explosion and Growth?

#1 The Christian Community was Open: Remove from your mind the way we define open and accepting. In the ancient world an open group had a very different meaning and practice (as you will soon see) and in most instances the ancient world was not as open as some like to think. In fact, most cults were secretive and so heavily regimented by rules they excluded the simple, slaves and women. So, in a sense, spiritual communities of the past behaved and operated like country clubs today. And so while it may have been difficult, if not impossible, for some to find a spiritual place of belonging the Christian community was considered open and welcoming to those who lived life on the outside.

#2 The Christian Community was Open but Exclusive: While other cults and pagans practices were  willing to compromise their beliefs to adapt or include other worldviews, such spiritual “wishy-washiness” only contributed to a world already sinking in uncertainty. Enter Christianity with an exclusive  and certain message that cut right to the heart of the spiritual mosh pit. While it was not widely accepted, at first, for those who believed it must have felt like a welcomed glass of cold water on a hot and desperate day. The exclusive message and reality of Jesus was then, and remains so this day, a reassurance of hope in times of hopelessness.

#3 The Christian Community was a Close Family, Organized and Disciplined Disciples: Of course we will read of debates within the early church community (the Book of Acts) as well as other Ecumenical Councils that discussed the Scriptures and theological challenges. And while their world did not have some of the structures of today they knew how to live in accountability, as a family, and even     shared in needs, risks, dangers and hope. Unlike what most experience when today’s church doesn’t work in cooperation with one another the early Christian community was a true family that met the needs of the Christian family first, and then was able to better meet the needs of the seeking world around them. I wonder what our world would look like if the church really behaved like a genuine family in Christ?

So, borrowing from some of our ancient church roots, and knowing they were able to extend into the world around them, we can only conclude they did so with the paradox also surrounding them. Let’s take a page from the second century church’s rich history. Though hardly strange to them, but perhaps odd to us today, the early church saw themselves as citizens who shared things with others but endured all things as foreigners. They saw their entire world as a mission field and not their place of citizenry. Perhaps this is one subtle reason why evangelism is largely ineffective in America today? Could it be too many Christians have misplaced passports?  Have we become so use to”the world” that it is now our home and we have forgotten our divine residency?

The early church was far more hospitable and looking for opportunities to out do one another in kindness, to the church first, and then their world in need. Furthermore, just like today, the church existed in a very real social world. Of course they did not have Facebook or Twitter but the early church was very willing to invade and create a social paradox by sharing their faith with friends, co-workers and family. The church saw their “social web” as an opportunity to influence people through their world and invite them into the Christian community. Long before large churches and fellowship halls the church met in homes and lived as a community that gathered as well as ate around the table.  As for so many of us, growing up, the table always presented a central opportunity to share and live life.
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Consider portions of Jesus’ earthly ministry and you will discover much of His ministry was done around tables, weddings, feasts and dinners. Why?  Because the table has always been a safe place to engage one another in love, charity and hospitality.  Whether Starbucks knows it or not the church is operating a lot of ministry and evangelism through their doors. Question? What would happen if you opened your home, one night a week, to somebody in your community, for the sole purpose of ministering to them, discipling them and sharing your faith? What might happen in your neighborhood?

But…Back to the Secular / Spiritual Paradox:  We cannot forget the paradox exists and because it is alive it also presents dangerous poisons to the community of faith that work will against us.

Three Enemies to the Christian Community: Individualism, Isolationism & Consumerism.

#1 Individualism has become the father and mother of the selfie generation. You need only know that individualism is alive and well when last year’s “word of the year” was selfie.  Truthfully I have also contributed a few selfies and most likely the majority us have taken atleast one picture while, others are minored in a degree in photography on self. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with taking a picture but the very idea of a world where “selfie” exists sums up the dangers individualism at it’s best (or worst).  Sadly, individualism has also become a firm set piece within the Western church culture because it encourages a community that says proudly: I think what I want, I do what I want, I go where I want and I am responsible to only myself.  Whereas our early church community was about reaching out, hospitality and sacrifice our individualism of today encourages “ME FIRST” over “OTHERS FIRST.”  When we become a “Me First” generation, and church, then it becomes impossible to have a common creed, common language or common culture.

#2 Individualism has Spawned Isolationism. How so? Consider this: If you can earn enough money or control enough of your surroundings then you really do not need anything or anybody else.  We have become a generation that has been encouraged to be ourselves and form our own controllable community while not worrying about the world we are attached to. I once knew a fellow Christian that said, “If I could just wall off the world and live with my family, by myself, that would be ideal.”  Looking at his specific circumstances, his job, earning potential etc… his personal desire was the epitome of individualism that leads to isolationism. Sadly, this same man and his family never joined our community and soon disappeared behind their self-created walls of isolationism.  I thought about my mothers stories of growing up, on Sand Mountain, and while I am certain there were individuals that wanted little to do with other people (called hermits) they missed out on what others enjoyed in the development of the community church, community festivals, weddings, funerals, jobs and the blessing of being with other people.

Let me ask us again to reconsider if we were a genuine community what might we look and behave like?  What if we were not a community of a programs driven church, that operates like an corporation,  but a community within a deeper community that invites people to believe, behave and belong to something bigger than themselves, their money or their personal wants. What if we were a community that actually was changing our world through our language and culture while also helping converts become disciples?

You see this will never be accomplished through what is called linear relationships where we are disconnected and don’t stick. The ancient church, and the church for many generations, lived on what was known as the Parish principle and that resulted in generations, that lived in a neighborhood, where the local church was the focal point of that community and served the church family as well as the city searching for hope. We need to get back to living this concept.

#3 The Final Enemy: Consumerism. As Robbert E. Webber said so wonderfully “Consumerism  encourages your rights over your responsibility.” By its very nature consumerism undermines the community and always keeps us focused on ourselves and not others.

So with our enemies now defined if we want to be effective evangelist of the “good news” then the obvious question is how do we build that ancient community? Again, the secular / sacred paradox comes into play because it has proven that certain approaches no longer work as they once did. For example statistics have proven .5 percent of people come into a church community through crusades. Crusades are wonderful and still have a place in making the broad appeal for Christ. But the crusade can never do what the missional relationship can do best. Looking back to the ancient church, and their approach, they saw their focus was missional. For the early church missional meant the community you lived, and interacted with, was the same community you shared your Christ-like language, culture and beliefs with. Literally the missional Christian verbalized the Gospel message and sought to meet the seeker and connect with them and their journey. Statistically speaking 79% of people who are converted enter into a church community, and discipleship, because of personal contact with a relative or friend.

Our dynamic faith, life-style and witness will speak volumes more than a media blitz, fancy building or flashy style because our life, in Jesus, is one that has been renewed from the inside out. And while the cosmetic changes are great they are just superficial and people today are in search for the real thing! Someone who lives on displayed and is alive, in Jesus, can not be argued away. The Christian witness must either be accepted or rejected; and that is the power behind you as the evangelist and your witness. When you are the display of Christ people have to accept you or reject you just as they will have to do with Jesus.  This becomes a powerful truth that, when done with the right Spirit and filled with the Holy Spirit, invigorates the community of faith and fuels our evangelism from the awkward and stale to the bold and life changing.

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA 

Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

PERSPECTIVE

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boat-land-perspective1PERSPECTIVE

Have you ever heard the expression, You can look at the glass half empty or half full? Any combinations of these sayings are meant to ask the deeper questions of ones perspective and, of course, we are heavily influenced by our dispositions, presuppositions and upbringings as to how we view our world.  But the very concept of perspective is universal and essential in all phases and walks of life. From architecture, to art and even how we deal with changing circumstances, in our lives, perspective keeps us rooted in a bigger picture or larger narrative.

As individuals we need perspective in the ordinary of life but as Christians we require a divine perspective that grounds our lives in a story richer, deeper and enduring more than the temporary of here and now. Truthfully it is difficult to comprehend, especially during hardship, divine perspective. We are prone to ask questions of Why? Or Where was God when? And while these questions are logical responses, expected from emotional people, divine perspective allows us to take a step back and evaluate the highest and biggest picture.

What is the highest and biggest picture? While we all may be tempted to answer such a question with our family, job and professional / personal goals the reality is all of these pale in comparison to the reality of the eternal Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Therefore, while perspective can be framed by immediate circumstances it also must be influenced by divine perspective so we do not misdirect our lives from the plans and purposes of God.

The highest possible point of view is His (God) and the greatest of all purposes are His as well. Therefore the Christian must be led, by His Spirit, to maintain the careful balance of perspective at all times and in every situation. The viewpoint we, as Christians, are called to preserve is that we are here for one purpose: to be vessels of His honor in His triumphs. While the showroom of heaven is filled with many wonders, people and testimonies they all bring us back to a reality of an eternal story rooted in someone bigger than us (Jesus).

THE STORY IS ABOUT VICTORY IN JESUS AND THROUGH HIM ALONE! When our story is no longer about us, but what He did for all of creation, then our perspective forever changes. No longer should we view ourselves as small, great, less or more rather, with divine perspective, creation points us back to maintaining our cause is in Christ alone!  St. Paul reminds us of the greater divine perspective when he says, I am in the train of a conqueror, and it does not matter what the difficulties are, I am always led in triumph.

But e-mail marketing is becoming much cialis canadian more common these days. Atherosclerosis affects not only the cardiovascular system levitra line pharmacy but also the male sexual health. levitra 20 mg http://deeprootsmag.org/2015/01/12/condemned-live-1935/ If the chemist denies then change the chemist but get only general medicines. This mainly happens when the PDE5 enzymes acting in the penile region causing erectile dysfunction.Thus, it allows for smooth circulation of blood to the man’s sex organ. order cialis online deeprootsmag.org Is this a perspective we possess today? Do we live this divine purpose practically in our lives? The happiness expressed in Paul’s bold words reveal a secret joy he was often quick to share. It was the new humanity, in Jesus, that rescued a religious, spiritually blind rebel and led him to the life of bondservant for the King and the Kingdom. And now? Now St. Paul states that this is all he is here for…this was his new perspective and he considered it a great joy to be a prisoner for Jesus’ sake with no other perspectives rivaling his new vision and new life.

In desiring to live by divine perspective I have had to curb my enthusiasm that allows me to believe victory, in life, is attributed to my ingenuity and force of will. It is a dishonorable attitude for today’s Christian to talk about attaining any success, without Him, when the True Champion (Jesus) ought to own every part of our victorious story. But this takes divine perspective that comes only through the Holy Spirit’s illuminating our understanding to comprehend the incomprehensible, and see with spiritual and not natural vision.

It continues to be my personal prayer we all share, and rejoice, in the larger reality of what He is continuing to do with us and through us, despite ourselves, so His manifold wisdom is expressed throughout all creation.

“Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” (2 Cor. 2:14)


Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Motivational

IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE

thEvery election cycle we hear the same series of promises from the same people, parties or special interest groups. In a familiar slogan everyone promises CHANGE. Whether people want to change the “old way” of doing things or others want to return the “new way” back to the old we are a community who want and often demand change. It is almost as if we get bored with the status quo and borrow life from the expression, the grass is greener on the other side. Still, for all of the promises it seems very little actually changes. We fluctuate between political parties and government still runs with the same level of arrogance, waste and broken pledges. We adjust our immediate surroundings hoping a fresh coat of paint will make things better. But after the paint has dried whatever walls were not cleaned before will reveal the same old stains and smells. Why? (more in this later)

Ancient Israel were a people not too different from us today. They had experienced some tough years of leadership with Moses and, as a young nation, lived their fair share of set-backs, failures and successes. Nevertheless, through it all, God used Moses to prepare His people to inherit their land of promise; and many years later leadership changed from Moses to Joshua with Israel’s story continuing from the wilderness to Canaan. Given time leadership shifted again from Joshua, to a series of unnamed elders then to judges and eventually a king. And so, born from a desire for change, many kings policies affected the people and land of Israel from then to today.

Like ancient Israel we too assume a person, policy or shifting in the scenery can provide us with the lasting change we long for. Sadly, like ancient Israel, we still have failed to comprehend what kind of change we are all desperately in need of. While a cosmetic modification will always look and feel right, in the moment, it soon fades because what is at the heart of the problem is THE HEART! If the heart of the individual, or nation, has not been altered by Jesus then there will never be enough suitable changes that will last long enough to bring us into right relationship with Him or with one another.

In fact, is this not the great appeal, and testimony, we share when speaking of a relationship with Jesus? Simply stated we are all expressing a story of how He rescued us and then changed our lives for the better. But when you consider how you have been changed, by a relationship with Jesus, you quickly discover what He has touched is deep within your heart. Certainly God has applied a “fresh coat of paint” to our cosmetic surroundings and we often point to a better life, friends or favor we are experiencing. But for some, if not most, the aesthetic changes can be few and far between and never as glorious as the lasting peace, hope and love we experience because we are born again by His Spirit.

What did Jesus really change? THE HEART! Granted we are all living through a process where the “old us” is adjusting daily into a new humanity in Jesus; but for this to happen we must allow Jesus to confront our prejudices, fears, hurts, offenses, pride, EVERYTHING! If we genuinely desire lasting change, that will impact us and our world, then we must be willing to allow Jesus to humble us to the place where He is the “changing” agent that cleans our hearts from everything that robs the fruits of His Spirit being alive in us.

Too often we think our personal relationship with Jesus equates to Him working around our special interests and particular prejudices when, in reality, God’s track record of dealing with people is pressing us into situations where we conform to His likeness, or reject Him in favor of our manufactured image of self-worth.  The other side of “For God so loved…” is with His love also comes the stern adoration of the Father that desires His sons and daughters to no longer be controlled by the passions of selfishness and self-centeredness but selflessness and Christ-Centeredness. 

We all say we want change….BUT if we don’t come to a place of acknowledgment where we know our hearts need to be amended, and He is the only one who can change our heart for His goodness, than any “changes” outside of Him will only be temporary and eventually fail.  In reaction to Jesus’ changing of our hearts we need to resist the desire to default to our past prejudices and learn to say we no longer want to return to the past of who we once were!

The reality is instead of thinking God is on the side of our prejudices we need to comprehend He is deliberately clearing them out. Why? Because all things from creation to humanity are on a collision course with the Missio Dei (the mission of God) where He (the Father) will redeem all things back unto Himself through Jesus alone (see Colossians and Philippians) and only He is Holy perfect in love and justice.
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When we are born again, we are to live in a new way of believing, behaving and belonging. It continues to be a mysterious and amazing outpouring of the Holy Spirit that renews our heart, mind and soul to work for His Kingdom. Through this supernatural process His new renewal, in us, wipes away the old order of doing things in favor of a new order of living His way, with His Heart, love and passion.

How can we attain a life that has no lust, self-interest, offenses or love that is manipulated by want and desire? The only way is by rejecting the old life and placing our full trust in God. Daily we must make ourselves vulnerable to allow the Holy Spirit to do a ruinous work in our life for His glory.

Yes, it is time for change but not the kind of change than embraces Jesus for what blessings we can borrow from His rich treasury, but change born from a desire to want Him and Him alone! If we do not come to a place where we accept God can remove His blessings from our lives, and it not affect our trust in Him, we may remain prone to consider God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as just another temporary change. But once we come to a place of fully trusting in Him, and our hearts are truly beating for the heart of the Father, over the heart of self, then we will have the lasting change that will transform our lives, communities, churches and nations for the His glory and the coming Kingdom.

Change is good, necessary and eventually destined to occur; but we, as Christians, should look to the only change that really matters…the life changed by Him. And one by one, if we are changed into His likeness then our world cannot help but be changed for His glory as well.

“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away.” (2 Cor. 5:17)

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

I LOST MY SON!

th (1)Several years ago I experienced a frightening moment that I hope to never repeat. To make this story all the more relatable you need to understand a little more about my parenting approach. While I am not as strict as my father was with me I am certainly not one of those dads who is stuck in his smartphone as his kid roams through the county fair on his own. I’m just the opposite, I want to know where my son is, who he is with and where he is planning on going at all times. If I call his phone and it rings past one time that is too late for my comfort zone. And when it gets dark my son loves to laugh at me by asking, “What do you have against the dark?” My answer? “Just about everything.”

So, you can imagine how I must have felt when I went to pick my son up from an after school event only discover he wasn’t there. I called his phone and it went straight to voice mail. Then I went into the school, where I thought he was supposed to be, only to discover the lights were off with all the doors locked. Beginning to panic I rushed home to see if by some miscommunication he walked home or perhaps Jeannette picked him up…again Joshua was no where to be found. As I drove back to the school I could feel the shortness of breathe and my thoughts racing through every possible scenario. Arriving back at the school I ran inside looking for someone that could possible help me find my lost son when I heard several voices coming from the gym. Sure enough there he was with his friends and teachers still participating in the afterschool activity. I wanted to be angry but I felt more relieved knowing it was just one big miscommunication that was compounded by his phone battery having died; and though my story ended harmlessly the desperation I experienced was very real.

Scripture reminds us there is nothing new under the sun, and that would also have to include how some have come to communicate and understand God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In our community there is a very large, successful and influential church that, from the outside, seems to be the perfect place for faith and family. I have had the opportunity to meet several members of this church and in our brief social engagements they are pleasant, generous and kind.  Again, from the outside this fellowship appears to be an ideal community of faith, that is until you learn what or who they believe in. While they ascribe their beliefs are Biblical, and claim to worship God, they are quick to assert Jesus is not God and there is no such person as the Holy Spirit. Yes, there is a spirit of the Father, and that is holy, but the concept of a person as the Holy Spirit is rejected. Again, the Bible reminds us there is nothing new under the sun and this fellowships beliefs have been debated, argued and even deemed heretical from the first century thru today.

But my purpose in writing today’s post is not to “get down into the weeds” of a Trinitarian versus non- Trinitarian debates. Rather I wanted to use the story of my lost son, and this local fellowship, to highlight a dangerous place today’s Christian may be unknowingly living in. As I encounter a wide variety of seekers, searchers, Christians and people from other faiths I can’t help but detect a certain level of “panic” in us all. It is as if what we once believed has been debated, questioned and undermined to the point of our willingness to no longer trust what once helped us manage life and faith. While I am less surprised by the unease being experienced by those living outside of the Judeo-Christian worldview I am find myself shocked by the great anxiety and growing tension within the Christian community itself. After all shouldn’t the Christian’s witness, testimony and faith be the only lasting confidence in an age of uncertainty?

What this comes down to, for Christians, is what we once believed and or trusted as “truth” has been replaced with a spirit of doubt. Our “what if” generation of thinkers, pastors, teachers and authors have adopted a questioning spirit to the point of allowing insecurity to subtly eroded universal value and divine truth. Sadly, within some of our Christian communities, our desire to revisit and or incorporate ancient pagan practices, beliefs and philosophies have revived a dissonant chord within the harmonious music of the Kingdom. Furthermore, I am even more concerned there are many who no longer hear the dissonance, or feel the “panic” because they have already lost what was once a valued spiritual treasure: the Holy Spirit.

Today I believe we are approaching a dangerous tipping within our Christian faith where even the foundational truths, of this ancient story, are redefined and reformed into something that looks and feels “Christian” but is absent of Him. Sadly too many Christians are settling for a faith of either entertainment, or dead religion, and in both instances God is no longer revealing Himself to us.

When I thought I had “lost” my son I didn’t even want to acknowledge that I, in some way, I may have been responsible for his being lost. I was looking for excuses and scapegoats when I had been part of the confusion in the first place. Likewise, within the body of Christ, we are slow to acknowledge we are loosing sight of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Yes, they still reside in hymnals, liturgies, prayers, creeds, stain glass, church logos and traditions but they are further removed from our hearts, minds and being. We still claim Jesus is Lord and God and Risen; but we do not take into account the role of the Holy Spirit. Too often our discussions of the Holy Spirit descend into debates on tongues, supernatural manifestations or a dislocated concept of God’s Spirit but not a person of the Holy Spirit. We create neat and perfect boxes to set God in that have allowed us to gradually get comfortable with a tradition of Him but not His presence.

No matter what type of role modeling you received, you can choose on line viagra to have a new paradigm and it starts with accepting, valuing and loving yourself. The extract is extremely bitter, it is said to be the most bitter in all generic levitra prices of them. Generally half of the population is unaware of erectile dysfunction was factored into this and the data from other canadian pharmacy for viagra studies, it became obvious that the symptom of erectile dysfunction was a predictor of the heart disease. order levitra So one of the most concerning questions that come into the picture and save you from the pain and agony. The Holy Spirit is God! Scripture asserts and confirms God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit! Jesus declared He and the Father are One and by the Holy Spirit He (Jesus) was resurrected. The Holy Spirit is not a by-product of God’s creative will, like nature or humanity, and the Holy Spirit is not just some divine “good vibe” from the Father. Again, Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit is essential to illuminate and inspire the spirit of man to receive the promise of the Father, Jesus. For us to be born-again requires a supernatural reworking of the “old man” into a new humanity in Jesus; and this too is not done outwardly and naturally but inwardly by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus tells is just as He was sent by the Father so to He is sending the Holy Spirit to birth His church.  St. Paul tells the church at Ephesus the Spirit-birthed church will express the manifold wisdom of God to all powers seen and unseen. A large portion of our  ‘Christian doubt”, or fear,  comes from a selfish desire to understand God by simplifying spiritually legal and divine matters.  One cannot comprehend or explain sanctification, justification, redemption and salvation without a work of the Trinity. Furthermore in an attempt to “make it simple” we have made it more complex and confusing by allowing the seeds of doubt tell us the Trinity is incomprehensible.

The truth is “the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature and to the work of Redemption, never to our reason and if we try to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder we are in darkness and perplexity. Fling it all overboard, trust in God, and He will give the witness of the Holy Spirit.” (Chambers)

I FOUND MY SON…The relief I experienced when I saw my son, in that gym, must have felt something like what Mary and Joseph experienced when they thought Jesus had gone missing, only discover He was in His Fathers house. My son saw the expression on my face and no doubt wondered why I was panicked? He hadn’t gone anywhere and he was where he was supposed to be. It was me that lost him and now he was found.

With all of the noise, debate, fear and panic I would like to encourage all of us to return to the simple, profound and universally true. With Easter soon approaching I pray we can strip away the skepticism, doubt and “what if’s” and come like a child just believing. Finally, as we wave palm branches, contemplate Good Friday and worship on Resurrection Sunday lets remember the full story of the Missio Dei (the Mission of God): To redeem all things to Himself, through Himself (Jesus), to break the bondages and curse of sin, to legally take ownership of all creation and to enable us to be filled by the Holy Spirit, so we can proclaim to every tribe, nation and people the “Good News” of the Kingdom!

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

AN IMPULSIVE JESUS?

41dse6Bk7TLJeannette and I had not been married more than a year when we attended our very first couples retreat. Sponsored through our local church the yearly getaway offered married couples a chance to relax, develop stronger marriages and learn from experienced teachers on matters of faith, family and relationship.

During one of the break-out sessions we were asked to describe, in one word, our spouse; and while most people answered “fun” or “funny” Jeannette answered, unpredictable. For over sixteen years unpredictable still just about sums up my track record. For better or for worse (more often better than worse) I have managed to live up to her description. Of course I have always maintained a core set of principles, positions and opinions that many would assume are very predictable; but if you get to know me long enough I may manage to surprise you with a new haircut, clothing style or perspective that could leave you scratching your head. Some may choose to use the word, impulsive to describe me however while an unpredictable person can be impulsive an unpredictable person is not necessarily always impulsive.

Today I can’t help but notice, wherever I turn, I discover a new Jesus teaching, thought, opinion, perspective, lifestyle and even identity. It is as if there is an “impulsive Jesus” that other world religions and Christians, across various theological persuasions, have formed and still debate His purpose and intentions (even “Christian” off-shoots such as Mormonism and Jehovah Witness have their own understanding of Jesus). So, as we approach the Easter weekend, I decided to take some time to re-examine the Biblical account of Jesus’ life, ministry (in action) and words. My journey was not born from a desire to “find something new” or say something controversial; but rather I wanted to comprehend a little more about the God-man, Jesus, who we love and serve. In short, what I thought would be a brief jaunt down history lane arrived at a Jesus, according to today’s culture, that is God, man, demi-god, confused, delusional, well-intentioned, misunderstood, radical, impulsive, loving, hateful, inclusive, exclusive…in a word: Unpredictable.

Of course, there is a larger issue at the root of such confusion, because it seems with so much variety any seeker or searcher can customize a Jesus of their own making that fits perfectly with the life they desire to live without any standards. Another troublesome area is the “source” material we draw Jesus from? While it may be appealing to adopt a Jesus outside of God’s inspired Word (The Bible) when we do so we lend credibility to dubious and mercurial sources. Such practices, in an attempt to discover the historical Jesus, have only added to the confusion and unpredictable / impulsive nature of today’s Jesus.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN one remains rooted in the only source, given to us by God through the Son and Holy Spirit, and we rediscover an ancient Jesus that was not just present in the Gospels but existing from the beginning?“The Word was first, the Word present to God, God present to the Word. The Word was God, in readiness for God from day one. Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out. There once was a man, his name John (the Baptizer), sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light. The Life-Light was the real thing: Every person entering Life he brings into Light. He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice. He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him. But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves. These are the God-begotten not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten. The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish. John pointed him out and called, “This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word.” We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift. We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, This endless knowing and understanding— all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day.” (John 1:1-18 MSG)

The relation of mind does not affect much if they are dissatisfied with their physical relation. cialis pills wholesale More than 750,000 people work as the physical therapists also teach the patients about the ways to prevent the occurrence of hemorrhagic diarrhea; our customs should be less to booth, vendor and health condition bad place to eat. http://djpaulkom.tv/balls-thighs-and-bae-cooking-with-the-kom-for-super-bowl-sunday/ generika cialis There are six leading bulk peptides that are in demand across the United States right now, each one offering its own host of benefits and providing researchers with very interesting research results which they cheapest cialis india can have long hours of sexual intercourse with their partner. These viagra pills in india are some of the most popular drugs prescribed for the treatment of men’s erectile dysfunction problems. For my journey, to discover the real Biblical Jesus, to succeed I like everyone else need to start with the correct source and an accurate starting point. To properly establish Jesus from the beginning forever dismisses the impulsive and unpredictable Jesus of today’s relativistic worldviews and expectations.  There was, and remains, nothing impulsive or unpredictable in the nature of God. Impulsiveness is a trait of a natural life, but God is not human and hindered by emotional instabilities. Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus desires to check our impulsiveness, through a process of discipleship, where we are transformed into a new humanity in Him. While discipleship can be taught, mirrored or explained in reality the nature of discipleship is supernatural because we are being molded, by His grace and Spirit, into His image and no longer our own. This too guarantees Biblical discipleship is a necessary journey we must all embrace as we seek to discover the Biblical Jesus and not the one of our best wishes and desires.

You see I may continue to be unpredictable but that does not give me the permission to fashion Jesus, after me, so I am comfortable with my own way of living and thinking. Likewise, when we face a world of crisis versus a world a faith it seems easier to doubt, question and ask, “what if?” so as to ease our conscience and or satisfy personal passions and or agendas. The only surety today’s Christian has is what is already written in His Word; and if we remain dedicated to such a resolute standard we will never mistake what God’s Word tells us of His nature.

In Jude 20 we are encouraged, “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith.” And today instead of trying to defend or explain a world of doubt with an impulsive Jesus let’s encourage one another to return to His Word and rediscover the Jesus that remains the same yesterday, today and forever.  Lets resist the urge to make Jesus like us and commit to being disciples of Him! Lastly, let us endeavor to build our lives not around the twists and turns of today, or our unpredictable and impulsive natures, but on His eternal Holy Word.

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA 

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

SECRETS

th (1)Who doesn’t love a good secret? Growing up playground secrets were the best because they always included some type of who liked who. Built into the nature of secrets is the near impossible task of keeping one, because the greater the secret also means it is more appealing to share. What I liked most about the high school lunch table was not the food (far from it), but the passing of secrets and the satisfaction I felt knowing something only a select group of people knew. Of course, in reality, everyone in the school knew the same secrets, which is how I later came to understand the phrase the worst kept secret. But whether you are “on the in” or have only heard a few “bits and pieces” knowing something private and potentially life changing has a powerful allure.

Today’s world doesn’t operate too different from our playground or lunch table days. I am reminded of a running joke throughout the sitcom Seinfeld where the expression, I’m putting it in the vault was a certain way of knowing somebody’s secret was soon to come out and become the central piece for that episode. We all have, and many still do, trade in secrets through work, families, friends, society and faith. At times we have been the victims of a secret and at other moments we have been entrusted to keep intimate and personal matters private. And almost in every instance secrets are important because they have the power to change lives temporarily or permanently.

While it is easy to focus on the surreptitious, that are meant to cause damage, (such as gossip) not all secrets are bad, hurtful or dangerous. In fact there are some mysteries, when revealed, that make perfect sense as to why, who, where or when. Believe it or not Jesus was a great secret keeper and secret sharer. Reading throughout the Gospels you will discover a Jesus who frequently shared hints and fragments, secrets if you will, of His identity, mission, purpose and the bigger picture of what was really happening.  Other times Jesus revealed the undisclosed when he used parables to expose the hearts and conditions of those He was ministering to. Granted, Jesus didn’t call people directly out, by name, but his parables of rebuke and or forgiveness revealed a secret that was deeply hidden within the hearts of the hearers.

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God comes not with observation… for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you, a hidden, obscure thing.” Just this past weekend I was with my wife walking through our local mall. Store after store displayed beautiful items meant to draw us in and consider purchasing what was tucked away behind the glass walls. Consider what Jesus is revealing about the Kingdom, and us, in the above passage. Just like my visit to the mall, every Christian lives their lives in the “window” where seekers and searchers will pass by, daily, to consider visiting your story. Furthermore, let me challenge all of us by asking, If you had a visitor to your story would they be interested in purchasing what you have to share?

Continually throughout the ministry of Jesus He invited people to “window shop” who He was and what He was saying. While there were many passers by He continued to offer “sales”, or secrets, that were meant to draw people into His story where He could reveal the innermost of the innermost and the only power that could change their lives forever.

In the Gospel of John (18:36) Jesus shared another secret that even perplexed the Roman authorities when He said, “My kingdom doesn’t consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But I’m not that kind of king, not the world’s kind of king. (MSG)” Today I hope to encourage us to move beyond the plague of religious spirits, born from a religious age, and get back to sharing the secret of the Biblical Jesus as revealed through His Holy Word. While there are certainly many rooms, annex’s and chambers, within the Kingdom of God, Jesus begins and continues the story by discipling us into the secret of Him.
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HERE IS A SECRET WORTH SHARING: The central reality of Jesus, and His Kingdom, starts with a personal relationship with Him. The secret of Jesus, and Him alone, has never been in what we are able to achieve from our muster and might; but where we are weak He is strong. The secret of one’s origin, design, meaning and destiny lies in the fact that when we are fully submitted to Him and His purposes then we are truly alive and not just living.

Life has a way of acting like a roller-coaster and through all of the twists and turns we beg to know the secret of what God is engineering through the circumstances. Let me encourage all of us to spend less time fretting, and trying to unlock every secret, and more time embracing the mystery of submitting to Jesus through the process of discipleship. Once we live the discipled walk He will reveal the great fundamental truths of God’s Redemption; and if we will truly be His disciples then we will embrace a life of His calling. As with all things in life there is a certain mystery as to why God places us with people, and in circumstances, that challenge and refine us. However, through it all He knows a secret, which He is not sharing with us, that in time we will lean the why’s as we are further educated, matured and developed into a better understanding of Him and His Kingdom.

We all have a Kingdom secret worth sharing and there are seekers who continue to “window shop” in search for the only universal truth that will give them life and set them free. The secret of Jesus is an awesome truth worth sharing! Will you share it?

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA 

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

WHAT IS THE LOVE OF JESUS?

Blue wall“Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible. They’ve made a full report back to the church here, a message about your love. It’s good work you’re doing, helping these travelers on their way, hospitality worthy of God himself! They set out under the banner of the Name, and get no help from unbelievers. So they deserve any support we can give them. In providing meals and a bed, we become their companions in spreading the Truth.“ (3 John 1:5-8)

Recently I read an article written by a bishop within the Episcopalian denomination titled, Christians, You’re Not Victims. The provocative title matched exactly what you may imagine was expressed throughout his commentary. Perhaps some would be surprised to read such opinions within Christian thought? However, when carefully reading the article, one would soon discover the bishop has a very different understanding of love, and more important how the love of Jesus should be expressed today, through a post-Christian worldview.

Try to define love and you will arrive at a myriad of definitions that range from the clinical, to the expected standard displays of affection. When you consider how difficult it can be to define love, from a natural perspective, then it shouldn’t surprise Christians that we may also struggle to define and express love. So, I have a question? Where do we turn to best understand Biblical love and or show the love of Jesus?

To best answer my question I needed to understand the concept, definitions and applications of love are not just limited to the synoptic Gospels in the same way Jesus is not limited solely to the New Testament. In the same way Jesus is revealed throughout the entirety of Scripture also the Father’s love gives us an understandable and complete picture of what love is and is not.  Within the Gospels we read how love manifests itself when He instructs, Do you love Me? Feed My sheep. Did you notice Jesus frames the idea of love not in His sheep, as a starting place, but in Him?

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In many future discussions of who and where to demonstrate love, Christians will engage in, I am reminded of John’s words in his small letter (quoted above). In his correspondence he reminds Christian’s of how, where and with whom love begins. In fact, John even goes as far as to say this type of Biblical love is worthy of God Himself! While we may express the love of God to many in need I would also like to challenge us to consider, How can we love those, who are not His sheep if we cannot love one another within His Holy family? Simply put how can any of us express the love of Jesus with the seeking, searching and lost when we don’t share His love with fellow Christians first? Furthermore what does such a disconnect, between Christians, say about our love for Jesus?

Grace and Peace

JOSHUA

Christian Apologetics, Christian Living, Inspirational, Motivational

THE “KEY” TO JESUS’ NATURE OF MISSIONS

mission_t_nvDaily I am amazed by the ability of the church to rally people, funds and great efforts toward local and global missions. Initiatives to the Caribbean, Oriental, Africa, South America and throughout the US routinely provide relief to some of the greatest places of need where few rarely consider going.  While I am seldom opposed to missions I have also arrived at a place of continuing maturity where I am more prone to reexamine the “why’s” of our ministry efforts within the context of what Jesus said and did as revealed through the entirety of Scripture.

Most would agree missions were never meant to be another church program, church initiative (like a large NGO) or pet project. And yet most people, today, approach missions from such perspectives. Mostly mission outreaches are understood as “add-on’s” that are partially designed to encourage us in responding to what we should do, and part to make us feel better about who we are. The result of such an approach are limitless missions to infinite areas of need with little lasting change in those places we have visited. While I have no issue with mission trips to Haiti, for example, I am left perplexed with the amount of money, building projects and teams that yearly visit that island country, from churches and ministries across the United States, and yet the island continues to steadily decline with each passing year.

Could it be our nature of missions is different from Jesus’? What if when we think about modern mission movements we may be missing the most important area of need? To properly answer such questions one cannot just look to the life and work of Jesus alone; but one must look at the context of Jesus’ world, teaching and overall Gospel message…which included the commitment to missions. And to properly understand Jesus’ teaching one has to reestablish the ancient bonds, from the fullness of Scripture (both Testaments), and reexamine the nature of missions that Biblically focuses on the true missionary focus…a problem of the spirit.

Too often we first approach missions with the unspoken and perhaps unobserved question that presupposes the solutions to our global and local problems are more efforts and further resources. But clearly money and manpower has never been the answer to Spirit-birthed missions when we consider the life of the Apostles who operated with limited resources and even fewer ministry partners. The real key to the missionary problem is not work, money or people but prayer! Beginning with prayer, the Christian gains spiritual understanding and perspective for our actions. However, I would not want one to assume I am advocating the position that prayer is the only effort we must apply in our response to missions. On the contrary, while prayer is the starting point the Christian must follow God ordained direction with action. It is a careful balance, necessitating direction from the Holy Spirit, that helps us maintain an equilibrium of labors and prayer; but only in prayer, and not labor, can one constantly place our concentration on God.

The “key” to understanding Jesus’ nature of missions is not through common sense, medical solutions or educational drives. The key to understanding the nature of Jesus has always been revealed in and through prayer. Certainly, in prayer, He may instruct us to minister to the needs of any people through medicine, education or in other ways. But we must be careful not to “put the cart before the horse” in thinking any humanitarian effort must be sanctioned by God. The only way such an answer can be arrived at, in any mission initiative, is through prayer.

Naturally, prayer is not practical, it is inconvenient and takes away from the limited time we cherish so greatly.  Yet, in prayer, we arrive at the certainty we have made our appeals to the Lord, inquired of Him, and waited for His direction in all things.  When it comes to the passion we, as Christian’s, have for helping a hurting world we need to avoid looking at our world through our eyes and desires.

In the eyes of Christ there are no nations but the entire world. Oswald Chambers asks the question, “How many of us pray without respect of persons, and with respect to only one Person, Jesus?” Jesus instructed, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest…” Jesus has always owned the harvest and when we are instructed, by Him, to go into the fields of His mission we must bring with us, primarily, the conviction of man’s need to break from their sin and reconnect with Him!

Again, I fully support Christian missions. But what I have observed is more people are engaged in active work while the world remains ripe unto harvest. As Christians we live and share a message of being called Jesus’ own. Throughout the ages, and continuing to this day, this great communication of hope remains far more powerful than any one thing we can give to the needy and helpless. Yes, we are to care for the widows, clothe the orphans, tend to the sick and feed the hungry; but we should never do so at the cost of depriving them of the literal message of the King and the Kingdom that changes lives where there is the greatest of need.
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Jesus reminded His disciples, the poor you will always have with you; but I am only with you a short while. While some may choose to view Jesus’ words and cold and uncaring, within context, Jesus was placing Himself as the central reality for everyone. Time and time again Jesus lived and shared with the rich and poor, suffering and safe because everyone was in need of Him for salvation, healing and reconciliation.

Therefore, when you read Jesus speaking: “He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written, God’s Spirit is on me; he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, “This is God’s year to act!” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.” (Luke 4:19-21 MSG) His command is not for a greater response to the poverty of Israel but the fulfillment of prophecy that He is the answer for the spiritual breech between man and the Father. The new mission facing Israel continues to face us today. What will we do with Jesus’ words that demand we act upon the reality of who He is as Christ and Lord and how we will share that massage with the world?

Consider one final passage, from which Jesus was drawing from in the Luke’s Gospel. “The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, Announce freedom to all captives, pardon all prisoners. God sent me to announce the year of his grace— a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies— and to comfort all who mourn, To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion, give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes, Messages of joy instead of news of doom, a praising heart instead of a languid spirit. Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness” planted by God to display his glory. They’ll rebuild the old ruins, raise a new city out of the wreckage. They’ll start over on the ruined cities, take the rubble left behind and make it new. You’ll hire outsiders to herd your flocks and foreigners to work your fields, But you’ll have the title “Priests of God,” honored as ministers of our God. You’ll feast on the bounty of nations, you’ll bask in their glory. Because you got a double dose of trouble and more than your share of contempt, Your inheritance in the land will be doubled and your joy go on forever.” (Isaiah 61)

Could the key to the nature of Jesus’ view of missions be greater than our local church, our favorite non-profit or place of local charity and need? Could the “key” be Him and a His nature one we will only see revealed through prayer?

It is something to consider as we reexamine missions and what we, as Christians, decide to share with a world in genuine and desperate need.

Grace & Peace

JOSHUA