What Are We Waiting For?

The most pressing question in my life at the moment in regard to my walk with God is this one: What am I waiting for? This question has come from a careful analysis of Paul's conversion in Acts 9. The passage has always intrigued me, and in these last weeks, I have read the story with fresh eyes that resulted in fresh impact.

As Paul is headed to Damascus to continue his attack on the followers of Jesus, Jesus interjects himself in the life of Paul. God is always the great Initiator of life. There was a way that seemed right to Paul, but its end for him would be death as he had based his whole life in the pursuit of a man-centered righteousness. Then after meeting Jesus, he comes to the great realization that none of that was enough to get salvation. Acts 9:9 tells us that after his encounter with Christ, "And for 3 days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank". It was in these 3 days that Paul makes his decision and his life goes in a new direction. He did not wait more than 3 days until his decision was made.

Now look at what he began to do in Acts 9 after his decision was made to live for Jesus.
---Acts 9:8 - Immediately gets up and goes into the city as told by Jesus. He obeys from the begining.
---Acts 9:18 - Immediately he was baptized
---Acts 9:20 - Immediately begins to proclaim Jesus
---Acts 9:21 - His life change is immediately seen by all
---Acts 9:22 - Immediately he starts growing and moving forward in his faith
---Acts 9:23-25 - Immediately the Jews start to seek to kill him
---Acts 9:26 - He does not fit in the establishment at first.
---Acts 9:31 - His passion influences how the church walks with God

Paul did not wait long to decide if he was going to really live it. All of this happened without going to a discipleship or evangelism seminar. It was enough for him to decide to follow and then actually do it.

So, I ask us all again: What are we waiting for? Do we think something better is going to come along? Do we think something else is required? For Paul it was enough to simply walk with Jesus. The great pursuit of his life became one thing - to know the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord. Nothing mattered more than this pursuit.

What are you waiting for?

Fan or Fanatic

Over the last several weeks I have been contemplating this thought: Am I a fan of God or am I a fanatic follower of God? As I look around I wonder if we have reduced our faith to one where just like a post on Facebook, we simply in our hearts click a like or dislike to the things of God. It is as if as His followers, it is our place to interject our view on subjects that He has been clear on for thousands of years. I wonder of myself and those around me: Who do we think we are? The Bible is not like facebook where "friends" give the thumbs up or thumbs down to what is written. The Word does not need our opinion about it, it needs to be obeyed. This is where the "Fan" idea has come to me.

Fans can be fickle and fairweather. They have enthusiasm and they can be very critical with their "boos". Some fans change their lifestyle and attire to be in line with their favorite team. Some fans are devastated with a loss and elated with a win. Still others want material icons to show their love of team and have them placed in special places at home or on the car. And, others join a "fan club" and pay a monthly due to get the inside information for the upcoming weeks game or season. Fans sit in a stadium or in a living room or bar and watch from the outside those who are actually playing the game.

For far too long what I wrote in the above paragraph has become true of those who claim Christ's name as theirs. We have become just like a fan. We like God, so long as it is all going in the way we want it to. Though we may be in the "fan club" and pay some monthly dues with money, time, or enthusiasm, I wonder if we stop and wonder how crazy it is to think that God is looking for fans. He is not!! He is seeking those who will worship in "Spirit and Truth".

Followers follow. No matter how it is going, where it leads, or what may come - they follow and trust.

The original word in Latin where we get the word "fanatic" is "fanaticus". "Fanaticus" meant 'insanely but divinely inspired'. Over time in the English language, it was shortened to what we now use, "fans". The original meaning has been lost, but it carries a beautiful description of who you and I need to be as His followers.

I want to be 'insanely but divinely inspired' as I live for my King. Do you? It is time we all move from being a fan to being fanatic. Fanatics are followers who are moved by the Spirit to walk with God no matter what comes.

So, what will it be for us?

Why I Am About Mission

Over the last several weeks, I have had several conversations with other Christ-Followers about why I preach the way I do, why am I so serious about the gospel and why is mission an almost consistent theme in my communication? I like talking about my passion for God, but it is the last question that seems to bring a sadness to my heart: Why is mission a consistent theme of my whole life and ministry? The questions and tone of the conversations carried the idea that I somehow did not fully understand how to communicate the heart of God or understand the purpose of the church. The fact that a Christ-Follower would ask this question shows how confused we have made the mandate of God to other believers. So, here are a few thoughts about why the church is to be about mission and hopefully all of us will move more in line with his heart.

• Genesis 3 - After the fall of Adam and Eve, God comes to the garden approaching near to the ones who had rejected his glory and were separated from Him. In doing this, God shows his heart from the very beginning is one of "being on mission".
  
• Genesis 12 - God tells Abram to go to a land that God would show Abram and that through Abram, all the families of the earth would be blessed. Further evidence that early on God's heart was on mission.
• In Exodus God tells Moses that God would deliver Israel from the hand of Egypt. Here, God is on mission to redeem and save the Hebrews.
• Isaiah 61:1-2 - "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." Here is a prophecy about the coming mission of Jesus.
  
• In Matthew 9 as Jesus was going along he calls a tax collector named Matthew to a life of freedom and purpose.
• Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, he said these words in Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,". This is so clear, this is what we are to be about. There should be no controversy or question about that.

I could go on and on. These are just several of so many. The church is more than a place to socialize, hang out, hide, make sure we are never offended, etc. Today's church encourages the pursuit of stuff in the name of Jesus, but sadly it also teaches us that our feelings, happiness, and self-esteem are most important. None of those things will fix the sin problem the heart is corrupt with, only Jesus blood will.

So why am I about mission? Because God is about mission. If we seek a church that is not driven by the same mission God is, then we must evaluate why we are going there. We should get away fast. The mission of God must remain at the forefront of the message to proclaim.

I will be about mission no matter what people think about me. I will side with what the scripture says about God. He is missional.

Preaching so as Not to Convert Anybody

A friend of mine sent the excerpt below to me. May all of us who preach or teach stay true to the word. The stuff below comes from The sermon is entitled "Creatures Born to be Killed, Part 2" and can be found at www.gracetoyou.com by John MacArthur.

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"Over a hundred years ago, an article by Charles Finney was entitled, "Mastering the Art of Preaching so as to Convert Nobody." In it there were some ways to be sure you could preach so as to convert nobody. I paraphrased some of them. Here's a few.

Let your supreme motive be to secure your own popularity and success. If you preach that way you're not going to say anything to offend and if you don't offend you can't convert anybody. Aim at pleasing for money and sexual favors, rather than correcting for holiness. Let your sermons be literary, flowery, ornate, flowing beautifully so your hearers never remember the lack of content. Be sparing of thought lest your sermon contain enough truth to convert someone. Avoid preaching doctrines that are offensive to the carnal mind. Deal with sin in the abstract and make no allusion to the sins of your audience. Preach salvation by grace but ignore the condemned and lost condition of the sinner, lest he should understand what you mean by grace and sense his need of it. Make no appeal to the fears of sinners, but make the impression that they have no reason to fear, God loves them. Preach the love of God and ignore the holiness of His love. Do not rebuke the worldly tendencies of the church, lest you should hurt their feelings and convert some of them. Select your themes and so present them as to attract and flatter the wealthy, aristocratic, self-indulgent, extravagant, pleasure-seeking classes and you won't convert any of them to the cross-bearing religion of Christ. Ridicule solemn earnestness in pulling sinners out of the fire and recommend by precept or example that jovial, fun-loving religion and sinners will have little respect for serious preaching. Cultivate fastidious tastes in your people by avoiding all disagreeable allusions to the last judgment and final retribution. Treat old and uncomfortable doctrines as obsolete and out of place. And so exhibit religion as to encourage the selfish pursuit of it. Make the impression upon sinners that their own safety and happiness is the supreme motive of being religious. And see to it that you say nothing to any of your hearers to demean him or her, but only what is flattering.

That's the way they preach. You have to listen carefully to be able to discern it. Words full of nothing that convicts and nothing that converts. And nothing of truth that changes lives. And they entice, people are sucked up in masses to their empty wells."

The Freedom of Being All In

This past week I had one of those moments in the scripture that is still affecting me and it came from a passage that at first I did not think was all that insightful. Isn't that the thing with God's Word? Even the places that have not been deemed so important are still "living and active" and I should have known better. As we have been walking through the letter of Philippians, we came to the place where Paul gives some detail about the deep value that Timothy had in his life. Here are the words Paul uses of Timothy - "For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ". (Philippians 2:20-21)

Paul is in Rome and he has other committed Christ-Followers around him, but as he ponders who in the entourage would willingly go to Philippi for him, only one person stands out. One person is dependable and trustworthy and that is why Paul says "For I have no one like him". No one was his equal. No one was more like minded with Paul than Timothy. Paul knew this deep in his soul. No one around him would love and minister to the Philippians like Timothy would. Timothy is the real deal.

Then Paul says the amazing thing, "They all seek their own interests, not of those of Jesus Christ". Here he is surrounded by people who love Jesus and the gospel, but he describes every one of them as those who seek their own interests compared to Timothy. Those around him were interested in the kingdom and their own interests, and that can only choke the gospel out in our lives and leads to lukewarmness. This thought begs the question, "Why was Timothy so unique?" "What had he already decided that set his life apart? So, Timothy is uniquely dependable, trustworthy, genuine, and single minded.

Though I have never played poker in my life, I have seen it in the movies. When someone has the "hand of hands", they push all of the chips to the center and say "All In". Timothy was all in with the kingdom of God, only he had not pushed poker chips into the middle, he had pushed his life into the middle and was going for broke for the kingdom.

Here's why Timothy stood out to Paul and I wonder if these things are true of us. I call them the Triad.
1. Timothy was willing to go anywhere.
2. Timothy was willing to serve anyone.
3. Timothy was willing to sacrifice any and everything.

I believe that when these 3 are settled in us, then we begin to really live in the only real freedom that can be known. Freedom is not found when we are in control of our lives, but when we are willing to go anywhere, serve anyone, and sacrifice everything. For when we live out those 3, we have surrendered control of our lives to God. The church landscape in our day is filled with those who love God and talk of the realities of gospel sacrifice, but their lives are marked by their "own interests". That is not a life that is "All In".

I am a Triader. Are you? That does not mean that we are to go overseas. It could mean that we stay right here where we are. It does mean though that we are willing to do all 3.

World View and Purpose

At LifePointe we are currently walking verse by verse through the letter to the church at Philippi. Though I have read it countless times in my journey with God, I have never really studied it. It is a book depth written by a deeply passionate man. God is using it to move me to a deeper place.
This week, I have seen in a real clear way what shaped Paul's world view and why he never strayed from the purpose he was entrusted with. 2 things primarily shaped his world view and show us why he saw the world in the way that he did. He saw everything through the lens of these 2 things. Here they are:

1. His life was not his own. He belonged to Christ, not Paul. So when something happened or did not go his way - he just accepted it. There was no pouting and feeling sorry for himself, but he embraced whatever it was that came his way.
   
2. His purpose was advancing the gospel. As long as that was taking place then he was good about whatever he was forced to go through.

Everything was literally seen through the lens of these two important things. They kept him focused and on task with his life. Here are 2 passages that bring confirmation concerning the "shapers" for him.

Philippians 1: 12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
The gospel was advancing and it was clear that his imprisonment was for Christ. So in spite of being in a Roman prison, Paul embraced his circumstances as okay because his life was not his own and his primary purpose was the advancement of the gospel. That is why he rejoiced in a Roman prison. He trusted in the sovereignty of God leadership.

2 Corinthians 5: 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
He concluded that because Jesus died and Paul had believed that was the only way to live, then he would not orchestrate his life for his comfort and pleasure but his life would live for him who died. Whatever that might mean or bring.

These 2 are the only ways to get through the things we face. Our lives are to be for Him and as long as we are living as if our lives are not our own and that the gospel is advancing, then we are right in the middle of God's will and able to see clear in the midst of the chaos of this world.

Is this how you see the world? It is why Paul made an impact in his culture and handled his persecutions and struggles with rejoicing. I want this for me.

The Stirring of God

In my heart I am a writer, not necessarily a good one, but when I write I do feel alive. It seems that I write when God is stirring and when God is going to bring about change in my life. Change is needed, just not sure what that change will be, where it will lead, and what form it will take.

The stirring began a couple of weeks ago and I am being drawn deeper in my pursuit of God that I have not known in quite some time. I am tasting that He is good and drinking in the goodness of fellowship with Him.

Here are the ways God is moving:

• Hunger to read the word has greatly increased.
• Engaging in more spiritual conversations with people.
• Deeper insight as I read, study, and prepare for Sundays.
• Deeper hatred of sin and love of righteousness.

Change come on. God stir my love and passion for you to new places.

Here I am, send me! I will go.

Faith and Noah

You know, there are some stories in the Scripture where we have in a sense relegated to the category of Children's Stories. The story of Noah is such a one but it is anything but that. His life of faith is one that is amazing and very unique. I would like to put forward two specific things about his faith.

1. He had faith in God before he knew of the coming doom of the flood

In our day and time many people get what we call "fire insurance" that will help keep them from going to hell. While I believe a fear of hell can lead people to real faith in Christ, only the days and months after that decision will show whether they meant it or not if they start walking and seeking God. Faith in Christ means change. Noah had real faith before there was a fear of believing in God because he needed some "flood insurance". He treasured God before he knew God was angry and was going to destroy the world by water. He alone was found worthy in his generation as the only one who genuinely walked with God. Faith in God is the one thing that can transcend every situation or circumstance. In faith we find that which is most secure - God and His truth.

2. He had faith in God when no one else did in his generation.
Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Can you imagine the reality that never in your lifetime would there be another person or family who would go to church with you? You would have no other members of your bible study but your family. In a culture where everyone at all times in their heart only thought about evil, Noah's faith thrived. He just kept having faith regardless of the reality that no one else was interested in walking and knowing God. We struggle keeping our faith when there is a good church on every corner and we can fill up our calendars with a group of believers every night of the week. We struggle spiritually with so much at our availability and Noah just kept on having a faith that thrived with nothing encouraging his walk except God.

I pray for that kind of mature faith.

Thoughts on Malachi

As a church we are walking through the book of Malachi this summer. I have read it before, we never examined to fully integrate and adjust my life to its truth. What a great little book. Here are some highlights and things I learned in chapter 1.

• The Priests
  

The religious leaders had allowed things in regard to worship to really fall apart. While they were still going through the motions of worship and the sacrifices, they were not doing them as God had instructed. They were offering garbage as a sacrifice and calling it okay. A question for us all: Where are you and I offering garbage to God in our worship and calling it okay? Will we do something about it?

• The Love of God and Loving God
  

We so often ask God, "Do you love me"? We usually ask this when things are not going our way, because if God really loves us then He would see that things go our way. You know, we are the most important thing to him? Do you ever wonder why we so seldom, if ever, ask God the question, "Do we love you, God"? "Is it clear to you God that we love you authentically"? Furthermore, we get mad at Him when we haven't loved Him nor obeyed Him and He is not blessing us. Do you find it as interesting as I do that the Father loved us so much to send us Jesus and to see His one and only Son brutally murdered and we have the gall to ask, "God, do you love me"? He has made it clear. We are so messed up!

• Mediocrity at the Top of Spiritual Leadership

The priests allowed the sacrifices that were garbage and since they did not take serious God's Word, the people eventually did not take God's Word serious either. Mediocrity at the top will drift down, but a passion for holiness will lift the people up to the standard. The problem in the church as a whole today is that we don't value the character of the ministers more than we care enough that they can perform and get it done or that they have a winsome personality. Further proof how we do not get what he is about and what he values. Also, I think that some spiritual leaders do not keep the bar of the truth set high because people complain, talk behind your back, and are simply not wanting to follow God. We as spiritual leaders cannot lower the bar even if it means that it makes you unpopular.

• God does not Accept Mediocrity

As much as it may make us feel good to ignore what God says about the issues of our life in His Word, we need to remember that He does not ignore us when we ignore Him. If our worship is just an afterthought, then we are not offering God our best.


I love that the word of God is still absolutely relevant to our time today after thousands of years. It is further proof that God's Word is eternal.

New Impressions on the Heart

From time to time, God moves in our hearts and gives us a focus either in the area of our prayer, scripture, a discipline, etc. This is happening in my heart right now. Here are 3 things God is moving in me right now in regard to life and ministry.

• Pray for the Holy Spirit to come in power, then things will change.
  

Without a move of the Holy Spirit then everything will stay the same. Nothing changes without the Spirit's presence. Jesus said it in this way about the Holy Spirit in John 16: 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
We need the Holy Spirit to come and convict, judge, and bring about righteousness in our lives, communities, and in the church.

• Our lives would be marked by a desperation for the Spirit of God.

The western church is desperate for so many things other than pure Jesus and the Word, it is time for a core of believers to be really desperate for the presence of God. Those with this kind of desperation are few in our world, but they do exist. My prayer is that they be fruitful and have many more opportunities to share and run into those who are outside of the faith. My prayer is also that our worship services and small group gatherings would be permeated by those who are desperate for the move of the Holy Spirit.

• Our World is impacted best when we focus on making disciples.

This is the task Jesus left us with in Matthew 28: 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Believers who know God deeply are ones who lives spill out God and seek to see His kingdom established on earth. This task of making disciples needs a much needed new focus.

These are my 3 new impressions that I am asking God to bring about. Join me in the prayer.

Serving Means Following

Jim Elliot, the famous missionary to Quichas Indians (Huaorani) wrote these words after many in his American congregation told him it would be to hard and that he should not leave his comfortable church setting:

"So what if the well-fed church in the homeland needs stirring? They have the Scriptures, Moses, and the Prophets, and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bank books and in the dust on their Bible covers. American believers have sold their lives to the service of Mammon, and God has His rightful way of dealing with those who succumb to the spirit of Laodicea."

Jim and his colleagues would eventually die at the hands of those Indians. So, who was right? Those in his congregation or Elliot? Of course Elliot was as he was in God's will and therefore right in his choice to serve and follow Christ to his death. After his death, it was his wife, Elizabeth, who was a part of seeing the people of this tribe come to know Christ.

Remember these words of our King:
"Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eterrnal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him."
John 12:25-26

Real life is not going to come at the hand of the American Dream, but in following Jesus to wherever He is leading!

Make it your pursuit today!

The Preacher

I am walking back through one of the most significant little books for those who are called by the name preacher. Sadly, the term preacher is not such a relevant designation in today's world of Lead Pastors, Teaching Pastors, and other names that may be used. EM Bounds wrote a little book entitled "The Preacher and Prayer" and it is being a firm reminder of the calling on my life.

Often, I am humbled and overwhelmed by the calling and wonder if I am any good at it. What I have found in these days, is that the role seems much more important and much more difficult. After talking with some friends, we have come to see that there is so much expectation, little encouragement (unless it is going really well), such joy and at times disappointment, times of fruit and times of feeling lost in what we are doing. We love and treasure the calling.

No man call fulfill all the expectations of the calling in his own power and that is why so many have resorted to being personality driven, technology dependent or taking the step to water the message down and make man central to the message instead of the gospel being center to everything. If the course of our ministry takes us away from making the gospel central, then it is short of the true calling we have been entrusted with. We will all go one way or the other and you will choose a church that has made a choice about how the gospel fits and is embraced.

Here are some thoughts from EM Bounds:

• Preaching is not the performance of an hour. It is the outflow of a life.
• The gospel of Christ does not move by popular waves. It has no self-propagating power. It moves as the men who have charge of it move.
• The real sermon is made in the closet. The man - God's man - is made in the closet.
• Every preacher who does not make prayer a mighty factor in his own life and ministry is weak as a factor in God's work and is powerless to project God's cause in this world.

The reason this view of the preacher is not the norm, is only natural in a culture that treasures "self "so much. This man-centered view of life has influenced the church as well. The man of God who does not make man more central in the church can at times, depending on the church, find himself in direct opposition to those he is leading. The gospel does not always lend itself to making people feel good and that can be where the preacher and people experience the conflict with one another.

Bounds also said, "The energy of self-denial must be his being, his heart and blood and bones".

This was also John the Baptizers view of life when he said, "He must be more and I must become less."

I want to crucify myself and experience the words of Jesus when he said that whoever loses his life for my sake will find life. Why live any other way if we claim to be a minister of the gospel.

It is a unique time, for far to long the gospel has not been central in many ways as we have made music, media, personalities, good feelings, buildings, and far to many other things as almost equal to the gospel. We need a real return to simplicity of the gospel message. Our future depends on it.

I want to be a preacher of the gospel. I am okay to be called that. How I might be seen by church members or others I cannot control and I also will not stand before them to give an account when my days here are over. So I will choose to pray, love people, share Christ, and be a preacher of the gospel.

I want to live the words of Paul to Timothy because they are biblical. It is enough to live in these 5 verses regardless of what anyone may think.

II Timothy4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Entitled to Slander and Gossip

I've read a few things in the last days in the Bible about 2 issues we can all potentially struggle with. I want these 2 issues to be right in my life and I hope we all do. So...here we go.

Our tongue is an evil and causes most of the relationship issues that we all have. One of the things that can really cause harm to others in our lives or in the church is when those who feel they have some entitlement to slander and gossip work their magic. Through all of my 24 years of ministry I have never seen one time when the slander and gossip of the "entitled" has brought about healing and unity. It only destroys. Here are a few verses in regard to these two problems with our tongue.

1 Timothy 5:13 Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.

Proverbs 10:18 The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool.

Proverbs 11:13 13 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.

Ephesians 4:31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Titus 2:3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,

Why some think they get to ignore the scripture and speak evil behind the back of someone else is beyond me. It is though, just like most things, where we simply choose to ignore what the Bible says as it does not fit into our lifestyle choice of some particular sin. We think it is not a big deal to God. Here are some thoughts from my experience with people like this:

• They think they are entitled because they are better than other people
• They are prideful and arrogant as to the issues of their lives
  
• They usually have low self-esteem and that is why they must put down and destroy others
• They have to be in the know, therefore they must share what they know. Often it is "spiritualized" from their slant of things and at times it is spoken by way of prayer request.
  
• They always change the perception of both the person hearing the slander and how people see the person who is being slandered
• Gossipers and Slanderers think the taste of evil words is sweet to the tongue, therefore revealing their hypocrisy and love of evil
  
• Their mouth reveals the true condition of their heart.
  

James said it in this way in James 3:10 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

If this an issue that is strong or an occasional problem for you, I would say these words to you:
Shut Your Mouth, Hold your tongue, Shut your mouth, Bite Your Tongue, Shut Your Mouth. Speak well of people and do not speculate about them in your mind or with your words before other people and consider it "your duty" to inform. It is sin and it is evil.

Remember these words from Jesus in Matthew 15: 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

Our mouth is a tattle tale as to the true condition of our heart and if someone gives false witness of others or slanders them, then according to Jesus, those things defile us.

We also should not stand there and listen to that kind of talk either when we know it is wrong.

It is amazing how we just can't love others, forgive them, extend understanding, be not so quick to judge, and to decide instead to not say anything at all if we can't say something nice. I think my mom told me that when I was little.

Jesus said that people will know us by our love. Is it loving to speak evil of someone, malign their motives or automatically doubt and discount them and then share those doubts with others.

It is loving to guard our tongues, be kind, forgiving, and to be understanding. Maybe this is one of the main reasons people don't know about the love of God is because we have given a wrong picture of our love for one another by our words.

After all, it is "His kindness that is meant to lead us to repentance" Romans 2:4b.

Maybe the people in our personal world today could really use a little kindness in the harsh world we live in.

Living to Please

For every person on earth, we have to make decisions about how we are going to respond to the people who comes across our path. We all have values and depending on how much we really embrace them, they will either be followed or discarded. The decision we make can often be based on whether we want to please the people we are with or hold tightly to our values. The name we most often call this is people pleasing and it is not good when we live this way.

John 6 deals with this issue. The popularity of Jesus was greatly increasing as John 6:2 says "2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick."
Everyone in ministry would love to have a large crowd, but crowds are always fickle and the love from them can quickly fade.

Jesus feeds the 5,000 and the crowds grow in their respect of him: 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself." Ministry is going well for him as they are wanting to see his fame increase, but Jesus withdraws as he was not going to fall prey to doing only that which the crowd wanted. They do not have the best things in mind for him.

Later, as they find him across the Lake, Jesus says to them, "26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” They now are following him for another reason and it is not because they love him - He is a food provider now. In just a few minutes they turn on Jesus after they have difficulty embracing his teaching. Here is what they say,

• 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
  
• 52 And then the crowd responds this way, "52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
• 60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?
• 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

It is at this point, as people are leaving, that the temptation to change the message, tone it down, and make sure the crowd feels better about things could take over. It was not Jesus way.

Jesus though, did not have to have everyone happy with him. As they grumble and leave, he does not back off of the truth and tell them what they want to hear.

Do we want to please others so much that we will back down to keep them around? Pleasing others at the cost of our integrity and standards is not living.

Just a Voice

Ever since I was a kid, my whole environment in regard to all of my relationships, have been pushing me to be someone. You know, to make something of my life. For we men, we are defined on where we have been, what we have done or are currently doing, are we headed somewhere significant, etc. etc. to the place of utter ridiculousness. We get defined in these pursuits and it falls short of how we ought to be defined. For those of us in ministry, we get defined by where we have served, how many people come to our services, are we at a big church or a small or medium one. On and on it goes.

John the Baptizer had an incredible ministry. He set up shop not on a strategic street in Jerusalem where everyone could see the building, but he set up his ministry out of the city where people would really have to travel and go out of the way to be a part of his ministry. As his ministry started to really thrive, the curiosity of who he was, was really getting to those in the religious circles as to who John was, they came to him one day and this is what happened,

"And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you? He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." So they said to him, "Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said, "I am the voice of on crying out in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."

They come to him, wanting to define who he is. John does not and will not play their game and does not attach himself to any names other than the one that is really most important. He just says, "I am only a voice". He defines himself only as a voice. He speaks to what was going to define him more than anything. He does not put forward his credentials in regard to his ministry numbers, his fame, his on the edge clothing, etc. He is just a voice.

I wonder if our ministries might be different if we just wanted to be a voice and let that activity define who we are and what we do daily.

Who wants to be a Voice?

Convinced to a Point

For 2,ooo years things have really not changed much concerning Jesus. During his day and all of the generations since, we can find many convinced to a point concerning who Jesus is. In John 3:2 we find the Pharisee Nicodemus having a conversation with Jesus. Here are his words:
"Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him".
Let's break this down:

• Rabbi - sign of respect to Jesus coming from a Pharisee, who were known as being very self-righteous. Jesus has broken through to him.
• You are a teacher - you words are persuasive, moving, fresh, inspiring, convicting, etc.
• No one can do these signs that you do - what you do is evidence that God is with you
• Unless God is with him

Four things moved Nicodemus to be convinced to a point, but not quite ready to step in and go all the way. Here are the four things:

1. What you are....Rabbi
2. What you say....your words are holy
   
3. What you do....works separate you from everyone, including the Pharisees
4. What empowers you....unless God is with Him.

Nicodemus is moved to a certain place close to trusting in Jesus, but not quite there. He still needs some of his questions answered and clarified. Like I said, nothing much has really changed in the last 2,000 years. This is where many are today. His curiosity and longing for real truth only brought him so far and he needed some help taking the next step. Jesus helped him take it. This is what we are to do now as well and that is why we should be both students of the heart of man and the Word, so that we can bring clarification to people's search.

It is knowing the word that will make all the difference in bridging the gap between what they are wondering about to actually seeing them making a decision for Christ and convinced for life.

Why We Open the Scriptures

Why do we teach the Bible and not some other things when we gather together? Sadly, some places do teach other things and it all falls short of what needs to be front and center when a body of believers come together. There is this great passage after the resurrection that shows why are to open the Scriptures.

Luke 24:32 "They said to each other, 'Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?"

We all want to see people's hearts burn and come alive when we teach the Bible as it means that the Spirit is moving in them. Three thoughts stand out here about the Word:

1. It is the Scriptures that move the heart - Not us, our creativity, fame, etc. Only teaching the truth "burns the heart" and moves people into a deeper love with Christ. Self help stuff will only go so far as the Scriptures alone have the sustaining power for people. Preach to honor Christ and aim for the heart.
   
2. Where His Presence is, God Will Be Speaking - On the road, in a car, at school, over coffee or running, God is speaking. For these 2, it was on the Emmaus Road. It is only going to happen when we are going His way as it places us in the path where He is going.
3. Therefore, Open the Scriptures - Teach, teach, teach the Scriptures. Do so with passion, creativity and honesty and God will honor the work.

What We Can't Stray From

How do you know if you really love Jesus and it is not just words that you say? Jesus himself answers that in John 14:15, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments". Pretty straightforward from the one who alone gets to define what it means to be His follower. No one else gets to define this but Him. Not the traditionalists, emergents, the liberals, or those of the seeker persuasion - He did not give us any kind of authority to redefine what loving Him looks like. Why then does it seem that this is some kind of debate today? Have we become so enlightened in our day that we have discovered something new? If loving Him is truly seen by walking, talking, and living in obedience, then we should preach the word, hold out the commandments, and implore all Christ followers to be keepers of the truth.
If we in ministry are not pushing this with the people we are servant leaders of, then it is short of what the gospel teaches. It is actually not the gospel. Keeping commandments means embracing the rule and reign of God and it happens because we love God much. How we got away from this aim is in large part why we have such confusion in the church today about who God is and what he desires of our lives.
Leading people to walk in obedience is the great task of the minister of the gospel. Paul said it to Timothy in this manner, "If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed" (1 Timothy 4:6). If our aim is to be a good servant of Christ Jesus, then we will make sure all things from Jesus are taught.

We cannot stray from this aim.

The Content of our Message

JC Ryle was the first Aglican Bishop of Liverpool. He said there were seven characteristics of the preachers during the great awakening of the 1800's. They are listed below.

1. They taught the supremacy of the holy Scripture. 2. They preached the total corruption of human nature. 3. They taught that Christ's death upon the cross was the only satisfaction for man's sin. 4. They preached the doctrine of justification by faith. 5. They taught the universal necessity of heart conversion and new creation by the Holy Spirit. 6. They spoke of God's eternal hatred against sin and of God's love for sinners. 7. They preached that there was an inseparable connection between true faith and personal holiness. If one lived an ungodly life, then that was evident that there had been no true conversion as being converted means being changed.

What are we doing if we are not holding the supremacy of Scripture and the gospel as central to everything we do?

Even Paul, with his creativity in Athens and at the Areopagus (Acts 17:16-34) spoke of these things:

• vs 16 - Spirit was deeply bothered by idols
• vs 17-18 - Reasons with them about Jesus and the resurrection
  

Those 2 things show he watered down nothing. The gospel was his original message with them.

• vs 23-28 - Clearly portrays who Jesus is
• vs 30 - Tells them they have to repent
• vs 31 - a day of judgment is coming

This passage is championed by those who are calling for the church to communicate the gospel in new ways, but just look at the content of Paul's message and what happened during the 1800's. The content is really not that different.

What does that mean?

It means we should stay with the same message regardless of the disappointments with the church as an institution or postmodernism call for change. The content must not change. Do not change the content. There is something seriously wrong if we want to change or water the content down. It is this same Paul who said these words to his disciple in 2 Timothy 4:2-3 "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teaching to suit their own passions."

Preach the Word, in its entire content. We are deeper in a time of the gospel "being out of season" in our culture, I think that is clear. So, what do we do? Paul says preach the Word anyway and still reprove, rebuke, and exhort. Those 3 indicate that our job is not to make sure everyone always feels good about everything. A rebuke does not bring encouragement unless it lands on a spiritually wise person.

The content of the gospel must not be altered for any reason.

Shaping the Identity of Church

Every local church or ministry needs an identity and will naturally have one. The problem at times is that some choose to allow themselves to be shaped by the wrong things or they fail to know what they need to do to be shaped by the right things. I want to offer what could help in this process.

• Rules - For church to be church we have to follow what the Bible says about the both the bride and life. Let's face it, the word rules is not so popular today, but there are standards that have to be embraced and followed. Call them what you want, but they are rules. Rules are not bad, really they aren't. As parents we set standards for our kids to follow and we don't bend them. Culturally, people may not like to be told what to do, oh well! Rules are a part of all of life and they make things better. They also help define the expectations which aid in building identity. One thing about this, the rules have to only come from scripture, not culture. Scripture over culture.
  
• Responsibilities - As rules are settled, the next important thing for shaping of identity is for the members of the church to take on personal responsibility for the best of the church and the glory of God. Do we really love our church if we do not take responsibility for it? If we don't, we just an attender and like so many other people in the church. When the majority of the members take responsibility then you have a strong church. When they do not, then you have a weak church.
  
• Relationships - We are so shaped by those around us. Unhealthy relationships will produce dysfunction and this is true for the church. Relationships within the body shape who a church is and where they are going. Is gossip, envy, jealousy, or impartiality present in your ministry? or Does evidence of love, unity, forgiveness, and inclusiveness dominate the life of your body? How the relationships function will shape the body. The leadership must model this.
  
• Rituals - The church needs to be about certain things that they do in both private and public expressions of personal faith. Yes, rituals is not so popular and in some ways I get why, but it is really a good word. Every group has rituals whether it is a spiritual one or not. You see this in sports, music, or preparation for a test. They all have some sort of a ritural. Why should a church not have rituals that define who they are? Obviously, the rituals need to be embraced by the people, if they are not, then they need to be thrown out. Consistent rituals build identity and they need to be in line with scripture.
  

Hope these are helpful.