Four Things

Here's a passage:

18And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Matthew 28:18-20

I see four things here that I am supposed to do:

1. Go
2. Make
3. Baptize
4. Teach

Here are some comments about these four things:

1. We have it backwards. We think if we build it they will come. Jesus tells us to go and get them.
2. People are not naturally God's disciples - they have to be made into disciples. We have the ingredients and they are the things of first importance. Paul states them in 1 Corinthians 15.
   
3. As we make disciples, part of the process is baptism. We are born again. We die to ourselves, we are buried in a watery grave and we are raised to walk in that new life. We are, in other words, born again.
4. Once we have made disciples there is still much teaching to do.
   

Sounds like an awesome responsibility. I better get at it before it's forever too late.

Josiah Tilton

A Split Second

The talking heads and late night MC's had a field day with Hillary's picture. Jokes of all kinds were made and laughs were had all around. Many people drew conclusions about what type of person Hillary was/is just from seeing this picture. I'm sure she lost votes as a result of this split second in time. What a shame - not about votes, but that we would judge someone by a single incident or a moment out of a lifetime.

I sin. I also teach Bible class on Sunday morning. Which one defines me? If the people who are in my Bible class saw me sin and that was all they remembered of me then they would have a very difficult time trying to hear anything I might say in class. They would limit me to my sin. The truth is, however, that I am more than my sin. I am more than a snapshot; more than a moment in time.

Fortunately, the Father of all has made it plain that He thinks more about us than our sin(s). He is like fathers everywhere. We know our children are not perfect, but we do not see them just as their imperfections, we see them in their totality. We see them on good days and bad. We know they are a combination of happy and sad, of good and bad, of righteous and unrighteous. We do not see them as fodder for humiliation and bad taste joking. We see them as someone worthy of our love and loved whether worthy or not. So it is with God. He sees us as His creation. He loves us because that is what He is. It is not what He does, but what He is - God is love. And love finds a way.

It is not that split second that tells honest people what we are it is a lifetime of living that says "this is me."

What is Truth

As Jesus stood before Pilate he was questioned about being the king of the Jews. There is an understanding in Pilate that Jesus is not just anyone, but is someone special. Unfortunately, Pilate was a weak man and would not stand up for the right. So when he asks, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus tells him that "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

Pilate, in disgust - not with Jesus, but with those who brought Jesus to him, I think - snaps back, "What is truth?" And that's the question, isn't it?

What is truth? We hear people debating global warming and presenting good points on both sides of the issue. When they're finished we wonder - "What is truth?" In politics we hear that this is the worst economy in decades by the President's opponents and his own people say just the opposite. We are left with uncertainty as we try to decide - "What is truth?"

The same is true in religion. There are hundreds of creeds, sects, persuasions, religions, etc. and I wonder if it is possible that they are all correct. As I struggle to decide truth I look at the many "Christian" religions and see conflicting doctrines. Can all be right? Even in conflict? Even if what they teach might be antipodal to another's teaching?

I struggle with this. I wonder...Do you?

Twisted Politics

We live in a crazy political world, don't we? The other day Joe Biden was politically beaten because he used the word "clean" while describing Barack Obama. How foolish can we be? Biden, whom I do not support and would NEVER vote for, was trying his best NOT to say anything that could be misconstrued racially. He praised Obama and was trying to show how open minded he was. Ah, but we see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. The political pundits had a heyday with Joe Biden as the butt of their drivel.

If you are a republican, were you happy about this? If you were a democrat, did you applaud the media's stupidity? What is wrong with us that we cannot see things for what they really are, but we see them with all the twists and turns that we can wrap into them and that way we always have someone out there to belittle and beat.

Shame on us.

Who Will Cry?

America and the world wept and then sacrificed when the tsunami killed 150,000 people in one day and we should have. Unfortunately, and I'm sure there are many reasons for our ignorance, 150,000 people, over half of them children, die every single month in sub-Saharan Africa. And most of the things they die from are totally preventable: Malaria, Malnutrition, Cholera, AIDS, War.

Where is the weeping?
Where is the sacrifice?
Who will cry for Africa?

What Do I Have?

“For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”
1 Corinthians. 4:7 (ESV)


This passage, and several similar, is troubling to me. Troubling in the sense that if I accept it as written then I am led to understand that whatever it is that I have has been given to me, and if this is so, why do I live and act differently than this? Why do I act as if I’ve earned this or that? If every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights, if, as John the baptizer says, "a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven,” then why do I consider things I have as the things I have bought and paid for?

I know of an eldership who, when presented with a proposal from their mission’s committee about supporting some African preachers said no. Their reason for saying no is that “they don’t support nationals.” Their justification for that policy was/is because their support might put the nationals in a higher income bracket than their fellows around them, and that would cause jealousy. This sounds almost reasonable. If, however, the African preachers are children of God and the Elders are children of God, then all are brothers. What one has he has received from THEIR Father. Should the children not share what their Father has given them? And should they not especially share it with their own brothers?! Should they consider the things they have as things they have great power over because, after all, it was entrusted to them, not to their poor, poverty stricken brothers.

This is not an article meant to beat up on Elders. It is a questioning of our – especially Americans – idea that we have earned and therefore deserve anything. I breathe because God provides the oxygen. I’m an American because God caused me to be born here. I move my arms and legs because God has given me that ability. I see and speak because God has been generous to me. Look at this passage - Exodus 4:11 (ESV) “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?’” Is this true? Not is it true that God said this, but is what God said true? If, as God says He does, He makes someone mute, deaf, seeing or blind, then the fact that I can see is because God has given this gift to me. I could consider this a “general” gift that God gave in the creation, but that is not what the passage says. And if it were, would it not be reasonable to assume that everyone would receive this gift? Yet we know that there are many who are born blind, or deaf, or mute. Who made them so? The question I’m asking myself then is, what DO I have that I have not been given?

Finally, all that I have been given has been given so that I might have to give to others, (Ephesians 4:28; Luke 12:48b). Those who sold houses and possessions and gave them to the Apostles to distribute to others as there was need, did God take care of them when they were old and unable to work for their keep? Since they sold what they had and gave it away, were they acting wisely? Were they doing the best they could do to care for their own families? Were they not depending on God too much? Or were they demonstrating that what they had was not their own and they were giving away only those things which they could not keep anyway? Were they saying “I trust you Father?”

A young boy was watching as the riotous crowd dragged the old man toward the stake. He watched as they viciously grabbed his arms, pulling them behind his back and around the stake. Others quickly grabbed kindling and larger pieces of wood, stacking it all around the old man, who was now bound to a stake, prepared to die. His only crime was that he believed in Jesus Christ. A torch was brought and the wood was lit. Whatever agony the old man suffered he bore it quietly, his head bowed in prayer.

One of the rabble noticed the wide eyed boy watching this horrendous episode of deranged humanity. “What are you doin’ here boy? The man growled.

“I’m learning the way,” was the boy’s response.

As for me, I’ve never made a sacrifice. I wish I had the faith to.

Days and Even Weeks

I often watch such shows as Cold Case Files and The FBI Stories, not those popular ones on the big networks, but the accounts of real cases and real investigations on TLC, Discovery or A&E. It amazes me how terribly wicked man can be. There have been shows about serial killers, rapists, thrill murderers and the like, as well as more "civilized" crimes like embezzelment or kidnapping. I watched one about a man who would kidnap women, take them to his home, tie them up, beat, rape and eventually murder them. He did it to several until one finally escaped and he was caught. I would scream to myself... "How can people act like that?!" Later, I would look into the mirror and understand.

Yes, we would rather have someone lie to us than shoot us, but what does the lying say about our character. Do you lie? I know I do. And how do we act at home when we are all alone? Do we just sit an read the Bible or do we find ourselves watching shows with swearing, thefts and murders? Why do we watch such things? Why are we drawn to them? Do you think it's because it is our character, our nature to do such?

I sin and I often use the excuse that I can't help myself. Flimsy, but perhaps it is true none-the-less. I John 1:7-10 tells me that I am going to sin. Is this a license? I think not, but it does say something about me. It says something about my nature and character. I am a sinner. I hurt my wife, my sons, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, as well as my friends, even strangers. My faith often ebbs and flows as the tide. There are days, even weeks when I am strong and feel good about myself and my faith. There are days and even weeks when I wonder if I have any faith at all. When I should be strong I am weak and miserable. I have to cry out as Paul did, "Wretched man that I am, who shall save me from this body of death. Praise God! It's Christ Jesus."

Clap For Me

A while back I came home from work and my wife was watching Dr. Phil. He had a lady on who was an addict. She gave him a hard time telling him that she didn’t really like him at all. He replied, “That’s O.K. because what you think of me does not affect my self-esteem in the least.”

I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t that be nice if we all could think that way?” The problem is we don’t. We are all looking for approval. Some of us are athletes, others are teachers or physicians, some are extremely intelligent, good speakers or just good looking; a few of us are rich or powerful, but in some crazy way we are all trying to get people to clap for us. We want people to cheerus and say that we are normal, healthy, moral, upright and good. And it’s not just that we want to hear it from someone, but many someones. And much more than we want to love someone, we want to be loved.

I know it’s easy to sit here and generalize, but the truth is I want to be loved. I want people to think I am not a loser. I want someone to redeem me from my pitiful little life and treat me as if I were wonderfully important and I want them, YOU to let me have my own way. Listen, though, to Eugene Peterson’s commentary/translation of Galatians 5:19-21 (It’s from the translation called “The Message:”

"It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.
This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom."

(The English Standard Version says it this way: "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.")

We know this and yet we keep on with our selfish lives. At the same time, we don’t want to live these selfish lives. We want redemption…HOPE…PEACE. And the wonderful thing is, and in our better moments we know this, WE HAVE IT! We have redemption and the good part is it doesn’t depend upon how good we are or how much we are liked or if anyone claps for us at all. It depends upon the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross and that is why we can be assured of salvation. All we have to do is depend upon Him. He paid the price. He took the loneliness of the cross; He took the beatings meant for us; He took the humiliation and the shame of it all so that we might know, above all things, that we are loved and wanted. So that we might know HOW MUCH we are loved and wanted. And so that we might be redeemed from our little lives and adopted into the family of God.

Of all things we ought to be thankful for at this time of the year and always, it is for the assurance of that genuine love and the salvation it has brought to us. John says to us:

1 John 5:11-13 (ESV)
"And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life."

Knowing this…being assured of this, let’s be thankful.

Struggling to Know

As the title suggests, I'm struggling to grasp a greater understanding of God and His righteousness. How does what He has revealed to us play out in the "real" world - I know this is not the real world, but it is the world I know best; It is the world I live in, but am trying NOT to be a part of. Following are just a few opinions and I want to stress the word OPINIONS.

1. I believe one of the greatest hindrances to the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been the invention of church buildings. The days of house churches where neighbors gathered together for a few moments of fellowship and getting to know one another as they got to know God and praise His name were times of explosive evangelism. In the homes people really got to know the person they were worshipping with. It was less structured and, it seems to me, while there was more true heartfelt friendship shared there were fewer spurious or artificial emotional touchy/feely moments. An example of what I mean is the practice of several congregations to take a few minutes at some point in the service for everyone to stand up and shake the hands of the people around them. This is done because Christians are supposed to be close and fellowship each other. Then, after the last song or prayer, the majority of people walk on out to their cars and drive away without saying hello or good-bye to anyone, including those who sat around them.
2. We equate what we do in the church buildings on Sunday mornings, most especially, with Christianity. They do not equate. Because of this practice we find ourselves struggling to make people feel they are a part of the church. We (not every congregation, you understand, but many) are having women get up and read or pass the communion, or sing solos and lead prayers. I am not making a judgement on these one way or the other. What I am saying is that real Christianity does not have to find ways to include anyone so they feel as if they were important to the church. We would not have to face the difficulties we are facing with issues about women's roles, worship leaders, etc. if we did not depend upon Sunday morning to define us. There are 168 hours in each week, yet many now determine that if they are not a part of that one Sunday morning hour then they are not truly represented in the church. So, right or wrong, women are insisting upon leadership (whatever that is) roles in the assemblies.
3. We spend BIG money on buildings and consider that our part for outreach. We have the (I've said this before) field of dreams mentality. If we build it they will come. The truth is, we were never given a command to sit back and expect the lost to find us, we were told to go out into the highways and byways and find them.
4. We are willing to spend the Big money on buildings but spend relatively little on real evangelism.
5. Money spent on buildings is for our comfort, which may be why we are so ready to spend it. We pad the pews, condition the air, carpet the floors, furnish the kitchens and recreation facilities, fill the basketballs with air, adjust the speakers for best tonal quality and make sure the video projector is in perfect focus. And who are we doing all this for? The Lost?! Outreach? Evangelism?!

I'm just throwing out my opinion here, but I was hoping that those who see this blog might think about what we are doing with our Sunday mornings . . .