Hope Shared

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

How we thank God for you!  Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence.  Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith.  May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon.  And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.  

1 Thessalonians 3:9-12

Sharing our great hope in Jesus Christ with others is the main thrust of what we commonly call The Great Commission.  This was the job description Jesus gave to his followers on the day he ascended back to his Father in Heaven:

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18-20

The “work” is really a privilege and joy.  In his letter to the Thessalonian believers Paul outlined that work in four “pillars” that hold our witness together:

Rejoicing

Apostle Paul said he thanked God for his relationship with the church at Thessalonica, and his joy was great because of their faith growing stronger. 

When the genuine joy of knowing Christ courses through your veins, sharing that blessed hope of Christ does not have to be manufactured with a memorized speech, or pamphlets; it speaks volumes of winsomeness.

Praying

Paul’s prayer life was night and day for the presence of God to grow strong in those with whom he had shared God’s love.  When you’ve taken the bold and vulnerable step of sharing the love of Christ with others, they will not slip from your mind.  You are vested in what God will do with them in His kingdom.

Hanging-out

Because of the interest in filling-in the gaps of faith many new believers might experience, you want to be with them to nurture faith at whatever point they are challenged.  Hanging-out with believers increases faith; growing joy is the wonderful result of that fellowship.

Blessing

Paul wasn’t reproducing “Paul” in these people; he was seeing the mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory[1] manifested in those who had accepted Christ by faith, and were living under His Lordship.  His fatherly blessing was an act of love and prophetic hope…he was passing-along the faith once delivered to the saints[2].

For You Today 

Throughout my life many saints have poured-in strength and help as I’ve lived and grown.  Jesus said:  to whom much is given, much will be required.[3]  This speaks of our responsibility to pass along the joy with our prayers, presence, and always being a blessing – never an adversary – to those who need to know Christ.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Today’s title Image from Pixabay.com  

Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] Colossians 1:27

[2] Jude 1:3

[3] Luke 12:48

An Invitation to the Imperfect

with much thanks to Rev. John Strother

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28

Hello I’m the body of Christ, but you may know me by my other name - Church.

I'm sure you've heard a lot about me. I have no shortage of critics. Perhaps you have heard that I am...Boring, Shallow, Irrelevant, A waste of time

Maybe you've heard that I am full of:

Hypocrites, Greedy people, The self-righteous

Maybe you have visited me before and discovered:

Music you didn’t like, Passionless singing, Dry preaching, Rude congregants

Maybe you needed me and I was: Too busy, Too "righteous", Too broke, Too blind

Maybe you joined me and found I was:  Distant, Demanding, Dull, Preoccupied

Maybe you tried to serve in me but were caught off guard by:

Business meetings, Committees, Interpersonal Conflicts, Bureaucracy

Maybe you left and were surprised that nobody:

Called, Cared, Or seemed to notice, And invite you back

Perhaps your experience has driven you to:

Speak negatively of me, Swear to never come back to me,                                   Proclaim that no one needs me,

Believe you're better off without me

If this is true, I have something to say to you:

I'm sorry, I was wrong, I blew it,

I made a huge mistake

But remember, I never said my name was:

Perfect, Flawless, Complete, Arrived

 

My name is church. Or, more accurately, the Body of Christ.  At my best I welcome the:  Hypocrite, Dry, Self-righteous, Shallow

I also welcome the Sincere, Passionate, Forgiving, Selfless

I cannot shut my doors to the people who make you:

Angry, Uncomfortable, Impatient, Self-conscious

But I would remind you that we couldn't always worship in the same room

because of division between:  Gentiles, Jews, Men, Women

In order for us to all worship in the same room Christ was:

Shamed, Beaten, Killed, Resurrected

Which is far worse than being:  Bored, Uncomfortable, Embarrassed, Ignored

So why not come back to church and let all of these other sojourners:

Challenge you, Sharpen you, Strengthen you, Humble you

I can't promise you that the people will be great. This is church. It's not:

Heaven, Paradise, Beulah Land, The Celestial city or whatever else you might call the Great Beyond

But do come back, or join us for the first time.

God wants you here.  The body needs you here. 

The world needs your witness.  You belong here.

Hello, my name is church.

I miss you.    I love you.     I'm sorry.      Can't wait to see you.

For You Today 

This is evangelism, reconciliation between siblings, and the humility Christ offered to each of us.  This is what the church (all of us) needs to offer to the world today.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

 

Lick...and a Promise Theology

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly.  Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone.  But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve.  Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates?  Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live?  But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”  

Joshua 24:14-15

When you move from one part of the country to another you find colloquial sayings you’ve never before encountered.  My family experienced that nearly 50 years ago when we moved from suburban New York to rural Florida.  We had barely moved-into the parsonage, when Jean, a church member, brought us a paper bag full of her garden’s greens.  She said to Elizabeth:  It’s not much, but you can probably make a mess out of it.  My bride smiled and thanked Jean.  Her expression told me she didn’t have a clue why she was expected to make a mess with food.  To tell the truth, I wasn’t quite sure either.  A new pastoral family walks on thin ice with local customs, sayings, and other sacred cows. 

A lick-and-a-promise is one of those wonderment sayings.  Loosely defined, the “lick” is something of a half-hearted attempt to tidy-up some mess, and the promise is…well…something of an intention to do a better job later.

So, preacher, how does that have anything to do with what Joshua told the Israelites when they were about to cross the Jordan River?  Well, I’m glad you asked.  To explain choose today whom you will serve in the vernacular of Jean’s bag of greens, Joshua was telling the people of God that the moment they step in the Jordan’s waters it was time to leave lick-and-a-promise theology behind.  If you’re entering the Promised Land, you do so wholeheartedly!

When it comes to the New Life Christ offers, there’s no room for lick-and-a-promise thinking.  Here is a short-list of examples: 

·       Hope-so salvation.  Hoping is no substitute for faith

·       Now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep prayers don’t cut it in the emergency room

·       Church on Easter and Christmas falls short of God’s holiness

·       Good News, unspoken to family, friends, or neighbors is spritual gluttony

Short-lists are somewhat like a lick-and-a-promise, but you get the idea.  God wants all of us, not the little bit we can fit-in before running off to do what really interests us. 

For You Today 

As Joshua told the assembled new nation of Israel, choosing to serve God means it would be better to do this one thing to the utmost of your strength, and be worn-out doing it, than a thousand other things that please you.  You don’t worship with a lick-and-a-promise, and then run out to the playground.

That’s what Jesus meant when he answered the Pharisee’s question about what God expects:

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  Matthew 22:37-38

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Pray for Us

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.  Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ.  That is why I am here in chains.  Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.  Colossians 4:2-4

It was a dramatic personal transformation that changed a man named Saul into Paul.  He met Jesus…and like Frost’s two roads that diverged in the woods, the journey required a choice – and the traveler could not take both – Paul emerged on the road less-travelled.  And that made all the difference for, perhaps, millions of believers down through the centuries.

You can see that change in Paul as he encouraged the Colossian believers to pray, wholeheartedly, alert, and with a thankful heart.  He asked that they include him in those prayers, focusing-on his mission to reach those who needed to hear about the Lord Jesus.  When he was Saul, the man wanted to climb to the top of the popularity and prestige ladder.  Now Paul, he had been commissioned an apostle to dig into the dregs of humanity reaching the lost, least, and rejected, to become his brothers in Christ.  Paul wanted to speak as clearly as possible to anyone who would listen, of the mystery and majesty of the King of Glory.

Taking the road less traveled eventually led Paul to a Roman prison, and the end of nearly all apostles – martyrdom.  The second century Christian historian, Tertullian records that Paul was beheaded at the end of his Roman imprisonment.  Having finished his race, what Paul wrote to the Philippian church came true, living meant living for Christ, and dying was gaining all to be with Christ.

Reflecting on your life is part of praying wholeheartedly, alert to what Christ is doing, and measuring how you have traveled the path, so you can choose wisely those next steps in the journey.  For me reflecting takes longer, having more than 75 years of history to consider.  I’m a lot older than the 8 year old boy who accepted Christ…and a little bit wiser than he was.  Looking back, there are three certainties about the path:

1.    I didn’t always choose wisely

2.    Christ was with me in both the wise and foolish choices, and was faithful in all, and is still

3.    Those who joined me in prayer helped lead me in better choices.

For You Today 

You’ll make choices today, some less important (like what to eat for breakfast), and some more important (like putting aside your fear of witnessing to that friend or co-worker).  One best choice you can make is to pray diligently, wholeheartedly, and enlisting others to pray with, and for you like Paul did.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   The Grumpy Christian  and  Stay Alert  

Title Image:  Paul in Prison via Wikimedia Commons   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

When the Scales Dropped

Monday, March 20, 2023

Don’t put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there.  When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them.  But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God.  Psalm 146:3-6

So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”  Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight.  Then he got up and was baptized.  Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength.  Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days.  And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”  Acts 9:17-20

Saul (who was later renamed Paul) was a somebody, who, like Moses, raised in the household of Pharaoh as a prince, learned to be a nobody.  And once Saul found out the truth, that placing your trust and pinning your hopes on powerful people is useless, like Moses, Paul went on to become one of God’s most useful servants to proclaim the Good News that Christ is Lord.

Saul’s conversion backstory is that he was extremely well-educated, and quite powerfully-connected to the powers that be.  He was close enough to the movers and shakers in Jerusalem to be entrusted with leading the charge against the new sect of heretics…the Christians.  He was persecuting the church with a vengeance. 

Then came that blinding light on the Road to Damascus.  That light was Jesus.

Saul had been (as Scripture indicates) …uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers.[1]  Suddenly the entire focus of Saul’s life and purpose turned around…180°!  Now his mouth ceased threatening to kill Jesus’ followers, and began inviting those who had been lost to have their eyes opened.  The “scales” covering Saul’s eyes, had fallen away to reveal Paul…the great apostle, whose hand God used to give us one-third of the New Testament Scriptures.  Paul had thought he was a somebody when he was persecuting the nobodies.  When Ananias, one of those nobodies, prayed for Saul, the scales fell off his eyes, and Paul not only saw his errant ways…he began to do something about it. 

I was converted at a young age, and did next-to-nothing about telling the Good News.  In fact, I ran from it, becoming self-centered and anything but a good witness.  It took a Damascus Road event in my life to turn me around.  If there is a regret to my life, it is that I did not share Christ with nearly as many people as God gave me opportunity.  One of my constant prayers is now: 

O God, open my mouth like Paul!

For You Today 

According to the last two sentences in today’s Scripture text, Paul only waited two days to begin preaching.  A Damascus Road face-to-face meeting with Jesus will do that…make an urgency in you to proclaim the Good News. 

Three suggestions about that:

1.    You can have one of those face-to-face moments with Jesus…just ask Him.

2.    Don’t resist the urgency to share the Good News…ever! 

3.    Let the scales drop, my friend…let ‘em drop!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:  The Patience of God with Spiritual Blindness  and I Think I'm Having Stress 

Title Image: Pietro da Cortona, via Wikimedia Commons    Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] See Acts 9:1

A Light to the Nations

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

“Listen to me, my people.  Hear me, Israel, for my law will be proclaimed, and my justice will become a light to the nations.  My mercy and justice are coming soon.  My salvation is on the way.  My strong arm will bring justice to the nations.  All distant lands will look to me and wait in hope for my powerful arm.  Look up to the skies above, and gaze down on the earth below.  For the skies will disappear like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing.  The people of the earth will die like flies, but my salvation lasts forever.  My righteous rule will never end!  Isaiah 51:4-6

In yesterday’s post I shared some of the popular culture’s opinion about how the “organized church” is boring, out-of-touch, antiquated, and without a hope of continuing.  The look of things on the landscape of the 21^st century would appear to validate that, with less attendance or support, a lower sense of commitment, and cultural norms aimed at whatever pleases the individual.  Community has been reduced to social media clicks, and wokeness for the “rights” of individuals, without the slightest nod in the direction of Heaven.  The 21^st century is a heathen paradise, self-absorbed, inflated, and very angry.

That’s not a pretty picture, or flattering in any way; truth can be quite startling, often harsh on the ears.  But truth cannot be made to be a lie.  We have returned to the days of Noah, where it broke God’s heart he had ever created us![1] 

And truth is why the church matters. 

The truth of our moral collapse, and sin’s great offense in Heaven, is the reason the church exists, to worship God, AND to proclaim His great mercy and love (His light) to the nations.  This is so well declared in Ernest Nichol’s great hymn,   We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations:

We've a story to tell to the nations, that shall turn their hearts to the right,
a story of truth and mercy, a story of peace and light, a story of peace and light.

We've a song to be sung to the nations, that shall lift their hearts to the Lord,
a song that shall conquer evil, and shatter the spear and sword, 

     and shatter the spear and sword.

 We've a message to give to the nations, that the Lord who reigneth above
has sent us His Son to save us, and show us that God is love, 

     and show us that God is love.

We've a Savior to show to the nations, who the path of sorrow has trod,
that all of the world's great peoples may come to the truth of God, 

     may come to the truth of God!

For the darkness shall turn to dawning, and the dawning to noonday bright,
and Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth, the kingdom of love and light.[2]

For You Today  

Those who believe the church is “done” have misread, or misunderstood history and the nature of God.  He loves the church, his creation, and He also loves every human who has ever drawn breath.  And He has given the church the song of His love to be sung to each generation. 

The Kingdom of Christ is coming, and nothing less than the absolute rule of Christ will count for anything when that happens.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Consider the Rock  and  I Am; You ARE!

Images:  Title Pixabay.com   Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] Genesis 6:5-6

[2] We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations, The United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville, UMC Publishing House, 1989) 569