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

With Ears Like That...

Tuesday, February 21, 2023

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you.  Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”  Psalm 32:8-9

God made us different from the rest of sentient beings (fish, animals, and plants). God gave humans consciousness (awareness) of meaning and the importance of intrapersonal connection.  More than merely an affiliation with our own species, God gave us an innate sense of the purpose and worth of each other’s existence, as well as the sacredness of all creation.  And on top of that gift God placed a requirement that we use all that awareness better than a stubborn mule. 

We humans are a particularly strange lot, especially in our lack of intelligent choices.  One would imagine humans possessing sensory understanding, or (if you wish) ears like a mule , humanity might pay better attention to our Creator’s instructions.  That is so strange, considering God has given us a promise (as the Psalmist clearly stated) of guidance to the pathway of a better life.  And it has been so from the opening gun.  Adam and Eve were told not to dine on one particular tree…that lasted a half-second.  Cain and Abel were told what to bring for a worship offering.  Cain completely ignored God’s instructions, got angry with jealousy, and killed his brother for spite.  If you’ve ever had the responsibility of a parent, to make important choices for your child, you know first-hand what that child will do when you say clearly, authoritatively, and lovingly:  Child, don’t go near that road.  In the next heartbeat he or she will be dancing on the pavement!

We have ears to listen and, generally, turn them to a deaf side.

Occasionally, however, there is a revival of God’s Spirit, like the one currently in progress at Asbury University.  

By many social media accounts and news outlets, it isn’t a wild jumping-over-the-pews, shouting goofiness.  Rather, its calm sitting in His presence, praying for each other, boldly trusting that waiting before God for His next word is more important than classes, jobs, spreadsheets, schedules, or anything else in which we dabble-away our time.  It is joy without giddy foolishness.  It’s healing of the spirit, building of the spirit, and connection with God’s family.  It is, frankly, koinonia, the common Greek word used in the New Testament to describe how the real church acts when they truly listen to God’s voice.  It is the combined atmosphere of community, communion, sharing, and deeply-held intimacy.[1]  This is the spiritual garden where God’s Holy Spirit produces excellent fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control[2].

For You Today 

The spiritual fruit of revival begins in the church, when God’s people, who have surrendered Lordship to Jesus Christ, promising to walk in the Spirit, nail their sinful desires to the cross, and invite the transforming power Jesus offers, to change their deaf ears to deeply-listening ears.  And with ears like that…there’s no telling what good Christ will produce in your life!

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: 

Oh! What Joy  and  The Problem With Pharisees      

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] For more understanding read κοινωνία in Wikimedia.com

[2] See Galatians 5:22-25

Faith Moving Towards Perfection - TELIOS Series #1

This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad.  Greetings!  Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.  James 1:1-4

Spiritual maturity comes in a lot of different packages.  Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life, is pastor of Saddleback Community Church in California.  It is one of the largest churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, with around 22,000 attending multiple weekend services[1]. 

Fewer than half of their membership comes from people transferring from other churches.  They lead lost persons to Christ and baptize over 50% of new attendees.  In a new initiative the church is planting more churches in 12 strategic cities around the world to continue reaching the world for Jesus Christ.

But large attendance is not the only thing for which Saddleback is known.  That church is also a pacesetting example of high expectation.  Members are expected to do more than attend; they are expected to grow as disciples and use their spiritual gifts in service.  That is stated in the covenant new members sign when they join that fellowship. 

So, what does the pastor of a vibrant, growing, discipling and church-starting church have to say about growing to maturity as believers?  This: 

“The truth is that it takes a variety of experiences with God to produce true spiritual maturity.  In addition to Bible study it takes worship experiences, ministry experiences, fellowship experiences, and evangelism experiences.  In other words, spiritual growth occurs by participating in all five purposes of the church.”[2]

Where did Rick Warren get such an idea?  The Bible!  Largely from the Book of Acts.

This morning I want to take Pastor Warren’s statement, and passages from Acts, from which he draws the five purposes of the church, and invest our time looking at the process of becoming a mature disciple of Jesus Christ.  This is what John Wesley called going on to perfection.  The Biblical word telios is translated as “perfection” and it means to be functional, mature, useful for that which it was created.

Incidentally, I want you to know [up front] that I agree with Rick Warren about these five purposes for all members of the church.  I also want you to know I have a goal for this message.  That goal is your heart.  The goal is to have God’s Word and purposes clearly capture our hearts this morning so that we will turn to following Him more closely than ever.  The goal is for us to become “purpose-driven” people for Christ.

Study with me the five purposes of the church – five experiences that can make us mature, strong, telios disciples, able to serve our Master.

   1. Worship Experiences

Worship was exciting for the first church, especially the first service they had.  Three thousand got saved and baptized that day!  There was a sense of awe and reverence that gripped the whole group.  I’ll bet they just couldn’t wait to get to church each Sunday.  In fact, I know they didn’t wait til Sunday; Scripture tells us they had church every day. 

I must admit that going to church service every day may sound a bit “over-the-top”.  On the other hand, that constant exposure to the Word of God and worship made the church so strong and vital then.  They were so full of Jesus that people were getting saved every day.  We could use a little of that “over-the-top”, couldn’t we?

I’ve been a pastor a long time, and I’ve encouraged a multitude of folks to get regular about worshipping.  But I’ve also been told a similar multitude of times, Preacher, you don’t have to go to church to worship.  Now, I would say that that is true; I am also certain that if you say you believe that, you really need to say the whole sentence, which is: 

You don’t have to go to church to worship, but if you don’t you probably won’t.

Can we talk?  Aside from spending time with my wife, golf is my major hobby (if you can call something you do twice a year a bone-fide hobby).  I will tell you these few things:

·       I cannot recall the last time I recited the Lord’s Prayer or the Shorter Westminster catechism before the first tee.  I have prayed – to make a good shot; at least to not embarrass myself in front of a good golfer – but mostly I am not worshipping!  I am thinking about back-swing, follow-through and putting. 

·       I have never thought of the Book of Discipline, or sung a hymn of praise to Jesus on the golf course. 

·       And it is certain the only offering I’ve ever given on the golf course was required – they called it “greens fees” – and they didn’t use it for missions!

Friend, you can use that “don’t have to go to church to worship” thing any time you want…just don’t do it with a straight face when you’re talking to God – He doesn’t buy it.  He knows it means, “I really don’t want to worship God, and I’m gonna talk my way out of it if I can.”  You can’t!         

I have shared with you that I was saved at a young age, and then turned my back on the Lord in my teens.  When I came back to Jesus in my late twenties, it was largely due to the efforts of my dear wife who was seeking God, and a dear, tenacious neighbor lady.  (Tenacious is a word you use when you learn to love someone who was formerly just “obnoxious”).  Bev is now with Jesus hearing “well done”!

This neighbor badgered me about church so often I finally said “yes” just to get her off my back.  That’s when it happened; one service led to another, and before I knew it, worship became an addiction.  I want you to know that when Jesus finally got my attention through that pushy next-door neighbor (bless her overbearing and loving heart), I could not get enough of worshipping the One who loved me enough to die for me.  Worship has made me a stronger disciple. 

It’s like filling the gas tank.  Some folks can go a long way in-between worship times; I can’t – not if I’m going to hear “Well-done thou good and faithful servant.”

   2. Fellowship Experiences

Breaking bread means dinner-on-the-grounds; it means sharing the Lord’s Supper.  It means both; but it means more. 

Breaking bread (in the sense of the church) means joining lives.  The members of that first church hung out at church, but they also cooperated daily in doing things that draw people together.

We live in a fallen world.  When Adam and Eve sinned, God came to them in the garden and had a hard time finding them.  They were hiding so they didn’t have to face His face.  Everybody here can identify with that…who wants to see a holy God when you’ve sinned? 

Unfortunately, God is not the only one from which we hide; we also hide from each other.  It is because we recoil from the idea of trusting others.  We know ourselves well – we know that we are not trustworthy because we know our sins.  Looking at others we see the same species; my brother is no more to be trusted than I.

It is a fallen world.  One preacher told his congregation about when he was just a boy one of his life’s goals was to make all four of his sisters cry at the same time.  Now, that is descriptive of the anti-fellowship rule of a fallen world. 

It is a fallen world. 

·       In that fallenness of our world we see on TV the likes of Jerry Springer, Survivor, American Idol and others, it’s all in-your-face screaming to come out on top, cut-throats, stab backs and claw your way to the prize. 

·       With Oprah and Dr. Phil you are urged to be sensitive and make “nice-nice” with everybody so we can all be sensitive and “nice-nice”. 

·       In corporate America it is lie, steal, and cheat, but get off with 5 months behind bars with 5 billion in the bank. 

·       Terrorists say:  “fly your plane into a government building and fulfill your destiny”.  That’s a fallen world.

Real fellowship is a matter of facing the “real fallen world” and knowing that your brother in Christ is not the enemy.  It means breaking the bread of life together so, arm-in-arm you can storm the gates of hell like Jesus said we should. 

3.  Discipleship Experiences

The Book of Acts tells us that the people devoted themselves to learning all about God.  They received the word and learned the doctrine.  My friends you can’t do that listening to a 30-minute sermon once a week.  If you are serious about following Jesus, there are some things that must change, IF the church is going to persevere:

·       Sixty years ago we had televisions the size of a sofa with a 6-inch screen.  These days technology has given us a 6-foot color screen in a cabinet so light you hang it on the wall.  Are we better off? 

·       Sixty years ago we watched Mayberry and then read our Bibles because late night TV ended at 9pm.  Today you can watch TV 24 hours a day while the Bible gathers dust in the closet.  Are we better disciples for the technology?

·       Sixty years ago we went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays.  We took two weeks’ vacation and that was the only time we missed our Sunday School class.  Did we not give out pins for perfect attendance?  Today everything else comes before Sunday School and Worship.

There just aren’t many disciples these days devoting themselves to the apostle’s doctrine and prayer!  I would suggest that may be one reason people follow Joel Osteen; his teaching is all about how to get stuff from God.  Disciples, on the other hand are trained in the Word of God to deny self and serve God.

4.   Serving Experiences

Serving is sacrifice.  As with discipleship, serving God means you give up things of the world in favor of giving glory to God.

The Bible tells us that the early disciples were so caught-up in the love of Jesus that they went as far as selling-off personal property to make sure nobody went hungry.  Now, that doesn’t mean it is wrong for us to have personal property.  It simply points out that a heart that is right will sacrifice to meet needs if sacrifice is needed.

Serving is a form of leadership.  Jesus led his disciples into servant-living by taking a towel and basin to do the lowly job of washing dirty feet.  And He did it while they were debating over who was going to be the greatest in the Kingdom.

I want to say this with loving care, but there is a need for leaders who will put leading above personal pursuits of amusement, vacation and every opportunity that comes along to get out of serving.  It is much better to decline to serve than to say you will serve and then drop the ball. 

Jesus told a parable about a father telling his two sons there was work to be done in the field.  One son said, “No way – I’m not going”; but he re-thought and then went to work in the field.  The other son said, “Sure Dad, I’m your man”; he too reconsidered, and went to take a nap.  Which served the Father, lip-service, or life-service?

I wish you could have known Louise Blair.  Louise was in our church in Jacksonville, Florida.  She was near 80 when I met her.  She was our Women’s Missions director.  She was an absolute delight for any pastor.  Her one question was always, “Pastor, what can we do to help?”  At 80 she was still going out on outreach. 

One summer day we held a neighborhood block party with game booths, clothes for the poor, food, pony rides, popcorn, and a spacewalk.  Our daughter, Carrie, was dressed in a ball gown as Snow White, and each child got his or her picture taken with the princess. 

Do you know what Louise chose to do that Saturday morning?  Louise rented a clown outfit and manned the booth marked “Clowns for Christ”.  She handed out tracts and bubble gum until every last kid’s cheeks were bulging with Double-Bubble! 

Servants do that kind of thing!  God needs more servants – less spectators!

5.  Evangelism Experiences

This is one of those “easy-to-connect-the-dots” scenarios…Peter shared Christ with a whole crowd…and 3,000 responded; they were saved.  In turn, they went and shared that with others.  How simple is that?

We sometimes make it rather complicated but sharing the Gospel as it came to us is effective – after all, it worked that way at least in your case.  The problem is not with evangelism being too hard – it isn’t.  The problem is more with saints who won’t even give it a try.

My brother Thom has a sister-in-law, Anne.  Anne visited the church I was serving some years ago.  She is the opposite of a Yankee in North Carolina; Anne is from Tennessee.  She married a New Yorker and moved to his part of the country. 

Go figure! 

Anyway, Anne shared with me about her young Grandson, David:

David was sitting at the breakfast table this morning when he made a little noise and jerked backwards. He mashed something in the tablecloth and threw it on the floor.  John asked, "What happened?"

David answered, "There was a spider there. I killed it."

"Wow! You were so brave to kill it," I exclaimed.

True honesty came to the fore when David explained, "I’m only brave when the spider is little."

Friends let me sum this up by saying that when it comes to evangelism, serving, discipleship, fellowship, and worship, ALL the spiders are little!  Next to God, everything in this universe is little, and under His control. 

Do you want to move on to maturity in Christ?  Get serious about these five areas of experience; make them your life’s major commitments:

WORSHIP – FELLOWSHIP – DISCIPLESHIP – SERVING - EVANGELISM

Worried you can’t cut it?  Take a little advice from that great old preacher, Phillips Brooks, who helped many overcome their fear of serving well…

Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger people!  Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks.  

Let the church say, Amen!

Our Prayer

Father you know our hearts are captured and changed when our behavior begins to mirror what is in Your Word.  I ask Your blessing on each of us this day.  Grant us knowledge to know how to open our hearts to Your Spirit, so that Your Word will lodge deep there, and change us from inside-out. 

For the glory, honor, and praise to which You alone are worthy, o Lord, we pray in the Name of the Son, cooperating with the Spirit, to honor and exalt the Majesty of the Father.  Let it be so in each of our lives…Amen!  

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com W  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation 

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[1] Wikipedia.com

[2] Rick Warren, Moving Members To Maturity, SBC Life, Nashville, Jun/Jul 2002, 10.

 

Finding Wisdom

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

How can a young person stay pure?  By obeying your word.  I have tried hard to find you—don’t let me wander from your commands.  I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.  I praise you, O Lord; teach me your decrees.  I have recited aloud all the regulations you have given us.  I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches.  I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways.  I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word.  Psalm 119:9-16[1]

My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.  Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.  Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.  Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.  Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.  For the Lord grants wisdom!  From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.  He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.  He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.  Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.  For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.  Wise choices will watch over you.  Understanding will keep you safe.  Proverbs 2:1-11[2]

I ran across a marketing ad for a new kind of Bible study this morning as I checked my mail.  It has an updated version of the Scriptures broken up and rearranged chronologically, so as to put the order of the books in an understandable manner.  The name is a trendy-sounding single word, Immerse, connoting a better way to get God’s Word into God’s people.  The marketing piece was well-designed, and got my juices going a little bit.  The promotional focus hook was to get God’s people reading the Bible together, which sounded really good.  There were all the right buzz words, community, intentionality, discipleship, and more.  By the time I heard in my head “community” it dawned on me why it sounded so good – serious Christians had been doing this for two millennia; it wasn’t a new thing – it was an old thing, dressed in modern clothes to capture the way minds think in this century.  It’s Sunday School, Schul (Yiddish for Synagogue), church meeting, all rolled in one.  Sunday School is a term as old as 1780 when Robert Raikes began the first children’s Sunday school; it soon spread to America[3].

The Psalmist and the Proverb writer (most likely David or Solomon) instructs his son to give close attention to the Scripture and to let his life be guided by its wisdom.  It has always mystified me as to why otherwise intelligent Christians miss this important advice from the wisest of the wise.  I have known many believers who would make a regular habit of coming to worship, but avoid the Bible Study hour like there might be a plague.

If you examine what Sunday School, or small group Bible Study offers you can see why it is offered with a new name and format, but with the same essential components:

Discipleship – class peer pressure of the best kind, a place of encouragement in the Christian life.

Ministry – looking out for one another in the ways that fellowship always suggests, care in sickness, joy in blessings, and faithfulness in all things.

Community – a group of believers investigating the wisdom of God’s Word, where you’re covenanting together to live the best life of a disciple.

For You Today

Did you miss Sunday School last week?  Was that wise?

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

Go to VIDEO

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[1] For another post on Psalm 119:10 see Inheritance of a Lamb’s Ear  For Psalm 119:11 see Scriptural Sticky Notes

[2] For another post on wisdom see:  Wisdom & Discipline

[3] When Did Sunday Schools Start, Christianity Today