Pleasing God

This Sunday I will sharing the fourth sermon in our "How Should We Live" series from 1 Thessalonians.  This week's theme is "Live to Please God".  We sing a song that says, "For the praises of man I will never ever stand."  In theory we know that we live to praise God with our life, but something interesting occured to me as I reread this passage in 1 Thessalonians again and again.  How we treat our fellow man affects how pleased God is with our lives.  This is especially true when that fellow man is a fellow follower of Christ.  Sometimes Christians say the meanest things and it usually happens when they don't get their way.  It is so easy to criticize the other person for not doing something that you yourself should be doing as well and not even realize it.

Somebody ought to clean up that mess in the lobby of the church!  Somebody ought to start a ministry for single moms!  Somebody ought to go and visit the senior citizens in our church!  I sure wish I could meet "somebody".  Are they a real person?  Did their mother really name them "somebody"?  If so they sure are going to be busy all of their life, because there sure is a whole lot of stuff for "somebody" to do.

In verse 9 of this chapter Paul talks about "brotherly love".  He uses the word "phileo".  In its original use outside of the New Testament it meant the mutual love that children of the same father had for each other.  Maybe they didn't always agree but they were family and because of that they always had "bortherly love" for each other.  In the New Testament it became the term used for the love between fellow believers in Christ.  I wonder if "somebody" is receiving "phileo" from those who so easily use his name in a negative way.

The realilty is everytime we use the word "somebody" we have a face in mind.  At home we want "somebody" to clean up this room, at work we want "somebody" to finish this project, at church we want "somebody" to care start a new ministry or care for the hurting.   I would love to suggest that, you go ahead and get that picture of "somebody" find a really nice frame for it and have it around the house so that you will always know who that "somebody" is.  But if you really want to please God with your lives, right before you hang that picture on the wall ... you replace it with a mirror.

Life Change Doesn't Happen Over Night

When I was in graduate school I was an assistant basketball coach at the college I had attended.  We were on our way home one night after an out of state game as we crossed the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina we found ourselves snow bound at the top of a mountain in over a foot of snow.  It was bizarre because there was no snow at the bottom.  We found a small roadside motel that looked like a place where they make movies with guys named "Bates" in it, but they had enough rooms for us and so we checked in.  There wasn't a restraunt, so we emptied all of money into the vending machines had a short snow ball fight and went to bed.  The next morning when we woke up and looked out the back window it was amazing to see the valley right behind the motel that we hadn't even known was there the night before covered in nearly two feet of perfectly, unblemished snow.  It was magnificent!  I still remember how can anything as bad as an unexpected snow storm that leaves you stranded create anything so beautiful.  What an incredible difference a night made!  It wasn't long before the plows came over the mountain and we were able to return to campus, but I still remember the difference in the feeling of going to sleep not knowing how long we would be stranded, versus waking up to the absolute beauty of the morning.

Wouldn't it be wondeful if life change in critical areas of our life happened overnight.  How many nights have you gone to bed, just praying that things would be different in the morning?  Would you be ready for everything to be o.k. in the morning or would you be as shocked as I was at the beauty that lay just behind that old hotel.  In Psalm 90 the writer asks God for a break.  He wants him to take away the pain and have compassion.  Have you ever cried, "enough Lord?" 

Psalm 90¹³ Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. ¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. ¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble." 

The Psalmist asked more good days that would match bad years.  Bad stuff is going to happen.  There are going to be unexpected storms that interupt our plans for life.  God loves us in the midst of the storm.  Sometimes when you look just behind your unfortunate circumstances, he'll reveal a beautiful painting.  Sometimes it will happen so fast that you can't believe that it is real, even though you have been praying for that very thing for years.  Life change seldom happens over night, but joy does come on that morning of change!  I know it does because as a parent I am living in the joy of this moment in time!

Joy - Really?

James 1  ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Joy really?  When we face trials?  O.K. so it is probably not the joy that is seen in balloons and streamers.  We all face trials, but nothing like what I watched this week as I witnessed the persecution recorded on the Voice of the Martyrs website http://www.persecution.com/ . 

I just truly think that all Christians need to take some time to watch some of the videos there and find out specifically how to pray for people who are truly struggling. 

I still have caught myself complaining at times, but when I do I am reminding myself of those that are being persecuted on levels that I haven't ever experienced and that allows me to be a  little more joyful, knowing that things could be much worse.

Why Would They Follow?

I just reread the account from Mark's gospel of Jesus calling Levi (Matthew) to be a disciple?  Why would Matthew or Peter, Andrew, James or John, or any of the other seven guys just drop everything to follow Jesus?  At the time he called them He was just starting his public ministry.  He had done nothing that set him apart, they just followed.  Some guys left the family fishing business, nets in the boat, boats in the water and followed Jesus.  Why?  Matthew left his collection desk.  No telling how much ill gotten gain was under the table and he followed Jesus. Why?

I would love to know what it was about his character that made them want to follow.  My wife pointed out a few weeks ago how people followed his instructions at the wedding feast in Galilee.  The Bible specifically tells us it was the first miracle, so there was no evidence to them that a miracle was about to happen.  Mary's words were remarkable, "Do whatever He tells you to do!"  Why would they do that?  But they did!  BAM!  Water into wine and the ministry is on!  But why would they follow him?

Maybe the better question today is, "Why Don't We Follow?"  Two thousand years and millions of life changing miracles later, either directly from the hands of Jesus or the miracle of prayer.  We have seen Him work and we know what can happen and we still don't do what he says or follow his leading.

Oh when someone asks if we believe in Jesus the majority of people in the western hemisphere say yes.  But do we follow?  Why did those who had no clue choose to follow? 

Could it be that they were at the end of their hope rope?  They had tried everything on their own and they didn't know what else to try.  Matthew had cheated people out of so much money that his only remaining friends were fellow tax collectors.  Peter, Andrew, James and John were smelly fishermen with calloused hands and aching backs that needed some hope and relief that there was more to life than just this hard labor.  The servants at the wedding feast were probably terrified of how the master would react when the wine was gone.  When people come to the end of their hope rope they will do things that they have never done before.  They will follow anything or anyone that might offer hope. 

So how much longer can you hang on to the non-Messianic undivine hope rope you are grasping?  What is it going to take to realize that your marriage will never be all that is could be without Jesus?  That your children are never going to be truly obedient without Jesus?  That the money will not last no matter how hard you try without Jesus?  That the addiction will never be conquered without Jesus?   When you have tried it all on your own and you find your loosing your grip on that hope rope, follow Jesus!

But here is the best question, why wait that long?

I'd love to hear soem stories of why you chose to follow.  Or even why you haven't!

The Evidence of Things Unseen

Why does life have to be so hard?  Have you ever caught yourself asking that question?  Maybe I should ask how many days, hours or minutes has it been since you asked that question.  In this world of instant everything, some seem to think that there should be "instant peace" in the life of someone who claims to be a Christian, at least that is, if God, the Bible and Jesus are all really real. 

How does that balance with Jesus himself telling us in Matthew 5 to ⁴⁴  love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  Everyone has tough times, the evil and the good, the righteous and the unrighteous.  I have learned in the midst of the storm I just want to see the outcome.  How is this thing going to end?  Will I survive this turmoil in my life?  While that would most definitely be nice, it wouldn't be faith now would it.  At the moment we know it, it is fact not faith!

The writer of Hebrews in the introduction to that great Hall of Fame of Faith in Hebrews 11 wrote  ¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.    You and I have to believe in some things that we cannot see.

Yesterday I heard an interview with a blind cross country runner.  Talk about faith in what we cannot see.  This coach has to be faster than the runner and able to run just barely ahead and given commands as to direction for one who literally can't see the way.  Can you even imagine running as hard as you can, even if it is not very fast by comparsion, and not being able to see what is coming, except through the eyes of someone else?  Warning you to go left or right, faaster or slower, run uphill or down, watch out for that hole in the path.

Here's the deal gang, if the Bible is true that is exactly what God promises us that the Holy Spirit will do.

Nehemiah 9

¹⁹ “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. ²⁰ You gave your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.

Isaiah 58
¹¹ The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will
strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

John 16
¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.

The evidence of things unseen ... thank you God ... stregthen my FAITH!

I Still Don't Know What to Say

I choose to believe 100% in an omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), omnipresent (always there) God!!! Without choosing to believe that this is nothing but and evil existence that will someday end in death for all of us.  To not believe this leaves humanity to live hopeless and helpless lives.  To believe it leaves humanity with some very difficult days here on this earth and yet a very bright future in the end.

But does He really cause everything that happens to happen for a reason.  If he is omniscient in that he knows how I will always respond and in turn is causing events to happen to change me, then is it my free will or his.  Am I choosing to follow Him or being manipulated like a puppet on a string? 

Can that God who is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, bring good out of an absolutely horrible situation?  You bet He can!!

It is amazing to me how the most painful hurts in life have taught me the most.  The older I get the more I have to learn and the more I admit that I don't know.  I am a whole lot more judgmental of myself than I am of others.  I don't have all the answers anymore, not that I ever did but at least now I realize I don't.  I have learned how easy it is to come up short and not be successful.  I understand grace so much more, because I have experienced it so much more. The interesting thing is that the few lessons I have learned have almost always come out of failure on my part.  Not something someone else did and certainly not something God caused to happen.  You see I can't blame Him for my dumb choices.  But in the midst of the storms I have seen the hand of God at work.  I still don't understand the storms, but I know that he is there.  I wish I knew what lesson it is that I have not yet learned, because I would sure like to learn.

I get tired and frustrated a lot and I don't know what to say, but I try to keep on reaching.  Keep on reaching for answers, keep on reaching for understanding, keep on reaching for God and keep on reaching to pull others.  For me I have determined that I have two hands so that I can reach out for God and reach out to others at the same time.  I am reaching out for the God that is working things out for my good not causing bad things to happen for a reason.  Satan keeps bringing the bad and will as long as he is loose, but God just keeps working all things out for the good based on two qualifiers from scripture.  Romans 8:28 tells us He is working things out for the good of those who LOVE HIM and are FOLLOWING HIS CALLING on his life.  We can't live like hell and expect God to work things out.

I choose to believe 100% in an omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), omnipresent (always there) God!!! Without choosing to believe that this is nothing but and evil existence that will someday end in death for all of us. To not believe this leaves humanity to live hopeless and helpless lives. To believe it leaves humanity with some very difficult days here on this earth and yet a very bright future in the end.

I Don't Know What to Say

Those of you that know me, know that there are very few times in life that I can't find anything to say!  I find myself though exactly at that place.  I really don't know what is going on in the world.  I jokingly told everyone on Sunday that I knew in my heart that Mr. Camping was wrong, but had hoped he was right.  Sometimes true honestly is spoken in jest.  Maybe that is exactly what I was longing for, especially after seeing what happened in Joplin MO on Sunday night. 

I guess it is just because I have been to Joplin so many times in the 1980's and 1990's when I was a youth pastor and I stayed in motels on Rangeline that are gone now.  I ate in restraunts that are gone now.  I just spent some time on Ozark Christian College's Facebook page and though the campus wasn't effected structurally, it will never be the same.  Homes of employees totally destroyed, family and friends missing, and to date one student known dead in an off campus apartment.

Last Facebook post of Natalia Puebla, the OCC student who died in the tornado: "No guilt in life, no fear of death-this is the power of Christ in me.From life's first cry til final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, could ever pluck me from His hand. Til He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I live."  What gives a seventeen year old girl the courage to write that moments before Jesus welcomes her home?

I watched a YouTube video from my friend Kyle Idleman, who grew up in Joplin when his dad was president of OCC.  He is in Joplin helping and posted and incredible video of a church that was completely destroyed except for the cross, which was still standing.  Another picture of the Bendville Christian Church shows everything in a pile except for the back wall with the baptistry and the cross still standing.

I don't know what to say, but this is what I know, GOD DID NOT CAUSE THIS!!!!  He can and will work through this but he did not cause this.  If God allows me to this Sunday I will preach on the myth, urban legend, false teaching or whatever you want to call it when people say "everything happens for a reason". As if God is somehow behind this throwing tornados from the sky, tsunamis from the ocean as a punishment of some sort or even as a way to get even with a broken world. The world is broken that is why things aren't always the way we wish they were. God wanted us to live in total peace.  In a world void of tornados, tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, divorce, cancer, heart disease and broken families.  That all changed in Genesis 3!  Ever since that time God has been doing everything he can to help us make good choices even in difficult times, but he is not causing these things to happen.  He didn't cause them for a reason.  He can and will work things out for good for those who love Him and are following His call on them, but he is not causing tornadoes and other devastation.  He works in the midst of the devastation, but he doesn't cause the devastation or find any level of joy in the devastation.  But there is one who does ...

When the devastating events of this life, that were brought on as sin entered the world, happen there is one that takes great joy.  He doesn't cause individual events, but the sin that he ushered into the world set a path of devastation into the world that is the result of or the consequences of a broken fallen world.  Killer tornadoes and tsunamis and cancer and divorce are not part of God's plan, they come straight from the pits of hell from the moment that Satan ushered sin into the world.

I don't get it, I don't know what to say.  I am hurt, I am mad, but most of all I am confused.   Faith doesn't fix everything and everything doesn't happen for a reason.  But in the midst of my confusion I CHOOSE to hang on to these simple truths, GOD IS GOD AND I AM NOT, HE IS STILL ON THE THRONE AND HE LOVES ME WHEN NOT EVEN I UNDERSTAND WHY ... and that leaves me speechless ...