I saw a beautiful example this morning of the church that I wanted to share with all...
This morning during worship, a young girl in front of me sat down fairly abruptly and then began having seizures. The woman next to me quickly grabbed her and began calling for help, while my friend Chris immediately called 9-11. Her brother quickly hopped the pews and returned with a glass of water for the girl, and the band continued playing lightly to ease the calm of the rest of the congregation. Thankfully a few doctors were in attendance, as they quickly rushed to the aid of this girl, taking her out of the sanctuary in a wheel chair. I, like many others, simply just sat down and began interceding for the girl.
While this is quite a graphic image, I cannot help but think what the situation would have been like if one of those individuals had not done their part. If the woman had not signaled for help, how long would that girl have been there before someone noticed? If the doctors had not rushed over, who would have known what to do? If the congregation would not have begun praying for the girl, what would have been the end result? Thankfully I attend a church that loves and cares for one another, and each individual did exactly what they needed to do to ensure the girl's safety.
Is this not the same illustration that Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians 12? In that passage, he starts by stating in verses 4-7:
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
In this passage we see that different gifts are given to different individuals for the common good of the overall body (the church). Paul then continues in the rest of this passage by discussing some of the different gifts that individuals may have, as well as declaring none to be superior. What benefit would the doctors have been had not the woman cried for help? What benefit would the prayer warriors have been had not someone informed them of how to pray? What benefit would any of these people have been had not the others done their part?
The human body is uniquely designed to fully rely upon it's other parts. No part is superior, as all parts are necessary in carrying out the overall function of the body. No foot can say to a hand, "I have no need of you", just like no eye can say to an ear, "I have no need of you" (vss. 15-16). "But now God has placed the members, each of them, in the body, just as He desired" (vs. 18).
Now if I can, I want to step out of the context of the beautiful image that I saw this morning and step into the application of the overall, universal church. What role have you been given in the overall mission? What gifts has God given you to advance His kingdom and bring Him glory?
Just like the human body, the church body is also uniquely designed to fully rely upon it's other parts. It is designed in such a way that if one member fails to do his job, the entire body collapses. Are you doing your part, performing the duties that God has given you? Or are you neglecting them, not only effecting yourself but also the entire church?
In closing, I want to reflect on a story that I heard a couple of years ago that I find extremely applicable:
There was a young, mentally-challenged boy who was entered into 50 meter dash at the Special Olympics. His parents were in attendance and watched in anticipation as their son approached the starting line. As the gun went off, all the other boys and girls took off, leaving this young boy way behind. It took him nearly double the amount of time to finish the race as the other children.
When the results came in, the parents were shocked to hear that the boy was being awarded a top three medal. After all, he had finished way behind everyone else. As the ceremony went on, they found out that he had not only finished in the top three, but he had actually won the gold medal! Confused, the parents approached the judge to ask how this could be. How was it that their son had won the gold despite finishing so far behind? The judge responded, "Well he is the only one who stayed in his lane."
It is so easy to look into the other lanes and compare ourselves to the other people. "That person has the gift of evangelism, and that person has the gift of teaching. I could never live up to that." But we are not called to compare ourselves to others, nor are we called to live up to the roles of other individuals. We are just called to do our part.
God has given you, as an individual, a unique role that is essential to the Christian body. No one else can play your part. Without you, the church will not be able to run as it intends to run. Without you, it will not be as effective. Will you do your part in sustaining the body of Christ? Will you stop looking in other peoples' lanes and just start running in the lane that God has put you in?
I want to thank River Cities Community Church for the way that they illustrated this to me this morning. There are also dozens of other churches that I have been to that have illustrated this, as well, over the past many years. But let not this one instance be an excuse for not illustrating the body of Christ every other time. And let not this message slip by without you examining your gifts and the ways in which you can serve the church.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Living a Life Worthy of the Gospel
There is a reoccurring theme in my studies over the past couple of days that I feel like I need to share. I don't think that this is a message simply for me, but I feel like it is a message for all who claim to follow Christ...
This morning in Sunday School we were studying Ephesians 4, where Paul opens by imploring the church to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling." I found this quite ironic since just a day ago I was listening to a sermon on Philippians 1:27 which talks of walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel. What does this mean to walk in a worthy manner? How does this apply to our lives?
This idea of being worthy is illustrated by one of those old justice scales. To live in a way worthy of the Gospel means that if you were to put the Gospel, or God's word, on one side of the scale and our lives on the other side, they would balance out. But how many of us can actually say this about our life? How many of us truly walk in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel?
I came across an article that was written by an anonymous Christian author in Germany, who witnessed the Holocaust. He writes:
"I lived in Germany during the Nazi holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews, but like most people today in this country, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it? A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when one Sunday we noticed cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. They were like cattle in those cars! Week after week that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We could do nothing to help these poor miserable people, yet their screams tormented us. We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. By the time that train came rumbling past the church yard, we were singing at the top of our voices. If some of the screams reached our ears, we’d just sing a little louder until we could hear them no more. Years have passed and no one talks about it much anymore, but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene."
Now looking back at that story, I find it easy to judge. It is easy to criticize that church for not stepping in and for simply just singing louder. But could the same not be said of us? Look at all the pain in the world; look at all the poverty. Just look at the events in the Middle East over the past week and you can see how desperate the world is for a Savior. They are desperate for someone to intervene. But what are we doing about it?
I don't want to be in a situation years from now where I am writing an article about how I didn't step in to help someone or how my church just looked the other way. And so with that said, I am asking us now to take a stand and start being that light to the world that we are commanded to be (Matthew 5:14).
But what will be our response? Are we going to step in and actually make an impact on the world or are we just going to sing louder? Are we just going to continue on with the mindset that the church was made for us or are we going to understand that the church was made for the world?
I admit that there are many areas of my life that are worthy of the Gospel, but there is so much more that is unworthy. It is my goal to make my life match up with Scripture. I want that scale to balance. I know that it is a tough task but I want to challenge you to join me in this mission of walking in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel. Are you with me?
I would love to get some comments about how God is challenging you to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel. You can either email them to me at r9tmac@gmail.com, or you can simply just reply to this post for all to see. Let's join in praying for one another as well.
This morning in Sunday School we were studying Ephesians 4, where Paul opens by imploring the church to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling." I found this quite ironic since just a day ago I was listening to a sermon on Philippians 1:27 which talks of walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel. What does this mean to walk in a worthy manner? How does this apply to our lives?
This idea of being worthy is illustrated by one of those old justice scales. To live in a way worthy of the Gospel means that if you were to put the Gospel, or God's word, on one side of the scale and our lives on the other side, they would balance out. But how many of us can actually say this about our life? How many of us truly walk in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel?
I came across an article that was written by an anonymous Christian author in Germany, who witnessed the Holocaust. He writes:
"I lived in Germany during the Nazi holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews, but like most people today in this country, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it? A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when one Sunday we noticed cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. They were like cattle in those cars! Week after week that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We could do nothing to help these poor miserable people, yet their screams tormented us. We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. By the time that train came rumbling past the church yard, we were singing at the top of our voices. If some of the screams reached our ears, we’d just sing a little louder until we could hear them no more. Years have passed and no one talks about it much anymore, but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene."
Now looking back at that story, I find it easy to judge. It is easy to criticize that church for not stepping in and for simply just singing louder. But could the same not be said of us? Look at all the pain in the world; look at all the poverty. Just look at the events in the Middle East over the past week and you can see how desperate the world is for a Savior. They are desperate for someone to intervene. But what are we doing about it?
I don't want to be in a situation years from now where I am writing an article about how I didn't step in to help someone or how my church just looked the other way. And so with that said, I am asking us now to take a stand and start being that light to the world that we are commanded to be (Matthew 5:14).
But what will be our response? Are we going to step in and actually make an impact on the world or are we just going to sing louder? Are we just going to continue on with the mindset that the church was made for us or are we going to understand that the church was made for the world?
I admit that there are many areas of my life that are worthy of the Gospel, but there is so much more that is unworthy. It is my goal to make my life match up with Scripture. I want that scale to balance. I know that it is a tough task but I want to challenge you to join me in this mission of walking in a manner that is worthy of the Gospel. Are you with me?
I would love to get some comments about how God is challenging you to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel. You can either email them to me at r9tmac@gmail.com, or you can simply just reply to this post for all to see. Let's join in praying for one another as well.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
God With Us
Let's forget about the traditions, the lights, the carols, the presents. Let's forget about Santa, and about the reindeer, and the elves. Let's forget about all of these things for just a moment to consider what really happened that morning when Christ was born...
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
Immanuel, literally "God with us". Have you ever thought about that concept? The God of Moses, and of Abraham, and of David, the God who created the heavens and the earth, the God who lead the Israelites out of bondage, and the One whose glory could not be seen. That very same God, more than 2000 years ago embodied Himself, "making Himself nothing, taking on the form of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Philippians 2:7). He came in the form of an infant, being born of a virgin so that He could escape being born into sin. He came, not to be served, "but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). He came as a infant; He came as a lamb; He came as a sacrifice.
It is so tempting today to separate the birth of Jesus from the cross of Jesus. We get so caught up in the traditions of Christmas that we forget about the purpose of Christmas. Jesus did not come simply so that wisemen would bring gifts to Him; rather He came so that He might bridge the gulf between God and man that was created by man's failure to live up to God's glory (Romans 3:23-26).
See, because of our sin, we were at opposition to God. God was holy and perfect, and man was not. We were therefore unable to plead our case before God. We needed someone to mediate between us, someone who could represent both parties. We needed someone who was fully God, to represent God, but fully man, to represent man. There could be no other solution. Who was to do this?
This is the story of Christmas, that on that blessed day, and in that manger, our Mediator, our Saviour, our Redeemer, came in the form of a child. "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
"But why, we may ask, would He who was eternally blessed in His own self-sufficiency be so deeply concerned with our lost, forlorn condition? What moved Him to show us compassion and pity? Why did He delight to be our Saviour? Did He see something wonderful in us? No. It was merely the infinite love and goodness of His own nature and not anything in us or of us that moved Him to such compassion and pity for us (Titus 3:5)...
So, driven by His eternal love to undertake the office of mediator and the work of our redemption, a body was prepared for Him. In this body, or human nature, which He made His own He was to accomplish our salvation. His human nature was filled with immeasurable grace and fervent love to mankind. And by this His human nature was made fit to work out the purpose of eternal love."
- John Owen, The Glory of Christ
The story of Christmas is not that a baby was born. The story of Christmas is that the Word, who was God, became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). It is a story of God stepping out of His glory and stepping into time, stepping into a world that esteemed Him not, stepping onto an alter to die. It is a story of an incredible act of love and of grace. It is a story that brings about our salvation.
This Christmas, I challenge you to step away from the traditions for a moment and to consider the true meaning of Christmas. Reflect on what it would be like had Jesus not come. Don't get so caught up in the business that you miss the worship. Don't get so caught up in yourself that you miss His coming.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
Immanuel, literally "God with us". Have you ever thought about that concept? The God of Moses, and of Abraham, and of David, the God who created the heavens and the earth, the God who lead the Israelites out of bondage, and the One whose glory could not be seen. That very same God, more than 2000 years ago embodied Himself, "making Himself nothing, taking on the form of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Philippians 2:7). He came in the form of an infant, being born of a virgin so that He could escape being born into sin. He came, not to be served, "but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). He came as a infant; He came as a lamb; He came as a sacrifice.
It is so tempting today to separate the birth of Jesus from the cross of Jesus. We get so caught up in the traditions of Christmas that we forget about the purpose of Christmas. Jesus did not come simply so that wisemen would bring gifts to Him; rather He came so that He might bridge the gulf between God and man that was created by man's failure to live up to God's glory (Romans 3:23-26).
See, because of our sin, we were at opposition to God. God was holy and perfect, and man was not. We were therefore unable to plead our case before God. We needed someone to mediate between us, someone who could represent both parties. We needed someone who was fully God, to represent God, but fully man, to represent man. There could be no other solution. Who was to do this?
This is the story of Christmas, that on that blessed day, and in that manger, our Mediator, our Saviour, our Redeemer, came in the form of a child. "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).
"But why, we may ask, would He who was eternally blessed in His own self-sufficiency be so deeply concerned with our lost, forlorn condition? What moved Him to show us compassion and pity? Why did He delight to be our Saviour? Did He see something wonderful in us? No. It was merely the infinite love and goodness of His own nature and not anything in us or of us that moved Him to such compassion and pity for us (Titus 3:5)...
So, driven by His eternal love to undertake the office of mediator and the work of our redemption, a body was prepared for Him. In this body, or human nature, which He made His own He was to accomplish our salvation. His human nature was filled with immeasurable grace and fervent love to mankind. And by this His human nature was made fit to work out the purpose of eternal love."
- John Owen, The Glory of Christ
The story of Christmas is not that a baby was born. The story of Christmas is that the Word, who was God, became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). It is a story of God stepping out of His glory and stepping into time, stepping into a world that esteemed Him not, stepping onto an alter to die. It is a story of an incredible act of love and of grace. It is a story that brings about our salvation.
This Christmas, I challenge you to step away from the traditions for a moment and to consider the true meaning of Christmas. Reflect on what it would be like had Jesus not come. Don't get so caught up in the business that you miss the worship. Don't get so caught up in yourself that you miss His coming.
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14)
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Do What It Says!
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."
-James 1:22
With Christmas break fast approaching, so also comes an increase in the number of Christian conferences. Within just a matter of weeks comes the Passion Conference, the Campus Crusade conference, the Impact conference, the Athletes in Action conference, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes conference, just to name a few. Conference after conference, meeting after meeting, all filled with Biblical truth and encouragement, designed to draw believers closer to Christ and equip them to go back to their college campuses or work environments and spread the Gospel of Christ.
But does that really happen?
America is blessed with so much Biblical truth. At our fingertips, we have access to a vast array of Bible translations, commentaries, sermons, books, and other things that enhance our understanding of scripture. We have millions of churches, thousands of Christian bookstores, and hundreds of seminaries. No longer does one have to understand Greek or Hebrew in order to get the complete understanding of the Word of God, but now we can just simply go to any number of websites or download any of the various free Bible software programs and find out exactly what the author is saying. What an incredible thing it is to have all of these resources!
But when does it become enough? At what point do we stop simply listening and actually start doing?
The statistic among church-goers is that 67% either never read or they rarely read their Bible. While this is happening here, 353 million people in the world have absolutely zero access to the Bible, meaning no translation in their language. That does not include the more than 2 billion people that only have a small portion of the Bible in their language.
How many more conferences do we need to go to before our lives change? How many more sermons do we need to listen to before we finally respond? While I understand the necessity of these things, I just wonder what the majority of people are coming away with. Do you ever find it sad that pastors have to preach on themes over a period of time? For instance, "this month the theme is tithing". A whole month is spent looking at different aspects of tithing and at the end of the month, there is very little to show for it. Why can't we just hear the Word of God and respond?
The Bible makes it clear that we will be judged according to what has been given to us. 'To whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48). And in this nation, so much has been given to us. What are we doing with it?
We don't need any more conferences. We don't need any more Bible studies. We don't need any more sermons. We need people to start doing what God tells us. I am not advocating abandoning these things, as I am going to 2 conferences in the next couple of months and will be a part of many Bible studies and sermons. But these things are completely useless and are a huge waste of money and time for you if you are simply just looking for emotions, or to fill up a notebook. You might as well just stay at home. If the words never leave your notebook and your life never applies these truths, then what is the point?
James instructs us, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Let's go church. Let's wake up and start living in the way that God has called us to live!
Here is one of my favorite illustrations concerning this topic: Imagine that you inherited a large sum of money and you decided to spend all of it on Super Bowl tickets right on the 50 yard line to see Jay Cutler and the Bears (I usually use Peyton Manning in my example, but with the way this season is going so far, the Bears would be a better investment). On the first drive of the game, Cutler leads the offense out onto the field and they huddle up. After deciding a play they break…and then they run straight to the sideline.
“Okay,” you think, “maybe they called a timeout.” So a few seconds later, Cutler and the Bears run back out onto the field and they once again huddle up. They choose another play and then they break…and they go right back to the sideline.
Well after a while, you are probably going to get pretty frustrated. You drove all this way and paid all of your money to see these guys play football, not simply just huddle up.
But church, is this not the same thing that the majority of us do every conference, or every Sunday? We gather together, we huddle up, and we get all of this Biblical truth that is guaranteed to succeed…and then we go straight back to the sideline. The conference had no long term effect on us and our lives look exactly the same. But I’m here to tell you first hand that the world is tired of seeing us have all these conferences and come home looking no different. They’re tired of seeing us simply huddle up. They want to see us run the play. So let’s go church! Let’s play ball!
As we enter into this season of many conferences, or extra church services with the holidays, make a declaration in your mind that you will no longer simply just read the Word of God and close the book, but that you would actually do what it says. Don't treat it like legalism, checking things off as you do them. Let the Word enter into your heart in such a way that it changes who you are, and make a conscious effort to glorify God in everything that you have, say, and do.
-James 1:22
With Christmas break fast approaching, so also comes an increase in the number of Christian conferences. Within just a matter of weeks comes the Passion Conference, the Campus Crusade conference, the Impact conference, the Athletes in Action conference, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes conference, just to name a few. Conference after conference, meeting after meeting, all filled with Biblical truth and encouragement, designed to draw believers closer to Christ and equip them to go back to their college campuses or work environments and spread the Gospel of Christ.
But does that really happen?
America is blessed with so much Biblical truth. At our fingertips, we have access to a vast array of Bible translations, commentaries, sermons, books, and other things that enhance our understanding of scripture. We have millions of churches, thousands of Christian bookstores, and hundreds of seminaries. No longer does one have to understand Greek or Hebrew in order to get the complete understanding of the Word of God, but now we can just simply go to any number of websites or download any of the various free Bible software programs and find out exactly what the author is saying. What an incredible thing it is to have all of these resources!
But when does it become enough? At what point do we stop simply listening and actually start doing?
The statistic among church-goers is that 67% either never read or they rarely read their Bible. While this is happening here, 353 million people in the world have absolutely zero access to the Bible, meaning no translation in their language. That does not include the more than 2 billion people that only have a small portion of the Bible in their language.
How many more conferences do we need to go to before our lives change? How many more sermons do we need to listen to before we finally respond? While I understand the necessity of these things, I just wonder what the majority of people are coming away with. Do you ever find it sad that pastors have to preach on themes over a period of time? For instance, "this month the theme is tithing". A whole month is spent looking at different aspects of tithing and at the end of the month, there is very little to show for it. Why can't we just hear the Word of God and respond?
The Bible makes it clear that we will be judged according to what has been given to us. 'To whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48). And in this nation, so much has been given to us. What are we doing with it?
We don't need any more conferences. We don't need any more Bible studies. We don't need any more sermons. We need people to start doing what God tells us. I am not advocating abandoning these things, as I am going to 2 conferences in the next couple of months and will be a part of many Bible studies and sermons. But these things are completely useless and are a huge waste of money and time for you if you are simply just looking for emotions, or to fill up a notebook. You might as well just stay at home. If the words never leave your notebook and your life never applies these truths, then what is the point?
James instructs us, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Let's go church. Let's wake up and start living in the way that God has called us to live!
Here is one of my favorite illustrations concerning this topic: Imagine that you inherited a large sum of money and you decided to spend all of it on Super Bowl tickets right on the 50 yard line to see Jay Cutler and the Bears (I usually use Peyton Manning in my example, but with the way this season is going so far, the Bears would be a better investment). On the first drive of the game, Cutler leads the offense out onto the field and they huddle up. After deciding a play they break…and then they run straight to the sideline.
“Okay,” you think, “maybe they called a timeout.” So a few seconds later, Cutler and the Bears run back out onto the field and they once again huddle up. They choose another play and then they break…and they go right back to the sideline.
Well after a while, you are probably going to get pretty frustrated. You drove all this way and paid all of your money to see these guys play football, not simply just huddle up.
But church, is this not the same thing that the majority of us do every conference, or every Sunday? We gather together, we huddle up, and we get all of this Biblical truth that is guaranteed to succeed…and then we go straight back to the sideline. The conference had no long term effect on us and our lives look exactly the same. But I’m here to tell you first hand that the world is tired of seeing us have all these conferences and come home looking no different. They’re tired of seeing us simply huddle up. They want to see us run the play. So let’s go church! Let’s play ball!
As we enter into this season of many conferences, or extra church services with the holidays, make a declaration in your mind that you will no longer simply just read the Word of God and close the book, but that you would actually do what it says. Don't treat it like legalism, checking things off as you do them. Let the Word enter into your heart in such a way that it changes who you are, and make a conscious effort to glorify God in everything that you have, say, and do.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Have You Left Your First Love?
"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent.'"
-Revelation 2:1-5
What pain it must bring to hear the words of your spouse say, "Honey, I have found someone else." I can't even begin to imagine the hurt and the sorrow that comes in that moment. The one whom you loved and the one whom you sacrificed so much of your life for has now left you in pursuit of someone else. This is usually caused by an act of sin, usually lust or just following the standards of the world. The world says that you should keep upgrading, and that is why you trade in your car for a newer one, and you sell your computer for a newer one, and consequently you leave your spouse to pursue a younger, more attractive one. But you have left your first love.
While I, and a lot of others, cannot relate to this physical idea of divorce, we can understand it on a spiritual level. In the passage quoted above, God was pleading with the church of Ephesus to return to Him. The city that once walked in His statutes, and was the center for missions to the continent of Asia, had now turned her back on God. She was no longer worshiping Him and she was going her own way. She had left her first love.
This same theme was carried throughout the Old Testament. In 1 Kings 5-9, you find the narrative of Solomon building the Temple for God. Within this Temple, the presence of God would exist and all of His glory would shine forth. But within just a few generations, you come across Psalm 74 (which I encourage you to read) and God no longer dwells in the Temple. The psalmist asks the question, "God, why have you rejected us forever?" In the Message translation it says, "You walked off and left us, and never looked back. God, how could you do that?" But where was God going to dwell? Even Jesus tells us that the Temple was turned into a 'den of robbers' (Matthew 21:13). Where was God to live? Where was He to reside and show His glory? The Temple had become corrupt and had turned from the worship of God. They left their first love and pursued wealth, and entertainment, and worldly pleasures.
Let me ask you this question: Does God dwell in your church today? When people come and congregate in worship, do they sense the presence of the living God? Is there room for Him? So many churches today have cluttered their sanctuaries with entertainment, and with graven images, and with false doctrines. Is your church one of them? Has your church left her first love?
On a more personal level, does God dwell in you? I am not asking if you have received Him or accepted His free gift of salvation. But rather, I am asking if you allow Him to dwell in your heart; to take reign over it. Or have you cluttered it up with matters of the world and things that won't last into eternity? Have you, personally, left your first love?
I am scared to see where this generation is heading. By just observing the worldly conflicts, the increased amount of injustice, and the incline of social immorality, it is quite clear that the end is coming. But what state are we going to be in when Jesus returns? What is He going to discover about His bride, the church? Is she going to be adorned with beauty, unstained by the world, still pure, and waiting for her Groom? Or is she going to be lost in deception, covered in filth, and have left her first love?
"Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause" (Psalm 74:22). Wake us up to Your glory, wake us up to Your love. Draw us near to You and protect us from the world. Be our God and may we be Your bride. We wait eagerly for You, LORD, please come soon. Please come soon!
-Revelation 2:1-5
What pain it must bring to hear the words of your spouse say, "Honey, I have found someone else." I can't even begin to imagine the hurt and the sorrow that comes in that moment. The one whom you loved and the one whom you sacrificed so much of your life for has now left you in pursuit of someone else. This is usually caused by an act of sin, usually lust or just following the standards of the world. The world says that you should keep upgrading, and that is why you trade in your car for a newer one, and you sell your computer for a newer one, and consequently you leave your spouse to pursue a younger, more attractive one. But you have left your first love.
While I, and a lot of others, cannot relate to this physical idea of divorce, we can understand it on a spiritual level. In the passage quoted above, God was pleading with the church of Ephesus to return to Him. The city that once walked in His statutes, and was the center for missions to the continent of Asia, had now turned her back on God. She was no longer worshiping Him and she was going her own way. She had left her first love.
This same theme was carried throughout the Old Testament. In 1 Kings 5-9, you find the narrative of Solomon building the Temple for God. Within this Temple, the presence of God would exist and all of His glory would shine forth. But within just a few generations, you come across Psalm 74 (which I encourage you to read) and God no longer dwells in the Temple. The psalmist asks the question, "God, why have you rejected us forever?" In the Message translation it says, "You walked off and left us, and never looked back. God, how could you do that?" But where was God going to dwell? Even Jesus tells us that the Temple was turned into a 'den of robbers' (Matthew 21:13). Where was God to live? Where was He to reside and show His glory? The Temple had become corrupt and had turned from the worship of God. They left their first love and pursued wealth, and entertainment, and worldly pleasures.
Let me ask you this question: Does God dwell in your church today? When people come and congregate in worship, do they sense the presence of the living God? Is there room for Him? So many churches today have cluttered their sanctuaries with entertainment, and with graven images, and with false doctrines. Is your church one of them? Has your church left her first love?
On a more personal level, does God dwell in you? I am not asking if you have received Him or accepted His free gift of salvation. But rather, I am asking if you allow Him to dwell in your heart; to take reign over it. Or have you cluttered it up with matters of the world and things that won't last into eternity? Have you, personally, left your first love?
I am scared to see where this generation is heading. By just observing the worldly conflicts, the increased amount of injustice, and the incline of social immorality, it is quite clear that the end is coming. But what state are we going to be in when Jesus returns? What is He going to discover about His bride, the church? Is she going to be adorned with beauty, unstained by the world, still pure, and waiting for her Groom? Or is she going to be lost in deception, covered in filth, and have left her first love?
"Arise, O God, and plead Your own cause" (Psalm 74:22). Wake us up to Your glory, wake us up to Your love. Draw us near to You and protect us from the world. Be our God and may we be Your bride. We wait eagerly for You, LORD, please come soon. Please come soon!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
A Vision from God
It isn't a strange thing to hear about someone having a vision from God when you are overseas. In fact, being in Lebanon the past couple of summers, I have actually met a lot of people who have had some sort of vision. Most of the time, the person that I met had once been an unbeliever, or even opposed to God, and then they saw Jesus Christ in a dream and it forever changed their life. But on other occassions, and this is much more frequent, God speaks to someone through a dream, giving them a solution to a problem or giving them a vision for what He is going to do.
Many of you know that I am a computer science major and that this is my final year of school. In order to graduate, we have to do a senior project, displaying all of the knowledge that we have learned over our years at Marshall. The way that we do this is by partnering with an individual or a company and creating some sort of software for them to meet the needs of something that they are currently unable to do. Many people in my class partnered with local businesses or professors, but I got the great pleasure of partnering with Rick and Anita Gutierrez, the two missionaries that I met this summer in South Africa.
Patrick, my partner, and I have been hard at work this semester, developing software that analyzes the data that they currently collect when test the thickness of the carotid artery. (More information can be found on this by visiting my website at users.marshall.edu/~mcclure53).
Rick was at my house this past weekend, as he has come in for a couple of months to work on support raising. His wife and two boys will join him in a few weeks. Our goal was to have Release 1 done for Rick in time for this weekend so that he could test it on some patients in Michigan before heading back to South Africa. Release 1 simply just contains a way of calculating and analyzing the data and Release 2 will consist of a database and any other features that Rick decides will enhance his ministry.
Well of course whenever you start inputting real data, that is when all of the bugs come out. When the program crashes or when it calculates something wrong, that is usually an indication that there is an error in your code. With my hopes being able to give Rick the program on Friday night slowly growing dim, I knew that I had to start planning for many hours of work on it that weekend.
In total, probably an additional 10-15 hours were spent, fixing errors and making corrections to the design of the software to better fit Rick's liking. But there was one error that I came to that I just could not fix. I looked through the code over and over again (which takes a while when you have 10,000 lines of code), but I just could not seem to come up with the solution. That is when, on Saturday night, I told Rick that I would just have to concede and talk to Patrick or my professor the following week and just mail him a copy.
Saturday night I went to bed, and that is when I found out God knew Java programming language. I laid there in my bed having a dream where I was programming the software that I had been working on all semester. Please know that I do not dream about programming that often. In fact, I never had. But as I got to the point in my dream where the program usually crashed, that is when a solution was revealed to me. When I awoke, I immediately wrote down what I had seen, so as not to forget it while waking up. And then I went ahead and got ready for Sunday morning church.
Before church, I talked to my dad and shared with him what had happened that night. The more that I thought about what I had seen, the more I thought about how much sense it made. I had yet to implement the line of code into my program, but the more I thought, the more I was certain that it was going to work.
During the afternoon, I finally got around to sitting down at my laptop and inserting the line of code, exactly as I had seen it in my dream, and then I clicked the Start button. Up popped the program and everything was running perfectly! It was absolutely incredible!
A couple of hours later, Rick showed up and I was able to tell him about what happened and give him a working program. He joined me in praising God for what He had done during the night. No longer will Rick have to wait on the software, but now he can take it to Michigan and test it on patients to ensure that it works.
I so often think about Psalm 67, where it says that God blesses us so that we can bless the nations, who in turn worship God. Then when they worship God, God blesses them and they use those blessings to bless the nations. So the cycle continues. But that revelation that came to me that night was a way of God blessing me with the answer so that I could bless the nations. This software is more than just a tool to calculate and analyze data, it is a tool that will speed up the process of their calculations so that Rick and Anita can spend less time doing math and more time doing ministry.
If the cycle continues as it does in Psalm 67, and as I am confident that it will, this product that God has blessed us with will be a great tool in helping Rick and Anita reach the people of South Africa for Christ. It is such an incredible thing to be a part of His plan in this way.
My challenge to you, now, is to consider the ways that God has blessed you. What skills, knowledge, resources, or even dreams, has God given you that you can use to bless the nations. It is such a joy to be a part of what God is doing in the world, and in reality, that is the only thing that matters. How cool is it to think that what I am currently doing, or what you are currently doing, can help advance the kingdom of God around the world?
God speaks to us, and He blesses us, so that in turn we can share His name and spread His glory around the world.
Many of you know that I am a computer science major and that this is my final year of school. In order to graduate, we have to do a senior project, displaying all of the knowledge that we have learned over our years at Marshall. The way that we do this is by partnering with an individual or a company and creating some sort of software for them to meet the needs of something that they are currently unable to do. Many people in my class partnered with local businesses or professors, but I got the great pleasure of partnering with Rick and Anita Gutierrez, the two missionaries that I met this summer in South Africa.
Patrick, my partner, and I have been hard at work this semester, developing software that analyzes the data that they currently collect when test the thickness of the carotid artery. (More information can be found on this by visiting my website at users.marshall.edu/~mcclure53).
Rick was at my house this past weekend, as he has come in for a couple of months to work on support raising. His wife and two boys will join him in a few weeks. Our goal was to have Release 1 done for Rick in time for this weekend so that he could test it on some patients in Michigan before heading back to South Africa. Release 1 simply just contains a way of calculating and analyzing the data and Release 2 will consist of a database and any other features that Rick decides will enhance his ministry.
Well of course whenever you start inputting real data, that is when all of the bugs come out. When the program crashes or when it calculates something wrong, that is usually an indication that there is an error in your code. With my hopes being able to give Rick the program on Friday night slowly growing dim, I knew that I had to start planning for many hours of work on it that weekend.
In total, probably an additional 10-15 hours were spent, fixing errors and making corrections to the design of the software to better fit Rick's liking. But there was one error that I came to that I just could not fix. I looked through the code over and over again (which takes a while when you have 10,000 lines of code), but I just could not seem to come up with the solution. That is when, on Saturday night, I told Rick that I would just have to concede and talk to Patrick or my professor the following week and just mail him a copy.
Saturday night I went to bed, and that is when I found out God knew Java programming language. I laid there in my bed having a dream where I was programming the software that I had been working on all semester. Please know that I do not dream about programming that often. In fact, I never had. But as I got to the point in my dream where the program usually crashed, that is when a solution was revealed to me. When I awoke, I immediately wrote down what I had seen, so as not to forget it while waking up. And then I went ahead and got ready for Sunday morning church.
Before church, I talked to my dad and shared with him what had happened that night. The more that I thought about what I had seen, the more I thought about how much sense it made. I had yet to implement the line of code into my program, but the more I thought, the more I was certain that it was going to work.
During the afternoon, I finally got around to sitting down at my laptop and inserting the line of code, exactly as I had seen it in my dream, and then I clicked the Start button. Up popped the program and everything was running perfectly! It was absolutely incredible!
A couple of hours later, Rick showed up and I was able to tell him about what happened and give him a working program. He joined me in praising God for what He had done during the night. No longer will Rick have to wait on the software, but now he can take it to Michigan and test it on patients to ensure that it works.
I so often think about Psalm 67, where it says that God blesses us so that we can bless the nations, who in turn worship God. Then when they worship God, God blesses them and they use those blessings to bless the nations. So the cycle continues. But that revelation that came to me that night was a way of God blessing me with the answer so that I could bless the nations. This software is more than just a tool to calculate and analyze data, it is a tool that will speed up the process of their calculations so that Rick and Anita can spend less time doing math and more time doing ministry.
If the cycle continues as it does in Psalm 67, and as I am confident that it will, this product that God has blessed us with will be a great tool in helping Rick and Anita reach the people of South Africa for Christ. It is such an incredible thing to be a part of His plan in this way.
My challenge to you, now, is to consider the ways that God has blessed you. What skills, knowledge, resources, or even dreams, has God given you that you can use to bless the nations. It is such a joy to be a part of what God is doing in the world, and in reality, that is the only thing that matters. How cool is it to think that what I am currently doing, or what you are currently doing, can help advance the kingdom of God around the world?
God speaks to us, and He blesses us, so that in turn we can share His name and spread His glory around the world.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Exceeding the Limits of Love
One of the things people often share whenever they return home from another country is, "You really appreciate the things you have here at home." You return home from places like Africa, or Central America, or even other parts of this country, and you feel so blessed to have the gifts that you have. We don't have to live off a dollar a day. We don't have to go days without food or water. We are not exposed to some of the medical conditions that other places are exposed to. We truly are a blessed people.
But what do we do about those places that we visited? What do we do about the places that we hear about on the news or see pictures of? How quickly these images escape our minds whenever we get back into the routines of American life. We get busy and, well, we forget about them.
I have been wrestling in Scripture lately, wondering where to draw the line. As I turn the pages, I can't help but find verses regarding loving people and serving them. You have passages such as loving your enemies (Lk. 6:27) or loving the lepers (Mt. 8:1-3). You have passages talking about speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves (Pr. 31:8) and passages about loving widows and orphans (Ja. 1:27). You have God, Himself, who so loved the world (Jn. 3:16), and you have His Son telling us that we would be recognized as His disciples by our love (Jn. 13:35). All over the place, all you can see is love!
But where do you draw the line? I am not talking about drawing the line as to who we should love and when we should love. But I am asking how much should we love? To what extremity should we love?
Each time I read Scripture, I feel convicted because I recognize that my love is not at the level of God's love. He loved the world in such a way that He gave everything He had, namely Himself, and He went to the cross to die for us. That brings us to another love passage (Jn. 15:13). But are we really supposed to go to that length? Are we really supposed to love people to that extremity?
I recently read a book called "Radical" which has the theme of "taking back your faith from the American dream". In the book, author David Platt presents many different challenges, but one of the chapters that got me the most was labeled "American Wealth and a World of Poverty." I am not sure that anything was said in that chapter that necessarily stood out to me, other than the fact that I felt like I was looking at this list of all these people we are called to love and saw that I was doing a pretty poor job. I have been ministering among college students and athletes for a while. I have served among the homeless and I have even stepped out of my comfort zone to obey the Great Commission and go overseas a few times. But what about the other people we are called to love? Are we supposed to just fulfill a few of our duties and then let someone else love the rest? Or are we supposed to radically love everyone?
One Sunday morning as I was pondering this in my mind, I began thinking about the orphans of the world. Millions of kids all over the globe are orphans and many live off less than a dollar a day. As I quoted earlier, James 1:27 specifically talks about loving the orphans. What are we supposed to do with that passage? Are we supposed to obey it or should we just glance over it and hope someone else comes behind us and obeys it?
I wrestled with the thought of, "Are we supposed to love the world as a church, with each of us loving a particular people and then in whole, we love everyone?" or "Are we just commanded to love everyone individually and then as a church it is just intense love all the time?" I think that when you look at those two ideas, it is easy to identify the latter as correct.
That morning, I found that one way we can love the orphans and serve them is through supporting a kid through Compassion International. But as I recognized that, I began trying to justify myself. In my mind, I began wrestling with the idea, telling God, "I want to support a kid, but I really don't have money for that." He responded by implanting the thought, "It only takes 6 hours a week at minimum wage to support a kid for a month." (That is after taxes by the way). I then responded with the thought, "But I don't have a job. And nobody will hire me around my busy schedule. There is no way that is possible."
That was Sunday. Three days later, on Wednesday, it was possible. I passed by the student-athlete department and lo and behold, they are hiring tutors. After talking with them for just a few minutes, a schedule was made and work began on Friday, working around my schedule perfectly. This time I couldn't justify myself. God had put it on my heart to love and He had provided me the means to do so, now I had to obey.
Earlier this week I filled out the form, submitted the payment, and was given a 10 year-old boy from Indonesia named Kevin. More details will follow in the upcoming weeks and his information packet and contact information will come in the mail.
I guess the lesson I learned is that there is no limits to love. We are called to love everyone and if we don't have the means to love a certain person or a certain group, ask the LORD and He will provide it. I want to not just be a hearer of the Word, when I pass over passages on love, but I also want to be a doer. I want to be one characterized by love and I want people to recognize me as His disciple because of my love, rather, His love shining through me.
In closing, I want to challenge you to exceed your limits of love. Maybe God is calling you to join me in loving the orphans. Or maybe He is calling you to love someone else. But I want to share one line with you that appears on page 123 in the book Radical:
"I wonder at some points if I'm being irresponsible or unwise (about my money and possessions). But then I realize that there is never going to come a day when I stand before God and He looks at me and says, 'I wish you would have kept more for yourself.' I'm confident that God will take care of me."
But what do we do about those places that we visited? What do we do about the places that we hear about on the news or see pictures of? How quickly these images escape our minds whenever we get back into the routines of American life. We get busy and, well, we forget about them.
I have been wrestling in Scripture lately, wondering where to draw the line. As I turn the pages, I can't help but find verses regarding loving people and serving them. You have passages such as loving your enemies (Lk. 6:27) or loving the lepers (Mt. 8:1-3). You have passages talking about speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves (Pr. 31:8) and passages about loving widows and orphans (Ja. 1:27). You have God, Himself, who so loved the world (Jn. 3:16), and you have His Son telling us that we would be recognized as His disciples by our love (Jn. 13:35). All over the place, all you can see is love!
But where do you draw the line? I am not talking about drawing the line as to who we should love and when we should love. But I am asking how much should we love? To what extremity should we love?
Each time I read Scripture, I feel convicted because I recognize that my love is not at the level of God's love. He loved the world in such a way that He gave everything He had, namely Himself, and He went to the cross to die for us. That brings us to another love passage (Jn. 15:13). But are we really supposed to go to that length? Are we really supposed to love people to that extremity?
I recently read a book called "Radical" which has the theme of "taking back your faith from the American dream". In the book, author David Platt presents many different challenges, but one of the chapters that got me the most was labeled "American Wealth and a World of Poverty." I am not sure that anything was said in that chapter that necessarily stood out to me, other than the fact that I felt like I was looking at this list of all these people we are called to love and saw that I was doing a pretty poor job. I have been ministering among college students and athletes for a while. I have served among the homeless and I have even stepped out of my comfort zone to obey the Great Commission and go overseas a few times. But what about the other people we are called to love? Are we supposed to just fulfill a few of our duties and then let someone else love the rest? Or are we supposed to radically love everyone?
One Sunday morning as I was pondering this in my mind, I began thinking about the orphans of the world. Millions of kids all over the globe are orphans and many live off less than a dollar a day. As I quoted earlier, James 1:27 specifically talks about loving the orphans. What are we supposed to do with that passage? Are we supposed to obey it or should we just glance over it and hope someone else comes behind us and obeys it?
I wrestled with the thought of, "Are we supposed to love the world as a church, with each of us loving a particular people and then in whole, we love everyone?" or "Are we just commanded to love everyone individually and then as a church it is just intense love all the time?" I think that when you look at those two ideas, it is easy to identify the latter as correct.
That morning, I found that one way we can love the orphans and serve them is through supporting a kid through Compassion International. But as I recognized that, I began trying to justify myself. In my mind, I began wrestling with the idea, telling God, "I want to support a kid, but I really don't have money for that." He responded by implanting the thought, "It only takes 6 hours a week at minimum wage to support a kid for a month." (That is after taxes by the way). I then responded with the thought, "But I don't have a job. And nobody will hire me around my busy schedule. There is no way that is possible."
That was Sunday. Three days later, on Wednesday, it was possible. I passed by the student-athlete department and lo and behold, they are hiring tutors. After talking with them for just a few minutes, a schedule was made and work began on Friday, working around my schedule perfectly. This time I couldn't justify myself. God had put it on my heart to love and He had provided me the means to do so, now I had to obey.
Earlier this week I filled out the form, submitted the payment, and was given a 10 year-old boy from Indonesia named Kevin. More details will follow in the upcoming weeks and his information packet and contact information will come in the mail.
I guess the lesson I learned is that there is no limits to love. We are called to love everyone and if we don't have the means to love a certain person or a certain group, ask the LORD and He will provide it. I want to not just be a hearer of the Word, when I pass over passages on love, but I also want to be a doer. I want to be one characterized by love and I want people to recognize me as His disciple because of my love, rather, His love shining through me.
In closing, I want to challenge you to exceed your limits of love. Maybe God is calling you to join me in loving the orphans. Or maybe He is calling you to love someone else. But I want to share one line with you that appears on page 123 in the book Radical:
"I wonder at some points if I'm being irresponsible or unwise (about my money and possessions). But then I realize that there is never going to come a day when I stand before God and He looks at me and says, 'I wish you would have kept more for yourself.' I'm confident that God will take care of me."
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