Posted by David on May 23, 2010 under Bulletin Articles
In Matthew 9:1-8, Matthew recorded Jesus saying to a paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven. The entire discussion that followed did not focus on the paralyzed man. It focused on Jesus’ statement of forgiveness of sins. “How dare a mere mortal say this! Only God can forgive! This declaration is nothing short of blasphemy!”
Jesus, knowing the scribes’ thoughts, asked a question. “Which is the most difficult–to grant forgiveness or walking?” To show that he had the authority to forgive sins, Jesus enabled this paralyzed man to walk.
The point was emphatic and immediately visible: If Jesus could make the paralyzed walk, he had the power to forgive. The multitudes, awe-filled, glorified God for enabling Jesus to do what he did. They “got the point.” They recognized God as the source of Jesus’ power. God, not Jesus, was actually at work. This was no mortal act!
Consider two “think about” questions.
Question one: Why are humans so impressed with the visible? Forgiveness did not “Wow!” the witnesses, but a paralyzed man walking “Wowed!” the witnesses. Lesson: No matter what we say God does for us through Jesus Christ (forgiveness, redemption, sanctification, etc.), nothing “Wows!” the witnesses as will the way Jesus Christ changes us as people. How you treat your family, how you treat others, your ethics in your work, expressing your servant mentality, etc., will “Wow!” the witnesses.
Question two: Why do humans often fail to see the greater gifts? Forgiveness of sins trumps walking any day, under any circumstance, any time. If we had a choice between walking and forgiveness, which would we choose? May I speak for most of us? For many the answer would be, “We choose both!” We tend to be greedy, do we not? Wonder which we would choose in judgment?
Cherish all blessings! Never sell forgiveness! Selling forgiveness is never a bargain!
Posted by David on May 16, 2010 under Bulletin Articles
All of the gospels acknowledge the fact that Jesus was under the critical scrutiny of some of the best-trained Israelites (see Matthew 12:10, 19:3; Mark 3:2; Luke 11:53, 54; 23:10; John 8:6; etc.). Often he was “set up.” They asked, “Why did you do that?” Or, “What is your position on this?” Or, “What is your stance on this matter?”
Commonly, those who asked were well-trained religious leaders. Rarely did they ask to learn. Their motives involved finding fault, criticizing, attacking, or destroying his credibility. So they followed Jesus and his disciples in the fields and asked, “Why do you let them do that?” (Matthew 12:1-8.) Or, they wondered if he would heal on the Sabbath Day (Mark 3:1-6).
While Jesus’ teachings and actions blessed some, others were totally unimpressed. While some saw in Jesus hope, others regarded him to be a dangerous man who led people away from God. To some he was the Savior God promised, and to some he was a cunning servant of Satan. To some he was the promised way to God, and to some he opposed everything God valued. To some he announced God’s light, and to others he was the villain of darkness. To some he was the means to eternal life, and to some he destroyed their future opportunity for power and wealth.
Even today, not everyone sees the same thing when they look at Jesus. To some, Jesus embodies the joy bigger than death. To some, Jesus is the destruction of all fun. To some, he is the avenue to the greatest power this world has ever known. To some, he is a threat to power. To some, he is the means to wealth bigger than physical life. To some, his values are against physical wealth.
The truth is that it does not matter what others think about Jesus-pro or con! What matters is what you think about Jesus. To you, is he a Savior or a demon? In him do you find light or darkness? Direction or confusion? Life or death? Is he worth the investment of your life, or is he the stumbling block to all you value? When God asks you what you think of Jesus, will you bow out of necessity or out of desire? (Philippians 2:9-11)
Posted by David on May 9, 2010 under Bulletin Articles
Sandwiched between “the parable of the unjust steward” and the story of the rich man and Lazarus is an interesting verse. It is fascinating because a religiously conservative influence in “then” Jewish society “scoffed” at Jesus and his teachings. The Pharisees were the “main stream” voice for following scripture and returning to the ancient ways!
What is scoffing? Today, scoffing might be identified with these statements: “Surely you are not serious! You are kidding! Everyone knows it cannot work that way! That is ridiculous! God’s outlook does not allow such ridiculous thinking! Get serious!” In the Bible, scoffing is mocking or deriding.
Scoffing is too common among Christians. It often occurs when we seek to make society’s ways or values compatible with Jesus’ ways or values. If the call of society and the call of Jesus Christ are identical-at least similar-we can follow both Jesus and society if we avoid being a “bad” person. Hey, we could increase the appeal of being Christian if we can love money and love Jesus at the same time! If we could be Christian and live like everyone else, that would be great-hard choices would be eliminated!
Becoming a Christian is more than adopting a statement or agreeing with a declaration. It basically adopts a contrasting set of values. It is more than a list of “how tos”-how to worship, how to do church, etc. Christianity involves the courage to live as an example among people who say, “You are not serious! You have got to be kidding! Everyone knows that is not the way it works! That is ridiculous! Get serious!”
Being an example involves how you treat your spouse, your children, business, people you like, strangers, and even people you do not like. Most of all, it is about how you use life. These are not about rules and regulations, but about Jesus’ values in our lives.
Do you have the courage to follow Jesus to new values? Those values will make you an example! Those seeking hope will bless you for your courage to follow Jesus!
Posted by David on May 2, 2010 under Bulletin Articles
The majority of Christians want to change the daily behavior of all the living, but all the living-including some Christians-have no desire to change daily actions. Some love indulgence in evil. Some see no connection between our behavior and who we are-because we deliberately do bad things at times does not make us bad persons. Some do not believe evil exists-all behavior is explained by personal conditioning, environment, and chemical reactions. Obviously, people’s behavior is a complex consideration!
“Joining a church” does not necessarily change behavior-there are “bad” people in all congregations. Exerting power over people does not change people-when the power which demands conformity is removed, most people revert to old behaviors. Thus neither issuing threats nor offering incentives change people. Neither scare tactics nor bribery endures. People cannot be “tricked” or “forced” into being “good,” even if all could agree on a mutually accepted definition of “good.”
People truly change when their values change. People cease abusing and exploiting people when they value people. People sacrificially serve when they understand Someone bigger than themselves exists. People seek higher values when they realize they can be deceived. People search for enduring values when they realize life is about more than right now. What God did/does for us in Christ changes our values!
The heart of God’s “good news” is not about heaven, or having what you physically desire. It is about what God did for us in Jesus Christ, and is willing to do for us. In that is the reason for changing our values. If our values change, we remain who we are even if the “church” is attacked or coercive power is removed. Being Christian is more than what we believe; it is about who we are, always. Do we belong to God through Christ?
Posted by David on April 25, 2010 under Bulletin Articles
There are many common mistakes when it comes to the concept of being a Christian. Some think it is nothing more than an affirmation. For some, it is a matter of adopting a vocabulary. For some, adopting a set of “dos and don’ts.” For some, adopting a personal routine. For some, adopting a specific cause. For some, adopting a specific church. For some, adopting a view of God.
The problem: all those fail to fulfill the New Testament concept of Christian. They all are important, but they all are partial. Those things, or any combination of them, are only a partial concept of the New Testament view of the meaning of being Christian.
Being Christian means something important dies. Paul, who wrote Colossians, said in Galatians 5:24 that death was a crucifixion. That means it was deliberate, as was Jesus’ death. It also means it was relatively slow. This death was not an accident that “just happened,” but was a deliberate act that the person knew was happening. He/she understood that the life of Jesus’ resurrection could not infuse the person unless this death occurred.
What death? The death to self-the death to the way one lived, acted, thought, and was motivated prior to meeting Jesus. Jesus literally would define who he/she was, how he/she thought, how he/she saw others, how he/she acted, how he/she used life, his/her involvements, his/her use of abilities, his/her motives, and how he/she defined and viewed right and wrong.
That is quite a death! It is a total remake job! It continues from birth into Jesus Christ until physical death in Jesus Christ! It obviously is a serious, life-changing commitment that is not for sissies! This death is evident in a person’s trust and behavior!
Do you have the courage, with the help of God’s grace, to be a Christian?
Posted by David on April 18, 2010 under Bulletin Articles
We are a very competitive society. Most everything is based on competition. We compete to get in schools. We compete in schools. We compete in athletics. We compete to get jobs and in jobs to advance. We even compete in lifestyles!
We want to be the best! If we are not the “best,” we want to have the best. In some way our personal significance is tied up in being able to say that in some way we are the best. If we cannot be the best in something, we feel that in some way we have failed It seems essential for us to be able to say (or at least to think), “I am better than you!”
Being “better than you” in some way makes us important. That attitude fuels significance and also fuels racism, classism, bullying others, oppressing people, and treating people as though they were things. It is an expression of arrogance that can justify almost anything-from the slavery form of prostitution to genocide. It says, “I have the right to treat you as I wish because I am better than you. Therefore you exist to serve my desires! I do not want to hear any complaints! Just serve my purposes well!”
If you are a Christian, the greatest person you know (Jesus Christ) DID NOT become the great one through competition. The eternal one at God’s right hand served people. He emptied himself. He became in form the created. He obeyed. He endured the shame and pain of a humiliating execution. He did not raise himself. He did not exalt himself. He did not position himself on God’s right hand. God highly exalted him!
He treated the lowly as important and God as superior. Today, by God the Father’s acts, Jesus is Lord. As Lord, he is our example. Through humility, he shows us the power of humility and the curse of arrogance.
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4:10
Posted by David on April 11, 2010 under Bulletin Articles
The process of aging is a sobering reality! As people of age often say, “Old age is not for sissies!” The experience of going from capability to inability is unsettling!
When we are young and energetic with a multitude of options, we rarely think of that journey. When initially that journey becomes awareness, we tend to think we “have let ourselves go.” All we need is to “buckle down,” adopt a healthy routine, and recover what we lost. Alas, the time comes for all when we must accept that the form of the body, the strength of the muscles, and the former “crazy” schedule are things of the past-they are not coming back no matter what we do or how we do it!
Suddenly, Jesus’ resurrection by God is not a philosophical approach to life. It is either reality or a lie-there is no in between, no maybe. When you realize your death is not a maybe, at that same moment you also realize resurrection is not a maybe.
Paul told the Corinthian congregation almost 2,000 years ago that Jesus’ resurrection was not a maybe. There is life after death, or there is not. There is sinless existence through divine forgiveness, or not. There is hope based in reality, or wasted effort. Life is an investment in the eternal, or life is a journey into hopeless decline, but life is not a maybe.
Is belief in the resurrection a matter of faith? Yes, and it always will be! Every lifestyle involves an essential element of faith. Indulgence hurts others! Power tramples people as obstacles. Ambition becomes blind! Accumulation views people as things! Knowledge becomes arrogance! Success becomes self-centered! However, in Christ, I learn to live for others. Physical decline and death still come, but only in Jesus do we have hope after death! Jesus Christ’s resurrection is the Christian’s guiding beacon!
We seek Christ in the conviction that life is continuous and death is an interruption! We seek resurrection in Jesus Christ! Our journey does not end when physical death occurs!
Posted by David on April 4, 2010 under Bulletin Articles
Life is full of questions. From the moment we wake up until we go back to sleep, often it seems there is nothing but questions. Some are small, and some are huge. Some look small, but they just keep getting bigger. Some are routine-the answer is more reflex than thought-(kids say parents say “NO!” so often that they cannot say “Yes!”) Some questions seem to be answered “once and for all time” only to keep appearing again and again later.
Your attention is called to a BIG one that is never answered once and for all time. Life asks it over and over again-new situations arise only to ask us the same old question. The question: “Why belong to and serve God?” Someone you care about dies, and you prayed to God earnestly to let him/her live … here comes the question! Someone you care about is sick, and you pray earnestly for recovery. The person does not and cannot get well … here it comes again! Problems descend unexpectedly … you are crushed! Your present is crushed! Your future seems crushed! All is immediately complicated! Dazed and bewildered, you are stunned as you watch the question coming at you again.
Yes, you have heard all the “correct” religious answers. “God sacrificed so much to provide you salvation.” “Jesus sacrificed so much for us on the cross!” “People hurt God so much for so long!” “Satan is enraged at God!” “Satan is determined to destroy us and will stop at nothing to bring the righteous misery!” Still, the question comes.
What were your expectations? A spiritual insurance policy? Special physical protection against evil “here and now”? Physical eternal life that ends disease and prevents accidents and aging? Honestly, does the question or the expectation cause our struggle?
God’s finest often suffered extensively and died horribly! Read Hebrews 11 recently? The righteous have never had a “special package for the physical here and now.”
Why do we belong to and serve God? Bottom line answer: because He is and always will be. Because He is, we shall meet him. Because He is bigger than physical life and death, we choose to serve Him. The answer to why: “because He is even when we will not be.”
Posted by David on March 28, 2010 under Bulletin Articles
The paragraph previous to Romans 10:17 deals with the failure of the Jewish people to realize that God’s great agenda included extending salvation to all people-even idol worshippers who had the wrong concept of deity and no idea about godly morals. God simply wants everyone to have access to Him. God through Christ granted that access to all, in spite of where they were. It is not about one’s education, or one’s society, or one’s material success, or one’s ability to read, or one being primitive or advanced. It is about understanding the message of what God did in Jesus Christ.
This article is not about seeking to deny the message of Romans 10:17. It suggests faith begins earlier. The message begins with God’s concern forming the basis for God’s act.
To act to benefit a perceived god was not unusual in any religion. For God to initiate an act of compassion to benefit people was incredibly different. For God to act on our behalf when we had done nothing to “obligate” Him was absolutely amazing (Romans 5:6-8)! The message from an involved God was unique-but true!
Faith begins with understanding that God gave His most precious relationship to make our salvation possible (John 3:16-21). Do you understand that God made a major sacrifice to make salvation possible for us? He hurt first that we might rejoice in Christ!
Do you understand that God is even involved in our coming to Him? We are enabled to repent through God’s support (2 Timothy 2:24-26)!
Do you understand that entrance into Jesus Christ begins a continuing forgiveness for those who refuse to reject Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1-10)? God is even involved (if we permit) in our remaining in Jesus Christ. We are not “on our own “!
God is involved in our salvation from A to Z-accepting God’s concern begins our faith!
Posted by David on March 21, 2010 under Bulletin Articles
Among the things Randy Harris discussed Sunday night with the youth was the American Christian’s preoccupation with finding our “safe place.”
What is the “safe place?” In this culture it would (a) protect us from physical death [that is the foremost concern]; (b) provide us maximum opportunity to experience our dreams; and (c) protect us from want and disaster. We want no bad surprises!
In this material existence, does this place exist? No! Can Christians die early and unexpectedly? Yes! Can Christians fail to achieve and experience material dreams? Yes! Can Christians die in man-caused or unexpected disasters? Yes!
In this world, there are no people-made “safe places.” When I consider the miles we log collectively by roadway vehicles, those who run red lights or stop signs, those who break the speed limit, those who drive with a suspended license, those who drive under the influence of medication, alcohol, or pleasure drugs, those who text-telephone-eat-“get ready”-etc. while driving, and those who “aim rather than drive,” I marvel that more of us are not “road kill.” We are rather irresponsibly confident that we can prevent death and maximize desired opportunities. We are just beginning to learn neither is true!
There is a “safe place” Christians should know well. God’s care for all people wants (a) for everyone to know about this “safe place,” (b) for this “safe place” to determine our behavior, (c) for Christians to live in danger now because of what God did in Jesus for everyone, and (d) for Christians to understand only internal values control external acts.
Where is your “safe place?” Is it God-designed or your “this world” creation?
