ir a principal |
Ir a lateral
Luke 14:25-34
Yesterday, Pastor Aaron drove it home with his message "Traveler or Follower." It's funny how some information can shock you for a moment but once processed you really already knew it was true. That's how I felt about the George Barna statistic he shared. The report showed that approximately 82% of American's claim to be Christians. Barna then broke that into 2 groups; Committed Christians 22%, and Casual Christians 60% (stats may be a little off - just like my memory). Committed Christians are those who are wholeheartedly commited to God, His commands, His Church, and His values. Casual Christians are committed to all those things, as long as it's convenient. The minute it's not convenient, they bolt on Christian values and do whatever they want yet still claim to be a Christian.
This is probably the most frustrating thing to me. As a pastor, how am I supposed to lead an individual, a group, a church toward God's plans when 75% of the group on average (based on the stat) is going to take off when it's no longer convenient? Either we have to become followers or we have to stop lying and just admit we aren't Christians at all!!!! There is no such thing as a part-time Christian. This doesn't mean we will live our lives perfect. But it does mean we live our lives committed! Instead of planning to bail on our faith, we plan to stay committed to it and all that's required of it. If all a Christian does is attend a weekly service, then that's not Christianity. God's Word shows us he requires much more of us than that. I go to Starbucks 3 or 4 times a week. So if my identity is based on attending something, then I'm a Starbuckian.
Jesus tells us that to be a follower takes an intentional decision to lay everything at his feet and make him the priority. It simply means that we love him more than anything. And that love is expressed in everything we do, say, how we act, and how we live! I encourage you to do exactly what Jesus taught us to do. Take up your cross and follow him!
Over the weekend I attended the Voice Of The Martyrs conference that we assisted in bringing to Green Bay, which First Assembly graciously hosted. Thank you First Assembly and Pastor Pat & Diane Green! To say the conference, it's speakers, and their message was life-changing is a complete understatement. In one day I heard stories of persecution from Ethiopia, Pakistan, China, and Israel. Everyday around the world our brother's and sister's in Christ are threatened, attacked, and murdered for their faith.
As American Christians we don't think about this much and we especially have a hard time associating with the thought of having our lives taken from us because of our faith in Jesus Christ. We tend to believe that the rest of the world lives the same way we do. But the truth is it doesn't! As Christians in America we are BLESSED!!! We have freedoms only imagined by others around the world. One young lady from China who spent 6 years in prison simply because she was a Christian made a statement that challenged me. She said that after being released from prison she came to the U.S. and while here went to a church service at a large church. After sitting in the service for just a few moments she leaned over to the pastor and said, "Is this heaven? This is what I imagined it would be like." She marveled at the freedom to worship in the open with no fear of attack or death.
I encourage you to remember persecuted Christians around the world. They are our spiritual family. And one day we will spend eternity in heaven together with them. Let's pray that God will lead, guide, direct, provide, and protect them as they stand for their faith in the face of real and imminent persecution.
For more information about the persecuted church and those who have lived to tell their story, visit the website for Voice Of The Martyrs as well as sign up for their newsletter to stay updated.
Joshua 3:3-4
“When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you." (NLT)
I've found in life that you are in one of two positions; leader or follower. No matter how old you get, you will find yourself in one of these positions. And to be clear, it's ok to be either one. Sometimes we are the designated leader. It might be at work, in the social order of our city, our in our home. Other times we're positioned behind a leader, we aren't blazing the trail but follow someone who is.
Most people want to be the leader. Seldom do people volunteer to be the follower, but scripturally it takes both leaders and followers to accomplish the goals of the LORD. By ratio alone, there are typically more followers than leaders. The most common reasons why we struggle with following is an unwillingness to submit our selves to the leader, stubbornness, jealousy, or even pride. Show me someone who refuses to submit to authority and I'll show you someone who is still struggling to submit to God as well. Leaders and followers.
I love the context of this verse. Joshua is saying to the Israelites, "Listen, we are going to move forward, cross this river, and enter our promised land. But stick close! Follow the leaders because you've never been here before. If you do that, it's all going to be ok!" We have to be willing to admit at times that we've never been here before and we need to follow a God-appointed leader. When we refuse to follow the leader, God calls that rebellion!
This week, develop a new-found respect for leaders as well as followers. On any given day, we are one or the other. Understanding this positions us to walk in God's favor, blessing and will.
For Christians, we are just a few days from the most important holiday of our faith. More than a story on a page, more than a visual image, and more than an everyday event. This day, above all others, represents the essence of our faith, the foundation of our hope, and the anchor of our eternity.
When you think about Easter which part of the story do you find yourself focusing on? What about the scene in the garden or Jesus mock trial? Maybe it's his beating or his near death scourging. For others it's the image of Jesus carrying the cross up the long, uneven trail all the way to the top of Golgotha. And the most common image is that of the broken & beaten Jesus on the cross. All those images have a significant meaning to me, but that's not what comes to my mind first. It's in the image of the cross that I see something that shakes me to my core. There on either side of the cross; two others occupied by common thieves. Two men, familiar with sin, prone to wrong. They deserved their position on the cross, although they probably didn't deserve such a prominent death alongside the Messiah.
Why is that the image that stands out to me? Honestly, I find I have the most in common with them. At my worst, I'm as common a thief as they were. I often rob God by dishonoring his Word and his commands. I steal God's time and try to make it my own. I too find that too often I am familiar with sin and prone to wrong. Maybe you have found that to be true about yourself as well. I realized that if not for Jesus on that cross, my fate would have been the same as those two thieves. On that cross Jesus stamped my debt "Paid In Full." I didn't deserve it, but still he made it possible. The greatest day of my life was the day I accepted that payment for my sin.
My prayer is that we learn to remember such an important day more than just once per year. One way to do that is to share our experience with those we love. Enjoy the holiday and share it with others.
When most people step back and reflect on a series of weeks, months, or even years they typically see an up and down pattern. For a period of time it seems like we are up, things seem to be going our way, and overall we would classify that time in life as good. For other periods of time we may seem down, things don't seem to be going our way, and overall we would classify that time as bad. These highs and lows tend to be most expressed emotionally. While they can also have physically sign, even those tend to drive an emotional feeling. I like to call this bounce.
In this season of March Madness (college basketball) the simple physics of bouncing a basketball is probably the best example. It's pretty simple; the ball goes down, it bounces back up. Now repeat 371,000 times. No matter now many times the players bounce the ball it always comes back up. Where not surprised when the basketball hits the floor, nor are we surprised when it bounces back up. It's the key part of the process of playing, scoring, and winning.
Life is filled with bounce. Moments when life seems to be up and going great, others when it seems to be down and out. But these ups and downs are part of the process, part of our spiritual growth, part of the victory God has planned for us. The high's and low's are part of God's plan. We seem surprised by them; as though we weren't intended for the low moments. But if we really read God's Word we see almost every player in the stories experience bounce. Job had everything, lost everything, got everything back. Joseph was his father's favorite, then betrayed by his brothers into slavery, then make second in command in Egypt. Peter walked with Jesus, denied Jesus, walked with Jesus again. It's bounce.
In the downtime of the bounce, take that time to refresh, renew, and grow. Because the low is only for a moment, in just a few moments you will bounce back up by the grace of God and launch into a new moment or season of life. Embrace the bounce as part of the process that leads to victory.
A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished. - Proverbs 28:20It seems that every week in America someone strikes it rich. They win the jackpot. Some get rich by means of the lottery, others at a card table in Las Vegas. In their minds, these people went from poor to rich; from nothing to wealth. For most that's the fulfillment of a lifetime dream; immeasurable wealth. It's so easy to make our focus our lives on the pursuit of money.
That's what makes this verse in Proverbs so powerful because real wealth isn't found in pursuing wealth alone. It's found in the pursuit of God. It's through of our faithfulness to God that real riches can be found. Notice it didn't say that being rich was a sin. It absolutely doesn't say that. Faithfulness produces rich blessings. So why would God be against that? He isn't! But he is against a lifestyle and mindset that makes the money the focus and not God.
It's so important to understand that God wants you to be blessed; his Word promises it. But the blessing is contingent on our obedience and faithfulness. Change your focus from gaining wealth to living rich for God. Rich blessings from God last longer than any jackpot payout. You already hit the jackpot when you found Christ.
The end of last week and now the beginning of this one has me more and more excited about summer. These warmer days with a lot of sunshine start to turn my emotions and get me optimistically prepared for what is to come. I have noticed over the past 10 years that during the months of December, January, and February when the clouds are abundant and sunlight is at a minimum, I tend to be more discouraged and lethargic. But when we do get those rare sunny days where you can feel the warmth of the sunlight it seems to make all the difference. It's strange, I know that the seasons change and that the clouds will come but for some reason it always surprises me. Up days, then down days. Emotionally distressed then emotionally encouraged.
That's just the physical side of things. I've found a similar cycle in my spiritual life as well. I think the common misconception about Christianity is that we will never have a down day; we'll never be discouraged or drained. I'll happily burst the bubble for you; that's just not true. The Bible is filled with examples of real people, people who struggled with depression, discouragement, frustration, problems, financial issues, family struggles, job loss, economic downturn, spiritual questions, and the list goes on and on. The one constant through all theses trying times was their deep unwavering faith in God. Mark Batterson once said, "Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do each day is just not give up." I've admitted in the past that Monday's aren't my best day. After a mentally and emotionally draining Sunday I'm usually pretty wiped out. I've learned not to make any big decisions on Monday. I don't even schedule many meetings on Monday because it's not a good day for me to deal with conflict. Monday's are a cloudy day. But every week Tuesday comes and I launch forward. I don't use it as an excuse for anything, but I recognize that life happens and it usually happens to me on Monday.
Be encouraged today, no matter how cloudy it seems in your life today, the sun WILL shine again. Life will make sense, problems will subside, things will get better. And if your right in the middle of a sunny day; enjoy the sunlight and take the time to slow down and recharge. Clouds will come again, but they won't stay long. The ups and downs of life are typical. Like those Biblical examples, just stay anchored to God. When everything else seems to change, God is unchanging!
Have a GREAT week!
Pastor Mark
Luke 14:25-34
