Be Faithful

I Thessalonians 5:19-22 "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."

We continue our discussion of Paul's instructions to a church that was anticipating the return of Christ. I find it fascinating that the church at Thessalonica may have been experiencing the same issues that we grapple with today.

On Sunday, for comparison, I noted that Paul had been concerned about the worship that was occurring in Corinth. This is evidenced in I Corinthians 11:17 where he told them "In the following directives [those where he talked about the Lord's supper and the spiritual gifts, among other things] I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good."

Wow! Some pretty strong words. The church at Corinth was into the "free flow of the gifts of the Spirit" to the point where it had become unedifying and disorderly. He was telling them to do things in an orderly manner and rein it in a bit. Their meetings were not edifying the members and were downright disrespectful of some. They were out of control in "doing whatever they felt like doing."

Yet in I Thessalonians 5:19 Paul instructs the church, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt." So which is it? He appears to be telling one group to rein it in, and another one to allow the Spirit to flow.

Perhaps it is best understood in light of his next words of instruction. Verse 20 says, "Test everything." Maybe the problem in Corinth was that the things that were happening in their meetings had not been "tested" to see if they were truly born of the Spirit. When we read the first letter to the Corinthians, it is pretty apparent that the church meetings were out of control. I have to believe that things that are truly of the Spirit of God will be orderly and not chaos-ridden.

So if we examine his exhortation to "not put out the Spirit's fire" and to "test everything," we must conclude that he is not suggesting that they have a "free-for-all" worship style where everyone is doing his thing and promoting himself. He is saying to let the Spirit flow, but make sure that it is of the Spirit and not of the flesh.

We tend to put out the Spirit's fire when we decide for ourselves what is okay and not okay, with no biblical basis. Often it is decided based on our traditions or our comfort zone. What Paul is encouraging is for us to allow the Spirit to do what the Spirit will, making sure that whatever is occurring lines up with the scripture.

A pastor whom I greatly admire once said, "God is God and He can do what He wants." I absolutely agree with that, but with a caution that let's make sure it is born of God; that is, test everything.

Paul's next instruction is so practical, it is almost one of those "no-brainers," yet we human beings somehow manage to mess up even the most basic things, so Paul takes the opportunity once again to remind the church. Verse 21a and 22 say, "Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."

Like I said, a no-brainer, right? But seriously, when we examine our lives, are we holding on to the good? How many times each week do we make a choice not to hold on to the good, but instead to follow the lies of satan and compromise that which we say we believe? We must be settled and firm in our faith, and then adhere to it when going through our day. When we give in to temptation, we have (even if momentarily) let go of that which is good.

If we are holding on to the good, it is the best way that I know of to avoid every kind of evil. The two go hand in hand, don't they?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! Please feel free to post a comment!

Be Thankful

I Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Thankfulness is clearly a command and expectation of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Thessalonica. These words are written in the group of exhortations of how exactly we should live in the "last days" as we anticipate Jesus Christ's return. "Watch and wait." "Be mindful of relationships with believers." "Be joyful always." "Pray continually." As I said in an earlier post, it would seem that Paul believes that minding our hearts, our relationships, our choices, our attitudes, and our behavior is going to contribute largely to the way we deal with end times. Interesting.

But back to thankfulness...

Thankful for everything? Seriously? It kind of reminds me of the Peanuts comic in today's paper. We can think of some reasons to be thankful, but then it interferes with the bottom line, and that is how we want things to be. So we may be thankful for a moment or two, but then remember, "Oh yeah, this isn't the way I want things to be," so we revert back to unthankfulness...again.

We often say around here, "God is good, and if He is good then His plan is good." If we remember that, then thankfulness could come easier. Let's get practical with how that would work, shall we?

My car breaks down. What am I thankful for? "Thank You, Lord, that I have the money to fix it. Thank You, Lord, that I wasn't on the freeway when the car broke down. Thank You, Lord, that you sent someone to help me. Thank You, Lord, that my joy does not depend on my car running well."

This doesn't mean I don't get the car towed to the mechanic. Doesn't mean I don't try to get it fixed. I do the practical things, but with a thankful heart.

I go to the ER because I have a terrible pain in my stomach. What am I thankful for? "I thank You, Lord, for doctors. I thank You, Lord, that You are with me even when I am sick. I thank You, Lord, for medical insurance...(or even) I thank You that even though I have no insurance You will meet the need."

This doesn't mean you must enjoy the pain. It only means that in the midst of the pain, you are thankful, if for no other reason, for God's presence with you.

My children are being rebellious. What am I thankful for? "Thank You, Lord, for the strength you will provide me to get through this. I thank You that you are giving me wisdom to deal with the situation. I thank You that you are going to bring good out of this. I thank You that You are at work in our family. I thank You, Lord, that you love my children even more than I do and that You in Your wisdom can draw them back to You."

Yes, you might still cry and you will probably not enjoy their rebellion, but you can be thankful in the midst of all of it because you know that God is sustaining you and giving you wisdom.

Remember the Veggie Tales song? The chorus goes something like this:

A thankful heart is a happy heart!
I'm glad for what I have. Thats an easy way to start!
For the love that He shares,
'Cause He listens to my prayers,
That's why I say thanks every day!

Thankfulness focuses on God. When we focus on God, we become intensely aware of His power and His love for us. That may bring immense peace and joy in our lives, which causes even further thankfulness.

Food for thought!

Tell me what you think. How's it working for you this week? Post a comment. (If you don't know how, call me and I'll walk you through it!)

Glorify God

On Sunday, we talked about glorifying God and some of the ways we can do that. Of course, we couldn't possibly cover all of the ways in the course of one worship service, but we highlighted a few.

At the end of the service, I challenged all of you to think about how you could glorify God as you go through your week. I have some further thoughts on that, centered around the "ways" we talked about Sunday.

Worshipping - We glorify God by worshipping Him. Not showing up on Sunday and singing a few songs and hearing a few testimonies. We worship God with our lives. Everything we do can be an act of worshipping God, because the Bible tells us to do everything "heartily as unto the Lord." (Colossians 3:23) So worshipping has something to do with our attitudes as we go through the week. Are you doing your life as an act of worship to the Lord or are you doing it begrudgingly and with an attitude?

Loving - We glorify God by loving others. Jesus told us (John 13:35) that it was by our love for one another that men would know that we are His disciples. By our love, the world sees Christ in us, and that glorifies Him. Anyone can love someone who is kind and thoughtful, but Jesus expects us to love those who are difficult to love. (See Matthew 5) When we do that, we are doing it out of the strength and power of the Holy Spirit. What better way to glorify God than to do something that is impossible to do without Him?

So love that cranky neighbor. Be kind to the lady who cuts in front of you at the bank. Respond in kindness to a boss that does nothing but criticize you. Show patience with the clerk in the store who seems to be taking her sweet time when you're in a hurry. Respond in those situations in a way that glorifies God!

Become Like Christ - When we allow God to change us more and more into His image, we are glorifying Him by reflecting Him. Paul writes, in II Corinthians 3:18, that we reflect the Lord's glory when we are transformed into His likeness. So that would mean that allowing God to work in the deep places of our hearts is a way to glorify Him, because more and more when people look at us, they will see Christ.

So as you go through the week, listen to the Lord and see what it is He wants to change in you. Is He changing an attitude or a habit? Is He stretching you out of your comfort zone in a certain area? Is he changing the way you think or the way you feel? Or your behavior? The more you change to be conformed to His image, the more you glorify God!

Serve Others - God sends us opportunities to serve others, and (going back to our lives being worship) when we take those opportunities to serve, we glorify God. Christ Himself came to be a servant (Mark 10:45), so if we want to glorify Him we need to follow His example and find ways to serve.

So this week, keep your eyes open (and hearts tuned) to find ways to serve others. Can you mow your elderly neighbor's lawn? Can you take a meal to a family with a new baby? Do you know someone who needs a ride? Is there someone that needs a job done that you have the skill to do? Serve others, and it will point to Christ in you because the recipients of your service may very well scratch their heads and wonder "why," and you'll be able to tell them! That brings me to my final point!

Tell Others - When we share the good news of the gospel and the grace that we have received, we glorify God. II Corinthians 4:15 tells us that the grace reaching more and more people may cause "thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God."

So in your kindnesses and your service this week, look for opportunities to verbally point to Jesus as the source! Yes, our light shines. Yes, we reflect His glory. But let's not forget that He also gave us WORDS that can share Christ with others, and glorify God in the process!

Ready, get set, go! Glorify God this week!

So tell me what you're thinking! I love to see your comments. Wish there were more! :)

Pray Continually

On Sunday we talked about the importance of prayer and Paul's admonition to "Pray continually." I Thessalonians 5:17

Sometimes we think of prayer as a formal thing, with lots of "rules." We think we must do it "right" in order for our prayers to be acceptable to God. In some ways, we must do it "right" in the sense of coming with a thankful heart, coming in faith, etc. But there are no rules about proper words or grammar or physical posture. God just wants us to pray.

I like to think of prayer as a conversation with God. If we are to pray continually, have a continual conversation with God, that is much easier if we continually walk with God.

Beverly and I will be driving over to to Ft. Bragg this week for a few days of rest. During the drive over, we will be spending time together in the car. Close proximity to each other. It is a natural outcome of that for us to engage in conversation. We can talk about deep things that are on our hearts, or we can simply make comments about the things we see on the drive. We may talk about ideas or we may laugh together about things that we see. We will be together, and conversation will come naturally.

If we drive together for very long without talking, it would feel like something is not quite right. It is a natural thing for us to share whatever is going through our minds at the moment.

It is the same with God. If we are walking with Him each and every moment of the day, then conversation with Him will just happen. We may ask Him for guidance. We may ask for protection. We may ask Him what He thinks about a situation we are facing. He's there, so we naturally communicate, just as if He was physically sitting across the lunch table from us or sitting in the passenger seat of our car.

But COMMUNICATE is the operative word here. Remember that communication is not just about talking. It is also about listening. So when you pray, take time to listen to what God says. It would be rude to call a friend for a chat, share everything you have to say, ask for whatever favors you need, and then hang up without finding out what your friend has to say. Remember that in your conversations with God.

Talk to me! I want to know what you have to say, so post a comment!

Let God Lead and Do What He Says

Sunday we had a special speaker. She is an old friend of ours from our days at Vanguard University. She is on her way (in a couple of weeks) to Kurdistan (a section of Iraq) to start a Bible School to teach and train the Christians over there.

She gave us a lot of information about the political climate over there that I found encouraging. It, for all of us, was a call to pray like we never have before for that region of the world. Not only for the lost but for the Christians who are being persecuted. Sharon (our speaker) has always been a passionate person, and that certainly came through loud and clear.

But there were two important things that she said that I want to really underscore today. This will be a short post, but important.

First she talked about letting God lead instead of trying to lead Him. It sounds like a "no-brainer" but I have to ask how many of us have been guilty of trying to lead the Lord along towards OUR plan or OUR will or OUR vision? Too many of us, I am sure.

We get these ideas of what we want to do with our life (job, career, life partner, retirement, etc.) and we then pray that God will make it happen. What would happen if we all were to make those kinds of decisions based on what God is showing us and leading us to? What difference would that make in our lives and our ministries?

Sometimes we do things that are not God's will. Period. It doesn't mean they are BAD things or SINFUL things, but if they aren't God's best then we are missing out on being right in the center of God's will. We have great ideas and plans, but we need to find out if those ideas or plans are from the heart of God, or from our own heads.

When you are making big decisions about such things as career, college, or life partner you will be wise to pray seriously about it and NOT ACT until you hear from the Lord on the matter. You will also be wise to get some Godly counsel on it. (Oh, have Beverly and I learned this the hard way!)

The second thing that struck me was when she talked about the qualifications for doing what God tells us to do. The qualifications such as education (college and seminary) and accreditation and such is a construct of man. The Apostle Peter was a fisherman. Never went to college. Had no credentials (unless you consider a boat full of fish a credential) and yet he was one of the greatest Apostles ever.

Don't buy into the view that you must get training and education to do God's bidding. God may very well call you to get training before doing His bidding. If so, then do it! But if He doesn't tell you to get training, it may very well be that He wants you, upon hearing His call, to just go do what He said. Just do it!

Don't be intimidated by what you don't know or what you don't have. You have the Holy Spirit, and if He is telling you to do something, He will enable you to do it. One of my professors at Vanguard University used to say, "God's calling is also His enabling." True statement, folks!

So talk to me! What do you think about following God's lead as opposed to pulling God along in the way YOU want to go? What are your thoughts about "just do it?" I want to hear from you guys!

Be Joyful Always

On Sunday, we talked about I Thessalonians 5:16. Paul writes, "Be joyful always." That is one fully packed sentence, isn't it?

BE - This is a continual state of being, not because the circumstances we find ourselves in are pleasant, but because we know that God brings good out of evil, blessings out of curses. We trust Him, and therefore, we can BE joyful!

JOYFUL - We are in Christ, and when we abide in Christ. we have joy that is constantly being renewed. In Christ we have hope and we have salvation, and we know that the best is yet to come!

John 16:22, "Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."

ALWAYS - If we understand that having joy is not based on our circumstances but rather on our hope and our relationship with Christ, we can have joy ALWAYS.

This concept must have been pretty important in Paul's heart and mind, because he wrote a whole book about it (Philippians). In fact he repeated it twice in one verse! In Philippians 4:4, Paul writes, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

If you were present on Sunday, you will remember that I talked about trials and tribulations and difficult things not being able to rob us of joy. You also know that I often talk about "preaching to myself." Well guess what, folks? I had an opportunity to practice just hours after preaching that message.

After church we went to a wonderful gathering for newcomers. Being in a hurry to get there, I quickly gathered up all of my sermon props (remember the baking powder, egg yolk, vanilla, etc.?) and put it into a little box and set it in the back seat along with some jump drives for the computer.

We arrived at the gathering and had a delightful time talking with all the new folks and getting to know them a little better. (What a blessing they are to us! If you haven't had an opportunity to meet them and chat with them, I encourage you to do so!)

We finished up there and went over to the gas station, filled our tank with gas and then as we were pulling out a monstrous 4 x 4 pickup backed right into our driver's side door. It is fairly extensive damage, and I feel pretty certain that we will need a new door. I got all the driver's information. He implied that it was my fault (what? for being there?) and I came away praying that he actually does have the insurance he said he did because his insurance card was expired.

Joy? Yep, still have it!

Went on down the road and suddenly hear a "clunk" in the back seat. Pull over to the side to investigate. Sure enough, the box with the egg yolk has turned over on the seat, the gooey egg yolk is staining the seat and it has oozed all over my jump drives.

I'm not having fun, but I do another check. Joy? Yep, still there.

You see, it doesn't matter if I have a dent in my car door. It doesn't matter if the guy has insurance or not. It doesn't matter if there is a stain on my car seat or if my jump drives are ruined. (Okay, well maybe that matters a little bit because that is the place where I store my "brain!") :) The point is that I still have joy. It is just "stuff," as they say. My real "stuff" is eternal. As long as I am obeying God and I abide in His love, I have joy.

John 15:10-11 "If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

A dented door can't steal my joy. A stain on my seat can't steal it either. Satan can work me and come at me from another angle, but my joy is located in Jesus Christ and if I am in Him, I am in His joy.

What steals your joy? What steps do you need to take to remind yourself of the "big picture" so that you don't lose your joy?

Talk to me! I love to read the comments, and I feel encouraged by every one!

Be Mindful

On Sunday we talked about some directives that Paul gave to the Thessalonian church.

I Thessalonians 5:14-15 "And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else."

So what is the context of that passage? In chapter 4, Paul gives instruction to the Church about holy living. He then launches into talking about the second coming of Jesus Christ. Immediately after that, in the sermon text, he gives the instructions to the church as to how they should conduct themselves, especially in their relationships with one another.

It appears that Paul thought that relationships within the body of Christ were important in the Church in dealing with the end times. We don't know exactly what his reasons were but I think it is safe to say that Paul believed that healthy, Godly relationships would be important to the unity of the Body, and that unity of the Body would be important in dealing with the end times and waiting for Christ's return. A theme that runs throughout Paul's writings is love and unity within the Church family.

So I would like to just reiterate some of the points of the sermon from Sunday. 1) Be mindful of family dynamics. 2) Be willing to bring loving correction as needed. 3) Be willing to spontaneously comfort those who are in need of it. 4) Be committed to godliness in your church community/family. 5) Forgiveness is the rule, which may involve overlooking offenses. 6) Be compassionate.

So how are you doing with all that? Are you willing to confront when necessary? Are you so committed to your church community/family that forgiveness is more of a priority than being right? Are you compassionate?

It is important to remember that we must look at our relationships here on earth with an eye towards eternity. If we do that, we will find ourselves behaving in the ways that Paul talked about:

1) Desire the best for your brothers and sisters in Christ. If you do that, then you will have that in mind in any conflict. It will not be about your pride or your need to win, it will be about what is best for the other person. "Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another."

2) Model godliness for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Are you setting an example of Godliness? Paul, in I Corinthians 11:1, wrote "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." Can you say that with confidence to those around you?

3) Seek resolutions to conflict and don't add fuel to the fire. That kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it? Paul writes in Romans 12:18, "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men."

4) Listen to the Lord in all your interactions with others. I Corinthians 2:13 says, "This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words."

5) Focus on eternity in the lives of your brothers and sisters in Christ. II Corinthians 3:18 says, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." You are reflecting something. Are you reflecting Christ, and are you helping (by your behavior) your brothers and sisters be transformed into Christ's likeness?

6) Have pure motivations in your dealings with others. This is an outcome of Point One (desiring the best). If you desire the best for them, then you will probably be much more likely to have pure motivations and not hidden agendas or selfish intentions.

7) Lovingly confront bad behavior. Love your brother and sister enough to correct them when they are off course. Is this easy? Not at all! But if we love others more than our comfort, we will confront them when they need it, because we want the best for them!

Tell me what you think! Relationships in church are such an important topic, I want to know your response to Sunday's sermon and to this post! Talk to me!