July 11, 2009

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish." Psalm 1

Everyone I know wants to be blessed. In fact, many of them have formed "bless me" clubs. What's a "bless me" club? It is a group of people who chase around looking for the next blessing. They flock to this seminar, or that concert, or the next miracle rally in pursuit of "the blessing". Actually, I am not entirely sure what it is they are seeking, but they seem to think that a blessing is something quite elusive and it is an accomplishment to catch one. It must be worth it when they do.

So, Brad, are you saying you do want to be blessed?

I am not saying that at all. But my Bible reading has me in Psalms 1 this morning and it focuses squarely on the topic of blessings. "Blessed is the man" is how it starts out. As meditated on this short but powerful little chapter, I learned a few things about blessings. If you want to be blessed you need to be "blessable". I thought I would share with you how that happened and you can let me know what you think:

1) "Blessed is....." - A blessing is not something you seek or possess, it is something you are. "Blessed" means "happy". If you only know happiness in fleeting moments that are captured and then lost, you are missing what God intends for you - happiness as a way of life.

2) "who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked...." - If you want to be a blessing and live in contentment and joy, don't listen to people who aren't. One of the marvels of our modern age is that there is now more bad advice that ever, but it can be made available instantly through a variety of sources! You can get it on the Internet, TV, radio, or hanging out with the wrong people.

3) "or stand in the way of sinners..." - If you want to be blessed you act like it. God can't bless sin and sin separates you from the source of blessing. So, if your closest friends are sinners and you continually expose yourself to sinful people and their sinful thoughts and ideas and behaviors - guess what?!

4) "or sit in the seat of mockers." - Blessed people aren't critics or Monday morning quarterbacks. It seems there are more of that sort of person than there used to be. Maybe it is a result of the electronic media and the reality genre that puts you in the role of spectator and judge without actually being involved. It is much easier to sit and pronounce judgments on others that it is to do, the things that make you "blessable". Or, rather than become blessable why not try to drag down others to you unblessable level?

Being "blessable" is something all of us can do. The Psalmist recommends it and shows the way. Becoming "blessable" consists in two parts, what you don't do and what you do. This morning I focused on the don'ts. I'll have more to say tomorrow.

Is there something or someone that is preventing you from being "blessable" right now?

July 10, 2009

"The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks." Acts 16:22-24

What was Paul and Silas' offense that aroused such an aggressive action against them?

They were preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

How would you have responded to the severe treatment they received?

Here's what Paul and Silas did:

"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them." Acts 16:25

Wow! That's impressive! Here they are locked up in maximum security with their hands and feet confined in stocks and their bodied covered with bruises and cuts from their flogging. What are they doing? They are having a praise service!

Rather than being focused on the misery of their own captivity, they rejoice in the fact that they have a captive audience! And the verse says that the other prisoners were, indeed, listening. It is one thing to preach the Gospel but it is quite another to practice it! Hearing the truth of God's Word is powerful, seeing it lived out is transformational!

I can't honestly say that I would have been singing and praying had I been in their place. But fortunately, they must have been better singers than I am because if it had been me singing they would have come in and beat me again to shut me up.

What happened next shows the power of prayer and praise.

"Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose." Acts 16:26

Wow! Incredible! Talk about jailhouse rock! When was the last time your praise racked the house?

What has you bound today? Is life beating you up and stripping you of your hope and joy? Does everything seem to be going wrong even though you are doing right?

Let Paul and Silas remind you of the power of prayer and praise. Have you prayed today? Are you praising Him? Can you trust Him to rock your world?

July 9, 2009

"As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers." Acts 16:4-5

Reading through Acts, I have been encouraged in a new way. Like everyone else, I have always enjoyed reading about the explosive growth of the Church from the Day of Pentecost and the weeks following. The Apostles did amazing signs and wonders and the believers demonstrated amazing love and incredible sacrifices to minister to needs. Their faith became contagious.

During this period the Church showed unprecedented growth. Some historians estimate that as many as 500,000 were converted in and around Jerusalem. By the testimony of the Jewish leaders they "filled Jerusalem with their doctrine".

Who would not find that exciting? Who would not be thrilled to see new converts added to their church on a daily basis. Come on!

I have been part of a church that saw people saved on a weekly basis, but never have I experienced a fellowship that saw people saved every day!

Understandably, no one can expect to maintain that sort of momentum for an extended period of time. The "big mo" is hard to get and even harder to keep.

But today as I am reading in Acts 15, I come across this verse, "So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers."

Wow! There's that daily thing again!

Months have passed since Pentecost. They had the problem with the widows being neglected and they dealt with that crisis. The Church has faced persecution that forced it to scatter. Believers have been arrested and martyred and threatened wherever they went. In addition to the persecutions, they faced the controversy of the Gospel being preached to the Gentiles. They had the constant intrusion of the Judaizers, Jewish believers who tried to impose circumcision and other Jewish practices on the Gentile believers. They even overcame a sharp disagreement between key leaders Paul and Barnabas, even though they came to a parting of the ways.

So, despite all these attacks from within and from the outside, here they are still reaching people on a daily basis!

As a church leader, I find that exciting. That tells me that with wise, unified, godly leadership, churches can face challenges and obstacles and oppostition and still maintain their ministry edge.

This is not as exciting as the signs and wonders and deliverences, but it is the stuff of effective ongoing ministry. It is no less a sign of the power of the Holy Spirit to wade through these challenges and distractions to keep the fellowship united and on mission. That takes supernatural wisdom and courage.

It reminds me of that statement of my friend, John Maxwell, "Everything rises and falls on leadership" - leadership that is lead by the Spirit. That is what I long to do.

God, give us leaders like that so that we can have churches like that!

July 8, 2009

"Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches." Acts 15:36-41

Acts 15 is a clinic on how to handle conflict in the church. In my previous post I commented on how they handled an attack of legalism on the church from a group of believers. When the council met and wisely decided what to do, the Gentile believers were pleased and the church continued to grow.

There is an incident at the end of the chapter that shows what can happen when two strong Godly leaders disagree.

With the Gentile issue resolved and the church sufficiently strengthened, Paul and Barnabas decided it was time to strengthen some other churches. Paul suggested that they retrace their previous journey and visit the churches they had established in Turkey. Barnabas agreed.

So far, so good!

Then came the tricky part. I have put together enough mission trips that I know how hard it can be to get the right people together. As they were putting together their team for this trip, Barnabas wanted to include John Mark. Acts 13: 13 gives us John Mark's missionary resume: "From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem."

Simply stated, John Mark was a quitter. He had quit on Paul and Paul had lost confidence in him. Barnabas, on the other hand, was a gracious man, an encourager, one who was willing to give John a second chance.

Paul and Barnabas were two strong leaders with equal passion for the Gospel and the Church, but they had two very different personalities and temperaments. Paul was a no-nonsence bottomline get it done kind of guy and Barnabas was a gentle patient grace-giver. Both were effective, just different in their approaches. I can see how they have worked well together in their earlier ministry ventures.

So, now they were at an impasse. What should happen when two strong leaders agree so sharply that there is no hope for agreement? Here is what we can learn:

1) The mission must come first

2) Love must rule the relationship and the decision

3) Each leader must be true to his sincere conviction

4) In the end, disagree in an agreeable way

That is how this dispute was resolved. As a result, some real good things happened:

Paul took Silas and sailed to Syria and Cicilia, while Barnabas took John Mark as set sail for Cyprus. So, as a result of the proper resolution of this conflict, the missionary effort was doubled and the number of missionaries was doubled! Not only was the mission accomplished but it was increased by 100%!

Plus, when John Mark was given a second chance he redeemed himself and became a trusted partner not only to Barnabas, but also to Paul! (See Colossians 4:10; II Timothy 4:11).

I love it when a plan comes together!

God works through unity. But unity does not always mean unanimity, it means disagreeing agreeable. In this case - mission accomplished!

What a great lesson for the 21st Century Church!

July 7, 2009

"Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses." Acts 15:5


Sometimes we may think that legalism is a new affliction in the Church. Unfortunately, it is as old as the Church itself.

What is legalism? It is substituting man made regulations for God-given principles. Legalism at it's heart is an effort to earn salvation by performing according to a certain standard of rules and rites.

What is the problem with legalism? It nullifies the positive power of grace.

When the First Century Church was experiencing it's explosive growth it began to reach Gentile converts. Many Gentiles were hearing the preaching of the Apostles message of salvation by grace and where putting their faith in Christ.

This got the attention of the Jewish believers in Jerusalem who felt it was their duty to "educate" these new disciples. So they sent their contingent to them to inform them of their need to be circumcised. As you might imagine, this brought great concern and confusion to the young Christians. Like most eager new converts, they were zealous to do the right thing and were not sure how to respond to this new information.

When I was first introduced to the Wesleyan Church nearly 50 years ago, it was far more conservative than it is now. The standards of dress were very modest, long sleeves, long skirts, high collars, and plain colors were preferred. Women didn't cut their hair and wore it up in a role or a bun. Wearing make-up was considered worldly. Married couples were not allowed to wear wedding rings, or any other jewelry.

These are a few of the many rules that defined what a holiness person should look like. Many Wesleyans did look like this and many of them were, indeed, holy. I owe my early spiritual walk to some of these folks.

It is not my desire to criticize them. I have nothing but admiration for people who are holy from the inside out. Sincere spiritual convictions are to be respected.

However, I also saw it veer off course when those convictions were used to judge the spirituality of others. Or, when people began to substitute the outward appearance of holiness for the inner work of heart purification.

Anything that is offered as a requirement for salvation or sanctification in addition to the grace of God, constitutes legalism. God doesn't require our performance, He requires our purification and only the Holy Spirit can do that.

The polar opposite of legalism is license. Often, in an overreaction against legalism, we swing to the extreme of licentious living. That is just as destructive as legalism. Living by grace does not mean we can do anything we want to do. Anything plus grace equals legalism. Anything minus grace is license.

To address these abuses of grace, the Church leaders convened in a council to seek the wisdom and will of God. After prayer, discussion and testimonies from those who were ministering among the Gentiles, they decided on this prescription:

"When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me. Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: " 'After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things that have been known for ages. "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood." Acts 15:13-20

What was their response to the legalism of the Pharisaic branch of the Church?

More legalism? License?

No, neither legalism or license - their response was love.

Legalism in any form disgraces the faith. License disgraces the faith. Only love graces the faith.

The fact is each of us is prone to fall into the extreme of legalism or license because we are raised in a performance based culture. When we perform according to convictions imposed upon us by another person or group to earn their favor or to earn God's favor, we become legalistic.

When we perform in the absence of convictions or standards in rebellion against legalism, that is licentious.

Love doesn't peform. Love lives in relationship with God by His grace. Love graces others.

God, deliver us from the need to perform and help us live in your grace!

July 6, 2009

I am back today. Because of church and concentrating on spending time with my kids and grandkids, I didn't carve out the time to blog. It seems Barbara and I have to enjoy our family time in occasional doses. We had a great time!

I hope you grabbed plenty of family time, too.

In my Bible reading schedule I am in Acts in the New Testament and Job in the Old. Good stuff!

Here's what grabbed attention as I read:

"It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating." When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!" "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."

This story is intriguing on several levels.

First, Herod had James killed, but had Peter arrested. Could that have been because of his high profile and popularity? Could they have feared his spiritual power and authority? Was it because the Church was praying for him? Maybe all of the above.

Second, I can't help but notice the difference between a man motivated by political popularity (Herod) and one who operated by principle (Peter). As a result, Herod lived in fear as a people-pleaser while Peter lived by faith, pleasing God. Herod might have been in control but Peter was in charge!

Third, Herod surrounded Peter with guards. God surrounded Peter with angels. That was true because of two reasons: Peter was in God's will and the Church mobilized in prayer.

Fourth, angels are better than guards. When they woke Peter in the middle of the night, they slipped him out of the chains and out of the prison. The guards never knew the difference. When God wants to deliver His people - no chains or prison can hold them. People of faith are free even when they are captives!

Five, prayer is powerful! More powerful than they expected, apparently, because when Peter showed up at the site of their prayer meeting they were in disbelief. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever prayed intensely for something and then found yourself surprised when God gave you what you asked for in a timely fashion? They went from belief to disbelief - then to greater belief!

There is tons of good preaching material here, but the bottom line is this, God will use anyone to overcome anything to accomplish the thing He wants accomplished. It doesn't take perfect faith, it just requires a perfect heart!

Pray persistently. Perservere consistently. Perfect your heart continually!

July 4, 2009

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36

Happy Independence Day!

As our great nation celebrates freedom for the 234th time, our freedom is under attack for the 234th time. Freedom is never free and it certainly isn't easy. God bless our troops on the front lines of freedom around the world today! We can never repay the debt of gratitude we owe them.

But freedom is under attack within our borders, too.

I have been writing about two conflicting worldviews that are vying for power in our culture. These are, in fact, two vastly different visions of freedom. One is the secular humanist worldview that sees the world as impersonal matter shaped by chance and human beings as just another animal. To them there are no absolute values or laws. Every person is the arbiter of his own truth. The Biblical worldview recognizes a Creator Who established moral laws and absolute truth revealed in the Bible. This viewpoint understands that man is created in God's image and therefore, each life is precious.

Due to the vastly different perspectives represented by these worldviews, their ideas of how to govern are diametrically opposed. One view claims that rights originate with government while the other sees rights given by God.

Which worldview do you think our Founders embraced?

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible." George Washington

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people." John Adams

"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government....but upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the 10 Commandments of God." James Madison

"The principles of genuine liberty and of wise laws and administrations are to be from the Bible." Noah Webster

"God governs in the affairs of man. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this. I also believe that, without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better that the builders of Babel." Benjamin Franklin

How about taking a wild guess which worldview our Founding Fathers held as the vision for our Republic?

Compare that with the vision of current politicians and leaders.

While it may be true that our Founding Fathers were not saints or spiritual giants, they understood the truth of what Jesus said, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Here are three profound spiritual truths to wrap your mind around on this Independence Day 2009:

1) All freedom begins and ends in God. So, the further you get from God the less freedom you enjoy.

2) Freedom does not consist of rights, it consists in a relationship (with God through Christ).

3) Freedom is not given - it is received. Therefore, true freedom cannot be taken from you.

God bless you! God bless America!