September 10, 2014

"The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."  Proverbs 18:10

Nearly 3,000 perished in the smoke and flames and toxic fumes in the twins towers on 9-11-01. Fortunately, Many were able to run out of the buildings to safety before they collapsed into a huge pile of rubble. No one who remained in the building survived.

Who can forget the awful images of desperate people who made the dreadful decision to leap out of the upper stories of the building rather than succumb to the flames and the fumes? How terrifying that must have been.

Thousands of people were able to escape the building and make it to safety while at the same time scores of firefighters and first responders were running into the building attempting to save lives. Many of them who ran in lost their lives attempting to rescue others.

In sharp contrast to those seeking to run out of those doomed towers and make it to safety, the Bible tells us that "the righteous run" INTO the Strong Tower in order to survive! How amazing is that?!

You may be wondering, "How do I run into the Strong Tower?"

There is a condition - "the righteous"

To run to the Strong Tower you must be made righteous by the blood of Christ. You must accept the sacrifice that Christ made for your sins on the cross. Only the righteous are granted entrance into the Tower.

There is a choice - "run"

When you are eager, you run! When you are excited, you run! When you are fearful you run! You choose to run for a number of reasons. Choose to run into the arms of the Lord for safety, and for security and for comfort!

There is a confession - "call on the Name of the Lord" and climb into Him by faith. Romans 10:13 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

The Name of the Lord is a Strong Tower! Run into it!

September 9, 2014

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”   Romans 1:15-16

Recently I came across this thought-provoking article by Michael Youssef and I believe it describes what we will be facing in the not-to-distant future. His thoughts are in italics.

The Washington National Cathedral, during its commemoration of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in 2011, has deliberately and carefully excluded evangelicals from their multi-religious commemoration. The service includes Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims, but not evangelical Christians. Mind you, I am opposed to interfaith services in any shape or form and that is why, in a previous blog, I stated that I was relieved that the mayor of New York spared us the agony of watching the One, True God of the Bible “worshipped” alongside false gods.

The National Cathedral is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation. Having served as an Episcopal priest in the past for a number of years, the fact that they have excluded evangelicals from their service did not come as a surprise to me at all. Twenty-five years ago, I was one of only a few evangelicals left in that denomination and some of my colleagues labeled me as “narrow-minded” and “intolerant.” What was my sin? I took Jesus at His word and believed that He and He alone -- by dying on the cross and rising again -- is the only way to the Father and eternal life in Heaven for all people of all races and religions.

For believing Jesus’ own claim that He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), I was called “intolerant.” Never mind over 500 years of Anglican history that proclaimed these truths and enshrined them in its Thirty-Nine Articles of Faith. Never mind the many Anglican martyrs who have died defending this truth.

I remember asking the question once, “If you are so eager to preach the gospel of tolerance, how about tolerating me as a Bible-believing Anglican?” A senior clergyman who I was very fond of whispered in my ear in jest, “We use intolerance to shut up people like you so that we can get our agenda through.” I remember thanking him for his honesty.

The truth is, the National Cathedral, in particular, and the Episcopal Church, in general, has rejected the Christian truth of salvation as only possible through Jesus Christ. It is soothing for them, or should I say it is a temporary panacea to their burning conscience, to cover themselves with the cloak of acceptability from other religions. Of course, there are inevitable consequences to their choices and I lovingly and “tolerantly” plead with them to turn and return to the truth before it is too late. I shudder when I think of the consequences of their intolerance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ whose Cross they parade.

I read in the press that a spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention has appealed to President Obama not to attend the service as a protest for excluding evangelicals and Baptists who represent a third of the U.S. population. I offer them the best of luck on this appeal. President Obama is far fonder of quoting what he calls the “holy Qur’an” than the Bible. He is a man who forgets the Easter proclamation, but never forgets a national proclamation of the month of Ramadan. He is not about to offend his own universalist, syncretistic crowd.

May God have mercy on America.

AMEN! 

Be prepared to face a future of intolerance where you will be accused of being the intolerant one. 

Know what you believe and believe what you know!

September 8, 2014

"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!" Luke 15:17

Parables are very effective in giving the big picture concepts but can break down a bit in the details. These three stories do a great job of illustrating God's heart for lost people, but one important truth that is lost in the details is this - we don't GET lost, we are BORN lost. By lost, I mean we are sinful, separated from God, morally bankrupt, corrupt in our thinking and deceived in out mind.

That self-righteousness that caused the religious leaders to be lost in their faith? That is a manifestation of their spiritual lostness. It didn't get them lost but it caused them to remain in their lostness and prevented them from reaching other lost people.

The self-indulgence that led the sheep away from the flock and away from the shepherd. That was the evidence of his selfish nature, his sinful heart that motivated him to be more interested in his appetite than his safety. It cut him off from fellowship and put him at serious risk.

Her loss of focus due to self-satisfaction, that is what caused the carelessness that led to a lost coin. Again, that is a result of a fatal self-absorption that IS our sin nature. The lost coin happened because she was lost! She lost her focus on the coin because she was so focused on her own comfort and well being. It is how sin is oriented.

And the self-interest that prompted the son to dishonor his father, shame his family and put Himself into bondage. That is because of the sin nature he was born with - we are born with. He got lost because he was lost.

So, the big truth in these three rivoting stories is that we get more lost because we are lost. We remain lost until we are found. BUT - JESUS CAME TO "SEEK and SAVE THAT WHICH IS LOST".

The only thing that prevents us from being found is understanding and admitting that we are lost. Only as we get honest about our lostness can we develop a desire to be found. That is what happened to the lost son! That was his turning point. "He came to his senses". There always comes a point where your sin does you in. Ultimately pain pushes the change button in your mind. Every sinful play day brings a painful payday. The price of your sin will always exceed the pleasure. That is where this son was. He was confronted with the ugly truth about who he was and what he had done. He had dishonored his father. He had shamed his family and wasted their wealth. He had sold himself into bondage.

Thankfully, because God wants us to be found, He wired us with a conscience - a spiritual GPS to direct us back to Him. It is always operational. When programmed by the Spirit of God, it keeps us locked into to path of holiness pursuing God. But when it is ignored or programmed by the sinful nature, it leads to the path of destruction.

Jesus points to that crucial moment that everyone of needs to have in order to get from "lostness" to "foundness". We must "come to our senses" and listen to the voice of truth. We must honestly admit we are lost and confess a desire to be found. That was the turning point for the lost son. It was for me and it will be for you.

By this one act of humbly acknowledging the truth and heading home to the father, was the beginning of an amazing transformation. He went from starvation to celebration! He went from the pigpen to the palace! He went from loneliness and lostness to lavish love!

The bottonline - sin is senseless! Come to your senses and live in celebration, plenty, and lavish love! 

September 7, 2014

"One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”  The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts?  Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?  But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God."  Luke 5:16-25

Why would God go to all the trouble to endure our bad choices and our flagrant sinning in order to have relationship with us? Hear the story of the lost son from the modern setting as told by Philip Yancey in his book "What’s So Amazing About Grace?"

Yancey tells the story of a prodigal daughter who grows up in Traverse City, Michigan. Disgusted with her old fashioned parents who overreact to her nose ring, the music she listens to, the length of her skirts, she runs away. She ends up in Detroit where she meets a man who drives the biggest car she’s ever seen. The man with the big car – she calls him “Boss” – recognizes that since she’s underage, men would pay premium for her. So she goes to work for him. Things are good for a while. Life is good. But she gets sick for a few days, and it amazes her how quickly the boss turns mean. Before she knows it, she’s out on the street without a penny to her name. She still turns a couple of tricks a night, and all the money goes to support her drug habit. 

One night while sleeping on the metal grates of the city, she began to feel less like a woman of the world and more like a little girl. She begins to whimper. “God, why did I leave. My dog back home eats better than I do now.” She knows that more than anything in the world, she wants to go home. Three straight calls home get three straight connections with voicemail. Finally she leaves a message. “Mom, dad, its me. I was wondering about maybe coming home. I’m catching a bus up your way, and it’ll get there about midnight tomorrow. If you’re not there, I‘ll understand.” During the seven hour bus ride, she’s preparing a speech for her father. And when the bus comes to a stop in the Traverse City station, the driver announces the fifteen-minute stop. Fifteen minutes to decide her life. 

She walks into the terminal not knowing what to expect. But not one of the thousand scenes that have played out in her mind prepares her for what she sees. There in the bus terminal in Traverse City, Michigan, stands a group of forty brothers and sisters and great-aunts and uncles and cousins and a grandmother and a great-grandmother to boot. They’re all wearing goofy party hats and blowing noise-makers, and taped across the entire wall of the terminal is a computer-generated banner that reads – Welcome Home!

Out of the crowd of well-wishers breaks her dad. She stares out through the tears quivering in her eyes and begins her memorized speech. He interrupts her. “Hush, child. We’ve got no time for that. No time for apologies. We’ll be late. A big party is waiting for you at home.”

Once you have experienced grace like that it changes you forever. 

The four friends in this account show evidence of having experienced the grace of Jesus Christ in their own lives. 

First, they had an urgency.

They understood their friend had a serious need and they knew Jesus could meet it. The sooner they could get him there the better!

Second, they had a unity. 

Getting this need friend to Jesus in a timely fashion would require teamwork. They didn't need a battle of egos or a clash of wills they needed one plan agreed upon and executed by each of them. Every man needed to grab a corner of the mat and hold up his end and walk in step with the other.

That type of teamwork only comes from egos and wills that have been touched and changed by the grace of Jesus Christ.

Third, they had an understanding.

It's obvious this quartet of quality companions clearly understood the gravity of this opportunity. Only Jesus could heal their friend and Jesus was in town and their would never be a better chance to get their friend into the presence of the Healer.

There was no procrastination or excuse-making for these men. They would not wait for another time. The knew today was the day of salvation for their friend!

Just like the young lady and this paralyzed friend, your only hope is to be touched by the grace of Jesus. And once you are everything changes.

The changes that happen give you a sense of urgency to help others find Him. It gives unity with others who have also been changed by grace and it infuses the understanding that when the opportunity arises to reach others you must take it.

Have you been touched by grace?

What are you waiting for?

September 6, 2014

In 1976, Finland’s Lasse Viren made Olympic history when he became the first man to win both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races in successive Olympiads. After his victory, his coach decided to take on the record of the legendary Emil Zatopek. Earlier in the century at the Helsinki games, Zatopek had won the 5,000 the 10,000 and the marathon. There was only one problem. Viren had never run a marathon before. 

The Olympics are not exactly the place to take on a new event. But on the last day of the Montreal Olympics, Viren lined up to run the 26 mile race--and stood directly behind Frank Shorter, the American who had won the marathon gold medal four years earlier in Munich. As they took off, Shorter found out that he had a shadow. Lasse Viren’s coach’s strategy was to stay with Shorter through the whole race. Viren tried, but couldn’t maintain the pace and finished fifth in his first marathon. But the lesson was simple--do whatever the champion had done, fast slow, hills, curves...whatever he saw Frank Shorter do, Lasse Viren imitated him. 

Lasse Viren had a great strategy for someone who wanted to be a champion - imitate a champion! And he did! And as a result he finished 5th in an Olympic event he had never before entered!

He could imitate Frank Shorter but he could beat Frank Shorter because he couldn't measure up to Frank Shorter.

You and I are called to follow Christ and imitate Christ and when we do, we end up in a much better place than we would have without Him. But we can never BE Christ, and He knows that, so throughout Scripture Jesus points to men and women who followed well and Jesus says, "Imitate them!"

This morning we are going to do just that! We are going to look at some guys we need to imitate. In fact, they did SO well we will be looking at them for TWO weeks. Here's the story:

“One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven. “ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?  But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.” Luke 5:17-26

Wow! That's amazing what they did!

.

They did it because they had a friend in need and they were able to meet his need! He needed Jesus and they knew how to get him to Jesus.

Like Lasse Viren's coach I say, "Imitate them!"

These guys were not willing to be unconcerned - “Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat”

There is so much to be concerned about in our world today it is hard to stay concerned over the important things.

I find myself getting concerned over a scratch on my car and being completely unconcerned over the guy who can't afford a car.

Imitate these guys who were unwilling to be unconcerned. They had a concern for the need of their friend.

These guys were not willing to be uncommitted – “and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus”

It is one thing to be concerned and another thing to be committed.

Commitment involves action. Commitment is the proof of your concern.

Imitate these guys who were concerned over their needy friend and proved it by carrying him to Jesus.

These guys were willing to be uncomfortable – “they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd”

One of the biggest enemies of concern and commitment is comfort.

These four guys climbed out of the La -Z - Boys and helped their buddy onto a stretcher and carried him across town to see Jesus.

When they arrived they found the place so crowded that they couldn't get their friend into the house. But they were so concerned and so committed that they did an uncomfortable thing, the climbed up and tore the roof off the place so they could lower him down to Jesus. It made for an awkward moment but it also did the job!

Imitate these guys who were willing to do some hard work and heavy lifting in order to get their friend to Jesus.

These guys were willing to be unconventional – “they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus”

The famous last words of the church are, "We've never done it like this before." But these four guys didn't settle for that. Instead, they did whatever it took to get their friend to Jesus.

Imitate these guys! Be creative in order to get friends to Jesus!

September 5, 2014

"Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven. “ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?  But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God." Luke 5:20-25

There are a number of fascinating things in this story!

Consider this question, "Which is the greater miracle, being saved from your sins or being healed from a disease?"

Thank God, Jesus is able to save AND heal! Praise His Name!

You will notice that Jesus dealt with the man's sins first, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

It is also interesting that Jesus responded to THEIR faith (the faith of his friends) more than his faith. That's a study for another time, but it certainly testifies to the power of faith!

You can certainly make the case that the forgiveness of sins is a greater miracle than physical healing for this simple fact, you can get into Heaven in your sickness but you can get into Heaven in your sinfulness!

We know in this particular instance Jesus forgave the man before he healed him as a testimony to the Pharisees and religious leaders. The Jews believed that people became ill as a consequence of their sins. So, when this man was forgiven but remained paralyzed it messed with their theology.

They also were offended by the audacity of this "prophet" presuming to forgive sins. This was a bad day to be a Pharisee and it got much worse when Jesus said, "Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?  But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God."

Wow! 

Amazing!

A man healed spiritually and physically by the power of God and the grace of Jesus!

While Jesus did the healing work, it happened because of the faithfulness and the faith of four friends who went beyond and above the ordinary to carry their needy friend to Jesus!

When was they last time you went beyond and above the ordinary to bring a friend to Christ?

You will have some good opportunities coming up this month. September 21st for First & Goal Sunday you should bring someone to hear about Jesus. September 28th in the 10:15 service we will be baptizing 6 or 7 people, that is a great chance for your friend to experience the joy and excitement of salvation. And, there is the evening of September 28th when we will show the "God's Not Dead" movie at 6:00 p.m.

Let's raise the roof this month!

September 4, 2014

"Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God." Luke 5:17-25

I love this story!

Apparently the Apostles did, too, because it is recorded in three of the four Gospels!

There are four things that really stand out to me about these guys being committed and bringing their friend to Jesus: 

• They went out of their way. 

I have to believe these four men had other things they could have been doing this day, but Jesus was in town and He was the only hope for their hopeless friend. So, regardless of how inconvenient it was for them or how uncomfortable it may have been, they made the time and gave the effort to help their needy friend.

• They were persistent. 

Have you ever noticed when you don't really want something you can find an excuse for not doing it?

When these four friends carefully and tediously toted their paralyzed pal to the house where Jesus was, they discovered the place was standing room only - and that was on the outside! That would have been a plausible excuse for calling it a day and heading back home.

But they didn't! They persisted! They were committed to making sure their friend saw Jesus.

Getting him to Jesus was inconvenient, uncomfortable, difficult and complicated but they didn't quit!

• They took a risk. 

Bob Biehl, a leadership guru, says that creativity is simply determined problem solving. 

Their commitment to their friend and their persistence in completing their mission drove them to do something risky. They climbed to the roof of the house, considering they were each holding the corner of a mat, that alone was risky.

But, the house was full of people and people blocked the windows and blocked the doors so the only way to go was up. 

When they made it safely to the roof they did another risky thing, they tore a hole in the roof large enough to lower their buddy through. This was risky if they knew the home owner and VERY risky if they didn't know him!

But, in their opinion the greater risk was in not getting their friend to Jesus!

• They carried the weight. 

Do you have a friend who is willing to bear the weight of your burdens?

In a day and age where life is difficult and demanding we can hardly bear the weight of our own burdens let alone carrying the burdens of another. But that is what Jesus calls us to do!

The fourth thing I admire about this quartet of friends is their willingness to carry the weight of their paralyzed friends burden.

Wow!

So, having considered the admirable deed of these four men I ask you:

When’s the last time you went out of your way to invite someone to church. To get them into the presence of God? 

When’s the last time you were persistent? 

When’s the last time you took a risk for someone else? 

When’s the last time you carried the burden of someone else and laid it before Jesus?