October 15, 2017

"All authority in heaven and on earth HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME" Matthew 28:18

Jesus certainly had authority. No one would argue that. It is not even debatable!

So, if God has all authority and Jesus is God's Son, He certainly could have given Him authority. But was that authority actually given to Him - or did He, in fact have to earn it?

The answer is, "Yes - and - no....."

What sort of an answer is that?

All authority in Heaven was God's and He did give it to Jesus. But the authority on earth belonged to the evil one who had wrested it from Adam in the Garden.

So, Jesus had to earn back that authority.

How do I know that?

I know that because of the three temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness at the beginning of His ministry. Those temptations were about Satan trying to negotiate over the authority that he had stolen from the first Adam and was now trying to protect by deceiving the Second Adam.

Satan stole the authority he has and is not about to give it up. Jesus had to die on the cross to pay the debt for Adam's sin and had to rise from the dead to conquer death. That was how He got the authority back. It was given - it was won! And because Jesus won it back from the evil one He can now give it to us.

But to get that authority we have to get Jesus - by faith! And we have to surrender our authority, our will, our selfish nature to Him. We have to die like Jesus died in order to live in His full authority!

He wants to give His authority to us - all authority! We can receive it freely because He purchased it for us!

What do you need to surrender in order to receive His authority?

October 14, 2017

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me......And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:18; 20

The disciples had been with Jesus 24/7 for three years. They had seen His authority over evil, over disease, and recently, over sin and death.

Then, there was that time that Jesus sent them out two by two into the region to minister in His name and with His authority. They had experienced what it was like to take authority over evil, over disease and even over death. The Bible tells us that they came back rejoicing over the victories they had been able to win with His authority.

So, it makes sense that as Jesus was preparing to leave the planet and return to His Father that they might wonder what would happen to His authority. Would His authority depart with Him? This divine mandate He had just given them would take much more that what they possessed in the way of power and authority. It was a God-sized assignment and it would take God-sized help.

What would you be doing if you were them?

Well, now you are them! Their mandate is your mandate. It is still a God-sized job!

We need to hear what Jesus told them. "ALL authority in HEAVEN and on EARTH" is His. It resides in Him! He had the authority of Heaven and when He died and rose from the dead He regained all the authority on earth! It is the authority that Adam had forfeited by his sin. But Jesus, the Second Adam, took back what Adam had lost! So when Jesus said ALL authority that is exactly what He meant!

In short, what Jesus is saying is this, "I have all spiritual authority that exists in the universe and when you have Me you also have this authority"! 

Think about that!

Jesus was not just giving them a mandate, He was giving them the power to become a movement! And the history of the early Church indicates that when the believers clung to Jesus and received His authority - it was an unstoppable movement! When they worshiped and ministered in Jesus' Name they also operated in all of His authority.

Does Jesus still have that authority? Has he experienced a power shortage? Do we still get ALL authority when we get Jesus or did that change somewhere in the past 2,000 years?

If you are in Christ, you are in His authority!

Act like it!

Vertical And Horizontal Worship

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness" II Peter 1:5-6

Recently I was honored when I read what one of my people had written about me. She referred to me as a "godly man".

That caused me to pause and asked myself, "Am I really a godly man? What does that mean? What does she see in me that brought her to that conclusion?"

Peter may have the answer in II Peter 1:6 - "For this very reason add to your faith.......godliness".

The word used for "godliness" conveys the idea of devoted worship of God. A godly person worships well.

But, it is more than that. As important as it is to worship well there is more to godliness. Godliness involves a disciplined witness or worshipping God so well that others notice.

Worship has a vertical relationship to it - from man to God. But it also has a horizontal relationship - from man to man. If you do not worship God well it will have a negative effect on how you relate to others. When your vertical relationship is strong it improves how you care about others. Likewise, if you are not treating other people well it will hinder your devotion to God.

Godliness then, is being devoted in both directions - upward toward God and outward toward others. If that is what she meant by  being godly, then I am deeply humbled and greatly encouraged.

I want to worship God well and I want to be a good witness for Him. That is the godliness I seek.

"Add to your faith........GODLINESS"!

October 12, 2017

"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death."  Revelation 12:10-11

One of the reasons the testimonies of the saints above were so powerful is because they arose from a period of severe testing. When they were faced with persecution they stood faithful to their faith in the face of suffering and death.

Personal testimonies always tell a story of life-change or faithfulness or courage in times of testing. They have power because they offer living proof of the power of God.

I went forward during the invitation at the end of a Sunday evening service in a tiny Bible Church in Bourbon, Indiana. I was only seven years old but I remember the pastor struggling with how to share the gospel with a seven-year old. Then, almost as if inspired, he began to tell the story of Noah and the Ark and explained that being saved is like coming into the Ark. I affirmed that was what I wanted to do and he led me in the salvation prayer. I became a Christian that night 56 years ago.

At the age of 10, my family and I were invited to attend a Wesleyan Church in the nearby town. We went the Sunday following our invitation and we never stop going. Silver Lake Wesleyan Church became our church home. Through that church I was introduced to Summer camp and a group of young people from all over Northern Indiana. Some of those people became life-long friends of mine.

My association and friendship with those young people and my church family were instrumental in helping me grow in my walk with God. One evening during Youth Camp service, I went forward at the end of a service and surrendered my life completely to God and was filled with the Holy Spirit. Shortly after that experience I began to sense a calling from God to pastoral ministry.

Although I resisted that calling for several years. I finally surrendered to His call for my life and applied to Indiana Wesleyan University. I am the first person from my family to go to college. It was nothing short of a miracle that I was able to financially afford college.

My four years at IWU were formative years for a number of reasons. I developed personally, spiritually, socially, intellectually and in leadership. Surrounded by amazing people of God, my passion for God and for ministry was shaped by my days at Indiana Wesleyan.

Right out of college, I received a call to become the pastor at Princeton Wesleyan Church in Princeton, Illinois. With great excitement and trepidation I headed west to the prairie of North Central Illinois. God had favor on me and those good people were very gracious and patient with me and that tiny church began to grow. Involved in that growth was a couple named Dave and Bev Marine. Here is his story:

In 1974 I decided living together with my wife was wrong. I chose the Wesleyan  Church on Pleasant Street to ask the Pastor if he would marry us,as I was familiar with Pastor Olander, and my Uncle Glen had preached there. Pastor Olander was no longer there, but a new Pastor named Brad Snyder was the new Pastor. We met, and we immediately hit it off. We had many similar likes, and sports was one of the biggest things we liked. I didn't know it, but I was about to find another thing we would have in common...the love of Jesus Christ. Brad invited me to a pick up basketball game, and he played for a for a long time, and PB started witnessing about the Lord to me. I found all kind of reasons not to commit, but in the end, PB wore me down, and I have been thankful every since!

Bev and I went up to the altar and gave our lives to the Lord. I wish I could say from that point on that every thing went well, but we had problems, and back slid for a bit, but we always came back to the Lord, as his mercy is always there for us.

I can say that at the present time my faith has grown to it's highest level,as we have had a serious life event that has caused me to dig very deep to survive the effects that has rocked my life, as my love mate has had a debilitating stroke. Without God and answered prayers, I would have crumbled, but God's strength is sufficient and I have been able to cope with my situation. Praise be to God!

Am I perfect as a Christian? No way, but I continue to strive, and I am convicted by the Holy Spirit to improve my obedience to God's will. Every day I thank the Lord for his grace and for all the blessings he has bestowed on our family. He is truly a great God!

Testimonies are powerful and become more powerful when my testimony of life-change changes the life of another!

Because of the impact of two tiny churches in Indiana on my life, I had a testimony that was able to impact David and Bev in a small church in Illinois!

Now their testimony has touched you!

Never underestimate the power of your testimony!

By Faith, Not Sight

"We walk by faith, not by sight" II Corinthians 5:7

This is a very simple sentence and it sounds relatively easy doesn’t it?

Walking by faith implies trust on something known but unseen.

It brings to mind a time Barbara and I were driving the Blue Ridge Parkway in the late afternoon just before dusk. As the sun dropped lower and the air cooled, fog began developing. We were near Boone, NC and were trying to get to US 421 and get down the mountain before the fog became too thick. It was a nice plan but it didn’t happen. So heavy was the fog that I could not see more than ten feet ahead on the roadway. I didn’t know it I had room to pull off to the right side. Sometimes there is room on the shoulder and sometimes there is a several hundred-foot drop off so I did not want to risk that. All I was able to make out the center line so I slowed down and focused on hugging the center line. Literally, I was driving by faith in the center line rather than by sight. To this day I do not know how far we drove before we got out of the fog but it seemed like one hundred miles. Pavement never looked so good!

What does it mean to “walk by faith and not by sight”?

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Walking by faith means pleasing God!

God is pleased by our obedience and He is pleased by our dependence upon His Word. When you live to please yourself or you choose to do what you want rather than do what pleases God you are not walking in faith.

Walking by faith means proving God!

God is pleased when we believe what the Word says about Him and live for Him. He wants to be known and He delights in us actively seeking to know Him. Pursuing Him is evidence that we believe He exists. Three ways to believe He exists are: 1) His Creation, 2) His Christ and 3) Changed lives! Allowing Him to change our life is the greatest proof!

Walking by faith means pursuing God!

Like the line on the Parkway in the fog, faith fixes a focus on God and follows Him. Faith earnestly seeks God to know Him, to be known by Him and to make Him known. Faith keeps pursuing God even when life is hard to figure and God is hard to find.

Are you walking by faith?

Are you living to please God?

Are you living proof of God’s existence?

Are you pursuing God passionately?

October 10, 2017

"When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted." Matthew 28:17

Now, why did they put that last phrase in there? Isn't that curious? I understand that Matthew would want us to know that the eleven remaining disciples worshiped the Risen Jesus - but did we need to know about the doubters?

How could you doubt Jesus when He is right there; risen, alive, and triumphant?

This serves as one more proof of the authenticity of the Bible. Had it been written by men who were trying to deceive they would not have included those three words "but some doubted".

So, what should we make of that statement?

Personally, I take encouragement from it! Here's why:

First, it tells me that these "some who doubted" (and we don't know how many of them there were) worshiped through their doubts. Even though they were unresolved in their faith, they didn't let it keep them from falling at the feet of the Resurrected Jesus.

Haven't you come to church some time when you were struggling with a doubt? What better place to be when you are unresolved in your faith?

Second, it tells me that God can use spiritually unresolved people to change the world! This same group of eleven became the foundation for the Church of Jesus Christ. So, not only did they worship through their doubts but the served through their doubts.

How many times have you stepped out into some new endeavor for the Lord and you weren't sure what the result would be. It was scary and uncomfortable for you but you leaned on His strength and worked through your doubts! I'm sure you have done that. I know I have!

Third, it doesn't say whether the doubts they had were toward Jesus or about themselves. For every doubt I have had about Him, I have had a thousand toward myself. In fact, when God began to lay the calling for ministry upon my heart, I resisted for four years primarily because I had serious doubts about my ability to measure up to that calling. I believed God could do it I just didn't think I could. Fortunately, a good friend assured me that when He calls He enables.

Why are those three words included in this significant portion of Scripture? I think it is because God want us to know that it is okay to have doubts as long as we worship through them and work through them. God is greater than our doubts!

If you are struggling with some doubts today - bring them to the feet of Jesus!

October 9, 2017

The name we bear is the only that will last forever. That's why we cannot talk about God's name without a final glimpse at the promise on an eternal kingdom. When the Lord told David that he would establish the work of Solomon's hands in building the temple, he went on to say that he would "appoint him over My house and My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever" I Chronicles 17:14

We know now that the Lord's reference to "forever" in His message to David found its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus, the Son of David....who was born in Bethlehem, the city of David....and who lives forever on the throne of his Father's kingdom. We, too, will live with him forever.

Still, we may long to see in our lifetime the fulfillment of all the things God has started in us. But neither we nor God's kingdom are limited to a human lifetime. Because we will walk on streets of gold and live forever in the glory of God's eternal kingdom, we can live free from the restraints of now and next week.

Yes, those of us who embody His name today can already enjoy a taste of His eternal kingdom. We live and serve and work and play in a kingdom that has no boundaries, no restrictions, no limits, and no end. This joyful task of embodying God's name places us squarely in the middle of God's will for this hour and forever in the freedom of His purposes for eternity.

Someone may ask you, "How can you be nice to that guy after he's been so awful to you?" or, "How are you able to be so patient with your children?" or, "Why does your family seem so happy and connected?" If they do then there's a name for what they see in you.

His name is JESUS!