January 18, 2013

"Love must be honest and true. Hate what is evil. Hold on to what is good. Love each other deeply. Honor others more than yourselves." Romans 12:9-10

 

"Love each other deeply" says the Scripture. The word that is used is the word for "brotherly love". Within the fellowship of the church you are to love others like family. The "phileo" type of love is the highest measure of love which human beings are capable of sharing. It refers to a genuine warm emotional feeling of fondness and familiarity. In other words, when you love a fellow Christian give it all you've got. Don't hold back.

 

Why should you not love your fellow believers like you love family? After all, you have the same Father. If you love God you certainly should love those in your church fellowship who also love God. You love them because God, your Father loves them. You love them deeply because they are spiritual family.

 

And why should you not love your fellow believers who not only share you Father, but also share your faith. Faith is a powerful force in the life of a believer. Faith is a set of beliefs about Who God is, how He operates, how He loves you and what He wants you to do and to become. A common system of beliefs and values can form a strong bond for friendship and fellowship among believers in a local church. Sharing strong beliefs at the core of your being with other believers is a strong uniting factor.

 

Also, when you worship and work together within the fellowship of a church you share the same focus. You want that fellowship to prosper and grow. The people and the pastors and the ministries of that church has inspired you and instructed you and invested in you over the years and it has become an important part of your life. Because you value that you value others who share your passion for the the health of that church. You are a team, you are members of the body who are working together to achieve shared goals. That is a strong common bond.

 

Love one another deeply as you would a brother or a sister. Live in unity and harmony with them. Share spiritual community as you worship together, serve each other and reach out to the needs in your city.

 

Having the same Father, the same faith and an identical focus are important factors in loving each other deeply (like brothers or sisters) within a local church fellowship. It is a powerful bond! It will bless you in your spirit and build you in your spiritual development!

 

Do you have a brotherly love for those who worship with you?

If not, why not?

January 17, 2013

"Love must be honest and true. Hate what is evil. Hold on to what is good. Love each other deeply. Honor others more than yourselves." Romans 12:9-10

 

Who doesn't want true love? Who wouldn't benefit from it? What church couldn't use more of it? True love is hard to find. Maybe that is because it is hard to do. Which could be why it is hard to recognize.

 

In these two verses Paul gives us perhaps the most concise description of true love found anywhere - even more concise than I Corinthians 13.

 

Life is all about relationships and therefore, love is essential. God wired you to thrive within loving relationships but sin infected your nature with selfishness and selfishness is the great "anti-love".

 

So, the reason it is hard for you to love me is because you love yourself more. Until you want to love more than be loved you will struggle with true love. Wow, that's honest!

 

Perhaps that's why this verse describing true love begins by demanding honesty. Until you are honest about your lack of love how can you ever hope to honestly love?

 

Selfish love is manipulative. It always look for an edge or an angle to get what it wants. When you are angling for what YOU want you will not be interested in what I want. Selfish love is the "anti-love".

 

Insincere love uses people rather than serves them. When I feel used by you not only do I not feel loved by you, it can erode my self-esteem. No one wants to feel like an object.

 

How do you get over the selfish love so you can love others with a sincere love?

 

Back to the honesty! True love begins with you repenting to God for your selfish love. Call it what it is - SIN. Do you find it interesting that the first three letters of sincere are "SIN"? The root of all sin is selfishness and that must be dug out by the root! Only the God of perfect love can do that.

 

The antidote for selfish love is God's love. Maybe that is why Jesus commanded us to "Love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself". Until you love God more that you love you it will be impossible to love others without trying to manipulate them. Actually, you will try to manipulate God, too!

Get over it! Root out SIN and get sincere!

January 16, 2013

"Love must be honest and true. Hate what is evil. Hold on to what is good. Love each other deeply. Honor others more than yourselves." Romans 12:9-10

 

Mature love is pure love. It is the love God has for you as revealed in His Son, Jesus. It is pure love because it comes from pure motives.

 

Mature love is honest. It has nothing to hide and no hidden motive or agenda. Honest love seeks the best for others and gives its best to others. It acts on the truth and speaks the truth and deals truthfully with those it loves.

 

Mature love is humble. It puts the needs and interests of others ahead of its own. There is no pretense or need to impress. It is not concerned about maintaining an image or protecting an ego. It is not afraid to risk in order to make others feel loved.

 

Mature love hates hurtful things and therefore doesn't hurt others. It opposes evil things and stays clear of evil itself. Evil is the anti-love because it promotes selfishness.

 

Mature love is helpful. It embraces the things that are good and helpful for others. It looks for the things that are good and helpful in others. It encourages and serves to bring out the best in others.

 

Mature love honors others by honoring God and obeying His Word.

 

Mature love is pure love because it comes out of pure motives and expresses itself in ways worthy of God's love. This is the love you receive from God and the love He expects you to share with others. And this is the love that fosters unity and community within the Body of Christ.

January 15, 2013

"Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”  Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling,  no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.  For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.  You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”  Psalm 91

 

It was late Sunday afternoon on January 15, 1950 and a very pregnant Reita Mae Snyder was sitting on a stool in her kitchen in Bourbon, Indiana frying some steaks for dinner.

 

Trust me, the woman can cook! But the steaks on the stove were about to be interrupted by the "bun in the oven" as labor pains began in a serious way.

 

Don Snyder devoured both steaks while Reita packed her stuff for the 16.2 miles trip down U.S. 30 to the Murphy Medical Center in Warsaw, Indiana. Around 10:30 that night they welcomed a 9' 15" 22 1/2 " baby boy into the world. They named him Bradley Donn Snyder.

 

These days the Murphy Medical Center has been torn down and the site has become the north end of a supermarket parking lot, Don Snyder has passed on and Reita is recovering from foot surgery awaiting her return to the bowling team she shares with three of her daughters in Warsaw - (and she is still a great cook).

 

What about the baby boy? He is a little taller, a bit heavier, a lot older and now a Virginian, but still going strong and loving life. Some of you call him "pastor" and some call him "friend" and one calls me "son" while another calls me "cutie" (imagine that).

 

So, here I am adding one more year to my age and trying to adjust to that number. Reflecting on all of this the words of an old Gaither song are rattling around in my ancient brain:

 

Since I started for the Kingdom,
Since my life He controls,
Since I gave my heart to Jesus,
 The longer I serve Him,
The sweeter He grows.

 

Chorus

The longer serve Him, the sweeter He grows,
The more that I love Him, more love He bestows;
Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows,
The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.

 

Ev'ry need He is supplying,
Plenteous grace He bestows;
Ev'ry day my way gets brighter,
The longer I serve Him,
The sweeter He grows.

 

Chorus

The longer serve Him, the sweeter He grows,
The more that I love Him, more love He bestows;
Each day is like heaven, my heart overflows,
The longer I serve Him, the sweeter He grows.

 

Amen!

Thank you, Heavenly Father for another year of life abundant and the promise of life eternal!

 

 

 

January 14, 2013

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

 

On the topic of "Social Justice", we have discussed some issues of concern. We have also seen the impacts it has on your life both present and past. Now I want to offer some suggestion of what you can do.

 

WHAT IS IT WE SHOULD DO?

 

When I (TIM KELLER) was professor at a theological seminary in the mid-eighties, one of my students was a young man named Mark Gornik. One day we wesre standing at the copier and he told me that he was about to move into Sandtown, one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods in Baltimore. I remember being quite surprised. When I asked him why, he said simply, “To do justice.”

 

It had been decades since any white people had moved into Sandtown. For the first couple of years there, it was touch and go. Mark told a reporter, “The police thought I was a drug dealer, and the drug dealers thought I was a police officer. So, for a while there, I didn’t know who was going to shoot me first.” Yet over the years Mark, along with leaders in the community, established a church and a comprehensive set of ministries that have slowly transformed the neighborhood.

 

Although Mark was living a comfortable, safe lives, he became concerned about the most vulnerable, poor and marginalized members of our society, and made long-term personal sacrifices in order to serve their interests, needs and cause.

 

That is, according to the Bible, what it means to “do justice.”

 

Justice is Care for the Vulnerable

The Hebrew word for “justice,” mishpat, occurs in its various forms more than 200 times in the Hebrew Old Testament. Its most basic meaning is to treat people equitably. It means acquitting or punishing every person on the merits of the case, regardless of race or social status. Anyone who does the same wrong should be given the same penalty. Mishpat, then, is giving people what they are due, whether punishment or protection or care. Over and over again, mishpat describes taking up the care and cause of widows, orphans, immigrants and the poor—those who have been called “the quartet of the vulnerable.” That is what it means to “do justice.” CARE FOR THE WEAK.

 

Justice Reflects the Character of God

Why should we be concerned about the vulnerable ones? It is because God is concerned about them. It is striking to see how often God is introduced as the defender of these vulnerable groups.

 

Realize, then, how significant it is that the biblical writers introduce God as “a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows” (Psalm 68:4-5). This is one of the main things He does in the world. He identifies with the powerless. He takes up their cause.  LET’S SHOW WHAT GOD LOOKS LIKE

Justice is Right Relationships

We must have a strong concern for the poor, but there is more to the biblical idea of justice than that. We get more insight when we consider a second Hebrew word that can be translated as “being just,” though it usually translated as “being righteous.” The word is tzadeqah, and it refers to a life of right relationships.

 

When most modern people see the word “righteousness” in the Bible, they tend to think of it in terms of private morality, such as sexual chastity or diligence in prayer and Bible study. But in the Bible, tzadeqah refers to day-to-day living in which a person conducts all relationships in family and society with fairness, generosity and quity. It is not surprising, then, to discover that tzadeqah and mishpat are brought together scores of times in the Bible.

 

Therefore, though tzadeqah is primarily about being in a right relationship with God, the righteous life that results is profoundly social. LET”S BUILD HEALTHY MARRIAGES AND FAMILIES

 

Justice includes Generosity

 

Primary justice, or tzadeqah, may mean taking the time personally to meet the needs of the handicapped, the elderly or the hungry in our neighborhoods. Or it could mean the establishment of new nonprofits to serve the interests of these classes of persons. It could also mean a group of families from the more prosperous side of town adopting the public school in a poor community and making generous donations of money and pro bono work in order to improve the quality of education there.

 

When these two words, tzadeqah and mishpat, are tied together, as they are over three dozen times, the English expression that best conveys the meaning is “social justice.”  LET’S BE GENEROUS!

 

The best way to bring justice is bringing revival -  remember Zacchaeus? Will you allow God to revive you?

Doing Justice Plays A Big Part In the Dispensing of Final Justice  (See MT. 25:31-46)

Luke 19:1 : Lk 18:35

Luke 19:4 : 1Ki 10:27; 1Ch 27:28; Isa 9:10

Luke 19:4 : Lk 18:37

Luke 19:7 : S Mt 9:11

Luke 19:8 : S Lk 7:13

Luke 19:8 : Lk 3:12, 13

Luke 19:8 : Ex 22:1; Lev 6:4, 5; Nu 5:7; 2Sa 12:6; Eze 33:14, 15

Luke 19:9 : S Lk 3:8

Luke 19:10 : Eze 34:12, 16; S Jn 3:17

January 13, 2013

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  Micah 6:8

If they are well intentioned then they are naive. If they are out to fundamentally change traditional America under the guise of they are not to be trusted and should be opposed.

If their idea of fairness is creating equal opportunities then count me an ally. However, if their notion of fairness is equal outcome by redistributing wealth from the successful producers to the non-contributing members of society I part ways with that.

As I mentioned in my previous post, "social justice" has become a buzz word for the practice of redistributing wealth by attacking the rich through punitive taxes and regulations. In the worldview of the progressives or socialists, the wealthy aquired their wealth by exploiting the middle class and it is now time to level that out.

In my last post I shared several issues of concern with the concept fo social justice espoused by the President his political party which is currently in charge of our nation.

Today I want to get personal and highlight some of the concerns I have with their brand of "social justice".

WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF “SOCIAL JUSTICE”?

1) It Will Impact Your Faith

The people who want to bring fairness and parity to American culture have already infringed on the rights of the Catholic Church by mandating them to distribute contraceptives and to fund abortions against their religious convictions.

They are infringing on the convictions of some military chaplains by pressuring them to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex marriages.

If the government's concern about fairness don't seem to extend to people with religious views that oppose their agenda.

2) It Will Impact Our Freedom

One way the progressives go about accomplishing their income redistribution agenda is by increasingly imposing higher taxes and restrictive regulations.

The class envy and class warfare strategy of the progressives is designed to weaken free enterprise capitalism and replace it with socialism of some sort.

Think about it. Losing money and personal property to the government is also a loss of freedom. If you don't have personal property rights you don't really have freedom.

 3) It Will Impact Our Finances

High tax rates and punitive regulations remove opportunity for businesses to prosper and strengthen the economy. It shrinks your take home pay and reduces your ability to save, spend and invest.

Also, the more money that is pulled out of the private sector into the government the more  the economy shrinks and struggles.

A government that is running up trillion dollar deficits every year and continues to borrow $.40 of every dollar it spends weakens the value of your spending power.

4) It Will Impact Our Future

Think about how your future will be impacted if your faith is opposed tor restricted, if your freedoms are reduced, and you can earn less money and save less money and have less money to invest.

What sort of a future does that bode?

For a clue of how your future could be impacted by the implementation of "fairness", study Greece or Spain or Italy and see what sort of futures their people are facing.

Perhaps you are thinking, "Brad, why are you getting so political? I thought this is supposed to be a spiritual devotional blog."

While this struggle is being played out on the political arena it is essentially a spiritual conflict between secular humanistic values and Judeo-Christian values. The people of God must understand the nature of the battle so they can know how to pray, how to live, how to vote and how to discern the times.

January 12, 2013

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

 

If you have young children or if you have had them I am sure you are familiar this phrase, “NO FAIR!”

 

Fairness is a big issue in 21^st century American culture. There is great value and virtue attached to efforts to make things fair.

 

During the recent Presidential election we heard our President talk about fairness a lot. He promoted raising taxes for the higher income Americans to make sure they pay their “fair share”.

 

Many on the liberal side, or the left side of the political spectrum have – either intentionally or unintentionally – equated “fairness” with “justice” and refer to their efforts to make society fit into and conform with their notion of fairness – “SOCIAL JUSTICE”.

 

Let me ask you several questions about fairness:

 

·         Help me make a list of some things that are fair about life.

·         If you think something is fair but I think it is unfair – who is right?

·         If we both agree something is unfair how do we make it fair?

·         What happens if by making it fair for us we make it unfair for others?

·         Is fairness about opportunity or is it about outcome?

 

Are you beginning to understand the complexity of the problem?

 

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES WITH “SOCIAL JUSTICE”

 

"Social Justice". That phrase sounds good doesn't it? Social refers to people and relationships. Those are good things!  

 

And who doesn't like justice? God knows we could use a lot more justice! Different forms of the word "justice" appear 200 times throughout the Old Testament! So, obviously it is an important concept.

 

What is the problem with social justice? Why should you be concerned about it?

 

Several of the problem areas have to do with the underlying worldview behind the liberals view of "social justice". This worldview is vastly different from the traditional Judeo-Christian viewpoint. Here are several examples:

 

1) GOD VS. GOVERNMENT

 

Our Founding Fathers believed that our rights and freedoms were bestowed by the God Who created us and the role of this new government was to protect those freedoms. For nearly 150 years that principle was honored. But with the rise of the Progressives over the past century, that has begun to change. To them rights are granted by government.

 

Progressives have systematically marginalized God and the Bible and the role of faith in the culture. It appears their goal in dimishing those institutions has been to increase the role and influence of government.

Traditional ideas of justice center around protecting individual rights according to the moral values expressed in the Founding documents.

For many of those in power today, justice is meted according to what best serves government interests.

 

2) CONSTITUTION VS. CHAOS

Another fundamental different in how progressives view "fairness" has to do with the nature of truth.

Traditionally, justice and  notions of fairness have been grounded in the absolute truths of our Constitution which are based on the unchanging truths of the Word of God.

Many of our current leaders do not honor absolute truth. The same is true of a teachers and college professors. Rather, they are guided by situational ethics generally dictated by what best serves their political agenda. When justice is dictated by a whim, you essentially are in a state of chaos.
 

3) FREEDOM VS. FORCE

There is a distinct difference between believing that freedom is a gift from God and guarded by Constitutional rights and assuming that rights are granted by government to serve the state.

When your freedom depends on government granted rights, that freedom can be taken by the government at their discretion and you live under the threat of force.

4) DIGNITY VS. UTILITY

Traditionally, because individual rights were understood to be granted by God, there was dignity assigned to each person and his freedom was a sacred trust to be protected by government.

But in the worldview of most current leaders, the value on an individual is determined by how useful that person is to the state. Weakness, old age, mental impairment, or serious illness requires extra money and resources from the state and therefore makes you more of a liability than an asset to it.

Jesus told us to be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves".

II Chronicles 12:32 talks about the "men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do".

As people of God and the Church of Jesus Christ, we must know the times in which we live and understand how notions of freedom, rights and justice are changing so we can stand for God's truth and justice.