January 23, 2014

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishop and deacons: ² Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵ thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ It is right for me to feel thus about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:1-11

Over four decades of serving in local churches I have discovered nothing more wonderful than a church than is unified around Christ. Such a health fellowship can transform lives and change circumstances for the glory of God. Being united around God's purpose unleashes His Spirit's power among those people!

Unfortunately, I have also seen the destruction caused  by a church that is not unified. The disunity is often caused by members of the church who attempt to make the church about themselves and their preferences rather than about God.

                              

The great Apostle Paul here demonstrates strong leadership by sharing his passion for the Church at Philippi while also casting a vision for what a Christian community should look like! He mentions three significant dynamics that unite a church and can keep it united.

In verses three through six, Paul declares, "I have you on my mind!" In verses seven and eight he affirms, "I hold you in my heart!" and in verses nine through eleven reminds them, "I have you in my prayers!" 

Over the next several days we are going to take a look at those unifying attitudes and consider how they can impact the growth and development of FredWes.

Paul is writing from the prison where he is held captive because of his zeal of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, "I have you on my mind"!

The old saying goes, "Out of sight out of mind" but that is certainly wasn't true of Paul! The people of this church he had planted were continually on his mind! While they may have stopped thinking about Him, he had not stopped remembering them in his thoughts and prayers!

You would think someone suffering in prison would want people to be thinking about him and his needs in a cold damp prison cell. But not so! He had them and their concerns on his mind!

In verses three and four he declares, "I am thinking of you in my prayers!" 

Some people are really worried about what other people think about them when in fact, people aren't thinking about them at all!

But Paul WAS thinking about them and praying for them - often! He had genuine prayer and concern for the people in that church!

Can you imagine how much better a church could be if it's members spent as much time being truly concerned for others as they are about themselves?

Who are you thinking about? 

Not only did Paul think about them but he was thankful for them when he thought about them. He found joy in remembering them. He expressed that in verse five.

You like to be remembered don't you? It means a lot when you know someone is thankful for what you mean to them!

What do you suppose it means to others when they know you are thankful for them? Imagine a church fellowship where the members find joy in thinking of each other and express that thankfulness to each other! Wouldn't that be a powerful fellowship?

In verse six he says, "I am trusting with you." - "And I am sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."

In other words, what he is saying is, "When I think of you I think of someone who is going to make it because God is at work in you!"

Imagine a church like that where the believers not only believed in God but they believed in God at work in each other!

Faith is wonderful. Sharing the faith walk with others who believe in you and believe with you is amazing! 

January 22, 2014

"Your love must be real. Hate what is evil, and hold on to what is good. Love each other like brothers and sisters. Give each other more honor than you want for yourselves." Romans 12:9-10

Telling someone to love like this is equivalent to telling your dog to act like a cat. It is unnatural. The love that God demands of you in this portion of Scripture is unnatural. Think about it!

To love this way you must be sincere, i.e. - authentic, the real deal! That is not your nature! It is natural to fake it. You show only your best side and mask or hide your faults, flaws and weaknesses. You don't like those parts of your nature and you are sure that if others knew how you really are they wouldn't like you either!

Loving others with a real, true, genuine and sincere love is not natural!

Likewise, expecting someone to hate evil and cling to good is very idealistic isn't it? That won't really happen. It is not the way we are! How can you hate evil when your very nature is controlled by evil? Your natural way of loving is selfish love. It is a love that manipulates others to get what it wants. Therefore selfish love uses other people, sometimes abuses them to gratify its desires.

Loving others with a holy and unselfish love is unnatural.

So it is with brotherly love or a love that prefers others above your own wants and needs. It is not in your nature to honor others. You want the spotlight! You want the credit! Center-stage belongs to you! You deserve the honor! You have earned it!

Honor others? Why?

Pure love requires a maturity that is not natural. True love, Christian love, requires a fundamental change in your nature. As the Scripture declares, you must "be transformed by the renewing of your mind"! That is not just unnatural it is supernatural! Only God can do that because only God loves like that! It begins the moment you receive the love that God has for you in Christ Jesus! When you receive His love you also receive the desire to love others. 

Along with that desire comes the ability to love others because - HE LOVES THROUGH YOU!

Are you ready for some radical love? Are you tired of shallow self-centered love? Are you wanting to help others rather than hurting them?

Repent of your selfish love and surrender to the supernatural endless love of God!

January 21, 2014

"Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." Romans 12:9-10

You have heard about "love/hate" relationships. Maybe you have had some. So you know there really is a fine line between love and hate. They are equally strong passions. Love has tremendous power for good while hatred can cause great harm.

Both love and hatred have a place in the heart of a Christian. In some situations you must hate one thing in order to love another. For instance, if you love the Chicago Bears (as I do) you MUST hate the Green Bay Packers. That's just the way it is! Always has been that way and always will be.

Okay, maybe I can find a better example.

In verses nine and ten, you are told that in order to love others with a godly love, you must hate evil. That would be the evil that tries to intrude into your heart as well and the evil that would attack or invade others. The word used here is a strong word. It indicates that you must be disgusted by evil and find it loathsome.

Are you? Do you?

If you saw an imminent physical threat to your loved one you would immediate cry out ro warm them or run to protect them. That is because true love protects. So, how then can you truly love someone and ignore a greater threat - the threat of evil to their immortal soul?

What would you think of a lifeguard at the beach who sees someone struggling in the waves and while fully aware of the threat, chooses to ignore it, preferring to work on his tan. That would anger you! And it should! You would conclude that lifeguard does not care about people nor takes his job seriously.

But in the same way, when you see evil or destructive habits or behavior in a loved one and you tolerate it you are not doing your duty as a Christian.

One measure of how much you love a brother or a sister is how much evil you are willing to tolerate in their lives. Or, another indication would be how much evil you are willing to condone or even participate in with them. The degree to which you ignore or tolerate evil is an indication of how little you love. Perhaps you have remained silent not wanting to offend or force a confrontation. Maybe you have convinced yourself that is the loving thing to do. Romans 12:9-10 challenges that notion.

Loving God and loving others demands a hatred of evil.

January 20, 2014

"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 19, 2014

“Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?” He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” Matthew 22:36-40

Don't you think God knows what He is doing?

Don't you believe He is much wiser than you?

Why, then, would you not consult His Word before you make any important decisions? Especially a decision as important as whether to terminate a pregnancy or not.

Over the last few days I have been placing some of "pro-choice" justifications for abortions beside God's Great Commandment. It has been quite effective in exposing the fallacy of their claims.

Today I want to examine a third claim: Abortion is safe and easy and I can get on with my life.

Well, let's examine the safety of it:

- The risk of ectopic pregnancy is 30% higher after one abortion and 400% higher after two or more abortions.

- An ectopic pregnancy places the woman at a 12% higher chance of death during her pregnancy.

- Women who have had an abortion have a 600% higher rate of a condition called abruptio placenta - a condition where the placenta tears away from the uterine lining during future pregnancies.

- After an abortion a woman has a 2-5% chance of becoming infertile.

- After an abortion the risk of breast cancer increases 100%

- After second or third abortion the risk increases 300%

- The increase risk of a young woman under 18 having a abortion developing breast cancer is +150%

- If the teen comes from a family with a history of cancer her risk increases 1000% after an abortion.

- These are some of physical risks that follow an abortion but the emotional and psychological impacts can be for worse.

- The suicide rate for women following a full-term birth is 6/100,000

- The suicide rate for women after an abortion is 35/100,000.

- A condition called "PTSD" usually follows an abortion. Some of those symptoms can be: Nagging guilt, anxiety, avoiding children or pregnant women, emotional shut-down, depression, suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, promiscuity, or difficulty bonding with future children.

I am not saying any of those will happen, but I am saying they are some of the risks that often do happen and make abortion far from being "safe" or "easy".

Or, for that matter, it may not be guaranteed that you could simple put the abortion behind you and get on with living.

These are facts confirmed by actual scientific date from 40 years of abortions. But behind the medical issues are the spiritual implications of breaking the commandment of God!

Can you honestly and in good conscience reconcile having an abortion with loving God with all your heart, and all your soul and with all your mind? 

Can you be confident that terminating a pregnancy is consistent with demonstrating your love for God?

And what about loving another as you love yourself? Can you square that with having an abortion. Don't you want to live? Don't you want to be happy and experience the best things in life?

Then God's commandment would require you to extend that same love to the life forming with in you.

Doesn't that make sense?

Isn't that what the Great Commandment demands?

Obeying the Great Commandment means loving God, loving others and loving yourself. I can't reconcile that with having an abortion.

Can you?

January 18, 2014

"He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. 38  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself."  Matthew 22:37-39

A second rationale offered to justify abortion is this argument: I am not terminating a human life since it cannot survive outside of the womb.

I would have to ask, "How can it not be a human life when you have a human sperm uniting with a human egg?" If the sperm is alive and the egg is alive how can the cell formed by this union not be considered alive?

If you are lying to yourself about this, what else are you lying to yourself about?

Let me concede your point that it is just a few cells. If it is just a few harmless cells then why would you need a procedure to get rid of them? If it is because you know it is eventually going to be alive then aren't you still guilty of knowingly ending a life if you abort it?

"You are the one who created my innermost parts; you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb. I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart.  Your works are wonderful—I know that very well. My bones weren’t hidden from you when I was being put together in a secret place, when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my embryo, and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me, before any one of them had yet happened." Psalm 139:13-16

But let's measure this argument against what God's commandment says.

What decision would you make if God was truly your Lord and you loved Him with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind? Would you please Him by ending a pregnancy?

And what about the second part of the Commandment? What decision would you make if you were to love another as you love yourself? And what about loving yourself? Can you be sure you will still love yourself if you terminate a pregnancy? Is having the abortion the best thing you can do for yourself? Are you glad your mother decided to carry you to full term and give you birth?

There is no doubt that making a decision on whether to end a pregnancy or carry it to term can be a very difficult decision. Shouldn't you seriously consider what God says about it before you make a final decision?

When you factor in God's commandment the decision becomes much clearer doesn't it? 

January 17, 2014

"Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-39

I am convinced that every problem at its root is a spiritual problem. Why do I believe this? I believe it because the spiritual part of you is the part that will live for ever because the spiritual part of you is what connects with God.

So, as I address this evil thing called abortion, I want to approach it at the spiritual level. Actually, I am not going to address it but I will let Jesus address it.

"I didn't know Jesus said anything about abortion," you may be thinking, "I didn't know Jesus said anything about abortion."

When he was asked to identify the most important thing Jesus replied, "Loving God and loving others is most important." So, according to Jesus, love is the gold standard by which all things should be evaluated.

Let's see what happens if I take the three most common arguments for abortion and hold them up against this Great Commandment of God!

We will do the first one in this post and one per day for the next few days.

Argument One: It is my body and no one should tell me what to do with my body!

In fact, there are an increasing number of government laws and regulations that DO tell you what you can and cannot do with your body!

But that aside, God would say, "Is it really your body?" I remind you that He is your Creator! I remind you that all life begins and ends in Him. If you love Him with all your heart, and all your soul and all your mind you will realize you belong to Him. 

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God--this is your true and proper worship." Romans 12:1

"Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Don’t you know that you have the Holy Spirit from God, and you don’t belong to yourselves? You have been bought and paid for, so honor God with your body."  I Corinthians 6:19-20

Whether you like or not. Whether you want to admit it or not you are accountable to God! He is keeping a permanent record and there will be a day when you will give an accounting to Him for what you did with your body while you are in your body.

"Because it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me and every tongue will give praise to God. So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God." Romans 14:11-12

So, if you belong to Him and if you are accountable to Him, don't you think it matters what you do with your body? 

If you are facing a life altering decision like an abortion, shouldn't you consider what He would want you to do? 

As the source of life and as the source of love, what do you think He would want you to do?

Doesn't that make sense?

There is another question you need to ask, "What about the body forming within my body?"

Think about that! If your body belongs to God then the body forming within you belongs to God, right?

The second part of the commandment says you need to love others like we love yourself. 

How do you love yourself?

You want the best for yourself, right? 

You want to live! You guard and protect your life, don't you?

Apply that to the life growing within you.

One big reason why women consider abortion is for selfish reasons. It seems easier to end the pregnancy rather than to deal with the complications and responsibilities of a child.

Is that really what it means to love yourself? Is it what means to love another?

If you deal with this "pro-choice" argument at the level that really matters - the spiritual level - and measure it against the Great Commandment, the argument sort of dissolves.

Life gets better when you live it according to God's loving laws.