January 5, 2015

"Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23

People were following Jesus for a lot of reasons. They followed Him hoping to be healed, some followed Him because they had been healed by Him. They followed Him because He had fed them and others followed Him hoping to be fed. Some followed Him because they liked His stories, some followed Him because they had a story. A few followed Him because they were called.

Why do you follow Him?

He calls to commitment.Why do you follow Him?

Commitment is hard - very hard. But it is also very healthy and helpful. And, the very things that make it hard are the things that make it helpful.

I want you to take a look at Jesus' call to commitment in this verse and consider the hard things and see if you can understand why they are also helpful.

There is a cost - "If anyone would come after me he must deny himself......"

Commitment asks you to deny yourself. That means you put His way ahead of your way. He calls you to come after Him and that makes common sense. How could you follow Him and go your own way at the same time? You can't! To be a follower of Christ you must begin by following! And when you follow your own way you cannot at the same time follow His. Chasing Him means surrendering your way to pursue His.

There is a cross - "......and take up his cross...."

The call on Jesus' life led to a cross. This was God's will for Him. Is was not the way Jesus wanted but the cross was why He came. Jesus had to die as the atoning sacrifice for your sins so you can have your sins forgiven.Without His cross, you would not be able to follow Him. Without a cross, you will not be able to follow Him. Discipleship requires a death. Since He has already died, it is now your turn! You must die to your own selfish will so you are free to follow His way! Crosses are hard! They can kill you! No one climbs off a cross once he is nailed there!

You are placed on a cross to die. That is the will of the cross. What needs to die in your life?

There is a consistency - ".....daily and follow me."

It is hard to be consistent at anything. Doing the same thing the same way on a daily basis is hard! That gets tedious in a hurry. And yet, that is what Jesus called these men to do -consistently follow Jesus. In this case that means that everyday you count the cost of following His way and denying your way - EVERY Day! And it means nailing your way and your wants and your will to the cross - putting them to death so you are free to follow Him. Then, the next day, you come back and do it all again! That is consistency.

Counting the cost and paying the cost his hard! But walking in His way rather that yours is helpful - very helpful! And the cross in hard! Very hard - because it calls you to die to your will. But when you consider having His will rather than yours - very helpful! Doing these two hard things consistently (every day) is real hard! But He calls you to following Him daily - counting the cost and dying on the cross! Very hard - but very helpful!

Have you answered the call to commitment?

January 4, 2015

"Be very careful then how you live - not as unwise but wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish but understand what the Lord's will is." Ephesians 5:15-17

What is the wise thing for me to do?

That is a question that gives clarity to almost every decision you will ever need to make. But let's add some depth and dimension to it.

Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, equates wisdom with careful living and the word used for careful means "looking in every direction" or "have your head on a swivel". So, wisdom looks ahead and looks around and looks back in factoring a good decision.

So, expanding this critical question in three dimensions, it looks like this:

In light of my past experiences, what is the wise thing for me to do?

Unless we learn from history it will repeat. That should seem obvious but one thing that characterizes unwise people is their reluctance to learn from past mistakes.

Why don't we learn from our past? Let me offer two possibilities:

We don't learn from the past because we fail to ask this question. We are careful to look back and try to learn.

And, we don't learn because we deceive ourselves into believing we can manage the outcome of our decisions. 

Those are very unwise and careless ways to approach life.

Second, looking around we should ask, In light of my current circumstances what is the wise thing for me to do?

Often, our current circumstances are complicated by the unwise decisions we made in the past. So, not asking the wise questions then will catch up with us.

How can we make wise decisions without accurate and relevant information? It is impossible to make wise decisions without properly assessing our current circumstances.

Paul counsels to "make the most of every opportunity" but you can't recognize opportunity without objectively analyzing our current circumstances..

And, finally, ask In light of my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing for me to do?


In fact, all wise decisions are made in reverse. We dream and decide where we want to be and then set goals and plot objectives backward from there to where we are today.

For example, we never get into our cars without a destination in mind. And knowing what our destination is predetermines all the starts and stops and turns we will make to get there.

That's why it is unwise to live life without a destination in mind. We all end up somewhere but without wise decisions we will not end up where we want to be.

Wise decision-making demands that at every opportunity, every invitation, and every impulse we ask ourselves In light of my past experiences, my current circumstances and my future hopes and dreams what is the wise thing for me to do?

2015 can be the beginning of new hopes and dreams if you are willing to wise up in your decision-making.

January 3, 2015

"Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." Ephesians 5:15-17

In his letter to the Church at Ephesus, Paul is giving these Christ-followers correction and instructions on how they should live and believe. As he begins to conclude his letter he knows he has asked them to make some very hard choices and radical changes so he gives them a starting point, one practical thing they could do. From this point on, based on what they have learned he counsels them to begin making wise decisions.

When you distill these three verses down to one clarifying question you get something like this:

WHAT IS THE WISE THING FOR ME TO DO?

Would not that be a careful thing to do every time you were confronted by a decision? 

In fact, I know it may be painful for you, but pause to reflect on a regret that haunts you and imagine how different your life might be today if you had asked that question before making your decision.

Are you beginning to see the value of this question? 

Would your life better or worse from now on if at every impulse, every invite or every opportunity you would stop to ask this question and then act on it?

Should you begin carefully and prayerfully asking that question today do you think you would have fewer heartaches and regrets in your future?

If you committed to asking that question to help you make wise decisions, don't you think you would develop into a more Christ-like Christian?

What if you began asking that question in regard to financial decisions? Do you think you would see your financial situation improve?

Do you think you would begin developing healthier relationships if you began asking that question and acting on it?

If you really have your best interest at heart, wouldn't you begin asking that question?

If you know asking that question would make your life better but you chose not to ask it or act on it, what would that say about you?

Over the next six Sundays at FredWes I am going to challenge your decision-making and apply it to key areas of your life.

Do you care enough to come and listen?

January 2, 2015

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." Ephesians 5:15-17

You've heard the phrase, "Life is fragile, handle with care". Or, maybe you heard the spiritualized version, "Life is fragile, handle with prayer."

The simple truth of either or both statements is undeniable but did you ever wonder where it came from?

Well, one source is the Scripture verses listed above!

In these three verses Paul equates careful living with wise decision-making. 

Where do I get that? Just take a look at it!

He makes the connection between being careful (very careful) and being wise (not unwise). And, he equates wisdom with:

• recognizing opportunity
• recognizing your obstacles (evil)
• recognizing what's optimum (God's will)

Let's break this down further.

What is opportunity? Opportunity is a decision point, right? An opportunity is a choice between options. For a believer (which this letter is addressed to) an opportunity is not an option between good or evil because doing evil is not a viable option. When you chose to follow Jesus you chose to turn from evil.

So, for a Christ-follower, opportunity is the option to decide what is good or what is best. Or, stated another way, what is God's will in this decision because His will is always best? Or, put in still another way, the wise decision is choosing the option that best pleases God. Not everything that is acceptable for a Christian is necessarily the best for him or for God.

If making wise decisions was easy everyone would be making wise decisions. That doesn't seem to be happening because of some major obstacles that must be overcome. As the Scripture says, "....the days are evil." This means evil dominates our culture like a strong current that can carry you away if you aren't prepared to stand against it.

When you couple that with the fact the human nature is evil, you understand why wisdom is hard to come by.

Wisdom comes from knowing God because all wisdom comes from Him. Wisdom begins when you understand you need to know Him and confess that to Him. Once you come to know Him by faith wisdom consists of obeying Him. That is His will. You cannot ignore God or disobey God and think you will have wisdom.

"Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." 

Are you foolish or are you wise?

January 1, 2015

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"   II Corinthians 5:17

Happy 2015! 

May God bless you with a healthy and joy-filled year!

Time marches ahead relentlessly and a new year is upon us! Will you make the New Year new or will you drag the same old pain and problems across the threshold of time?

Speaking of time, the Apostle Paul reaches across the centuries with this solid reminder that only in Christ can all things be made new! So, the New Year cannot be truly new unless you are "in Christ".

What needs to be gone in your life? What did you carry in 2014 that you don't need to drag into 2015? Is there a sinful habit? Is there shame over your past? Is there an unhealthy relationship? Is there a spiritual stronghold? Is there a lack of discipline? Is there discouragement or depression? Is there spiritual apathy? Is there outright rebellion against spiritual truth?

The promise is that if you are "in Christ" you can be made new and the old, painful, unproductive, and harmful things can be gone!

So, what does it mean to be "in Christ"?

It means to live in trust. When you trust "in Christ" for your salvation and stop trusting in your own goodness or righteousness, then you can enter into a spiritual relationship with Him.

It means to live in truth. When you are "in Christ" you surrender to His truth and "lean not unto your own understanding". His truth is expressed through His Word, the Bible. Living in truth means that you commit to defining what is real in your life based on what the Bible says is real. You live by its principles. You order your life by its priorities. You shed your past and plan your life according to its promises and you prevail in life according to its power.

The New Year can only be new if you are made new! It can only be happy if you are made whole - and holy!

As you turn the page on the calendar will you turn a page in your spiritual experience? Will you be "in Christ"? Will you trust His truth to transform you into a "new creation"? Will you allow Him to make "all things new" in you?

You can be "in Christ" or in crisis. It's up to you.

December 31, 2014

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." Ephesians 6:18

Dr. Thom Rainer, President of Lifeway, shares these eight prayer requests for churches in 2015. Read them over and see if you feel lead to adopt one of these for FredWes next year.

You will likely recognize some of these themes if you read this blog with any regularity. These are my eight prayer requests for churches in 2015:

1. For greater emphasis on prayer. Many, if not most, churches have a woeful emphasis on corporate prayer. Churches who do not give prayer a high priority are churches without God’s power.
2. For standing firm on biblical truth. Culture is trying to push our congregations away from the truths of Scripture. We cannot yield to that pressure. If we do, our congregations cease to be true, biblical churches.
3. For greater unity in our churches. There is too much infighting in many of our congregations. And there is too much disunity from church to church. The world is watching our fights. “Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us” (1 John 3:23).
4. For greater intentionality in evangelism. The typical church in America is doing very little to share the gospel of Christ boldly and intentionally. May we be so grateful for what Christ has done for us that “we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
5. For greater emphasis on groups. Churches should grow larger by growing smaller. A church member not in a small group or Sunday school class is not fully committed to the body.
6. For membership to be more meaningful. For many churches, membership has become nearly meaningless. For others, membership is a perceived entitlement, much like country club membership. I pray that membership in our congregations will become truly biblical as Paul demonstrated in 1 Corinthians 12.
7. For clear plans of discipleship. Too many congregations cannot clearly articulate how members can become more obedient followers of Christ. This issue was the thesis of my book with Eric Geiger, Simple Church.
8. For more ministry involvement and impact in our communities. I pray that our churches will become known by the positive impact they have in their respective communities. As we obey Acts 1:8, we must first be obedient to our own Jerusalem.

These are my (Thom Rainer's) eight prayers for our churches. What do you think of them? 

December 30, 2014

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." Ephesians 5:15-17

Paul is writing specifically to the believers in the Church at Ephesus, but more generally to all Christians everyone. He is writing to give practical advice and instruction on how to live a life that pleases God. 

These are good verses to hang your hat on for 2015 because the advice he offers in these two verses is for God's people to live wisely.

You may ask, "How does Paul define wisdom?"

He identifies three aspects of wisdom:

• Your walk
• Your works
• His will

"Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise" 

The phrase "be very careful" means "look around" or "be alert and aware" . Nowadays, we might say "keep your head on a swivel!"

The word "live" could be translated "walk".


So, a wise person is one who walks carefully fully aware of the temptations that threaten the man of God.

How is your walk?

The second question is, do you make your time work for you or against you? - "making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil"

Time is the one thing everyone has the same amount of. Everyone has 24 hours in a day and seven days each week. Wise people make that time work for them by planning and prioritizing and by living on purpose. 

Everyday is an opportunity! Every hour of each day brings opportunity!

Time is what life consists of so it should be used wisely.

Paul adds to the sense of urgency with the reminder that the "days are evil". 

What he is saying is this, "There is a strong current of evil flowing through your culture and unless you are careful and wise your life will get swept away by that current."

Your clock is ticking today. Will you make time work in your favor or will you waste it in non-productive pursuits? Will you live wisely and make wise decisions or will you be swept way by the torrent of evil that surrounds you?

Finally, wisdom is understanding God's will and doing it!

Doing God's will demands giving up on your will and living up to His. That is the essence of wisdom!

Foolishness is believing you can please God by doing your own will and ignoring His.

These are evil days!

What are you doing to keep from getting carried away by the torrent of evil sweeping through our culture?