It's nice to know I have a few friends from my former career reading these devotionals. Got a great video a while back from a friend of mine that I know only you guys can cross reference and appreciate especially if you were around in the late 80’s early 90’s when Politt began to come out with his research
Enjoy
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=152b5103d741aca61093
I miss you all
Stay close to Jesus!
REG
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
We can't always feel the Spirit leading
JN 14:8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
JN 14:9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? [10] Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. [11] Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. [12] I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. [13] And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. [14] You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
(this is a meditation written about 9 years ago; didn't realize back then what I'd have avaialble now.)
I would like to share with you a life changing experience from a few years ago. What I went through in one brief morning brought me face to face in a spiritual sense with the power of these words from the book of John. It all started with a sincere faith and belief in Jesus Christ and a desire to surrender myself totally to Him to do His will for one late summer morning....
In September of 1996 Hurricane Fran hit the coast of North Carolina and did significant damage inland. It so happens I have an aunt and uncle in a little town called Spivey’s Corners NC. (about a 40 minute drive from Wilmington). (My Uncle Roger is a Baptist Minister who also has a radio counseling program) Their region was severally hit by the storms. Tornadoes and high winds ripped through the countryside uprooting those beautiful southern pines as though they were tooth picks. Homes were destroyed and power outages were common throughout the state.
In 1989 I had gone with a group of men from our church to do relief work just 30 days after Hugo had hit the Charleston area. I was hoping to rally the gang to go and do a similar trip again this time. As it turned out I had the time in my schedule and no one else was able to go with me. I truly felt led by the Spirit to go and so I did.
I was amazed when I got there how well organized everyone was and how just two weeks after the storm they were much further into recovery than the greater Charleston area had been 7 years earlier.
On the second day after I arrived at my aunt and uncle’s home, there were only my young cousin Joshua (then 14), and myself available to go out and do volunteer work. We were headed out to “free lance”. Just find somebody that need help clearing trees and hop out of the truck to help them.
As we pulled out of the driveway I uttered a breath prayer, “Lord you know what needs to be done. Show us the way.” I drove and Josh navigated. At each intersection he called the turns as we wandered through the countryside looking for someone to help. As we scoured the countryside there came a point in time when I felt compelled to go against Josh’s directions to turn right. “I need to go left,” I told him.
At the next intersection Josh said, “I suppose you need to go left again.”
“As a matter of fact I do” I replied.
About 200 hundred yards down the road I spotted an older woman coming around from behind her home in her bathing suit.
“Look,” I said, “I’ll bet that little old lady needs some help!” Of course I was acting a little sarcastic when I said it.
Her house was set in a very rural area with most other homes 100 yards away or more. As we drew closer she began to wave at us frantically.
“See!” I told Josh. “She even needs our help!” That was the last smart remark I made for several days. Our lives were about to be impacted permanently.
I’ll spare you all the conversation that passed in the next few minutes. The reality of the situation was that this 83 year old legally blind woman had just come back to consciousness as we rounded the corner onto her road. She had been robbed, sexual assaulted, beaten and left for dead in broad daylight in the middle of a beautiful sunny morning.
She was not in a bathing suit, she was in her underwear. She wanted us to leave her, call for the sheriff department, and bring them back to her home. She felt the assailant was still there. We finally persuaded her to hop in the truck and that we would seek help at the first neighbor that was home. Her head had a nasty wound still bleeding on the back side. Her eyes were starting to swell from the beating. Dried blood was all about her face and the front of her clothes indicating the incident probably took place over an extended period of time.
As we waited for sheriff deputies and an ambulance to show up at a neighbor’s house, she could not thank us often enough. She held both Josh’s and my hand and said over and over again that we were guardian angels sent from God and that it was a miracle we had found her. She said over and over again that we were the answer to her prayers as she lay on her kitchen floor assuming she was going to die. We both assured her that we were no angels but there was no mistake that God led us there.
Well, this Buckeye boy thought for sure that he was going to be pulled in for questioning at the least. Who was going to believe that I was 1000 miles from home and just happened to be in the neighborhood looking for someone to help. The sheriff’s department took my name and address and I never heard from them again. I did not even learn the lady's name. I did hear a couple of weeks later that she was released from the hospital and plans were being made for her to be cared for by her daughter.
Josh and I will never forget what we witness that day. I learned so many things about the Holy Spirit.
God does answer prayer!
God uses us to do his work and to answer other people’s prayers!
When he answers even a breath prayer I now understand what “Thy will be done” means!
God does perform miracles even today!
When we surrender ourselves to the Lord, we truly are used by Him.
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." I saw enough that day to make my faith leap to a new level that will never let me go back to being a mediocre pew potato again.
He knows my name,
He knows my every thought,
He sees the tears that fall,
And hears me when I call.
JN 14:9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? [10] Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. [11] Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. [12] I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. [13] And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. [14] You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
(this is a meditation written about 9 years ago; didn't realize back then what I'd have avaialble now.)
I would like to share with you a life changing experience from a few years ago. What I went through in one brief morning brought me face to face in a spiritual sense with the power of these words from the book of John. It all started with a sincere faith and belief in Jesus Christ and a desire to surrender myself totally to Him to do His will for one late summer morning....
In September of 1996 Hurricane Fran hit the coast of North Carolina and did significant damage inland. It so happens I have an aunt and uncle in a little town called Spivey’s Corners NC. (about a 40 minute drive from Wilmington). (My Uncle Roger is a Baptist Minister who also has a radio counseling program) Their region was severally hit by the storms. Tornadoes and high winds ripped through the countryside uprooting those beautiful southern pines as though they were tooth picks. Homes were destroyed and power outages were common throughout the state.
In 1989 I had gone with a group of men from our church to do relief work just 30 days after Hugo had hit the Charleston area. I was hoping to rally the gang to go and do a similar trip again this time. As it turned out I had the time in my schedule and no one else was able to go with me. I truly felt led by the Spirit to go and so I did.
I was amazed when I got there how well organized everyone was and how just two weeks after the storm they were much further into recovery than the greater Charleston area had been 7 years earlier.
On the second day after I arrived at my aunt and uncle’s home, there were only my young cousin Joshua (then 14), and myself available to go out and do volunteer work. We were headed out to “free lance”. Just find somebody that need help clearing trees and hop out of the truck to help them.
As we pulled out of the driveway I uttered a breath prayer, “Lord you know what needs to be done. Show us the way.” I drove and Josh navigated. At each intersection he called the turns as we wandered through the countryside looking for someone to help. As we scoured the countryside there came a point in time when I felt compelled to go against Josh’s directions to turn right. “I need to go left,” I told him.
At the next intersection Josh said, “I suppose you need to go left again.”
“As a matter of fact I do” I replied.
About 200 hundred yards down the road I spotted an older woman coming around from behind her home in her bathing suit.
“Look,” I said, “I’ll bet that little old lady needs some help!” Of course I was acting a little sarcastic when I said it.
Her house was set in a very rural area with most other homes 100 yards away or more. As we drew closer she began to wave at us frantically.
“See!” I told Josh. “She even needs our help!” That was the last smart remark I made for several days. Our lives were about to be impacted permanently.
I’ll spare you all the conversation that passed in the next few minutes. The reality of the situation was that this 83 year old legally blind woman had just come back to consciousness as we rounded the corner onto her road. She had been robbed, sexual assaulted, beaten and left for dead in broad daylight in the middle of a beautiful sunny morning.
She was not in a bathing suit, she was in her underwear. She wanted us to leave her, call for the sheriff department, and bring them back to her home. She felt the assailant was still there. We finally persuaded her to hop in the truck and that we would seek help at the first neighbor that was home. Her head had a nasty wound still bleeding on the back side. Her eyes were starting to swell from the beating. Dried blood was all about her face and the front of her clothes indicating the incident probably took place over an extended period of time.
As we waited for sheriff deputies and an ambulance to show up at a neighbor’s house, she could not thank us often enough. She held both Josh’s and my hand and said over and over again that we were guardian angels sent from God and that it was a miracle we had found her. She said over and over again that we were the answer to her prayers as she lay on her kitchen floor assuming she was going to die. We both assured her that we were no angels but there was no mistake that God led us there.
Well, this Buckeye boy thought for sure that he was going to be pulled in for questioning at the least. Who was going to believe that I was 1000 miles from home and just happened to be in the neighborhood looking for someone to help. The sheriff’s department took my name and address and I never heard from them again. I did not even learn the lady's name. I did hear a couple of weeks later that she was released from the hospital and plans were being made for her to be cared for by her daughter.
Josh and I will never forget what we witness that day. I learned so many things about the Holy Spirit.
God does answer prayer!
God uses us to do his work and to answer other people’s prayers!
When he answers even a breath prayer I now understand what “Thy will be done” means!
God does perform miracles even today!
When we surrender ourselves to the Lord, we truly are used by Him.
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." I saw enough that day to make my faith leap to a new level that will never let me go back to being a mediocre pew potato again.
He knows my name,
He knows my every thought,
He sees the tears that fall,
And hears me when I call.
Deep searching theological questions
If some say there is no God; that there is no intelligent design, why do puppies have perfect lines coming down their face?
healthy obsession
2 Corinthians 10:5b. . . . and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
There are lots of scriptures, Old Testament and New, that point us toward, if I might borrow the expression, “brain washing.” I know the phrase has a negative context when its application is to describe a forced regimen of psychological manipulation for the purpose of controlling people’s mind (and I am painfully aware that it has been used to critically describe the Christian community at times and in some isolated instances the criticism has been valid. I would hope we all can agree those instances are aberrant and atypical of the essence of Christianity).
But we really are called to flush things out of our head and get something radically new in there. There are verses in Proverbs that clearly define the line between chasing things that transform us into a fool or seeking wisdom instead. Much of the historical literature carries a subtle message of letting your mind chase after a worldly pleasures and powers verses going after intimacy with God. There are verse all through the New Testament that encourage us to be proactive in the activities of rethinking our perspective of life, of God, of Eternity, and of how we should “be” as transformed people in this world.
But with all that sitting before us with instruction and encouragement, we all struggle to give into it 100%. At first I wanted to right down, “Well it’s God’s fault: He’s the one that made us, He’s the one that gave us the mind capable of rebelling against Him.” I could agree with myself on all of that except that it’s not a “fault.” God is perfect and blameless so it’s not His fault but he did make us that way on purpose!
So wow let’s look at this again. God created us with purpose and right from the very beginning that purpose involved being independently capable of choosing to be or not to be obedient and respectful to Him. If we are not given the freedom of choice in our relationship with God then we would not be capable of understanding his enduring love for us.
Our free will, our pride, our desire to pursue vengeance on our own, our vanity, our susceptibility to being corrupted by power and to be seduced in a variety of ways all speak of our vulnerability to get our focus on the wrong things. A recent devotional from Purpose Driven Life was entitled, “we move toward our focus.” (August 26, 2008 - PDL - Daily Devotional) We don’t have to dig very deep to understand that; we do move toward our focus, physically, emotionally, spiritually. We can quickly grab hold of the concept if we’ve ever driven a bike, or a car. Glance away from where you are headed long enough and your vehicle will soon follow whether you intended it to or not! So why is that so hard to understand spiritually and emotionally? We are so blind to see the reality of that in non tangible ways.
What ever we intentionally focus on transforms us! God does not want us to cross the center median or end up in the ditch spiritually or emotionally and that is why He has some great instructions for us! The Bible indicates that a transformation is going to take place in us if we willing shift our focus to the things God wants us to be focused on. We should be therefore in the pursuit of God.
We are called to seek the wisdom God; to be devoted to the transforming and renewing of our minds; to live by the Spirit; to “take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.” In other words, our goal should be to willfully, submissively, take every thought we think and or action we purpose to carry out and critically analyze it to see whether it will honor the one who gave His life for us. I believe this is a critical component of leaving a life of sin as well as also what begins to bring us out of addictive and compulsive behaviors.
As Steven Curtis Chapman describes it in his song titled by the same words, in our pursuit of God and desire to wash our brains of the negative and the sinful, Jesus becomes our “Magnificent Obsession.”
For those of you who don’t have a computer and are reading this by other means, I will close by posting the lyrics below. For the rest of you, well, I know now God was many steps ahead of me in thinking through this devotional because embedded in this video are tons of scripture that illustrate exactly what I was referring to leading up to the close.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PprCvi3fvxs
Lord,
Help us in our frail humanness. Enable us to become more and more like you and less and less the one we were before we came to know you. Empower us to make you our Magnificent Obsession.
Lord, You know how much
I want to know so much
In the way of answers and explanations
I have cried and prayed
And still I seem to stay
In the middle of life’s complications
All this pursuing leaves me feeling like I’m chasing down the wind
But now it’s brought me back to You
And I can see again
This is everything I want
This is everything I need
I want this to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You, Jesus
Be my magnificent obsession
So capture my heart again
Take me to depths I’ve never been
Into the riches of Your grace and Your mercy
Return me to the cross
And let me be completely lost
In the wonder of the love
That You’ve shown me
Cut through these chains that tie me down to so many lesser things
Let all my dreams fall to the ground
Until this one remains
You are everything I want
And You are everything I need
Lord, You are all my heart desires
You are everything to me
You are everything I want
You are everything I need
I want You to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You
I want it all to be for You
There are lots of scriptures, Old Testament and New, that point us toward, if I might borrow the expression, “brain washing.” I know the phrase has a negative context when its application is to describe a forced regimen of psychological manipulation for the purpose of controlling people’s mind (and I am painfully aware that it has been used to critically describe the Christian community at times and in some isolated instances the criticism has been valid. I would hope we all can agree those instances are aberrant and atypical of the essence of Christianity).
But we really are called to flush things out of our head and get something radically new in there. There are verses in Proverbs that clearly define the line between chasing things that transform us into a fool or seeking wisdom instead. Much of the historical literature carries a subtle message of letting your mind chase after a worldly pleasures and powers verses going after intimacy with God. There are verse all through the New Testament that encourage us to be proactive in the activities of rethinking our perspective of life, of God, of Eternity, and of how we should “be” as transformed people in this world.
But with all that sitting before us with instruction and encouragement, we all struggle to give into it 100%. At first I wanted to right down, “Well it’s God’s fault: He’s the one that made us, He’s the one that gave us the mind capable of rebelling against Him.” I could agree with myself on all of that except that it’s not a “fault.” God is perfect and blameless so it’s not His fault but he did make us that way on purpose!
So wow let’s look at this again. God created us with purpose and right from the very beginning that purpose involved being independently capable of choosing to be or not to be obedient and respectful to Him. If we are not given the freedom of choice in our relationship with God then we would not be capable of understanding his enduring love for us.
Our free will, our pride, our desire to pursue vengeance on our own, our vanity, our susceptibility to being corrupted by power and to be seduced in a variety of ways all speak of our vulnerability to get our focus on the wrong things. A recent devotional from Purpose Driven Life was entitled, “we move toward our focus.” (August 26, 2008 - PDL - Daily Devotional) We don’t have to dig very deep to understand that; we do move toward our focus, physically, emotionally, spiritually. We can quickly grab hold of the concept if we’ve ever driven a bike, or a car. Glance away from where you are headed long enough and your vehicle will soon follow whether you intended it to or not! So why is that so hard to understand spiritually and emotionally? We are so blind to see the reality of that in non tangible ways.
What ever we intentionally focus on transforms us! God does not want us to cross the center median or end up in the ditch spiritually or emotionally and that is why He has some great instructions for us! The Bible indicates that a transformation is going to take place in us if we willing shift our focus to the things God wants us to be focused on. We should be therefore in the pursuit of God.
We are called to seek the wisdom God; to be devoted to the transforming and renewing of our minds; to live by the Spirit; to “take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.” In other words, our goal should be to willfully, submissively, take every thought we think and or action we purpose to carry out and critically analyze it to see whether it will honor the one who gave His life for us. I believe this is a critical component of leaving a life of sin as well as also what begins to bring us out of addictive and compulsive behaviors.
As Steven Curtis Chapman describes it in his song titled by the same words, in our pursuit of God and desire to wash our brains of the negative and the sinful, Jesus becomes our “Magnificent Obsession.”
For those of you who don’t have a computer and are reading this by other means, I will close by posting the lyrics below. For the rest of you, well, I know now God was many steps ahead of me in thinking through this devotional because embedded in this video are tons of scripture that illustrate exactly what I was referring to leading up to the close.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PprCvi3fvxs
Lord,
Help us in our frail humanness. Enable us to become more and more like you and less and less the one we were before we came to know you. Empower us to make you our Magnificent Obsession.
Lord, You know how much
I want to know so much
In the way of answers and explanations
I have cried and prayed
And still I seem to stay
In the middle of life’s complications
All this pursuing leaves me feeling like I’m chasing down the wind
But now it’s brought me back to You
And I can see again
This is everything I want
This is everything I need
I want this to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You, Jesus
Be my magnificent obsession
So capture my heart again
Take me to depths I’ve never been
Into the riches of Your grace and Your mercy
Return me to the cross
And let me be completely lost
In the wonder of the love
That You’ve shown me
Cut through these chains that tie me down to so many lesser things
Let all my dreams fall to the ground
Until this one remains
You are everything I want
And You are everything I need
Lord, You are all my heart desires
You are everything to me
You are everything I want
You are everything I need
I want You to be my one consuming passion
Everything my heart desires
Lord, I want it all to be for You
I want it all to be for You
Monday, September 1, 2008
keeping the main thing . . . the main thing
Well here we are looking at a natural disaster that is beating our Gulf coast again. It has stirred a flurry of energy in a variety of ways which I think are all positive. The government (state local and federal) at least at this point (the first 24 hours of landfall for Gustav) appears to be organized in its reactions to the hurricane from the early evacuations to enduring the storm to responding to the damage left in its wake. We seem to have learned much as a nation from Katrina.
The news media embedded their reporters for more exclusive coverage knowing that the nation is keeping a more watchful eye because of the vulnerability of the geography and the people within it, and to see how well we have learned our lessons. Disaster recovery groups were in place or are starting to take their places at strategic locations before the storm hit or while it was approaching landfall. Politicians on both side of the fence have realized that the needs of the people in these areas is going to be more important than impressive speeches and strategic. They seem to have attempted to adjust their agendas realizing that at times like this we need to keep the main thing the main thing: taking care of people.
Haven’t heard them yet but, somewhere in the Christian community, someone will rise up this time as they did last time to make some real authoritative theological statements about how they perceive these events are to be interpreted. There will be someone who says, “Make no mistake! Look at the rising incidence of natural disasters worldwide: earthquakes hurricanes, tsunami’s, droughts and famines, global warming. They are all signs that the end that Jesus predicted is now closing in on us.” Or, another will say, “God is judging this region of the country for its sinfulness."
Can we talk for a moment?
Suffice it to say that preachers have been preaching that “the end is near“ as though it is right around the corner for a loooong time. A lot of them have come and gone over the years never living to see the day they thought was pregnant to break through in their own life time. Each generation has had its own voices to preach the clichéd message “repent for the end is near.”
Well, we don’t need natural disasters and terrorist attacks as occasions to capitalize on preaching that the end is near. For each one of us the end is always near from two perspectives: either Jesus might very well come at any moment, or we might loose our life in the flesh at any moment. Neither one of those events have guaranteed predictable dates on the calendar. Many people have lived shorter lives than they have expected and Jesus will come without warning. The end always is near, and always has been.
So responding first to the “repent for the end is near” I say this: in Matthew 24:36 Jesus says "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. So anybody who looks at these events and says “repent for the end is near” with the attitude that they know authoritatively that the day is arriving, in my humble opinion, boarders on committing spiritual abuse. They are capitalizing on fear, emotions, and destitute times to intimidate the listener. Noone knows the day or the time! Jesus said so. If it’s the word of God, it’s the truth and it can’t be anything but. (Truth cannot be the truth and not be the truth at the same time.)
My second response is to those who feel they have the authority to make a prophetic statement of judgment amidst the disasters. Hebrews 1:1-2 pretty much tells us that there is no need for prophets anymore because of what has been revealed to us through the very words spoken by Christ!
1In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
This one piece of Scripture expands the viewpoint to make us realize we have been living in end times since the advent of Jesus and His word is sufficient for us to interpret the times we are living in. We don’t need someone to say “this happened because God is punishing us.”
My take is that God has the power to command the forces of nature to do as He pleases but we as humans should not be thinking we can speak for Him. Further, I believe that if God wants to punish a nation or a region, He has historically been very thorough and doesn’t leave much behind to salvage or rebuild. (Read about the Great Flood or the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis.)
So, once again I believe that anybody who looks at these kinds of events and says, “God is punishing us/you/them” with the attitude that they know authoritatively that they can speak for God, in my humble opinion, a. they are setting themselves up for judgment as a self proclaimed prophet and b. also once again boarder on committing spiritual abuse. Just like in the first instance they are capitalizing on fear, emotions, and destitute times to intimidate the listener.
But having said all that, I see these events as excellent opportunities to capitalizing on “fear, emotions, and destitute times.” These are the times that people are already ready ripe with an awareness of God. Because of the great personal loss they experience, some victims are angry with Him, others are desperately searching for Him for “shelter”, still others give up hope that He even exists. Great time for “the church” to show up!
We don’t need to beat these people up with more fear and intimidation. they've had enough of that enduring the trauma of the storm they just escaped. These are the times we can be the body of Christ full of compassion and mercy. These are the times we can share the love of Christ with people by coming along side them. These are the times we can follow what Jesus said and serve one another in humility and love. These are the times we can carry out acts of kindness in the name of Jesus.
(There is buried within the heart of most human beings the natural inclination to pitch in and help out. Why? Because God engineered us that way! We almost instinctively know that to come to the aid of disaster victims is “the right thing to do.” But, something, somebody has to define it as being the right thing! It shouts of evidence that God must be there to show is what love is, to show us what mercy is, to show us what ”right is. There has to be a preexisting independent higher power to reveal to us what right and wrong is otherwise it would constantly forever be in the state of being redefined.)
It is time again for the segment of “the church” who are given the recourses, the passion, the gifts, and the time to go and serve in the name of Jesus and let our actions be the message that draws people to a loving God. There will be time to preach the message of judgment and end times another day.
For now let’s keep the main thing the main thing. For now, there is such opportunity to be the church! There are still things that need to be done recovering from Katrina, recovering from the floods in the Midwest earlier this summer, recovering from Gustavo, recovering from new disasters still to come.
Jesus gives us all a chilling commission to take care of those in need.
Mathew 25:34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
How will you respond to the need? How will your local congregation respond? How will your denomination if you are part of one, respond?
Stay close to Jesus
REG
The news media embedded their reporters for more exclusive coverage knowing that the nation is keeping a more watchful eye because of the vulnerability of the geography and the people within it, and to see how well we have learned our lessons. Disaster recovery groups were in place or are starting to take their places at strategic locations before the storm hit or while it was approaching landfall. Politicians on both side of the fence have realized that the needs of the people in these areas is going to be more important than impressive speeches and strategic. They seem to have attempted to adjust their agendas realizing that at times like this we need to keep the main thing the main thing: taking care of people.
Haven’t heard them yet but, somewhere in the Christian community, someone will rise up this time as they did last time to make some real authoritative theological statements about how they perceive these events are to be interpreted. There will be someone who says, “Make no mistake! Look at the rising incidence of natural disasters worldwide: earthquakes hurricanes, tsunami’s, droughts and famines, global warming. They are all signs that the end that Jesus predicted is now closing in on us.” Or, another will say, “God is judging this region of the country for its sinfulness."
Can we talk for a moment?
Suffice it to say that preachers have been preaching that “the end is near“ as though it is right around the corner for a loooong time. A lot of them have come and gone over the years never living to see the day they thought was pregnant to break through in their own life time. Each generation has had its own voices to preach the clichéd message “repent for the end is near.”
Well, we don’t need natural disasters and terrorist attacks as occasions to capitalize on preaching that the end is near. For each one of us the end is always near from two perspectives: either Jesus might very well come at any moment, or we might loose our life in the flesh at any moment. Neither one of those events have guaranteed predictable dates on the calendar. Many people have lived shorter lives than they have expected and Jesus will come without warning. The end always is near, and always has been.
So responding first to the “repent for the end is near” I say this: in Matthew 24:36 Jesus says "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. So anybody who looks at these events and says “repent for the end is near” with the attitude that they know authoritatively that the day is arriving, in my humble opinion, boarders on committing spiritual abuse. They are capitalizing on fear, emotions, and destitute times to intimidate the listener. Noone knows the day or the time! Jesus said so. If it’s the word of God, it’s the truth and it can’t be anything but. (Truth cannot be the truth and not be the truth at the same time.)
My second response is to those who feel they have the authority to make a prophetic statement of judgment amidst the disasters. Hebrews 1:1-2 pretty much tells us that there is no need for prophets anymore because of what has been revealed to us through the very words spoken by Christ!
1In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
This one piece of Scripture expands the viewpoint to make us realize we have been living in end times since the advent of Jesus and His word is sufficient for us to interpret the times we are living in. We don’t need someone to say “this happened because God is punishing us.”
My take is that God has the power to command the forces of nature to do as He pleases but we as humans should not be thinking we can speak for Him. Further, I believe that if God wants to punish a nation or a region, He has historically been very thorough and doesn’t leave much behind to salvage or rebuild. (Read about the Great Flood or the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis.)
So, once again I believe that anybody who looks at these kinds of events and says, “God is punishing us/you/them” with the attitude that they know authoritatively that they can speak for God, in my humble opinion, a. they are setting themselves up for judgment as a self proclaimed prophet and b. also once again boarder on committing spiritual abuse. Just like in the first instance they are capitalizing on fear, emotions, and destitute times to intimidate the listener.
But having said all that, I see these events as excellent opportunities to capitalizing on “fear, emotions, and destitute times.” These are the times that people are already ready ripe with an awareness of God. Because of the great personal loss they experience, some victims are angry with Him, others are desperately searching for Him for “shelter”, still others give up hope that He even exists. Great time for “the church” to show up!
We don’t need to beat these people up with more fear and intimidation. they've had enough of that enduring the trauma of the storm they just escaped. These are the times we can be the body of Christ full of compassion and mercy. These are the times we can share the love of Christ with people by coming along side them. These are the times we can follow what Jesus said and serve one another in humility and love. These are the times we can carry out acts of kindness in the name of Jesus.
(There is buried within the heart of most human beings the natural inclination to pitch in and help out. Why? Because God engineered us that way! We almost instinctively know that to come to the aid of disaster victims is “the right thing to do.” But, something, somebody has to define it as being the right thing! It shouts of evidence that God must be there to show is what love is, to show us what mercy is, to show us what ”right is. There has to be a preexisting independent higher power to reveal to us what right and wrong is otherwise it would constantly forever be in the state of being redefined.)
It is time again for the segment of “the church” who are given the recourses, the passion, the gifts, and the time to go and serve in the name of Jesus and let our actions be the message that draws people to a loving God. There will be time to preach the message of judgment and end times another day.
For now let’s keep the main thing the main thing. For now, there is such opportunity to be the church! There are still things that need to be done recovering from Katrina, recovering from the floods in the Midwest earlier this summer, recovering from Gustavo, recovering from new disasters still to come.
Jesus gives us all a chilling commission to take care of those in need.
Mathew 25:34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
How will you respond to the need? How will your local congregation respond? How will your denomination if you are part of one, respond?
Stay close to Jesus
REG
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