Wars and Rumors of Wars, and the War on Christians

Sitting on the Mount of Olives, Jesus is approached by his disciples and they ask Him, ‘Tell us what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?”  Jesus then describes the signs of the coming in the rest of Matthew 24.  He cautions them about being mislead.

In 24:6 he mentions “wars and rumors of wars.” and in 24:9 he mentiones the tribulations Christians will face and they will “put you to death.” Just this week Newsweek magazine ran an article on the war on Christianity around the world. Just recently an Iranian pastor was sentenced to death. In parts of the Islamic world there are regular beheadings of believers. Sudan is currently being victimized by extremists practicing racial cleansing.

Israel has raised the question of dropping a bomb on Iran’s nuclear capabilities. The GOP debate highlighted the fragile state of our world on the brink of war. None of this should come as a surprise to anyone who reads the Bible.

Be aware that in the end, God wins. God is orchestrating all of history to demonstrate His incredible glory. While we are here as believers, the desire for God to receive glory from all peoples should motivate us to world evangelization and missions.

Plugging Holes in the Dam?

Do you remember the story we heard growing up about the little Boy, I think a “Dutch boy”, who saw a small leak in the dam and tried to plug it with his finger, and then there was another, and then another? Have you ever felt that way in life? How about in the matter of Christian ministry? I certainly have. It seems like as soon as you solve one problem, another one pops up.

A number of years ago I was at a conference where a man named Ron Lewis said, “The main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing.” That is a great word, but what is the main thing? I believe if we define the main thing in terms of our purpose in this world, the main thing is to “Glorify God.” We have been created for that purpose. If the main thing is defined in terms of our mission, then I believe the main thing is to “Make disciples” of every ethnic group. (Matthew 28:18-20).

At Church Unleashed where I serve as pastor, we have defined our purpose as “To Know Him and to Make Him Known.” We have defined our missional responsibility to be “To be a disciple of Christ, and to make disciples.” We want to be a part of reaching the world one person at a time.

But it seems the enemy runs around creating problems to solve. It is as if he knows if he keeps us distracted plugging holes in the dam we will not be very effective in fulfilling our purpose and our mission in this world. Maybe we should remember Matthew 6:33 where it seems Jesus said “if you will make it your number one priority to do My business, I will take care of all your business.”

Nehemiah modeled this. One of my favorite parts of that story in the Bible is when Nehemiah says, “Oh, NO, at ONO.” There are some folks who have little in common except their common enemy, Nehemiah. They come to Nehemiah in the region of Ono and ask him to come down from the wall he is leading the people of God to rebuild around Jerusalem. “Come down and talk to us.” Nehemiah says, “No way. God’s work is too important to waste time with you.” (My paraphrase.)

I am resolved today to remember, “If a man’s ways are pleasing to God, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

A Donkey with Stripes is Still Not a Zebra

We can say it in all kinds of ways. Can a leopard change its spots? Can a Tiger lose its stripes? Can a donkey suddenly become a zebra if we paint stripes on it?

The Proverb in Africa is that no matter how long a log floats in the river, it will never become a crocodile. In the book of Exodus, God shows Moses that a stick can become a snake. But only by the power of God. Only God can change a heart.

This has been brought home to me recently.The Bible speaks of those who hold to a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. I have known a few of those, and I am guessing you have as well. The problem with seeking a form of godliness is that it is external. We can paint stripes on a donkey and try to cal him a zebra. But he is still a jackass on the inside. We can carve a log to look like a reptile and throw it in the river, but it is still a log. We are not to seek the form of godliness,  but to seek God Himself. When we know Him, He will change our lives.

Do Over

Have you ever wished your life could be a “do over”? Kind of like a “mulligan” in golf? I am not much of a golfer, but I always enjoyed playing in “Captain’s choice” tournaments. The team plays the best shot of their foursome. And often you can buy mulligans, which means you get to re-hit your drive off the tee box. What if we could have “mulligans” in life, or “do-overs”.

I look back now over 60 years, and 24 years of ministry that I managed to squeeze into 37 years, and wonder what would I do differently if I could have a “do-over.” What would you do differently?I have discovered that God always does what He says He will do. So I guess the first thing I would do differently is learn to trust the Word of God, sooner. And I would study the “ways of God” more carefully. The psalmist prayed, “Make me to know your ways, O Lord . . .(Ps. 25:4).Anyone can observe the works of God, but if we know the “ways of God” imagine the insights for life we would have.

Personally, “discernment” has not been one of my spiritual gifts. My wife has a great deal of discernment. Some of the men who are leaders in our church have a greater deal of discernment than I do. I would listen to them more carefully in discerning the character of people that are placed in roles of great responsibility. That might save some heart-ache and pain for many who follow.

Another thing I believe I would do differently is confront the hard issues and problems that arise day by day more quickly. Sometimes I have allowed issues to continue in church life that would be more easily resolved in their infancy. I fear I bought into the philosophy that love is “nice” all the time. Sometimes the most loving thing to do is confront issues in their infancy.

I don’t know that what I have rambled about in this blog makes any sense to anyone else, but it has served as a cathartic release for me. Have a blessed day.

Emotional Vampires

Emptional Vampires: Dealing with People Who Drain You Dry is an interesting book that I am reading. It is a book written by a psychologist primarily for the world of business. The author says that when people drive themselves crazy, we call it a neuroses or a pscychoses. When they drive us crazy it is a personality disorder. He identifies five specific emotional vampires that we are all likely to encounter in the world where we function day by day.

It is not my intent to write a book review, but I do suggest that you read the book. It is worth the time. Interestingly in the world of fantasy, vampires are typically defeated with the use of a Cross. In reality, it seems to me that Luke 9:23 that takes us each to the cross in our individual lives is the only solution for emotional vampires. The world cannot change them. They are what they are.

But a person who is willing to deny self, and take up their own cross and follow Jesus has hope of Resurrection life. Vampires cannot see their reflections in mirrors, in the movies, but emotional vampires, the author says cannot see the mirrors. So it seems to me their only hope is the mirror of God’s word.

Building Rectangular Churches for People Who Live in Round Huts

It is interesting to consider what we think comprises the matter of being a Christian. For me it can be reduced to the simplicity of Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 4:19, “Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men. ” There is no church building with a steeple implied in that invitation. There is no instruction for a 11 am worship service inside a brick building in the center of town. There is no comment on the style of music to be sung. A simple invitation to personally know Jesus, to be transformed by the hand of Jesus, and to adopt His mission of reaching people.

Missionaries sometimes speak of “contextualizing” our methods of planting churches. How much sense does it make to build a church that looks like your average First Baptist Church on the streets of Iran or India? It makes no sense. How much sense does it make to demand the singing of a 17th century hymn set to the tune of a bar room chorus in the 21st century post millenial context of America? More importantly, how much of what is done in the modern western church is a matter of human tradition instead of Biblical instruction.

Yesterday, I wrote a blog and asked, “WHo drank the kool-aid?” Why is it that when someone calls the church to return to its Biblica roots we label them strange? What if the majority of the American church has been deceived into accepting a form of religious expression that mimics Christianity without ever really embracing the call of Christ? Just something to consider on this laid back weekend.

Who Drank the Kool-aid?

In November of 1978 the world was shocked by the mass suicide of the followers of cult leader Jim Jones in Guyana. Ever since, the phrase “don’t drink the kool-aid” has been a way of saying be cautious about listening to “kooky” ideas. But who defines what is normal? Is it what the majority thinks? or is there an absolute source of truth, such as, say, “the Bible.?”

Before leaving for AFrica this last time my doctor prescribed an oral vaccine for me to take in advance to avoid a disease.
A vaccine gives you enough of a diseaase in a small dose to build up your immunities, but not enough to catch the full-fledged disease. So, what if the majority of people in American churches have been given a vaccine against Christianity. Have you ever considered that we have watered down the Gospel and offered to people something far less than what Jesus actually intended?

Consider this. Jesus said in Matthew 28, “Go and make disciples of every people group.” He gave that to disciples, and he told them to make disciples. Every Christian is called to be a disciple, and they are commanded to make disciples. Anything less than that is not the real thing. So if someone has been vaccinated against real Christianity, “Who drank the Kool-aid?”

To get the full version of this, you will have to wait for the book.By the way, “Anyone remember a cult leader named Jesus who founded a group called ‘the Way’?”

Living Water

I only wanted to take the picture of the woman drawing the water, but everyone else insisted on being in the picture. There are wells like this one scattered throughout the village. But the best water is in just two places where there is a deep well, and a hand pump, rather than a rope. Women and children come in groups in the early morning and in the late evening to draw the water. The Bible comes alive.

Jesus stopped at the well of Jacob in the middle of the day. He was tired and thirsty. He had gone out of his way to come through Samaria. He had a divine appointment. He sent the disciples to find food. In the middle of the heat of the day, a Samaritan woman came alone to draw water. She was ostracized from the rest because of her immorality. Jesus engaged her in an amazing conversaton that started with a request for a drink of water.

Jesus had finally said, “If you knew who I was, you would ask me, and I would give you living water, everlasting water.” In fact, that is what Jesus promises to all who are spiritually thirsty. He said, “Come to me and drink. Out of your innermost being will flow living water.”

I encounter people everyday who are thirsty. They are looking for something to fill the emptiness in their life. That emptiness is because they were created to know the living God, but have been separated from Him because of their sin. Maybe that is you. Come to Jesus and drink of the living water today.

Grow Up!

Do you ever want to say to someone, “Just grow up?” I was talking with someone yesterday about a situation, and they said, “He is a 17 year old in a 37 year old body.” The behavior reflected an unwillingness to grow mentally and socially into adulthood.

How many folks in the church are growing old in the Lord, but never growing up? Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said, “I cannot speak to you as spiritually mature believers,… but only as babes in Christ.” (I Corinthians 3:1). The writer of Hebrews said, “let us go on to maturity.”(Heb. 6:1). In fact, he addressed spiritual immaturity and spoke of their laziness to progress.

I thought about titling this article, “Liar, Lazy, or Lost.” When a person has the Spirit of God living in them and fulfilling God’s purpose, it is as impossible for that person to not grow spiritually, as it is for our physical body to mature and age. Think about that? So someone is too lazy to practice the disciplines of growth, or they are they are still lost and separated from Christ, or they are lieing to themselves, to God, to others.

Jesus calls us to come and follow Him. He promises to transform us. That is why the apostle Peter wrote, “Grow in grace.” We come into God’s family in grace, and that is only the beginning. God begins to transform us into Christlikeness. How are you doing in the process of growth?

Religion is the Opiate of the Masses

I have never been a fan of Karl Marx. I saw the devastation of communism on Romania and the Soviet Union first hand in 1991. But I believe that I agree with the words of this statement. I do not know that I would agree with the meaning that Marx gave to them. For me, religion is man’s effort to find God. There is a huge difference in religion and knowing God in an intimate way.

In West Africa the majority of the people claim to be Muslim. But it is a veneer for most that covers the core of animism that comprises their lives. They live in a culture that is based on fear and power. They must appease the evil spirits and seek the good. At the same time they perform ritualistic prayers throughout the day in words of a language they do not understand. It is all something they do to try and satisfy an emptiness in their soul.

In the southern part of the U.S. where I live it is not much different. People go to church and engage in certain activities that they beleive will satisfy God and therefore fill the emptiness that is inside because of the devastation of sin. Sin separates us from God. Sin is inherited as we are born. That is why we do not have to teach children to be selfish and to do wrong. We are born spiritually dead and separated from God. The longing of our soul is to know the God who created us for Himself, so we drug our souls with the narcotic of religion.

In contrast, the Bible offers to us a gift of grace. Jesus Christ died on a cross in payment for sin, and God offers to us forgiveness and eternal life if we will receive the gift of grace. He calls for us to turn away from sin and to turn to Him in faith. Our pride gets in the way. So, we have a choice. We can accept religion, an opiate to hide our pain, or we can choose a relationship to the living God through Jesus Christ. It is a choice every person must make.