Resurrection Article
Greetings Everyone!
I just wanted to inform everyone subscribed to ELGUY.ORG that in view of Easter Sunday I have added a wonderful article by Christian Professor Josh McDowell titled "Evidence for the Resurrection". You can access it by going to the website and clicking on the tab for the page "Ministry Articles" and then make your selection.
Also feel free to read the other articles there, since they do not get mailed to subscribers. There are some tremendous spiritual truths and application presented by these Christians.
-Brian
Volume 1 Post/Email 7 – Philippians 4:6
We all have seasons in our life where, what I call “potential problems”, present themselves.
The doctor says a loved one may not recover, we find out we may have cancer, or we do have cancer but don’t know if we will overcome it, we get the impression there is a chance we might lose our job, we see signs of separation in our marriage, etc.
It’s not that we are sick, or will not survive, or are losing our job, but that there’s the possibility. What are we oriented to do when potential problems surface? WORRY!!!
What will happen if I have this sickness?
Am I going to beat this illness?
How will our family make it if this paycheck goes?
I never in a million years thought this could be happening to my marriage…
I don’t have children, but I have observed those who have older ones worry a lot about their children, especially when they have been making some poor decisions.
We worry because we feel a loss of control and struggle with that feeling.
A parent is powerless over a grown child’s choices. We can perform well and still lose our job. We can have a healthy lifestyle and still get a life-threatening illness. We all know these things, and know worrying isn’t going to change anything, and yet, we sometimes worry anyway.
Paul challenges us on this. In Philippians 4:6 he says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
He goes on to say God will grant us peace.
He then encourages us in verse 8 to think about (meditate on) those things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.
Whatever problems and potential problems that you and I face this week are not nearly as important as how we deal with them. Paul says to lean on God in faith and prayer and dwell on what is true and positive.
One thing that always helps me is to reflect on previous matters that I worried about and how God guided me through those, which builds my faith for the present.
In an attempt at being transparent, what I typically do is to be anxious for a period of time, and then finally – finally – finally actually think to pray. Then after praying, I feel the peace and claim the promise of peace and feel more at ease.
Whatever you think you have to worry about this week, Paul says you have to pray about this week.
-Brian
Volume 1 Post/Email 6 – Philippians 4:4
Life has a way of throwing burdens our way. Sometimes things can be relatively pleasant and then out of no where a problem surfaces unexpectedly.
I don’t know how last week was for each reader, nor how this week will be. Generally my weeks are mostly positive, but rarely does a week go by without at least a little negative mixed in too. And of course, we all have those times where the burdens feel extremely heavy.
Yet, because of our relationship with Christ, we always have a reason to rejoice, regardless of our current circumstances – even painful situations.
This was Paul’s point in Philippians 4:4 – “Rejoice in the LORD always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
2 thoughts jump out at me in this simple faith statement.
1. Our joy is rooted in the LORD, not in whether our circumstances are blissful.
2. Our joy remains constant, as the term “always” conveys.
Our joy is constant, though our circumstances fluctuate! Why? Because of what does not change, which is Jesus’ love for us and the spiritual blessings and promises we have because of Him.
Paul was experiencing an unpleasant and undeserved circumstance while writing this letter. He was in prison because of his faith. Yet his faith in God did not dwindle nor his courage crumble. He did not lose his joy and peace in prison.
19 times in the 4 chapters of Philippians Paul references the concept of joy in some term, whether it be joy, rejoice, glad or gladness.
16 times in Philippians he references our mind and thoughts.
Perhaps there is a close relationship between our measure of joy and what we think.
Faith involves having positive expectations and hope. Faith involves trust and commitment, even when we do not understand an event or we deal with something that is difficult, and even undeserved.
This week, allow God’s joy to live inside of you, regardless of any undesirable situations, and let God use your joy to bless those who know you.
-Brian
Volume 1 Post/Email 5 – Philippians 3:13-14
Have you ever been down on yourself, had regrets, and even felt guilt, over something in your past?
I think we all have.
It might be something we said last week or something we did a decade or more ago.
Paul had a past that could have overwhelmed him with guilt. While Saul, he had persecuted Christians in the name of God and righteousness. Once encountering Jesus and learning his zeal was unmerited and unacceptable to God, there was nothing he could do to change his past.
None of us can change the past. Whether it is something we did to hurt someone else, or something someone else did to hurt us. What we can do is what Paul claimed to do.
Philippians 3:13-14 reads, “Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Like Paul, we can lose the negative baggage and move forward doing God’s will in view of heaven!
Paul distinguishes in 2 Corinthians 7 between a healthy and unhealthy guilt. If we have current sins that we repeat then we should feel a guilt that leads to repentance.
However, an unhealthy guilt is to continue to feel shame and guilt over something for which you have already been forgiven.
Another thing Philippians 3:13-14 teaches against is self-pity. We can choose to dwell on the negative, even making excuses or feeling sorry for ourselves, or we can press on in faith and hope.
May we be reminded this week of God’s redemption of our past and promises concerning our future. May God continue to heal those in need of healing, and may we all seek to be agents of his healing grace and forgiveness to all others.
-Brian
Volume 1 Post/Email 4 – Philippians 3:1-8
Philippians 3:1 reads, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the LORD! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.”
As someone who teaches and preaches, I like to point out in this verse that Paul says redundancy and repetition are o.k. :)
Here Paul encourages them, and us, to rejoice in our Lord, Jesus. He says he knows this is something he has mentioned before and that it is no trouble to do so once again, because he is reminding them of this simple truth as a safeguard.
So what is the safeguard? The following verses (2-6) show that the context he is addressing has to do with finding joy in religious things other than Jesus, such as our own “spiritual resume” (so to speak). Thus, our joy becomes based on, or resulting from, a focus on ourselves and our religious activities and works and not based on Jesus and His saving (atoning) work and blessings.
This was a Jewish struggle for many converts in the 1st Century, and it is a Christian struggle for some today – seeking to be justified by law/performance rather than by grace through faith in Jesus.
In Acts 15:9 Peter explains this to the Jewish Christians who were struggling to accept the Gentile Christians who did not keep all of their “traditions”. He says, “He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?”
Likewise, we can be tempted to lose the joy of a simple but sincere trust in Jesus. We can begin to place so much emphasis and importance on our religious performance and works that we end up both worshipping God and serving others under false pretenses. Instead of a heart oriented towards Jesus that results in joy, humility, service and overall transformation and obedience, we end up practicing more of a self-worship than God-worship. The result can even be to compare ourselves, including our works, our knowledge/beliefs, and even specific worship habits, to those of others and to compare “spiritual resumes” and put our confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:2-3).
Isn’t this scary?! Religious activities can actually draw us away from God instead of closer to God! Like the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14, who allowed the spiritual disciplines of praying, fasting and tithing to be about himself and focus on himself rather than on God’s presence and goodness in his life.
Isn’t this scary?! Religious activities can actually draw us away from other Christian believers instead of closer to them! We can have a sectarian spirit and actions instead of a Christ-like spirit and actions. Sadly, we could create a list of 100’s of things Christians have divided over that the Bible does not mandate dividing over.
Here is Paul’s “spiritual resume” and how he now views himself in light of Christ.
Philippians 3:4b-6 reads, “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.”
A little adlibbing … ‘Boy, aren’t I such a religious person who has everything together? I am a Christian of Christians! Well … this is what I now think and know to be true … my spiritual resume is garbage and I desperately need God’s mercy! I need Jesus, and Jesus alone is my joy and salvation!’
Philippians 3:7-8 – “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my LORD, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”
As God works in and through you each day, rejoice in the LORD that you are forgiven, loved, have purpose and can be used in the kingdom despite being unholy and unworthy apart from Christ.
It is not about our religious heritage (or even a lack of a religious background). Our salvation is not a matter of how much we know or how much we do or how right we think we are compared to others. What matters is having a personal faith in Jesus and humbly seeking to glory in Him (vs. 3), without putting any confidence in ourselves (the flesh).
My prayer from this text (and perhaps yours too):
“Father, may I rejoice in Jesus each day. May my relationship with you not be one of pride and self-promotion, but one of gratitude and love for You. May I have a heart purified by faith in Jesus. May my obedience and religious activities direct me towards You and not myself.
Also, help me to love others more now than ever before. May I not judge and look down on other people of faith who do not have an exact resemblance to my spiritual views and practices, but to seek unity, peace and love based on a common faith in Christ in the midst of any other diversity.
Thank you for all of my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Thank you for Jesus. In His name, Amen.”
-Brian
Volume 1 Post/Email 3 – Philippians 2:14
Have you ever struggled to have a positive attitude?
Have you ever failed to bite your tongue?
Yes, even good-hearted, well-intentioned Christians can be tempted and led into sinful attitudes and conversations.
James warns Christians in 1:27 to keep from being polluted by the world.
None of us are immune from the pollution in the world, including toxic thoughts, toxic attitudes, and corrosive, divisive, hurtful and poisonous words.
In Philippians 2:14 Paul writes, “Do everything without complaining or arguing.”
One way we impact people every day is by our attitude and conversations. Paul exhorts us to refrain from the negative activity of complaining to people or fighting word battles with others.
This verse can be a focus and priority this week to let God use us in positive ways by the simple daily activities of talking and interacting with others.
-Brian
Volume 1 Post/Email 2 – Philippians 2:4
This week we will continue our focus and thoughts on some spiritual food found in the book of Philippians.
Chapter 2 verse 4 reads, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
This verse definitely presents the tension we all feel of how we live and how we budget our time. For starters, we are definitely to be a people who care about others and invest our lives in others. However, this verse also implies that we take care of our own needs.
We all have self-interests. We have physical, financial, emotional, relational, and spiritual needs. Some days and weeks we might neglect some of our personal needs because of investing extra in helping others. Most weeks are a combination of mutual investments. Occasional days or even weeks we may need to invest mostly in ourselves. Even those times can result in blessing others because we find renewal and are re-energized to exert energy, focus and time on other people. Yes, even Jesus would get away from the multitudes, and even his closest disciples, to be alone with the Father.
You may be someone who goes so much and serves so many that you are neglecting your own spiritual, and even physical needs, such as rest. This is not what God wants or expects.
This week you may have plans to be involved in the lives of others by spending most of your discretionary time with them. Just remember it’s o.k. to also spend time praying and worshipping God privately and relaxing with your family in his presence. This week God may use you primarily within your own family. You may not think of this as something big, but your spouse and/or children might really benefit from some additional time and love, and you could benefit too. What might you do this week to give more attention and support to your family? What might you do this week to also invest in yourself?
Everyday this week, let God bless you with thoughts of his loving presence and peace. As you allow God to fill you and strengthen you, you will be most able to reach out to those around you.
You may be someone who has health issues that keep you from getting out much. You can still be used by God through actions like praying for people you know and calling family and friends. No matter our circumstances, we can all do something of service.
I heard an associate minister of a local church talk in one of our High School chapels a few years ago about a man he went to visit in the hospital, who, when he got there, asked if he could pray for the associate minister. It was a moment where the “associate minister” was actually “ministered to” by the Christian in the hospital bed. How incredible! The man was dying of cancer.
-Brian
(This, and previous ones, can also be accessed at www.elguy.org.)
ELGUY Ministry
Today is the beginning of a new ministry, of which we are calling ELGUY. The intention is to post a weekly message of faith application and encouragement from Scripture each Monday morning. The purpose is to simply be another method for spiritual meditation, encouragement, growth and spiritual renewal. Currently, people from James Avenue, Nashville Christian, some of my own family, and so forth are signed up. Feel free to send a link to your family or work or church family, etc.
If you would like to automatically receive each week's post by email, simply enter your email address on the right to sign up to automatically receive new posts from ELGUY!
You might be asking, “What is the idea behind the name ELGUY?” ELGUY stands for “Everyday Let God Use You.” Receiving weekly emails should help be a small reminder of the opportunity we all have to be used by God on a daily basis. God can use our words, our hands, our food, our vehicle, our smile, our prayers, etc. to be a blessing to someone else.
For the first few posts, I want to focus our thoughts on some spiritual food found in the book of Philippians.
In chapter 1 verse 6 Paul says he is confident that God had not only begun a good work in them, but that he would continue to work through them until the day of Christ Jesus. What an incredible thought! God has a purpose for us. God not only loves us and saves us, but he wants to use us in the world for good.
This letter was not written just to the elders or deacons at Philippi, but to EVERY CHRISTIAN THERE! 1:1 states, “To all the saints at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons.” If you have ever questioned your value or contribution to the kingdom of God, I hope you will no longer. Every Christian is uniquely made. Every Christian has distinct abilities and influence. Every Christian has the opportunity to be used by God daily to serve in some way, whether big or small. Sometimes the small things to us are big things to others. Even simple acts of thought and kindness can mean a lot to someone. We should never underestimate the value of a thoughtful word or deed.
Didn’t Jesus talk about simple acts of love and compassion in Matthew 25 as a measure for evaluating whether we are kingdom people? Not attendance or whether we delivered a sermon…
I could list numerous names of people I know who would not call themselves a minister but are regularly calling to check on someone, sending a card, making a hospital visit, taking someone food, giving a ride, coaching a team, fixing a car, and other similar deeds. This IS ministry and this IS important! By our “small” acts of love and care we can make a difference in the lives of the people we know: our family, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, and our community.
As you walk with Jesus each day this week, be confident that God is at work through you!