Volume 9 Post/Email 7 – Missions
I do not believe Missions is supposed to be a program of the church. I believe Scripture clearly communicates that Missions IS the church. Must I reference verses to persuade anyone? (There are plenty of them.)
So that this is not a rather abstract concept, think of missions in terms of relationships. Our mission is to lead more people to Christ, thus, our mission is our relationship with people and directing them to our Savior and Shepherd.
Reflection Questions:
How well is my congregation keeping the main thing the main thing?
How committed am I to supporting and advancing my congregation's mission?
Is my life and lifestyle keeping the main thing the main thing?
-Brian
Volume 9 Post/Email 6 – The Boat
In my lesson last week, titled, A Church That Walks On Water, I mostly applied the story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water in Matthew 14:22-36. Toward the end I asked the application question - "What might be represented by the boat?" A few answers were offered. I added security, familiarity, comfort, etc.
However, ultimately, I believe the boat represents human ability. The disciples had been rowing in the storm for over 9 hours in a manmade boat, using manpower to try and stay afloat. To leave the boat and walk on the water is to leave trusting and relying on self-sufficiency for that of God-sufficiency.
Our prayers shouldn't be, "Lord, help us do the best we can." (Have you ever prayed or heard those before?)
Our prayers should be, "Lord, help us get out of our boat."
-Brian
Volume 8 Post/Email 6 – Daily Bread
Three weeks ago I prayed the Lord's prayer for 2 consecutive weeks as part of my daily praying. One request that has become more meaningful for me as a result is the phrase, "Give us this day our daily bread."
I could have titled this message "Daily Prayer." Instead, I have chosen "Daily Bread," because Jesus teaches us to pray specifically for daily bread.
What does this mean? For what are we asking?
In my judgment, this has two meanings, if not more.
One, we are communicating our need and desire for our heavenly Father to provide our basic resources for living. We confess our dependence upon Him for food.
What a simple, yet important need and request! It is humbling and sobering to mentally clarify, understand, and accept that we even need God for food.
Two, we are expressing our need for Jesus. Jesus is the Bread of Life, and we need Him daily!
We need both physical bread for living, and spiritual bread for life!
Ultimately, we need Jesus for sustenance and nourishment!
Reflection Question: Am I receiving a steady, daily diet of bread (Jesus)?
-Brian
Volume 8 Post/Email 5 – Servant Leadership
The temptation of power is a matter any leader can face - political power, military power, economic power, or moral and spiritual power. What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible?
Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God and easier to control people than to love people.
Jesus asks, "Do you love me?" We ask, "Can we sit at your right hand and your left hand in your kindgom?"
Ever since the snake said, "The day you eat of this tree your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good from evil" (Gen. 3:5), we have been tempted to replace love with power.
We learn from Jesus (both his teaching and example) that true spiritual leadership is servant leadership.
Reflection Question: Do I love people or try to control people?
Remember that love (agape) is action. To love others is to help and serve them, not to use and dominate them.
-Brian
Volume 8 Post/Email 4 – Jesus’ Humility
1. Consider the commencement of His ministry. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus opens with "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3) The very first words of His proclamation about the kingdom reveal that it comes to the poor, who have nothing in themselves.
2. Jesus offers himself as Teacher, stating "Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:29) Humility is our salvation.
3. The disciples had been disputing among themselves who would be the greatest in the kingdom, and had agreed to ask the Master (Luke 9:46-48 ; Matthew 18:2-3). In the first story, he answers, "He who is least among you all - he is the greatest." In the second story, He placed a child in their midst and said, "Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." The question ('Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?') is far-reaching. The answer is surprising. The least is the greatest.
4. The Sons of Zebedee asked Jesus if they could sit on His right hand and on his left, the highest places in the kingdom. Jesus said it was not His to give but the Father's, who would give to those for whom it was prepared. They must not seek it or ask for it. And then He added, "Whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve." (Matthew 20:27-28) The lowliest is the nearest to God.
5. Speaking to the multitudes and the disciples, of the Pharisees and their love of the chief seats, Jesus said once again, "The greatest among you will be your servant." (Matthew 23:11) Humble servanthood is the only ladder to honor in God's kingdom.
6. On another occasion, in the house of a Pharisee, He spoke the parable of the guest who would be invited to move higher, and added, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 14:11) There is no other way. Self-abasement alone will be exalted.
7. After the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, Jesus spoke again, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:14) In the temple and the presence and worship of God, everything is worthless that is not pervaded by deep, true humility toward God and mankind.
8. After washing the disciples' feet, Jesus said, "Now that I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet." (John 13:14) The authority of command and example, every thought, either of obedience or conformity, make humility the first and most essential element of discipleship.
How little this is preached. How seldom it is practiced. How faintly the lack of it is felt or confessed. One cannot say how few attain to some recognizable measure of likeness to Jesus in his humility. How little the world has seen it. How scarcely it is seen in the inner circle of the church.
Here is the path to the higher life. It is the lowest path!
That is God's work. We are to humble ourselves, and take no place before God or man but that of a servant.
Jesus, the meek and lowly One, calls us to learn of Him the path to God, and to His favor and joy in kingdom living!
-Brian
Volume 8 Post/Email 3 – Divine Purpose
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the LORD saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I, send me!" (Isaiah 6:5-8)
Is this not a picture of grace? As Isaiah experiences God's holiness or otherness, he feels his personal unworthiness. Yet God, through one of his angels, provides atonement for his sin and removes the guilt!
Furthermore, the LORD's voice speaks in Isaiah's presence, questioning whom he shall send, providing Isaiah with the opportunity to go.
In this story we are reminded of the dual nature of God's calling for Christians. The divine purpose for us is two-fold. We are called to love God and love others. We are called to communion first - being together and seeing together with God. We are called to commission second - serving together and sacrificing together with God.
2 Timothy 2:21 reads, "If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work."
Each day is an opportunity to be holy and useful to God. Because of his grace, we can be vessels or instruments for noble purposes. We can be ministers or servants who focus on doing good works.
We are all unclean and unworthy without the mercy of Christ. Through his mercy we are justified and set apart for divine purpose or holy living.
Everyday let God use you as a Christian neighbor, parent, spouse, friend and member in the Lord's church. Remember: Each day God has a divine purpose for your life! "Here am I LORD, use me!"
-Brian
Volume 8 Post/Email 1 – Clean or Unclean?
This is the title of my Easter lesson this year and my text is Matthew chapters 8 and 9. The book of Matthew is the most Jewish of the four gospels. Much of the book is about this title. In Matthew 15 there is a lengthy discourse about "Clean" versus "Unclean." However, the theme begins directly after the Sermon on the Mountainside (chs. 5-7). Several stories in the narrative of chapters 8 and 9 are about the harshly divided categories of clean and unclean (at least 4 in ch. 8 and another 4 in ch. 9 totaling 8). I will only reference 3 on elguy for painting the picture and providing some application.
In 8:1-4, Jesus allows a leper to approach him and Jesus even touches him. No doubt an orthodox Jew would have stayed away because of seeing him as being unclean.
In 8:5-13, Jesus cares for and heals a centurion's servant. Again, to an orthodox Jew, this Roman soldier would be considered unclean and unworthy of association as a Gentile. The most shocking statement is when Jesus claims that he has not found such great faith in all of Israel!
At the end of chapter 8, Jesus approaches two demon-possessed men living among the dead(!) as unclean men and drives out the evil spirits. The irony is that Jesus winds up trading positions and treated as one unclean because the entire town pleads with him to leave their region. One would think they would request Jesus to help heal uncles, cousins, and such from their demons. It seems they value possessions over people since so many swine rushed down the steep bank and died in the water.
So, what do we do with this? How do these stories challenge our orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right behavior)?
The traditional church mindset is to have someone agree with what we believe and do and then we accept them into our fellowship. Basically, acceptance can only happen when repentance happens first.
However, Jesus operated in a completely different scope. Acceptance came first. Repentance might follow, but not every person who came into contact with Jesus changed their life. Nevertheless, that didn't seem to change His acceptance of them.
Who are we seeing and treating as unclean? Who are we cold and exclusive toward?
After we identify these, are we willing to stop doing so and instead be Jesus to them?
Are we willing to evangelize to the stigmatized and marginalized?
Here's the kicker: we are ALL unclean! What did Jesus do? He became unclean on the cross so that we might be declared clean!
In each of the 8 stories in these 2 chapters, the faith of the individual(s) is highlighted. Each is "clean" and accepted in God's kingdom and family because of their faith!
Acts 15:8-9 reads, "God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us (Hebrews) and them (Gentiles), for he purified their hearts by faith." We are not cleansed by our works, but by faith in Christ!
And finally, Acts 10:28 records Peter's statement about his vision and revelation - "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean."
-Brian
Volume 6 Post/Email 7 – Excuses
I have begun the year with a 10-Lesson series on change. My lesson this Sunday was titled "If's" and "But's" on the topic of excuses, and how we sometimes resist transformation and offer God reasons why we cannot fully commit to discipleship. Without replicating a sermon, I will simply reference one text and one point to encourage us this Monday morning and for the week.
Luke 14:17-20 reads, "At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go see it. Please excuse me.' Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.' Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'"
Jesus describes people who offer excuses for not participating in a banquet celebration. Of course, the banquet is a metaphor for God's divine invitation to kingdom living.
Here are a few of the reasons we offer God to reject his invitation to kingdom living (discipleship).
-There's not enough time.
-No one will notice.
-It's not my responsibility.
-I'm too old.
-I'm too young.
-I'm not smart enough.
-I'm not talented enough.
-It might not work.
-It probably won't work.
-I have never tried this before.
These are just a sample of reasons we offer to "sell ourselves short."
Excuses are beliefs that are consequential if they prevail in our life. In the poem "Excuses Are Tools" the opening line states, "Excuses are monuments of nothingness that build bridges to nowhere."
Excuses can definitely be imaginary and exaggerated.
Excuses are vehicles to "nowhere."
I think the primary point of Jesus' parable is that true Christian living is not a casual commitment.
Reflection Question: This week, take some time to identify one or two areas of your life for which you can do better and decide to stop making excuses about it.
-Brian
Volume 4 Post/Email 2 – Faith(#2)
Do you navigate toward believing matters are possible, or impossible?
In Matthew 17:20 Jesus states, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
What an incredible concept! Mustard seed faith moves God to move mountains.
Jesus is looking for faith. Discipleship requires trust.
Consider some of the many challenging teachings of Jesus - forgiveness, not worrying, loving an enemy, generosity, servanthood, accepting ridicule and persecution, and prayerfulness.
Whether or not we do all of these hinges upon the issue of faith. When matters don't make sense, or we would tend to worry, faith is what transforms us and causes obedience to these teachings.
Faith and prayer are lifestyle choices and habits of Jesus-followers. Believing "the impossible" is to be typical for Christians. Jesus says, "Nothing" will be impossible for you.
Remember that whatever mountains are in your life are not nearly as big as the God in your life!
-Brian
Volume 4 Post/Email 1 – Faith(#1)
Greetings ELGUY readers,
I plan to do an entire volume on this topic.
Faith is essential to life, including pleasing God (Heb. 11:6).
And yet, it is a spiritual quality that can be lacking in our lives.
We can struggle to believe, or trust. We can even doubt entirely.
It seems that Jesus challenges his disciples lack of faith continually in the Gospel Narratives. When in a boat during a storm, He says, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Mk 4:40) He asks Peter, "Why did you doubt?" when he sinks in the water. (Matthew 14:31) Jesus states that the entire generation is unbelieving (Matthew 17:17), and asks, "How long shall I put up with you?"
When the disciples question Jesus as to why they couldn't drive out a demon, he replies, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)
The positive aspect is that God responds to even a tiny measure of faith. The negative aspect is that many then (and now) lack even this.
Churches today desperately need leadership. Churches desperately need leaders with faith and vision.
How many of us trust God to move mountains? How many of us believe that we can be Christians who walk on water? How many of us believe that we can be churches that walk on water?
There is a Church of Christ in Nashville that has grown from 40, to 80, to 500 in less than 7 years. They attribute their growth to God, and to members and leaders with vision and faith. They are willing to take risks. They are willing to trust God to move mountains, to provide for them, and to bless them.
In contrast, why are so many churches dying? While there might be some unique situations, and perhaps more than one or two variables that affect some situations, a primary reason in most cases is a lack of faith, a lack of leadership, a lack of vision, and a lack of prayer.
Perhaps God is calling more Christians and congregations to repentance, revival, vision and faithfulness?
Jesus commissions you and me to a lifestyle of discipleship and faith that moves mountains.
-Brian