January 8 2011

A Change of Direction
Proverbs 1:5

When God called me to the ministry … I was a “green-horn”  (a person new or inexperienced to an activity) and I had a lot to be taught and learn.  Here’s a personal note … “Just because you’ve been taught doesn’t mean you learned it.” 

In the process of my call I decided the direction I would go … Youth Ministry.  I aimed at in my school studies, and even gained a part-time youth position at B.H. Carroll BC in Fort Worth, Texas while in seminary.  It was a frustrating year of my life … and here’s why … It wasn’t God’s DIRECTION. 

I am convinced that God will let us go our own direction.  He lets us go our own way … until we come to the realization there has to be a better way, a different direction we should be going. 

It was at that point, lacking direction, I went before the Lord on humbled knees (because guys don’t like to ask for direction) and said “Whatever YOU want me to do I will do.”  And in a clear directional moment God placed on my heart … “Preach My Word.”

Knowing the direction doesn’t make it EASY but it does makes is CLEAR!

Maybe you find yourself trying to DIRECT your own life and you find you need a change of directions or just trying to figure out which direction to go. 

Maybe it’s your health or finances, or relationships … that you need a change of directions in.  Because the way you’re going now just isn’t getting you where you want to go.

Isn’t it amazing how we tend to believe we can keep going in the same direction that we’re going and get where we want to be in life?  It’s like saying … I want to be out of debt … but I just keep spending, buying and creating more debt.   Silly isn’t it?

And here is the kicker … we do it with GOOD INTENTIONS.  But here is the reality … Good Intentions don’t always take us in the direction we need to be going. 

My Mother use to say to our “good intentions” even though we were wrong … “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”   

Proverbs 27:12 NLT A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

And we all know that is not the direction we want be going … so CHANGE DIRECTIONS!

Here’s what God’s Word says to do to gain a new or changed direction …

Proverbs 1:5 GW a wise person will listen and continue to learn, and an understanding person will gain direction-

I love God’s simplicity (see vs 1-4) … if you want to be a person of insight (respond to the present) pay attention!  If you want to be a person of foresight (predict and prepare for the future) learn!  And through understanding we gain direction!  Unfortunately a lot of the time we work off hindsight (reflect & learn from past) … which is good but not the best “sight” to have.

Here’s the point …

DIRECTION DETERMINES DESTINATION

God with great simplicity says …  LISTEN to Me, LEARN from Me, UNDERSTAND My Word … for direction.

Take for instance …

Jeremiah 10:23 ESV  I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

God’s Word is pretty clear!  QUIT DIRECTING YOUR OWN LIFE!

We’re told to LISTEN-LEARN-UNDERSTAND … but man has his own mechanics to determine his direction … intuition, gut feelings, hunches, maps, GPS etc … and rather than direct they misdirect.

Misdirection is the wrong direction and the wrong direction doesn’t get one to the desired destination.  Why?

DIRECTION DETERMINES DESTINATION

God has a DIRECTIONAL PATH for each of our lives from the generic to the specific.  But it’s not up for speculation.  So God says … LISTEN-LEARN-UNDERSTAND what I am telling you.

And know this we never become independent from such directional exercising!  Never!  Even when we discover God’s direction we never quit LISTEN-LEARN-UNDERSTAND.

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or  have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

We don’t need to over complicate God’s direction … we need to SIMPLIFY BY SIMPLY letting go and grabbing hold of God and His Word.

Will we eradicate disappointments, discomforts, discouragement from our lives?  No we won’t because this life is difficult and hard.  But in such trying times we don’t disconnect from reality but we stay connected.

• Old Testament it says … Call to Me (Jeremiah 33:3)
• New Testament it says … Come to me (learn from me; Mt 11:28)

Listen … this is not a “RA-RA” or a “You-Can-Do-It!” message.  No, it’s wise – good counsel and with it you need to … LISTEN-LEARN-UNDERSTAND  

Why?

DIRECTION DETERMINES DESTINATION

Proverbs 1:5 GW a wise person will listen and continue to learn, and an understanding person will gain direction-

Amen!

January 1 2011

Nice People or New Man
January 1, 2012

Have you been a “word wrangling” match lately?

I was wrangling words with my sister this past week on Facebook because she posted the comment. “My New Year’s resolution is: I DON’T MAKE RESOLUTIONS!”  So I posted, “That is a resolution …” to which she replied, “Right, my only New Year’s resolution is that!”  To that I posted, “So how can you say “I don’t make resolutions” when you just made a resolution?”   Then my sister replied, “I said I made “ONE” resolution not to make any.”  Well I let it be, that is on Facebook and didn’t reply, but to myself I said, “Okay, but that’s not what you said.”

I read … “Effective communication is hard … It is like exercise.  We all know how to do it.  We all know that we should do it. Yet it’s often neglected.”   – Ann Michael

Communication is key and without it we risk impaired or ruined relationships based upon a lack of communication. 

How many times have we asked, if not to ourselves, “What do you/they mean?”  For instance a church sign read, “DON’T LET WORRY KILL YOU … LET THE CHURCH HELP”

Now on a bit more serious note, have you ever read the Bible and ask, “What does that mean?”  We all have, I’m sure. 

In our text today from the book to the Ephesians the Apostle Paul speaks of a NEW MAN and in a later chapter (4:22-24) he speaks to the “new self/man” and the “old self/man”

Ephesians 2:13-22 … that he might create in himself one new man of the two, so making peace

So the question of communication to ask is, “What does Paul mean when he speaks to the new man and old man?”

Paul’s language, along with the engaging intentions of the scripture dispels any thought or attempt … that man can reform, renew, renovate, recreate himself into the new man.

Instead the language used insists …

• Connective Sinew … (tissue connecting muscle to bone) between the new man, self, nature and Christ.
• Re-Creation … “He might create” (ktid-zo) … exclusively used to refer to God’s act of creation of the new man

And the new man … is not a “assembly line” kind of new … but it’s a model that did not exist before … new in Christ.

There are these and other are great and deep theological realities within the words of Paul … for instance:

• If there is a new man … there must be an old man … and it is not just a mere “immaterial” state of the soul … but also regards the actions of the body (material/physical) that proceed from man’s sin nature … “Sin &  Sins”

Scriptural texts such as Romans 6:4 (newness of life) … Colossians 3:10 (put on the new self) … Ephesians 4:11-24, Colossians 3:9-11 all speak to the NEW character of the NEW MAN … SAVED in Christ … living a life that is in accordance with the ideal man Jesus  Christ.

There is within such scriptures the implied “ACTIVE PARTICIPATION” in Christ’s work of newness.  The new work is a “GIVEN” but cannot be taken for “GRANTED.”

So with our scriptural base the point being is …

LIVE THE NEW BECAUSE YOU ARE NEW
… THEREFORE …
LEAVE THE OLD TO LIVE THE NEW

One of the chapters in CS Lewis’ work “Mere Christianity” is titled “NICE PEOPLE OR NEW MAN” to which he has graciously loaned me to title my first sermon of this New Year of 2012. 

Let me quote C.S. … “God became man to turn creatures into sons: Not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

We all have the tendency to do “comparative shopping” when it comes to measuring ourselves.  We want the NEW to be the BETTER THAN THEM  … or just make me a nice or NICER person than so-and-so. It’s not about being NICE but being NEW! 

As CS Lewis suggests with the new man … “The question is not Person A vs Person B, but Person A with Jesus compared to Person A without Jesus.”

This is the scriptural truth of the new man IN CHRIST!

So what does this mean?

• Reconciled to God … in Christ
• Peace with God … in Christ
• Access to God … in Christ
• Members of God’s household … in Christ

These are spiritual realities that are ours in Christ.  Christ has removed all hindrances and barriers (Eph 2:15) to a living dynamic relationship with  God.

And so what does that mean?

That means “NEW MAN LIVING”

LIVE THE NEW BECAUSE YOU ARE NEW
… THEREFORE …
LEAVE THE OLD TO LIVE THE NEW

Ephesians 4:20-32

• Active Participation in Christ … 4:20-24
• Active Characterization of Christ … 4:25-32

In this New Year, God through Paul’s words speaks to the NEW person – peoples who are and are becoming in Christ. 

We must not settle for less but go to live in the more of Christ.

LIVE THE NEW BECAUSE YOU ARE NEW
… THEREFORE …
LEAVE THE OLD TO LIVE THE NEW

Amen!

December 25 2011

“The Clause of Salvation”
Luke 2:30

Christmas time is hard time to think about what you NEED.  Usually it is the WANTS that we hope to get.  What we need may be more practical and even paramount in our lives than first imagined. 

Can you imagine getting a pair of socks for Christmas?  Maybe you have … but were you disappointed to some degree? 

A friend of mine every Christmas asks for donations to buy socks to hand out to homeless people on the streets of Pittsburgh.  He said, “It’s humbling to see men and women cry over a pair of socks and with great joy put them on.” 

Do we realize what our greatest need is? 

“If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.” – Max Lucado

Have you realized your greatest need is … salvation?

We’ve been looking at the CHRISTMAS CLAUSES (A “clause” is a provision in a legal document such as a will) and thus far we have seen the clause of provision of Immanuel, Mercy & Good News … which leads us to the culmination of the CLAUSE OF SALVATION.

Tucked away in the narratives of Christmas … not front line news of  angels, shepherds, mangers, wise guys etc. we find a man who has faithfully and persistently waited for what the world needs.

Luke 2:25-35 … Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon

Simeon was and is a rarity as he looked without fail for the Messiah, the Christ Child.  Why? Because he had been divinely foretold he would not die until he saw the salvation of God to comfort His people.

Simeon teaches us the value of persistent faith that is underscored throughout the scriptures. 

When others were giving up and perhaps thinking … “Messiah?  Come on! I’ve heard that for the past umpteen years!”  Simeon was proving to be strong in waiting for the greatest need the world needed … the consolation (comfort) of salvation.

Simeon lived “EXPECTANTLY” … it was in stark contrast to the religious leaders gathered around Herod (Mt 2) who knew where the Messiah would be born … but they were NOT LIVING EXPECTANTLY.

So as the Christmas story unfolds Mary & Joseph come to have the child presented as the first born child … and it is here that Simeon “sees the Christ Child”.

I love the IRONY of God and how He works!  Here is Mary & Joseph operating under the law to deliver Jesus to be presented … “as it is written in the law of the Lord” and they hold the Messiah who had come to deliver those under the law.  It all speaks to man’s need of salvation.

Galatians 4:4-5 ESV  But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,  (5)  to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

Simeon was the first man to publically identify the Christ Child … and there should have been fanfare galore … but as today, so few seemed to be paying attention.

Simeon seeing the consolation of salvation declares …

• promise of God’s salvation … according to your word (v.29)
• way of salvation … your salvation (Christ) (vs.30)
• extent of salvation … all peoples … to the Gentiles (vs.31-32)
• reality of salvation … falling and rising …  hearts revealed (vs.34)

Simeon saw the child as the Christ … man’s salvation.

LET YOUR GREATEST NEED BECOME YOUR GREATEST WANT

Simeon wanted the salvation of God revealed because he knew it was man’s greatest need.

In the CLAUSE OF SALVATION … Christ is still the salvation God prepared for all peoples.   

• Christ is still the only way, truth and life to salvation.
• Christ is still the only name by which man can be saved.
• Christ is still received through confession & belief

The God of all comfort still offers the consolation of salvation.

God’s voice is still heard … “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” (Isaiah 40:1)

Let the rarity of Simeon be in us …

• His always looking for the salvation of the Lord
• His readiness of publically declaring Christ
• His understanding of the way of God to save

LET YOUR GREATEST NEED BECOME YOUR GREATEST WANT

May the God of the CHRIST-mas season dwell in your hearts, settle in your minds, and be spoken of through you words.

Merry Christmas!

December 18 2011

“The Clause of Good News”
Luke 2:10

There are some things best left unsaid.  And then there’s some things are better said. 

Why is it that some things like juicy gossip of the “he said, she said” twisted stories of untruth are told without hesitation?  When there is good news better told and yet it remains untold. 

Roger was a friend of mine from middle school.  He was a menace in his words and actions toward others.   Well liked he was, but he just was rude and obnoxious at times … but he was my friend.  I remember one of the things he always bugged me about was why I went to church, and attended a high school prayer group.  He called me, “Jesus Boy.”  I never said anything to him about my faith … just let the comments roll off and kept being his friend.

Years later while I was in seminary (cemetery) my sister called me to say she saw Roger and he told her he “got saved” in the vernacular we understand.  She said he was teaching a junior high Sunday school class.  I was blown away!  After graduation from seminary I moved back to my hometown and I saw Roger.  We talked a bit and laughed that I was now a “gonna be preacher” and then with all seriousness he said, “Bob you knew Jesus in High School and you never told me about Him.   You should have told me.”

some things ARE better said THAN LEFT UNSaid

And here at the Christmas season we have the heralding of the angels with a divine message.

But in the scope of Christmas one might wonder what’s all the fuss about as we have grown accustomed to hanging stars, shepherds watching, sheep bleating, angels singing, baby in a manger … and Mary pondering. 

The heralding words of the angel being so familiar we tend to marginalize and minimize the message to nothing more than a line in a Christmas drama.

Luke 2:10 ESV  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

God in ways only He can do sends not only the announcers and announcement but also sets the audience to hear the heralding GOOD NEWS. 

And God sets the example of telling the good news of what He would ask of me and you.

Those angels were the first “evangelists” to tell the “EUAGGELIZO” … the good news.

Now here’s the deal … for the Good News to be good news man has to recognize there is also “bad news.”  Now no one likes to be the bearer of bad news … but

some things ARE better said THAN LEFT UNSaid

The bad news is … man is a sinner and the good news is … a MESSAGE … about the GOSPEL

VIDEO: THE GOSPEL

• A Savior … Jesus
• A Savior for all the people
• A Savior to do what man cannot do
• A Savior to die in man’s place
• A Savior to atone for sin and sins
• A Savior to make lost man found
• A Savior to give man righteousness (right with God)
• A Savior to give man eternal life with God

We may not like it but Christmas is not about … holidays, candy, gifts, trees, cantatas, and nativity on the lawns, lights on the gutter, office parties, or bonus’, cookies, pies, or fruit cake (thank God), or a fat fellow in red.

No Christmas is a message about how God came to deal with sinful man … to save him from his sin.  And it has a PROVISIONAL CLAUSE that states … Christmas is about LIFE & DEATH … LOST & FOUND … HEAVEN & HELL. 

some things ARE better said THAN LEFT UNSaid

So here’s a question … “Among all the bad news in the world how do we transpose the Good News of Christ?”

I believe it starts with the UNLIKELY as it did the night angels TOLD the shepherds … as it had been told them. (vs 20)

I know this sounds highly UNLIKELY but to transpose the Good News it has to begin with me and you.

• Restore to me the joy of your salvation. (Ps 51:12)
• Tell & retell the way of salvation (John 14:6 Way, Truth Life)

Paul says it like this … “The good news shows how God makes people right with Himself – that it begins and ends with faith.” (Romans 1:17 NCV)

Let it not be said of me and you … “You should have told me.”

There is no Good News or joy in hell.  And we cannot rest on assumption or presumption that people know where we stand or they know from our life actions.  No, God with the most unlikely way TOLD of the way.

Let us pause to TELL the Clause of Christmas … “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy … For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”

some things ARE better said THAN LEFT UNSaid

Amen!