Archive for August, 2008

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Keeping up with the Joneses

August 20, 2008

My son taught me another lesson (sometimes I wonder who the real teacher is).  It goes something like this…

Once upon a time (today actually) a woman (my wife) took her son (my youngest) to the store (WalMart) to buy various goods (toys).  At the store the boy fell in love with a shiny new object of affection (a foil-wrapped package of Star Wars trading cards).  But the cost was $4 whereas the boy only had one.  Feeling compassion for the boy’s dilemma (frustration over his fussing, actually), she made up the difference and helped him purchase the object(s) of his desire.

All day long the boy carried the object(s) around with him, examining them, studying them, showing them off, and generally enjoying them.  Until his chief rival (his best friend next door actually) showed off his own new toy (a plastic trinket worth about 25 cents).

Somehow the first boy with the shiny object of his affection became jealous of the second boy’s new toy.  In his lust for his friend’s new toy the first boy offered a trade (the $4 cards for the $.25 toy, straight-up and much to my chagrin).

And now the first boy must live with the consequences of his jealously—he traded something of great value (for a four-year-old) to something of little value.  And he doesn’t even know what he’s missing.  What a shame!

Exodus 20:17 says, “You shall not covet  your neighbor’s house.  You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

So here’s the lesson…, or at least the question:  How many good things do we miss out on because we are coveting after, lusting after, and being jealous of that which someone else has?  It doesn’t really matter what the Joneses have, what matters is a heart of contentment. 1 Timothy 6:6 says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”

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Colorblind but not Colorless

August 19, 2008

The Apostle Peter said, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right” (Acts 10:34-35).

The Apostle John, describing the hue of heaven said, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne…” (Revelation 7:9).

Sometimes I wonder how Christians can strive to live for Jesus and tolerate racial prejudices at the same time—actually, I don’t think we can.  In fact, I know we can’t.  Check out this thought-provoking and artistic video by Phil Allen of Shepherd of the Hills Church.

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When God Doesn’t Listen

August 12, 2008

Right now I’m reading this book by Henry and Richard Blackaby called “Hearing God’s Voice.”  It’s about one’s personal relationship with God, it’s about prayer, it’s about learning to listen to God’s voice (the title might have given that away).

In one of the chapters on prayer, the authors talk about “how” and “why” God answers prayers.  We all know that sometimes God says “yes,” sometimes God says “no,” sometimes God says, “yes, but wait,” but sometimes God doesn’t seem to be listening.

The authors offered some very insightful biblical answers to help us understand what might be going on when it appears that God just isn’t listening.  Please read the following from Blackaby (pp 129-130):

“Why are we sometimes met with silence when we pray?  According to the Bible, if we allow sin to remain in our lives, God will not respond to our prayers.  The psalmist said, “If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Ps 66:18).  The prophet Isaiah concurred: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.  But your iniquities [sins] have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isa 59:1-2).

“Clearly God maintains the right to withhold answers to our prayers.  It is an offront for us to sin against him, then brazenly expect him to respond unreservedly to our prayers.  He gives us fair warning: “So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you, yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen.  Your hands are covered with blood” (Isa 1:15).  God’s silence sends a strong message: we should examine our lives to ensure no sin is provoking him to remain silent.

“The Bible singles out a particular sin that impedes our prayer life.  That is the sin of broken relationships.  God obviously places relationships at a high priority, for Jesus said, “Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering” (Matt 5:23-24).  Likewise Peter stressed the importance of harmony within the sacred marriage relationship: “You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered” (1 Pet 3:7 NASB).

“Jesus talked often about relationships.  He also spoke at length about forgiveness.  He taught his disciples to pray: “And forgive our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matt 6:12).  Jesus said our standard of forgiveness will be the standard by which God measures us.  At the close of the Lord’s prayer, Jesus explained: “For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.  But if you don’t forgive people, then your heavenly Father will not forgive your wrongdoing” (Matt 6:14-15).  Where there is silence from heaven when we pray, we should carefully examine our relationships.

(Hearing God’s Voice, Henry and Richard Blackaby, Nashville TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002, pp. 129-130)

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The Most Important Thing: Preaching Christ!

August 8, 2008

There are some who say that Christianity isn’t really about the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of Christ, but it’s really about social, or economic, or political reform. These are nice ideas, and I’m passionate about many such things, but they aren’t part of the core message of Christianity. That’s why the Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:14 wrote, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

The highly-effective church in Acts 4 centered its message on the resurrection of Jesus. Verse 33 says, “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.” This isn’t preaching the Gospel from a pulpit, it is sharing the message—and the message is the resurrection of Jesus. This isn’t just the preacher’s job but it is the responsibility of every Christian.

Why did they make the resurrection of Jesus the central message of Christianity? I think 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 gives us some insight. It says, “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom; but we preach Christ…” Here the Apostle Paul insists that all kinds of things can divide people. Issues of miracles can divide people, and issues of wisdom (doctrine, understanding and interpretation) can divide people—and the Corinthian Church, to which these verses were written, was much divided over such things. Thus the Apostle offers a simple solution: “Preach Christ! Quit fighting about miracles. Quit fighting about doctrine. And preach Christ!”

The Acts 4 Church was highly effective because it was unified under one message—the message of Christ and His resurrection. They didn’t want to argue about miracles and they didn’t want to get hung up on doctrinal differences, they just wanted to preach Christ—which unified them and made them an incredibly effective church.

Today my good friend Jim is visiting us in Chicagoland—having traveled all the way from north west Missouri. I’d say he’s my best friend, but that would sound kind of juvenile, so I’ll just say that I don’t have a better friend than Jim.

Jim and I don’t share all the same doctrinal convictions. In fact, he thinks that if you’re saved right now then you’re always gonna be saved. And I think he’s crazy. If salvation comes “by grace through faith,” as Ephesians 2:8 insists, then I conclude that if one’s faith dies then his or her salvation dies as well. We have a doctrinal difference and whenever we discuss this doctrinal difference we argue and fight (all in good fun of course).

But I’ve had people in my life who wouldn’t be my friend because of such differences. And we’ve even had people leave our churches because of this specific doctrinal difference. But Jim and I don’t separate as friends (or as brothers) because, even though we have some doctrinal differences, we share the same message—a message that centers on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You might say that which unites us is far greater than what divides us. Centering on the same message makes our friendship effective and it makes the church effective as well.

Therefore, we conclude that the most important thing one can proclaim is the simple message of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection—the message of salvation for a lost world!

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