Who builds the house?

Today I was reading in 1 Chronicles 25-29 and I read about David preparing the materials for the building of the temple. It reminded me of the account in 2 Samuel 7 when David want to build the temple himself. Instead he is told that God will build him a house and that house will be eternal. We know that what he meant was that the Messiah, who is Jesus, would come from the line of David.

Now what is interesting to me is that we often times want to do something for God, but we must first let God build our house. In fact, we need to let God give us everything before we can do anything for Him. Once we recognize our need for God, not just at the moment of salvation, but at all moments then we are ready to be used by God, because then we will not go out in our own strength but in His.

Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus!

Here are a couple of illustrations from my latest sermon about the return of Jesus.

The word "maranatha" is a Syriac expression that means: "Our Lord comes." It was used as a greeting in the early church. When believers gathered or parted, they didn?t say "hello" or "goodbye," but "Maranatha!" If we had the same upward look today, it would revolutionize the church. O that God's people had a deepening awareness of the imminent return of the Savior!

Here is an example of the type of attitude we should have.

On the shore of beautiful Lake Como, nestled in the Italian Alps, is a lovely old villa, perhaps two or three hundred years old. For years the grounds have been immaculately kept by a trusted old gardener. One day some tourists were complimenting him on his work. “The owner must come here frequently to supervise your work,” one of them said.
“No, sir,” answered the gardener. “He has been here only once in fifteen years and then I did not see him.”
“Well, then, how do you get your orders?” came the next question.
“They come from the owner’s agent, who live in Milan,” the old man replied.
“Then he must come here often.”
“No, not often, perhaps once a year or so.”
“This is quite amazing,” said the tourist. “You have no one to supervise your work, and yet the grounds are as neat as if you expected the owner to come back tomorrow.”
“Today, sir!” came the old gardener’s firm reply. “Not tomorrow, today!”

Are you ready and watching for Jesus to come.

How committed are you?

Are you willing to suffer for your relationships with those in your church family? Here is an article about how the western church does not function like a family. Should we?

Is suffering for the Lord part of your life? I love reading about how Christians function in other parts of the world, because it gives me perspective.

I believe that suffering is a necessary part of learning to trust God, and that especially in America when we try to avoid all suffering we limit the opportunities to grow in our trust of God.

So check out this article. What do you think?

http://www.christianitytoday.com/globalconversation/august2010/index.html?start=1

Atheist Creed

Here is the Creed for the Modern World without God. From Steve Turner's poem "Creed"

It deals with the issue of whether man can live without God. Turner says "No!"... But we try to do it all the time.... 

 Creed by Steve Turner.

We believe in Marx, Freud and Darwin We believe everything is OK as long as you don't hurt anyone to the best of your definition of hurt, and to the best of your knowledge. We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage. We believe in the therapy of sin. We believe that adultery is fun. We believe that sodomy’s OK. We believe that taboos are taboo. We believe that everything's getting better despite evidence to the contrary. The evidence must be investigated And you can prove anything with evidence. We believe there's something in horoscopes UFO's and bent spoons. Jesus was a good man just like Buddha, Mohammed, and ourselves. He was a good moral teacher though we think His good morals were bad. We believe that all religions are basically the same- at least the one that we read was. They all believe in love and goodness. They only differ on matters of creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation. We believe that after death comes the Nothing Because when you ask the dead what happens they say nothing. If death is not the end, if the dead have lied, then its compulsory heaven for all excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Kahn We believe in Masters and Johnson What's selected is average. What's average is normal. What's normal is good. We believe in total disarmament. We believe there are direct links between warfare and bloodshed. Americans should beat their guns into tractors . And the Russians would be sure to follow. We believe that man is essentially good. It's only his behavior that lets him down. This is the fault of society. Society is the fault of conditions. Conditions are the fault of society. We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him. Reality will adapt accordingly. The universe will readjust. History will alter. We believe that there is no absolute truth excepting the truth that there is no absolute truth. We believe in the rejection of creeds, And the flowering of individual thought. If chance be the Father of all flesh, disaster is his rainbow in the sky and when you hear: State of Emergency! Sniper Kills Ten! Troops on Rampage! Whites go Looting! Bomb Blasts School! It is but the sound of man worshipping his maker. 

  Steve Turner, (English journalist), "Creed," his satirical poem on the modern mind.

What are you doing wrong?

I like reading classics to my kids, because I learn so much. Here is a quote from the "Princess and Curdie" by George MacDonald about the need to think about your life how just letting things happens means we miss out doing all the good things we had the opportunity to do.

Curdie says,

'I was doing the wrong of never wanting or trying to be better. And now I see that I have been letting things go as they would for a long time. Whatever came into my head I did, and whatever didn't come into my head I didn't do. I never sent anything away, and never looked out for anything to come. I haven't been attending to my mother - or my father either. And now I think of it, I know I have often seen them looking troubled, and I have never asked them what was the matter. And now I see, too, that I did not ask because I suspected it had something to do with me and my behaviour, and didn't want to hear the truth. And I know I have been grumbling at my work, and doing a hundred other things that are wrong.'

Harvest in America?

Our church name is Harvest, and I am now convinced that the name applies. It applies not because we are so great, but because the fields really are white for harvest (Matthew 9:37). In our part of America at least, we meet so many hurting and needy people that are searching for love or an answer or something different because what they have tried so far has not worked. Not all of these people receive Jesus even after they have been shown his love, but some do! Adults in this culture can and do make decisions to follow Jesus, and their lives really are changed.

If you are not currently seeing this happen in your church or as a result of your witness, I would encourage you to pray that God would open up opportunities to share his love with someone. You don't have to be perfect to share life with someone. If you will simply live authentic loving lives, including your struggles, in front of non-believers they will see the difference. Invite your neighbor over for a BBQ or a co-worker out for coffee/pop. Have a game night at your house or go out with them to their house or even to the bar (if you can do that without temptation yourself). Outreach is not some huge deal that takes years of training. If knowing Jesus is really good news for you, then sharing your life with someone you will be sharing that good news.

Evangelism and Christian Community

How are evangelism and fellowship related?

In Matthew 28:19-20, we see Jesus give his disciples the great commission to make disciples, and in Acts 1:8 he says that they will be his witnesses to the world. In the book of Acts we see this lived out in two ways. First, we see the preaching of the gospel in public, and we see people responding to the preaching of the gospel. Second, we see people living out their faith authentically, and that the surrounding community responds to this authentic love for each other by wanting to be part of it. This is most clearly expressed in Acts 2:42-47, where the church is said to live out their faith, and God adds to their numbers daily. I think this was a real life example of Jesus' words in John 13:34-35,
34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

How though are people, not in the church, to see this love for one another if we only do it while we are with other Christians? Well, there seems to be two ways this can happen. First, the great commission is probably more accurately rendered, “while going, make disciples,” which indicates that Christians are still supposed to be out and about in the world. Therefore, while we are going about in the world we can show other people love, but we can particularly show people how Christians interact well with each other. We should treat each other with respect, fairness, kindness, love, etc. in front of other people. On the other hand, if we are regularly bad mouthing other Christians to our co-workers, neighbors, non-Christian friends and family, etc., then we are doing exactly the opposite of showing people Christ's love, and we may well be leading away from the Lord.

A second way people can see our love for each other is by inviting them to join in our fellowship. In the very early church, they often met in the temple courts and therefore, their behavior was open for everyone to see. Following that, Acts describes many times when the Apostles seemed to have large meetings open to many types of people. The love and acceptance in a health church body can be very appealing to a someone who has not experienced that sort of thing, and from my experience can often break down barriers of unbelief in people who are deciding for the Lord.

We need to have regular times where we as a body are inviting people into our fellowship so that they can see how God really changes people. This does not mean that we need to be perfect, but rather that we can love each other in spite of our obvious flaws, just like God does for each one of us. This practical show of unconditional love can help people believe in a God who gives unconditional love.

Evangelism divorced from the fellowship of the body of Christ is not really telling the whole gospel. The gospel is not simply the good news about eternity, but rather it is the good news of salvation which includes the Holy Spirit's transformation of us right now. The place that God planned to highlight that transformation is in and through Christians living and loving each other. Therefore, our fellowship and community is not just for our sakes, but a tool that God wants to use to bring more people to Himself. Likewise, the most effective outreach to the world should include presenting the image of a healthy loving church.

PS. As a final thought, I believe that one of the reasons the church as a whole in America has not been effective in reaching more people is because we do not love each other well, and thus do not present a very appealing image of God's love. The better we love each other the better we will be able to attract people to God's love.