I will be honest at this point and let you know that I have not done all that I had planned to do as far as the foreign language listening. I hope to finish that this weekend.

Nor have I finished the reading of Derek Kidner’s commentary on Genesis.

But I can say that as I have continued to reflect and think about this book, that I have been reminded that humankind is not a machine or a ‘just happened’ creation. There is order and purpose in humankind’s creation. We are here for a reason.

There is also a great deal about the early period of our planet and human history and development that is left unsaid. But the focus, I believe, is not on the how of beginnings but the who of beginnings.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

There is more to Genesis than the opening chapters in which people have argued and fought over for a long time. There is the thread of a purposeful plan in which God, while seeming to ignore certain persons and groups, is beginning to develop some kind of grand plan for His purposes. And the course of that developing plan includes working through deceit, favoritism, severe conflict, and the like in order to bring it about.

And even though we read of Jacob’s trickiness (aided by his mom); Joseph’s brothers hateful jealousy; and Abraham’s cowardice,I recognize that these things still exist today and that God, in spite of them, still does His redemptive work.

I will be wrapping up Matthew in the remaining days of this month and I will move to the New Testament starting next Wednesday with the gospel of John.

But as I look back at my life and the opportunities to talk deeply and meaningfully about faith, I recall that the most meaningful and helpful conversations were ones that “simply” occurred in the course of  a conversation. One even took place during pre-marital counseling with the bride-to-be who said “I want God in my life and I don’t know to do it!”

Now in my sermon this Sunday I speak of first responders who are a person’s initial contact with persons of faith and whose words and acts of caring open the door, perhaps years before a faith commitment is made, for a person to walk through toward God.

Then, there are the kindergarten teachers who help, again often before a faith commitment, learn the basics of faith and provide essential information about it.

Then some are delivering physicians who help ‘birth’ faith in people at a certain point.

And finally some are personal fitness trainers who help us get fit and stay fit with the proper kind of diet and exercise.

I have been privileged to be all four ‘persons’ as I have followed Christ throughout the years. Paul spoke of the tasks of planting and watering but God giving the increase. It is still true today.

My point: as I follow Christ, the opportunities to help people along their faith journey are numerous and being alert to them is essential.

These are my Thursday Thoughts

In the middle of this week, on the last Wednesday of this first month of this new year, I come to you on behalf of …

my wife.

She is working hard these days Father and not just at home but at her place of work. Give her strength to accomplish what she needs to accomplish. Help her to find time for herself (and help me help her find time for herself) so that she can rest and gain renewal in things that bring her joy and hope. Renew her faith and confidence in You. Help her to honor You in all that she says and does. I give You thanks for her.

my kids.

They are working hard at school. Help them to keep learning well and to the best of their ability. Help me Father be emotionally available to them so that they will become responsible and God honoring men one day. Encourage them as they deal with discouraging situations and relationships. Help them to honor You in all that they do and say. I give You thanks for both of them.

my friends.

Father some of my friends are dealing situations that are tough and painful and not easily resolved. Some are dealing family matters that are still unresolved. I ask that You help them during this time. Others are dealing with work situations or employment decisions and need Your wisdom to come to the best decision. Some are hurting for their kids and the decisions they have made which create fear and anxiety in their hearts. Help them Lord to be honest with their kids and yet love where they are.

myself.

I have had days recently Lord when waves of loneliness, soul pain, evil, anger, and self-pity have swept over me and I have found myself nearly drowning  in all of it. I turn to You Father to help me get back on the boat and not be afraid to tell others what is going on inside of me. But I am grateful as well for Your grace, mercy, and love for it and You have sustained me in ways large and small. Thank You for Your saving grace which graciously grabbed hold of me many years ago as a child.

Take us through this day with faith, hope, and love in our hearts and strengthed our resolve to follow You through Your Holy Spirit.

Amen

Nehemiah, when he finds out, is angry and acts to correct the situation. And as we talked about leadership, in the context of Nehemiah’s leadership, it hit me. Leaders do not know everything.

Now you may already be thinking, “Jim I already know that!”

“Do you? Do you really already know that?”

Have you ever been in a situation where you had to address a conflict/complaint that came out of nowhere and broadsided you? I have!

I realized yesterday that Nehemiah was not a bad leader because this conflict was occurring . He had no knowledge of it.

But when he did hear about it, he did something then.

As we discussed this, I looked into the faces of those gathered and said to them, “I know things about each of you but I only know a small part.”

I supposed you had to be there to understand. But for me it was an important ‘ah ha!’ moment when I realized that I, as a pastor and a leader, do not know the back stories of those I have cared for over 11 years. And it means that I shall never know them all.

But it also was serendipitous moment when I realized that I do not know everything that people think I know. God knows everything there is to know and I think that as I need to know ‘things’ I will… know them.

And I will continue to be blindsided from time to time, in part, because the expectation will be that I know about “this” and that I am hiding something… when I do not and I am not.

The implications here are profound and large – there are liability issues to such things and there are  credibility to them as well.

But when I do know ‘things’ then I have the responsibility to act and act quickly and well and deeply.

Nehemiah did and the situation improved for those rebuilding not just a wall but a nation.

What would had happened if Nehemiah would have never found out?

Description – Third in the Series “40 Days in the Word”

Today, we are going to experience the third method of Bible study as we continue in our ’40 days in the word’ experience.

But before we do that, here are five basic principles of Bible study from Rick Warren that are worth writing down and remembering:

1. Learn to ask the right questions
2. Write down your observations
3. Don’t just interpret it, apply it!
4. Study it systematically.
5. Read it over and over again.

These are excellent suggestions and they are in line with today’s approach that is called Probe It!

But first here are a couple of stories that provide us some perspective on Bible study and the importance that should come from doing it.

A gentlemen who, in times past, would have been known as a tramp or hobo, stopped at a nearby church shortly before Christmas and told the pastor, “Pastor, I’ve been wondering around the country for a long time and it is time to settle down. Can I join the church and settle down here?” The pastor was more than pleased with the request but felt a little exam about the faith was in order.

Since it was Christmas time the pastor asked the man, “Where was Jesus born?” “In Pittsburgh!” was the quick reply.

The pastor shook his head “no” and the man quickly replied with, “Philadelphia!”

The pastor shook his head again and simply said, “Jesus was born in Bethlehem.” And the man replied, “That’s right! I knew it was somewhere in Pennsylvania.”

Then there was a very wise group of 4 year olds who were asked by their Sunday school teacher if they knew what that particular Sunday was. “Palm Sunday,” came the reply. “Correct!” said the teacher, “Now what is next Sunday?”

“Easter Sunday!” came the reply. “And what happened on Easter Sunday?” “Jesus rose from the dead,” came the reply from one of the students. And to which another student said, “And if he sees His shadow he has to go back inside for six weeks.”

Again our method for this morning is ‘Probe It!’ And, we are going to learn this method with a unique acrostic that you will never forget and is out of this world! Please take out your half-page insert

And here it.is… (drum roll please!)

Spacepets.

You heard me right.

Spacepets.

Write this word, one letter at a time in the spaces down the left side of your half-page insert.

Now, with this information before us, let us turn to our main text for this morning, Mark 8:31-38:

Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.

Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?Is anything worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Now, let’s study this passage using this memorable acrostic. As I share what each letter means, I am going to give you some time to write down some initial observations to the question that each letter asks and then I will share my observations.

(Ready? Here we go!)

 The S asks the question: Is there a Sin to confess? (Go ahead and write your answer to the question.)

I believe that the primary focus of this passage is Jesus’ words in verses 34 – 38 which is in response to Peter’s statemen in the early part of the passage in which he tells Jesus to knock off all the death talk because it is not going to happen and to which Jesus says, very bluntly, “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

To me this is disbelief and it is a sin because of Jesus’ strong and harsh words to Peter. Jesus really got angry with Peter’s rebuke because He saw that Satan was at work trying to keep Him from fulfilling His mission through Peter’s words. And disbelief can lead a person to not obey the Lord’s direction and purposes in life which is another emphasis in Christ’s words in this passage.

Let’s move on to the next letter.

The P asks the question: Is there a Promise to claim? (What do you think? Take a moment and write your thoughts down.)

And yes there is a promise to claim!

But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.

A central part of this passage is the three-fold aspect of obeying the Lord as found in verse 34 “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.”

Our life is saved, not just from an eternal and just punishment in the life that is to come for those who refuse to believe and obey Christ, but in the here and now. Believing and trusting in Christ brings a greater life here and now!

The A asks the question: Is there an attitude to change? (Take a moment to write your response.)

Well, Peter definitely needs an attitude change and very much implied in Jesus’ words is a proper attitude that is embodied in believing, trusting, and obeying Christ. And Peter’s attitudes about Jesus were also shown in his reprimand of Jesus. Attitude is a very important part of our faith. The opening verses of 1 Corinthians 13 are a reminder of the place of attitude in our faith.

(5c)The C asks the question: Is there a command to obey? (What do you think?)

Those here who have been in the military know firsthand the link between commands and obedience! When the person in command says, “Move!” you moved!

The central command of this passage is “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.”

The command to obey Christ is a command to obey by turning from one’s own agenda, picking up your cross (more about that in a moment), and following Jesus. This is easy to start doing but very difficult to keep doing.

The E asks the question: Is there an example to follow?

The example to follow is Jesus’ example. And Peter, and the rest of the disciples are still learning what this means. Each of us have people who have lived out for us, who have exemplified a life of faith, but our ultimate example will always be, Jesus Himself and St Paul reminds us of this when he said in 1 Corinthians 11:1 “…you should imitate (or follow) me, just as I imitate (or follow) Christ.”

Now, here is the PETS part of our memorable word:

The P asks the question: Is there a prayer to pray? (What do you think?)

I think that a prayer to pray in this passage is a prayer of continued commitment and help for continued faithfulness. I don’t exactly know when in the course of the three years of Christ’s ministry this took place but Peter still had much to learn about follow Christ. I still have a great deal to learn about following the Lord as well. Each of us does.

The E asks the question: Is there an error to avoid?

Obviously Peter finds out that he has made an error in rebuking Jesus and I think Jesus’ words make clear the error of Peter’s thinking resulting in the error of putting one’s life and one’s agenda ahead of God’s.

The T asks the question: Is there a truth to believe?

There is definitely truth here and it is scattered throughout this passage but I think that the core truth is found in Jesus’ call in verse 34 to follow Him.

Finally, the S asks the question: Is there Something to praise God for? (Write down your response one last time.)

Basically, as I step back and look at this entire passage I praise God for others who gave up their agendas to follow God and helped me come to faith. And I praise the Lord for Christ’s resolute obedience to God’s plans and purposes.

So here is the Probe it! method of Bible study.

Now earlier I said that I would come back to the command of ‘taking up your cross’ for a very important reason. The Bible contains several phrases that leave people scratching their heads as to what they mean. For example, Jesus said in Matthew 5:28-29 “So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

Did Jesus really mean to gouge your eye out or cut your hand off? If He did not then what did Jesus mean?

 There are three questions that Rick Warren suggests we ask and answer to understand such passages. (Warren calls them the application bridge)

What did it mean then? This is called the interpretation question.

To pick up a cross then meant that you were picking up an instrument of death, most likely your death, and carrying it to the site of your execution. Pretty sobering isn’t it? The cross therefore, was a sign of death, of paying an ultimate price – one’s life.

So, is Jesus saying that we have to be hung on a cross and die to follow God? People have died for their faith and their refuse to turn from Christ. And it still happens today.

This leads us to the next question, What is the timeless truth? This is the implication question.

The timeless truth is that to pick up one’s cross is to die to one’s agenda and way of life. He means that the goals and agenda we follow in life are no longer our goals and agenda. We know follow God’s goals and agenda. We now follow Jesus and His way and not ours.

“You want to be my follower? Ok, that’s great! But turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross and follow me. You cannot hang on to your way of life then, it.has.to.die.” This is the timeless truth.

And this is where the application question comes in. How does it apply now?

Begin with this question, “What do I need to give up/let go of so that I am living for God the way I need to be living for God?” Is there a habit that must go? Is there an attitude that must change? Is there a relationship that needs to be mended or simply ended?

So what is God saying to you today? So what does this mean for you this day and this week? How is the Holy Spirit applying this to your life situation right now?

The call to pick up one’s cross and follow Jesus is a call to full obedience and service to and with God. It means that you are to follow Jesus starting…where you are and let God lead you… where He wants you to go.

Amen.

Image via Wikipedia

the One Word Campaign. And my one word this year is ‘follow.’ (It is listed in the side bar of this blog. Thank you Melanie Moore of http://www.onlyabreath.com/ for designing the buttons for this year’s campaign!)

This week I have been reminded of the cost of following as I have been writing my sermon, based on Mark 8:31-38 which includes these words “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. (verse 34)

The fresh impact of those words reminded me all over again just how intentional and hard it is to follow Christ. For to follow Christ is to surrender my agenda and accept Christ’s agenda. That is hard to do because of 1.  the inner battle which Paul painfully and eloquently writes of in Romans 7 “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin…” (verse 14) and 2. the cultural pull to find your path and do your thing.

As I contemplate this journey I am being reminded of the holistic nature of following Christ and have composed a prayer to give me a daily starting place to follow the Lord. This helps me with the intentional aspect of following:

These are my Thursday Thoughts

We pray for those today who are in bondage.

Some are in bondage to others as sex slaves and slave workers.

We ask O God that you move in the hearts and minds and wills of all those who can do something TO do something to bring freedom from this bondage for someone’s daughter or son.

Some are in bondage to an addiction – alcohol, drugs, sex, food, the internet, approval, etc

We ask  Holy Spirit that you would again this day move and act within the hearts and wills of those who are in bondage that they would see their powerlessness and make that first step of admission of that powerlessness to You, themselves, and those who can help them get on the path of/to recovery.

Some are in bondage through domestic violence or they are in an abusive relationship.

We pray dear Jesus that You will intervene in the right way, NOW, on their behalf and bring freedom both physically as well as in every other way, to them. And we pray for the children caught in these situations, even now we ask that You will help them know You are there with them and that You are doing something about it.

Father others are in bondage to a state because they choose to worship God in a different faith and are being held because of their refusal to renounce that faith. We stand with them this day as they stand for You and Your wonderful and redemptive grace and love. Help them to stand strong in the face of harassment, imprisonment, and even death so that You will receive them into Your great and Holy presence until that day when You will return and put all things to right.

And Lord many of us are in bondage though the lives we live are normal and free.

We are in bondage to fear, anxiety, and there is a smoldering resentment and anger that causes us to lash out and/or withdraw from our family and friends who, though they be seemingly powerless to help us, are the very ones who can often help us get started out of the inner hole we have dug for ourselves.

So God this day, we who have freedom, the freedom to move about, the freedom to protest, the freedom to say ‘NO!’… and ‘Yes!’ we pray for those who are not so fortunate. We ask for Your love, grace, and mercy, to do its good and wondrous thing now and in the days ahead for them that they will be… free!

Amen.

Description – Second in the series “40 Days in the Word”

Take 30 seconds to sketch this picture of a spoon on it. Ready, set, go!

Ok. How many of you found it easy to do? How many did not find it easy to do?

My point is this. One of the challenges for some people is that studying the Bible is hard because they think in pictures and not in words.

Deep Bible study (word by word Bible study) is easy for some persons. I have shared with you the story of my seminary Bible study course and the difficult text book that we had to read. There were some in that class who loved that book! They understood the words (they could probably spell them correctly by the end of the course) and concepts in the book!

Some of us struggled to understand them. We understood the actual method taught but the book was lost on us! And then there were probably some who would have like to have drawn pictures of the Bible stories or written a story about the stories!

Some of us here think in word pictures. Some of us here can sketch a picture of the spoon and we cannot tell the difference between the two! Others of us could write a story with spoons in it and it would move us to tears!

This creative gift is from God and is nothing to be ashamed of, especially men who possess it. It is one of the ways that God has wired us to live and serve Him. It is also one way to study the Bible.

This morning we move from looking and saying and hearing specific words to looking at a passage of scripture as a picture or word story. This kind of study cannot be done with every passage or even every book of scripture. Generally narratives, like the gospel account I am about to read, is best suited to this kind of study. (The Song of Solomon? Heh, heh)

Our text for today is out of Mark’s gospel account and we will be reading it a couple of times this morning so keep your Bible open to this passage and listen to me read it out of the New Living Translation.

Mark 2:1-12

When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus.

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”  But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.”

Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

Now to help us understand and experience this passage in a new way of study, this is what we are going to do. As I re-read the passage, you can visualize it from the perspective of one of the friends carrying the man on the mat or from the perspective of one of the crowd watching what is going on.

Now you may wish to close your eyes as I do so or you can read along in your Bibles. Click on the link to listen to the passage. 11512 Bible

Take a sheet of paper,  and briefly write down, from the perspective of the person you chose, what you experienced as that person. What did you see take place? What were you feeling as the story unfolded? What did Jesus look like to you? What did you sense from Jesus?

Now I am going to read the passage one more time and then I will tell what I want you to reflect on. (Click on the audio link above again.)

Now, with whom do you identify the most in this story and how does their situation apply to you at this point in your life? Is it the man on the mat? Is it one of the friends bringing the man? How about one of the crowd watching what is going on? Or do you identify with the home owner whose house has both Jesus in it and a roof repair to get done?

What might God be saying to us through these people and their responses this morning? What might He be saying about the persistence of faith in the midst of overwhelming challenges? What might He be saying about persistence of a caring presence when it seems hopeless? What might He be saying about the object of healing and forgiveness is not control but letting go and letting God? And what might He be saying about the value of love and hope?

Some of you might be thinking “this is a waste of time, pastor! Give me some ‘meat’ in this message! Tell me what it says and what I need to do!”

I acknowledge those feelings. For some people this approach is not attractive at.all. But for others, the Bible comes to life in a very powerful and meaningful way.

Now for a moment I want to combine last week’s emphasis on pronouncing words with today’s emphasis on picturing the passage.

Consider the word ‘paralyzed’ in this story.

There is a man who is physically paralyzed. He cannot walk. We do not know if he has been this way for a long time. Maybe he has and maybe he has only recently been paralyzed.

The reason I say this is that the intense effort by his friends to get him before Jesus could be because he has been recently injured and is in need of healing…now. But I do not know.

Have you ever carried someone to God in prayer? Desperate prayer because they were in serious trouble, because they had become paralyzed, not physically perhaps, but financially with a major expense or relationally with a separation or divorce?  And so you carry them to Jesus?

Have you been carried to Jesus by someone when you have been paralyzed? A major decision has caused you to freeze up and you do not know what to do? Or a traumatic event has occurred and left you frozen in fear and anxiety? Who has carried you to Jesus?

There are the Pharisees. They are paralyzed too. They are paralyzed by fear because Jesus is doing things for and to people, in God’s name. He has taken control of the situation. He is impinging on their authority. (How dare He do that! Who does He thinks He is anyway?)

Now before we dismiss the Pharisees, let’s ask ourselves, “Have I been frozen by anger and fear because of God’s work in someone else’s life that I am expecting God to do in mine and I am jealous?”

There is desperation at work here. There is also faith at work. The desperation is driving faith. Not to despair but to hope!

These friends think Jesus can do something and do something now! They are not paralyzed by fear they are motivated by faith, a desperate faith, a hopeful faith. They do not let the Pharisees, the crowd, or even a roof get in their way to Jesus.

And, most important, Jesus is here!

How do you read Jesus in this passage? There is definitely frustration with those who refuse to believe in Him and their attitudes toward healing and forgiveness.

But there is also love. And it is love expressed in the miracle of healing and forgiveness. Jesus is moved to compassion toward the paralyzed man and, I think, admiration with the four friends who brought him.

So what is God saying to you this morning? Where are you at in this story?

I suggest this morning that God is very much interested in our paralysis. He knows what keeps us stuck in place and unable, and even unwilling, to move forward.

For some of us it is the past that keeps us paralyzed. We cannot seem to get past it. It haunts us. Satan uses it to keep us believing that we can never, ever, live at peace with God and ourselves.

For others of us it is the future that keeps us paralyzed. We desperately want to see a bit further down the path but we can’t. And we are afraid to make a mistake because we believe that God will be angry with us if we do. So Satan keeps us in place when the Lord wants us to move forward!

Now, what I want you to do is to visualize (or even draw on your ½ page insert) the name of the person or issue that has paralyzed or is paralyzing you. Put the source of your faith paralysis on your mat and take it, and yourself, to God.

Better yet, either as you leave here or this afternoon, share this with two people who will carry the situation to God on your behalf. After all this man had friends carry him to Jesus. We need to be carried to Jesus as well, from time to time.

Do not be discouraged today. Be encouraged. Know that the Lord is not bothered by interruptions of a ceiling coming down on top of Him!

Allow Him to free you from what is causing you fear, pain, anger, in short what is causing you to be paralyzed. Let the Lord have His way today. Allow Him to tell you “get up and walk!”

Amen.