Author Archives: Pastor Jim Driskell, Lutheran Church

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About Pastor Jim Driskell, Lutheran Church

I am the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Chestertown, Md. I pray that you will come and worship with us, worship is 10 am Sundays. We are a renewal church and we are lifting God up in classical worship, and being faithful disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. 101 Greenwood Av, Chestertown. Plenty of parking behind the church.

7 Ways to Love People

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By Leah Baugh on Dec 09, 2016 in Life

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Agberto Guimaraes / unsplash

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother (1 John 4:21).

Our modern culture is filled with distractions, whether it be technology, work, or busyness in general. Sometimes people are just passing faces we say hello to but don’t really have time for. Showing love can seem like a daunting task that we’re not always sure we can take on with all our other commitments. Here are several concrete and basic ways we can love people.

1. Welcome people like friends rather than strangers.

Loving often begins with our attitude. A Christlike attitude welcomes people rather than excludes them. A Christlike attitude recognizes that we are all alike in that we are all sinners in need of the bountiful grace of Christ.

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. (Rom. 15:7)

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. (Rom. 12:10)

2. Look to the needs of others.

Acts 2 tells us this is exactly what the early Christians did right after they were converted.

And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. (Acts 2:44–47)

Despite the vast variety of people and languages represented (Acts 2:9–10), the early Christians willingly entered into one another’s lives, sharing the necessities of life. Giving away our money and possessions requires wisdom and discernment. However, the general principle of looking after the poor is seen throughout Scripture as part of God’s command to love others (Matt. 25:36-40; 1 John 3:17-18).

3. Talk to someone who is different from you.

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. (James 2:9)

It is easy to stay in our comfort zones and stick with the circle of friends who are similar in age or have similar jobs or like similar things. Comfort is a wonderful blessing, but it can lead to apathy and blindness in the community as a whole. God shows no partiality when he saves, so we also should have an open heart when it comes to caring about all types of people. We also broaden our awareness of—and compassion for—the thoughts, hopes, fears, and joys of people who are living in circumstances different from our own.

4. Invite someone over to your house for a meal.

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. (Rom. 12:13)

If you don’t have much experience with hosting, opening up your home and cooking a meal can be intimidating, but here’s the thing: most people don’t care if your house is a bit messy and dinner isn’t a four-course meal topped off with the finest wine and candles on the table. A welcoming attitude and a communal meal are usually all that is needed to make people feel comfortable. The very act of opening your home often leads to the opening of hearts and minds to begin forming deep and lasting bonds that build one another up.

5. Allow people to take off their masks.

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness…Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Gal. 6:2)

People lost in sin, struggling with sin, or going through difficult circumstances need a place where they feel safe enough to be honest about their challenges and confess their sin and get help. This means taking the time to really listen to and care about people, understanding how tempting sin is. Loving someone, however, does not mean ignoring or putting up with their sin. Allowing continual and unrepentant sins to go unchallenged fails to show that person Christlike love, who went to the cross because of sin. We are called to gently and lovingly help people lost in sin to see God’s goodness and greatness so that they turn to God in repentance and faith and thereby find salvation from sin and eternal life. God often works through the love of people to bring his redemptive love into a person’s life (2 Cor. 5:20-21).

6. Pray.

Brothers, pray for us. (1 Thess. 5:25)

Praying for someone can sometimes seem like it doesn’t really count as loving that person; however, prayer involves coming before the most powerful Being in the universe. In Christ, the prayers of a believer are powerful, and we can be confident that God hears us and cares about what we ask. Praying for others is actually one of the most powerfully loving things we can do for them.

7. Smile at them.

The simple act of smiling can communicate warmth, welcome, and love and pave the way to a conversation. A smiling person is also easier to approach and talk to; and if you don’t have time to stop and say hello to someone, a smile says you noticed and acknowledged that person. Many of my sweetest friendships began by smiling at one another, sometimes for several weeks, before a conversation eventually happened!

Most of the time, love is a struggle. It is impossible for us to love each other perfectly. Love requires patience, humility, kindness, and most importantly, dependence upon God. It can be easy to be legalistic about loving others, but love shouldn’t feel like a burden or be so draining that we become cynical. This is why we don’t trust in our own ability to love but rather trust in the one who showed us what love truly is.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:9–11)

It was love that sent him to die on a cross. He takes our weariness away and gives us his infinite Spirit that enables us to cry out to God as a child calls to their loving and gracious Father. By God’s abundant grace, we are filled with his bountiful and unchangeable love. We now have the freedom to love God and love others, not as a way of trying to be good enough to win God’s favor, but out of an overflowing love and gratitude for God’s love in Christ.

 

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Too Comfortable? Amos 6:17 First Saint Johns September 25, 2016

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[For the audio click the above icon]

We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and in the Name of God the Son and in the Name of God the Holy Spirit and all those who are a “good person”, said … AMEN!  Aha, tricked you, now, all of you who are a good person, only and solely in Jesus said … AMEN!

It’s a question I continue to struggle with, how to be “good” in Jesus, especially as we, as a society, draw further away from God, that the perception in our society is that God really isn’t necessary. I often want to ask someone I get into this kind of discussion with: Do you honestly believe that this is all there is? Most of the time it really comes down to they just haven’t thought about it, it’s just not an issue, to the extent that “well, either way God’s just going to work it out for me, and since I’m a good person, well I don’t have anything to worry about.” Seems we’re all “good people”, you know except for like Hitler, Stalin, Alex Rodriguez, ok I’m kidding there because hey even ARod is a “good” person, even if he was a New York Yankee. We just refuse to reconcile the fact that it is about us and our sin. God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are perfectly righteous, perfectly holy/ sanctified, perfectly just and while we like to live in our own little world, with our own rules because we are so smart and can do everything by ourselves, even though what we do is based on me/myself. I have no idea what people are talking about when we get into this discussion, but it’s ok, because they just know that they’ve got it down and they don’t need anyone, up to and including God to tell them otherwise. Until such time as they realize they don’t have it down and then it’s usually a lawyer, a social worker, a school teacher, an accountant etc. None of whom have any guidelines themselves other than professional ethics which too many today see more as guidelines and hindrances if it interferes with their personal agenda. Today the idol is money, comfort, personal satisfaction, basically the Led Zepplin song “Stairway to Heaven”: “There’s a lady who’s sure, All that glitters is gold, And she’s buying a stairway to heaven When she gets there she knows, If the stores are all closed, With a word she can get what she came for, and she’s buying a stairway to heaven.”[1]

That’s the way it is, as much in the church as it is for any “None”, garden variety pagan, Buddhist, we don’t have to worry about that stuff because we will work it out in the end. Give a little extra here, do a little something there, badda bing, it’s all taken care of, we’re all reasonable people, let’s move on.

While that may sound good to us, that’s not God’s perspective. Of course when I say that to someone who just doesn’t know/doesn’t care, I get this petulant/ adolescent response “well that’s just your opinion”. If you’re a Christian, to the rest of the world, your opinion just doesn’t matter. Oddly, their completely uninformed, prejudiced, and totally consumer driven mentality does matter and that’s what they’re going with. Critical thinking in this day and age is a rare commodity. It just doesn’t occur to the average person today that a model where everyone is right based on their uninformed opinion is not a workable paradigm. God created everything, God maintains everything and God is going to end everything and He will do it on His timetable. That will leave a lot of your neighbors to condemnation:  “ESV Matthew 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.” Jesus wasn’t stuttering, many will enter it, many just because they are perfectly happy in their ignorance. One of the creeds of this society is: “Ignorance is bliss.” You just mind your own business, do what you’re told by those who are smarter than you in business, academia, government, medicine, but heavens no, not ministry, and everything will work out fine. How that works out? No one seems to know, but in this world of the uncritical, “hey I pay my taxes, people are supposed to work those things out for me”. Really? I don’t see how that’s happening.

Probably the biggest threat to our spiritual health as Christians is the comfort and privilege that we live today. Certainly that is what God is telling Israel through Amos in our reading today: “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,” Scott Schilbe writes about this passage, the Hebrew: “yAh… Translated as ‘Woe’, this word interjects the idea of God’s judgment. Amos uses this word as a way to capture his hearers’ attention. ‘Woe’ is a warning.”[2] That is God basically saying I’m not playing around, you need to shake off this lethargy, this idea that you’re somehow entitled to just sit back and enjoy what you have and ignore God’s will and the things that you know you should be doing in order to serve Him. While we’re not where we should be today, there is much more being done for those who are poor and oppressed. I understand getting caught up in the headlines and other people’s agenda. We still have a long way to go for social justice, but we also need to back up to where we left the church of Jesus Christ and become a lot more motivated for our eternal life in Jesus. While there is much being done for social justice, and justice in the left hand kingdom of the world is important. But in Christ and to the eternal life of the resurrection we don’t get justice, that’s a really good thing, we get grace, and we get the Lordship of Christ in this world.

Your Christian church is about serving others, we continue to serve all who are here. In my role as a pastor, as a Seel Sorger I serve as a soul healer and if there’s something that the world today is in desperate need of is soul healing. We have, like the Israelites of Amos’ time, become way too comfortable and complacent, leaving the church to gather the crumbs, while we get way too caught up in the headlines and our own comfort. While there is need and we should apply ourselves to that, and your church does, we also have to make our Christian life, as the Body of Christ, His church, a priority in terms of our prayers, our financial support and our mission to continue to reach out to a world whose “god” is its pleasure and in subjection to social engineering while the only true remedy for the strife of the world is in Christ. There will always be a church of Christ, in some form. There will always be a remnant who will continue to enable the church to carry out its mission as God’s apostle. The issue is whether we who profess Christ and His mission will continue to see that as a priority, will we be that remnant? Last week I asked you to reach for that journal and to work out how that will be in your particular case. Will you reconfirm, renew and increase your support for your Christian ministry, for the church that provides you with healing, with presence, and works in our community to provide what we can. Please take out the pledge card from your bulletin and consider increasing your current offering, making a special gift, making a commitment to providing your time to the work of the church, where you can serve your church in order to help us to continue to be a strong and giving presence in our community.

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amin and Shalom

[1] Jimmy Paige, Roger Plant performed by Led Zepplin  1971

[2] Rev Scott R Schilbe, STM  Concordia Pulpit Resources Vol 26, Part 4, Series C p 30

Confession and Absolution – Setting Free the Conscience

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by Rev. Michael Schuermann One of the chief concerns of the Lutheran Reformers was to protect the conscience of each believer from being harmed by the burdens of works-righteousness or other sorts of legalism. They recognized that because of sin, man’s burdened conscience was driving him to seek relief in some way. God provided true […]

Source: Confession and Absolution – Setting Free the Conscience

Bullying, the church is not immune, too often it’s the passive-aggressive kind.

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Thom Rainer has become one of my go to guys in Christian church research and he has really hit on the theme of church bullying. I have some personal observations to offer, that Rainer is pretty right on with his observations.

First, I have spent most of my professional life in the world of corporate finance and military. Yea, there was bullying, but… when it comes right down to it, it really wasn’t tolerated. Frankly, I’ve seen far more bullying in government, public schools (no not just students), unions and other not for profits and ya, even churches. Let’s face it, more passive types of environments generate more fear and more boundary guarding. The perspective in these environments is that there is only so much to get and you have to just grab for all you can. It’s an attitude that is just not tolerated in the private sector and I have twenty years, or the military 29 years. There’s too much to do and too much to earn and too much at stake for people to be quibbling as you see in the other sectors of society.

Full disclosure, the town we moved to when I was ten years old, was the home of Rocky Marciano, the only undefeated heavy weight boxing champion of the world, he had died that same summer. Also,  I grew up with Marvin Hagler a middle weight world boxing champion. The culture was very much boxing and football. And yea, I was relentlessly bullied from sixth grade until about tenth. But I dealt with it, created my own niches, played football, not well, but stood up for myself, i.e. if you want to bully me you will pay a price, and overcame it. So if I have a personal sensitivity to bullying, I will stipulate to that, but it doesn’t make the bullying any less that’s going on now, especially the more pernicious “passive-aggressive” bullying we so see much of today.

The distressing thing about bullying is that it’s not just about throwing punches, overt insults, just over the top actions. There is very much passive-aggressive bullying. Now I don’t have a lot of experience with it, although it seems to me that it’s a way of life for way too many in the church. Seminary professors and staff, pastors and church goers, it seems to be the preferred go to and it’s often an effort to generate active push-back which ipso facto, become evidence of aggressiveness on the part of the person who is really innocent and is being goaded by the passive-aggressive behavior, just an effeminate way to avoid the real issue. Seems that for those in academia, church, not for profits, other rather passive sectors, a profound inability to actually confront issues and actively resolve them and prefer the passive-aggressive, a clearly more effeminate means of bullying. So yea, those in these sectors, especially in academia, all levels, who like to pat themselves on the back as to how they are so unaggressive, no, it’s really more about your inability to confront and resolve issues. One reason most of you wouldn’t last in professions that require results is that you’re not really interested in the results, you’re simply interested in maintaining your little fiefdom.

So, ya, I’ve been victimized by church bullying also. Interesting findings though, when you do actively confront those who are trying either the active bullying or the passive – aggressive you usually end up with the proper/positive result and you usually tear down someone’s little bastion that they’ve been bullying people from, probably for years.

So the moral of this is you do have to actively confront, no it won’t be pleasant, and yes, people are going to see you as mean and nasty, but in short order people will realize that the confrontation was necessary and it allowed everyone, the organization, to move along. I’m not saying fist fights, yelling screaming, although it might come down to some animated discussion, but it has to be done.

I’ve seen it a few times now that churches really do tolerate the bullying, aggressive and passive-aggressive. Of course the issue in the church is to be nice. Not to really stand up and do what’s necessary, but to be nice and everyone should “understand”, in other words, a sort of effeminate, passive way of handling issues, which translates, they don’t get resolved.

Interesting because in my experience with church bullies of both stripes, while everyone is supposed to indulge them, they’re not the least bit concerned with anyone else or how the church is supposed to function. It’s either the status quo, i.e. them in charge, regardless of how deep they’ve run the church/organization into the ground, to their benefit or else they will do what they can to blow things up. How that will effect anyone else, the church’s image in the community up to and including the national church, non-believers perception of the church, on and on, doesn’t matter to them, it’s their way or the highway.

I certainly stipulate to the fact that the process of “debullying” will also cause discomfort for the current members and church leadership, up through to the national church, there also needs to be recognition for all concerned that if this person is creating a negative environment for those immediately concerned, the impact has to be huge on prospective members. They certainly do see the bully, whether overt or passive-aggressive, they see the nonsense this person causes (it can be a man or woman), the lack of focus and results of the organization and quickly realize that they just don’t need that kind of grief. That person’s agenda is only about maintaining the status quo and they will bully who they have to in one or even both ways in order to maintain their status quo. If that results in the failure of that church, in all respects of failure of a church, well, either bully will say that it was obviously someone else’s fault.

While leaders at different levels may not appreciate the upheaval, there clearly needs to be pro-active action towards those who are bullying and are at least partially responsible for the hard downward trend of the church overall. Should also remember that church leaders, all the way to the top, really have little, if any, training or experience in dealing with leadership and will usually default to what they’ve seen in the church for the decades that the church has been their only environment, i.e. passive-aggressive bullying by everyone.

Rainer lists out the ways to identify the bully, I’m taking them a little out of order, because I think this indicator is my indicative of the rest. “They are famous for saying ‘people are saying'”. When you confront them as to who, when, “oh well they asked me to keep that confidential”. You start doing your own checking around and don’t find anyone else saying anything about the perceived compelling “issue” of the bully. Rainer goes on to say; “They love to gather tidbits of information and shape it to their own agendas.” Another personal observation is a lack of discipline, they’ve never really done anything that requires discipline, they’ve blown off any kind of school, military, serious business environment, nothing in their background indicates that they really can plan out, execute and work with people to carry out a necessary plan.

Rainer says that they will tell you how much they love you, the pastor, but so long as you’re toeing their line. They do have strong personalities, but as Rainer points out, that does not necessarily make a bully. They are highly opinionated and all that entails. It’s their way or no way, so just turn to and get moving on their directions. It’s interesting because so many of these bullies really have no idea what they’re talking about, they don’t have any real training, experience, to make the decisions they’re making, they’ve never felt the need because they’re not going to listen to anyone about anything, unless it’s another bully. They do seem to respond to being bullied and roll over pretty easily to an overt bully. They build unhealthy alliances, frankly in a church? The Body of Christ is one, if you have any kind of alliance going on, it’s by definition “unhealthy”. They gossip, work in the dark, have been to many churches.

In addition to “people are saying”, they of course don’t see themselves as bullies. Again they’ve never had to function in a “results oriented” environment, they’re amateurish attempts and attitude are all about how it’s everyone else’s fault, and even that they’re being somehow unfairly persecuted. Of course their, usually, uninformed agendas, forming alliances particularly among weaker members, they tend to have intense and emotional personalities (yes, more feminine emotions, versus being able to rationally address issues), they are usually part of mediocre/low expectation churches (i.e. the go along church, easier just to take it then deal with issues).

Rainer has a number of suggestions, but I want to insert a personal observation, especially if I might be coming across a little belligerently, I am not suggesting that anyone look for or pick a fight. But before push comes to shove you have to confront the bully and either exercise discipline or make it difficult for him/her to stay. Hey better someone else puts up with their nonsense and allows you to do genuine ministry. I have a downtown church where people have real issues and there are a lot of them. I don’t need a self – appointed enforcer making my ministry impossible and continuing to destroy, at least, this Christian church. To continue with Pastor Rainer;

  • “seek to have an Acts 6 group in your church.” Basically a group that will address “murmuring and complaining” in the sense of the Greek widows not being cared for.
  • “Have a high expectation church”, quit with the mediocre thinking, the cowering, whimpy safety in the herd mindset. Let’s start doing some real ministry and making some real effort.
  • “Encourage members to speak and stand up to church bullies”. No more playing, if you’re not about the mission of the church and moving to true discipleship and Christian integrity, you don’t have a place here.
  • “Make sure the polity of the church does not become a useful instrument to church bullies.” “Many churches have ambiguous structures and lines of accountability… Bullies take advantage of the ambiguity and interpret things according to their nefarious needs.”
  • “Be willing to exercise church discipline”. My church has excommunication and in the case of a bully, they are certainly guilty of being divisive. Not that they had an honest disagreement or working for the best interests of the church, but disciplined because of their attempts to pit people against each other and create divisiveness.
  • “Have a healthy process to put the best-qualified persons in positions of leadership in the church.” Bullies angle for power, create buffers against that possibility. Jesus’ church deserves the best, most qualified, those who will act with Christian integrity, not those who are playing political games.
  • “Have a healthy process to hire church staff. “
  • “Encourage a celebratory environment in the church.” I would go on to say a pro-active, striving for high ideals and goals with true Christian integrity. A bully is the person who keeps trying to drag that down to his/her level and mature Christians recognize such a person and start to isolate them from the rest of the congregation that is healthy.

I’m really not trying to be contentious and I’m not encouraging anyone to go out and pick fights. But on the other hand it is the pastor’s responsibility to create a positive, uplifting church that is responsible to Christ to grow as the Body of Christ. Allowing such people to undermine the church and it’s mission for their personal satisfaction and ego gratification is irresponsible on the part of the pastor, the pastoral hierarchy above the pastor, the rest of the church governance and all genuine Christians. We are not, as Christian disciples, entitled to surrender the church who will undermine it for their own purposes.

Do Wedding Ceremonies and Religious Beliefs Matter to God?

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CRI-Blog-Hanegraaff, Hank-Marriage in ChurchQ: I never came across anything in the Bible that says to be married in a church by a pastor. I was wondering are you able to marry spiritually in God’s eyes?

The human condition is such that we need to make a commitment before man as well as before God. Now so many people think that marriage is just a feeling of love, but love has never been exclusively a feeling. The bedrock of love is commitment. Feelings ebb and flow, but a commitment never dies. If a commitment is the foundation of your love relationship, then that commitment should be made formally and publicly in the eyes of God but with a commitment to cherish, to honor and to take care of that loved one until “death do us part.”

Q: My fiancé is a Jehovah’s Witness and I’m a Christian. What does the Bible say about mixing religions?

“Do not be unequally yoked” (2 Cor. 6:14, ESV). This is unequivocal, clear, and direct.

A Jehovah’s Witness has a completely different Jesus. The Jesus of Christianity is the one who spoke and the universe leaped into existence. The Jesus of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is the archangel Michael, who was during his earthly sojourn merely human, and after his death recreated as an immaterial spirit creature. The Jesus of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is neither the Jesus of the Bible nor is their plan of salvation a biblical plan of salvation—it’s about what you do as opposed to what Jesus Christ has done for you. Jesus Christ, according to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, is not even the creator of all things. He was created by God and became a junior partner in the creation of all other things. Neither is the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible nor their authority equivalent to the Christian Bible. The New World Translation is a perverted translation of the Bible. Christianity and the Jehovah’s Witnesses are two religious systems. One based in history and evidence and the other cultic that can never be harmonized.

I can tell you right now that if you go down that road (entering into marriage with an unbeliever) you are bringing yourself a life of sorrow.

—Hank Hanegraaff

Justified and sanctified in Jesus

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I have been asked on a regular basis if Lutheranism is Christian. For all the denominations and “independents” and so many of these faux attempts at Christianity, YES! All of these other denominations and other presumed attempts at Christianity came from Martin Luther. In fact if your non-denominational “pastor” has any training at all (so many don’t and just presume to hand out a shingle calling themselves a church) but if he has any grounding in genuine Christianity he will, on a regular basis, quote Martin Luther. Dr Luther is the one who called out and broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman’s were right on one score, you open up Christianity, and you risk having a lot of presumptuous people thinking they know the drill who will pose themselves as “Christian” teachers and preachers. On the other hand the Roman Church was so wrong on many counts and we see those errors seeping into Reformed Christianity. Mainly in terms of “works-righteousness”. That is the idea that while Jesus saved us, you still have to do a few things to get you over that line into salvation. Make no mistake, we can reject our salvation. But as one Concordia seminary professor puts it, “God does the verbs”. That is God does what is necessary for us to be saved, there isn’t one thing we can add to what Jesus did for us to have salvation. It’s either all about him and nothing about me, or salvation doesn’t happen. There is also what is called antinomianism. That is that the Law doesn’t have any effect on Christians, we can go about and do just whatever we want and because of the grace of salvation, we’re forgiven of everything while we just flout God’s Law. There is no sin that Jesus didn’t die for. That doesn’t mean we can just go off and do whatever we like. There are consequences to our sin and at some point God decides that you really don’t have the fruits of the Spirit and that you’re just not really saved.

The point of this blog, though, is about the Lutheran teaching in terms of how our salvation is worked out. So for you who like to play at being a Christian, take some serious note here. We are saved because we are justified in Jesus. Justified, coming from the root word “justice” that we are completely innocent, completely guiltless because Jesus paid the price of our sin by dying on the cross. He took the punishment that we should have in order for us to be free of the guilt of our sin.

We are also sanctified, from the Latin “sanctus” completely holy, set apart, totally God’s man or woman. Again, that is only because we have been clothed in the holiness of Christ because of His sacrifice for us. If we are not completely justified, if we are not completely sanctified, and the only way that can happen is in Jesus, then we can not be saved. We cannot die and come into the presence of a completely holy and innocent God, God the Father of Jesus Christ.

One of the greatest Lutheran teachers, was C.F.W. Walther, the first president of the Lutheran Church in the United States. I’ve started a book by Concordia Publishing House which is a collection of Walther’s writings in a daily devotional, translated by Gerhard Grabenhofer.

Walther writes: “Justification happens in a blink of an eye. As soon as a sinner, in despair, recognizes his sin and desires grace and redemption, God speaks a word in heaven and justification takes place.” ( p 670) Walther wrote in the mid 1800s and I really like the style of writing from that period and Walther doesn’t disappoint. Likewise, he doesn’t pull any punches.

While we are immediately justified in Jesus, there is a process of sanctification, of growing in holiness. “Sanctification, on the contrary, does not happen suddenly. It occurs gradually and it continues until the end of our life. Justification is immediately perfect. Each one who is justified instantly receives the full forgiveness of his sins, the complete righteousness of Christ, and a new status as a child of God. Sanctification, which follows justification , begins weakly and grows until death, but it never comes to perfection.” ( pp 670-671).

Having said that I would point out that while we are, hopefully, always growing in sanctification, when we die as directed by God, the Lord of our life, we come into His presence completely justified, completely sanctified, completely righteous, but not due to anything we’ve done, only due to what Jesus has done for us. In baptism we become that new child in God, therefore we become completely justified. Baptism is the “new birth” in Jesus. We become completely saved in Jesus. Yes people are baptized, then become as lost as anyone else in the world, through their own bad choices. But not because God failed them in anyway, they chose the way of the world, and the way of the world is sin, death and eternal condemnation in Hell. Sure, lots of people would like to amend that and make it according to their own plan, but this is God’s plan and that’s just the way it’s going to happen. You can continue to live in your little world of denial or realize that the only Lord of life is Jesus and He has revealed salvation to us and that’s the way it’s going to be.

Walther writes: “Perfection for the Christian is the clear recognition that he is imperfect in himself, but nevertheless perfect in Christ Jesus”. For those who think that they’re “all that and a bag of chips”, don’t need Jesus, ok, how’s that going to work out. While you’ve made an idol of yourself, because you think you know what it’s all about, the only way to eternal life is through Christ. You can make it up, but it’s pure fiction and you’ve basically told God “yea, not really happy about your way, I’ve got a better idea”. You may think it’s better, but without anyway to save yourself, again eternal condemnation. Harsh? Not really, we want to know how to be saved, but when we get God’s way and decide it just doesn’t work for us, well it’s God’s way or no way and you’re not god, deal with it.

“When a person is justified, God generally lets him taste the sweetness of His grace in order to draw the sinner from the world to Himself. At this point, many a beginner in Christ thinks he is rid of the world, sin and Satan. but if that were truly the case, it would not be long before such a person became secure and proud. Therefore, our faithful God removes the sweet feelings of grace and power from most of His believers and from that time on, He bestows such blessings meagerly and allows His Christians to grow in humility. When a person becomes truly poor, he must daily beg God for everything and adhere to Jesus’ word of grace so he is not lost. He also comes to realize that God’s work of grace in sanctification is revealed in the fact that his spirit continues to struggle against his flesh. If he feels that sin rages in him, but something else in him prevents sin from gaining dominion over him, this moves him to prayer and to the word of God.If he succumbs to sinful temptations, he goes to Jesus and prays to Him for forgiveness. Such a person is not dead, for a dead heart no longer beats.”

“We have been reborn into true life in Jesus in our baptism. We were dead in our sin with the rest of the world, now we have true life. When we are given that new life, we become completely righteous in Christ and as a new child in Jesus we begin the journey of Christian maturity in our sanctification in Jesus.” (pp 671-672)

This is what is truly important about being saved in Jesus. We can get into a lot of mushy, pointless, emotionalism, or we can understand that we are sinners, that our only salvation is in Jesus and only through Jesus do we become justified and sanctified and truly fit to be made a child of God and to be in His presence and to live in the resurrected, eternal, perfect world that God had always intended for us.

Una sensación de urgencia en Jesús Lucas 12 Primera Saint Johns 13 de de agosto de, el año 2016

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Hacemos nuestro comienzo en el Nombre de Dios el Padre y en el nombre de Dios el Hijo y en el nombre de Dios el Espíritu Santo, y todos aquellos que tienen un sentido de urgencia en Jesús dijo … AMEN!

En el AT y NT pasajes de hoy, hay un evidente sentido de urgencia. Esta idea de que “todo es bello” que acabamos de deambular por el sendero fácil, siempre mañana, simplemente relajarse, la perspectiva del mundo en las cosas no es la perspectiva bíblica. En Jeremías, el Señor está diciendo a Jeremías para empujar a su pueblo. “He aquí que la tempestad de Jehová! Ira ha salido, una tempestad torbellino; va a caer sobre la cabeza de los malos … »¿Suena como una buena actitud fácil suave, acaba de tomar la vida? Para la mayoría de nosotros, la vida aquí en nuestra parte aislada de los Estados Unidos es fácil en comparación con casi el resto de todo el mundo. Pero que sin duda no nos da ninguna garantía de que siempre va a ser así, para nosotros individualmente o para todos nosotros. Las cosas que damos por sentado, engañarnos a creer que el mundo es todo simplemente agradable y plácida y no hay necesidad para que consiga todo giraba en torno a ella. Estamos increíblemente bendito, viviendo como lo hacemos y dónde estamos. Tantos derecho a nuestro alrededor no lo son, no sólo en términos de su situación económica ciedad, pero muchos se enfrentan a la muerte, se trata de una enfermedad grave, muchos se enfrentan el día a día de la desesperanza de perderse. Ellos no conocen a Jesús, que simplemente luchan en el día a día, pensando que algo va a suceder a derramar simplemente todo sobre ellos, hacer su vida oh tan diferente, y eso no va a pasar. La droga, el alcohol, los homicidios, sexual, avaricia, pecado de casi cualquier cosa que se pueda imaginar, la compulsión de querer y querer, tomar y tomar, se supone que nada de esto a dar a la gente una especie de esperanza o el placer de larga duración, y no lo hace. Todas las cosas que están sucediendo en el interior de la ciudad entre los residentes y la policía. Hemos sido bendecidos aquí en York porque no estamos viendo una gran cantidad de turbulencia que, tal vez nuestros líderes, nuestros policías, nuestros residentes, una combinación de los mismos son todos capaces de mantener un poco de verdad y no se sienten con derecho a o justificado en perpetuación de la violencia de aquí, aunque ciertamente hay violencia. Jesús nos dijo que no habría división, que el mundo odiaría a los cristianos, porque el mundo lo odia. Es evidente que hay una división, que no hay “dios” de acuerdo con demasiadas personas que nos rodean derecha, por lo que la única cosa que hacer en el mundo es el de contribuir lo menos posible y tomar tanto como sea posible, y no importa un bit que le duele; cónyuges, hijos, padres, hermanos, vecinos, siempre y cuando, por supuesto, no me hacen daño. La división que Jesús habla es bastante claro, para los que confían en Jesús y mirar a Él para proporcionar, a medida que hablamos la semana pasada, para los que están en Jesús que no se preocupe, no tomar lo que no es el suyo, que es la perspectiva cristiana, no es la perspectiva del mundo. Jesús dice a sus discípulos en Mateo 24: 9-10: “Entonces os entregarán a tribulación, y os matarán, y seréis aborrecidos de todas las gentes por causa de mi nombre. Y muchos entonces serán escandalizados; y se entregarán unos a otros, y se aborrecerán. “¿Cuántas veces al día ahora qué oímos cómo alguien es cielos a Betsy” ofendido “, su uso es tan juvenil y penetrante que se ha convertido en trivial y ni siquiera vale la pena el tiempo para hablar con alguien, simplemente no son intelectualmente capaces de discutir algo y se esconden detrás de los clichés falsos. La división es bastante obvio, los que tienen la esperanza, que quieren hablar con otras personas con la esperanza, la pasión, una servidumbre ágape, el deseo de dar realmente la esperanza y la promesa de tantas personas en el mundo, y los del otro lado, que sólo ver la esperanza en el próximo cheque, en la próxima comida, pareja sexual, en la próxima casa, vehículo, trabajo, y después de años y años de sus actividades sin sentido se preguntan por qué están tan faltos de esperanza, por lo que son más lejos que nunca de el logro de la verdadera esperanza, la paz y la sensación de verdadero amor y seguridad en su vida. En ello radica la división, los que tienen la esperanza y la promesa de Jesús y los que no lo hacen. Sabemos que hay todo tipo de personas que simplemente no pueden soportar ver a otra persona sea feliz o lograr, acaba de ser contenido a estar donde están. Los vuelve realmente loco cuando ven a los cristianos para servir y tratar de tomar un interés genuino en la otra persona. ¿Cómo pueden hacer eso? ¿No saben que se supone que deben estar agarrando y el arranque de todo lo posible, que se supone que es triste y atormentado por la envidia y la codicia. Sin embargo, que se verá en la cara y tratar de decirle cómo los cristianos no saben cómo divertirse. No tienen ni idea de lo destructivo y simplemente muy desagradable su “diversión” es, y cuál es la diferencia entre la diversión y la “alegría”. Pablo les dice a los Gálatas: “ESV Gálatas 5:22 Mas el fruto del Espíritu es amor, alegría, paz, paciencia, benignidad, bondad, fidelidad,” el mundo sería leído que en términos de agarre, el amor propio, la codicia, la impaciencia , contento. Para muchos del mundo que tienen tanto y han decidido de que están desinformados visión del mundo es superior a la Palabra de Dios en las Escrituras, que han elegido lo que C. S. Lewis describe como; “… El camino más seguro hacia el Infierno es el gradual uno – la suave pendiente, suave bajo los pies, sin giros bruscos, sin hitos sin postes indicadores.” Lo que muchos en el mundo puedan dejarse arrullar en la idea de que todo saldrá bien y pueden vivir en su maldad y que va a estar bien con Dios, a pesar de las palabras y las claras advertencias de Jesús. Robert Schmälzle que escribió los 7 Hábitos de Jesús, escribió: “Algunos de enseñanza [de Jesús] en perdón y la paz puede haber dado la impresión de que se estaba difundiendo un evangelio suave. Jesús asegura a sus oyentes que el discipulado cristiano es costosa, incluso causando división en la familia. El desafío del Evangelio es clara “.

Por eso, cuando Jesús dice: “¿Cree que he venido para dar paz en la tierra? No, te digo más bien división, … »Se puede oír la incredulidad en la voz de Jesús; “Todos ustedes oír lo que quería escuchar, usted no ha oído lo que he dicho” y tenemos que hasta este mismo día. Estos hombres eran los discípulos, pero no estaban maduros en su fe, los vemos discutiendo y escarbando entre sí hasta la época de Jesús de Jesús crucifixión. Ellos estaban tratando de hacer a Jesús en un pequeño cuento, el rey davídico que viene en y borra los romanos y los fariseos, escribas, saduceos, abogados, toda la gente mala. Todas las personas buenas, al menos sí mismos y algunos de los otros discípulos, junto con Jesús, serían luego rodar a la derecha y tomar el control, el nuevo reino de los cielos sería allí con cada discípulo, sin duda, pensando que Jesús va a ser lo suficientemente prudente recogerlo para estar en su mano derecha y las cosas en el mundo será todo enderezado. Jesús les dice: “oh no, no hay mucho más que pasar, tanta lucha y dificultad, tanto más que usted va a tener que lidiar con y será mejor que sobre esta idea en este momento que va a ser sólo un bonito fácil deslizamiento en el reino celestial. ¿De ninguna manera? Las cosas van a ser mucho más difícil antes de que todo se destruye y luego el mundo restaurado a la forma en que mi padre y yo tenía la intención de que en la creación.

Jesús es muy infeliz, me atrevo a decir enfadada. Él simplemente no puede creer lo despistados son sus discípulos. ¿De verdad crees que Jesús sería más feliz con su iglesia hoy? Ciertamente hay división en la iglesia hoy en día, gran parte del cual es creado por personas que simplemente quieren que su cuento cristianismo y hacen caso omiso de las palabras de Jesús en Lucas 12, Mateo 24, y tantos otros pasajes. Si Él nos ama, él quiere lo que es mejor para nosotros, pero para muchos en el mundo, que decidir qué es lo mejor para ellas. No se sabe muy bien, pero son bastante seguro de que tiene algo que ver con más y más, dame lo que quiero, disfrutar de mi definición de feliz, porque después de todo lo que realmente soy mi propio ídolo y sé mucho mejor que nadie y me acaba de proporcionar, con mis ideas mal informadas de “feliz”, y todo lo que va a ser feliz en nuestra negación de lo real, la alegría y el contento es en Jesús. Sí, todos tenemos esos momentos en los que nos deslizamos en la idea del mundo de “feliz”, pero que crecen en saber qué es la verdadera alegría está en Jesús y no engañamos en el paradigma del mundo. Que podemos incluso como hermanos y hermanas en Jesús, empezar a comprender lo que es la verdadera alegría en Jesús. La división es que sabemos que nuestra vida eterna en la resurrección, el mundo ideal es en Jesús. El mundo cree que su vida y la felicidad es aquí en el mundo como lo es ahora, un mundo lleno de pecado, el mal, la muerte, la destrucción, la codicia, la envidia. Nunca ha sido la verdadera alegría en el mundo y que nunca será realizado en el mundo a menos que sea en Jesús y que la alegría no será perfeccionado hasta que todos estamos resucitados en el nuevo mundo, el mundo que Dios había siempre nos destinado a vivir en. Hay muchos que se dicen “cristianos”, las iglesias que dicen ser “cristianos”, que han dividido el cristianismo, que han sido causa de conflictos y disensiones en la iglesia. Ellos ignoran la palabra de Dios en la Biblia, deciden que ellos saben mejor que Dios, porque Él es tan vengativa, por lo que significan y enseñan cosas contrarias a su palabra, porque tienen esa idea de cuento de hadas de Jesús. Ellos ignoran las enseñanzas claras y luego acusan a otros de odio y la ignorancia que son fieles a Jesús de Jesús palabras claras. Hay una iglesia indivisa de Jesús, que se compone de cristianos de muchas denominaciones diferentes, es la iglesia invisible que el Dr. Luther enseñó. Esa iglesia no trata de hacer que la Biblia sólo una de las muchas enseñanzas, que la iglesia no trata de hacer lo malo bueno, esa iglesia tiene una comprensión muy clara del mal en el mundo y que al final los que forman su propio mundo paradigma “cristiana” o no, será condenado junto con el resto del mundo, independientemente de su opinión o lo que ellos llaman a sí mismos. Es nuestra dependencia, la confianza y la fe en Jesús, o se trata en otras enseñanzas que tratan de “racionalizar” su Palabra y convertirlo en un intento de auto-servicio para justificar nuestros pecados y estilo de vida mal para que podamos ser felices acuerdo con nuestra ¿palabra?

El escritor de Hebreos dice de tantos que ignoró las mentiras del mundo y logró tanto a través de la fuerza y la visión que Dios les dio, muchos de ellos que sirve la voluntad de Dios en el mundo. Muchos de los que murieron a causa de su fidelidad a Dios: “Otros sufrieron burlas y azotes, y hasta cadenas y prisiones. Fueron apedreados, aserrados, que fueron asesinados con la espada. Se fueron cubiertos de pieles de ovejas y cabras, pobres, angustiados, maltratados, de los cuales el mundo no era digno – errantes por desiertos y montañas, por las cuevas y cavernas de la tierra “(Hebreos 11: 36- 38). Así que muchos hoy en día que son perseguidos y martirizados porque siguen fielmente la Palabra de Dios y no en el mundo del o de los que presumen de ser cristianos.

Sabemos que el Espíritu Santo está con nosotros y si vamos a salir de su camino con 24/7 guías. El escritor de Hebreos continúa para darnos la esperanza y la promesa de Jesús: “Por tanto, teniendo en derredor nuestro tan grande nube de testigos, vamos a despojémonos también de todo peso y del pecado que nos asedia, y corramos con paciencia la carrera que tenemos por delante, puestos los ojos en Jesús, el autor y consumador de nuestra fe, el cual por el gozo puesto delante de él sufrió la cruz, menospreciando el oprobio, y se sentó a la diestra del trono de Dios “(Hb 12, 1-3). contamos con la presencia del Espíritu Santo, tenemos una sección de animadores entera de los grandes, nube de testigos, tenemos nuestra vida en Jesucristo, no tenemos necesidad de la opinión de un mundo perdido y moribundo y tenemos que correr la carrera que se ha puesto delante de nosotros por nuestro Señor lo hizo todo lo que era necesario para salvarnos. Tiene que haber un sentido de urgencia para correr una carrera, las palabras de Jesús instan como para recordar lo que nos vamos a enfrentar y en la fe, que nos da tenemos nuestra fuerza para seguir tratando con la división en el mundo y seguir haciendo frente a la mundo. Los autores de Hebreos nos dice que vamos a tener todo el apoyo que necesitamos en el apoyo de esta nube de testigos y mantener nuestros ojos en Jesús, pero no podemos estar caballero de ello, tenemos que llegar al mundo en la esperanza , prometer y con un sentido de urgencia.

La paz de Dios que sobrepasa todo entendimiento, guardará vuestros corazones y vuestros pensamientos en Cristo Jesús. Amin y Shalom

A sense of urgency in Jesus Luke 12, August 14, 2016 First Saint Johns

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We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and in the Name of God the Son and in the Name of God the Holy Spirit and all those who have a sense of urgency in Jesus said … AMEN!

In the OT and NT passages today, there is an obvious sense of urgency. This idea that “everything is beautiful” that we just mosey on down the easy path, always tomorrow, just chill, the world’s perspective on things is not the Biblical perspective. In Jeremiah, Yahweh is telling Jeremiah to push on His people. “Behold the storm of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked…” Does that sound like a nice mellow, just take life easy attitude? For most of us, life here in our insulated part of the United States is easy compared to pretty much the rest of the entire world. But that certainly doesn’t give us any guarantee that it will always be that way, for us individually or for all of us. The things we take for granted, kid ourselves into believing that the world is all just nice and placid and no need for me to get all spun up about it. We are incredibly blessed, living as we do and where we are. So many right around us are not, not just in terms of their soci- economic status, but many are confronting death, dealing with serious illness, many are facing the day to day hopelessness of being lost. They don’t know Jesus, they simply struggle on from day to day, thinking that something is going to happen to just spill all over them, make their life oh so different, and it’s just not going to happen. The drugs, alcohol, murders, sexual, greed, sin of pretty much anything you can think of, the compulsion to want and want, take and take, any of this is supposed to give people some sort of hope or long-lasting pleasure, and it doesn’t. All the things that are going on in the inner city between the residents and police. We have been blessed right here in York because we aren’t seeing a lot of that turbulence, maybe our leaders, our police, our residents, a combination thereof are all able to keep it a little real and not feel entitled to or justified in perpetuating the violence here, although there certainly is violence. Jesus told us there would be division, that the world would hate Christians because the world hates Him. Clearly there is division, there is no “god” according to too many people right around us, so the only thing to do in the world is to contribute as little as possible and to take as much as possible, and it doesn’t matter one bit who it hurts; spouses, children, parents, siblings, neighbors, so long as, of course, it doesn’t hurt me. The division that Jesus talks about is quite plain, for those who trust in Jesus and look to Him to provide, as we talked about last week, for those who are in Jesus not to worry, not to take what isn’t theirs, that is the Christian perspective, it is not the world’s perspective. Jesus tells His disciples in Matthew 24: 9-10: “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” How many times a day now do we hear how someone is heavens to Betsy “offended”, it’s use is so juvenile and pervasive that it’s become trivial and not even worth the time to talk to someone, they are simply not intellectually able to discuss something and they hide behind phoney clichés. The division is quite obvious, those who have the hope, who want to talk to others with hope, passion, an agape servanthood, the desire to genuinely give hope and promise to so many in the world, and those on the other side who only see hope in the next check, in the next meal, sexual partner, in the next home, vehicle, job, and after years and years of their pointless pursuits wonder why they are so lacking in hope, why they are further away than ever of achieving any true hope, peace and feeling of true love and assurance in their life. Therein lies the division, those who have that hope and promise in Jesus and those that don’t. We know there are all sorts of people who just can’t stand to see someone else be happy or achieve, just be content to be where they are. It drives them really crazy when they see Christians serving and trying to take a genuine interest in someone else. How can they do that? Don’t they know they’re supposed to be grasping and grubbing for everything they can, that is supposed to be miserable and wracked with envy and greed. Yet they will look you in the face and try to tell you how Christians don’t know how to have fun. They have no clue how destructive and just really nasty their “fun” is, and what the difference is between fun and “joy”. Paul tells the Galatians: “ESV Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,” the world would read that in terms of grasping, self-love, greed, impatience, happy. For too many of the world who have so much and have decided that they’re uninformed world view is superior to God’s Word in Scripture, they have chosen what C.S. Lewis describes as; “…the safest road to Hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones without signposts.” What so many in the world let themselves get lulled into, the idea that it will all work out and they can live in their evil and that will be OK with God, despite Jesus’ clear words and warnings. Robert Schmalzle who wrote the 7 Habits of Jesus, wrote: “Some of [Jesus’] teaching on forgiveness and peace may have given the impression that he was spreading a soft gospel. Jesus assures his listeners that Christian discipleship is costly, even causing division in the family. The Gospel challenge is clear.”[1]
So when Jesus says: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on the earth? No, I tell you rather division,…” You can hear the incredulity in Jesus’ voice; “You all hear what you wanted to hear, you haven’t heard what I’ve said” and we have that to this very day. These men were Jesus’ disciples, but they were not mature in their faith, we see them arguing and scrabbling with each other right up to the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. They were trying to make Jesus into a nice little fairy tale, the Davidic King who comes in and wipes away the Romans and the Pharisees, scribes, lawyers, Sadducees, all the bad people. All the good people, at least themselves and some of the other disciples, along with Jesus, would then roll right in and take over, the new heavenly kingdom would be there with each disciple, no doubt, thinking that Jesus will be wise enough to pick him to be at his right hand and things in the world will be all straightened out. Jesus is telling them: “oh no, there is so much more to happen, so much strife and difficulty, so much more that you are going to have to contend with and you better get over this idea right now that it’s going to be just a nice easy slide into the heavenly kingdom. No way? Things are going to get much more difficult before everything is destroyed and then the world restored to the way my Father and I had intended it at creation.

Jesus is very unhappy, I’d dare say angry. He simply cannot believe how clueless his disciples are. Do you honestly think that Jesus would be any happier with His church today? There certainly is division in the church today, much of which is created by people who simply want their fairy tale Christianity and ignore Jesus’ words in Luke 12, Matthew 24, and so many other passages. Yes He does love us, He does want what is best for us, but for too many in the world, they decide what is best for them. They don’t really know, but they’re pretty sure that it has something to do with more and more, give me what I want, indulge my definition of happy, because after all I really am my own idol and I know far better than anyone else and just provide me, with my poorly informed ideas of “happy”, and we will all be happy in our denial of what real joy and contentment is in Jesus. Yes we all have those times when we slip into the world’s idea of “happy”, but we grow in knowing what true joy is in Jesus and not delude ourselves in the world’s paradigm. That we can even as brothers and sisters in Jesus, begin to grasp what is true joy in Jesus. The division is that we know our eternal life in the resurrection, the perfect world is in Jesus. The world believes that their life and happiness is here in the world as it is now, a world full of sin, evil, death, destruction, greed, envy. There has never been true joy in the world and it will never be realized in the world unless it is in Jesus and that joy will not be perfected until we are all resurrected into the new world, the world that God had always intended us to live in. There are plenty who call themselves “Christians”, churches that claim to be “Christian”, who have divided Christianity, who have caused conflict and dissension in the church. They ignore God’s word in the Bible, decide that they know better than God, because He is just so vengeful, so mean and they teach things contrary to His word, because they have that fairy tale idea of Jesus. They ignore Jesus’ clear teachings and then accuse others of hate and ignorance who are faithful to Jesus’ clear words. There is an undivided church of Jesus, it is made up of Christians from many different denominations, it is the invisible church that Dr Luther taught. That church does not try to make the Bible just one of many teachings, that church does not try to make evil good, that church has a very clear understanding of the evil in the world and that in the end those who make up their own world paradigm, “Christian” or not, will be condemned along with the rest of the world, regardless of their opinion or what they call themselves. Is our dependence, trust and faith in Jesus, or is it in other teachings that try to “rationalize” His Word and turn it into a self-serving attempt to justify our sins and evil life style so that we can be happy according to our word?

The writer of Hebrews tells of so many who ignored the lies of the world and accomplished so much through the strength and insight God gave them, many of them who served God’s will in the world. Many who died because of their faithfulness to God: “Others suffered mocking and flogging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom the world was not worthy – wandering about in deserts and mountains and in dens and caves of the earth.” (Heb 11: 36- 38) So many today who are persecuted and martyred because they faithfully follow God’s Word and not the world’s or those who presume to be Christian.

We know that the Holy Spirit is with us and if we get out of His way guides us 24/7. The writer of Hebrews goes on to give us the hope and promise in Jesus: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12: 1-3) We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we have an entire cheering section of the great, cloud of witnesses, we have our life in Jesus Christ, we have no need of the opinion of a dying and lost world and we need to run the race that has been set before us by our Lord who did all that was necessary to save us. There has to be a sense of urgency to run a race, Jesus’s words urge as to remember what we will be facing and in the faith He gives us we have our strength to continue to deal with the division in the world and continue to confront the world. The writers of Hebrews tells us that we will have all the support we need in the support of that cloud of witnesses and keeping our eye on Jesus, but we can’t be cavalier about it, we need to reach out to the world in hope, promise and with a sense of urgency.

The peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amin and Shalom

[1] Robert Schmalzle 7 Habits of Jesus email  Aug 8, 2016