Author Archives: Pastor Jim Driskell, Lutheran Church

Unknown's avatar

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.

Excuses versus being mentally strong

 Explanations and excuses are not the same thing. It is rare to hear someone say, “Sorry I’m late. I should have left my house sooner.” You will much more likely hear, “Sorry to keep you waiting but traffic was terrible,” or, “I would have been on time, but I had to stop at the store and it was really busy.”

There is a critical difference between an explanation and an excuse: An explanation accepts full responsibility for a mistake. An excuse places blame, minimizes liability, and tries to avoid consequences.

visivastudio/Shutterstock
Source: visivastudio/Shutterstock

Explanations are pivotal to repairing your relationships and learning from your mistakes. Excuses, on the other hand, hold you back. Trying to convince others—or even yourself—why your shortcomings are justified can be self-destructive. Despite the problems associated with excuses, for many people they have become commonplace.

Excuses Deflect Responsibility

When young children get caught misbehaving, they often blame someone around them: “He made me do it.” Grown-up excuses are slightly more sophisticated, whether it’s a student telling his professor, “I couldn’t get that paper done because my computer wasn’t working,” or a man telling his partner, “I can’t help that my ex-girlfriend keeps calling me.” But the underlying message is the same: “It’s not my fault.”

Sometimes people assume excuses will help them escape consequences. By saying, “I shouldn’t be to blame,” they expect others to take pity on them and not hold them accountable. Unfortunately, excuses can become a way of life. Some people insist that everything from their stress load to their difficult childhood is keeping them from achieving their goals.

Yet, covering up your mistakes with excuses damages your relationships as well as your reputation. How can someone trust you to do better next time if you claim that today’s mistake was completely out of your control? Before you can begin convincing someone that you won’t let it happen again, you need to accept personal responsibility for your behavior.

Excuses Temporarily Relieve Uncomfortable Emotions

Shirking responsibility temporarily relieves feelings of shame, guilt, and fear. According to a 2014 study(link is external) in the Journal of Consumer Research, claiming you didn’t have a choice in the matter reduces emotional discomfort in the short-term. Researchers discovered that when people justified their behavior by saying they were “forced” to indulge in guiltypleasures, they experienced fewer negative emotions.

For example, when participants experienced pressure by others to blow their diet, they were less likely to worry about the long-term consequences of overindulging since they were convinced they “had” to do it. But when offered options without the same pressure, people who indulged experienced regret.

Clearly, blaming others for your choices can relieve the uncomfortable emotions that accompany acceptance of responsibility. Rather than trying to escape uncomfortable emotions, build mental strength so you can tolerate the discomfort.

Create Results Not Excuses

You can learn from your mistakes by looking for explanations. Accept full responsibility for the way you think, feel, and behave without blaming other people or circumstances. Don’t waste valuable time and energy trying to justify why you shouldn’t be held accountable.

Examine your role in executing the problem. Take time to discover exactly where you went wrong so you can use that information to improve. By being able to say, “Yes, that’s my fault. Here is how I will avoid making that mistake next time,” you increase your chance of success.

Amy Morin is a psychotherapist and the author of 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do(link is external), a bestelling book that is being translated into more than 20 languages. To learn more about her personal story behind the viral article turned book, watch the book trailer below.

Big brother came as a result of an on-line game? Bet no one saw that coming?

Ya, I get it. It’s all about money, it’s all about the technology, it’s all about being with the in group, on-line, wa-hoo.
Ya, no, it’s really not. It’s about some integrity, some real life practices and frankly cutting the nonsense. Can on-line games be a nice “occasional” diversion? OK, sure, but really? And of course, the practitioners will claim that this is nice, detached, clean good fun. Ya right! It’s a waste of time (and the older I get the more I realize how valuable time is and how much there is to do in the world). Remember when children used to be out and about, getting exercise, not killing their eyesight on a computer screen, getting genuine exposure to socialization and leadership? Ya, those days are gone and now we degenerate in to this cyber space, phoney, non-real life.
Case in point, we have Markus Persson, the founder of “…Minecraft, the bestselling computer game of all time…with 100 million downloads and counting a canvas for human expression…” (Ryan Mac, David M. Ewalt and Max Jedeur-Palmgren, Forbes Mag Mar 23, 2015 p 48) Obviously I use cyber-space for creativity, and used in perspective, great, but the founder of this obviously buys into the phoney world of cyber-space and has no problem conveying that to whoever will buy into his fantasy land. While he is described as “polite, plainspoken and private… his on-line persona is described as “…a loudmouth … a deity-like figure to millions of gamers … establishing and clarifying the rules with Zeus-like authority.” Really?! And how we use the word “gamer” as someone who has some actual talent, acumen, or physical ability is astounding. You may be good at this, but really what are you good at?
To his credit, he has walked away from what seems like an Orwellian 1984ish big brother person, but no doubt taking away hundreds of millions of dollars with him and the prospect of more royalties. From suckers who think they’re actually doing something.
Predictably, even as early as the second grade he was socially inept. Heavens his parents moved when he was in second grade, doodness, I went to seven different schools, from Connecticut to Maine, before I graduated from high school, which interestingly Persson didn’t, graduate from high school. In what is becoming more common he simply fled to his PC. As, another common phenomenon of contemporary society; his parents divorce, father addicted to alcohol and drugs and his younger sister took drugs and ran away from home. All of this pretty common in Sweden, a society held up by the world as some sort of ideal, which has dangerously high rates of substance abuse, suicide and general dysfunctionality. Hmmmm, dysfunctionality abetted by computers? And yet, there he is a multi-millionaire who has presumed to exercise “Zeus like authority” in the same vein as Orwell’s 1984, uneducated, socially inept, possibly some business acumen, but essentially no other discernable skills except that he can write code, and millions sit in rapt attention to his every word??? Millions of mothers allowing their children to sit at a computer and take all this in. In what way, shape, form or manner is anyone claiming that his is healthy. Oh I’m sure I hear too many clueless moms saying “well they’re not in trouble or getting hurt…” They’re the same parents who feel that church is somehow harmful, but computer games alright. Oh yeah, society has become more bizarre and clueless.
Ya, the diatribe is over. How do we as Christians in the workplace, having to live in a healthy society, one with healthy values and integrity respond to this vacuous, clueless, valueless, situation? We have to get some control over what we do on-line. Cyber-space is not the be all, end all of existence. Heck, what on earth did we do, even up to the last thirty years, not even 1 percent of recorded human history.
Christian parents get your kids offline, send them outside, it’s good for them, and helps to build true adults. Don’t cave in because children have to deal with trial, it’s good for all of us, helps us to grow and mature.
As people in the workplace? As I said, it’s all about money, or is it? I sure don’t have the answers, except that we as Christians need to stop feeding into this mindset. There is so much more to life, God has given us so much, what can we do to inspire, to raise expectations, to stop caving in to the continued dictation of a world that wants us and our children to sit at a computer and take orders from an otherwise clueless computer addict/geek. It won’t change tomorrow, but let’s start changing our own perspective and step out of the world’s.
Wednesdays we get together to discuss how we live as Christians in the workplace. Dr Gene Veith has written a great book about living our vocations in the world, still faithful to our Savior Jesus Christ. 10am, the coffee shop at the corner of W King St and Beaver Sts in downtown York. Park behind the church at 140 W King St. Newcomers? I’ll buy you a cup of coffee.

There’s a demand for real worship, there is real worship out there

Ya, I’m going to keep up this drumbeat, the evidence continues to mount and I intend to do my best to genuinely pastor a genuine Christian church in response to that evidence. I submit that all the iterations of the Christian church have done a lousy job, fussing at people doesn’t work, patronizing people doesn’t work, setting up phoney hurdles doesn’t work, wishy-washy liberalism doesn’t work. What works is Law and Gospel, seriously presented Law and Gospel of the Bible.

When I say that the evidence continues to mount, I refer to more research by David Kinnaman of Barna Research. Kinnaman has been added to my list of “I’d read his grocery list if he published it”. Barna Group’s recent research shows that while there is a move away from the church, it’s not because of a disbelief or rejection of God, or of Christianity. More and more the evidence points to the rejection of the church. It’s time to for the end of the phoney-baloney liberal church, it’s time for the end of the “feel-good” church, whatever goes church, the legalistic church, the palsey church. It  is time for the genuine Christian church and all the indicators point to the need for the genuine church to reassert itself. For too long the church has worried and fussed about being popular, that’s not what it’s supposed to be, it’s supposed to be Christ’s church and His Voice, not the world’s, not a popularity contest and filling the position and need that the world is realizing isn’t being met.

62% of unchurched people 2 out of 3, “consider themselves Christians.” Obviously what they need is not happening in the church as it is today, or not finding the right Christian church.

“About one-third (34%) …, describe themselves as “deeply spiritual.’ Four in ten ‘strongly agree that their religious faith is very important in their life today and 51% are actively seeking something better spiritually than they have experienced to day. One-third say they have an active relationship with God that influences their life and describe that relationship as ‘important to me’ (95%), ‘ satisfying’ (90%), and ‘growing deeper’ ( 73%).”

Clearly there is something missing, and too many, even among those in the church are realizing it and are searching for it and the church is failing to provide it. It’s time for genuine worship, Law and Gospel, it’s time for a strong, courageous church, that, empowered by the Holy Spirit, stands for Christ and His Word and not for the politically, socially and theologically popular. Worship is about glorifying God, praising Him, lifting Him up. It’s not about the pastor, he is there to point to Jesus so that people will leave that church knowing Christ better, not the preacher. It’s time for genuine discipleship, people want to “grow deeper”, and the church is treating it as if it’s just a social event. The church needs to grow in discipleship, prayer, genuine worship, genuinely lead as Christians, instead of competing for world popularity. The Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod does have genuine worship and truly preaches Law and Gospel in Jesus. The need is out there and the LCMS stands ready to provide, let’s show the world what the church of Jesus will be.

This isn’t the first time people of God have had to stand against the evil, corruption of a decadent world

Right on the heels of the vote in Ireland to permit homosexual marriage, I’m reading this devotional in Henry and Richard Blackaby’s “Experiencing God” p 166: “No matter how ungodly the environment you may be in, God will always find you and walk with you. Noah lived in perhaps the most wicked age in history. No one worshipped God.”

Point taken, the Bible tells us of many ages full of human wickedness. Why would we expect ours to be any different? [it is kind of interesting this comes just before the rendering of the U.S. Supreme Court decision] it’s not just homosexuality either. Men and women think that it’s almost a “pro forma” to live together before marriage. Sorry, that’s not acceptable either. We have a society that is no longer concerned about being God honoring and is solely concerned about pleasing and honoring self, and then we wonder why we are surrounded by all sorts of debasement. if there is any sense of propriety, dignity, character, nobility, it has become so distorted in contemporary use as to usually become meaningless or irrelevant.

We have those in society who make ridiculous demands “I expect $15 an hour to work at McDonalds” and then still don’t do their work with any level of competence or cooperation. Women today are more debased and sexualized then ever. The PC crowd, who couldn’t care less about the treatment of women call that sexual expression and then wonder why woman are treated with more disrespect now then ever.

I understand there have been many times in human history where there has been such gross ignorance and debasement it seems, based on history, that eventually builds and there is a vicious backlash against the attempts to drag our society and children into even cruder and coarser practices.

As Christians we have stood over the course of history for human dignity, while the secular continues to degrade every possible segment of the world. Eventually the abusers are shoved out, either by a culture that finally realizes it is being abused and taken advantage of, or certainly the resurrection when God establishes the world the way it was meant to be.

We want a world for us and our children that honors the sacrifices made for us, that we observe on this Memorial Day, for example.  We want what is fine, noble,courageous, dignified, precious. We do want those who are continuing to undermine and corrupt to stop polluting the world. By the same token we don’t want to see people debased, destroyed or abused. Now more than ever we need to pray for all, to witness to all those the Holy Spirit puts in front of us.  The church does have some responsibility in all this too.  The church has been far too passive, far to willing to stick it’s head in the sand and ignore what is going on. We do need to speak out in support of what God wants, but we also need to be constant and faithful in the Christian’s most powerful weapon prayer, and all the spiritual disciplines.

There have been worse times, the church of this time needs to step up and show real integrity and also genuine willingness to live according to God’s will and to witness that to the world. No we will ever  live without sin, but we need to live with Christian integrity and faith in God’s leading.

Acting Audaciously

Audacity will usually be rewarded. We started here at First St Johns at what was probably its lowest point in a history that dated back to 1875. We still have a long way to go and it’s certainly all about God’s will. The question remains as to how we may or may not end up, we could still very well not make it, but this church would be missed.
There is no doubt that we have made a mark, the test is, will the church be missed if it closes tomorrow? Without qualification I would say yes, that FSJ would be missed. Jim McClure the editor of the York Daily Record identified FSJ as a community outreach church, we have made a mark with the Food bank, employment group, Grief Share, NA, AA, prayer breakfast, workout area and of course the radio station has garnered an immense amount of attention.
Regardless, God has used us for His purposes, but it doesn’t mean He has to keep us here. I have learned that acting audaciously, doing things that appear to be over your capacity does get attention and does generate support. When things are happening, people will notice. They’re not going to notice a church that is just hiding behind its walls. When I started at FSJ I started walking around the neighborhood. When I told our neighbors who I was, they told me they thought FSJs had closed. Who is going to respond to a place they think is closed? But if they see activity, they see involvement, there’s at least a chance they will respond with physical and financial support. We’ve seen that happen at FSJs. If you are doing things to serve, to be a Christian disciple, people will provide money when they see that things are happening, that there is a level of excitement and we’ve seen that happening at FSJ.

It does make me wonder what so many churches are thinking when they seem to chose to passively conduct Christian ministry. Remember the “Parable of the Talents”? (Matthew 25:15-28 ESV) The “Master”, clearly God; Father, Son and or Holy Spirit (Matthew Henry says the Master was Jesus). The Master gives His servants 5, 2, and 1 talents to be used to enrich Him. A “talent” was about a 100 pounds of silver, in today’s value that would be about $2,000., certainly not an inconsequential amount, especially for the first servant who is given about $10,000. The first servant takes the $10,000, entrusted to him and what does he do? Brings another $10,000. Good job! Right? “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'” (Matt 25:21)
The second servant takes the two talents he’s given, brings back $4,000. Not too shabby, I’d sure like to find out what they invested in. But the third servant just returns the one talent he was entrusted with???? Wha…. What’s the point? What good is that? And yet there are plenty of churches out there who somehow think that they are serving the Lord. They’re not, they’re just serving each other. Matthew quotes Jesus as saying: “You wicked and slothful servant!” Pretty strong! But was the servant there just to hide the money and return it to his Master? Anyone can do that, he was there to serve his Master and he was “afraid” and chose to just run away from his responsibility. So it is with so many of these dying churches.
There are the churches that are dying, the churches that aren’t going to burn out, but rust out. They sit around bemoan their fate, maybe do some bake sales, or find a few children to have a VBS for, then they go back, carefully count their pennies, agree that if they’re careful and no serious problems they may make it another year and then go and do the same uninspired, unexciting things they’ve been doing and only that. They sit around and wonder why no one else is interested in being a part of their church. How do they really expect that God is calling to call them “good and faithful servants”? Why on earth would God send someone there to be discipled? Discipled to what? Sitting around with a lack of faith and service and hope that you can hide from reality?  How are they really serving, except, maybe, each other, just returning to God what He gave them, in fact if anything, not even what they were given. Why on earth would anyone think that God is going to bless and encourage that kind of attitude?
The flip side, so it appears to me now, is that you do things that do attract attention, you get people involved in things. Sure they may not work out or are as successful as they should be. Servant 3 would take that as a reason not to do that activity, or anything else for the duration. FSJ takes that and says, “ok, how do we make it better? What should we have done before…” and we start again.
Now, the radio station thing? Pure nuts, right? But it has generated attention and even given us entree to people and groups that we would never have had any opportunity to go to otherwise. People have seen what’s happened, they have moved on faith to support us, encouragement, prayers, financially etc. They have been a part of something they’re proud of, that their neighbors see in the newspaper, hear about in other places, they hear exciting plans and opportunities. Hopefully they get involved and of course it generates more interest, support and activity in the church.
You know what? We may not be around in another year, wouldn’t be the first, won’t be the last organization not to make it. But if we don’t make it, there will be a lot of people who will say; “what a shame, they did a lot of good stuff… hmmm, what could we do to help them get back into the game?…”
Conversely Servant 3 closes the door and not with a bang, but with a whimper and nary a person notices. No one was served, no one grew or was encouraged. Nothing was done to get people excited or involved, just poof, no one showed up for worship the next Sunday and really no one else noticed or cared.
Could be compared to a human, the one who slowly kills themselves through selfishness and bad habits and the bad habits; cancer, obesity, cardio, pulmonary, diabetes, liver disease on and on and they finally die. And the person who pushes themselves in one more triathlon and gloriously just drops right there on the course. Both knew they had a chance to die and one chose to just keep to himself and die a lonely, miserable death. The other one decided, one quick blaze of glory. Who wouldn’t want the blaze of glory? You’ve served others, you’ve made yourself a better person for your spouse, children, family, friends and they will remember you and may even live by your example. You’ve lived and served as a true disciple of Jesus. There are plenty of Christian servants who maybe didn’t “succeed”, but the results of their service will be, is, known by God and will be rewarded. The other? Doesn’t inspire in the least, is really seen as just miserable and even pathetic and no one misses them for an instant.
When we are being Servant 1 and are doing great things for the Kingdom, being faithful, being audacious, faithful to God’s will but crazy to the world, we may not be around next year, but we will be missed. Yea I’d rather do it the FSJ’s way.

Todos ustedes han dado testimonio de Juan 15 First St Johns 10 de mayo 2015

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 son bendecidos por el testimonio cristiano fiel de su madre dijo … AMEN ha resucitado …

Es algo de la Madre Día, la maternidad se ha convertido en muy diferentes, la maternidad ha pasado por una serie de iteraciones en el siglo pasado, por lo menos en los Estados Unidos. Muchos aquí me han dicho de las madres que tenían tareas de la granja, tareas que las madres en el mundo post-moderno probablemente se mortificaban a considerar siquiera. Despertarse temprano cada mañana a cualquiera realizar tareas agrícolas o para preparar un desayuno para una gran familia que todos tenían tareas de la granja a realizar. De vuelta en el día, la gente empezó a salir el día antes, la realización de un esfuerzo físico muy real.

Después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial tuvimos la madre June Cleaver, que se vestía impecablemente, aseguramos su casa fue AJ cuadrado de distancia, así como su esposo e hijos. Esto realmente sigue siendo la madre estereotipada de hoy, a pesar de June Cleaver dio paso, a una generación posterior a la generación Michelob Light. A partir de 1985, Michelob Light predicaba que debemos ser todo y hacerlo todo con su tintineo comercial “que dice que no se puede tener todo …?” Incluso mientras los que nos rodean podrían sufrir a causa de nuestras necesidades, leer quiere.

Hoy Maternidad está llegando a verse casi en términos de la “madre de Baltimore”. En una carta al editor de Nathaniel Smalls: “La madre de un adolescente de Baltimore que fue grabado en un video disciplinar a su hijo, que estaba a punto de unirse a los disturbios, fue etiquetado como un abusador de niños por algunos, pero aclamado como Madre del Año por la mayoría . “Way demasiadas mujeres, obligados por las circunstancias a tener que ser la disciplina. Hace una generación, cuando yo estaba criando niños, la actitud era realmente malo, que era sólo una especie de diversión y juegos, no tiene que tomar demasiado en serio, alguien más se haría cargo de la misma, siempre y cuando usted deja a sus hijos toman sus decisiones propias que todo iba a salir hallazgo. Frank Perretti relata una discusión con una mujer sobre la crianza de sus hijos como un cristiano. De esa manera, imitación falsa algunos padres tratan de proyectar, se dijo Perretti, no pude encontrar la cita exacta, pero en la medida en que ella no iba a criar a sus hijos de cualquier manera / tradición. Preguntó Perretti, ¿significa que no tienes nada que ofrecer a su hijo, que no hay nada que usted puede dar a sus hijos de una manera que les dará una vida que puedan creer en los ideales que puedan luchar por, un Salvador que será el Señor de su vida y la vida más abundante, no tienes nada que ofrecer a sus hijos? Básicamente, usted va a permitir que su hijo, que tiene realmente ningún marco de referencia, sin capacidad real para discernir y discriminar, nada en términos de pensamiento crítico y sólo vamos a dejar que se revuelcan en torno hasta que cumplan 18 y rezan que han construido de alguna manera algún tipo de genuina discernimiento? Como lo de mente abierta como usted piensa que es, lo que realmente significa que usted va a permitir que ese niño sea criado por el mundo. El mundo influye en nuestros hijos y nietos todos los días, la sala de clase, los ordenadores, la televisión, la poca interacción social que tienen con sus compañeros, es todo una perspectiva muy mundana.

Se nos ha confiado con los niños de Dios, para criarlos de acuerdo a su voluntad. Como nosotros, que somos cristianos sabemos, la voluntad de Dios es muy diferente de la del mundo. La voluntad de Dios es que crecemos a su imagen y nuestro modelo es la vida de Jesucristo. El amor ágape que Jesús tenía para nosotros, Su muerte que pagó por los pecados de aquellos que conocen a Jesús como su Señor y Salvador en la vida a la salvación eterna en la resurrección. Hoy en día el mundo está directamente sobre el dinero y la seguridad terrenal. La supervivencia del más apto, sin confiar en la voluntad de Dios o su disposición, pero rascarse cabo, por cualquier medio, la forma que puede tomar más por ti.

Incluso el jefe de la policía de Baltimore, dijo que desea que había más a la madre que se precipitó en la mafia. Yo añadiría que no quiso renunciar al mundo. Esta mujer que se puso en una posición, debido al fracaso del mundo, para ir físicamente y rescatar a su hijo. Rezo para que ninguna mujer se pone en esa posición otra vez, pero una madre cristiana está llamada a ser la fiel testimonio de sus hijos y para salvarlos de la crudeza y la irresponsabilidad del mundo.

No estoy tratando de salir como duro y sin amor, pero tenemos que empezar a buscar en lo que estamos dejando a nuestros hijos a. La madre de Baltimore, con razón, tenía miedo a la muerte, que su hijo iba a pasear fuera en algo, que a pesar del hecho de que él es 14 años y apenas sabe todo lo que necesita saber, que muy bien podría haber terminado muerto o muy golpeado. Las mamás, abuelas, madres espirituales, tal vez usted no tiene un hijo, pero voy a apostar, hay niños en su vida que usted podría dar una influencia maternal. Nosotros, como padres, madres y padres, somos los primeros testigos cristianos, y podemos ser los únicos testigos cristianos a nuestros hijos pueden ver, al menos sobre una base diaria. No podemos tratar a la ligera o dejar su discipulado cristiano depende de ellos. Hay simplemente demasiada influencia del mundo que se está trabajando en ellos, es probable que terminan con esa influencia y ninguno de lo que Cristo quiere para ellos. Sí que es difícil, y muchas veces se sentirá como si usted no está recibiendo ninguna parte. Usted sentirá que ha perdido y ha perdido mucho tiempo y esfuerzo. Cielos, usted puede incluso mirar oh tan fresco y no tan anticuada y fuera de contacto. ¿De verdad quiere correr el riesgo de perder un hijo porque es posible que no parece ser lo suficientemente cadera o con él, y que su hijo se escurra en una pelea que simplemente no es su pelea y termina dañado permanentemente o incluso muertos? Mi esposa tenía la audacia para parafrasear una cita de Abraham Lincoln: “. Todo lo que soy o espero ser, se lo debo a mi madre ángel” Marge dijo: “Todo lo que soy o espero ser se lo debo a mi Señor para enviar mi madre me ángel. “¡Amén! Una madre cristiana necesita una madre cristiana y tiene que ser una madre cristiana.

Hay un montón de tonterías equivocada en el mundo, y demasiada gente para parecer lo suficientemente sofisticada están dispuestos a sacrificar a sus hijos con el fin de tener algún tipo de respeto por parte del mundo. Le dije a una historia del año pasado en el libro apócrifo de 2 Macabeos 7 sobre una madre que la observaba siete hijos torturados hasta la muerte porque no renegar de su fe en Dios. Nosotros que estamos aquí en un buen banco cómodo en el noreste de Estados Unidos puede ser repelido en una historia, pero estamos viendo que la historia, en realidad, en el Oriente Medio, África y Asia. El mundo no es amable con los cristianos, sin embargo, durante cinco mil años nuestros antepasados ​​perseveró y se mantuvo fiel. Usted puede optar por vivir en la negación y creer que se puede vivir de todos modos que desee y criar a sus hijos en el mundo y Dios honrará eso. Eso no es realista, Dios dio a su Hijo. La vida de Jesús de la fuerza en la fe y el honor. Como padres cristianos estamos llamados a plantear fuertes hombres y mujeres jóvenes y no perder al mundo. Han tenido el testimonio de fieles cristianos a lo largo de miles de años. Claro que queremos que nuestros hijos sean “felices”, pero lo más importante qué no queremos que sean fuertes y fieles? Se nos promete la vida y la vida más abundante en Jesús. No hay nada más convincente e inspirador entonces un hombre o una mujer que vive una vida de resistencia e integridad en Jesús, y como se reconoce Marge, que fue posible gracias a una madre que se le dio a ella por Jesús para ser una mujer fuerte y la madre de Jesús y uno que vivir una vida maravillosa y una vida más allá de toda descripción en la resurrección.

You have all borne witness, a mother is the first witness to her child for Jesus First St Johns May 10, 2015

[for the audio of this sermon click on the above link]

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 blessed by the faithful Christian witness of their mother said … AMEN        He is risen …

It is Mother’s Day, motherhood has become something very different, motherhood has gone through a number of iterations in the last century, at least in the United States. Many here have told me of mothers who had farm chores, tasks that mothers in the post-modern world would probably be mortified to even consider. Waking up early every morning to either perform farm chores or to prepare a large breakfast for a large family who all had farm chores to perform. Back in that day, people started out the day early, performing very real physical exertion.

After the Second World War we had the June Cleaver mom who was impeccably dressed, made sure her house was A-J squared away as well as her husband and children. This really remains the stereotypical mother today, although June Cleaver gave way, about a generation later to the Michelob Light generation. Starting in 1985, Michelob Light preached that we should be it all and do it all with their commercial jingle “who says you can’t have it all…?” Even while those around us might suffer because of our needs, read wants.

Today Motherhood is coming to be seen almost in terms of the “Baltimore mom”. In a letter to the editor from Nathaniel Smalls: “The mother of a Baltimore teenager who was caught on video disciplining her son who was about to join the riots, was labeled a child abuser by some, but hailed as Mother of the Year by most.” Way too many women, forced by circumstances into having to be the disciplinarian. A generation ago, when I was raising children, the attitude was really bad, it was just sort of fun and games, didn’t have to take much too seriously, someone else would take care of it, so long as you let your children make their own decisions everything would work out find. Frank Perretti recounts a discussion with a woman about raising her children as a Christian. In that faux-phoney way some parents try to project, she told Perretti, I couldn’t find the exact quote, but to the extent that she wasn’t going to raise her children in any way/ tradition. Perretti asked, does that mean that you have nothing to offer your child, that there is nothing you can give to your children in a way that will give them a life that they can believe in, ideals that they can strive for, a Savior who will be the Lord of their life and life more abundant, you have nothing to offer your children? Basically, you’re going to allow your child, who has really no frame of reference, no real ability to discern and discriminate, nothing in terms of critical thinking and you’re just going to let them wallow around until they turn 18 and pray that they have somehow built up some kind of genuine discernment? As so open-minded as you think that is, it really means that you are going to allow that child to be raised by the world. The world influences our children and grand-children every single day, the class room, computers, television, what little social interaction they have with peers, is all a very worldly perspective.

We are entrusted with children by God, to raise them according to His will. As we who are Christians know, God’s will is vastly different from the world’s. God’s will is that we grow in His image and our model is the life of Jesus Christ. The agape love that Jesus had for us, His death that paid for the sins of those who know Jesus as their Lord in life and Savior to eternal salvation in the Resurrection. Today the world is straight out about money and earthly security. Survival of the fittest, not trusting in God’s will or His provision, but scratching out, by whatever means, how you can take enough for you.

Even the Baltimore chief of police said he wishes there were more like the mom who rushed into the mob. I would add who wouldn’t surrender to the world. This woman who was put into a position, because of the failure of the world, to physically go out and rescue her son. I pray that no woman is put in that position again, but a Christian mother is called to be that faithful witness to her children and to save them from the crudeness and irresponsibility of the world.

I’m not trying to come off as harsh and unloving, but we have to start looking at what we are leaving our children to. The Baltimore mom, rightly so, was scared to death, that her son was going to wander out into something, that despite the fact that he’s 14 years old and just knows everything he needs to know, he could very well have ended up dead or badly beaten. Moms, grandmoms, spiritual moms, maybe you don’t have a child, but I will bet, there’s children in your life that you could give a motherly influence to. We as parents, moms and dads, are the first Christian witnesses, and may be the only Christian witnesses our children might see, at least on a daily basis. We cannot treat lightly or leave their Christian discipling up to them. There is simply too much influence of the world that is working on them, they will probably end up with that influence and none of what Christ intends for them. Yea it’s difficult, and many times you will feel as if you are not getting anywhere. You will feel that you have lost and have wasted a lot of time and effort. Heavens, you may even look oh so not cool and so old fashioned and out of touch. Do you really want to risk losing a child because you may not appear to be sufficiently hip or with it, and having your child run off into a fight that is just not his or her fight and end up permanently damaged or even dead? My wife had the audacity to paraphrase a quote from Abraham Lincoln: “All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” Marge said: “All that I am or hope to be I owe to my Lord for sending me my angel mother.” Amen! A Christian mom needs a Christian mom and needs to be a Christian mom.

There is a lot of misguided nonsense in the world, and too many people in order to appear sufficiently sophisticated are willing to sacrifice their children in order to have some sort of respect from the world. I told a story last year from the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees 7 about a mother who watched her seven sons being tortured to death because they would not disavow their faith in God. We who are here in a nice comfy pew in the northeast United States may be repelled at such a story, but we are seeing that story in reality in the middle east, Africa, and Asia. The world is not kind to Christians, yet for five thousand years our ancestors persevered and stayed faithful. You may choose to live in denial and believe you can live anyway you want and raise your children in the world and God will honor that. That is not realistic, God gave up His Son. Jesus’ life of strength in faith and honor. As Christian parents we are called to raise strong young men and women and not lose them to the world. They have had the witness of Christian faithful throughout thousands of years. Sure we want our children to be “happy”, but more importantly don’t we want them to be strong and faithful? We are promised life and life more abundant in Jesus. There is nothing more compelling and inspiring then a man or a woman who lives a life of strength and integrity in Jesus, and as Marge recognized, that was made possible by a mother who was given to her by Jesus in order to be a strong woman and mother in Jesus and one who would live a marvelous life and then a life beyond all description in the resurrection.

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

Si no confiesa a Jesús no es un cristiano 1 Juan 4: 1-21 First St Johns 03 de mayo 2015

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 confiesan a Jesús como Señor de su vida dijo … AMEN!

Esto se está convirtiendo en un problema abrumador para los cristianos en una sociedad pluralista. Las palabras de Juan son hoy más importante que nunca. Muchas personas reconocen a Jesús, pero pocos realmente lo ven como el Señor de su vida. Epístola de Juan se fecha al final del primer siglo, unos sesenta años después de la crucifixión y resurrección. La iglesia de Cristo ha crecido, es católica en este punto, que es universal, hay muchos tipos de personas, en muchos lugares diferentes que profesan a Jesús y la adoración con otros cristianos. El mundo de hoy puede ser difícil en nuestro mundo post-cristiano, en comparación con el mundo que hasta hace poco era al menos culturalmente cristiano. La gente en el mundo de hoy a menudo no piensan en sí mismos como “cristiano” como aquellos de nosotros que estamos en la iglesia cristiana. Pueden ver a Jesús como un “gran maestro, etc”, pero no como quien realmente es, que es el Señor de los que confiesan a Jesús como Aquel que murió por nuestros pecados y resucitado para darnos la certeza de nuestra resurrección en eterna la vida en el perfecto Nuevo Mundo. Por mucho que el mundo ha llegado a ser muy extraño y hostil, o al menos indiferente al cristianismo de hoy, no es difícil imaginar cuánto más el mundo era de esa manera a la iglesia al final del primer siglo. Hubo “dioses”, creencias, filosofías en todos los ámbitos, un supermercado de creencias para que cualquiera pueda elegir lo que quisieran. Con pocas excepciones, había muy poca integridad en alguna de estas creencias, los grupos y las enseñanzas se organizaron para apoyar todo lo que quieras que van desde el amor al dinero, el amor de sí mismo, epicureísmo un sistema que enseña cómo vivir la llamada “buena vida “, comer, beber y ser feliz porque mañana moriremos. Y, por supuesto, a las creencias que eran enteramente sobre nosotros y nuestras obras.

Juan es el último de los discípulos originales. Hay obispos, incluso algunas asambleas regionales que guiaron la iglesia, pero si había una cabeza máxima de la iglesia en la tierra habría sido Juan. Él es muy ancianos en este momento, probablemente alrededor de 90 años, muy venerado como maestro. A diferencia de la mayoría de la gente en este punto, John de “estado allí, hecho eso y sin duda tiene la camiseta”. Él era el discípulo que era el más cercano a Jesús, a diferencia del resto que estaba allí mismo, en la crucifixión y estaba en la resurrección y estuvo involucrado en la iglesia durante los últimos sesenta año. En este punto de la historia, hay muchas creencias heréticas que se están arrastrando en al cristianismo. A menudo se ve otras creencias “cristianas”, hoy en día con las iglesias, que cuestionan la necesidad de la doctrina cristiana, “es todo sobre el amor”, según ellos, eso es todo lo que necesita. Es doctrina que nos da lo que significa ser verdaderamente cristiano y para contrarrestar toda la falsa enseñanza por ahí que estaban allí desde el principio y están ahí fuera hoy. Como hemos discutido muchas veces, la palabra “amor” es muy subjetiva, la palabra que usamos hoy en día, cuenta con cerca de cuatro diferentes palabras en el griego original. Juan usa la palabra con frecuencia en esta epístola. Comienza la carta con la palabra “amado”, la palabra griega es avgaphto, j hemos hablado de la palabra griega avgapa, w En un contexto cristiano es el amor que Jesús mostró a nosotros, es un amor que es todos y en todas las circunstancias, es abnegado, preocupado por el mejor bienestar de los que nos lleva a Dios, estar en relación con. Las palabras de Jesús en el Evangelio de lectura conversaciones de hoy sobre todos nosotros ser parte de la misma cepa. Somos todas las ramas, tenemos la misma fuente, la misma relación, siendo parte del mismo organismo. Jesús dijo: Yo soy la “vid verdadera”, no hay otra vid auténtico, solamente Yo y sólo aquellos que son ramas de mí, la vid verdadera. Nosotros permanecemos en Él como una vid, una extensión de Él y debido a que él permanece en nosotros. La palabra griega mí, NW, no sólo para ser parte de, pero que esperar con, sufrir con, y como dice Jesús a dar sus frutos y por supuesto parte de que la fruta es que desinteresada, sacrificando el amor que tenemos por Él y sus hermanos y hermanas en Jesús. Tenemos que el amor hacia todos nos encontramos, todas las personas que el Espíritu Santo nos trae en contacto con. Pero sobre todo significa para ser mejor y mejorar la vid. Para ser fecundo y fiel a la vid y todas las ramas. En el mundo actual, que con demasiada frecuencia vemos que por ser un poco demasiado suave, carente de discernimiento.

Juan llama a los que él escribe a amados, aquellos que son los favoritos y estamos favoritos, que han sido elegidos para formar parte de la vid, así que estamos muy favorecida, también querida, importante, cerrar, parte de la misma vid, el mismo Cuerpo. También estimado, ya que estamos tan altamente favorecida, cada uno de nosotros que son bautizados en Jesús, debemos pensar en cada uno de nosotros bautizados en Él como especial e importante. Edward Englebrecht escribe: “Una historia dice que la congregación le pidió a Juan que decir unas palabras a ellos. Para entonces, el apóstol de edad no podían poner muchas palabras juntas, pero se diría en repetidas ocasiones, “Hijitos, aman unos a otros”. Todos somos parte de la misma vid, el mismo cuerpo, nuestra primera prioridad, el gran mandamiento es amar al Señor, la “vid verdadera”, sino también a amar a nuestro prójimo. ¿Cuánto más de un vecino podemos tener entonces las ramas que somos parte y nos rodean, las ramas de la vid verdadera de Jesucristo?

Pero el mundo continúa empujando en nosotros, que es la guerra espiritual que Juan nos está advirtiendo. Tenemos que probar los espíritus y espíritus podemos llegar a nosotros de muchas formas, formas y maneras. Lo que se ve en el Internet, la película que has visto ayer por la noche, la gente que te encuentres en la calle, así sucesivamente. Debemos tratarlos con respeto, amor, que nos son queridos, que están hechos a imagen de Dios. Pero hemos de probar los espíritus, si demuestran ser de Cristo, que están bautizados y tomar el Cuerpo y la Sangre de Jesús siempre, son un hermano o hermana y deben ser estimados y tratados en consecuencia. Pero si no confiesan a Jesús, si no producen el fruto del Espíritu, tenemos que recordar que a medida que nos relacionamos con ellos. El mundo dice que hay un montón de cosas que son “verdad” que no tiene nada que ver con Jesús. Juan vio muchos falsos profetas en el primer siglo y no es menos hoy. Las personas que están enseñando cosas que, o bien directamente rechazan a Jesús, o simplemente lo ignoran y profesan cosas que no tienen nada que ver con la vida y la vida más abundante que Jesús nos promete y como parte de esa enredadera que es todo acerca de Jesús.

Tome esa revista cabo. ¿Cómo se prueba los espíritus? No es difícil, cuando interactuamos alguien, es todo acerca de cómo lo que dicen se ajusta a lo que Jesús nos dice. Si hacen una afirmación que no dé lugar a que Jesús es el Señor de nuestra vida, como el Dr. Martin Luther escribió: “Creo que no puedo por mi propia razón o la fuerza de creer en Jesucristo, mi Señor, o venir a Él; pero el Espíritu Santo me ha llamado por el Evangelio, me ha iluminado con sus dones, santificado y me mantuvo en la verdadera fe. De la misma manera que Él llama, reúne, ilumina y santifica a toda la iglesia cristiana en la tierra, y lo mantiene con Jesucristo en la única fe verdadera. En esta iglesia cristiana Él diariamente y ricamente perdona todos mis pecados y los pecados de todos los creyentes. En el último día Él me levantará y todos los muertos, y de dar vida eterna a mí ya todos los creyentes en Cristo. ”

Si lo que se oye en conflicto con lo que escribió el Dr. Lutero, no es de Cristo, está mal. ¿Cómo abordar lo que oye o ve en la fe a Jesús?

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