Tag Archives: Christian maturity

It is about the people and not the paper shuffling.

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Ministry is certainly about the people, I’d like to throw a lit match on my desk sometime because it does bug me. But that will move in due time and if I have to stop to talk to someone, well that’s really what I’m here for. So the following really does resonate with me and I thought it would with others.
Bruce Kasanoff  Influencer
Ghostwriter and speaker
Why I Need Human Relationships More Than a Clean Desk
Oct 21 2014

I once worked for a company that was designed around six reports. By using these six reports, the owner of the firm could manage his $300 million business, and avoid most unpleasant surprises.
One year, my division’s goal was to generate revenues of $100 million. We generated $100,010,000. To come that close to the owner’s goal, we had to push two weeks of customer shipments into January. Yes, we deliberately slowed shipments so that the owner could have a company whose sales he could predict with great precision.
I left this firm after three years, because I did not enjoy a job in which my main task was to manage my desk well.
To please that sort of an owner, managers had to:
a.) Spend 97% of their workday in the office.
b.) Be incredibly organized, and maintain a fastidious filing system.
c.) Be tough as nails with suppliers and employees.
d.) Do everything the owner said, even when he was insulting and rude.
Perhaps you’ve worked for such a boss? One who values results more than people, who abhors chance and wants to reduce everything down to proven formulas?
Truth be told, this approach can work. It’s not dissimilar to the way assembly lines work.
I just don’t like it. Life is too short to reduce it to numbers, tickler files, and an empty Out box.
I’d much rather work in a culture in which people matter, and talent is something to be cultivated rather than rented. Growing by 12% a year, 20 years in a row is not my aspiration. Growing to my full potential – and helping others do the same – is so much more important.
For a time, my perception was that quitting that job was the dumbest thing I ever did. My entrepreneurial venture that followed was an up-and-down battle that never paid off financially… or even personally. But now it’s clear that there was no other alternative. You have to know who you are, and I need human relationships more than a clean desk.

Jesus Is Not a Politically Correct Wimp

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Jesus Is Not a Politically Correct Wimp.

This is a great article about the public perception of Jesus and the reality of Jesus in the Bible.

Celebration, Feasting, Drinking, because we are His and that’s something to celebrate Isaiah 25: 6-9, Matthew 22: 1-14 First St Johns October 12, 2014

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For the audio of this sermon please click on the play button

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 God’s children celebrated and said AMEN
Feasting, that is really about? … Celebrating! Absolutely! Many churches have banquets to celebrate the year, and the ministry God leads them to perform, to recognize those who serve their church and in a festive way God’s love and delight in us. I’m told that the men here at First St Johns used to bring a keg of beer into the meeting room in the school building. I’m not encouraging the idea, but hey we’re not Baptists! Martin Luther certainly did nothing to discourage drinking of beer. In our reading in Isaiah, the Hebrew word that is used for banquet is hT,v.mi ((mishtah) which means “feast, drink, banquet”. I’m not saying “hey, let’s go get a keg”, I’m not saying no, just no stupid. The ancient Israelites would have readily understood that part of what Isaiah is describing as a banquet would be drinking, probably wine. We live in a world where fear is so prevailing. Yea, we celebrate, but it’s always with sort of detachment, at arm’s length with each other. We get to celebrate once a week! Too many people see it as a chore, an obligation to be fulfilled. We get to be in His presence every Sunday morning and that is a celebration. I hope it comes across to you, that when I lead worship I’m doing it in a way that is enthusiastic, excited, I get to be here, I get to lead worship in this magnificent place, I get to tell everyone how great God our Father is and what His Son Jesus Christ has done for us. If that’s not worthy of celebration, well what is? We can get into a discussion about how we worship. Many people would claim that liturgical worship isn’t “celebration”, that it’s just a rote way of doing the same thing. We’ve let the world tell us how to “celebrate”, we forget what celebration is in the worship of Jesus.
A “Satanic Black Mass” was held recently in Oklahoma City. Fox News noted that “dozens” participated in the mass, while those who stood opposed to the “mass” far outnumbered the participants. Kudos to the Roman Catholic Archbishop who held Holy Mass at a local church, that was attended by over 1200 people, almost a hundred times those who attended the Satanic Mass. The Archbishop’s message was something to truly celebrate in the face of the world’s depraved observance: “as Christians “we know that Christ conquered Satan. The war has been won, Christ has conquered, though skirmishes will continue until Christ comes to reign forever.”1
Notice how the world mocks Christianity? They mock the mass, the liturgy, worship like we Lutherans conduct. You never see them mock worship like those of, let’s just say those who are all happy-clappy, telling you that it’s all about you and being “happy” and being entertainment versus what we do, which is worship. I truly think of our worship as a time of joy, there should be exuberance and celebration, I feel joyful and enthusiastic when I lead worship and I hope you will tell me if I’m not being joyful or it’s not coming across. I don’t see worship as a chore, I see it as a couple who are members here told me, “I get to come to church and worship”. The rest of the world holds back in fear and worry, they are afraid that they will be criticized or that their dignity will be affected. We get to celebrate every week and as I greet people as they leave worship I see joy, I see enthusiasm. But then they go back into the world, they let the world’s agenda dampen their joy and enthusiasm. They let the world’s message beat them down, “that wasn’t ‘fun’, that was boring, rote ritual”. No it’s not! We get to remember all that has been done for us, all that we have to be joyful and thankful for. Why do we let the world impose on us with its cynical and depressing attitude?
It’s often because we really believe the world’s message, that it’s a scary, fearful, ratrace, and now that you’re back in that world, you have to put aside that church stuff and realize how scary it really is.
It’s not! Unless you let it be. We have the promises, grace and love of Christ in our lives. There’s nothing to be afraid of! Jesus tells His disciples in John 16: 33, just before He is to be crucified, that yes, difficult times are ahead; “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” The world can’t harm you, the world’s opinion doesn’t matter, I have overcome the world and since I am in you and you are in me and I have overcome the world, you have what I have given you, what I have promised you, joy, confidence, the knowledge that this world is not the real thing, it is not genuine. What the world says and does is phoney, only what I say, the Lord and Savior of your life is genuine, what you receive here in worship is genuine and you should celebrate that and take that attitude back into the world. We need to push back against the world. We are all so afraid of rejection, “oh here comes that crazy Bible thumper”. Heavens, that takes away our dignity. At last week’s conference someone made the comment that there is always push back against our message in Jesus. D’uh! Of course there is, how could it be otherwise? Jesus told us there would be. The conference was centered on our ministry to younger generations, that these people have left the church. Why? I submit because there is a serious lack of genuineness in the church. Why believe something that no one really stands up for and asserts that this is what is really important. No one is going to buy something that they feel is not genuine in its claims.
We don’t celebrate our faith and our worship, we don’t show what it means to be genuine in our discipleship and then we wonder why no one is buying. Those in the world know how phoney and irrelevant the world’s institutions are. They are looking for the genuine and we have it right here and we get to celebrate it in worship every week. I submit to you that instead of this sanctuary and building being so empty the rest of the week, that we come for other worship, Matins, confession, prayer, other small groups. What else can we do to make our worship more genuine, every day, not just on Sunday? Let’s spend more time in prayer, studying Scripture, sharing our faith with brothers and sisters and those in the world. That’s what the younger generations wants and they know, that when it’s done right, not the phoney stuff the world tries to convince us is “church”, that it does produce joy, peace, comfort and assurance that God is with us, that He loves us 24/7, that He wants what is best for us. That’s why Satanists mock what we have and not the phoney worship. But we take it for granted, we let the world drive us down, instead of us going out and showing the world what true joy and love is.
Isaiah is telling the Israelites, this is what’s going to happen. It’s not some vague metaphor, it is genuine, true, giving hope and assurance. When you really let it become part of you, realize what God is promising, you should be at least this high off the ground (holding your fingers at least two inches apart). God is going to provide us a feast of rich food of well aged wine. He’s telling this to a people who often live hand to mouth, we get plenty of food, they never had enough, God is telling them ‘you will have a gift far beyond your imagination, you will have joy and all you could want.’ Jesus is telling us that we are not worthy of His great wedding feast, but you know what? He wants us to have it, He wants us to have a time of joy and plenty beyond anything we’ve ever seen. Even now we are so blessed, provided with so much, and yet we have no joy. Please remember what we’ve been given, share it with others, the joy grows only when you share it with others and then you see the effect of their joy and how it builds yours in Christ our Savior. Spend some time journaling on all that you have to be joyful for.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Shalom and Amin.

Sure it’s all about smoking marijuana, what makes me happy

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Gonna kind of step off the deep end here so stand by for serious squawking.
Burt Helm in Inc Magazine (Dec 2013/Jan 2014 p 56) about the corporate culture in Boulder, Co. Their local historian pleading not to “unfairly reducing Boulder to a playground where smug eco-liberals puffed legalized marijuana and compared triathlon times.”
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, gotta be a duck. “We’re so much more complex than that” says local historian Carol Taylor. No, no you’re not you think your sophisticated intellectuals with your degrees in Women’s Studies, how is that any kind of serious academic pursuit. Degrees issued from “prestigious” colleges, that are just really “degree mills”. No academic benefit, just a huge amount of money for a name and connections.
These are people who sit around and tell each other how good they are because they lobby for government to spend more taxpayer money, while they don’t give to anything and find ways to avoid any kind of tax.
They tell each other how good they are by finding ways to justify killing babies, elderly, anyone who really doesn’t stack up so that they can of course pursue much higher goals like legalizing marijuana. These are the same people who in the 60s and 70s told everyone that abortion, divorce, should be easier, but would never become common place. Yea, welcome to your short-sighted ignorance, where both are epidemic, tearing apart families, creating the last two generations that have known the most unstable, insecure lives in history outside of war zones, famine zones, etc.
Yea, good for you, you have so much money, most of which is mommy and daddies, who just gave you money petted you on the heard, and sent you on your way. That way you could have teen-age sex, abortions, drugs, you know the 90210 life-style that you strive for and that yo think is so edifying.
Good for Burt Helm, he writes “it’s hard to keep a straight face”. I may be taking his comment a little out of context, but boy it is. You have a bunch of people who are an inch thick and a mile wide.
Yea, good for you , you make big bucks. Yea, people who have very little integrity, who expertly appeal to the lowest common denominator (yea, marijuana for example). Principle takes a back seat to “what’s in it for me” (actually that is the principle they live by). There big social solution is legalizing marijuana, and they couldn’t care less how it affects the vast majority of people. Try being in my inner city church office where people spend so much time trying to con you out of a bit of money. How many times have I heard about someone who was just at our food bank, who just went out and sold about $40 worth of groceries for a joint. “Yea kids get free lunch and breakfast at school, I don’t have to worry about food.” Wow, if these pretentious fops from Boulder ever lived in a real place, got a dose of reality, these boors from Wellesley, Harvard and Smith Colleges who have always lived on “opm” (other people’s money). They don’t know what they’re talking about and they don’t care, “don’t try to confuse me with the facts, I’m so much smarter than you.”
So long as I get my way, because I have all my life, I really don’t care how much what I do creates a more decadent, debauched society.
Common denominator? It’s all about me, I’m my own “god”, it’s what makes me happy, yada, yada. Then when it all falls apart, they get bailed out by others, but of course, it’s someone else’s fault. Someone didn’t let me smoke a joint and get mellow. Yea, they really think that way. God is God, we are saved, we are only fulfilled in our lives through Christ. It just baffles me, I am showing you Christ, you show me a joint. There is life and life more abundant, or there’s sitting around with a joint, making money off of your self-centered lusts.

Christian version of “g” factor

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Pastoring is still such a new experience and adjustments. Twenty-nine years in the military, twenty years in corporations, I know the phrase has gotten kind of trite, but really, failure wasn’t an option. Failure happened, but you worked to find alternatives, to minimize the impact of failure. There just doesn’t seem to be that sort of dedication in the average, even above average Christian, pastor or laity for that matter. Rich Karlgaard is a great writer for Forbes and his article “Smarts in Business is not about IQ”, is right on the mark. (Forbes Magazine  December 13, 2013 p 46)

I don’t know if it’s an excuse or a genuine fear, but Christian’s usual cop-out is “I don’t know enough to talk to other people about Jesus.” It’s not really about what you know, the average person isn’t going to ask you technical questions, the Bible, it is about relationship, staying in touch, being tenacious.  You’re tough and tenacious at the office, why can’t we be the same when we are talking to someone about the Lord of your life, your Savior?

“The smartest people in business are not those who have the highest g; they are those who regularly put themselves in situations requiring grit. These acts of courage accelerate learning through adaptation.”

It’s the old ‘you only learn by doing’ philosophy. Be honest, you see situations where you should be talking to someone about Jesus and then avoid getting involved. Witnessing requires a level of comfort and the only way you will be comfortable is by looking for the opportunities and jumping in, I assure you no one is going to bite you. It’s not a works thing, it’s not required for you to be saved. But Scripture tells us that we will be known by our fruits, seems to me the average Christian’s fruits on display to the world is “run away!!”. How does that show the world our devotion to Jesus?

Karlgaard’s observation is a challenge to us to jump into the fray and be less concerned about our precious dignity and more concerned about how the Holy Spirit is working through us: “By facing up to the task of making a call, frequent callers put themselves on a faster learning curve. They discover more rapidly what works and what doesn’t. They’re quicker to learn techniques that overcome rejection. Thus, their success yield will improve…The act of making lots of calls also helps a person learn self-discipline and understand the rewards of delayed gratification.”

Yes, it is all about the Holy Spirit and what He does. We can’t talk someone into the Kingdom, we can’t by our own power be saved. But we can be faithful, we can trust what the Holy Spirit is doing with us in relation to someone else. This is the most important aspect of someone’s existence, eternal salvation. Care enough about them to trust the Spirit’s leading and then know that your reward waits for you when the Father says to you “…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). Let’s talk about it Wednesday morning 10am at First St Johns, mid-week Bible study Coffee Break. 140 W King St, park right behind the church.

Learn to forgive like Joseph forgave,

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Please click on the above link to listen to the audio version, or copy this link and paste it into your browser.

We make our beginning in the Name of God the Father and of God the Son and of God the Holy Spirit and all those who forgive because they know how much they’ve been forgiven said … AMEN!
Matthew, quoting Jesus, has really camped on a theme for our last few sermons, that being forgiveness. Specifically we’ve talked about holding grudges, being offended. “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” Many people out in the world will tell you that’s in the Bible, “No! You are the weakest link! Goodbye.” It is from English poet Alexander Pope. Sort of presupposes that God forgives, but people, well… we just can’t rise up to that level. Yet, we do see forgiveness. Remember the story of Joseph?
He kind of flaunted the gift from his father, Israel. His father was originally named Jacob, but after wrestling with God all night, God renamed him Israel. He became the father of the 12 patriarchs, the men/brothers who would be the roots of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob/Israel had two wives, that is a whole other story, except to say that Rachel was his favorite. Now the wrinkle there was that while Rachel was the favorite, she was having a great deal of difficulty in conceiving. As we’ve said, not having children was a huge humiliation to the man and wife, but particularly to the wife. Jacob’s other wife, Leah, had 6 sons, that arrived soon and fast, while Rachel ached in embarrassment. Rachel finally had a son, Joseph and he became Jacob’s favorite, the son of his favorite wife. Rachel had another son, Benjamin, Rachel died giving birth to him. No doubt that probably caused problems being the son who caused his beloved wife’s death. It would seem that Jacob doted on Joseph and the rest of his sons resented that. Genesis 37:3 tells us that Jacob “made a richly ornamented robe for him.” for Joseph. Remember these people are nomads, they don’t run to the mall to buy their clothes, clothes are hard to come by and especially fancy clothes. The fact that he made this for Joseph and it was very lavish, made this an extraordinary gift and was certainly the talk of the tribe and no doubt made Joseph everyone else’s target. Now add to that Genesis 37:5-7 “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.” And then he had another dream that even the sun, moon and stars would bow down to him. Hey he was a kid, he really didn’t know, but to everyone else he is over the top obnoxious. The coat, the bowing down, all makes Joseph the spoiled rotten, snott nosed kid that everyone hates. I don’t really believe that Joseph intended to be so obnoxious, but that’s how he came across. Can’t you see his brothers? “What you little punk, who do you think you’re talking to? You may be daddy’s favorite, but you’re just a kid and daddy’s not going to be around forever, and hmmmm, who knows, can never tell out there in the desert, ahhh, you just might have an “accident”. Jacob sends Joseph out to his brothers, really to check up on them out in the pastures tending sheep. That turns out to be a stupid move. His brothers saw him in the distance and decided, “great this is our chance, we are going to take care of this little punk once and for all.”
They decided they were going to leave him to die, then they decided, ahh, we should make a shekel out of this for ourselves and sold Joseph as a slave. He was a slave for awhile, then he was falsely accused, thrown into an Egyptian prison where he would have probably just died, but God decided He had bigger plans for Joseph and that’s where we see Joseph now. He has been made the second most powerful man in Egypt. He could have just let his family starve back in Israel or at least with his brothers now bowing down in front of him, just like in his dreams, he could have just done away with his brothers. He didn’t do that, he saw God’s hand in what happened: “…you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.” (Ge 50:20) He didn’t let his anger, hurt and bitterness keep him from seeing the big picture.
I can’t tell you to put all your anger and hurt into a kit bag and smile, smile, smile. I can’t look you in the face and tell you I’d do that, it’s not a question of stuffing it down or denying that you’re hurt. But it is a question of whether it will just drag you down, get you to obsess. Hey that’s just fine with Satan, if we are going to obsess about our anger and ignore Christ, then Satan has accomplished his mission, whatever it takes to get your eyes off Christ is the goal. If you are going to let your anger eat you up and devour you, then mission accomplished. We are called to move on. From the cross Jesus said, “forgive them Father they know not what they do.” What if He decided, “heck with this, I’m getting off this cross and I’m just going to show all these people who’ve tormented me what for. Then what about forgiveness for our sins? Three days later Jesus rose from the grave, that was the victory! We are sunk in our sins, no other way to escape except through His sacrifice. He died to give us the promise and assurance of forgiveness, and so we are. But if He had not died, He would not have rose again. We would not have forgiveness and we would not have the promise of eternal life through our resurrection in Him. He has shown us what the real effect of forgiveness is, so we can get bitter and consumed in our hurt and anger, or we can move on as Jesus did. When He moved on, He gave us victory over death and the grave, He gave us eternal life. He didn’t waste His time and effort fighting over the cross, He faithfully followed His Father’s plan. Through that He became Lord of our life, since He paid the price for our life. Most people would have thought Joseph would have been perfectly justified in just wiping out his brothers. “You guys, made my life as a kid miserable, you left me for dead, decided to sell me as a slave, I ended up in an Egyptian prison until God took me and put me where He wanted me.” Joseph knew his place, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?” He was not going to take revenge, he knew God would be faithful, remember last week’s sermon? “Vengeance is mine says the Lord”? I think we all agreed that God is going to work it out better than me. Joseph followed God’s lead, God had certainly provided for Joseph and now Joseph would provide for his brothers. Israel would grow, the tribes would increase and God would lead them back to the promised land to be a great nation.
How can you take your issues, your anger and bitterness, and instead of using it to return evil for evil, what can you do to glorify God through that. People watch you, you say you are a Christian and then the slightest little hurt, you react with anger and bitterness and you look for a way to hurt the other person. The world sees that and says “yea, big talk from Christians, but when it comes right down to it, they do the same thing we do, if they get slapped, they slap back. So there’s really nothing to this Jesus stuff.” Our witness is very much in what we do in our actions, it’s not easy, it wasn’t easy for Jesus, but to be a Christian is not the easy way. You can just slap back, or you can lift it up to God, let Him deal with it and then let Him guide you to use your hurt and bitterness for good. You can put the best face on what hurt you and forgive. Revenge, anger, payback, frankly I find that a lot of work. I’ve found it’s easier to get past the hurt, find a way to make-up, to put the best face on the issue or other person and get on with what and who is really important, that is Jesus Christ and His church. So how are you going to deal with your hurt feelings? Stay angry and drag everyone down, or find a way to use it to the glory of God?
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Shalom and Amin.

Focus on what we are taught to focus on 2 Timothy 4: 1-4

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Have you ever kind of camped on an issue, position, concept, that you knew in your heart was important, but you seemed to be kind of hanging over the edge? No one really backing you up?

If you don’t know, I’ve been writing a lot about how the contemporary Christian church is just really out of step with what Christianity is about. It’s moved way too much toward a consumer mentality, toward making people happy and comfy. I keep asking; how do you reconcile that with the persecution of Christians starting in the Acts church and continues today all around the world?

I haven’t seen, received, heard, etc, any type of response. Doesn’t seem as though anyone who is part of that movement has any incentive to respond. They’re bringing people in, they’re clearly raising money, they’re clearly impacting their followers and what some pipsqueak like me has to say just doesn’t register and isn’t worthy of any response. These “churches” clearly have an attitude of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, don’t try to confuse me with the realities of Christianity. This works so I have no reason to change it. If anything maybe God’s changing course and I’m coasting in His wake. The only justification for this position is in worldly terms, numbers, money, big buildings, big shows, so it must be working. But God tells us that “my ways are not your ways…”, there is Scripture and what God tells us. The only thing the other movement has is numbers, but truth doesn’t seem to be something they get too caught up in.

Anyway, I’m reading “The Church Awakening” by the man himself, Dr Chuck Swindoll, and anything I’ve said, he’s said it better, in spades and makes a much more compelling case then I ever could. I take what he writes in “The Church Awakening” as affirmation of what I’ve been writing.

A side note; I didn’t become a Christian until my mid-twenties and around the same time I discovered Christian radio, heard Dr Swindoll early all and I was hooked. I have a lot of his books, but the guy writes a lot of books, so I’ll never have them all. Highly recommend any Swindoll book, heck I’d read his grocery list if he published it.

Please allow me to quote at length from the book (but you should buy it anyway and read it), the book was published in 2010, so I think Dr Swindoll has a good handle on the contemporary situation:

“When you look across the landscape of churches today, you find many congregations that have experienced phenomenal growth. Unbelievable growth. But upon closer examination, you discover that they have not committed themselves to the four biblical essentials for a church as prescribed in the Book of Acts: teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer (see Acts 2:42). The church may have more than these four… but it must not have less.

It is precisely these four areas the adversary will attack so he can disrupt and, if possible, destroy the church. That’s why it’s important to keep our priorities straight. It’s essential that we not get distracted by all that we can do as a church … and stay focused on only what we must do as a church. Otherwise, we may be attracting a crowd for the wrong reason.

This emphasis on the essentials is what the apostle Paul had in mind when he passed on the torch of ministry to a young pastor named Timothy:

‘I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.’ (2 Timothy 4:1-4)

Notice both the command and the reason for it. The command is clear: ‘preach the word’ – followed by an explanation of when and how to do it. But there’s also a why, a reason to proclaim boldly the Bible on a consistent basis: there will come a time when biblical truth will be rejected in favor of what people want to hear. The biblical alternative? We learned in the last chapter that the Lord will honor and bless any plan that upholds prayer and promotes His Word. This is what Paul was affirming to Timothy.

Large numbers don’t necessarily reveal God’s blessing. They could, in fact, reveal error. They could reflect an ear-tickling ministry that panders to people and tells the crowds what they want to hear, instead of what they need to hear. A growing number of churches and denominations today have found the four essentials unnecessary – burdensome, you might say. Archaic traditions of a bygone era. So they have hired what I call ‘pulpit whores’, or put more mildly, ‘teachers in accordance to their own desires’ – to affirm them in their selfish and carnal lifestyles. No wonder the crowds expand … it’s as if God has officially approved their sin!

But even a calloused conscience eventually aches with the emptiness that only God – the true God – can fill. The tragedy is that these empty individuals think they have already tried God .. and He has left them just as unfulfilled as the world has. It’s downright tragic.” (Dr Charles Swindoll The Church Awakening pp 71-73)

So yea, a long quote, but I think you can see why.

YES!! YES!! YES!! It has been my firm conviction with the happy-clappy/name it and claim it/prosperity types that they are setting people up for failure. They are not moving people to God. They are moving them to worship themselves. When trials occur, and they will. These people will be shaking their fist at God: “Pastor Billy Bob said that if I had enough faith that I would be pretty and wealthy and healthy, that God would bless me with infinite good stuff. Well I lost my job, my house, my wife, my child! How could you do that to me?! So the heck with you God, I’ll get a deal somewhere else.’ I always wonder how these people think. Where do they think they’re going to get a better deal? But they do. But it can only end one way? God doesn’t send you to Hell, you chose to worship yourself and what you wanted, you chose to be separated from God, so you can’t expect God to undermine that, right? Hey you have free will, right? Time for the church as a whole to repudiate these false teachers. The ancient church had no problem to gather in council and cut off people who were pushing spiritual poison. I know the public arena is not a friend to orthodox Christianity, but that is not a reason for the church to refrain. If the church expects to be taken seriously, at least respected, it has to distance itself from the false teachers: “Those people are not with us, they are wrong, people shouldn’t listen to them, for their spiritual health and we completely cut them off from any relationship in Christ. Yea, excommunication. Will it be popular? No. Is the church about being popular? It shouldn’t be. Our job is to edify and strengthen people in Christ, by allowing spiritual poison to be circulated we are not being faithful to our call in Christ. It’s got to be about living in Jesus and not what’s in it for me.

Unemployment needs to be treated like a full-time job

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As of September 5, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate is 6.1% and there are 9.6 million unemployed people. While the rate is high, historically, it’s much better than it was. However the percentage is really kind of deceiving, the number of people “underemployed” is still estimated to be about 16% and the total raw number of unemployed is the highest in history. Part of that is due to a higher population, but there is still a serious employment problem. A gentleman recently posted in FB: “Don’t forget to stop in at [public area the following day of the post] from 11 am to 1 pm where you can find me on the balcony waiting to meet prospective employers looking for a dedicated, passionate employee to join their team. I’ll have resumes ready to hand out to those who stop by to speak with me. I’m not one to follow “the norm” which is why I decided to use [public place] as an asset in my career search. There isn’t a better place to network than the lunchtime hub of the York business community. Please be sure to share this posting with your friends and read through my other public postings about the recent loss of my job. I’m definitely not wasting any opportunity.”

We recently held a job fair at the church I’m the pastor of we had over 700 people! It was a little unique being right in the downtown area, so there were people there who may not have been able to get out to job fairs that are held on the outside of the city. This is evidence that there are a lot of people that are still looking. This job fair was partly the result of an employment support group that we have been facilitating at the church for about 3 years. Also partnering with some other social service agencies and government entities. One thing I share with people at the employment group is that it is all about networking, that about 70% of jobs are being found by people who are referred by others. It is not job boards, it is not ads! The reality is this, a Human Resources persons has a bunch of tasks to do, hiring is one of them and it’s one they want to deal with as expeditiously as possible. I was on the Board of Directors for a non-profit, volunteer, unpaid, working on my own time. We had to hire a new executive director, one rather innocent ad, produced 100 resumes for a position that was rather unique. Now you can imagine posting a job opportunity for a position that’s rather generic, you are going to get hundreds of resumes. This is going to mean a lot of work for a person that has a lot of things to do and for this position there are a lot of people who are equally suitable to fill the position. People, even now, when there is a little tightening in some areas of the job market, don’t have to go looking for people. They can put out the word in their company or in certain discreet areas and they will get enough suitable resumes in short order. Here’s the deal! You want to find a new job? Get with a group, network with people who know you and can give you good leads. In that group you will be helped to develop some effective strategies. We’ve had about 40 people who have gone through the group, maybe 4 of them never really got anywhere. Yea, modest numbers, but it is effective, we just celebrated one of our members getting a rather upper level job with the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It was a big win for him and for the group. Be a part of a group, go with what’s worked for others in the group, afterwards continue to support the group and help others to network. I spent 20 years in corporate finance, I spent 29 years in the Coast Guard Reserve doing search and rescue, law enforcement, naval coastal warfare. I’ve always worked in teams, to be a part of a team. It really baffles me how people cannot seem to work as a part of a group, especially those who claim to be “team players” on their resume. There are not a lot of team players out there, I think a lot of people would really benefit from taking time to really learn and support each other instead of thinking they’re the Lone Ranger. You’re making the process a lot harder. Our employment group meets at First St Johns Church 140 W King St York, Pa, Thursday mornings at 11am. It’s up to you, you can sit and wait or you can work on strategies that are going to get you somewhere. HR people are just way too busy to eat lunch, no less go search someone out, they don’t have to, they get plenty of resumes from people who are strategic and systematic in their employment search.

Questions can often only be answered by doing and not fussing.

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Having been a still, relatively, recent seminary graduate, Master of Divinity (2010 – Concordia Seminary St Louis, Mo.), I think I can comment with some authority on Henry Blackaby’s comment”…merely ‘talking about the Christian pilgrimage is not sufficient. We must actually set out on the journey! We can spend many hours debating and discussing issues related to the Chritian life, but this means little if we never actually step out and follow Christ!” (“Experiencing God day by day” p 24). Yea and amen, it doesn’t just apply to seminary students, although it seemed as if too many thought that ministry was all about sitting around thinking great thoughts and then on Sunday morning coming down to dispense their great wisdom. Yea, well neither one applies to anyone that I met, and I think that after 4 years of actual ministry (my anniversary was this past August), I think I can say with some authority that I didn’t meet any students that had many, if any great thoughts.
The same can be said for many who have spent years, decades in the church. Sure we are to study Scripture, right up until they are throwing dirt on our face, but as Blackaby writes “Christianity is not a set of teachings to understand. It is a Person to follow. As he walked with Jesus, Andrew watched Jesus heal the sick, teach God’s wisdom, and demonstrate God’s power. Andrew not only learned ‘about’ God; he actually experienced Him!”
OK, point taken Christianity is about being a disciple, unless you are in unusual circumstances, discipling means being taught by another person and teaching another person, at the same time. While also continuing to study and be encouraged by Scripture.
I disagree that “Christianity is not a set of teachings to understand…” Yea, it really is, you always have Jesus and He will disciple you, but there may be unusual times when you just have Scripture and no one to disciple, be discipled by. Certainly we turn in prayer to God and are guided by the Holy Spirit. But point taken, bottom line being a Christian is being in relation with Jesus.
In that discipling relationship there will no doubt be questions. Certainly it is our nature to have our questions answered before we start out. In the Coast Guard you had these guys who had to have every question answered before they got underway, generally they just got shoved out the door. You can stand around talking it to death or you can get underway, get on scene, and you will get answers and rely on your training, experience and greater minds at the station to address the situation. In the meantime, yapping about it at the station and instead of getting there produces very little.
In my Christian walk it has been uncanny how many times the answers have come while I was in the process. Sometimes they wouldn’t come until after you were settled in the lane you were guided to travel and realize that the only way those questions could have been answered was to actually follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and play it out. I’ve had many experiences of looking back and thinking “ohhhh, that’s how that was supposed to be, that’s so cool, I would have never have thought that.” Like it or not, the Holy Spirit is going to do it much better than you and in a way that often just leaves you in awe. “I would never have done it that way.”
Despite what you think, you are not entitled to answers to everything, often the whole point is for you to get underway and the answers come. Your growth comes in being guided by the Spirit, getting answers on the way and it’s the only way it could have happened.
Many think that they have a “choice”, well yea, the right way (God’s way) or the wrong way (your way). Some people like to go to God with an attitude of; “You answer all my questions, give me your pitch and then I”ll think it over and get back to you.” As if God’s Son is some kind of vacuum cleaner salesman.
Blackaby suggests that Jesus might say, ‘Put on your shoes, step out onto the road and follow Me.’ As you walk daily with Him, Jesus will answer your questions, and you will discover far more than you even knew to ask.”
Get off your high horse, listen, quit quibbling. There are no better offers and when you really submit yourself to God and trust in His Word instead of listening to your own, often, pompous nonsense, you will find that you really do understand, and that you aren’t even close to really understanding. That you realize you don’t need to know everything. You can trust Jesus and His Lordship and you can get on with what you need to do.

Our identity is in Jesus, not in our job title/description

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AJ Sherrill is the pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Manhattan, NY. In an earlier post I wrote about New York City being the unhappiest metropolitan area in the country. I haven’t seen any research, but NYC is the hub of those who seek to make their fortune. Let’s face it only so many are going to do that, the vast majority are going to fall short. When you’ve staked everything on achieving what only a few will realize, the result will usually be unhappiness, or however else you want to characterize the despondency associated with “failure”.
May sound a little harsh and I’m not saying that is my perception, but it is the perception of many in the world, particularly those people that supposedly “matter”. When we have staked everything on our “success”, it leaves very little room for anything else in our life; family, integrity, self-fulfillment, God.
Pastor Sherrill quotes Abraham Kuyper (Leadership Journal Summer 2014 p84), “the 20th century Dutch journalist, theologian and politician. His famous proclamation, ‘There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: Mine!” “…is the reminder that should resound in the ears of every Christian in the workforce.”
Let’s face it, that is not the case. As soon as most of us hit the threshold at church, we have to beat the Baptists to “Country Buffet”, get home for football and then try to relaxe before we get back to the “real” world on Monday. Hey I’m not disputing that you have to work hard and focus on your career. I’ve never said you shouldn’t, but when you become so immersed, may I even say obsessed, you lose your identity in the Body of Christ and you become your job title/description. “…far too many are over-identified with their work as the context to achieve identity rather than express identity. When our identities are not settled in Christ, we subconsciously put them up for negotiation – and that negotiation is usually based on our ‘success’ or ‘failure’ we experience in the marketplace. Am I good enough? Is my future secure?”
When we lose our identity to anything/one, other than Christ we are already at risk to being dragged back into the cares and temptations of the world. We trust in God’s providence and sovereignty in our life, not how the workplace treats us. My experience in the corporate and military world has been that as a Christian you’re often not going to be treated “fairly”. It’s not necessarily an issue of success and failure, you may be marginalized because of your faith. So what does that mean? You give up? As Pastor Sherrill points out: “Unitl Christians in the workforce find freedom from over-identification they will only view work as meaning, while never getting around to approaching work as mission.” This is Christian integrity, I’m certainly not telling you can’t be all you can be in your vocation, you should be. As I’ve discussed before working for your “master” as if you are working for Christ. But to maintain your integrity, your identification has to be in Christ. You can be a good/great Indian chief, but being a great Indian chief in Jesus is what we strive for.
Pastor Sherrill quotes Richard Rohr: “When you get your ‘Who am I/” question right, all the ‘What should I do’ questions (begin to) take care of themselves.” Perhaps in terms of how I can be a great Indian chief for Jesus, instead of just great for my own fame, fortune and personal fulfillment.
This is a challenge we face in all our areas of life, how to be a Christian, father, husband, child, employee, citizen, but the workplace is what dominates so much of our life and is probably the area that encourages us to shed our Christian identity. It’s as if the workplace is not what Kuyper says, Jesus only can claim ‘mine’ to the time outside of the office. Of course that erosion continues to the point where we only see ourselves as Christians on Sunday morning and for only a few hours then. Jesus lived a life of integrity and sacrifice. What we presume to offer back two, maybe three hours at a church where we think we should be comfortable and entertained. This is for the men, speaking to you I’d like to say this is not being the strong man of integrity. This is an attitude of entitlement and frankly presuming to think that it’s all about you and that you are in control. If you are at any point of being a mature man, you know that you are not really in control. When we know that God is in control, that He does love us, but He also expects us to step up and be strong, courageous, and to act with Christian integrity in all of the areas of our lives. There is no integrity in the attitude where you throw Jesus some crumbs, expecting that it really results in your comfort and pleasure, especially when we remember what He did for us.
Let’s keep talking about it, Wednesday mornings 10 am at First St Johns, we have coffee and some sort of pastry, good discussion, we’re still going through Dr Gene Veith’s book, and a way to break up the week to be built up and restored in Jesus. 140 W King St, park right behind the church.