Thursday, July 29, 2010

July 29, 2010

You may, or may not, have noticed that you didn't receive a "choir devotion" this last week. That's because there wasn't one. Well, there was one, it just never made its way from my "chicken-scratch" notes to my computer to your computer. For a number of reasons my computer access was limited last week, but the predominant reason was the fact that I was with my family on two different "getaways." During these trips we traveled over a thousand miles of Illinois and Wisconsin roadway and we probably saw over a thousand different billboards along the side of the road. One particular series of billboards caught my eye. Maybe you have seen them too. Here are some examples:

- a picture of Michael J. Fox - the word optimism - the phrase "Determined to outfox Parkinson's" - followed by the phrase: "Pass It On"

- a picture of Fred Rogers - the word friendship - the phrase "Won't you be my neighbor?" - followed by the phrase: "Pass It On"

- a picture of Ben Franklin - the word ingenuity - the phrase "Go fly a kite" - followed by the phrase: "Pass It On"

- a picture of Shrek - the words believe in yourself - the phrase "Ogre achiever" - followed by the phrase: "Pass It On"


You get the picture (and the words and phrases too).

Our Old Testament lesson for this upcoming Sunday is the account of Abraham "looking not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others," (Philippians 2:4), as he was having a conversation with God regarding the immediate future for the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham prayed and then he prayed again and then he prayed again and then he prayed again and then he prayed again and then he prayed again. If you count - that's six separate times he prayed about the same thing. "Then Abraham spoke up again..." (Genesis 18:27a) You could call that kind of praying persistent.

By now your eyes may have found the picture below of the familiar figure from American history - another Abraham - Abraham Lincoln. I saw the billboard pictured below on the drive home this past Sunday. Abraham Lincoln failed a number of different times that he ran for various state and federal offices, but by being persistent, he ended up changing the course of America forever. We would have to tweak the billboard a little bit, (and I suppose we would have a problem in finding a picture of the Abraham from Genesis) but Abraham, and his prayer style that we find in Genesis 18, could be the "poster boy" for persistent prayer - persistent prayer that changed the course of Sodom and Gomorrah history forever - at least for Lot.

Instead of "Failed, failed, failed," our Abraham billboard would have the phrase, "succeeded, succeeded, succeeded." When God answers our prayers by giving us what we ask for, it is of course appropriate to appreciate the blessing and praise and thank him for it, but then do we just settle? Have you ever tried to push the envelope with prayer and ask for even more? After all, we have a God who wants to graciously give us ALL things that work out for our good! (Romans 8:32 and Romans 8:28) In our Gospel Lesson for this upcoming Sunday is the familiar passage, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Luke 11:9) I was told once that something is lost in the NIV translation of this passage, it really could read, "keep on asking... keep on seeking... keep on knocking..." Abraham in his prayer doesn't settle - he "keeps on" as he is persistent in his prayers and lets God decide how far the envelope can be pushed. Something that Abraham clearly kept in mind is that our God is Omnipotent and he can take what we ask for and do more than we can even imagine with our requests. Paul told the Ephesian Christians in his letter to them that, "[Our God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." (Ephesians 3:20a) Let's remember to pray with persistence, knowing that when we keep on asking and when it's God's will, we will receive more than we can even imagine. Then we can share that value of a persistent prayer life with others who are watching us. Let's pray with the persistence of Abraham and then "Pass It On."

Saturday, July 17, 2010

July 15, 2010

"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:10-14)

Tis' the season for summer camps - including sports camps. Lebron James, who is considered to be one of the greatest basketball players in the business today, will be holding a 5-day basketball camp for teenagers in a couple of weeks in San Diego, CA, called "King's Academy" - at a cost of over $3,500 per camper! For most of us that's probably almost a month's wages - proving that learning from one of the greats can be costly. The apostle Paul was one of the greatest apostles of his day. If Paul were to hold a camp, Colossians 1:10-14 could be used as a camp mission statement and goal outline for an apostle Paul camp. Instead of calling Paul's camp "Kings Academy," we'll call his camp: "Kingdom Academy." Through the power of the Holy Scriptures, we have the amazing opportunity to attend "Kingdom Academy" free of charge!

Lebron's camp might be calculated to target a specific weakness of his campers, such as rebounding or ball handling. It's likely that Paul's words to the Colossians here were written to address specific issues with his campers of his day- the church in Colosse. But because Paul isn't the only mentor at camp - because our very God the Holy Spirit is also a coach at "Kingdom Academy," we can be sure that this camp is as applicable for us today as it was for the Colossians. This chunk of Scripture too, "is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16). So we too can benefit from time spent camping in "Kingdom Academy." Let's take a few minutes of our summer now to join our fellow campers of of the Kingdom in listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul.

Because God the Father carried out his worldwide rescue mission through the work of his son Jesus, the Colossian campers were in the camp of the redeemed - the camp of the kingdom of light - and so are we. The mission statement for the redeemed campers of "Kingdom Academy" is to learn how to "live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way." Paul goes on to provide 3 examples of how we can accomplish this.

1. "bearing fruit in every good work."

2. "growing in the knowledge of God."

3. "being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might."


Imagine that you are given a small potted fruit tree and your goal is to get it to produce a bunch of fruit. If you were to take the tree and find the darkest confines of your basement and if you were to decide to only bring it out for one hour once a week to give it light and water, then how much fruit would you expect to be find growing on your tree? How strong would your tree be? Would your tree be growing at all? Would your tree still be alive? Many "Christians" get their only dose of Spiritual water and light for one short hour on Sunday morning and then during the other 167 hours in the week, their faith is left out to dry in the dark basement - in the dominion of darkness. Paul's 3 examples of how we can please the Lord are very much intertwined and they all have to do with faith and faith strengthening. The more we grow in the knowledge of God, the more our faith itself will grow and the more our faith will show and bear fruit in what we do. The more we grow in the knowledge of God, the more we will be strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, and we will come to realize more and more that, "[we] can do everything through him who gives [us] strength." (Philippians 4:13). We get more light and water to our fruit bearing faith tree when we grow in the knowledge of God by digging into his Word. "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17)

But why would we want to do any of this? Why would we want to waste our precious free time on camping at "Kingdom Academy" or why would we want to waste our precious time on taking other opportunities to grow in faith? Because of what He has already done for us. The Gospel message and what it means for us motivates us to want to learn more about our God who loves us so much. The more we learn about how much God loves us, the more we will want to show love to God by obeying his commands. We will to want to "live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way." Paul spells out exactly what God has done for those in the Kingdom, as he spells out that Gospel message very beautifully for us right here in these verses from Colossians: "the Father, has qualified [us] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

As campers we remember that our current living arrangements are only temporary, and our permanent residence -our inheritance as saints - awaits us in the eternal kingdom of heaven. In the mean time, while we camp, as part of the strengthening process as we grow in the knowledge of God, He gives us, "great endurance and patience." Then we are able to, and will want to join the Psalmist in exclaiming: "I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for your salvation, O LORD, and I follow your commands." (Psalm 130:5 and Psalm 119:166)

Taking ALL of this into consideration, we will certainly want to "joyfully [give] thanks to the Father," which brings us full circle back to the camp mission statement - to "live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way."

At the end of camp, Lebron James will likely advise his campers in "King's Academy" to take home what they have learned and practice it. Paul would have likely advised the campers of "Kingdom Academy" that: "Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:9) May we all put into practice what we have learned today from the Holy Spirit through the words of the great Apostle Paul as we strive more and more each day to "live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way."

Thursday, July 8, 2010

July 8, 2010

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation." (Galatians 6:14-15)

Have you ever watched the ABC television program called "Extreme Makeover Home Edition?" I have caught snippets of a few episodes and from what I have gathered, the producers of the show find a family who they feel needs or deserves, because of some family calamity, to have their home completely made over, or in some cases totally demolished, and rebuilt fantastically new. How ridiculous would it be if a family on this show would start boasting as though they personally had something to do with them ending up with a home rebuilt new? Really, the one and only reason the family ends up with a fantastic new home in the end is because the television program producers give them one.

Because of the sinful world we live in, there are more than a few families that could be added to the list of families who could benefit from the help of the "Extreme Makeover." Because of sin itself, each and every member of each and every family that has ever lived in this world is on the list of those who certainly don't deserve, but absolutely need the most extreme -extreme makeover. All have sinned and everyone is on the list of people who need to have their "old Adam" torn down and demolished to make room for the "new creation" - the new creation that is able to exist only because of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we realize that the only way to have this new creation built within us is through our Lord Jesus Christ; when we realize that it's NOT a "do it yourself project;" when we realize that it's not a "do it with help project;" when we realize that it's not even a "help the doer project;" then we will realize that we have nothing to boast about and we will realize that our only hope is to, "trust in the LORD with all [our] heart and lean not on [our] own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5) When we trust in the LORD with all our heart and boast only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are then "in Christ, and "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Those who have a new creation within them - those who have faith, will one day experience yet another extreme makeover. They will one day leave the tears of this world and enter the fantastically new world of heaven to dwell with God forever. "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:3-4) And the one and only reason any of us will one day end up with a fantastic new home in the mansions of heaven, and not in the hell that we deserve, is because the Creator and Producer of the entire universe gives us our new home in heaven - we have nothing to boast about. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) No one can boast, unless they are boasting in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ which has given us the most extreme makeover ever.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

July 1, 2010

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:25)

I am a tall guy - 6 feet 4 1/2 inches to be exact. So when I take a walk with one of my daughters, you could say that it is a "tall order" for them to attempt to keep up with me - to keep in step with me. What we find here in Galatians 5 is a very tall- "tall order" - to "keep in step with the Spirit." David tells us in one of his songs of praise that, "As for God, his way is perfect..." (2 Samuel 22:31) Jesus told his disciples to, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48) None of us is actually capable of keeping up with the perfection of the Spirit's pace, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23) - all have gotten out of step with the Spirit. All of us get tripped up and stumble around - "we all stumble in many ways." (James 3:2a).

We have all stumbled and strayed from the perfect step that was demanded. Thankfully our salvation is not up to us or our own footwork. Thankfully, we have a Savior who walked the road for us, in perfect step. We have a Savior who ended up with holes in his feet, not because he took the scenic path and his sandals wore out, but because his steps on this earth led him to a cross where nails were driven through his feet - where he paid for all the times we stumbled - for all the times we were out of step and turned to walk in our own way. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6) Jesus tackled the tallest "tall order" ever - to rescue each and every one of the lost sheep - to buy back each and every lost soul in the entire world.

Speaking of the world, the world has its own step patterns. When we are keeping in step with the Spirit and walking in obedience to God's commands, we will be walking in the opposite direction of those who follow the step pattern of the world. Paul instructs us in Romans, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world." (Romans 12:2a) It's a "tall order" to try and walk through a crowd in the opposite direction of everyone else in that crowd - in fact it's tiring. But just as I never leave one of my daughters in the dust when they are tiring from trying to keep in step with me, so God our Father doesn't leave any of his children in the dust. We are promised that, "those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

Knowing that it's not up to our own footwork, we should be able to walk around however we want, right? Yes, BUT, don't we want to say thanks and show our love to the one who has taken the pressure off of our feet? "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands." (2 John 1:6) We have the freedom to walk around however we want. But because God has conquered the tallest of "tall orders" in his work of redeeming us who have stumbled in many ways, so that we will one day be able to step into heaven - and because God continues to care for us as he gives us the strength to continue taking life in this world one step at a time, let's show our love to our God. "Let's keep in step with the Spirit."