Sailors, Saints, & Sinners

The Next 40 Days …

This past weekend as a church we suggested some significant steps for our folks to take over the next 40 days.  Steps of alignment behind our Lord Jesus; steps of persistence that will hopefully form some new spiritual habits; and steps of faith that will honor God and fill us with more of His presence.

1) Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. Over the next 40 days we’re just challenging ourselves to read God’s Word to learn more about Jesus and how we are to follow Him.  {This averages out to reading about 3-4 chapters per day.}

2)  Pray and fast in a bold, new way. We have the 24/7 prayer option online AND the 24:00 prayer service on Dec. 1-2.  We are will seek to fast from something (food, internet, Facebook, TV, etc.) on Wednesday, Dec. 1st.  The bottom line: just commit to praying more and praying with greater boldness for God to show up in your life!

3)  Sacrifice and invest your money for the Gospel and glory of Christ. As a church we are taking up a special offering on Dec. 2nd/5th.  Portions of this offering will go to campus needs and another portion to missions. However, there are many other ways to take this step.  Just pray and ask God for direction about where to give AND how much!

4)  Spend an hour together as a family/couple with God. We are very intentional about helping our kids be better students and athletes. Many of us take regular “date nights” to invest in our marriages.  However, how intentional are we about growing as family closer to Christ? How much time is spent on “training” our children to go the Lord’s way?

• Every week our Children’s Ministry sends something home to parents to help reinforce the lesson and use for family devotionals.  You can use this as a tool to teach your children about the Bible and Jesus.
• In Student Ministry, our web site contains information for parents about each week’s topic and the “devotional” activity your teenager is asked to do on their own.  Click here for more details.

5)  Do intentional and consistent disciple-making. Invite people to church; share Christ with someone; get in a small group or go on a global mission trip.  Just be intentional about sharing the love and truth of Jesus Christ!!

• The Story is a great way to share Christ with others!
• On November 18/21 we start a new series on the end of times.  This is a VERY popular topic and a GREAT TIME to invite someone to church with you!!
• For more on small groups — groups@rockbridge.cc
• Global Mission Trips

6)  Share what happens. Just talk about the next 40 days in your family, with your small group, or on your campus Facebook page.

Follow Me Bonus Feature: People Who Never Hear

In every message or series there are always things that cannot be covered in great detail.  One subject that I am hearing a lot of “chatter” about is the issue of people who never hear about Jesus.  We have taught in this series that people who do not hear about Jesus are not innocent and thus will experience eternity apart from God.  Here is a detailed explanation of this biblical fact.

All people have knowledge of God and still reject God.

This means that there are NO INNOCENT people in the world.  Whether we have knowledge of Jesus’ existence or not, we are ALL still eternally sick with sin.  Therefore, the person who has never heard about Jesus is STILL guilty for his/her sins. Romans 3:10 clearly states that no one is righteous.  But the Bible also states that people do have knowledge of God and that they reject this knowledge. Romans 1:18-20 is the key verse explaining this and ends with the very clear statement that “men are without excuse.”  Not hearing about Jesus does not make a sinner innocent.  We are without excuse and in need of salvation — all of us.

God has made a way of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.

The Bible is clear that only because of God’s merciful provision of His Son Jesus do any of us have any hope.  There are 2 important considerations here and both should drive us to our knees in humble worship:

1)  God did not have to save anyone and that would have been fair and just and right.  Why? We are ALL hopelessly sinful.  I think it is dishonoring to God to question the method or exclusivity of Jesus Christ as if God owes us salvation or should let us determine how salvation should be offered. Salvation cost Jesus His life!  God is more than fair and His mercy is incomprehensible.  We should worship Him, not question Him.  And if we are really concerned about justice and salvation for people, we should give our time, our money, and our efforts to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ locally and globally as God commands.

2) God’s ways are higher and better than our ways.  In discussing the “Jesus is the only way” topic, many people start saying that is not fair or not right.  That means we are putting ourselves above God and allowing our limited, finite, and fallible perspectives to trump God.  Who is the highest authority in our lives — us or God? Our viewpoint or the Scriptures?  Do we not believe that God is the ultimate definition and decider of what is “right”? Do we not believe that God is God?  When God has provided His Son to make a way for salvation, do we really want to have a “fairness” debate with God?!?

Sometimes I fear this entire discussion reveals that we do not take God’s right to be God seriously and/or we lessen the urgency and importance of sharing Christ with people.  Interestingly, these 2 things are mentioned in Romans. Romans 1:23 says we will reject the true God for false images that look like us or like created things.  In other words, we make ourselves our God!!  Romans 10:14 states that if we do not preach Jesus then people will not hear and thus not be saved.  Therefore, we must resist any temptation to make ourselves into the final authority about matters of salvation and to make the Great Commission optional.

What about young children who die?

I think the Bible is actually pretty clear on this point as well.

First, according to Romans 1 people must have the capacity for God to be “known” and to be made “plain” so that the existence of God can be “understood” (see Romans 1:19-20).  Therefore, this implies that young children and people with certain mental handicaps would be excluded from God’s wrath and somehow covered by Christ’s atonement.

Second, when King David’s son died shortly after he was born, David’s words tell us that that child went to be with the Lord:  ”…now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” {2 Samuel 12:23}.  David believes that when he dies, he “will go to” be with his son who now is with God.

The Fullness of the Holy Spirit

Every Tuesday our staff spends extended time in prayer together.  This week we focused on being “full of the Holy Spirit” as we recognize more than anything else we need a greater manifestation of the Holy Spirit in our lives, our families, our church, our ministries, and our community.  Below is the prayer guide we used.

“The work of God is not by might of men or by the power of men but by His Spirit. The philosophies of men fail, but the Word of God in the demonstration of the Spirit prevails.  The resources of the church are in the “supply of the Spirit” [Phil. 1:19 KJV].  It is for the church to explore the resources of the Spirit; the resources of the world are futile.” {Samuel Chadwick}

Obtaining the Fullness of the Holy Spirit [Ephesians 5:18b]

REPENT

If we want to know the presence of the Holy Spirit, we must live a life of repentance.  As soon as conviction comes, repent. Turn from sin and find forgiveness and cleansing in the blood of Christ.

As soon as people cry out for a filling of the Spirit, there will be immediate conviction of sin.  People will be convicted of breaking God’s laws and also of spiritual apathy that has left them weak and powerless.

Several godly individuals have used questions like the ones below to help identify areas of repentance:

Questions to “examine” ourselves:

• Am I slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
• Am I enjoying prayer and Bible study?
• Do I pray about the money I spend?
• Do I insist on doing anything about which my conscience is uneasy?
• How do I spend my spare time?
• Am I defeated in any part of my life?
• Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?
• Do I grumble and complain?
• Have you exposed yourself to any questionable material (entertainment choices, time with opposite sex other than your spouse, etc.)?
• Are you holding anything back from God that you need to surrender?
• Is there anything dampening your zeal for Christ?

BELIEVE

We must believe in the truth of God’s Word to understand that apart from Him we can do nothing. We must believe that He has promised us Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit so that we can experience Him and His power in our lives.

DESPERATELY ASK

We have not because we ask not (James 4:2).  If God were to respond in proportion to your asking, would He sense your desperate need for the Holy Spirit?  Would He conclude that you could not live without His life in you? Would He be convinced by your persistence in prayer that you want to live a Spirit-filled life (Luke 11:1-13)?

My Prayers for Rock Bridge: August 2010

I’ve been saddened by how my prayers lack persistence which probably shows I lack the “desire” or the passion for what I am asking.  God promises to give us what we ask when our desires are real and for His glory.  So help me pray persistently for things that glorify God. Here are my current (not comprehensive) prayers for our church:

• For the spirit of mammon (“more” stuff) to be broken and a spirit of generosity unleashed
  • For an unprecedented special offering in December
  • Doubling our missions giving in 2011.
• For our people to take a risk in God’s direction
• For the # of adults small groups in our church to double (~200)
• For several people in our church to become missionaries in another country
• For us to have an incredible baptism celebration with lots of changed lives and eternities on Sept. 19th
• For our church to make disciples (=people who follow Jesus; standby for next message series!) who make disciples.

Obey God No Matter What

Obeying God no matter what is one of the principles that I would love to be the basis for my life and am seeking to model & teach to my boys.

As I seek to “obey God no matter what”, I’ve discovered that obedience is not limited to what we don’t do (the thou shalt not’s), nor is obeying God is not always black & white or as simple as the 10 Commandments and the Golden Rule.  There are perhaps four types of obedience we must be aware of to actually “obey God no matter what” –

OBVIOUS OBEDIENCE: this probably gets the bulk of our attention & most of us know if we are obeying or disobeying God in this category because it is obvious.  Either we feel good about ourselves (“I don’t drink or smoke or chew, or hang with guys who do!”) or we feel guilty because we don’t measure up.  Obvious obedience includes things like the Ten Commandments and treating people right.

OPPORTUNISTIC OBEDIENCE … this is when a door opens and we have an opportunity to live for God that we did not have before.  Things like inviting a friend to church, praying for someone in need, being generous (more than the tithe, the tithe is obvious) with extra money, and taking the initiative to do the right thing (see James 4:17).  This type of obedience requires being alert, being prepared, and being bold.

We must look for God to open doors (see Colossians 4:2-4), be ready to go through them (i.e. When God opens the door for a single to begin dating, is their character ready? When God opens the door for you to share Jesus with someone, do you have the knowledge to explain why your hope is in Christ?), and we must have courage because opportunistic obedience requires us to seize the moment for God.

LIGHT YOU HAVE OBEDIENCE– Often times we will never have all the facts, all the information, or the level of certainty we would like.  But God always gives us enough light to take the next step of obedience.  Sometimes God works like a flashlight does on a dark trail.  We have enough light to take two, maybe three steps but as we take those steps the light moves ahead of us and so we keep moving.  This means we don’t need to worry about all the things we don’t know, just respond to the light we have.  This keeps us moving and keeps us from regret.  The underlying principle here is that the amount of light we have at any given moment is not nearly as important as what we are doing with that light.  (Psalm 89:15)

ENDURING OBEDIENCE is being consistent in your walk.  We can’t be hot and then cold.  We can’t seize opportunities and walk in the light today and tomorrow be afraid to obey and drawn to darkness. We can’t love our neighbor (obvious obedience) on Monday and curse him on Tuesday (obvious disobedience).  Enduring obedience is obeying God in “all of the above” categories which ultimately leads us closer and closer to God, God’s best, and God’s blessings.

Too Easily Satisfied

One of Satan’s most effective tactics is to get us to settle for the good instead of God’s best.  The forbidden fruit was “good … pleasing … and desirable” (see Genesis 3:6) yet it cost Adam & Eve God’s best.  This is true for all sin.  Initially, sin seems good and pleasurable, but ultimately it proves very costly.

The Bible teaches us that the highest satisfaction we can discover is in Christ alone, the greatest pleasure we can experience comes from God, and that the greatest desire we can have is for God.

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. [Psalm 16:11]

Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight. [Psalm 119:35]

For most of us “joy”, “pleasures”, and “delight” are not something we typically associate with God.  So we look for those things in money, sex, food, other people, careers, hobbies, and entertainment choices.  And those things may be good or at least seem okay, but we’ll never enjoy God’s best if those are what we “settle for”.  We become too easily satisfied while our senses are deadened and our ability to enjoy God is dulled.

I was thinking through some of the highest and greatest satisfactions my life … and to be honest I have at times been satisfied with sin.  However, the highest and greatest pleasures for me have come from God.

• Marrying my wife, Beth.  She is God’s gift to me.
• Starting Rock Bridge Community Church. Hard, challenging … but WOW!!!
• Times in worship when I have literally sensed God’s manifest presence … I could have done it forever if my knees, feet, back, and voice could have endured! (Most recently for me this happened at the last Disciple Now 2010 service.)
• The times when I preach and absolutely know that it is not I who speak, but God.
• Moments in prayer when the still, small voice of God comes through loud and clear and God’s presence is tangible in my heart.
• When I read the Bible and have an “AHA!” moment of clarity and insight.

What about you? In what ways are you too easily satisfied, settling for the good at the expense of God’s best?  When have you been completely satisfied by God?

I Get Into Trouble When …

“There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.” –Proverbs 14:12

“The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” –Proverbs 27:12

I did a little self-evaluation today, trying to be prudent and see how and when I get myself into trouble.  Very humbling exercise but hopefully it will prevent some suffering.

Here’s what I came up with … I get into trouble (mental, spiritual, relational, etc.) when …

• I forget God’s Word is powerful, sufficient, and true.
• I try to impress people.
• I try to prove myself to people.
• I let my emotions overrule my beliefs.
• I act like it all depends on me.
• I talk too much.
• I try to do important things or have meaningful conversations when I am hungry, angry, or tired.
• I am not still before God.

What God is Teaching Me: Striving or Yielding?

I think my favorite thing to do is to “try harder”.  I’m always striving to get better and constantly looking for ways to improve … so I work harder, pray longer, try and try again.  However, God is teaching me that this strategy is flawed and leads to frustration and failure.  Why?

Because God works by faith, not by works.  When I work, I compete with His work and negate faith.  God is honored and glorified by my faith, not my efforts.

The biblical strategy is to stop striving and start yielding to God.  Let God be God and respond to His work.  Here’s how this seems to be working itself out in my life:

• Instead of “working for” God, I “work with” God.  Big difference. When I work for God, He is like a boss that I can disappoint.  When I work with God, He is a partner and I seek to cooperate with His work in me and around me.
• I can busy or I can be in touch with God, never both.  God is not busy, He is God.  When I am in step with Him and yielding to His still, small voice, I am not rushed, busy, or anxious … I am fruitful, peaceful, and blessed.
• This does not mean I don’t put forth an effort or try or work.  It means my effort is in a direction He gives, in a cause He initiates, and in a plan He develops.

At least for me, the problem is rarely a lack of effort; it is normally a problem of failing to yield myself to God.