A Fresh Word

Apr 9

THE WAY OF THE MASTER

Romans 2:4
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

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I love the evangelical community. I thank The Lord for the richness and diversity of his Church. The small c catholic church has varying members with varying gifts.

A resurgence of evangelism and apologetics is occurring. Some of the brothers and sisters on the front lines are very very assertive! They are not ashamed and they are ready to fight the good fight! The church needs to get more aggressive and these are the people that He will use to take us there.

When ever there is a pendulum swing within the Body of Christ there is always an over correction though. We are leaving the passivity of the 20th Century and embarking upon a new attitude of evangelism. There is a new rabid dog type of evangelism that may be founded more in ego than the Spirit.

I have been told that “friendship evangelism” is wrong and we must be willing, no determined to offend first. Ray Comfort’s style of evangelism has taken over. We must confront with the Law first and then bring in the Good News…this is now the ONLY Way to evangelize.

While the Spirit has led and I am sure will continue to lead me to be confrontational, experience tells me that is not the only way though. What my aggressive brothers fail to remember is that we(the evangelists) are just one stop in a Holy Assembly Line. Gods goodness leads to repentance as well. Every evangelist doesn’t have to offend because we don’t know what has been done by God before we lay eyes on a lost soul.

Let me share a story of how this can work:

I once worked with the happiest and most non-confrontational guy. I considered him spineless because he wouldn’t stand up to the “customers” that we both served. This gentleman frustrated me cause he seemed like such a people pleaser. I falsely judged him and as a result I was unfair to him.

This guy never preached to me about my unfairness or any other sin. He regularly talked about Jesus(with Joy) and returned my evil with his kindness. The more he just “was” the angrier I became.

After a particularly kind deed that this person performed…I just broke down and cried in private. His witness brought me closer to Jesus. He reminded me what the walk of Christ was all about. Thru his life….I was convicted to change my attitude.

I want to make it clear. I believe in this new confrontational style evangelism. We need more of this in the Body. However to push only one way to share our faith is to make a mistake. Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch is one way. Stephen preparing to be stoned is another way.

Being aware of a process can be edifying.

Relying on The Holy Spirit to lead you will always be fruitful.

The Fab Five

I love the commentary of Jalen Rose and his podcast YouTube Network called, “Grantland”. He is very truthful and he gives you the fresh scoop that you are not going to hear anywhere else. In 2013, he is doing some good things.

When I hear him talk about the Fab Five though…I feel sorry for him. In ministry I have always wondered how someone can be in a form of hell and still be unrepentant. I see how thru Jalen Rose.

When you build a life, a religion or a legacy off of evil behavior it’s difficult to separate yourself from that. Jalen blames “the man”, the NCAA, Chris Webber and/or the Michigan Faculty for the historical diminishment of the Fab Five. Twenty years later he still doesn’t see that the Fab Fives problem was/is the Fab Five!

The fundamental tenets of sportsmanship are derived from the Bible. The Fab Five thrashed those principles. Thou shalt not lie is a biblical command. The Fab Five were exposed as liars. Their defense for lying is two fold: They wanted their cut of the money that was being made by the university and/or everyone was doing it.

The Fab Five and I are the same age. I am not judging them for youthful indiscretions. What they did under the national spotlight, I was doing in obscurity. I can’t judge.

However here is a difference. In 1997 Jesus showed me the error of my ways. I don’t reminisce about “the ole days” and tell people about how I had it going on.

Before salvation, there must be repentance. Repentance means to change direction. You can’t change when you glorify your past poor decisions.

You want a better future? It begins with saying, “I was wrong!l

Apr 7

I just watched one of the greatest cinematic productions that I have ever seen. The Life of Pi is an explosion of color and creativity. The movie is truly beautiful. The story and characters are quite compelling as well.

The Devil invested a lot in this movie. This is what he specializes in. He makes evil look so compelling. The quality of this movie is so unprecedented however the message is deadly to your soul.

This movie has two contrasting messages: all of the different religions believe in the same God and then (spoiler alert) the stories of God are all hyperbolic metaphor. The first message is relativism and the second smacks of atheism or at least deism.

Be careful what you watch! Be careful what you listen to! The Devil is sending you carefully wrapped messages and skillful messengers to gently pull you out of your faith.

The best writer on television is Shonda Rhimes. Think about and consider the message that she sends thru her stories. Does she have a Christian Worldview? The best most renown rapper is Jay Z. Do his lyrics lift up Christ? The best television shows are ones who mock the precepts of God. One of the most watched shows on tv is Modern Family. On that show an abomination is lifted up as “family”. The Devil sends you his best in order to bring you to your worst.

Once again….be careful. You won’t be persuaded to betray Jesus….with bad art.

Apr 5

Two NC officials recently tried to make Christianity the “official” religion of NC. Hey, I love me some Jesus but that is a bad idea.

First of all, which form of Christianity? We have more churches and more forms of Christianity in America than Chins in China. Which form of Christianity would you adopt?

Another problem with this idea is sheer numbers. If we Christians had UNITY and well over two thirds of the populace believing the same thing then an amendment making a religious assertion would not be a bad idea. However right now, we don’t have those numbers and we don’t have that unity. We don’t even have that unity on my Facebook page much less a whole state.

Bottom line, until we Christians do the work of an evangelist and/or apologist, we need to keep religion and state separated. Keeping the two separated protects the church as well. It would take an overwhelming plurality of the “people” being led by the Spirit of God in order to have a nation that righteously mixed religion and state.

Call me a pessimist but I don’t think we will get that until President Jesus returns!

Apr 3

Galatians 6:7
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
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In the nineties, I use to watch BET’s Comic View. A regular on that show was DL Hughley. I remember that he didn’t have any jokes, he just humiliated people in the crowd. I was unsaved at first an then just young in The Lord, so I use to think, “I would have to fight if he embarrassed me and mine like that”. Because of DL’s behavior, I have never gone near a comedy club.

Look at how things change. Hughley is now on Dancing With The Stars and he can’t dance a lick. The judges have tough words for his dancing and Hughley is angry because they are humiliating him now. What comes around goes around.

The bible talks about reaping what you sow.
Jesus died for our sins and that saves us from Hell Eternally. He doesn’t save us from reaping what we sow on this Earth.

Check out Dancing With The Stars. As you see DL publicly embarrassed, remember that while your sins are forgiven, God will allow you to be chastened with the same measure that you mocked others. We get away with nothing.

Let’s be kind and loving cause after all….God will have the last laugh!

Apr 2

$The picture is of Kevin Ware. As most of you know he is a college basketball player that just suffered a gruesome leg injury during the NCAA tournament. His leg broke in two for the most part. Some specialists are saying that there must have been a previous stress fracture present in order for the leg to break that badly. The fall itself was not that bad. Some even speculate that there could have been a cyst in the bone that could have provided structural weakness. I don’t know about what caused Kevin’s leg to break like that. It looked bizarre. I do know that the hypothesis provided by the specialists regarding a pre-existing condition is true regarding our character. We don’t have sudden extreme breaks in character. We have pre-existing stress fractures way before the big break. This is why the bible encourages us to deal with all sin swiftly and rapidly. This is why Paul says a little leaven leaven the whole lump. This is why Jesus says that if you lust in your heart you have committed adultery already. Little thought crimes one day lead to physical felonies. If you address your sin in the locker room while its a tiny stress fracture…you will avoid the horrid break during the tournaments of life!$

The picture is of Kevin Ware. As most of you know he is a college basketball player that just suffered a gruesome leg injury during the NCAA tournament. His leg broke in two for the most part.

Some specialists are saying that there must have been a previous stress fracture present in order for the leg to break that badly. The fall itself was not that bad. Some even speculate that there could have been a cyst in the bone that could have provided structural weakness.

I don’t know about what caused Kevin’s leg to break like that. It looked bizarre. I do know that the hypothesis provided by the specialists regarding a pre-existing condition is true regarding our character. We don’t have sudden extreme breaks in character. We have pre-existing stress fractures way before the big break. This is why the bible encourages us to deal with all sin swiftly and rapidly. This is why Paul says a little leaven leaven the whole lump. This is why Jesus says that if you lust in your heart you have committed adultery already.

Little thought crimes one day lead to physical felonies.

If you address your sin in the locker room while its a tiny stress fracture…you will avoid the horrid break during the tournaments of life!

Mar 29

Good Friday

Technically I always have reservations about “Good Friday”. Jesus was crucified 3 days and 3 nights away from His Resurrection. So if we are lifting up Sonday as His Resurrection Day then He couldn’t have been crucified on a Friday. (Do the math.)

I have learned with many Christian traditions to just keep quiet and kind of match the mood of my brothers and sisters in Christ. A higher principle is that Jesus wanted us to be unified. If my brothers and sisters want to be more pious today even if its based on a non-biblical tradition….at least folks are trying.

So as I reflect on this day and that day 2000 years ago, I am thinking about what Jesus went thru on the way to the cross. Men who told Him, “Jesus I got your back” were now swearing and doing anything possible to disassociate theirselves from Jesus. As Jesus went to the cross a relatively small group stayed with Him. For all the miracles and provisions that Jesus performed and provided….very few had His back in the end.

This week makes it easy to see how that could happen. Today in American Culture the attitude towards the Church has quickly changed from “Hosanna, Hosanna to crucify them!” We are widely considered to be bigoted, uneducated and hypocritical people. In every movie and in almost every TV show the “Christian” is the hateful bully or child molester. As a result, the attitude towards Christians taken in survey after survey of people under 26 is brutal. We are a generation away from Christian persecutions in America.

American media and corporations do not surprise me. That part doesn’t hurt. What hurts is the betrayal of so called “Christians”. I have many Christian friends who are claiming to love Jesus but this week as the traditional marriage definition goes down to defeat they are back pedaling from Gods Word so fast that they are falling all over themselves. They quote weak knee mega church pastors that have sold out years ago to justify their betrayal. They have no courage of their convictions. They want wordless churches with plenty of music and entertainment but no principles.

Here is the craziest part of their betrayal, some where along the way they stopped believing in the bible and didn’t tell anyone. I don’t understand how Christians can ignore large passages of the bible over a long period of time and still identify with Christianity.

I just wish that someone had told me that our fellowship was not real. I wish someone had told me that they really don’t believe in the bible and that church was all a social activity. I wish someone had told me that the bible was just a fairy tale book to them and communion wine and crackers.

Here is the good news to the sincere disciples: It looked bad on the night He was crucified and betrayed….but the world looked different to those few sincere disciples just a few days later. To my sincere roll dogs, things look bleak for Christians right now….but Jesus has planned a comeback tour! Hang in there!

Mar 27

Nike recently ran a Tiger Woods ad that says, “Winning takes care of everything!”
The not so subtle suggestion is now that Tiger Woods is winning golf tournaments again…all is forgiven.

The response to this ad has been fervent. Pastor Rick Warren tweeted the following:

Dear Nike & TIger: It is the #Cross of Jesus, not “winning”, that “takes care of everything.” @RickWarren

I quickly retweeted Warren’s comment concurring with his intent. I too grow frustrated with the world confusing achievement with character. I disagree with the old adage, “it’s not bragging if you can back it up.” No, it’s pride no matter how you slice it.

However I would like to take this opportunity to disagree with Pastor Rick on a few particulars. (I don’t disagree with his sentiment though.)

Particular #1 The cross does not take care of everything. Many people have died for a cause. King, Gandhi and countless others have died for what they believe. During Roman times, countless people died on a cross. Many people have died for you…only one person got up for you! We celebrate this Sonday cause the Son got up on that day!

Particular #2 Winning does take care of everything! Jesus Christ went into the ground a perceived failed prophet. Jesus went down a perceived LOSER! That was not the end of the story though. To use a golfing term, God has a great long game! The Sermon on the Mount is empty rhetoric until Jesus wins! The Last Supper has no significance until Jesus wins! The Holy Spirit descending bodily on Jesus to commence his ministry is dismissed as a delusion until Jesus wins!

Tiger and Nike are half right. Winning does take care of many things. The greater question is what are you winning at? You can win the trophies and money of this earth and silence the gossipy sycophants of this culture. One day though, we will stand before our Maker. For this reason, I compete for a Major Trophy that can not rust. I am winning cause I trust in the superstar that already won!

References:

long game
1. the aspect of golf considered in relation to the ability of a player to hit shots, especially drives, for distance.

Colossians 2

10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Matthew 6:19
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

Same Sex Marriage

Mark 12:17
And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.  ………………………………………
  Sometimes we in the church get trapped by our own non-biblical traditions. For years we have been bugging people about getting married and not “shacking up”. In our American Culture that meant getting a marriage license from the government & then getting a clergy member who has been sanctioned by the government to perform marriages. The clergy performs the wedding, signs the license and then sends the paperwork back to the government.

The non biblical portion of this, that the church backed for years, is the governments involvement. Jesus said, “what God has joined together, let no man put asunder” (paraphrase)! So if God put something together how can government magistrate over this divine institution?

Marriage use to be a tribal issue. As far as I can tell historically, governments involvement in marriage grew much later in civilization. Most would agree that governments interest in marriage grew from taxation and accounting policy.Lets examine how psychologically screwed up we are on this issue. In most minds, “Marriage is only ‘real’ when the government makes it real.” That’s garbage. Fidelity and Gods Will authenticate marriage.

Psychologically we have made government our divine arbiter. As a pastor I think I know why we hand over this institution to the government, I think I know why we are comfortable with the governments involvement. Deep in our hearts, we know the promises that we make to God are widely broken or forgotten. Most Christians that I know are not reliable. Just because a Christian tells you something doesn’t make it so. Likewise within the church there is very little accountability when people don’t keep their word. When some Christians tell me that they are going to be somewhere, I count them like a spade book, ‘They are…,a possible’!

This is why we are comfortable with government running marriage. We know that if its left up to Christian Faith alone, it won’t mean anything.

Are you a Christian frustrated with the same sex marriage issue? Well the answer to it has nothing to do with lesbians or homosexuals. Same sex marriage is not the problem, it is a symptom of the problem. The answer lies within the faith and integrity of the church!

If traditional marriage reforms itself, the same sex marriage issue diminishes.

If the Word of Christians once again begins to mean something, the same sex marriage issue diminishes.

If the local church becomes empowered and accountable one to another, the same sex marriage issue diminishes.

In closing, don’t blame the gays,
Just be real with your yeahs and nays!

Mar 26

Bow Down

Ephesians 3
12 Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. 13 So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.
14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father
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Beyonce recently released a song and video called “Bow Down”. In the song she frequently uses the term for a female dog and encourages the listener to bow down to her because she is rich and famous.

In the Scripture above I posted a message from the Apostle Paul. He bows down to a different person for a different reason. He states that he bows down to The Father because of what Jesus did for him and us. He bows down because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Because of Jesus, we have access to a holy God. Because of Jesus, despite our sins, we don’t need a religious figure to intercede on our behalf. Because of Jesus we will not be eternally damned but accepted as adopted sons eternally.

It’s also interesting to note Paul’s circumstances as he bows. He is bowing in a prison where all he would have to do to secure his release was renounce Jesus and bow to Caesar. He is bowing as an old man with a broken body. He is bowing in a prison filled with human waste. Regardless of the circumstances, the Apostle Paul bows!

For close to twenty years Beyonce has given her fans entertainment. At both Obama inaugurations “Bey” had some memorable moments. As the world defines great…she may be the greatest female entertainer.

When we contrast her desire to be revered to Paul’s reasoning for bowing down to Jesus, we are sobered or should be. Whether or not Beyonce should even be honored at all is a debate for another day. Does her commitment to excellence trump her questionable lyrics, suggestive dress and shallow persona? I don’t know, I love her grind but hate the end product. She’s dangerous because she makes sin look so respectable especially to young women in the church.

Bowing down though? I will reserve that for the Father and Jesus.