Today, we are going to continue our trek through Acts, I encourage you to take this seriously, get into the Word of life, open up your Bibles and let’s look at the Apostle Paul’s conversion.

How did you come to know Jesus as your Lord and your Savior? To be a Christian you must believe in Jesus, you must trust in Jesus and you must confess your sins to Jesus and you must commit to Jesus.

I was born into a “church going” family. We attended Memorial Baptist in Dayton regularly until I was about five years old. When I was five we moved about a half an hour away from that church, and my dad wanted to find a church closer to home. We went to Concord United Methodist Church a few times a year. We never became members, or even attended weekly. My family was still guided with Biblical principles and morals, although until I was sixteen, I was never involved in church more than a few times a year.

The day of my salvation was when I was seven years old and it was Christmas day, 1988. My parents had given my brothers and me a children’s Bible for Christmas. When I was about to go to bed that night I was staring at the picture of Christ on the cross. At this time, although no one was there to lead me in a prayer, God was there and changed my heart.  I was looking at the picture of Christ on the cross and moved with tears in my eyes thinking, “He did this for me!” I knew that I was a sinner in need of a Savior.

A few years later, my father had been taking my brothers and me to a Southern Baptist barber (Mr. Tarter). My brothers and I always tried to get him talking about the Bible because his knowledge amazed us. He was a strong Christian who was involved in prison ministry and even preached at church sometimes. One day he started telling my dad how he led a man to salvation the day before. He actually told us the prayer and I heard that prayer and I said it that night and every night during my devotion time until I got involved in a church and realized I only had to say it once. That used to be when I thought I became a Christian. Now, I know that was the verbal expression of my salvation.

Today, I wish to look at Paul’s conversion and maybe this will cause you to reflect on when you became a Christian. I wish to teach you this passage, but also I hope you all will be challenge to engage Christ, be converted to Christ (if you have not been), be consecrated to Christ and be in communion with Christ.  (The last two are where the real struggle seems to be for so many.)

Let’s read Acts 9:1-9:

Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ² and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³ As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” ⁷ The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing thevoice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

1. Contact: verse 3: in verse 3 we see Paul’s contact with Jesus. Notice he is still called Saul at this point.
   1. Paul was traveling along the road that led to Jerusalem. Paul was heading towards Damascus.
   2. Damascus was 135 miles northeast of Jerusalem. Now, think about that, Paul had all that traveling to do in order to imprison Christians.
   3. How hostile do you think he was? How much hatred do you think he had? For 6 days on foot he was traveling simply to imprison Christians. I would think his anger would wear off.
   4. Paul was attacking Christians and after Paul becomes a Christian he will need forgiven and he will be.
   5. As Paul was approaching Damascus, suddenly, a light from Heaven surrounded him.
   6. In 1 Corinthians 9:1 he says that he saw Jesus. (this same chapter verse 27 and 22:14)
   7. An interesting thought, the last person before Saul to see the resurrected Christ was Stephen. He said, “Look at that, I see the Son of God standing at the right hand of the Father,” (Acts 7:55) Everyone witnessed this.
   8. But if it isn’t grace to realize that the man standing there, in measure responsible for the stoning of Stephen, was, in the grace of God, the next one to see His glory. That’s how grace operates.
   9. Stephen prayed “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” (Acts 7:59-60) God answered, and God was gracious unto Saul. The heavens are opened one more time, and this killer, Saul, gazes into the glory and the person of Him whom he persecuted.
   10. The person who witnessed the first martyrdom when the last person saw Jesus, he is the next person to see the risen Lord!
2. Conviction: verse 4: Paul was convicted in verse 4.
   1. Now, I think that is conviction and his conversion are both in the white space in between these next few verses.
3. Conversion: verse 5
   1. Paul fell to the ground. Remember the previous chapter? The Ethiopian was converted on a chariot. Now, Paul is converted in dust.
   2. In verse 5, Paul calls Jesus Lord. This likely meant that Paul was simply calling him “sir,” but based off of the rest of this passage, I think he is being converted.
   3. There are a lot of crazy explanations for this event. Let me give you a few:
      1.                                                  i.      Renan, the Frenchman, says, “Well, it was an uneasy conscience with unstrung nerves, fatigue of the journey, eyes inflamed by the hot sun, and a sudden stroke of fever that produced the hallucination.”
      2.                                                ii.      Others say a thunderstorm just happened to hit at the very moment, and he was so overwrought by the guilt of his own conscience that he assumed it was God speaking to him and imagined the whole thing.
      3.                                             iii.      Others say, he had epilepsy.
      4.                                             iv.      I read that one thing about an epileptic that is to be noted is that an epileptic cannot remember anything that occurs during a fit, or a seizure. It’s amazing how Paul so well detailed what happened.
4. Consecration: (Acts 22:10)
   1. I told you how I was converted earlier. Let’s talk about my call to ministry.

When I was in ninth grade I started attending Northmont Community Church in Dayton, Ohio. God worked through this church and I started going to the youth group and the worship services at the end of ninth grade. In tenth grade I was baptized by immersion in this church.

In the fall of 1998 I started taking a thirty-six week Discipleship course taught by the Youth Pastor. I was responsible for completing accountability forms, meeting weekly with a prayer and accountability partner, completing hour long (in depth Bible studies), scripture memory and we had a lesson every week. I also joined the Ministry/Mission team of the youth group. This gave me an opportunity to take part in the leadership of the group. This team also did service projects. During Discipleship we had a lesson on God’s will in our lives. I had to ask friends to fill out a form about what I am good at, and what I am like. It was during this time that my Youth Pastor thought that I might be called into the ministry. I thought and prayed about it. We looked into spiritual gifts. The gifts of ministry appeared high for me. I remembered how much I loved dealing with the Bible, people, serving, ministering, teaching, planning, and all the things I had been exposed to that Pastors do. Over the next few years I realized and accepted God wanted me in professional ministry.

1. Look with me at Acts 22:10: And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’
2. I am sure that you noticed that Paul asked what he needed to do. This is when the Lord told Him that things are appointed for him and he will find out in Damascus.
3. I hope that you are challenged every day to be able to say, “Lord, what shall I do?” The Lord has things in store for you. He has a plan. Pray for opportunities.  
4. Communion:
   1. I heard the best illustration of Paul’s communion. This is not my idea, but I like it:

What was the last thing he ever saw? Jesus. Have you ever looked in the sun, and then everywhere else you look all you see is the sun? Or you had somebody take your picture and all…everywhere you look, flash. They say if you look at the sun long enough, you’ll be blind. An astronomer tried it, and he was. You know what I think? I don’t think Saul’s blindness was the blindness of darkness. I think it was the blindness of light. I think for three days all he ever saw was the Son, S-O-N, that he couldn’t get rid of the vision of Jesus. That’s all he ever saw.

So he spent three days getting acquainted. And I think that’s when all the old things died. And they died hard. And he didn’t yet understand forgiveness, either, and he would still have guilt.

Today, I hope you were taught some new thoughts regarding this passage, but also I hope you all have been challenged to engage Christ, be consecrated to Christ and be in communion with Christ. 

Now, I encourage you to go forth and be engaged with Jesus in a relationship consecrated to Him and in communion with Him.

Of course, I wonder if you have thought about your conversion to Christ. Do you know Jesus?

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray. 

Yesterday’s sermon is below:

Intro:

Clip from the Bible movie of the Apostle Paul’s conversion

VALENTINUS  
“Valentinus was the name of a young man who lived in Rome during the reign of Claudius II when Christians were being persecuted. Although he was not a Christian, he helped them, but he was caught and put into prison. In prison he became a believer in Jesus. Because of this, Valentinus was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs, stoned and finally beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate on February 14, 269. After his death, this gate was known as Porta Valentini. While he was in prison he sent messages to his friends saying, “Remember your Valentine!” and “I love you.”

Even Valentine’s Day, like Halloween, has Christian beginnings, but the world has taken them over and removed any trace, like it is trying to do with Easter and Christmas, as well.

I share that with you because today I wish to talk about the apostle Paul. We will introduce Paul today and then after Easter we will come back to Acts. Paul was introduced at the stoning of Stephen, and not in the best light.

Acts 8:1:

 Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.

Verse 3:

Now, in Acts chapter 9 Paul becomes a Christian. He now commits his life to the Lord. We will look at that in a few weeks. Today, I wish to look at Paul’s philosophy of ministry which can be found in Colossians 1:24-29.

As we talk about Paul’s philosophy of ministry, let me say that we are all called to ministry, it is important that we all think about what our philosophy of ministry is. (A philosophy is a way of thinking.)

Let’s read that passage:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. ²⁵ Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, ²⁶ that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, ²⁷ to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸ We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. ²⁹ For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

As we talk about this passage I want you to notice Paul’s passion for Jesus centered, Gospel driven ministry, and his humility.

Now, what is the take home today? I want to teach you about the apostle Paul. But, what do you take home? God has placed all of you and all of us in a position of ministry. You are all in places in your life where you can serve the Lord. These are not full time paid positions. The follower of Christ is to serve the Lord everywhere and all the time. We are on the clock 24/7. Today, I am not teaching you about Paul’s life, I am teaching you about Paul’s philosophy of ministry. A philosophy is a way of thinking. This is Paul’s way of thinking about ministry.

So, your take home application: I ask that we all compare and contrast our philosophy, or thinking about ministry with the Apostle Paul’s. Maybe you will be encouraged because things line up. Maybe you will need encouraged because you are putting too much on yourself and not trusting God. That is honestly something I always need reminded of. Maybe you will need to refocus. Remember, when I say ministry today, I am talking about your connections in life which God has placed you in for His purposes.

My thanks to John MacArthur for this nice breakdown: http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/80-366/pauls-philosophy-of-ministry

1. First notice Verse 25: The source of the ministry is God.
   1. Paul says that he was made a minister. Paul did not choose to be a minister. God gives ministry gifts out. You can read about these gifts in 1 Cor. 12 and Romans 12. We are in ministry for God’s Kingdom. I better be in ministry for God’s Kingdom.
   2. I personally must apply this to my life. There was a McDonalds manager that I worked with and became friends with. We even went to Starbase Columbus together. That was a store that sells all things science fiction. One can even buy communicators and Star Trek uniforms. While I did not buy anything, we became close friends. After I went into full time ministry he would call me and say, “Steve, I want you to talk to your boss, He keeps sending us this snow.” He is likely not a Christian. But the point is that I work for God. Now, the local church can try to control the pastor and even dismiss a pastor, and hopefully the local church is seeking God in doing so. We must remember that in the Old Testament the nation of Israel killed most all of the prophets!
   3. There have been too many times where I have had concerns and even worries over my job and I must remember that I work for God. You must remember that the pastor works for God. We all must remember that whether we are in professional ministry or not, if you are a Christian, you have a ministry and you work for God.
   4. Notice Paul writes: stewardship: This is still in verse 25. God gives us a stewardship of a ministry which He calls us to. Do you know what that word means? It means “House ruler.” That is what it means. It means “overseer.” The pastor is the house ruler of the church he serves. Now, the pastor does this under God. Paul is stating that God has given Him a ministry as a house ruler. Now, Paul planted and built up several churches. You are also house rulers, stewards, of ministries that God has given you, if you are a Christian.   

Before we move on, I want to emphasize again, in addition to learning about Paul, I hope that your take home is to analyze what and how your philosophy of ministry compares to Paul’s. 

1. Notice in Verse 24: The spirit of the ministry is joy.
   1. This is a tough one. This is tough because Paul is writing this from a prison. This is one of the letters called, “The Prison Epistles.” Paul writes about joy in persecution.
   2. There are currently Christians in jail all over the world because of persecution. There is currently at least one American Christian in prison for the faith in Iran. He has been tortured.

Paul found joy from the Lord, even in suffering, do you? I wonder if I can? If the source of ministry is the Lord, He is the one responsible for the ministry, I serve Him and He is responsible for the fruit. I am called by God to serve Him as a pastor, but you are all called to serve the Lord in various ways. How does your philosophy of ministry compare to what you see Paul’s as?

1. In verse 25, the scope of ministry is that I might fully carry out the Word of God.
   1. We will see in a minute that this goes together with preaching. But notice that in Paul’s philosophy of ministry we see that he uses the word, “fully.” This is complete.
   2. John MacArthur points out how Paul went back to the same place repeatedly to fully carry out the ministry. He writes: The economy of effort in the life of our Lord is staggering compared to the megalomania of people today. When I was in Charleston, South Carolina, I was talking to Bishop Wilson. I said, “What’s your vision for ministry?” He said, “My vision for ministry, what I want God to do, seven square miles the Lord has placed me here, seven square miles on the east side of Charleston, an African/American community, that’s the seven square miles that I want to penetrate with the gospel of Christ.” That is completion, just keep focusing.

What is your thinking about what God is calling you to do, how does it compare to Paul’s thinking here? I believe this is a Biblical view, where does your view need to change. I must ask myself the same thing.

1. Verse 25b-26: The subject is the mystery that’s been hidden: incarnation; N.T. Truth.
   1. All throughout the Old Testament we do not see God’s complete work, we do not see what God is going to do. Now we do. This is what is called apocalyptic language. In Ephesians 3 Paul will write about this much more. Revelation writes similarly. The mystery is the New Testament. The subject of Paul’s ministry is the Gospel!
2. Verse 28: The style of the ministry is preaching. (verse 28)
   1. Paul will proclaim the Gospel. This is like a herald crying it out.
   2. We must proclaim the Gospel as Paul did.
3. Verse 28: Sum of the ministry, what are we after? What’s the goal? “So that we may present every man complete in Christ.”
   1. Paul’s goal was completion that every one of those he served would be complete in Christ.
4. Verse 29: The strength of the ministry. Who can do this? Who can fulfill all this? Verse 29 tells us the strength of it. “For this purpose also I labor striving.”
   1. Paul would work diligently.
   2. We see this idea reflected in the rest of the New Testament.
   3. By the way, this is Olympic language. The language here is comparable to an athlete striving for a crown. It is the language of a runner laboring toward the end.

Some of you know that I run. I enjoy running, I really do, but not when it is this cold outside. I have been missing the mileage that I used to be able to log. There were days last summer, especially late in the evening when I could run so fast. There were many days when I could take Mercedes and we could run together. But July was a struggle. There were times in July when it was so very hot and humid I labored for the ending. Then I wanted winter. Likewise, a few weeks ago it was really cold, but I went out running, which would have been fine, except for Homeworth Road. I started running down that road and the wind just whipped across the fields and it came across my face like a cold dull razor. But I kept running. I can be obsessive. I finished the run, but barely. It was labor, but it was a joy to walk in the back door.

In so much of a greater manner, we labor the Christian life for a great prize in the end.

This was Paul’s philosophy of ministry. We should aim to minister in similar ways.

This is Paul’s philosophy of ministry; we are all called to serve the Lord in the church, in the family and everywhere, where does your philosophy of ministry, where does your thinking of ministry need to change?

Paul wrote:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27:

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. ²⁶ Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; ²⁷ but I ^[l]discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Pray

I found this article on evangelism written by John MacArthur:

http://www.churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/139233-john-macarthur-on-outreach.html#at_pco=smlwn-1.0&at_tot=1&at_ab=per-4&at_pos=0

The other day I got an email, “Steve, are you in season?” I knew what that meant. It meant that I needed to deliver a message the next day, 2 Timothy 4:1-5 says to preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. (my paraphrase) I agreed and was eager to deliver the men’s breakfast message. At first I thought I was going to pull out a message I had preached before. It was Friday night and I had until Saturday at 9:00 A.M. to be ready. Sometimes I feel that God speaks better through me when I do not have as much time, it makes me more dependent on Him. Usually when I have extra opportunities to deliver a message, I use a message I had used before and maybe alter it some, or a lot. I thrive on audience feedback. What I mean is that builds up confidence and I become a more energetic, passionate and animated preacher. So, if I hear an “Amen,” or see people nodding, making notes, opening their Bibles it helps me. I don’t mean that in a bragging way. I mean that my confidence is up and if my confidence is up God works through me more because I am more relaxed. A stoic atmosphere shuts me down. At the men’s breakfast I enjoy preaching because the group is very engaged.
Having written all of that. I started thinking about my Matthew 28:19-20 message and then God started giving me new ideas. Or, these ideas came to my head and would not stop and since they were Biblical, I believe they are from God.
I try, try and try to break free of notes and simply preach from my heart. So, my notes do not do this past message justice, but they are below. Make comments as you wish. I apologize in advance for any typos and I hope it flows okay. They were my notes and I don’t like to read them, but help me move through.
“When the preferences of the church members are greater than their passion for the Gospel, the church is dying.”
Thom Rainer

The church’s marching orders come from:

Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So, if you are here and you are a believer in Jesus Christ that means that you are here to reach other people with the Gospel. Do you realize this? Our churches have for far too long been filled with people who are gluttonous with everything but passion for the Gospel. We have been gluttonous about our preferences. We have been gluttonous about our favorite Theology, and theology is great, but it must convict and compel us to the Gospel, otherwise we are stuck in 2 Timothy 3:7: Always learning but never coming to a knowledge of the Truth. For too long we have been coming to great knowledge but the knowledge doesn’t compel and convict us to set the captive free. So, if you are a believer in Christ, you are now in the Lord’s army. My job is to be a drill sergeant. Imagine a war scene.
You are all in the military and you are on a rescue operation. People have been taken prisoners. People are taken hostage. They are taken hostage by the devil and he holds them hostage in sin. They don’t even know they are hostages. They are caught in Stockholm syndrome. It is your job, it is our job to get them out. We have to rescue them. Once they are saved they become disciples in order to rescue others.
Matthew’s Gospel begins and ends with the idea that Jesus will be with us always. Matthew 1:23:
“BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”
Mark 16:15:
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
John 20:31:
but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Luke: 24:45:
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them,“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Acts 1:8:
but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The whole New Testament is about the Gospel
The word Gospel is used 97 times

For the most part, every New Testament letter, or book is about evangelism: let’s talk about a few and then come back to Matt. 28:19-20
Matthew:
Matthew seemed to address problems that were primarily where Jewish Christians were a prominent part of the audience and where these Jewish Christians kept a closer relationship with the synagogue and non Christian Jews. There is a tension focused on in Matthew between an exclusive mission to Israel and the mission to non Jewish nations. (Mt. 10:5-6; 23;15:24; 1:5;2:1-12;8:5-13; 12:21; 13:38; 15:21-28; 21:33-43; 22:1-10; 24:14; 27:54; 28:19-20) According to D.A. Hagner we cannot take one side of the other on these. Matthew still has a message on target to gentile Christians. These are to gentile Christians who may fail to value the Jewishness of Jewish Christians pressuring them to minimize all Jewish practices that were a threat to the gentile believer’s sense of equality. (DeSilva 237-238)
Mark:

One of the purposes assuming a pre 70 AD date is to help Christians dealing with the persecution under Nero. (or after) Another purpose is that the shape of discipleship must follow the pattern of the rejected Messiah. Mark writes about the purpose of discipleship as well as maybe to comfort Christians or also to encourage Christians who are reserved about sharing their faith in persecution. Mark deals with things like a proper understanding of the statement, “You are the Christ”. (Mk 8:29) Mark also deals with the believers responsibility to Jewish Scriptures, the Law, Torah, etc. This is a guideline of how the Christian community is to connect with the Torah. He is writing to nourish the Christian community. (DeSilva 198)
Luke:

Luke and John are the only Gospels that give their purpose: “an orderly account that he hopes will enable Theophilus to know the truth about the things which you have been instructed.” Not merely a historical work but to confirm the commitment made and instruction received by Theophilus and other Christian readers like him as they joined the movement. Luke clarifies the position of the church with regard to the Roman Empire. Luke focuses on the Gentiles as well as the Jewish people. He does talk about Theodicy which is how God did in fact fulfill the promises of the OT to the house of David. There is a Christocentric reading of the Jewish Scriptures extending this to the early church. (DeSilva 307-310)
John:

Many suggest that this Gospel was written as an evangelical Gospel. We can even make John 20:31 as a purpose statement. “These are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.”
Acts:

I already read Acts 1:8. Acts is all about the spread of the church from Jerusalem to Rome. Acts is all about what Mark Driscoll calls Riot evangelism. Paul comes into an area, a riot breaks out, people are saved and he moves on. Maybe that is what we need in Alliance.
Romans: 1:14ff: I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

Romans 15:14ff: And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. 15 But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.17 Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. 18 For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; 21 but as it is written,
“THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE,
AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.”

1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians are written to a church that had been planted and now needed some discipleship.
So we have 1 Corinthians 15:1-14:
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; 7 then He appeared to [c]James, then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. 11 Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
The Prison Epistles:

Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon are all full of evangelical Theology, these are fresh, new churches.
1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians have a theme of people who have lost loved ones and were worried that they were going to miss the resurrection. So we have:
1 Thessalonians 4:16:
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
The Pastoral Epistles, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus: Building up the church in proper Theology for the church’s purpose. Proper Theology leads us all to evangelism, convicts us all to evangelism.
Hebrews:

New Jewish believers struggling to live the Christian life in persecution. So they start thinking that the old way, the Jewish way would be easier. The writer is proving that Jesus is greater than Moses, that Jesus is greater than the Angels.
Hebrews 10:11-12:
Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for [a]sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,
James: The Proverbs of the New Testament, making sure the Christians works match their belief.
1 Peter, 2 Peter: How about 1 Peter 3:15:
but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
1 John, 2 John, 3 John: Just look at chapter 1 of 1 John:
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.4 These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
2 and 3 John are trying to keep heresy out of the church.
Jude:

Jude had turned aside from writing a letter concerning the “salvation they share” to instead write a letter address a problem with itinerant teachers bearing a message that Jude considers incompatible with the Apostolic Gospel.
Then Revelation:

The transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, the law that we could not keep to Christ who took care of our sin.
Quote:
“When the preferences of the church members are greater than their passion for the Gospel, the church is dying.”
Thom Rainer
What are you most passionate about? Put aside your preferences. The Bible is about the Gospel:
1 Corinthians 9:16: For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.
Verses 19-27:
For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

I recently read a good article on Advent from Dr. Gombis of Grand Rapis Theological Seminary. Dr. Gombis was one of my professors at Cedarville University. You can see the post at this link:

http://timgombis.com/2013/12/01/the-season-of-advent/

Dr. Gombis also wrote a very good article about the subversive social Gospel:

http://timgombis.com/2013/12/03/that-subversive-social-gospel/

blessings, 

Pastor Steve

I wonder if you have ever read Nehemiah??? I just finished reading through Nehemiah again. I have read through Nehemiah many times, but something very awesome about the Bible is that God always will show us something new. God speaks through His Word (Psalm 119:105; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; Hebrews 4:12). Last week I wrote down to write about Nehemiah chapter 13, but I want to start with Nehemiah chapter 8. Nehemiah was known for his prayers. He always went to the Lord in prayer. He was very humble. One can simply look at Nehemiah 1:4 and see Nehemiah going to the Lord in prayer. Nehemiah was a cup-bearer to the king. That is a cool job. Nehemiah’s job was to mobilize the people of Jerusalem to finish rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. The wall is finished then in Nehemiah chapter 8 at the very beginning it says this:
“And all the people gathered as one man at the square which was in front of the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the LORD had given to Israel.”
(New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ne 8:1). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.)
Isn’t that great? They stood for hours as Ezra read the law. They wanted to hear that. Question: are you interested in reading God’s Word? Are you interested in hearing God’s Word proclaimed and taught in a worship service? Does God’s Word convict you to worship? Now, some further questions for people like me: suppose that you love learning, suppose that you love hearing God’s Word taught and preached, are you worshiping the Lord? I can love God’s Word for the wrong reasons. I may love hearing a preacher preach. I may think, “What’s he going to say today?” Or, “Who is the preacher gonna slam today?” We may like this just like people will look at a train wreck. Okay, or we like hearing something taught. Maybe we think, “What can I learn today?” I think that is good, but God’s Word should compel us to the truth and convict us to worship. We never, never want to be like those in 2 Timothy 3 who Paul says are always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the Truth. Nehemiah 8:3 says that he read from the book of the law from early morning until midday, that is a long sermon. I think he probably taught it a little and preached it. Here is a link to an article by Dr. Albert Mohler about what is called expository preaching:
http://www.sermoncentral.com/pastors-preaching-articles/albert-mohler-al-mohler-expository-preaching-is-the-antidote-to-anemic-preaching-1741.asp?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=scnewsletter&utm_content=SC+Update+20131126
In Nehemiah 9 the people confess their sins. They do this in humility. Then we skip to chapter 13. Look at Nehemiah 13:10-11 (below):
10  I also discovered that the portions of the Levites had not been given them, so that the Levites and the singers who performed the service had gone away, each to his own field.
11  So I reprimanded the officials and said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” Then I gathered them together and restored them to their posts.
(New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ne 13:10–11). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.)
Something that stood out to me is that Nehemiah reprimanded the people for their sin. You see in 2 Timothy 4:1-5 Timothy is instructed to reprove and rebuke with the Word of God. God may use a pastor or lay person preaching the Scriptures to reprimand you, or me. Who is your prayer partner, accountability partner? God may use that person to reprimand you. We think of a reprimand as a negative thing, but that is the grace of God. That should be greatly encouraging because that helps you grow as a person and as a Christian. Proverbs 27:17 says “as iron sharpens iron so a man sharpens his brother.” (or a sisters sharpens her sister) Who is sharpening you? Who keeps you from getting dull. Have you ever tried to cut with a dull knife?
In Nehemiah 13:14 we once again see Nehemiah’s prayer and that is a prayer that we could pray after his example. In Nehemiah 13:17 we see Reprimand the people again. That is now twice in this chapter, but that is something God uses pastors to do, but always with the Scriptures. Then in verse 22 we see Nehemiah’s prayer, again.
“For this also remember me, O my God, and have compassion on me according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness.”
(New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Ne 13:22). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.)
I think I will end with that. My prayer is that we all read the Scriptures and apply them allowing God to speak to us.
blessings in Christ,
Pastor Steve

So, a few weeks ago I was picking up sticks in my yard. (This is one of my most favorite past times. It is so much fun that I don’t want to keep you from joining in, so if you are ever bored come pick up some sticks. I think Tom Sawyer did something like that.) Anyways, to what is important, I started talking with someone about church. This man does not attend my church though he has visited before. He said that when he first met me he thought I was very serious (I wonder if the Vulcan ears had anything to do with that, sorry no more distractions), but as he got to know me better he realized differently. Anyways, a few days before that, somehow in conversation I said if someone wants to drink a beer, no big deal. That stood out to my friend. By the way he is not younger guy either. He thinks of protestants as prohibiting alcohol but he thought my comment shows that I was understanding our culture. So, that is my way of introducing the topic of alcohol and culture and Christianity. 

A few years ago I listened to a sermon by Mark Driscoll on this subject. One thing he said was: “The question is not “is the thing pure?” the question is “Is the person doing the thing pure?” If you are married and have sex than it is pure. if you are an adult having a glass of wine with a dinner than it is pure.” (http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/proverbs/good-wine-glad-hearts March 24th 2002) But I come from a background of churches that expected pastors and church leaders to abstain from alcohol and would encourage everyone to do the same. The first few denominations that I applied for church license with I actually had to sign that I abstained from alcohol. But is that what the Bible teaches? No, not at all. So, when I came to my last church I studied this issue. I studied what the Bible says and I studied it more and more. In addition I asked Christian counselors what they thought as they have to deal with the ramifications of the abuse of alcohol. I wanted to know if as a counselor they thought it helps if Christians prohibit alcohol.

Turns out the opposite is true. According to Gary Collins’ Christian Counseling book the Southern Baptist have the highest rate of alcoholics whereas the Orthodox Jews have the lowest rate of alcoholics. Usually Southern Baptist prohibit alcohol and orthodox Jews use alcohol as part of their religious services.

I talked with one pastor whom I respect and he said that he drinks a beer in front of his kids intentionally so they know that alcohol is not the bad thing. He doesn’t want that to be what they rebel with. So, after my personal study I made a personal policy that I would not have more than one alcoholic drink, as in a serving size during a sitting. Sometimes I have jokingly said that I will not have more than one drink at a time, in each hand. But really, I know that one beer, or glass of wine will not get me intoxicated, nor even close. I have followed that policy for about six years now. But what does the Bible say about alcohol?

Observe the following:

Psalm 104:15 praises God for the wine that gladdens men’s hearts. 

Proverbs 31:4-7
It is not for kings, Lemuel—
    it is not for kings to drink wine,
    not for rulers to crave beer,
5 lest they drink and forget what has been decreed,
    and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
6 Let beer be for those who are perishing,
    wine for those who are in anguish!
7 Let them drink and forget their poverty
    and remember their misery no more.

Here this Proverb is recognizing that alcohol causes the mind to alter. Here the Proverb is saying, “Kings you have a lot of responsibility, don’t drink! You’ll mess everything up!” By the way the later kings did mess everything up causing Israel to divide and later fall.

Application: We must recognize that God created things good, yet we must control these substances. Alcohol is a controlled substance and we must recognize its dangers. If you cannot control it, don’t touch it!

Know that Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine. (John 2)

1 Tim 5:23
Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
(from New International Version)

    Oh, but notice that Paul still gives Timothy a purpose for the wine which is that it is good for the stomach and Timothy has an illness. What illness? I don’t know. Chuck Swindoll made a joke about the stress Timothy might have been under. 
    Either way clearly alcohol had a purpose in their society. However, the alcohol was watered down. Nevertheless, it was real alcohol. This is more of an American problem. Do you know that C.S. Lewis met with his group called the Inklings in a pub? 
    One is in grave danger to try to make a Biblical argument against the drinking of alcohol. We can’t use the “don’t make your brother stumble argument.” We can use an extreme caution argument. 
    Now, having said all that, think about this: a few years ago I was reading statistics while preparing for a youth message, skim through below:
This is from Focus on the Families website: Troubledwith.com
Alcohol causes more deaths among adolescents than any other substance. Alcohol is involved in one third of all traffic deaths for young people aged 15 through 19. Overall, driving under the influence is the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 24. Alcohol also frequently plays a role in adolescent deaths from other causes: homicides, suicides, drownings and motorcycle and bicycle accidents.

In addition, alcohol plays an important role in adolescent crime, sexual promiscuity and date rape. According to research compiled by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), 95 percent of violent crime on college campuses is alcohol related, and 90 percent of reported campus rapes involve alcohol use by the assailant, the victim or both. In one study cited by MADD, 60 percent of college women diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection were drunk when they became infected.

Another sobering reality about drinking is the early age at which it frequently begins.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, about one in five fifth-graders has already experienced alcohol intoxication. Four out of ten sixth-graders say they feel pressure from other students to drink. More than 50 percent of eighth-graders and eight out of ten twelfth-graders have tried alcohol at least once. One in four eighth-graders and half of all twelfth-graders have used alcohol within a given month.”
More alcoholic products that specifically appeal to kids are hitting the marketplace. Wine coolers are increasingly popular with younger drinkers, as are a new wave of alcoholic concoctions billed as “thirst quenchers,” often containing lemon or other fruit flavors.

    Now, say I were to abstain from alcohol, which I am not, would that solve the above problems? NO! Would it help, maybe, but probably not. We are called to be stewards of our bodies as God has created us in His image and He is the owner. (Genesis 1-2; Psalm 139) We must guard against the abuse of substances that must include alcohol. Drunkenness is nothing to joke about. But we also must guard against the abuse of coffee; french fries or donuts.

Those are some thoughts.

Blessings in Christ! 

Pastor Steve
   

I recently came across a blog post:
http://kyledonn.com/blog/sexy-christianity

my initial response is:
Interesting article. There certainly could be and probably are those that are into some type of pop culture Christianity, but I think that Christianity is not at all popular anymore. He shares true Scriptures about giving it all to Jesus, but I think he is questioning motivations. It is really hard to know motivations, I always pray mine are pure, but God only knows. I believe that Francis Chan, David Platt, Kyle Idleman and others have pure motivations, but there have to be people who agree with them but have the wrong motivations. No one can question the Scriptures Idleman uses such as Luke 9:23. With respect to motivations in Philippians 1 Paul talked about those that preach Christ selfishly and he said that at least Christ is preached. (Philippians 1:15-18)

Looking into this blog and who he is, it appears he leads a missions organization. I think he is right to be frustrated with the pop culture 1 week mission trips. I have read articles about how much harm those trips can actually do. Mission trips should never be a popular thing to do. A way to weed those out is to have steep requirements to serve on a youth mission team. When I was in youth group we were required 18 weeks of discipleship, to take sermon notes, to do service projects and read some books about missionaries. I have, unfortunately known other youth groups that take over 100 students over seas for what they call a mission trip. But it becomes a fad. These same groups have had students smoking pot on the mission trips.

I think time will tell about the radical Christianity, but for the most part it really isn’t radical, it is really going back to the Bible.

Rev. Dr. Jeff Johnson said it well: “We have many believers but not many disciples.” By the way, I have tons of respect for Billy Graham, but with all those who supposedly gave their lives to Jesus at his crusades, why within a generation has America lost its Christian base? I think a lack of discipleship and a lack of clear teaching of what it means to be a Christian. Jesus actually turned people away from following Him. (see Luke 14:26; 21:17; Matthew 19:16-26)  In John 6 Jesus lost about 5000 people from following Him. (John 6:60-66)

So, following Jesus is not the easy way. Jesus called His way the narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14), but following Jesus is the eternal way.

Below are some of my notes from a 9 Marks conference I attended. They are long but I think very valuable. These come from Greg Gilbert:

Session 6:

Six temptations for this generation:

It is not good enough as a leader to start out well. We have to finish well too.

1)      We are tempted to think we can proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ without words.

1. “Preach the Gospel always and if necessary use words.” (St. Francis of Assisi) Our churches like this quote. We can be cool and hip, but we lose that when we start using words talking about a crucified Man who rose from the dead. You cannot do that while being hip.
2. The English word Gospel means “good word.” We get our English word spelling from that.
3. The main point of a message is that it has to be spoken. It has to be communicated. There has to be words.
4. There are a lot of people in the world who do a lot of good, kind, nice things.
5. The people in our pews are likely tempted to think that they can get away with just doing good things.
   1. If they love their co-workers they cannot stop short.
   2. We must not let them think that they can share the Gospel without words.

2)      We are tempted to soften Divine wrath. The Bible talks about God’s wrath as terrifying. Unquenchable fire. If the Bible uses phrase after phrase to talk about hell as so horrible. Why do some evangelicals go out of their way to say that hell won’t really be that bad?

3)      We are tempted redefine sin.

1. We want to believe that we are mostly good.
2. The idea that we are hopeless, helpless sinners is hard to think about.
3. Sometimes we just redefine sin as being a simple brokenness relationship between us and God.
4. We define sin as a lover’s quarrel.
5. The Bible defines sin as a broken relationship, but of a certain type.
6. The relationship that has been broken is not between two peers.
7. The relationship that has been broken is between King and Subject, between creator and subject.
8. Some try to redefine sin, not as rebellion against God, but the effects of sin.
   1. Purposeless
   2. Meaninglessness
   3. Brokenness
   4. But the issue is that we are rebels. We have rebelled against God. We have rebelled against the King.
   5. Sins are the little things that we do. Sin is the heart rebellion against God. We don’t know what to do with these deep running heart issues of sin.
   6. Our sin nature means that we are cracked all the way down the middle. We cannot be simply cleaned up. We would need a whole new being. Jesus does that in the Gospel.
      1. Image of a sphere at the Smithsonian with grease, etc all over it. We think we can just clean that up and we could clean ourselves up. But we cannot. We would need a new sphere. If we were the sphere, we are cracked all the way down the middle.

4)      We are tempted to de-center the cross.

1. The cross in the Roman world was loathed.
2. Yet the cross was centralized in the New Testament.
3. Going into a city in the Roman empire we would see crosses lining the roads with crucified bodies on them.
4. Romans wanted to send an image, don’t mess with the Romans. They would even time their crucifixions so that people would be terrified into submission to the Roman empire.
5. Ancient writers when they mention the crucifixion would not tell us much about it. They would not give much detail. They would basically be saying, “You just wouldn’t want to know.” It was so loathsome. The most information we get about the cross comes from the New Testament.
6. People would put their cloaks over their children’s eyes so they don’t need to see that. You hanging on a cross are a loathsome thing, hanging on a loathsome thing.
7. That is what Paul meant when he said that the cross was an offense.
8. The Romans even drew cartoons and ridiculed the Christians after Jesus was crucified.
   1. There was this ridicule of the cross, yet Paul dealt with that all the time in the New Testament.
   2. We must proclaim the cross. The cross is what makes the good news good in the first place.  

5)      We are tempted to redefine the cross.

1. We make it about something other than Jesus absorbing the wrath of the Father in our place, in our sin
2. In His love He covenants with His Son to save us.
3. This is revolting to the world.
4. This is anathema to the world around us.
5. Jesus understood His own death this way. The apostles knew that. Jesus talked about His blood of the covenant. The apostles talked about the covenant.
6. Page after page of the O.T. is pointing forward about the penal substitution of the cross. Exodus 17:1ff;  In 1 Corinthians 10:1ff Paul writes about this story and connects it with the New Testament. Paul says that the rock was Christ. Some may think Paul was just primitive. That would be a bad excuse. The nation of Israel had come to another place and they decide that they are going to put God on trial. It may look like Moses was on trial. But in reality, Moses says, “Why do you test the Lord.” There are markers that any Israelite would have known were them putting God on trial. Moses stood for God and they were going to stone Moses, which means they were going to stone God. God says, “Bring it one.” Starting in verse Exodus 17:5: God tells Moses to take the staff and go before the elders of Israel. The staff is a staff of judgment. The Nile, the curses on Egypt, etc. This is ominous on many accounts as the staff is judgment on the nation of Israel. Exodus 17 Verse 5ff: the staff of judgment falls on a rock and water will come out of it and the people will drink. God is taking the punishment for His people’s sin. The judgment that the people deserve is falling on Him. Life comes out of the rock, water, and the people are saved. This is amazing. That is how Christ was the rock. The staff of judgment strikes the rock. Interesting that God tells Moses that He will stand before them on the Rock. It is not right for us to pick and choose what parts of penal substitution to preach about. Substitution: reconciliation between me and God is only made effective through the wrath of God being poured out on someone else, other than me. Someone has to die in my place. God is mad at me in His wrath.

6)      We are tempted to think that the main thing the Gospel calls to do is to make our neighborhood and our cities and our world better places to love.

1. Greg wrote a book alongside someone else titled: “What Is the Mission of the Church,” and they get into this a lot.
2. Good deeds are good and are commanded.
3. The Bible presents the main purpose, or aim, or goal of the good works to affirm and confirm and adorn the Gospel of Jesus Christ whom we preach. Sometimes the world becomes a better place. The Lord is gracious and He allows that to happen.
4. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good deeds  and glorify your Father who is Heaven. (Matthew)
5. You will not find a promise in Scripture that our good works will make the world around us a better place. You can work for that and pray for that.
6. If you preach that God has promised that we can live good lives and our neighborhood will change and in 15-20 years sex trafficking is still there, there is still corruption in the government, etc. They will blame God.
7. The tenor of the New Testament is that the church will be preaching the Gospel, etc. and this will give us the staying power that we can do this for 80- years of my life. This because I know that Jesus never promised that the world will get better.
8. Acts 1:8 the marching orders to the apostles (every Gospel and then in Acts 1:8).
   1. Acts 1:8 is an expanding set of concentric circles. The book of Acts is structured, its’ skeleton is of breaking through from that verse.
   2.  The New Testament is not structured around teaching sustainable agricultural practices to the Galatians. They may have done that, but the New Testament is structured around the cross, around the saving message of Jesus Christ.
   3.  Why is the cross the shorthand for the church? Why not a tomb that is opened?
   4. Why is Paul’s message in 1 Corinthians called the Word of the Cross?
   5. Even death is not our greatest problem. The cross deals with that problem once and for all. We must preach the cross.

We never know what God is doing in our lives. A few days ago I experiences the perfect illustration of this. Last Sunday we were having a three hour meeting at church. Meagan and I worked out childcare for the meeting. So as I left I grabbed Mercedes tricycle so that she could ride it at the church (she was going to be babysat at the church). Unfortunately, Mercedes saw me take the bike. It was sad for me as I left. She was crying, “My bike! My bike!” As I left with the toy she loves as much as any. As a 25 month old toddler she didn’t understand that my intentions were for her good. I was taking it away for a little while, just an hour, so that she could enjoy it later.

Maybe God does things similarly to and for us, right? God takes things away for a while, but we will enjoy them again. It is even that way in death, God takes people away, but “In Christ” we will enjoy them again. I wanted to cry as I drove away hearing the echo in my head of Mercedes saying, “My bike! My bike!” (I can still hear it) But I knew it was for the better, and though I knew that, I sympathized with her lack of understanding, and Jesus sympathizes with us. Keep that in mind when you don’t understand what God is doing.

See: Romans 12:2; Hebrews 4:15; Genesis 50:20; John 17

Someone sent me this article. I heard a little bit about it and I am saddened that they are trying to mess up the very good Theology of this great Hymn. Sadder still is diluting Theology in general. Of course, this is a deeper issue and problem today when the world is in the church. Like the quote: “When the ship is in the ocean there is no problem, but when the ocean is in the ship, there is a problem.” Or, “I looked for the church, I found it in the world [good], I looked for the world and found it in the church.”