What God says about God.

copyright 2006 alexanderachmann

What God says about Himself. Isaiah 40

Imagine you overhear a conversation where two people are talking in a cubicle or in a break room, and your ears perk up when you hear your name. They are talking about you, but the weird thing about this is that neither of them has ever even met you. They didn’t get their information about you from you; it all came from rumors, second hand information, and speculation.

The fact of the matter is that many people have formulated opinions about God without ever having considered what God says about Himself. Unfortunately, many people have no idea who God really is because their view of Him is a conglomeration of what they see on TV or movies or read in books. Our society takes the “smorgasbord approach,” where people pick and choose ideas and elements they like and forget the rest.

What makes it legitimate for people to come up with their own ideas about God? People say things like, “I think God is open to other religions…” or “My God is so loving that he would never send anyone to hell…” How would you respond if someone said some things about you that weren’t totally true?

In Isaiah 40:6-8 we read, “A voice says, ‘Cry out.’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’ ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.’”

That means that every book other than the Bible will fall and its words will wither and fade away. They will not stand the test of time. This is a reminder that we should not put our hope in people or in places or in our possessions because it can all blow away in a moment. Instead, we must stand on the Word of God that lasts forever. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”

The Word of God is the only reliable place we can look for information about God.

Accept One Another

copyright 2005 oooh.oooh

Accept One Another. Romans 14

I’m not really a big basketball fan, but I do know that many people are crazy for March Madness. I do know that as we approach any championship game there are all kinds of news stories and interviews sizing the teams up – analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. And teams will be drawing up game plans in the hopes of destroying their opponent.

While the Final Four may be the most popular thing on TV this month, the favorite indoor sport for many Christians is sizing up each other, identifying differences, and dividing up the body of Christ.

I’m probably going to oversimplify it, but let me try to explain the problem the church was having in Romans chapter 14. The believers in the church in Rome were divided over a couple specific issues that essentially all stemmed from the fact that they came from different cultural backgrounds before coming to Christ.

One of the problems centered around eating meat, and whether it was OK for a Christian to eat meat that might have been sacrificed to an idol before it was sold in the market. Was it wrong to eat meat? Well some people had no issue with it at all, but others felt that by eating meat they would become spiritually contaminated. So, one group held to a strict diet and felt that this made them more spiritual. The other group felt that they could eat anything they wanted, and were just as spiritual as the first group.

So, we have a weak group and a strong group. But as we look at this passage a little more carefully, we might be surprised which group is which. At first glance, we might think that the group who didn’t eat meat and practiced more self-control is the strong group. But as we get to the heart of the matter, we’ll see that a “weak” believer is one who doesn’t fully understand the extent of their freedom in Christ and whose conscience is bothered by the decisions, practices and lifestyle choices of others not specifically addressed in Scripture. A “strong” believer is the one who can exercise their freedom in Christ with a clear conscience.

Here are some lessons we can apply from Romans 14 to help us with acceptance.

1. Avoid passing judgment. Romans 14:1, “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.

This grace doesn’t apply to any kind of action or attitude; the key here is the phrase, “disputable matters.”  It refers to something that is debatable or in question. It refers to those “gray” areas of the Christian life not specifically addressed in Scripture.

2. Commit yourself to God alone. Look at verses 7-8, “For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

3. Control yourself in love. Verse 13 says, “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.”

4. Edify everyone you can. Loving others leads to edification. Look at verse 19, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”

5. Personalize your convictions privately. Verse 22 says, “So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God.” Your personal convictions are just that ­- personal. If they were meant to be for everyone, God would have included them in the Bible. But He didn’t. He gave them to you personally and they should stay between the two of you.

6. Treasure people like Jesus does. Verse 1, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Are we making a huge sacrifice when we give up something for the sake of another believer? Compared with what Jesus did for us, nothing is too great for us to give up. No sacrifice we could ever make can match what Jesus did for us on the cross.

I’m convinced that some of us have a difficult time accepting others because we don’t really accept ourselves. We sometimes feel that we’re so unworthy of God’s grace because of the things we’ve done, or the things we have failed to do. Maybe we struggle to really believe that we’ve been forgiven by God.

Be United With One Another

copyright 2005 Leo Reynolds

Be united With One Another. John 17

One Sunday a minister was giving a children’s sermon to all the kids in church. A little three-year-old girl was listening intently as he explained that God wanted them all to get along and to love one another. She was following along well until he said, “God wants us all to be one.” To which the little girl replied, “But I don’t want to be one. I want to be four.”

I think this girl was on to something. Sometimes, we don’t want to be one either. It’s much easier for us to splinter into four groups, or forty groups, or even four hundred different groups.

Here are just a few of the passages that lift up the spiritual standard of a cohesive community of faith.

Judges 20:11, “So all the Israelites got together and united as one against the city.”

2 Chronicles 30:12, “Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD.”

Psalm 133:1, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!”

Jeremiah 32:38-39, “They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.”

John 10:16, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”

Acts 4:32, “All the believers were one in heart and mind…”

Romans 15:5-6, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 1:10-11, “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

How are we doing in our quest for unity? Are we united as one? Are we living together with a singleness of heart and mind this morning? Are we in agreement with fellow Christians? These are tough questions to answer.

The night before his death, He makes an appeal for unity. John 17:1 begins, “After Jesus said this, He looked toward heaven and prayed…”

This chapter goes on to record the longest of Jesus’ prayers. It’s long in two ways: ­ it is Jesus’ longest recorded prayer, taking 26 verses, and it’s the longest in the scope of time it covers because it extends all the way to today. Verse 20, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.” That’s you and me. As we read these words of Jesus, we can almost hear the urgency and intensity as Jesus pleads with His Father to make His followers one. In fact, He asks for our unity four different times!

Several things jump out at me in this passage.

1. Unity should include all believers. He doesn’t want us to just get along with a few people, or just with everyone in our church, but verse 21 says, “that all of them may be one.”

Let me add some caution here though:

We should avoid separatism. Some churches refuse to acknowledge that there are true Christians in other churches. Some groups criticize and label people just because they don’t hold to the same outward standards that they do.

We should also beware of theological sloppiness. Sometimes there are doctrinal differences and biblical distinctions that must be recognized. Earlier in this same prayer, Jesus established that holiness can only happen based on God’s word. Verse 17, “Sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth.” God’s Word alone must determine who we align ourselves with. There are many groups who claim to be Christian but have no foundation in the Truth of God’s word.

2. The example of perfect unity is provided in the Trinity. In verse 11, Jesus prays that his disciples would experience the oneness that exists in His relationship with the Father. In verse 22, “May they may be one as we are one.” The unity that Christ wants us to have is so intimate, so personal, and so vital that it is patterned after, and based on, the relationship that exist in the Godhead.

3. The purpose of unity is to accelerate evangelism. Look at the last part of verse 21, “so that the world may believe…”

4. The practice of unity puts God’s reputation on display to the world. Unity gives credence to our claims. Specifically, according to John 17:23, the world will know two things:

They will know God’s Mission: “Then the world will know that you sent me.”
They will also know God’s Message: “Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” God loves people. People will be attracted to the love of God when they see it manifested in our lives and in our church.

Are you willing to be an answer to Jesus’ prayer for unity today? Are you willing to pursue reconciliation and, when possible, resolution in all interpersonal conflicts?

The Nut and the Tree

This past Christmas, my mom bought the boys BB guns. She did ask our permission first, so don’t everyone freak out. Actually, when I asked Andi what she thought, her response was, “Whatever, you’ll be the one to supervise the shooting expeditions.”

So ever since the boys unwrapped them at Grandma’s house, they’ve been waiting for a chance to go out and do some shooting. This past weekend the weather was finally nice enough, so we loaded up the car with BB guns, a .22 rifle and my 10mm pistol. What, you didn’t think I’d go shooting and bring only BB guns…

The boys had a great time learning the basics of shooting safety, the proper stance and how to make a good sight picture. I had a great time teaching them also, but after 30 minutes of BB’s it was time for some real fire power.

I loaded up a few magazines for the 10 and proceeded to make Swiss cheese of a target. Actually, Swiss cheese isn’t a good analogy because those holes are all over the place and don’t represent very good accuracy. Anyway, you get the point.

Connor really wanted to try and shoot the pistol, so I loaded up 1 round and went over the procedure. I handed him the pistol and let him go for it. After several seconds of wincing and shaking he finally pulled the trigger. BLAM!

He slowly turned and looked at me with this huge grin and said, “That. Was. AWESOME!”

I love shooting.

Care for One Another

copyright 2008 ellajphillips

Care for one another. 1 Corinthians 12:14-27

How many of you made New Year’s Resolutions this year? If so, are you still keeping them, or have they long since been forgotten? Well, now that we’re almost ¼ of the way through the New Year, most of us are probably struggling to keep our resolutions if we haven’t totally forgotten about them already.

The most important thing we can do, our highest resolution, is to personally surrender our lives to God. Once we do that, we must then build and strengthen our faith in fellowship with one another. In Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians, Paul makes over 30 references to the church by using the analogy of a human body. He points out that we are all linked together like pieces of a puzzle. Here are a few key points about fitting together in the body of Christ from 1 Corinthians.

1. Each piece is a part of the united whole, but they are not all the same. We see this in verse 14, “Even so, the body is not made up of one part but of many.”

2. All pieces are indispensable and equal in value. In verses 15, Paul addresses those who may feel inferior. “If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.”A foot may feel less important than a hand and an ear may feel mediocre compared to an eye. But, Paul is establishing the truth that everyone is valuable and necessary.

3. Each piece is divinely designed, not humanly developed. Verse18, “But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”

4. Each piece is distinctly designed for a reason. Paul now speaks to those who are filled with pride in verse 21, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!”

5. Each piece is interconnected, not independent. Your puzzle piece is designed to lock together with those around you in order to form the picture that was designed by the Creator. Notice again that it is God who not only arranges in verse 18, but that God’s desire is for each member to be connected with others, “But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it.”

God has placed you as a strategic piece in His kingdom work. You are an important part of the success and effectiveness of the church. Everyone else is depending on you to be here and to carry out your function. Have you ever worked on a puzzle for hours only to discover that one of the pieces is missing? It’s not a good feeling, is it? Let’s all decide to surrender to the Savior and to commit to caring for one another.

I'm not sure what it says about my personality, but several of my hobbies involve high amounts of attention to detail. (O.k., I know what that says about me, but I'm ignoring it for now.) I like carpentry and woodworking, and even though I'm not necessarily an expert at either, (I tell my wife it's because I need more tools - that says something else about me, but I'm ignoring that too.) I do enjoy a project that requires some creative thinking and hard work. (Man, I need some counseling...) One of the most important tools for any kind of woodworking project is an accurate tape measure. Oddly, it's also one of the least expensive... A good tape measure is indispensable for making accurate cuts, and having your project turn out somewhere near how you intended it too.

copyright 2007 ross millar

I also enjoy shooting. I've been an avid shooter since my early childhood, and have many fond memories of spending time with my dad out at the range. One aspect of precision shooting is loading your ammunition. I love reloading, it's a very precise task (again - counseling) that requires deep concentration, attention to detail and also carries an element of danger. Oddly enough, the reloading process requires many different measurements along the way using a variety of instruments. One of them is the micrometer, a very precise measuring tool.

Both of these tools serve different purposes and are hardly interchangeable. Both of them are absolute necessities, however.

In James 3 we read a lot about 2 different kinds of wisdom; worldly wisdom and Godly wisdom. Wisdom is essentially a tool that we use to measure life. And how we measure will determine what our end product looks like. The problem is that many times people (Christians included) are using the wrong measuring tool as they go through life.

James 3:15 says, "Jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom." (NLT) How many times are we living by the wrong kind of wisdom? We need to be careful that we're measuring ourselves and our actions against the right kind of wisdom.


James 3:17 says this about Godly wisdom, "But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere." (NLT) It's actually pretty easy  to know what system of measurement we're using in our life. Is your life full of selfishness and jealousy, or mercy and sincerity? Be honest, and make the necessary adjustments.

I guess being detail oriented and obsessed with measurements is actually a good thing after all?

Technology in Ministry

copyright 2009 stefan.dotti

Yeah I know I've already beat this horse, but it isn't quite dead yet. I also just finished writing my required paper on this subject, so it's fresh in my mind. In my previous post on this subject I left things kind of open and asked for opinions. Well, now I'm going to give mine. I'm not sure what the proper procedure is for quoting yourself, but here goes, "Since technology has at its core the promise of making life easier for those who adopt it, it can insert itself into areas where it may not be needed, or may be detrimental to building relationships.  Technology has the danger of replacing practices that are essential to the local church body. For example, posting audio or video content of worship services on the internet may have the unintended consequences of encouraging people to not attend services physically. We as spiritual leaders need to be intentional about communicating our purpose for implementing technology in ministry and encourage its proper use.  It’s important to keep this in mind as we evaluate our intended audience." 

This is what I said in my paper, and I think it's true. I read an article today about which is the beast keyboard case for the iPad. One of the people commenting after the story said this, "This is kind of like asking which is the best turntable for your car. Sure, you can do it... but there are better ways to listen to music in your ride. "

Sometimes I wonder if we're using technology just because we can, or because we actually believe it's the best way to communicate with our audience...