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Tuesday, October 10, 2006

A Muslim Perspective on Jesus's Crucifixion

A Muslim man from Sweden recently wrote me with a question: In the Name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. What is the proof that Jesus was Crucified? (as the Bible shows that there was no eyewitnesses.) I wrote back to explain that of course there were eyewitnesses. John, the writer of the 4th Gospel was there, as was Mary, the mother of Jesus, and some other women. And there were of course the Roman Soldiers. So it seemed a bit odd to say that there were no eyewitesses. The gentleman wrote back to explain that the Bible says regarding Jesus that, "all deserted him." It was interesting that he was willing to hear one verse in the Bible that makes a general statement, which he then attached a "for all time" meaning to, but he would not accept other verses that clearly stated that there were eyewitnesses. We carried on a conversation via email for a couple of days with this pattern repeating itself. In several polite and respectful exchanges back and forth I noticed another pattern: While I would address each and every one of his questions and present Biblical evidence showing his assumptions about the Bible to be incorrect, he would not acknowledge that his questions had been answered and would simply move on to another subject as though the last one had not been discussed. I suggested that our conversation wasn't going to be productive with only one party--me--actually addressing questions and "arguments" laid out by the other. We ended our conversation on a positive note. I mention all of the above to say this: Unless a person is intellectually honest in discussing an issue, there is no point in continuing on. To do so creates unnecessary conflict. We can agree to disagree and respect each other's differences, but when one person won't acknowledge that their questions have been answered or their arguments have been addressed, conversations become unproductive and problematic. For some, like this gentleman, it is often the case of an unwillingness to believe rather than them needing another convincing reason to believe. At some point when all reasonable questions have been answered, belief comes down to a matter of the will. And some people refuse to believe no matter what evidence is placed before them. This man sought me out with a question and followed up with others. He was clearly somewhat well read about the Bible. His struggle however, was that when his questions were plainly and clearly answered, the answers didn't fit with his preconceived view of what the answers should have been. This is how it went, to paraphrase and shorten: Question from the Muslim writer: "How can you believe in the resurrection when there were no eyewitnesses?" Answer from me: "There were eyewitnesses...here are there names." His Comment: (as he claims the Crucifixion never happened) Quran 157-58. And because of their saying (in boast), "We killed Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, the Messenger of Allâh," - but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but it appeared so to them , and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely; they killed him not . But Allâh raised him up (with his body and soul) unto Himself (and he is in the heavens). And Allâh is Ever All-Powerful, All-Wise. Answer: "If I might say, without giving offense, you mention that the Koran says--if I understood your words correctly--that Jesus only appeared to have been crucified. Since you are rightly concerned about eyewitness accounts, why would you believe some one who came along 600 years later and who was not an eyewitness? If you say the Koran's writer (whom you believe) was a prophet of God, then it would be important to believe other prophets of God like Moses and Jesus himself (both of whom Muslim's believe to be prophets). In Luke 24, Jesus says this: "44 He said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. 46 And he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day 47 and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. " Notice that the testimony of Jesus is that Moses the great prophet, prophesied that the Messiah would suffer and rise from "the dead on the third day." So there is no doubt that Jesus was dead and that he is speaking of himself in this passage. He also says that these men to who he was speaking were eyewitnesses." Question: (As he ignored my answer) "Differences in what day Christians think the crucifixion happened make Christians liars." Answer: "There is a difference between being a liar and being mistaken. And the real issue isn't the precise day (Thursday or Friday) that Christ was crucified on, but that he was crucified. Question: (Again he ignored my above answer) "Also if this is not enough, let me mention to you that the Qur’an has 114 chapters, over 6000 verses and there were hundreds of people in the time of the prophet Muhammad who memorized the book entirely. Did anyone memorize any of the gospels? Did anyone memorize the Torah? The Psalms? The Old and the New Testament? Nobody, not even the pope himself." Answer: "You are mistaken that no one has memorized the Gospels or the Psalms for example. In Rabbinical schools in past centuries the Psalms were memorized. And whether the Bible or the Koran is memorized is irrelevant as to either being truth. Many people memorize nursery rhymes, but that doesn't make the nursery rhymes true." Then as we ended the conversation the gentleman, still not having addressed nor acknowledged that his arguments had been answered, he signed off with a respectful comment and added: Quran 3:64. Say "O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians): Come to a word that is just between us and you, that we worship none but Allah (Alone), and that we associate no partners with Him, and that none of us shall take others as lords besides Allah. Then, if they turn away, say: "Bear witness that we are Muslims." Interesting that I was not trying to convince him to believe in the God of the Bible or in Christ. I was merely answering his questions. He had come to me, not the other way around. None of my comments had to do with asking him to believe in Christ, although of course that would be my hope for him. Yet he seemed to feel pressure on the subject in his closing comment that, "none of us shall take others as lords besides Allah." Of course the Bible says the same thing essentially about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so this isn't unusual. What the Bible does say, however, as God speaks to Israel in the book of Isaiah, is, "Come let us reason together." God is a God of reason. Logic did not invent itself. It comes from the Lord himself. He expects us to use our minds and to think. But as is demonstrated in the above conversation, there is also a matter of will. This gentleman, though his questions had been answered (in greater detail than shown above) was I am sure, intellectually aware that his arguments had been defeated...not to put it in an adversarial sense. Yet he could not believe just then. I understand. It takes time to reprocess things. Perhaps one day he will rethink things and come to understand. But if today you find yourself where this man was: unwilling to believe in the face of the evidence, let me ask you to consider rethinking your views. Is it really an issue of truth that is in the way of your belief, or is it a matter of the will...you just refuse to believe? I don't want to overstate this, but the reality is that your eternity depends on you being honest with yourself. John 3:16 is still quite true: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The corollary thought, friend, is that those who don't put their faith in Christ will perish. That statement is either true or it is false. There is no middle ground. Reason it out and consider the implications. Your destiny hangs on what you decide. May God grant you wisdom to choose well.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Forgetting What Lies Behind, We Press On

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It was amazing to watch Tiger Woods this weekend win the PGA tournament again. His 12th major tournament and his second this year. He dismantled the competition on the way to his 51st win over all. Barring injury or some other onforeseen circumstance Tiger will certainly win more tournaments and more majors than any golfer ni the history of the sport.

What sets him apart from other players? Certainly there are other players with amazing talent. Some putt better, others are longer drivers, and at least one is a better iron player. So what is it?

His competitors will tell you that it is his smarts. He is the smartest and most mentally tough player in the game....maybe ever. He is able to put behind him whatever bad shots he does hit, and stay focused on what he needs to do with his next shot.

That was Paul's message to us in the letter he wrote to the Philippians. He said,

Forgetting what lies behind, I strain forward to what lies ahead...

In some ways a person could think that such an approach is a cop-out, a form of denial. But it isn't.

Paul describes this kind of thinking as how those who are mature in the Lord will think. Interesting. Not a cop-out at all, but it is a sign of maturity in Christ that we don't dwell on the past, but rather strain forward to what lies ahead.

I recently preached a sermon on this subject and during the sermon on the screen behind me I projected a Power Point slide of two runners, hurdlers to be exact, leaning forward toward the tape at the finish line.

Behind them in the background of the shot, you could see the hurdles they had come over. In one lane far in the back, was a downed hurdle. What was interesting to notice as it relates to the subject at hand, is that neither runner was looking behind them. Both were only looking toward the finish line.

Whether hurdles were down behind them or they had cleared them all made no difference. What mattered was the finish line.

Far too often we knock over hurdles in life--failing in some way, sinning, whatever it may be that is our "knocked down hurdle"--and we stand in the running lane of life staring at the hurdles on the ground.

We are immobilized by our failures, frozen in a spot on the track. We look around for more of our hurdles that have been tipped over. And sure enough we find them. So we spend time looking at those hurdles too.

Depending on our personality, we may spend a fair bit of time looking at the hurdles that have been knocked down in other lanes. All we see is failure; our own failure and the failure of others.

Another group of us stands in the lane on the track admiring the fact that they have knocked down fewer hurdles than others! Pride! What great hurdlers they are! Really? They are still on the track staring at hurdles rather than running toward the finish line.

The Lord would have us stop spending so much time looking at hurdles, either hurdles still standing (our successes) or hurdles that have been knocked over (our failures). Yes we need to repent when we fail, but we aren't to stay at the point of our failure in the lane of life.

We are to press on. We are to strain forward to what lies ahead--the upward call of God in Christ.

What we may not realize as believers in Christ, is that when we knock over hurdles in life, as we will, there is someone coming up behind us in our lane! It is the Lord. And he is picking up those hurdles. He is making all things new. He is forgiving our sins.

So don't live in the past. Don't stand staring at your failures. Where repentence and restitution is needed, do it. Repentence and restitution are Biblical steps. But note that they are "steps," that is, that we should be moving on from them. They are steps, not stopping points.

God wants us to forget what lies behind and to press forward to what lies ahead.

As a believer in Christ he has set you free. Lean forward, press on, feel the wind of the Spirit that has set you free. This is God's will for you. Enjoy it.

And tomorrow or next week when you knock over another hurdle, as you will, repent but keep moving knowing that there is someone coming up in the lane behind you to pick up your hurdle. His name is Jesus and he'll take care of things.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Bitterness is a poison we drink hoping that some one else will die.

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Hebrews 12:15 says, "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."

I can't remember where I heard it, but some one once said, "Bitterness is a poison we drink hoping that some one else will die." How true a statement. Bitterness doesn't help us with our hurt, it only poisons us in our pain. And as Hebrews says, bitterness can spread and defile others around us.

Recently I witnessed bitterness at level that I haven't seen in the past. The context will remain private, but the general situation I can share.

Two people with an estranged relationship due to the actions of one of them had cause to meet in an official legal setting. One person, clearly broken because of the actions of the other, was as bitter a person as I have seen.

I understand the person's pain. They were the innocent party, so to speak. But the level of bitterness in them was malignant. It had spread to others who came to the meeting with them. Frankly I don't think bitterness is a strong enough word to describe what their emotions exuded.

Cold, hard hatred was more like it. The bitter root had surely grown up and brought with it defilement.

They had reason for their pain. As I said, they were the innocent party. But the palpable hatred they exuded toward the one who had caused the injury and to everyone else who didn't see things their way, was cancerous...not to others, but to themselves.

My heart ached for them. It ached for any number of obvious reasons, but also because the events that caused them pain were in the main, not new.

Months and months had passed, actually more than months, but I don't want to overstate the time issue since lessor offenses in more recent days have torn the scabs off the past.

But the level of pain and bitterness expressed in the meeting would have been understandable if the painful events had occurred recently. They had not.

Christians to the core and claiming the moral high ground, they have fallen prey to a poisonous bitterness; a kind of bitterness that if not resolved will leave them crippled emotionally for the rest of their lives. My heart ached for them.

Bitterness is a poison we drink hoping that some one else will die. What a mistake.

Years ago I spoke with my Mother about some of the things my father did during their estrangement and eventual divorce. Years and years after that estrangement Dad gave his heart to the Lord and repented...just months before his death as it turned out.

But there was a season that Dad was not a very nice man. In talking to Mom about some of those days and the things that happened, she said, "You know Gordon, I don't remember them."

I was stunned because of what some of those things were. I couldn't imagine anyone not remembering them.

I asked her how that could be. What she said may be helpful to any of you wrestling with bitterness. She said:

"I went to my pastor, Dan Bean and he prayed for me. What he prayed for was that my memories be healed. And they were. There are many things that I just don't remember."

Mom was not in denial. She wasn't that kind of person. She honestly didn't remember some of the most hurtful things that had happened. God had healed her memories.

Of course she wouldn't have had to go to her pastor to have that prayer prayed for her. I merely shared that part with you because that is how it happened for her. The key point the prayer to the Lord for her memories to be healed.

You don't need a pastor to pray....and I say that having been a pastor since 1982. You can pray that prayer or any other prayer, just fine by yourself.

If you are experiencing bitterness in your life, let me encourage you to pray that your memories be healed. Pray that God will release you from the pain of the past, so that it doesn't poison your present.

Let no root of bitterness grow up and defile many. Be honest with yourself. If you are bitter, admit it...then deal with it. God will help you if you turn to him.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Productivity is not a goal; it is an attribute

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Paul had me in a quandry for awhile as I read in Philippians his comment, For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. (1:21)

It wasn't that I questioned the truth of the long treasured verse, it was that in this comment and his other discussion around it, he seemed to be too willing to let go of this life and get on with the next.

There is a time for such thinking of course, when one has lived a full life and the inevitable is facing us. But at the time Paul wrote this he had much more life to live and work to do. How could he be so prepared to simply walk away from this life with so much yet to accomplish for the Lord?

We have all heard of stories where a person dies long before their time, and the plattitudes come out about "How the Lord can use this in the lives of others, as others consider the meaning of the life of the wonderful person that has passed away."

And we understand that there is some truth to that, but the logical part of our brain says, "Ya, but what if they had stayed living? Wouldn't that have been better? Wouldn't they have been able to impact even more people? And what about their families, as in wives or husbands or children that have been left without them? How is having them without their loved one a "better" situation?

We don't articulate those things except in private perhaps, or maybe even at all. But deep down inside something nags at us for an answer to something that just doesn't make sense to us.

That same "something" nagged at me as I read of Paul's willingness to let this life go and move on to the next.

Finally the light bulb went on: I was looking at life and our relationshp with God in a very deficient way.

Growing up in a home where having a work ethic was prized and productivity was to be sought after, I could not imagine that having some one like Paul in heaven rather than on earth, is a "better" thing. Too much productivity for the Kingdom would be lost for that to make sense.

Not so, if productivity isn't our target, it dawned on me.

This may sound obvious and maybe you have already understood this...and it may sound seem not very profound, but believe me it is. It will set you free if you understand it correctly. Here it is:

Productivity for the Lord is not our goal as believers; it is simply an attribute of a healthy Christian life.

Ephesians 2 tells us that "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared for us that we might walk in them."

You see, the "good works" are not God's ultimate target....we are. We are his workmanship. The good works are to be "walked in," yes, that is, we are to do them. But doing "good works" (sharing our faith, serving others etc.)is an attribute of a person being shaped into the likeness of Christ. It is not the ultimate goal.

The ultimate goal for a believer is not to rack up an impressive list of spiritual accomplishments, it is to be like Christ. Accomplishments will take care of themselves as the "fruit" of the attribute of being productive for the Lord in all that we do and say.

Again, I know this may not sound all that profound, but if you are a "word person," a person that understands that how a person articulates a thought or a concept to themselves can truly make a difference in life, you will perhaps grasp that the idea that productivity for the Lord is an attribute of a healthy Christian and not the ultimate goal, has the potential to absolutely life changing for some.

Go out an enjoy your life for the Lord. Acknowledge him in all that you do. Be productive, be efficient, work hard. But know that he tresures you...he treasures YOU! You are his workmanship. Productivity, while an important attribute in a healthy Christian life, is not the goal.

So much is it not the goal, that if the Lord chooses to take the most productive person on the planet at the time...Paul...home to be with God in glory, Paul is able to say, "Wow, to live is Christ, but you know, to die and be with him is truly ultimate gain."

No regret for tasks yet undone. How could he be that way? Because he was productive of course. He took every thought captive and made the most of the time...and that is all we can do. The results and the scope and the depth of "our" impact is up to the Lord. We can be at peace knowing that productivity isn't the driving slave master that we once thought it was. It is simply an attribute.

Productivity...stay in your attribute category and get off my "to do" list. Amen

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Dealing with injustice...but how?

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Have you ever struggled with your own feelings when some injustice has taken place in your life?

Some one attributes a comment or an action to you that you didn't make, and consequences in your life result from their actions. When you eventually find out the source of the problem--the other person--it is too late to undo what they have done. They seem to go about their merry way repeating their actions with no consequences in their own lives.

A crime happens, you are robbed, your house is torn apart by vandals. The vandals are either never found or when they are found, they are given a slap on the wrist while you are left to clean up their mess and deal with the loss of possessions that may be irreplaceable.

Worse, a life is taken. A few years ago a young woman formerly from our community was murdered in another city by some one looking for a few dollars. A lovely person's life was snubbed out, creating a permanent and horrifying injustice in her life and in the life of this young woman's family. An injustice that will never be corrected fully because she is gone.

How do we deal with such things? And how do we as believers who preach forgiveness, reconcile these colliding feelings in our souls: one feeling crying out for justice, the other an awareness of how much we have been forgiven by God and that we should thus likewise forgive?

Even when we do forgive, as we should, we want to feel that we have forgiven not just know that to be true intellectually. But we often battle with feelings that don't match the forgiveness we know we have chosen to give. There is not-so-latent anger and frustration, even bitterness in our hearts.

What do we do with these feelings when injustice happens and appears to be the final outcome of our situation?

It is complicated and what I am about to share won't be the full answer, but if you are struggling with some injustice in your life, I think this will help.

As I battled to think through a major injustice that happened in my own life by people who lied and manipulated and appeared to get away with it, I've prayed and prayed and prayed for the Lord's direction and help with my own feelings. Until today. This morning I ran across some verses that are a great help. I still have some things to work through as I consider these verses, but I've finally found a starting point: 2 Timothy 4:14-18.

Listen to what Paul says here and notice the difference between Paul’s view of Alexander the coppersmith and Paul’s view of those who deserted him (Paul):

Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Be on your guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching. 16 At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them.

17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.


The Alexander listed here is almost certainly a fellow believer whom Paul knew.

In Acts 19:33 an Alexander attempts to make a defense of Paul, but the Ephesian crowd shouts him down. Ephesus is the place where Timothy was, to whom Paul was writing in our passage above.

In 1 Timothy 19:20 an Alexander is also mentioned. This time Paul speaks of a disciplinary action he had to take because of blasphemy being spoken by this Alexander. The kind of discipline that Paul refers to is one that is spoken of elsewhere regarding believers. Alexander, therefore, appears to be a believer, surely the same Alexander in each instance.

I mention that Alexander is almost certainly a believer because it is often the case, sadly, that it is a fellow believer who perpetrates injustice in our lives. These hurts are the most painful.

David wrote in the Psalms,

“If an enemy were insulting me I could endure it; if a foe were raising himself against me, I could hide from him. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship as we walked along with the throng in the house of God. (Psalm 55:12-14)

How does God deal with believers who do injustices to other believers?

Well part of the answer is in 2 Timothy 4. He repays them for their deeds. We must be careful as we think about this. This isn't the only way that God deals with us as believers. Thank the Lord that he doesn't always repay us for our deeds! The Cross of Christ is about forgiveness and God does forgive.

But here we find that Alexander did harm to Paul as he was preaching the Gospel. He did harm by opposing Paul's teaching. Rather than just write this off and say, "The Lord forgive him," Paul says something quite different. He says that the Lord will repay Alexander for his deeds.

Paul was very direct about what had happened to him. He didn’t put on a happy face and pretend that nothing inappropriate had been done by Alexander, nor did he excuse Alexander’s behavior as simply the actions of a fellow sinner as Paul was quick to point out that he was himself. On the contrary. Paul says frankly that Alexander had done him great harm and that God would repay Alexander for what he had done.

In contrast, in the very same context, Paul mentions those who had deserted Paul when he desperately needed defending. About this group Paul says, "May it not be counted against them."

Interesting isn’t it?

About one he says, "The Lord will repay him..."

About the other he says, "May it not be counted against them."


Why the difference?

In part because the one who had done harm clearly had not repented. Paul says to be on guard about him. Alexander is still who he has been, out there causing problems. In that condition God is going to deal with him. God is going to repay him for what he is doing.

The others, those who deserted Paul, while acting inappropriately, were merely cowards not perpetrators. Paul openly extends forgiveness to them.

Frankly when I read this and understood it, it was a great relief.

This nagging internal conflict of, on the one hand, having forgiven others and recognizing my own need for forgiveness, and on the other hand, wanting justice to be done and truth to be known, had left me confused about how God deals with such things.

It always seems in my own life that God doesn't let me get away with things. He brings things to my mind to get them dealt with and if I don't deal with them consequences result. But I was unwilling to see that as God's way of dealing with others.

It seemed that forgiveness, full and complete on my part toward them, should wipe away that need for action by God...yet that didn't seem right. Like me, people still need to deal with what they have done and not "get away with it" so to speak.

These verses have shown me an aspect of all this that has been helpful in dealing with the unresolved internal conflict in my own soul: the conflict of wanting justice and truth to be known even when I have forgiven people—but not feeling an internal release about that forgiveness in my own soul. Something seemed to be left out of the equation: their repentance and reconciliation with God.

What these verses have shown me is that God will bring about consequences in the lives of those who do damage to others. The point should be made that it is God who will repay; we are not to do the repaying. God is perfectly capable of handling things and he will, no matter what it looks like to us on the outside.

One more point in closing. Notice that even with all deserting Paul--that is all human beings--verses 17 and 18 say:

17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion's mouth.

18 The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.


The Lord will stand with us when no one else will. When all have deserted us, God will not. When some one does us harm, know that God has a plan to bring us safely to His heavenly kingdom. He will deliver us from every evil deed. Every evil deed. Every one.

That delivery is not a promise for an escape of the evil actions of others here on this earth. Clearly the passage acknowledges that evil deeds happen. This delivery from every evil deed is a promise that all will be made right in heaven. We’ll be brought safely to that heavenly shore. Count on it. This is His promise to you.

Perhaps I should say a word to those who are perpetrators of harm to others. Know this, that God will not let you get away with it, even though for a season it will seem that you have gotten away with it. God, in his time, will bring you face to face with the consequences of your actions. It’s how he does things.

For those who are merely weak and who fail, may it not be counted against you. That is how God does things as well.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

They saw the wonderful things he did...and were indignant...

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It seems to be a law of nature and human nature to look for the weakness in people rather than their strengths.

I remember listening to a tape by Dr. Howard Hendricks years ago, as he talked about how he worked with students in teaching them to do public speaking, specifically preaching. One of his techniques was to have class members evaluate each other, but with a caution as to how to go about it.

In Dr. Hendricks' humorous style, as my memory recalls his words, he said,

"Now listen: I want you to write down, not what these speakers are doing wrong, but what they are doing right. Any moron can pick out things they are doing wrong. What they need to know is what they are doing right!"

As I was reading in Matthew 21 this week in preparation for Palm Sunday, I ran across a passage that reminded me that we can become so focused on what we presume is a fault--but may not be--that we miss the big picture in a person's life or actions.

Shortly after Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he went to the Temple and turned over the tables of the money changers. Not a good way to "win friends and influence people" you would think!

However, the next passage after the incident says, Mat. 21:14 "And the blind and the lame came to Him in the Temple and he healed them." People were drawn to him--by dozens and hundreds and thousands.

Now you would think that healing people who are blind and lame would be a good thing, especially in the eyes of religious leaders whose profession of faith in God one would presume would be evidence that they are compassionate people.

But not so.

You see it turns out that in an act of fulfilling prophesy about the coming of the Messiah--though they didn't know it was a fulfillment of prophecy--some small children began to say to Jesus, "Hosanna to the Son of David!"

The name "Son of David" was a title for the Messiah who was to come. And of course Jesus was and is that Messiah. But the religious leaders, these very ones who had been waiting so long for the promised Messiah, couldn't see what was before their very eyes. They struggled to take "Yes!" for an answer.

So when Jesus was healing people, even when they saw those "wonderful things" with their own eyes, rather than see the good that was happening, they chose to focus on what they viewed as a violation of appropriate protocol: giving praise to Jesus as though he was truly the Messiah.

So they became indignant.

Ever been there? Not about the Messiah, but about a fellow human being?

They are doing good things in their lives, they are serving the Lord, serving humanity or some cause, but you think they don't seem to be as polished as they should be, or you don't like their spouse, or you don't like it that they are getting praised, when your opinion of them is that they are not much to write home about.

We can become so focused on what we perceive is a short-coming in a person's life that we miss the person they truly are; or we diminish in our minds the things they have accomplished. In short, we write them off.

We can become so hardened in our hearts toward people that even though we see the "wonderful things" they are doing, we become indignant.

Ever been on the receiving end of such treatment? If you have, let me encourage you with a question that the chief priests asked of Jesus in verse 23 of the same chapter:

"By what authority are You doing these things and who gave You this authority?"

I just loved it when I read that! Not because it was a great question. It wasn't. It was a question that demonstrated the hardness of heart of these leaders. No, their motivation and reason for asking was off base completely.

The reason I loved the question is because it reminded me of the answer!

By what authority are you doing what you are doing and who gave you that authority?

Almost certainly the authority that is the basis for what you are doing to serve the Lord--those things you are doing and being criticized for--is not found in your critics. It isn't your critics who authorized you to do good! It is God! And no critic or institution can remove the authority that God has given.

Get a life critics! It is God who gives this kind of authority, not human beings.

We need not worry about those who nit-pick and tear and complain and question about the "wonderful things" God does through his imperfect servants. The critics neither have the power to give authority nor to revoke it.

Sunday School teacher, Missionary, Pastor, Christian--whomever you may be--don't let the critics get you down! They didn't commission you in the first place. God did. So get on with things. The Lord knows, even if the religious establishment has its head screwed on backwards. Don't be afraid of them, and don't be discouraged.

If Jesus was questioned about the authority by which he acted when he was doing good, it is likely that we will be questioned and criticized too. Its a part of life.

And if you are one of those critics that focuses in on the things you perceive to be wrong (even though what you think is wrong may not be wrong at all), remember that any moron can point out what is wrong with something. What we need to do is focus on what is right with some one and encourage them.

Every day people are rejecting God, dying and going to hell. Our job is to share the love of God in Christ so people can avoid that terrible consequence. God wants people to know that he loves them and that he wants them to believe in His Son so they can be forgiven and spend eternity with the Lord.

Yes there are times when wrongs need to be pointed out in the lives of our fellow believers, but get over yourself and become an encourager, not a criticizer. You'll be amazed at what you'll see and how less self-righteously indignant you will become. You may also be amazed to see people blossom even more in the areas where they are doing well, and those areas that need adjusting will often take care of themselves as those same people mature.

So to paraphrase Paul, who said "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice," let me say, "Get over yourself always, and again I say, GET OVER YOURSELF" and be an encourager not a critic.

Just a thought.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Life is Not a Game of Perfect

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I just finished reading Dr. Bob Rotella's book, "Golf is Not a Game of Perfect." Its been around awhile, and even though I am an avid golfer, this was my first look. Even if you aren't a golfer, this one is worth the read.

Like golf, "life" isn't a game of perfect either. Learning to accept that, but in a healthy way, is part of what it means to be a believer in the Lord.

Philippians chapter 1 tells, us that "...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6


Paul, the same writer, also tells his friends in Philippi:

"But this one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14

Dr. Rotella's book is all about changing the way we think. He points out that most really successful golfers think differently than those who are less successful.

I remember watching a Master's golf tournament years ago, in 1986 as a matter of fact, when Jack Nicklaus was on his way to winning at the ripe old age of 46, a feat that had never been accomplished before and has never been duplicated.

Jim Nance, the CBS broadcaster, asked golfer/commentator Tom Weiskopf a question as Jack Nicklaus was about to hit his tee shot at the 16th tee.

"What is Jack thinking right now as he is at the tee, Tom?" Nance asked.

"If I knew how that man thinks," said Weiskopf, "I would have won a lot more tournaments!"

Funny! But true, and not just for Weiskopf!

As I read Rotella's book on how to think differently, it dawned on me that part of what Paul and other New Testament writers are trying to do as they teach us, is get us to think differently.

We need to think differently about so many things. And in this context, my point is to think differently in a positive sense, even about past failures or present personal struggles.

He (God) who began a good work in us (ship-wrecked beings that we are) will (its positive he will) complete (not part way, but fully) the work at the day of Christ Jesus.

God has not abandoned us to ourselves, thank goodness. And he loves us and he is working on us. We can think differently about ourselves. No excusing our sin or giving in to temptation, but thinking differently about ourselves; not being so down on ourselves.

If you are a believer in Christ as your Lord and Savior, God has forgiven you! Get over it! (Man, I need to hear that same counsel!) Don't keep hanging on to that old view of yourself that beats yourself up for all the failings you have had.

As a believer you have admitted them and God has forgiven you! Again, GET OVER IT...IN A GOOD WAY! Forgive yourself now, being sure to have made restitution to others where it is required and needed, and then do what Paul did: forgetting what was behind, he pressed forward!

What a great way to live...and its Biblical! That means that is ok to think that way folks. Its not a cop out. Its what we are supposed to be doing...better put, it is how we are supposed to be THINKING!

Golf is not a game of perfect. That's why they make the greens bigger than a dinner plate.

And life is not a game of perfect either. That's why God's grace is so big that it can handle any miss-aimed actions on our part. All our shots land on the green of God's grace. Good or bad shots, God loves us still, and the "green" always funnels the ball of life into the promise of eternal joy and forgiveness.

What a God we have.

Life is not a game of perfect. You know it, so now accept it, but in a healthy way, understanding that God loves us in spite of ourselves, and one day his work of transforming us will be complete.

Count on it.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Headed for Israel today!

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We're headed out for Israel this morning, flying out of Chicago. Can't wait to have our feet hit the ground there again, on this our third trip.

We'll see some new sites this time, like the dig at Dan and some other things, and we'll stay in some new places.

I remember our first trip, provided for us by some friends through Northwest Baptist Seminary of Chicago. While I had thought for years about going, the idea of travling there had not been a huge desire for me. The Lord walks with us wherever we are, so being in the Holy Land wasn't going to make a big difference in that.

But my interest in travel to Israel changed in a heartbeat when we arrived at the first archaeological site in Caseara, on the Mediterranean. After about 3 minutes I looked over at my wife and said, "Honey, we have to get a group togther and come back here! This is amazing!"

And we did. The next year we were back again with a group of 30 that I hosted. And then a few years later we went to Greece/Turkey/Rome on a "Footsteps of Paul" tour that I organized and led.

Its been awhile since we have been to Israel and we are greatly looking forward to it. If you ever get a chance to go, don't pass it up. It will be the trip of a life time, believe me. It is an amazing, amazing place.

I'll get caught up here when I return after the 25th.

Shalom!

Gordon

Monday, February 13, 2006

The Philippian Church is Born Part 2 Acts 15-16

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Ask the Pastor Readers:

I've been away for awhile, busy with some other things, and will be gone from the site for a time while I take a trip to Israel. So I have left you with a sermon about God's leading. His leading isn't so linear as we might wish for, and it isn't so severe as we expect it to be.

No need to wring our hands at every turn with concern that we'll miss his leading. If we are sincere about knowing God's will, we can be sure that he is sincere about revealing his will...in time...and sometimes in ways we could not have imagined.

The following is a sermon I preached on Sunday. And once again as a reminder, these are my notes to preach from. That means that this wasn't written to be "read" but spoken. I don't read my sermon notes from the pulpit, but have found that writing things out helps me do a better job.

My hope is that the sermon notes below, typos and all, will be helpful to you in your walk with the Lord, or in the process of coming to know him if you aren't there already.

See you in a couple of weeks with some highlights from the Holy Land.

Gordon


Eaglebrook Church – Minocqua, WI Sunday February 12, 2006
The Philippian Church is Born: Acts 15-16
Introduction



Did you ever go through a bafflingly difficult time in life when you were trying to do something good, and have some well intentioned person ask you, "I wonder what God is trying to teach you through this?"

Or maybe it wasn’t someone else asking, but you were asking the question: "Lord, what are you trying to show me here? What is the purpose for what I am going through?"

Well I have some good news for you if you are going through some tough times or thinking through tough times of the past:

Experiencing trouble in our lives doesn’t have to mean that we have done something wrong and deserve the trouble, and it doesn’t it have to mean that God is trying to teach us anything.

God does take us through tough times to teach us and sometimes to discipline us, but it ain’t necessarily so that that the reason that each piece of trouble that coming our way has anything to do with us.

Having trouble in our lives might mean that we are right in the middle of God’s will and that God is using what we are facing and how we handle it, as a vehicle to speak to some one else.

My hope is that as we continue our study this morning about the church of Philippi, we’ll be encouraged to know that some of the bumps in the road we face may be because we are doing exactly what God wants us to do.

Review

We will be in Acts 16 again today, looking at the events surrounding the planting of the church at Philippi. When we left off 3 weeks ago, Paul had just met and led to the Lord, a woman named Lydia from the town of Thyatira who was in Philippi on business.

Paul’s trip to get to Philippi for that divine appointment with Lydia had a rather rocky start as you may remember.

It began with a fight between Paul and Barnabas about whether John Mark should come along. Mark had quit on them during the first missionary trip a few years earlier, and Paul was not about to risk taking him along again.

So strong was the disagreement between Barnabas and Paul about this, that they parted company on the spot and there is no evidence in the book of Acts that they ever work together again.

There are other comments in the New Testament that indicate that they still thought highly of each other, but their missionary partnership in terms of travel, was over.

So they part company, each going off in a different direction, Barnabas with John Mark and Paul taking Silas.

That was Trouble Item Number 1.

No sooner do Paul and Silas hit the road than they run into Trouble Item Number 2: God won’t let them preach where they want to. In fact three times they get stop signs.

They want to preach in Galatia and then in Phyrgia and then in Bithynia, but each time they try, the Holy Spirit says, "No."

About that time Trouble Item Number 3 shows up: They do get a green light to do ministry in the town of Troas, but now Paul is uncomfortable doing so because his friend Titus wasn’t there and Paul is concerned about him.

Conflict with a friend, God closing doors, and now inner anxiety that stops Paul in his tracks from doing ministry that he has the opportunity to do.

Humanly a person would have to feel a bit confused. But not Paul.

Even with the fight, the stops signs and the anxiety, he takes it all as the leading of the Lord, late explaining it to the Corinthians by saying,

2 Cor. 2:14:

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.


What Paul saw was that God had led him to Philippi where Lydia and her family became believers starting the Philippian church. And if we were to stop here, you could almost see the credits rolling at the end of the movie, with the violins playing in the background.

Trouble Item Number 4: Being Beaten "around the head and shoulders!"

But Trouble Item Number 4 in Philippi is about to rear its even uglier head. And that is where we pick up the reading today, in Acts 16:16-23.

Acts 16:16-23 (NASB)

16 And it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortunetelling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.

18 And she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment.

19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans."

22 And the crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them, and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;


Church Planting 101

I’ve seen the jail in ancient Philippi that they suggest was the jail that Paul was kept in. It’s not a pretty place. It’s little more a hole in the ground. Not a cozy place to spend the night.

If you are Paul and Silas in Philippi planting a church, and the final story hasn’t yet unfolded to you, you might begin wonder as they are tearing off your robes so they can beat you with a stick on your bare back, whether you made a mistake by not staying in Troas where the wide open door for ministry was! I know I’d be thinking that way!

"Lord, are you trying to teach me to pay attention when you open a door of ministry? Did I take a left turn when you wanted me to go right?"

"Lord, if you let me get by without this beating, I’ll pay better attention in the future, I promise!"


And certainly you can imagine that well intentioned Christian friend coming along about this time, saying,

"You know, I thought you should have stayed in Troas. I cautioned you that when there is an open door for something you are supposed to go through it. You always have been a bit unstable."

Man I can hear the logic now. And some one else would probably say:

"It is no wonder you are always getting yourself in hot water the way you treated John Mark and Barnabas! I think brought this on yourselves because of the fight you had with Barnabas over John Mark!"

Paul clearly didn’t think that way, but let’s come back to that in a minute. I want you to notice some things here first that will be helpful.

It is normal to have conflict when God is storming the Gates of Hell

It is normal to have conflict when God is storming the Gates of Hell.
Do remember what Jesus said about the building of his church?

He said, "I will build my church and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it."

I suspect that you had the same problem with that verse that I always had over the years, and that is, thinking of the verse in a way exactly the opposite of its meaning.

I always thought the verse described Satan attacking the work of God and that certainly happens, but a Gate is not an attacking device! Did you ever think about that? A gate is something used to keep people in or to keep people out or as an entrance to go through.

Jesus was saying that he would break through the Gates of Hell into enemy territory and that the Gates of Hell would not be able to stop him! Paul is in the process of being used by the Lord to break through the Gates of Hell that are holding lost people captive in Philippi.

When Paul came to Philippi there were no Christians there. None. As the Bible records it, Lydia was the first believer converted in all of Europe.

All at once with Lydia and her family becoming believers the Gates of Hell have opened a crack. There is a leak in the dike. From Hell’s standpoint, there is danger that a stampede to freedom might begin!

Just like today, when people find out the truth about God’s plan of salvation, they want to get out from behind the Gates of Hell and on the road to life with God.
Hell doesn’t like that.

This is particularly relevant, by the way, for Eaglebrook as a new church.

We haven’t had this that we know of, but spiritual conflict and resistance is normal when a new church starts. The Gates of Hell are being stormed. When we share our faith like Paul did, when we start a new witness for the Lord, we are pressing on the Gates.

We’re pushing to see if we can get the doors open and by God’s grace, set the prisoners free. We shouldn’t be surprised if we see some resistance along the way.

So the trouble that happened to Paul and Silas wasn’t from not hearing the leading of the Lord. It was from pushing on the Gates of Hell it seems to me.

It had nothing to do with Paul and Silas deserving the beatings they got, and it had nothing to do with them needing to learn something. God was planting a Church. The Devil didn’t like it. Case closed.

At the Agora: Everybody Sees

Notice how God is working things out for good.

Verse 19: But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.


The Greek word there for marketplace is "agora." The agora was in effect the center of town. It was a place where people gathered not only to buy things they needed each day, but also to converse.

There would also have been what was called a "bema" there, a judgment seat. A "bema" would have been an open air platform so to speak, where cases were heard publicly and judgments rendered by the authorities exactly as is happening here.

And there are two ways to look at Paul and Silas being dragged before the magistrate:

1. Paul and Silas, you guys blew it!

You confronted a situation you could just as well have left alone. The entire town will think that you are a trouble maker.

Or,

2. God is up to something.

God has a plan to send a message to this entire town and to publicize the existence of this newly founded church that few would have known about.


You can imagine a church meeting today to talk over these two points of view can’t you? People would be divided about what Paul had done. There would be debates about how to handle things and whether it is a good idea to be so confrontive and open.

But there is no division in reality as to what was happening. God was working things together for good.

The Level of Attacks: Lies, Race Card, "Law Breakers"

Before we make that point further, notice the level of attacks that come in verses 20 and 21:

"and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, 'These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews 21 and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or observe being Romans.'"

The race card is played, lies are told that Paul and Silas have stirred up confusion in the city. The only thing confusing so far is that the owners of the demon possessed slave girl are now confused about how they are going to make a living!...and Paul and Silas are accused of being rule breakers, law breakers.

Doesn’t sound like anything good could come of this mess.

In fact humanly speaking you would have to say that Paul and Silas aren’t too bright!

Paul has a fight with Barnabas, God doesn’t allow him to preach in three different places, and then when a door does open up he refuses to go through it. Now he gets annoyed at a demonic girl because she is in a sense making fun of them. If he had only exercised a little more patience and care, he wouldn’t be in this mess.

And now he is standing before a tribunal and charged with being a trouble maker and the entire community can see it. Surely Paul is outside the will of God. There can be no mistaking about that.

Paul is so dense that God is going to take the extra ordinary step of allowing Paul to be flogged and then thrown into prison. And not only into prison, in verse 24 it says:

"and he (the jailer) having received such a command, threw them into the INNER prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Some people are just denser than others aren’t they? Maybe, just maybe Paul will figure out that he has fouled up here.

It’s about now that we discover how really clueless Paul and Silas are.

Take a look at verse 25:

"But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God...

Guys, you are unbelievable. How in the world can you be praising God at a time like this when clearly it is your own foolishness, disobedience and divisive spirit that has brought you to this moment!"

Oh wait a minute…what does the last half of verse 25 say that we haven’t read yet?

And the prisoners were listening to them.

That little transition phrase tips the direction of the story. God was about to do something very significant.

Verses 26 through 34:

And suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 And when the jailer had been roused out of sleep and had seen the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here." 29 And he called for the lights and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas 30 and after he brought them out he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"


(Wait a minute, where did that question come from? How did he know anything about being "saved" so to speak? I wonder hymns Paul and Silas were singing and what praises they were proclaiming so that this man would even know to ask such a question?)

31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household. 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

34 And he brought them into his house and set food before them and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.


Do you remember 3 weeks ago when we talked about divine appointments? God set up a divine appointment between Paul and Lydia.

God didn’t let Paul preach in some places and allowed him to be uneasy about preaching in other places where it would have been ok to preach, so that Paul could meet Lydia and leader her and her family to the Lord.

And now there has been another divine appointment. A jailer and his family were ready to hear the Word of the Lord, but God had to shake things up a bit to make the connection between the jailer and Paul and Silas.

We can look at Paul’s annoyance with the mocking of the slave girl and say he should have been more patient and not reacted...because his actions created a stir that wasn’t necessary.

But when we get to heaven we are going to meet a jailer who met Paul in a prison in Philippi and we are going to meet his family and their children and children’s children who got saved in the years that follow this story, and they are going to have quite a different spin than any suggestiong that Paul was outside the will of God.

God was shaking things up through Paul and Silas. God led them in their actions so they could bring a jailer and his family to Christ and to loose the chains of the prisoners who also heard the message of salvation that day no doubt.

But there is more.

Verse 35-40:

35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, "Release these men." 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Now therefore, come out and go in peace."

37 But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now they are sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out."

38 And the policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. And they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city.

40 And they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.


I wonder how safe it would have been to be a member of the Philippian church if Paul and Silas had not been wrongfully thrown into prison and the magistrates the next day discovered that they were Romans?

Some one suggested in the reading that I did, that this incident may have given the church legitimacy in Philippi. The magistrates would not be likely to attack other members of the church, for fear that their treatment of Paul and Silas who were Roman citizens would come back to haunt them.

More than that, who in Philippi would now not have heard the story of what happened? A public trial, the wrongful beating of Roman citizens, an earthquake opening the jail cells, but no one choosing to escape, and the magistrates apologizing publicly for what they had done.

Surely there was word on the street that would have made people curious. A prominent businesswoman Lydia, who traveled regularly enough to Philippi on business to have her own house there, and the town’s main jailer had come to Christ. What is this teaching that they are following?

God had been up to something, had he not? Yes he was. Yes he was.

In doing this study it has become clear to me that far too often we are anxious about making perfect choices and second guessing ourselves when the decisions we make lead to unpleasant situations.

Surely we ought to pay attention and seek to do God’s will at every step. But the reality is that the resistance and conflict we meet along the way, as we endeavor to walk with God, may well be God giving us divine appointments. It may well be that it is God providing an example to others of how to rejoice even when we are in a prison. It may well be God shaking the foundations of authority figures who need to have their own chains rattled. It may well be God restraining authority figures from interfering with the work God wants to do through a church.

It may well be that the conflict and resistance and even beatings and imprisonment we face are evidences not of God’s discipline for things in the past, but are rather indicators that we are right in the middle of God’s will at the very moment of that conflict.

Pursue God’s leading. Pay attention to his direction. But walk with him in confidence, no second guessing ourselves at every turn.

Whether the struggles are conflict with others, closed doors we can’t get through, open doors we feel anxious about, or lies being told about us and conflict with authorities...even in these things, we need not fear that it must be true we have stepped outside of God’s will.

It may in fact be that we are doing God’s will and that churches will be planted and souls saved as a result. Oddly enough a chunk of this sounds like the genesis of a place called, not just the church at Philippi, but Eaglebrook, right here in northern Wisconsin.

Right in the center of God’s will. What a great place to be.

Prayer

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Figuring Out the Will of God When Neither "No" nor "Yes" are the Right Answer.

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For those who can't make it to church today, here is my today's sermon. A reminder that this is formatted for me to speak from and isn't written to be "read" either by me or others. So ignore the typos and the style...these are just speakers notes.

Thanks!


Eaglebrook Church – Minocqua, WI Sunday January 22, 2006
The Philippian Church is Born: Acts 15-16


Introduction


Over the weeks ahead on the Sundays that I will be preaching, I want to take us through the book of Philippians, the book that Pete read from at the beginning of the service today. The book of Philippians is a remarkable book for a variety of reasons and is one of the most personal letters Paul wrote. Of all the churches in the New Testament, this church was perhaps the closest to Paul.

Paul refused to take financial support from newly planted churches so there wouldn’t be any confusion about why he had reached out to them, but his relationship with the Philippian church was so close that he was willing to accept their financial support over the years because he knew they knew his heart and there would be no questioning of his motives.

But before we get into the book of Philippians itself, I want us to know how the Philippian church got started.

Have you ever wondered how to discern the will of God in your life or how to measure the will of God when trials and tribulations have come your way?

You feel like you are going in the direction that God wants you to go in, but doors keep closing left and right. You wonder where God is leading or whether he is leading at all. You wonder if you are up a creek you should never have been paddling on.

If you have ever been up that creek looking for the current of the Spirit to take over again, I think you will find what we are going to see today from the book of Acts very helpful and encouraging, because the church at Philippi was not born in an ordinary way. God closed some doors to Paul and made him feel uneasy about other open doors, all as God divinely directed Paul to a specific place at a specific time.

The Second Missionary Journey” Acts 15: 36

If you have your Bibles with you, turn with me over to Acts chapter 15 beginning with verse 36.

Just a couple of years before the journey Paul took to Philippi that this passage describes, he and Barnabas had been on another missions trip; a trip that has been labeled Paul’s First Missionary Journey.

In time Paul decides that he and Barnabas should go back to those churches to see how they were doing. That decision spurs a bit of controversy between them about John Mark, a young man who had gone with them the first time. We pick up the reading in verse 36 where Paul and Barnabas have a little head butting session.

Acts 15:36-41 (NIV)

36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38 but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.

39 They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.


1. Born of a Brothers going in different directions

One of the fascinating things about the church plant in Philippi is that the journey that started it all began with a fight about who was going to be on the bus trip.

John Mark had been on the first trip. He is the person names Mark who would later write the book of Mark. So clearly the fact that Barnabas stuck with him turned out to be a good thing for you and me and for millions of people over the centuries.

But in his original try at ministry on that first mission’s trip, John Mark gave up and went home. So when mission’s trip number 2 comes along, Paul decides that there is no way that John Mark is coming with them.

Funny isn’t it that this early on with such mature believers as Barnabas and Paul, there would be a fight. Barnabas was the man who had spoken up for Paul when no one would believe that he was really converted. And here he is, speaking up for Mark too. So is Paul the one that is wrong?

What is fascinating about this rift over whether or not Mark should travel with them, is that neither Paul nor Barnabas is ever corrected in the Scriptures. There is no reference that either was mistaken.

As I thought about this a few years ago, it seemed to me that the reason for this is likely because both Barnabas and Paul were right. Each was demonstrating an aspect of God’s character that needed to be displayed. Neither is told that they were wrong because neither was wrong.

Barnabas was displaying the part of God’s character that says:

"Even when you fail, I will not give up on you. Even when you are weak, I will be there for you. Even when you fall flat on your face, I am going to stick by you and build you up and use you in due time."

Paul was demonstrating the part of God’s character that says:

"There is work to be done. There is an urgency about what we are doing that should not be watered down with half effort or fear. There are things to be done that are going to be difficult, and in order for God’s work to be accomplished, I need to move on and be at it. Yes Mark is important, but so are the people we are going to be reaching."

So neither Barnabas nor Paul has to be viewed as having been in error. Not all of God’s servants have to be doing the same thing. Both did what it appeared that God was leading them to do and both it seems, were right.

The point about the events that led up to the founding of the Philippian church is this: Even the process of brothers going in different directions, can be the will of God and can accomplish the will of God in each case.

The Philippian Church, it will turn out, was born out of a strong disagreement between Barnabas and Paul, each rightly pursuing differing aspects of the will and character of God. That pursuit eventually led Paul to Philippi and to a river bank near Philippi where he met a woman named Lydia.

2. Born of the "negative" and "positive" leading of the Lord

Verse 4 of chapter 16:

Acts 16:4-8 (NIV)

4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.


Have you ever been in a situation where everything you tried to do in following the Lord seemed to take you up a dead end street? You go off in one direction only to find a road block. So after prayer you adjust and head off in another direction, and that road is blocked. You head off in a third direction and that road is blocked as well.

By now you are thoroughly confused, wondering where in the world God is in all of this. You’ve been praying about things and you are seeking God’s will but you keep hitting dead ends. For the life of you, you can’t figure out what God is up to or where he is leading.

Been there before? I know that I have.

Finally you do arrive at your "Troas" like Paul did. Troas was a coastal town.

When you find yourself at a Troas you feel like you must either turn around and go back to see where you took a wrong turn or you jump on a ship into uncharted waters. The problem is that you aren’t too sure that either one of these options is the right way to go.


That is right where is appears that Paul was: Stuck. And life was going to get more complicated. Turn over to 2 Corinthians 2:12 for a minute. We are going to see some things about Paul’s experience at Troas.

2 Corinthians 2:12-14 (NIV)

12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there.

So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia. 14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.


So Paul is on this journey with Silas.

The Spirit of God doesn’t let him preach in the region of Galatia, kind of off to the right as he is traveling. Then God keeps him from preaching in Phyrgia, which is kind of off to the left and south.

So Paul tries to go into Bithynia to preach which is further up the road to the right, and the Lord blocks that direction as well. He finally swings completely west over to Troas on the coast and at last he finds a wide open door for ministry. God isn’t blocking him this time. But although it isn’t God who is blocking him he has a blocking problem of a different kind: He is unsettled in his spirit.
Call it anxiety. He was anxious to learn about Titus, to be sure that Titus was ok. And since Titus isn’t at Troas as Paul had expected that he would be, Paul is uncomfortable doing ministry there, even though there was a wide open door to do so.

Now about this time, a person might wonder if Paul had any way of ever determining the will of God.

He had had a "No," "No," "No," and now that he was getting a "Yes" from the Lord with a wide open door for ministry in Troas, PAUL was saying no, not being at peace until he learned about Titus.

Sound like a place any of us have ever been in? Wondering, confused, uncertain? Wondering what the will of God after so many doors have been closed, and then when a door is open you don’t feel at peace about that decision either, so now you are thoroughly at wits end.

Man I know I’ve been there. Many times. Many times.

What is interesting is that with all the "no’s" and now the uneasiness about the open door in Troas, we find that Paul is right in the center of God’s will for him.

He is right in the town he needs to be in when a vision comes. A vision of a man from across the water further to the northwest, calling him for help. Through all the "no’s" and now with the uneasiness about the "yes," God led Paul right to the dock so he could get on the boat. Verse 9

Acts 16:9-12 (NIV)

9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.


Here is the completion of God’s direction: all the lights are green and they are making a bee-line for God’s appointed location.

In John Stott’s commentary on the book of Acts, he points out that God’s leading here at this point has been both negative and now finally, positive. God restrained Paul from going in several other directions…but that did not fully determine God’s will. Only now does Paul get the positive direction to go to Macedonia, that is, Greece, to help some one who is wanting to hear the Gospel.

God was steering Paul and Silas, moving them where he needed them to be by "negative" direction, with "no, no, and not here either." And now finally God says, "Yes, this is the way, walk ye in it."

Paul is so confident that this has all been direction from the Lord, that in our passage in 2 Corinthians 3 he said:

14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

Paul took even his uneasy feelings that kept him back from the open door at Troas, as God’s leading. He didn’t wring his hands as we so often do and as I know I so often have done. He was confident that if he was pursuing God’s will, that God would reveal the proper application of that will, and that all the "no’s" coming along the way, were just as valuable as the "yes’s" and would in time bring Paul the divine "yes" that he was looking for.

I have to tell you that as I read this yesterday morning it gave me great peace.

Over the past 3 years as we have sought the Lord’s will for ministry situations, I have had numerous opportunities come my way to pastor churches. One of those I consider a privilege to have been considered for as people here at Eaglebrook have asked me, is this one. I’ve been approached by churches in the Twin Cities, in Illinois, in California in Ontario and in other places.

But for some reason God has not given me freedom internally to say yes. I feel a bit like Paul did when he was not allowed to preach in the region of Galatia at that time, or in Phyrgia or in Bithynia. And then when a wide open door was there for him, he didn’t feel at peace about it. Something internally was telling him no.

And I have wondered over time what the Lord was up to. It has been hard to figure out.

I know that my situation is not unique. You have had similar kinds of decisions to make in your own life as God has closed doors, or not allowed you the internal peace to walk through open doors. It can become confusing as we wait and as we wait and as we wait and wonder.

But Paul’s perspective on just such situations is to praise the Lord! To praise the Lord that the Lord is always leading, spreading the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

3. Born of a Divine Appointment: A Thyatira Business Woman in Philippi

That God was involved in all of this couldn’t be more clearly seen than in the vision that Paul received. We’ll talk about that another time, but since you and I are not likely to have such visions come our way as Paul did, I want to show you something else that marked the leading of God in the planting of the Philippian church.

Verses 13-15:

Acts 16:13-15 (NIV)

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.


Paul lands in Neapolis on the coast of the Aegean Sea, and heads about 10 miles inland to the town of Philippi. Philippi was the capital city of Macedonia and was on the Egnatian Way. The Egnatian Way was like Route 66 years ago. It was THE way you got somewhere. It went from the Adriatic Sea coast on the west, and traveled roughly due east to Byzantium, today’s Istanbul. It was the road people traveled when going from Rome to Byzantium.

And what happens when Paul gets to Philippi?

He goes to a small creek on the edge of town looking for a place to pray. A place away from the busy-ness of town. Its still a quiet place. I have been there. He figures that on the Sabbath he might find worshippers of God there. Turns out that he is right. Lydia is there with some other women.

Lydia hears the word, is saved and invites Paul to her home there in Philippi.

(Lydia is from Thyatira? Yes, Thyatira)

Funny thing that. Lydia was from Thyatira. Do you know where Thyatira was? It was back across the Aegean Sea, back across in the direction Paul had come from! It was back there in the area that Paul was not allowed to preach in!

Lydia, this seller of purple who invited Paul to her house, was in Philippi on business. The house she invited Paul to stay in was no doubt her second home, the one she stayed in while on business out of town.

Why in the world didn’t God just have Paul hang out near Thyatira back on the eastern side of the Aegean, until she came back through? Only God knows, but part of his reasoning no doubt was timing. She was where God wanted Paul to be. God had set up a divine appointment. If she had been at Thyatira and if God had sent Paul there, today we might have a book in the New Testament called Thyatirains instead of Philippians!

Paul and Lydia met at just the right time and in just the right place. And when they did God opened Lydia’s heart to say yes to the Gospel.

I wonder what happened when Lydia went back home to Thyatira. Is it possible that it was better for some one from Thyatira to preach the Gospel there, and better for a respected business woman like Lydia to do so, than for Paul, a stranger?

We’ll never know if that was God’s motivation for not allowing Paul to go there; we’ll never know if the reason for not letting Paul go there was because the hearers in Thyatira needed to hear the message from Lydia and her family rather than from Paul.

But what we do know is that a church was established there.

How do we know that? Well the church in Thyatira is one of the 7 churches listed in the book of Revelation. It is the church of whom it was said, I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

They were a church that grew and continued to grow. They had some problems with those who followed a woman called Jezebel, not the Old Testament Jezebel, but another one; a false teacher who misled with false teaching. But the church had much to commend it. And the Lord’s instruction was to not follow this woman’s teaching and to not tolerate it. Beyond the issue of not tolerating this false teachers message he said, "I will impose no other burden on you."

Apart from this flaw, the church at Thyatira was apparently a good church.

Yet there is no record that Paul traveled there on his missionary journeys. So who planted the church?

It is likely, as John McArthur points out, that it was Lydia and her family. Locals. A woman and her family who had been on a business trip to exactly the place where God led Paul with a no, no, no, and yes, but not right now. It was planted perhaps by people whose path intersected Paul’s and did so because Paul was confident that God was leading each step of the way.

If you have ever been confused about God’s leading and the "No, not here," and "No not there’s" that come along, take heart. I think we have all been there.

Keep on keeping on. Keep on seeking. Keep on moving. Keep on pressing to do God’s will.

This sequence of what happened to Paul has been a personal encouragement to me this week. God didn’t let Paul preach here, or there, or over there, or over there…and then when a door was open, Paul wasn’t ready because of his own feelings about Titus not being there.

Coincidental with that ill at ease feeling came a vision for Paul to go to Philippi. And who did he meet there? A business woman who was ready to hear the Gospel.

Funny to now be in business, meeting people who ask from time to time how long I have been at Drs. Foster & Smith and what I did before coming there. "Pastor?" they say. "That’s an odd career path to lead you to be the head of an Internet Marketing Department."

It is an odd path. But I suspect there are some divine appointments coming along. Some already have. Appointments with business people; with Lydia’s that are ready to hear about Christ.

What a comfort to know that God is leading. And he is leading in your situation as well. Keep on pressing forward. God has come appointments coming your way and some people who need to hear about Christ from you.

One day you may just run into that divine appointment along side a river bank. And a church might spring up. One that you couldn’t have planted yourself because you weren’t the right person for it. But you were the right person for the moment to help the person who is the right person come to know Christ.

Born of brothers going in different directions; Born of negative and positive leading; and Born of Divine appointments…not one birth, but two: a church in Philippi and likely a church in Thyatira.

Amazing how God works out his will.

We’ll talk some more about the birth of the church at Philippi in two weeks and then later on get into the book of Philippians itself.

Prayer.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Sometimes I feel like I have sinned so much that God won't accept me and that it would be hypocritical to be in church.

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Question: Sometimes I feel like I have sinned so much that God won't accept me and that it would be hypocritical to be in church. How can I go to church when I am living in a way that I know God does not approve of?

ATP: This is a feeling that many have when they have stumbled in life and fallen into serious sin, or have simply become numb to spiritual things.

The truth is that God knows what we have done.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the book of Genesis, one of the first things they did was hide from God. When God said to Adam, "Where are you?" it wasn't so God could find out where Adam was. God already knew. It was Adam who needed to face up to their broken relationship.

It is natural to feel a separation from God when we sin. That guilt and separation is the result of sin.

But the message of the Bible from beginning to end is one of a loving God who forgives when we repent.

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, trusting in God's mercy through Him, our sins are forgiven and our relationship with God is restored. Never forget that God loves you. Never forget that the Church is not the assembly of perfect people, but rather is the assembly of broken people in the process of being made whole by a loving God.

1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

If you have sinned...and you have, because we all have...Church is exactly where you need to be and it's where the Lord wants you to be. He already knows about your sin, so staying away from church to avoid appearing to be a hypocrite isn't a solution.

You are already a sinner! Avoiding the appearance or reality of being a hypocrite won't change that.

To be honest, those who want to avoid "hypocrisy" and who say, "At least I'm not a hypocrite like those people that do go to church. I've seen how they are living, and at least I'm honest about how I live..." have another problem. It's a worse one that hypocrisy.

It's called pride.

This isn't the situation that you have described in your question, so this last comment is not directed toward you.

But there may be others who read this who are proud of their lack of hypocrisy, using it as an excuse. They need to know that God isn't fooled.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

I need a Bible, but I'm not sure which one is the best for me.

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Bibles
So many Bibles, but which one to choose?


Question:
"I need a Bible, but I’m not sure which one is best for me. This is the first Bible study I have ever done."

E-mail question, Wisconsin

ATP: There are so many good options out there in the Bible marketplace that if a person is new to the process it can be very confusing.

Let me begin with the issue of translations first.

The New International Version (NIV) and the New American Standard version (NAS) are probably the industry standards right now. They have overtaken the King James Verson in popularity because of their ease of reading by comparison.

The NIV is the most widely used of the new translations, but for my money the NASV is more accurate. I have both and use both.

The NAS combines readability with accuracy as well as anything out there, and is probably the most accurate translation available today. I use the NIV in public services most of the time, however, simply because a larger number of people use that version.

As for specific Bibles to purchase, I have usually recommended these two:

The Ryrie Study Bible or the Life Application Bible.

Either of these can be purchased in the NIV or the NASV. What makes them different and helpful from just a Bible alone, is the addition of study notes and background material. You’ll want to look them over to see which kind of notes are more helpful to you personally.

There is a third Bible to recommend that may well be better than either of these, in terms of notes--although I hasten to add that you can't go wrong with any of the three.

It is the NASB Study Bible by Zondervan.

My daughter is a junior at a Christian college and this is the one the college recommended for students to use. It is excellent and I may soon be purchasing one.

If a person is looking for Greek/Hebrew background helps, there is a great Bible available called, The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible. It was edited by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D., and is published by AMG publishers.

You don't have to be familar with Greek or Hebrew to use the helps that are available. Bible verses have numbers beside certain words. Those numbers are the numbers of word definitions which can be found at the back of the Bible. This is an excellent tool and one I highly recommend that a person own.

In a Christianity 101 class I have taught, I usually begin the first session with a discussion of translations. Included in that discussion is a handout that I will paste in here below. It contains some thoughts on differing translations.

In some cases people criticize translations for not being "accurate" without understanding the style of translation the translators were attempting to produce. Hopefully the information below will be of help to you in understanding translations and why they were written as they are.

There are two sections in the handout: A list of translations under headings of the style of translation the translators intended their version to be; and then some additional comments about versions to consider for purchase.

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CHRISTIANITY 101


TRANSLATION GUIDE TO SOME POPULAR ENGLISH BIBLES



STRICTLY LITERAL:
New American Standard Bible (NASV)

LITERAL:
New King James Version (KJV)
Revised Standard Version (RSV)
New American Bible (NAB)

LITERAL WITH FREEDOM TO BE IDIOMATIC:
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

THOUGHT-FOR-THOUGHT:
New International Version (NIV)
New Jerusalem Bible (NJB)
Revised English Bible (REB)


DYNAMIC EQUIVALENT (MODERN SPEECH):
Today’s English Version

PARAPHRASTIC:
The Living Bible (TLB)

[Adapted from: Philip W. Comfort, The Complete Guide to Bible Versions, (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1991.]


Some Suggested Study Bible Versions
(This is just a short list of the many that are helpful)

What makes a Bible a study Bible, is simply the inclusion of notes, maps and other helps, by the author/publisher to help the reader study the Bible more effectively.

Study Bibles can often be purchased in differing translations. Thus a study Bible of the same name--the Ryrie Study Bible for example--can come in more than one translation of the Biblical text.

So when you purchase a study Bible, be sure it is in the translation that you are looking for.

Life Application Study Bible (NAS or NIV) (Tyndale/Zondervan publishers) Very popular Bible, with excellent study helps included.

Ryrie Study Bible (NAS or NIV)(Moody Press) Excellent Study Bible, filled with study helps and cross references.

The NIV Study Bible (Zondervan) Excellent study notes.

The NIV Teen Study Bible also from Zondervan is available for teens. It includes many interesting features that are helpful to teens and new believers. Worth looking at for your kids.

The NAS Study Bible (Zondervan) The same excellent study notes as the NIV Study Bible, but combined with the NAS translation

The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible (NIV) (also: The Complete Word Study New Testament) both edited by Spiros Zodhiates, (AMG publishers) Extremely helpful Bibles for simple original language study. Does not contain as many extra notes as other study Bibles. Key feature is language help, not history, background information or explanatory notes.

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