Friday, March 29, 2013

Your Obiturary

If you were to write your own obituary, what would you say?  How would you want to be remembered?  Here are a few things to consider.

On the tragic day in America's history of 9/11, we know that there were passengers aboard airplanes who had cell phones.  We also know that there were people on the upper floors of the World Trade Center who also had cell phones.  These individuals made calls to the most important people in their lives.  They did not call their brokers to check on their stocks.  They didn't call their place of employment.  They called their loved ones to tell them that they loved them.

During the TV coverage we all watched as person after person was mentioned.  What you did not hear was, "She was a rich person . . . she owned a mansion . . . he graduated from Harvard . . . he was a very handsome man."  That's not what we heard.  The tributes went something like this:  "He was a family man . . . he loved his children . . . she was a loving mother . . . he loved God . . . she helped in her community . . . "

People were remembered for what kind of person they actually were.  Was he or she a loving person?  Did they care about others? Did they make the world a better place to live?  This is what they were remembered for.  This is what you will be remembered for.  No one will really remember how many material things you gathered, or how many educational degrees you obtained.  What people will remember about you when you leave this world is how loving of a person you really were.

Our Lord Jesus Christ says these words to us in the Great Commandment, "Love God and love your neighbor."  If everyone believed these words we would have world peace and the world would be a better place to live.  What will be your obituary?

Monday, March 25, 2013

I Know Where You Live

Some time ago, I was walking in a neighborhood when I heard some young boy shout at another young fellow, "I know where you live."  

If you can remember when you were a youngster that phrase generally means that someone knows where they can find you and you "better look out" because there's trouble brewing and its heading your way!

I remember when I was a kid, my best friend, Tim, got himself in some trouble.  Another kid was after him and he knew where Tim lived.  My friend said it was no big deal but when I discovered who this kid was, it was a big deal.  Looking back at it now, it would be like the old line from the movie "Jaws."  When Roy Scheider sees the great white shark up close for the first time, he says to the veteran shark hunter, "You're going to need a bigger boat."

My friend was going to need a bigger boat to survive this storm and the shark was beginning to circle.  What was Tim going to do?  He had to come out of his house sometime.  Tim was short for his age and had no chance by himself.  However, together we were able to survive this situation.

Has there ever been a time in your life when the shark was circling your house?  When you felt powerless?  When someone was trying to harm you?  Trying to take away your happiness, your love, your hope, your money, your faith?  What did you do?  Was there anything you could do?

The Bible tells us that there are two Kingdoms.  One belongs to Satan, the evil one.  The other belongs to God.  Jesus says we can live in only one kingdom.  We cannot live on the fence.  These two kingdoms have been in conflict since the beginning.  Jesus tells us in John 10:10, "The thief (Satan) does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

During this Holy Week, I urge you to know where you live.  You were made to live in the Kingdom of God.  But remember, the evil one also knows where you live.  When you really get a look at him, you will realize that you're going to need a bigger boat.  You cannot tackle evil all by yourself.  As Christians, our skipper is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He has a big boat.  He will lead you through the storms of life.  When all is said and done, we need to know where we live and when people ask you what you want most in life, tell them this, "Just give me Jesus."  



Thursday, March 21, 2013

The 23rd Psalm

In the book, "I shall not want," the author Robert Ketchum tells about an episode in which a Sunday School teacher asks her class of children if anyone could recite the entire twenty-third Psalm.  After a moment of silence, a little four and a half year old girl raised her hand.  Somewhat skeptical, the teacher asked her if she really could quote the entire Psalm.  The little girl said she could.  She came up in front of the class, made a little bow, and said, "The Lord is my shepherd, that's all I want."  She then bowed again and sat down.  The little girl may have left out a few verses but it appears that she did capture the heart of David in Psalm 23.  

It was 3,000 years ago that David was known as the Shepherd King of Israel.  David was anointed the next king of Israel by Samuel when he was a young boy.  After having been anointed with oil the Spirit of the Lord came mightily on David.  The Bible tells us that the critical reason that King Saul allowed David to face the giant, Goliath, was because of the Lord being with David when he killed a bear and a lion protecting his father's sheep.  David convinced Saul that God would be with him again.  

One of the most famous of all battles took place in the Valley of Elah. The Philistines were are one mountain and the Israelites were on the other and down below and between them was the Valley of Elah.  David would fight Goliath in the valley of the shadow of death.  The Bible tells us that David did not run through the valley, nor did he run from the valley.  He walked through the valley.  He walked through the valley because he knew that although he had to walk this valley by himself, with no other human beings to help him, that he was not alone.  The Lord was his shepherd and walked with him.

Against all odds, David slew the giant, Goliath.  How could a young David slay a giant without a sword and just a sling?  David would tell you it was the same way he slew a bear and a lion.  He would tell you these words, "The Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's."  (I Samuel 17:47).

When the time comes and you find yourself in the Valley of Elah facing your personal giant, no matter how afraid you are, no matter how alone you feel, your Shepherd walks with you.  The Lord tells us that you do not fight the battle.  The Lord will fight the battle.  The battle is first fought on your knees in prayer.  The Lord will take it from there.  The little four and a half year old girl was right, The Lord is my shepherd, that's all I want."   

Monday, March 18, 2013

When the Cheering Stopped

Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president of the United States, from 1913 to 1921.  He was a democrat and leading intellectual of the "progressive era."  Upon the end of World War I, people firmly believed that the last war had been fought.  The world would finally be safe and freedom would ring throughout the world.  When President Wilson made his first visit to Europe, huge crowds greeted him everywhere he went.  He was more popular than the greatest war heroes.  He was viewed as the great icon of hope.

When all was said and done, the cheering lasted for almost one year.  Then, the cheering stopped.  Over time, the political leaders in Europe become more interested in their own private agendas.  The pursuit of a lasting peace began to become a distant memory.  The European people began to lose hope.  In America, President Wilson met strong opposition in the senate.  One of the most important issues he designed and fought for was the Versailles Treaty, containing the Covenant of the League of Nations.  He pleaded with the senate, "Dare we reject it and break the heart of the world?"  The senate dared to reject it and it was never ratified. It not only broke President Wilson's heart, before long it broke his body.  Against his doctor's advice, his fight to mobilize his cause left him exhausted and he eventually suffered a devastating stroke.  Only two years prior, everyone cheered him.  In his final days, all of the cheering stopped. 

During this Lenten Season, we recall that on Palm Sunday, as Jesus approached Nazareth, He was greeted with cheering from the great crowds who were there to greet Him.  However, we also know that it would not be long before the same crowds who were cheering Him would soon be booing Him and calling for Him to be crucified.  How did this happen?  Why did the cheering stop?  They didn't understand His purpose.  They didn't understand what He was bringing to them.  The people wanted a Messiah who would set up a powerful earthly kingdom and drive out the Romans.  Jesus wanted to bring them a spiritual kingdom not based on violence but on love.  They didn't understand and the cheering stopped.

Has it ever happened to you?  By that, I mean has the cheering for Jesus ever stopped in your heart?  When things go our way, when God does what we want, when our prayers are answered, isn't it easy to cheer for Jesus?  But what happens when things don't go our way?  When bad things seem to happen.  When we're not happy.  Do we lose heart?  Does the cheering stop?  In the 6th chapter of John, Jesus explains to His disciples what communion means.  When they don't understand what Jesus is trying to say, the disciples start to complain.  Even though they had seen Him perform miracle after miracle and divine healing, the Bible says, "many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more." Jesus than asked His twelve apostles, "Do you also want to go away?"  How would you answer that question?  Has the cheering stopped for you?  Or will you answer the question as the apostles did, "We have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

During this Easter season, let us return to our first love.  Let us love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.  May the cheering never stop.  

Thursday, March 14, 2013

World View


In the movie, "Wall Street,"  the actor Michael Douglas addresses the stockholders of Teldar Paper and says, "I am not a destroyer of companies.  I am a liberator of them!  The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good.  Greed is right.  Greed works.  Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.  Greed in all its forms, greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind.  And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."


  Our nation and the world is currently reeling under that view point.  Greed and lack of integrity by some financial and political leaders has created a nightmare that is not saving anyone.  How does one develop such a world view?  A world view is how one views the world and that view is almost impossible to change.  In the last presidential election we witnessed this in action.  The Republican and Democratic Parties demonstrated almost opposite viewpoints.  On TV, e.g., MSNBC and Fox,  you see two entirely different viewpoints to the same events unfold and come to such different conclusions and wonder how people see things so differently.

When psychologists administer psychological examinations one important question is, "How does this person see the world?"  For example, does the person see the world as safe?  Or does the person see it as threatening?  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?"  Or "survival of the fittest in a dog eat dog world."  Each person had their own view of the world and was convinced it was true.

Ethics is the study of moral values but who decides what is moral?  Some people believe you can sacrifice morals for the sake of justice but who decides what is just?  What is your world view?  Where does it come from?  Is it anchored by a parent?  A teacher you once had?  A movie star?  A particular political party?  A union boss?  A Pastor?  

Jesus said in John 3:16:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  But He also said these words in John 3:17:  "For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through Him might be saved."  As followers of Christ, how do we help save the world?  What is our world view?  Jesus says in John 15:13:  "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."  Here is a world view that is the very opposite of greed.  It involves giving, not taking.  When we ask Christ to come into our lives we allow Him to mold us into the person we were meant to be.  He becomes our anchor for what is moral and just.  Here is a world view that will help you to make the world a better place to live.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Temptations of Christ in the Wilderness

For the past 1500 years the church has begun the Lenten Season by reflecting on the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness.  Luke 4:1-13 teaches us what happened there.  The Bible points out in this passage of Scripture three major temptations.  The first one happened after Jesus had spent 40 days praying and fasting.  When they had ended and Jesus was extremely hungry, the Bible tells us the devil came to Him and said, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."  What would be the sin if Jesus turned the stone into bread?  Jesus and Satan both knew He could turn the stone into bread instantly.  It would be a sin because He would have demonstrated that He did not trust God to provide for His needs.  He would have trusted in Himself.  He would have misused the power given to Him by God for His own personal needs rather than listening and obeying His Father, God.

The second temptation followed, "Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, 'All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.  Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.' " Jesus answered the devil by saying, "Get behind Me, Satan!  For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.' "  What would be the sin here?  It would be a sin if Jesus were to accept this authority and power because the Bible tells us that to worship before Satan would be to deny the one and only true god.

The third temptation followed, "Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.  For it is written:  'He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you, and, in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "  And Jesus answered and said to him, "It has been said, You shall not tempt the Lord your God."  What would be the sin here?  It would be the sin of presumption which suggests an overstepping of bounds.  The devil had quoted Scripture to Jesus from Psalm 91:11-12, however, he left out "in all your ways" which is translated "in all your ordinary ways."  Jumping off the pinnacle of the temple and landing safely would be about a 350 foot fall which would not be considered "in all your ordinary ways."  That would clearly be extraordinary and supernatural.  The word tempt basically means to put to the test, to try, to prove.  It is God's privilege to test human beings.  It is not the right of human beings to test God.    

Jesus quoted Scripture to the devil when He was tempted.  He used the word of God as the sword of the Spirit to do battle with the adversary.  Hebrews 4:12 tells us:  "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

To live by the word of God and to be able to use it as an instrument against evil is to understand that the word of God is our daily bread.  It is our manna from heaven.  The word of God, the Bible, is for us to read every day and digest the living word of God so it becomes alive in our heart.  That's why we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread."  God keeps all His promises and He promises that if we stand firm in the power of the word that He will be with us always.  We do not battle evil on our own willpower.  We just stand on the word and let God do the work.  That is how we use the word of God for our healing, our hope, our nourishment in life, and how we engage the enemy in spiritual warfare.  We stand firm in the word of God.  We quote Scripture the way Jesus did and the adversary will be defeated.