Archive: 2022

Today’s devotion builds on the thoughts from Sunday’s Sermon – Week 4 of “Compelled – Living the Value of Outreach Focus”  (LISTEN HERE).

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What difference does Jesus make…to you?

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

I like Matthew 28:19-20 as the great commission.  However, “making disciples” can be a daunting task and one that is hard to always define what that looks like.  But I understand what a “witness” is.  And, honestly, it’s pretty easy.

A witness simply tells about what they have seen or experienced.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.

A witness in a trial can’t testify to what someone else saw or experienced.  Just what they saw and experienced.

But here’s the challenge.  Have you stopped to think what you have seen and experienced with Jesus?  What difference has Jesus had in your life?  What has believing in Jesus and walking in his ways done for you?

God is working in your life so you have a story to tell others…HIS story as it has intersected with and affected your story.

So let me give you a few examples along the line of yesterday’s devotion of bringing God’s peace to a country and culture overcome by fear.

To someone worked up about the government and worried about one political party or another, I might share when given the opportunity, “I have my views (and may share some of them and why I hold them), but what allows me to sleep at night is that I know God is still in charge and in some way, even if I don’t always understand, allowing a blessing to come to his Church and his people.  I know enough about history that nations rise and fall, but the Lord outlasts and supersedes all of them.

Ephesians 1:1 That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

To someone fearful of wars and rumors of war, I might share when given the opportunity, “I understand and share the same concern.  I pray for our leaders making decisions and our military personnel to be kept safe and successful in their missions.  However, I also find a lot of comfort knowing that with Jesus, I am safe forever.  What gives me peace is ultimately the power of the Lord is greater than a power of a military.”

Psalm 46:8-11 Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

To one facing the end of their life and sharing fears and regrets, when given an opportunity, I may say, “I know it’s kind of scary to face the end of life and I will probably have a bit of anxiety too.  What gives me comfort is knowing my faith is in one who came alive after being dead and many people saw him alive.”

John 14:19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

These are just three examples, perhaps over simplified.  The point is to think through the impact Jesus has in your heart and life.  What promises do you hang on to?  What realities have you experienced?  When you take time to care, to listen and engage another person, eventually you earn the right to be heard.  And when given that opportunity, take the opportunity to be a witness!

Apply:  Take time to write your story.  What difference has God made in your life?  What impact has being a Christian been?  What realities of God have you lived and experienced?  What truths of Scriptures or promises of the Lord are real, near and dear to your heart?  What would it be like if you weren’t a Christian?  Thinking through what “you have seen and heard” will be given an opportunity to be shared…just wait!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for personally affecting my life and my heart.  Give me hands to care for others, ears to listen to others, and a mouth to share with others the wonders of your love and grace.  AMEN.

Today’s devotion builds on the thoughts from Sunday’s Sermon – Week 4 of “Compelled – Living the Value of Outreach Focus”  (LISTEN HERE).

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The world needs Jesus.

There are some who would disagree, but I believe it is safe to say that any Christian in whom the Spirit of God is at work believes the world needs Jesus.

The challenge is this: “What aspect of Jesus does the world need?”

This morning I had a small repair on my van.  I have a shop full of tools.  I needed a tool to fix the problem.  The question is, “What tool?”  When I narrowed it down to a 12mm deep socket with a flexible head ratchet wrench, I was able to tighten the nut that needed tightening.  (That probably didn’t make sense to some of you! J)  The point is while there are many tools. To make an impact you need the right one.

Have we been using the wrong tool recently to do outreach?  Or have I have tried to use the same tool on every individual? (Sometimes banging a hammer fixes a problem, but a hammer will not fix every problem your car has!)

Jayson Gorges in his book, 3D Gospel, begins to bring to light that the Gospel message needs to be shared differently depending on the cultural paradigms of the people.  In this book, Jayson identifies three basic cultural responses to sin: guilt, shame, and fear

These three moral emotions have become the foundation for three types of culture.

1. Guilt-innocence cultures are individualistic societies (mostly Western), where people who break the laws are guilty and seek justice or forgiveness to rectify a wrong.
2. Shame-honor cultures describe collectivistic cultures (common in the East), where people are shamed for not fulfilling group expectations and seek to restore their honor before the community.
3. Fear-power cultures refer to animistic contexts (typically tribal), where people afraid of evil and harm pursue power over the spirit world through magical rituals.

(https://honorshame.com/understanding-guilt-shame-fear-cultures/)

There is much that can be discussed on this topic, but my point is to have an outreach focus is also to become adept at understanding the starting point and sharing the Gospel precisely to the issue that is at hand.

For years many of our approaches have addressed our culture as “guilt/innocence” culture.  This assumes a basis of right and wrong and when I do wrong I feel guilt.  So we bring up truths that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  We assure the individual that their guilt is covered and sin is paid for by the “innocent suffering and death of Jesus.”  The Gospel restores innocence to a guilty conscience.  Nothing wrong with this!

But as a culture, I don’t sense we are as worried about right from wrong.  Guilt is around, but I observe it is not a driving motivator.  Rather what seems to be driving our culture is the desire for personal freedom and ability to do what I want.  Moral standards are seen as restrictive to one’s free expression of life unless they align with your viewpoint on life. So what type of culture are we? I am not a social anthropologist, but here’s my hypothesis: We are moving to a “Fear/power” culture, however the response is not power over the spirit world through magic rituals, the fear is that someone is going to harm me and I need a power over that person to prevent them from harming me.  The usual object of that power – government.

I believe and observe there is a lot of fear in our culture.  Read the headlines.  Fear of covid.  Fear of rioting.  Fear of IRS.  Fear of liberals.  Fear of conservatives.  Fear of food shortages.  Fear of global warming.  Fear of school shootings.  Fear of guns.  Fear of drugs.  Fear of illegal immigration.  Fear of disease.  Fear of racism.  Fear of …  The list goes on.  (What would you add?)

So what aspect of Jesus does our world need more right now?  I believe our world needs peace from the Prince of Peace.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Apply: Give this some thought today.  Notice the people and culture around you.  Are they struggling with guilt? Shame? Or fear?  Tomorrow we’ll explore what impact the peace only Jesus can give does to drive out fear in the hearts of people.

Prayer:  (Of St. Francis of Assisi)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Today’s devotion builds on the thoughts from Sunday’s Sermon – Week 4 of “Compelled – Living the Value of Outreach Focus”  (LISTEN HERE).

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I don’t like to be uncomfortable, but sometimes it is good.

What do I mean?

A few weeks ago, my wife and I went to the season fund raiser for our younger daughter’s volleyball team at the local high school.  We chose a table early in the evening as more people were arriving, but ended up sitting alone the whole evening. (Maybe this says something about us!?!)  Part of the evening was billed “Meet the Eagles,” yet we didn’t get a chance to meet too many.  They were interested if we put our hand up to bid on items being auctioned off.

As we mused afterwards, we thought what could have been done to incorporate new families into the ones who were on their fourth year of volleyball.

It was a bit uncomfortable.  But it was good.

It’s good to remember what it’s like to be a new person in a group.  It’s good to notice what makes you uncomfortable so you can be better aware to make a new person comfortable.

We can get comfortable in our churches.  We know people.  We have friendships.  We know where things are and how they are done.  We invest in programs that benefit us, serve our spiritual needs, and engage our kids.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, what about the new person?  What about the visitor that walks in your door?  Will they just leave thinking all they were interested in was “paying some money” toward the church offering/fund raiser?  I hope not.

I am not faulting anyone before I fault myself.  It is easy to get comfortable and lose concern for those who are new or not yet part of the family of believers.

The angel to the church in Ephesus praised the Christians there for their defense of the truth, yet condemned them for losing their “first love.”

Revelation 2:4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.

At first the Ephesians were good at loving God and loving others.  They forgot to continue.

Loving others is truly part of having an outreach focus.  When we love others, we are willing to be uncomfortable ourselves to make someone else feel comfortable.  Jesus was more than willing to sit at a table with individuals no one else wanted to.  In fact, when Matthew invited him over for dinner he ate with tax collectors and “sinners.”  Yet, while the “church people” would have never sat at the same table, Jesus was willing to be uncomfortable to bring his love and grace to another group of spiritually sick people.

Matthew 9:10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The people outside the church are not in the church to represent themselves and tell you/us what would make them comfortable.  So, compelled by the love of Jesus, carrying an outreach focus engages us to perhaps get uncomfortable so another soul might find comfort in the healing, saving, forgiving love and grace of God.

Apply: What person do you know is disconnected from Jesus? What setting might be comfortable for them but uncomfortable for you?  Could you step into that setting to engage that person in conversation for the sake of the Gospel?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for stepping out of your comfort zone in heaven to become uncomfortable on this earth so you might bring the comfort of the Gospel to us and many others.  AMEN.

Today’s devotion builds on the thoughts from Sunday’s Sermon – Week 4 of “Compelled – Living the Value of Outreach Focus”  (LISTEN HERE).

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If you missed a devotion yesterday (Monday, August 22, 2022), I apologize.  My mind, my time, and my heart were a bit distracted as after worship we took our oldest to move her into her dorm at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX.  We got home after midnight.

We are so proud of our daughter and the amazing young lady she has become and is becoming.  I won’t bore you with the details, but as her dad I can remember seeing the first ultrasound pictures and immediately falling in love with her and perhaps a bit overwhelmed at the new and privileged responsibility of being a dad.  Now over 18 years later, she begins to fly more on her own.

Entering college is a big step and big deal, not just academically, but also spiritually.  Satan loves to work hard on the hearts and minds of youth to bring them away from Jesus and his Word to a secular, atheistic mindset.  Constant bombardment of temptations and humanistic worldviews attack the heart and soul of God’s children.  So I invite your prayers for our daughter and all other Christian youth entering the college classrooms around our country.

Yet, amidst that setting is tremendous opportunity…and our setting as well.  In College Station over 60,000 students descend on the town from all over Texas, all over the country and all over the world.  Assembled on the campus are thousands of people whom God loves and for whom Jesus died.

Starting with her roommate.  I simply encouraged her to ask questions.  Get to know her.  Understand her perspective on faith and life.  God will open a door of opportunity.

Of all the 60,000, God allowed one roommate and two other suitemates to enter our daughter’s life.  I pray her love for Jesus shows in her love for them and God uses her to bring his love to their hearts…if it is not there already.

When we carry an outreach focus, we see God orchestrating life for us to interact and develop relationships with people.  Whether it’s a new roommate living 3 feet away, a coworker working 10 feet away or a neighbor living 30 feet away.  God has placed you in a situation in life for you to meet, interact, and engage the people around you.

Outreach starts with noticing and caring about people.  Outreach doesn’t start with a confrontational discussion about “where we will spend eternity.”  Outreach starts in today’s world by noticing people and showing you care.  It realizes that God has you interact with people because he is setting you in a place where you can witness for him.

Life changes.  Seasons shift.  Journeys continue.  But wherever we go there are people who matter to Jesus, and therefore matter to us.

It’s in those situations and those locations, Jesus invites us to be his witnesses.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Apply: Notice the people around you today.  Ask a question. Take an interest.  Know that God has allowed your paths to intersect for a reason whether with just a smile or a significant conversation.

Prayer: Lord, open my heart to notice and love people as you notice and care for me.  Open my schedule to allow me to show care and concern to someone today.  AMEN.

Today’s devotion builds on the thoughts from Sunday’s Sermon – Week 3 of “Compelled – Living the Value of Visible Grace”  (LISTEN HERE).

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Wouldn’t you love to change the reputation of the church from being “so judgmental” to being one “so willing to show grace”?

I would.

However, in proposing this shift, the fear is the apparent tension between upholding the standard of God’s law, yet showing love and grace.  To put it another way, sometimes in the absence of “judgment” there is “acceptance” of any and all behavior under the umbrella of “loving everyone.”

So how do we show grace without being judgmental, but still treasuring God’s way as the best way to live and honor God with our lives?

Jesus gives us a great example as he encounters a group of teachers and Pharisees who are ready to stone a woman caught in adultery.

John 8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

If I asked, which of these individuals showed grace?  You would answer, “Jesus, of course!”  Did he do it at the expense of allowing sin to continue unaddressed?  Nope.

So what is the difference between Jesus and the Pharisees.  Did they not both want the law of God upheld?

Sure.

Yet the Pharisees and teachers of the law had no genuine concern for the soul of the woman.  They were concerned a) with trapping Jesus and trying to get him to discredit the law of Moses, and b) they were concerned with putting themselves forward as better than the woman caught in adultery.  The heart of the teachers and Pharisees had no care for the woman and were filled with pride in themselves and hatred toward Jesus.

The charge “the church is judgmental” has validity.  Too often, we love to point out sin in others to make ourselves look better.  We point out sin to mark it to avoid not just the sin, but also the people committing sin.  Perhaps when they clean up their act, we can associate with them.

As we have already established, the church is full of sinful people.  You and I are included.  We all need and have received grace.  So instead of allowing sinful, prideful judgment to permeate our perspective, let’s seek the heart that God gave the Apostle Paul:

Philippians 1:7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Grace leads us to care for the soul of every individual and have a genuine concern for their salvation.  The goal of addressing sin is to bring a person to repentance and assure them of forgiveness.  Grace is willing to engage the sinner, not to bring swift condemnation, but to share grace-filled salvation.

Jesus did.  He forgave her sin and told her to leave her life of sin.

Do you think the woman went away feeling judged?  Nope.

Do you think the woman went away feeling the affects of grace? Yep.

May God use us to change the culture of his church from pride-filled judgment to grace-filled acceptance.

Apply:  Want a simple way to remember what a culture of Grace looks like?  Here’s the key points from the last three days:

G – Grow in Grace – be filled yourself!

R – Restore Relationships – Let grace restore what is broken

A – Apply Forgiveness – As you have been forgiven, freely forgive.

C – Care for Others – have a genuine concern for the salvation of each soul.

E – Exhibit Humility – Repent of pride.  Let your heart be like that of Jesus…humble.

 

Prayer: Lord, use me to make your church, your place, a place of grace.  AMEN.