Pride

I have discovered that the sin of pride is the most devastating and influential sin a person can commit. The sin of pride is the first one of the biggest areas of idolatry in a persons life. When someone is prideful they have set themselves on the throne of their lives and they think they run the show, even in a religious way. The sin of pride takes Jesus out of the center of a persons life and puts themselves and even religion, in His place. The sin of pride leads right into selfishness and a self centered attitude which is a sin also. Pride is connect to selfishness. Pride will stop us from focusing on others and serving their needs but feeling like everyone should be serving us. Pride will stop the outward focus to those in the world who do not know Jesus. Pride stops us from loving the world and also from loving one another in the church. Pride hurts all those around us.

The sin of pride will stop us from worshiping God and Jesus. We are called in Scripture to be worshipers of God but when we are filled with pride we stop worshiping who we are supposed to and we end up worshiping ourselves because we are IT. Pride keeps us from truly worshiping God as the King of our life and Jesus as the Savior and passion of our hearts. Pride hurts God so to speak.

So the sin of pride hurts everyone we know even when we cannot see it. OUCH

Motivation for Obedience-Love Others

The other night I talked for a few minutes about obedience to Jesus. I discussed the fact that a big motivator to our obedience to Jesus is a love for Him and desire to please Him. Tonight I want to discuss a second motivation for obeying the words of Jesus. Loving Jesus should be the only motivation we need. If we love Jesus and desire to please Him, that is all that should drive us to obey His words. But there are many more motivations for obeying the words of Christ, and the next on the list down, should be a love for others.

Jesus commands us in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples, teaching others the words of Jesus and baptizing them in His name. If we have any love for other people we must do this command. Jesus said the 2 greatest commands are to love God with all our being and to love others more than ourselves. If we are to love others more than ourselves, we had better tell them about the greatest person and gift we know about. To obey the words of Jesus then is to tell others about Him and His greatest gift, salvation. So we must be driven to obey Jesus by the fact we love others. To love others we will show them the love of Christ, we will show them the grace of Christ, and we will show them the mercy of God. To love others will motivate us to tell them about the Gospel. To love others will move us to show compassion on them and care for them. To love others will allow us to show them, that we are no better off then them and we make just as many mistakes and sin just the same. To love others is to provide the generosity needed to give a bigger picture of our saving God. So to love others will move us to obey Christ in a fuller way. When we love others we are fulfilling all of these commands and words of Jesus.

I want to disclose though that to love others is a motivation by the Spirit in our lives and an action of those who have surrendered their lives to the control of God. Which when God controls our lives we have no choice but to obey, so in essence this motivation for obedience is a motivation from God within us.

First Hospital Visit

I will return in my next post to the topic of motivations for our obedience to God. I want to share some thoughts tonight on my first hospital visit, from today. I was sitting in my office this morning having my devotions and studying the Bible when I got a call from the local hospital. They called to tell me that a man from my church had been admitted to the hospital yesterday. This man is an older gentlemen with a great Jesus story, so I prayed and decided that he would love a visit from me, the new Pastor he has only ever met a few times (this man is older and serves Jesus many Sundays at the local mission so he only attends my church a few times a year when he is healthy and not serving in the mission). I called an elder and we decided together that we would go and visit him before lunch and hopefully catch him before he eats and takes a nap (I figured he would be taking an afternoon nap, since I know if I was in the hospital I would be taking an afternoon nap). So I picked up the Elder and we went in together to visit this gentlemen and experience my first time visiting a child of God from my faith community.

Let me tell you it was an amazing experience and a true blessing for me. My Elder and I prayed before we went in to see him that we would be an encouragement to him and bring him some joy. I know God heard our prayer because as soon as we walked in the older gentlemen was smiling at us. I went in to bring him some encouragement and I did, but he also brought me much encouragement. I talked with him for awhile as some nurses came and went and every time he was joking with them and thanking them. I prayed with the older gentlemen and we talked for awhile about what God is doing in his life and also what God is doing in my life and the life of the faith family. His lunch was coming in right after I prayed for him so I went over next to him and told him we were going to leave so he could eat his lunch and then take a nap. The gentlemen grabbed my hand and said, "Pastor Jeff, thank you for coming to see me. You made my day and you were a servant of God in bring me joy. I knew when I had the hospital call you this morning, you would come and see me". That is a line that I will not forget for a long time. I went in to bring him peace, joy, and love from God and in turn this man brought me peace, joy, and love from God. He ministered to me as much as I was able to minister to him.

I pray to God that every hospital visit is like that and I trust God that when He calls me to the hospital to minister, He will be ministering to me just the same.

Motivation for Obedience-Love

As lovers of Jesus, one of the biggest topics that He talks about in His word is obedience. Jesus calls us to obey His commands, teachings, instructions, life style, and worship. Jesus wants us to hear His words and go and do what He says. The world will know those who love Jesus by the fact of whether they obey what Jesus says and live the way Jesus wants them to or not. Obedience is also a gauge of our spiritual health and walk with Jesus. If we obey His teachings then we are close and in deep love with Him, where as when we disobey what Jesus teaches us, then we are distant from Him and not walking close with Him like He desires. But an important question to ask around obedience is what motivates us to obey Jesus. I want to spend a few post to start this week talking about 3 important motivations for obeying Jesus. Tonight we will look at the first motivation for obeying Jesus.

#1-We obey Jesus because we love Him.
If I love my wife it will motivate me to serve her, care for her, show affection to her, and stay faithful to her. The same is true and more important of Jesus. When we love Jesus we first will listen and take seriously what He is telling us about. When we love Jesus we will listen and take to heart and cherish what He is instructing us about. When we love Jesus we will desire to please Him. One of the biggest ways to please Jesus and worship Him is by obeying what comes out of His mouth. The Bible is filled with commands from God and Jesus to keep their words. "If you love me you will keep my commands" was a very common saying by God to His people Israel. It is still a common command to us today as the church and lovers of Jesus. Loving Jesus and keeping His commands today can be a positive thing, such as; do this and go there and talk about me to those people and love the world like I did. Keeping the commands of Jesus and loving Him can also be a negative command such as; do not do this, do not go there, do not commit that sin, and do not say that. If we truly love Jesus, desire to worship and praise Him, and want to fill Him with joy, walking closely with Him and obeying Him is one of the biggest parts. Surrendering our lives to Jesus is loving Him and surrendering our lives is a daily act of obeying Him. When was the last time we thought about the fact of loving Jesus and obeying Him as equal?


Tuesday and Wednesday we will take a look at 2 other motivations for obedience.
#2- We obey Jesus because we love others.
#3- We obey Jesus because we hate sin.

Gratitude beyond Words

Today I had the privilege to share in the joy of the Lord with all that are dearest to me in this life. Like I said today in the few minutes I was able to talk, I cannot express in words the joy and gratitude I feel. When we as humans realize that the all-powerful Creator God, that can do anything without our help, decides to use us for His mission and service, it is truly amazing and joyful. As I stood up after the commissioning prayer and I was able to look out over both faith families, Calvary Bible and Zion Bible, I was filled with emotion and joy at all the lives God has used to shape, mold and guide me. When we allow ourselves to be molded by God even though sometimes it is painful and not very fun, it in the process will also be joyful and praise worthy. Thank you to all who have loved and poured into my life and continue to make my service for God and His church a joy. Amen

Quotable Friday

"Everyone who is united with Christ, is a man who can never be conquered".~Richard Sibbes

We Believe

One more song this week about the amazing God we love and serve!

Redeemed

We are Redeemed

Oh what an Amazing Savior

Another weighty song about our weighty Savior

You Alone

Feel the weight of the song and the heavy weight of the amazing God we can love and serve.

Soon and very soon

1 John 2:15
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."


 The New Testament authors understood that they were living in the last days. Peter and Paul knew that Jesus could and might come back at anytime. This realization drove them to do the things they talked about and preached to the world. John knew that if were going to love this world we would be too attached to it and for those living in the last days being attached to the world and the things of it was a bad thing. For those living in the last days, anticipating the return of Christ, should only be focusing on His job and preaching the gospel through their words and actions. So the New Testament church was to realize that Christ was coming back at any moment, they had a job to do in this world in those last moments, this job was to look forward and make others ready for the coming of Jesus, and finally their greatest hope and joy was looking forward to that moment of Jesus return. This is a life that is marching to a different drum.

God has been reminding me that we as the church today, 2000 years later should be no different. We need to live in a realized eschatology that is all about the return of Jesus and life's moments now driven by that fact. We should be filled with continual joy and hope in the fact that Jesus is coming back at any time and we too are living in the last days. This hope we have in Jesus return is not a fleeting hope either, it is a fully secured hope in the fact Jesus said He was coming back and guarantee that He keeps His promises. Every moment in life is driven by the fact Jesus is coming and we better be driven by that, not by the pleasures of this world. Why do we do what we do? Do we do what we do for a better world, for our happiness, or for our future children? Everything we say, think, and do better be driven by the fact Jesus is coming at any moment and then it is over. This realization, hope, joy, and faith in our lives as the church then should lead us to march by a different drum beat.

This drum beat is a march for Jesus and taking as many as we can into the kingdom with us. This march is not for ourselves, children, or future pleasures. This march is for the glory, praise, and honor of our returning King Jesus. He is coming so every message better include that. We march to a beat that the hope and foundation of that beat is in Jesus, not ourselves or this fallen and broken world. Yes, we live in the world and yes we are to reach the world but the world should not be beating our drum. Jesus should be beating the drum for our march because He is coming back soon and very soon.

"Soon and very soon we are going to see the King". Are we ready and is that marching us to a different beat?

Quotable Friday on Saturday

Here is part of a conversation that took place between me and my son tonight. My son is 8.

Me: Man, Sam, there is many attractions to idolatry in my notes I am studying.
Son: Dad, what is idolatry?
Me: Sam, what is an idol?
Son: Something you think is more important than Jesus.

By Faith not by works-Romans 9:24-33

Quotable Friday will be tomorrow.

This week we have been reading through and studying Romans 9. We have come to realize that salvation is a privilege, but not by privilege but by the love and choice of God. We learned that Esau and Jacob were both in trouble because of sin, but God chose Jacob so He loved Him for salvation and a relationship. Yesterday we looked at the compounding fact that we can not saying anything back to God about His choices, salvation, and love because He is God and God is God and there is nothing we, His creation, will ever say about God. Today we end Romans 9 in the place that Paul began, which is about the relationship with God and how a person, Jew or Gentile, can obtain or receive salvation and love from God.

Romans 9:24-33

²⁴ even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
    and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”

²⁶ and,

“In the very place where it was said to them,
    ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
    only the remnant will be saved.
²⁸ For the Lord will carry out
    his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”

²⁹ It is just as Isaiah said previously:

“Unless the Lord Almighty
    had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
    we would have been like Gomorrah.”

³⁰ What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. ³² Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. ³³ As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall,
    and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 

Paul in his defense of salvation and the love of God in these verses quotes from many different place in the Old Testament. Paul uses the Prophet Hosea 2 different times and the Prophets Isaiah 3 different times in his defense. Paul is showing us that both Gentile and Jew can and will be saved. But Paul wants us to understand that we are saved by faith not by works. Paul wants to make it clear with use of the Old Testament that the Jews did not understand how faith worked and that the whole nation would not be saved through faith, only a remnant. For Paul's Jewish readers it would have been hard to swallow, the fact that Paul is telling them, just because you are God's "chosen" people does not mean that you will be saved. Paul wants them to understand that salvation comes by faith now and they will not be saved by doing the works of the law. That is why Paul is using the quotes from the prophets. Paul is making a clear distinction for us in this text and the entire chapter that salvation is by faith, alone, and works, nationality, birth, privilege, and name will not get a person saved; only faith.

3 Application truths with questions we need to ask ourselves everyday
#1- We can never earn our salvation and love from God. This is a hard truth for us, as Jesus lovers to understand because we love Jesus so much sometimes we try and do things at Him. We can never do anything that will earn the love of God. We can never do good works or good deeds to earn the love of God. God and His love for us is free and a choice from Him that He gives us. We are to do good works in  the new relationship with Jesus, motivated by the love of Jesus, but never motivated for the love of Jesus. So we need to ask ourselves ever morning, why am I doing what I am doing for Jesus?
#2- Salvation is not exclusive. This again sometimes is hard for lovers of Jesus to understand. We feel we are good people or maybe even, sadly, we are American so that is why salvation is given to us. God made salvation available for all, Gentile, Jew, African, American, black, white, and everything in between. That means we have an obligation to tell everyone and anyone about the free gift of the love of God. So again, when was the last time you told someone outside your comfort zone about Jesus?
#3- Salvation comes from God alone. This is a simple truth but it is the big idea from Paul in Romans 9. Jew, Gentile, Jacob, Esau, Pastor Jeff, or Adolf Hitler; God, His love and salvation, made available, by the plan and purpose of God, chose who He would love and who He would save. That means that God lets the others, those He has not chosen, to stay in their sinful state and reap the consequnces of that sinful state; HELL. When was the last time you thanked God for choosing you?

I pray this week in Romans 9, God has encouraged you and helped you to appreciate the love and salvation of Him in your life and also challenged you to rethink what you know about Him and His gift of salvation.

God is God- Romans 9:14-24

We have spent 2 post this week studying Romans 9 and applying the Biblical truth from Paul into our lives. The first post we looked at the sorrow Paul felt over his own people, the Jews, as they rejected Jesus for the privileges they felt they had already. Then the following post we looked at the point that Paul made about it is not privileges or rights to salvation but it is the fact God chose to love us and that is why we have salvation. Today we will follow up the same section about God choosing some to love and save while letting others stay in the same sinful state they were born into.

Romans 9:14-24

¹⁴ Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not! ¹⁵ For God said to Moses,

“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,

and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”

¹⁶ So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

¹⁷ For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.”¹⁸ So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.

¹⁹ Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”

²⁰ No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? ²² In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. ²³ He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. ²⁴ And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

I love this section of verses. Paul is asking us the most obvious question, but a question that we as humans never want to face. As humans we want control. We want control over decisions, rights, salvation, freedom, and even control over death. We as humans want a God who is on our level and a God that is like a big brother, someone who is on our side but we can at some points get the upper hand on. Most humans do not want a God who is in total control and we as His humans have no right with at all. Think about this, reading those verses, we as humans have no right with God, so if God wanted and desired to, He could have sent ever humans ever born to hell to pay for their own sin. Think about that, in light of the previous section of verses (7-13) and this section of verses, God could have chosen to save no one. Hear that, God could have chosen to save no one and provide His salvation to ho one. But He didn't, God chose to save some and provide a way for salvation for those He has loved and chosen. Think about that now, God chose to save you, if you love and have faith in Jesus, and He chose you to love and provide a way of salvation for. Wow, it gives me chills every time I think about that. God chose in His purposes to give me love and salvation. But more importantly as a creation of the Creator, I have no place or foothold to talk back or even question Him. Which is Paul's second point. God is in control, He does what He wants to, He saves those He wants to, and we can do nothing or even get upset about it. How do we have any rights to talk back or get upset at the God who created us. Can the pot get angry at the Potter, can shoe get upset at the shoe maker, can the can the coffee become bitter at the coffee maker? No, and we have no way or any right when it comes to God, we must just follow in faith and love what God says and commands and does, that is Paul's point.

3 Application truths with questions for everyday
#1-God is in complete and total control. Nothing in this world or life can frustrate, surprise, over work, over love, out think, baffle, or over whelm God. This is a great point and should give us great comfort in the fact that if we love God and God loves us we have the best being and the only being that matters on our side. When was the last time you found comfort in knowing God was for you in everything?
#2-We have no rights with God. This means that we must trust God and take Him at His words. We have no room to ever get angry, upset, bitter, and frustrated at what God is doing for and in our lives. God will do what God desires to do and there is nothing we can do about it. That is a lot of "do's" but as the creature the only do that matters is God. Do we remind ourselves every day that God knows best and we need faith and trust, not anger, in that?
#3- God chooses who He wants to save. Just like Yesterday point 3 this is another point that can be hard to understand. But as humans we must realize and trust that salvation is a gift from God and God gives that gift to whomever He wants. When was the last time you were thankful for your free gift of salvation from God and saw it as a gift not something you had to earn?

The Sovereignty of God

I will continue the 4 part series from Romans 9 tomorrow but I wanted to shout for joy in how God works before we ever realize it. Today is Wednesday and most Wednesday we have a Bible study at church. This week, I decided I needed a Wednesday off so I could rap up a few remaining things with my house in Lancaster. So I cancelled Bible study for today. God was planning for the time off before I ever knew I would need it. I woke up last night around 3 with the stomach bug and it has take me a good 18 hours to recover from it. God knew that I would need today to recover from the bug and that is why He led me to cancel Bible study. I love how God works for us and plans our days out way in advance even before we ever realize that we will need it. Let us shout out with praise and thanksgiving to God.

God's Purpose- Romans 9:6-13

Yesterday we read through and began to understand a little of the first 5 verses of Romans chapter 9. In that section, Paul discussed and showed that the Jewish people, in spite of all their privileges from years gone by, were still a lost people and needed to find faith in Jesus as the only way to salvation. Paul will continue the same thought process in the set of verses today but will take it in an important theological direction.

Romans 9:6-13

⁶ It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. ⁷ Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” ⁸ In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. ⁹ For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.” ¹⁰ Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. ¹¹ Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: ¹² not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”  ¹³ Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

The first thought that Paul wants us to understand is the fact that the people of promise under Abraham, are not a people of promise because they had Abraham has their ancestor. They are people of the promise because God loved them and they had the same faith in God that Abraham had. Paul wants us to understand that salvation is not through our relationships, family or again privileges on this earth but our salvation is through our relationship with God, just like Abraham and Issac. Paul continues this same thought process but shifts the focus back to God and His love. Paul shows that Jacob and Esau were the same before they were born. Before both of those men were born from their mom, Rebekah, they were in the same situation. Just because they were the grandsons of Abraham did not make a difference, it was up to God and His love to make the difference. Paul shows what happened, because God has a plan, elected and called Jacob and because He chose Jacob, He loved him. This last part of verse 13 can get a little tricky to understand. What Paul is showing us is the fact that before both men were born they were both in trouble. Remember, put this verse in context with the entire letter up to this point. Both Jacob and Esau were in trouble before they were born because they were both sinful and sin leads to death. God hates sin, God, in His holy righteous wrath hates sin and the sinner. We can never miss this point. Both Jacob and Esau were in trouble with their sin even before they could do anything. But Paul shows us that God in His great love chose Jacob and that is why Paul says and quotes from Malachi 1 in the fact that God loved Jacob and chose him for the relationship and ultimately salvation. Wow

Again, I find 3 important application truths and questions we need to ask ourselves every day.
#1- As Paul states in verse 11, God has a purpose and because of that purpose God has a plan and in that plan was Jacob, whom He loved. That means God has a purpose and plan for me, today, to do for Him because He loves me and I love Him. Because of my relationship and faith in God I must discover and desire to work out the plan and purpose of God for my life today. So, do we try and discover the purpose and plan that God has given us to do today or are we always doing what we want each day?

#2-My salvation is dictated by the love of God, not a right or privilege of being me. This tells me that I must take seriously my salvation and love the God who loved me enough, in spite of my daily sin, to save me. How many times do I thank God each day for His love and in that love, saving me in spite of my sin?

#3-My salvation is decided by God and not something I can or could do. This is a hard application for many to understand. Simply put, God chose me for His love, counted Jesus death in place of my sin, and chose me to then love Him and have faith in Him for His salvation. Salvation started with God, was planned by God, given by God, and determined by God, and has come into my life by God. Everything about my relationship with God comes from Him. I could never do any good to help my salvation. Just like because of the purpose of God, I could never do any wrong to stop the salvation of God in my life because God chose to love and save me, just like Jacob. So the last question than is, how many times do we daily try to earn our salvation from God by doing good?

Sorrow over Souls- Romans 9:1-5

^{Romans 9:1-5}

^1I am telling the truth in union with Christ—I am not lying, for my conscience, confirms it in the Holy Spirit. ^2I have deep sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart,  ^3for I could wish that I myself were condemned and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh.

^4They are Israelites. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. ^5To them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, Christ descended, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

This is the first section we come to in Romans 9. Chapter 9 of Romans is a new set of thoughts from the Apostle Paul. Paul has been working his way through the letter so far dealing with first in chapters 1, all have sinned and in chapter 3, everyone is trapped in sin and death. In chapter 5 Paul deals with the fact that sin is original and comes strait from Adam. But Paul also gives hope at the same time in chapter 4 giving that righteousness comes by faith, chapters 6 and 7 discussing grace and the full effects of it, and finally in chapter 8 gives the solution for sin. But now in chapter 9 Paul wants to think about his fellow brothers, the Jews. And that is where today's section of Romans picks up. Paul has a deep sorrow over his fellow Jews because as he already has shown it is by faith in the grace of God through the death of Jesus that a person is saved. Paul in verses 4 and 5 lists all of the privileges that the Israleties had from God, yet now they do not matter because as Paul clearly has shown it is not by works or privileges that one gets saved but by faith in Jesus. Paul is broken and in anguish over his friends and family, the Jews, to the point he would even trade his salvation for the salvation of all the people of privilege. Wow

3 Important applications I find in these 5 simple verses.

#1- As Paul tells us and shows through the list of privileges for the Jews, it is not by privilege or position that a person is saved. Paul follows chapter 8 with this section and in chapter 8 Paul shows us that it is a relationship through faith in the grace of God that will lead a person to salvation. Salvation does not come by a list of privileges but by the death and faith in that death, of Jesus. So we need to ask ourselves, every day, what is my salvation founded in???

#2-In our union with Jesus, we need to be listening to the truth from the Holy Spirit. Paul is clear in the first verse that everything he is saying is not is own ideas or thoughts but because of his relationship with Jesus and hard-line connection with Him, the Holy Spirit is feeding him and giving him truth to share with others. We have this same power in our lives when we are in a relationship, by faith, with Jesus. So again another question we need to ask ourselves, every day, are we listening to the Holy Spirit and His truth or ourselves and our desires?

#3- We need to be like Paul, broken and in anguish over souls we know are going to hell. Paul is in tears and heart broken over his brothers missing the point and truth of Jesus. Paul is even broken to the point he would even possibly trade his salvation for their souls. We have the same mandate and we should feel the same weight about our friends, family, and loved ones that do not know Jesus and will spend eternity in anguish in hell. So the last question from this passage for us to ask, every day, is, do we feel broken and cry out over those we love and what can we do about our sorrow for the souls of others?

Romans 9

This week I want to write my thoughts down in my blog as I study, read, and begin to understand more of Romans 9. Romans 9 I think is the pivotal chapter and thought of Paul as he was pouring his heart and Godly understand out to the church. As I study this passage this coming week, verse by verse, I will highlight, summarize, and apply God's word to my life and share the thoughts with you. What better way to start a series on Romans 9 than giving the whole passage for us to read. Enjoy, and I pray you enjoy from God this week also.

 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. ⁴ They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. ⁵ To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰ And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— ¹² she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

           “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’

and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ ”

     ²⁶ “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’

there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’ ”

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,

        “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom

and become like Gomorrah.”

³⁰ What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,

           “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 

Trust Account

Trust is like a savings account. In order to receive trust from others we must slowly and continually make a deposit in the trust account. After making many deposits the trust level that others have in us will build up. But it will only take one action we do and others will lose all that trust we have build up. 1 mistake or action in destroying the trust others have in us will take away years of many small deposits we put in the account.

Quotable Friday

Here is my favorite line from a book I read this past week.

"God has the right to do whatever He pleases".~ Francis Chan

The Tongue and Hell

The little brother of Jesus, James, only talks one time in his little letter about hell. But I find the one time that James talks about hell to be very interesting. This week we have discovered that we can end up in hell based upon our relationship with others in the church, our outlook towards the poor, racism, and doing good things. In the verses that James talks about the tongue he mentions hell. Lets take a look.

James 3:5-6

Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶ The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

In these few verses James links the tongue to hell. Have you ever thought about the fact that your tongue and how you use your tongue could get you sent to hell? I never did. I have never linked the use of my tongue to going to hell. Jesus also linked the tongue specifically back in Matthew 5 to hell but Jesus also had a bigger picture in mind in how we deal with one another overall. Here James links the tongue, and the sinful evil use of it, to going to hell. James is saying the tongue is like a fire and however you use your tongue for evil can spread and effect others like a wild fire. Then James links the fire of the tongue to the fires of hell. Simply put, James is telling us that if you use your tongue for fire and hurting others, your tongue will end up where that fire came from, hell. Our tongues could end us up in hell. If we do not use our tongues for good and for things that honor, praise, and worship Jesus, than our tongue will send us to hell. 

James it letting us know that if we love Jesus and do the wise things Jesus tells us to, than our tongues will be used for God. But if we do not know and love Jesus, than we will use our tongues for evil and will end up in hell. So a simple question to ask now is, what do we use our tongues for? If we find our tongues continually being used for praise, worship, and honor of Jesus and telling others about Him, than we know and love Jesus. But if we continually find our tongues being used for evil; like critical speech, gossip, lying, slander, profanity, and other deceitful things, than we do not know and truly love Jesus and our tongue is driving us to hell. So we need to check our tongues because it is a good sign whether we are destined for hell or not. 

Sheep, Goats, and Hell

This week we have been looking at different passages from Jesus and hell. We have discovered that how we treat others in the church, what we do for Jesus, and racism can all send us to hell. In the text today we find that how we treat others in this life, especially the poor and needy, will also dictate whether we go to hell or not. here is the passage from Matthew.

Matthew 25:31-46

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 

This passage and line from Jesus speaks a lot for itself. Simply put, if we love Jesus we will look at others just like Jesus did. So if we want to ask ourselves, our we going to hell, we need to look and ask ourselves some other questions too. Do we feel entitled because we know Jesus? Are we generous to others with out time, talents, and treasure? Do I truly care for the poor or let others do it? Do I help others intentionally or am I too busy? Do I view others through the eyes of Jesus? If we answer any of the questions in not a good light or way, we do not know Jesus and His kingdom and we might be a goat, destined for hell. Loving others like Jesus did is knowing Jesus and loving Jesus, which equals escaping hell.

Racism and Hell

This week I have been looking at verses from Jesus that correspond to hell and escaping it. We have looking at the fact our relationship inside the church with others and also what we do can and might send us to hell. Today I want to highlight an interesting verse when it comes to Jesus and hell.

Matthew 8:10-12

When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

This is a hard set of verses to unpack and understand. What Jesus is actually saying, or more importantly who Jesus is saying is going to hell? These verses come in the middle of a conversation between Jesus and a Roman centurion. Jesus commends this gentile for his faith and heals the centurion's servant who is ill because of the faith that the gentile had. Jesus commends his faith so much, that Jesus says that the gentile has more faith than anyone in all of Israel. Then Jesus gives these few verses about others who are not faithful and are going to go to hell. The subjects of the kingdom then, those going to hell, are the all inclusive Jews that think they are the only one's who are going to NOT go to hell. The Jews are being racist and excluding the gentiles from God and Jesus is showing them that this racist idea is not correct, that the kingdom of God is open to all, and the fact that racism will send one to hell. let me say that again, racism will send one to hell. 

We need to understand in the church, Jesus came to live and die for all and we the church should be reaching out to all of the lost; black, white, Asian, African, and everyone else who is not like we are. Jesus is simply stating the fact that if we are inclusive and only keep Jesus for ourselves or for others like us, we do not truly love Jesus and will end up in hell, because we are racist and do not understand what it means to love and know our Savior. 

Are you going to hell??

So this week we are looking at verses from either Jesus or one of His close followers concerning hell and whether or not we are going to hell. Last night we took a look at a verse from Jesus about one's relationship with others inside the church and how that could send us to hell. Tonight we will be looking at another line from Jesus, also in the Sermon on the Mount, from Matthew about how to escape hell.

Matthew 7:22-23

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

As a pastor this set of verses scare the pants off me. In this quote from Jesus, He is talking to people who think they deserve Heaven and an eternal life with Jesus because they did things FOR Him. How many times do we find ourselves doing things for Jesus. Let me give you a list that is short but I can name off the top of my head, of things that we do for Jesus; go to church, read our Bibles, pray, give money to church, give money to the poor, tell our co-workers about our churches, listen to Christian radio, watch a sermon on tv, give out Bibles, go on a mission trip, help our neighbors, and the list could go on. Those are things that we can do FOR Jesus and doing those things might get us sent to Hell. Let me say that again, doing things for Jesus like that list might get us sent to hell. We could go to hell but still attend church. We could go to hell and give money to our hurting neighbor. We could go to hell and read our Bible. That verse scares me to death. I could preach sermons every week, counsel ever church member, lead Bible studies; and still go to hell. 

So the question then is how can I do those things and not go to hell? Simply, check your motive. Are you doing those things listed because you love Jesus, delight in Jesus, enjoy Jesus and that is what motivates you? Because if that is the case you know Jesus and He knows you. And you will escape Hell. Doing good because it is the right thing to do will get you sent to hell. Doing good and loving Jesus and doing it because you love Jesus and that is your motivation is how we escape hell.

Are you going to hell?

This week I will be writing some thoughts on a few different verses from the New Testament that deal with hell. Hell is a topic that is talked about in extremes in Christianity. Some people are all fire and brimstone and stand on the street corner, crying out aloud to run from the wrath of God and the destiny of hell. Then others in response do not talk about hell and only talk about love, grace, and mercy. Jesus and His followers had a lot to say on hell but they also included mercy, grace, and love with it. Over this week we will explore what Jesus and His followers had to say.

Matthew 5:22
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council: and whoever says 'you fool' will be liable to the hell of fire."

I find this sentence from Jesus about hell very interesting because He gives a small description of hell with fire but He gives us more importantly a fact of importance in order to stay out of hell. Loving Jesus is the first step and dedicating your life to Him and His service is the second step in escaping the fires of hell. But in this passage Jesus give us another step in escaping hell. Jesus is asking us, what is your relationship like with your brothers and sisters in Me? Simply put, our relationship with others inside the church is important for our spiritual state, and it is so important for our spiritual health that Jesus links it to escaping hell. I have always understood that being a faithful and unifying church member was important but I never realized how important it was for my eternal destiny. Our relationship or the unity we have in the church is that important. Let me say that again, getting along and not using our mouth to hurt others in the church is so important it effects our eternal destiny. What I think Jesus is saying, and this is the important thing to understand, if we truly love Jesus and can escape the fire of hell, we must love His church and love others in the church with the same kind of unity.

So the first question this week, are you going to hell? To answer that from this verse, we would need to check our love for others in the church.

Independence Day Prayer

Here is an Independence Day Prayer that has been flowing though my head all weekend.

Father, thank you for freedom.
Thank you for the freedom I have to worship and praise you
Thanks you for the freedom you have given this country of mine
Thanks for the freedom this country gives me to openly praise you.

Father, thank you for Your freedom
Thank you for being a free being who is not limited
Thanks you for your freedom not to be held down by human minds
Thank you for your freedom not to be limited to space or time
Thanks for your freedom not to be ruled by any being
I know your freedom is a gift to me because
Because your freedom is the reason I have grace and mercy
You having freedom to give me the grace I do not deserve
And the mercy to give me what I do deserve.
Father, thank you for being the most free being ever.

Father, thank you for the freedom I have to know this and so much more about You
thanks for the freedom to gather with my faith family publicly
thanks for the freedom to pray to you in public places
thanks for the freedom I have to carry Your Word
and thanks for the freedom I have to lead your flock as the church.

Father, thanks for the celebration of this free Independence day 
and all that it teaches me about you and other freedom
Lead me to never take it for granted 
and Father, help me never to take your freedom spiritual for granted
my spiritual freedom is the greatest gift you have ever given me Lord
help me on this Independence Day, to use my spiritual freedom
as a gift to tell other. 
Amen

Theological review of "X-Men: Days of Future Past

So it has been about a month now since I saw the new X-men movie. I enjoyed the movie very much, even though I missed my movie buddy Seth going with me, but I have been trying over the last month to come up with some good theological points the movie tries to make. To be honest there is not much theology taught by the movie and quiet simply it is just a simple action adventure comic book movie.

Movie Review
So the movie was very action filled but also very predictable with the story line being mapped out right away and not much suspense or uncertain moments. Michael Fassbender as Magneto and James McAvoy as Charles Xavier are excellent and I am excited to see them both again in the next X-Men movie in 2016. The cast was bloated with many characters both young and old so the acting is not a main point of focus but everyone plays their respect roles very well. The movie did not add any extra stuff or bad language just for the "fun" of it so it is a cleaner movie in Hollywood standards and the movie holds up very well to the Philippians 4:8 test. Overall I find this to be the second best X-Men movie behind last years Wolverine. There is good hope for the future since the last 2 in the X-Men franchise have been their best. But now on to a theological review.

Theological review
Like I said earlier there is not much theology preached or shown in the movie and it simply jumps from action scene to action scene. There is a little question asked during the movie when the young Charles has to decide between his powers or his legs but not having any mutant powers I am not sure there is much theology preaching in his decisions. But I would like to think and discuss for a few minutes the idea of time travel and the fact that this movie and many others with time travel present. The idea of time travel in this movie is the fact if we could just go back in time we could fix our mistakes or maybe never even make a mistake. Mistakes, or as I will call them sin from here on out, is part of our human nature after the fall. If Adam would have never let Eve be alone with the Serpent and sin never entered the picture we would not have to worry about sin or getting back in the past to fix it. But as the book of Romans points out sin is a part of us now and we could travel when and where ever we wanted and we would still sin. We could stop a sin but we would sin in a different way because sin is something we do a lot of every day. The good news in this whole equation is that we do not need time travel to fix our mistakes, it is called Jesus Christ death and an act of repentance in our own lives. When we make the mistake, which we will and sin, which time travel would never stop or change, we have Jesus who died for that sin and has forgiven us when we turn to Him after the sin. Then after the sin, instead of time travel, simple repent and turn to Jesus and turn the other direction and do not sin that way any longer. We do not need time travel to stop sin, we already have that power in Jesus and our act of repentance. Praise the Lord I do not have to rely on sending Wolverine back in time to fix my sin, I have Jesus.

"How To"

The Bible is the Word of God. That is probably not news to you if you know me or have read this blog at all. Even those people who not call themselves Christian or believe that Jesus is the Savior and only Hero of the world might know and agree that the Bible is the word of God. But think about that first line again. The Bible is the Word of God. You can also make it plural and the Bible is the words from God. Yes, the Bible is the story of Jesus and the rescue plan of God for human kind. But the Bible as the story of Jesus and the rescue plan is God talking to us. When you open the Bible and read Psalms 3 for example, it is a Psalm of David but really, truly, deeply, it is actually God talking to you. So when you read John 3:16, it is God telling you, I love you so much I sent my only Son to die on the cross for you so you can be with me and enjoy me forever. That is the words of God talking to you. But did you also know God in the Bible talks and tells you about everything else in life as it revolves around Him and Jesus. The Bible is the words of God telling "how to" live life and everything in it around Jesus. Just look at these "how to's" from God to you.

How to know God
How to know His Son Jesus
How to love Jesus
How to deal with sin
How to live life and not get lost in the world
How to pray to God when you are hurting
How to pray to God when when you joyful and thankful
How to love your spouse
How to handle His treasures (what you think of as your money and possessions)
How to raise children
How to evangelize
How to read your Bible
How to deal with crazy neighbors
How to leave a lasting legacy
How to serve in the church
How to love other children of God
How to enjoy life
How to have friends
How to know what movies, tv shows, and programs to watch
How to have intimacy with your spouse
How not to look like the world's culture
How to delight in Jesus
How to use the Holy Spirit's power
And the list can go on......

The Bible is God telling us how to do just about everything and that is amazing because as humans and especially as Christians living in this world, having God who is wiser and smarter, let alone can see outside time, tell us how to do anything and everything is truly a great blessing. And just think that list did not include any of the "why" questions that God answer for us with His words in the Bible. Remember when you are reading the Bible God is talking with you. Read it and read it some more, you can never read the Bible or read God talking to you enough. Amen and keep on reading and listening.

Do you Pray?

I have been thinking a lot about prayer and the fact when we do pray we are tapping into the great power that exist, God. A great preacher once stated, "We can do more than pray, after we have prayed, but not until". What does that say about the importance of prayer?

That says that we must pray first. How can we do something or say something without having first tapped into God. Why do we try and live our lives without first going to God on our knees? Prayer is where life must begin and be at continually. When life gets hard go to prayer and ask God for strength. When life is easy pray and praise God for the blessing. When life is frustrating go to God and ask for patience. When life is challenging go to God and ask for peace. When someone hurts us go to prayer and ask for love. When the day is young go to prayer and ask for guidance. When the day is done pray and be thankful we made it through. When our body hurts go to prayer and ask for healing. When someone we love hurts pray and ask for their comfort. When someone's soul is on the brink of hell pray and ask for courage.

Pray is the power cord into the outlet of Jesus. Pray first, pray last, pray continually, pray boldly, pray fearlessly, pray pray pray. We cannot do anything without pray.