Saturday, November 20, 2010
Outreach to Haiti
We were able to finally show the entire Jesus film, children's version on Thursday night to a crowd of 300! We simply hung a bed sheet on the wall of a business and used the PA system to announce it. We were delayed about an hour due to some technical problems but the people patiently waited and the longer we waited, more people came. At the end of the film we wanted to give an invitation but as soon as we started speaking the generator used to power our system rain out of fuel. It got real dark fast and the people scattered but at least they saw the entire film which is a very powerful took in presenting the life of Christ. We pray that hearts were ministered to by the message of the film and that the Holy Spirit completed the work of bringing conviction of sin, righteousness and the judgment to come.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Haiti Outreach
We are continuing to share the gospel by going to homes in the area. The people are open to hearing the message and many are responding to receive salvation. We have also been hosting a Bible study for some people who we have met and shared Christ. They have been rejected by some of the churches because they do not wear the right clothes and some have tatoos. Not all the churches are legalistic as these but the ones that are have a very negative impact on people who really want to know the Lord. We will be showing the movie on Jesus to the people tonight. It is the shorter version for children but it has been very effective in reaching all ages and it is in the language of the people. We are working with a Pastor to help start a church with the people who are coming to Christ through the ministry we are doing. Please continue to pray for us as we labor together in the harvest field God has placed us for the next 2 weeks.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Haiti Outreach
I am currently in Haiti with our DTS students for the next 5 weeks. We arrived on October 17 and spent our first week ministering in Port au Prince. I was overwhelmed by the extent of the damage from the earthquake of January 12, 2010. There are countless buildings and homes that are damaged and some reduced to rubble. I saw very little work being done to clear the rubble as there seems to be few machines available to deal with the problem. It will take years to clear and rebuild everything that has been damaged at the rate of progress that is currently happening. One of the most telling signs was the condition of the National Palace that is totally damaged and nothing has been done to remove it and rebuild. It is a symbol of the state of the government here, broken and in need of major repair. We came along side of a church called "The Body of Christ" and ministered in 3 different churches as well as several school. We also visited an orphanage that is in great need of funds to fix what has been damaged and finish the construction of the building. It cares for 47 children who have been orphaned. It is a very simple facility and the children have very little. The food was being cooked over a fire because they did not have gas in the propane tank. The children sang the National Anthem of the USA to us and they really enjoyed the ministry the student conducted for them.
Our second week was spent north of Port au Prince in Babancourt. We stayed in a camp that was set up to house the people whose homes were damaged after the earthquake. There were about 1500 people originally living in tents in this camp but many have left or return to their homes. We worked with the church on the grounds and also conducted ministry in several public and private schools. We had around 30 receive Christ as Lord. It has been very hot in Haiti and it has taken our team a bit of time to adjust to it. Electricity was scarce in our first home we stayed in and in the camp we only had electricity when the generator was started at night. The church treated us well and we did not mind living in tents for the week, it was actually cooler than staying in the home the first week. While we were at the camp there was an outbreak of cholera in communities around us. We know of 2 people who died near us.
We are now at our 3rd ministry site in Fonds Parisiens for the next week. We will be doing a lot of evangelism in the community.
God has used our students in a marvelous way and even though the conditions are harsh at times they have stayed strong and focused on the mission. Please continue to pray for them.
Our second week was spent north of Port au Prince in Babancourt. We stayed in a camp that was set up to house the people whose homes were damaged after the earthquake. There were about 1500 people originally living in tents in this camp but many have left or return to their homes. We worked with the church on the grounds and also conducted ministry in several public and private schools. We had around 30 receive Christ as Lord. It has been very hot in Haiti and it has taken our team a bit of time to adjust to it. Electricity was scarce in our first home we stayed in and in the camp we only had electricity when the generator was started at night. The church treated us well and we did not mind living in tents for the week, it was actually cooler than staying in the home the first week. While we were at the camp there was an outbreak of cholera in communities around us. We know of 2 people who died near us.
We are now at our 3rd ministry site in Fonds Parisiens for the next week. We will be doing a lot of evangelism in the community.
God has used our students in a marvelous way and even though the conditions are harsh at times they have stayed strong and focused on the mission. Please continue to pray for them.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Identity Crises
Identity Crises, Confusion
We are living in a day in which personal and gender identity is in a state of crises and confusion for many people. Gender identity is now much more than just male and female. We have an organization called the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual) that defends the rights of people to express themselves any way they desire.
In New York it was proposed that young students would not have to declare their gender until they were sure of who they were and if they wanted to change their identity they could do it at any time. We are seeing an increase in the number of people who are living with a different identity than what they were born.
Guatemala and El Salvador have serious problems with gangs. In El Salvador a law was passed recently that would allow the police to arrest anyone who was in gang and put them in jail. Many who join the gangs are looking for a new identity and a sense of belonging to a group of people. They cover their bodies with tattoos that are identification marks of being part of their gang or they wear certain clothing in a specific way that identifies them as one of the gang members. Being identified with the gang is very important to them as it gives them a place to belong and a purpose for living even though it is not at all what God created them to be and do. There is a new movie called “Reparacion” about the gangs in the prison in Guatemala.
The identity of these gang members has been the result of growing up in a home without a father who did not help them identify who they are and unfortunately many churches were guilty of not reaching out to help them realize their true identity in Christ. Your identity determines your purpose in life.
The enemy has been very successful in creating massive confusion regarding man’s true identity. You can choose who you want to be regardless if it is against God’s original design for mankind. We are expected to be tolerant of others choices and not try to force a moral standard upon them. Let them be who they want to be is the mantra of our day. There is increased acceptance and pressure to give approval to the identity that a person chooses for himself or herself. The ultimate goal is to get everyone to believe that it is natural and choice is not involved.
The Bible is very clear about our identity and our purpose in life. We have been created in the likeness and image of God and our purpose in living is to know God and enjoy a personal relationship with Him that is based on love. God created us with a free will to choose to love Him. As we read the Bible we see what has happened to man when he has lost his identity and lives outside of the boundaries God has established. When Adam and Eve sinned against God a major change happened immediately. They lost the glory that clothed them and the innocence in which they lived after they ate of the fruit. They alsol lost the intimacy they had with God. Immediately they were filled with fear, hid from God and tried to cover up their nakedness. They knew they had violated God’s command and their reaction of hiding and covering themselves because a change had taken place. They were no longer innocent people but were people who were ashamed. They had a new identity that was not what God had originally intended for them. Man quickly degenerated as this new identity was passed on to succeeding generations. Man became so wicked in this new identity that God had to wipe out the human race and start over again with Noah and his small family. God chose Noah and then Abram to be the people whom He would reveal Himself and reestablish the identity of God’s people. Through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob a nation of people were created who would understand their true identity through the revelation God gave them through the laws and the prophets. The nation of Israel was to be a kingdom of priests who represented God to man and interceded between man and God (Ex. 19:5,6). Through the nation of Israel God would send the Messiah who would make possible the restoration of man to God. The intent was that the nations would come to know God through His chosen people and understand their true identity through their relationship with God. Israel did not do a very good job at being the nation that followed God. They identified themselves with the gods of the other nations and abandoned their true identity and purpose. Eventually they were taken captive by the Assyrians and Babylonians as punishment for their abandonment of God. When the captors destroyed their cities and took them into their lands they immediately split the people up and dispersed them throughout the land to destroy their identity as a nation. Separation and isolation were great tactics to destroy the identity of the people. Yet in spite of their efforts to disperse them and destroy their identity, God maintained a remnant of people who would not lose their identity. The story of Daniel and the 3 Hebrew young men is a great example of how the conquering nation tried to change their identity. First they were removed from their homeland, separated from their families and everything that was familiar to them. Then they were given new names that were names to honor the gods of their captors and give them a new identity. (Daniel 1:6,7)
Their names carried meaning. Daniel meant God is judge, or my judge. Hananiah’s name could be translated, Jehovah is gracious. Mishael’s name, as Daniel’s, contained the shortened form for God (el) and meant who is like God. Azariah’s name asserted that Jehovah helps. These godly names were changed into compounds of the names of the Babylonian gods.
To make them forget the God of their fathers, the guide of their youth, they give them names that savour of the Chaldean idolatry. Belteshazzar signifies the keeper of the hidden treasures of Bel; Shadrach—The inspiration of the sun, which the Chaldeans worshipped; Meshach—Of the goddess Shach, under which name Venus was worshipped; Abed-nego, The servant of the shining fire, which they worshipped also. (Matthew Henry Commentary)
Next they were reeducated in the knowledge of their captors. Finally they were asked to adopt the customs of the Chaldeans and forsake the laws God had established. This was the point where they would not give in. They would not bow to the gods of their captors and identify themselves with them. They knew their God and they were determined to not compromise their true identity as children of the One True God.
Our enemy tries to do the same thing with each of us to get us to lose our true identity. He tries to separate us from other believers by creating divisions or he tries to exploit us when we are in a situation in which there are few believers. He wants to isolate us so we feel alone and then are more susceptible to his temptations to adopt new gods and standards for living. Unfortunately many Christian college students fall away from the faith because of the isolation they feel as believers in a godless campus that is filled with many opportunities to be engrossed in sin and be accepted.
One of the reasons we have the Monday night worship service in English is to counter this tactic of the enemy to isolate and separate believers who come to Antigua. It is easy to fall away from the faith in Antigua, the temptations are there and being away from home where no one knows you makes it even easier to give in to temptation and change your identity. When I came to Antigua in 1999 the Lord put in my heart the desire to start these meetings because I saw and felt the need for fellowship among the English speaking people who were here. These meeting have been going on since January 2000 and I am glad you have come to be a part of it. It is a great way to meet people, get connected and be encouraged in your faith.
Beside separation and isolation the enemy will do his best to expose us to a new way of thinking about life. He will try to destroy our Christian world view and replace it with the current philosophies that the world embraces. If you are not solidly grounded in your faith or a Christian worldview of life, you will be unprepared to recognize and refute other world views and begin to adopt them as part of your life. Someone once said, “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.”
One of the greatest examples of the power of wrong values and philosophies of life was witnessed in Germany when Adolf Hitler rose to power. I recently read the biography of Dietrich Bonheoffer and learned many things about what was going on in Germany when Hitler’s philosophy of life ruled the nation. He viewed the Jews, the disabled and the elderly as expendable. He sanctioned the death of millions of Jews and used them for medical experiments that were unconscionable. He saw no value in disabled children and ordered them put to death. Much of this happened without the knowledge of many of the people in Germany and when people found out they were appalled that these things were happening. Unfortunately the church did not make a united stand against him for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons was the people were afraid they would lose their identity when they would eventually be defeated. Those who were opposed to Hitler tried hard to convince Britain that they were serious about overthrowing Hitler and they did not want the whole world to think that everyone was in agreement with his philosophies. A few Christians tried to overthrow Hitler and kill him but were unsuccessful. Hitler’s worldview influenced an entire nation and led to the death of millions of innocent people. Ideas have consequences and we must be vigilant to expose false philosophies that undermine God’s values. When you lose your true identity, you expose yourself to many ideas and philosophies that can be very destructive and your purpose in living becomes something God never intended.
When you call yourself a follower of Christ you will be put to the test. It may be in a small thing or something that could have devastating consequences. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel were all faced with decisions to conform to the ways of their captors or stand faithful to their beliefs. They were asked to eat food that was against their beliefs but they refused to do it. They were asked to bow down to the idol and refused to do it. The consequences were not good, a fiery furnace waited for them. God honored their stand for righteousness and protected them. Daniel refused to stop praying against the order of the King and was thrown into the lion’s den. He stood for his beliefs and God stood with him. These men refused to change their identity and their beliefs. They knew who they were and whose they were.
What you believe will be tested, the enemy will make sure you go through the fire to see what you are made of and what is your true identity. I knew some Christian people who bought a roundtrip plane ticket with the intention of having one person fly on the first part of the trip and a different person fly back using the same ticket. In their mind it was a way to save money as a one way ticket is always more expensive. So in order to do this they had to created a false identity card so when they presented it at the check in counter it would match the name on the ticket. They were able to do it and they did not get caught. But in retrospect they were willing to expose themselves to a damaged reputation and possibly a fine for the sake of saving a few dollars. How valuable is your reputation? What is your price? I heard another example of a youth pastor who when attending college used the identity of someone else to play basketball in a health club so he would not have to pay the nonmember club fee. When asked his name at the desk, he gave the name of a friend who was a member of the club and then stated that he had forgot his membership card that had a photo i.d. He got in and began to play basketball when the attendant at the desk came to the gym with the person who he had stated he was!! He had been caught and now established a reputation with the attendant that he was a liar, deceiver and willing to sell his reputation for a small amount of money.
Some of you may have read the news of the past week in which a pastor of a megachurch in Atlanta has been accused of sexual abuse of 4 teenage boys in his church. He has denied the charges and time will tell whether he is truly innocent. He is going to go through one of the greatest testings in his life and I pray that he truly is found innocent of all charges.
None of are exempt from having our identity tested and we all must be careful to keep ourselves in the love of God and always respond with love toward God whenever we are tested.
God has made you in His image and likeness, He has chosen you, He has called you, He has made you a new creation in Christ, you are His, He has you in the palm of His hand, you are precious and of great value to him. Your identity is found in Him. Your purpose is found in Him. Your values, beliefs and behaviors are to reflect who you are in Him. Paul stated, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” His new identity was found in Christ and that is the beauty of Christianity. We remain unique in our personality, gifting and abilities yet we share the same values of Christ. Christ is forming his character in us, conforming us to his nature yet expressing it through our uniqueness.
Erwin Lutzer, pastor of Moody Church in Chicago told the story of one of his daughters who invited a friend over to their house to play when she was only 4-5 years old. Her friend was not acting right, she was doing a lot of bad things that bothered Erwin’s daughter. Finally his daughter asked her friend, “Do you have Jesus living in your heart?” Her friend replied that she did and Erwin’s daughter responded, “I think you have a bunch of other people living in there as well.”
When Christ comes to dwell in us, we have a new identity. We no longer have to try to be someone we are not. We can be free to be the person God created us to be.
We are going to watch a drama performed by our DTS students called “King of Hearts”. It is a powerful drama about how we try to hide behind a false identity.
We need to establish our identity in Christ. We can be free in Christ to be who we have been created to be. We do not need to try to be something we are not to hide our fears or present a false image to other people.
In Christ we discover our true identity and our purpose. Celebrate your uniqueness and enjoy the great variety of personalities in the Body of Christ. Be secure in your identity in Christ. Don’t be a copycat, be who God created you to be.
We are living in a day in which personal and gender identity is in a state of crises and confusion for many people. Gender identity is now much more than just male and female. We have an organization called the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual) that defends the rights of people to express themselves any way they desire.
In New York it was proposed that young students would not have to declare their gender until they were sure of who they were and if they wanted to change their identity they could do it at any time. We are seeing an increase in the number of people who are living with a different identity than what they were born.
Guatemala and El Salvador have serious problems with gangs. In El Salvador a law was passed recently that would allow the police to arrest anyone who was in gang and put them in jail. Many who join the gangs are looking for a new identity and a sense of belonging to a group of people. They cover their bodies with tattoos that are identification marks of being part of their gang or they wear certain clothing in a specific way that identifies them as one of the gang members. Being identified with the gang is very important to them as it gives them a place to belong and a purpose for living even though it is not at all what God created them to be and do. There is a new movie called “Reparacion” about the gangs in the prison in Guatemala.
The identity of these gang members has been the result of growing up in a home without a father who did not help them identify who they are and unfortunately many churches were guilty of not reaching out to help them realize their true identity in Christ. Your identity determines your purpose in life.
The enemy has been very successful in creating massive confusion regarding man’s true identity. You can choose who you want to be regardless if it is against God’s original design for mankind. We are expected to be tolerant of others choices and not try to force a moral standard upon them. Let them be who they want to be is the mantra of our day. There is increased acceptance and pressure to give approval to the identity that a person chooses for himself or herself. The ultimate goal is to get everyone to believe that it is natural and choice is not involved.
The Bible is very clear about our identity and our purpose in life. We have been created in the likeness and image of God and our purpose in living is to know God and enjoy a personal relationship with Him that is based on love. God created us with a free will to choose to love Him. As we read the Bible we see what has happened to man when he has lost his identity and lives outside of the boundaries God has established. When Adam and Eve sinned against God a major change happened immediately. They lost the glory that clothed them and the innocence in which they lived after they ate of the fruit. They alsol lost the intimacy they had with God. Immediately they were filled with fear, hid from God and tried to cover up their nakedness. They knew they had violated God’s command and their reaction of hiding and covering themselves because a change had taken place. They were no longer innocent people but were people who were ashamed. They had a new identity that was not what God had originally intended for them. Man quickly degenerated as this new identity was passed on to succeeding generations. Man became so wicked in this new identity that God had to wipe out the human race and start over again with Noah and his small family. God chose Noah and then Abram to be the people whom He would reveal Himself and reestablish the identity of God’s people. Through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob a nation of people were created who would understand their true identity through the revelation God gave them through the laws and the prophets. The nation of Israel was to be a kingdom of priests who represented God to man and interceded between man and God (Ex. 19:5,6). Through the nation of Israel God would send the Messiah who would make possible the restoration of man to God. The intent was that the nations would come to know God through His chosen people and understand their true identity through their relationship with God. Israel did not do a very good job at being the nation that followed God. They identified themselves with the gods of the other nations and abandoned their true identity and purpose. Eventually they were taken captive by the Assyrians and Babylonians as punishment for their abandonment of God. When the captors destroyed their cities and took them into their lands they immediately split the people up and dispersed them throughout the land to destroy their identity as a nation. Separation and isolation were great tactics to destroy the identity of the people. Yet in spite of their efforts to disperse them and destroy their identity, God maintained a remnant of people who would not lose their identity. The story of Daniel and the 3 Hebrew young men is a great example of how the conquering nation tried to change their identity. First they were removed from their homeland, separated from their families and everything that was familiar to them. Then they were given new names that were names to honor the gods of their captors and give them a new identity. (Daniel 1:6,7)
Their names carried meaning. Daniel meant God is judge, or my judge. Hananiah’s name could be translated, Jehovah is gracious. Mishael’s name, as Daniel’s, contained the shortened form for God (el) and meant who is like God. Azariah’s name asserted that Jehovah helps. These godly names were changed into compounds of the names of the Babylonian gods.
To make them forget the God of their fathers, the guide of their youth, they give them names that savour of the Chaldean idolatry. Belteshazzar signifies the keeper of the hidden treasures of Bel; Shadrach—The inspiration of the sun, which the Chaldeans worshipped; Meshach—Of the goddess Shach, under which name Venus was worshipped; Abed-nego, The servant of the shining fire, which they worshipped also. (Matthew Henry Commentary)
Next they were reeducated in the knowledge of their captors. Finally they were asked to adopt the customs of the Chaldeans and forsake the laws God had established. This was the point where they would not give in. They would not bow to the gods of their captors and identify themselves with them. They knew their God and they were determined to not compromise their true identity as children of the One True God.
Our enemy tries to do the same thing with each of us to get us to lose our true identity. He tries to separate us from other believers by creating divisions or he tries to exploit us when we are in a situation in which there are few believers. He wants to isolate us so we feel alone and then are more susceptible to his temptations to adopt new gods and standards for living. Unfortunately many Christian college students fall away from the faith because of the isolation they feel as believers in a godless campus that is filled with many opportunities to be engrossed in sin and be accepted.
One of the reasons we have the Monday night worship service in English is to counter this tactic of the enemy to isolate and separate believers who come to Antigua. It is easy to fall away from the faith in Antigua, the temptations are there and being away from home where no one knows you makes it even easier to give in to temptation and change your identity. When I came to Antigua in 1999 the Lord put in my heart the desire to start these meetings because I saw and felt the need for fellowship among the English speaking people who were here. These meeting have been going on since January 2000 and I am glad you have come to be a part of it. It is a great way to meet people, get connected and be encouraged in your faith.
Beside separation and isolation the enemy will do his best to expose us to a new way of thinking about life. He will try to destroy our Christian world view and replace it with the current philosophies that the world embraces. If you are not solidly grounded in your faith or a Christian worldview of life, you will be unprepared to recognize and refute other world views and begin to adopt them as part of your life. Someone once said, “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.”
One of the greatest examples of the power of wrong values and philosophies of life was witnessed in Germany when Adolf Hitler rose to power. I recently read the biography of Dietrich Bonheoffer and learned many things about what was going on in Germany when Hitler’s philosophy of life ruled the nation. He viewed the Jews, the disabled and the elderly as expendable. He sanctioned the death of millions of Jews and used them for medical experiments that were unconscionable. He saw no value in disabled children and ordered them put to death. Much of this happened without the knowledge of many of the people in Germany and when people found out they were appalled that these things were happening. Unfortunately the church did not make a united stand against him for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons was the people were afraid they would lose their identity when they would eventually be defeated. Those who were opposed to Hitler tried hard to convince Britain that they were serious about overthrowing Hitler and they did not want the whole world to think that everyone was in agreement with his philosophies. A few Christians tried to overthrow Hitler and kill him but were unsuccessful. Hitler’s worldview influenced an entire nation and led to the death of millions of innocent people. Ideas have consequences and we must be vigilant to expose false philosophies that undermine God’s values. When you lose your true identity, you expose yourself to many ideas and philosophies that can be very destructive and your purpose in living becomes something God never intended.
When you call yourself a follower of Christ you will be put to the test. It may be in a small thing or something that could have devastating consequences. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Daniel were all faced with decisions to conform to the ways of their captors or stand faithful to their beliefs. They were asked to eat food that was against their beliefs but they refused to do it. They were asked to bow down to the idol and refused to do it. The consequences were not good, a fiery furnace waited for them. God honored their stand for righteousness and protected them. Daniel refused to stop praying against the order of the King and was thrown into the lion’s den. He stood for his beliefs and God stood with him. These men refused to change their identity and their beliefs. They knew who they were and whose they were.
What you believe will be tested, the enemy will make sure you go through the fire to see what you are made of and what is your true identity. I knew some Christian people who bought a roundtrip plane ticket with the intention of having one person fly on the first part of the trip and a different person fly back using the same ticket. In their mind it was a way to save money as a one way ticket is always more expensive. So in order to do this they had to created a false identity card so when they presented it at the check in counter it would match the name on the ticket. They were able to do it and they did not get caught. But in retrospect they were willing to expose themselves to a damaged reputation and possibly a fine for the sake of saving a few dollars. How valuable is your reputation? What is your price? I heard another example of a youth pastor who when attending college used the identity of someone else to play basketball in a health club so he would not have to pay the nonmember club fee. When asked his name at the desk, he gave the name of a friend who was a member of the club and then stated that he had forgot his membership card that had a photo i.d. He got in and began to play basketball when the attendant at the desk came to the gym with the person who he had stated he was!! He had been caught and now established a reputation with the attendant that he was a liar, deceiver and willing to sell his reputation for a small amount of money.
Some of you may have read the news of the past week in which a pastor of a megachurch in Atlanta has been accused of sexual abuse of 4 teenage boys in his church. He has denied the charges and time will tell whether he is truly innocent. He is going to go through one of the greatest testings in his life and I pray that he truly is found innocent of all charges.
None of are exempt from having our identity tested and we all must be careful to keep ourselves in the love of God and always respond with love toward God whenever we are tested.
God has made you in His image and likeness, He has chosen you, He has called you, He has made you a new creation in Christ, you are His, He has you in the palm of His hand, you are precious and of great value to him. Your identity is found in Him. Your purpose is found in Him. Your values, beliefs and behaviors are to reflect who you are in Him. Paul stated, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” His new identity was found in Christ and that is the beauty of Christianity. We remain unique in our personality, gifting and abilities yet we share the same values of Christ. Christ is forming his character in us, conforming us to his nature yet expressing it through our uniqueness.
Erwin Lutzer, pastor of Moody Church in Chicago told the story of one of his daughters who invited a friend over to their house to play when she was only 4-5 years old. Her friend was not acting right, she was doing a lot of bad things that bothered Erwin’s daughter. Finally his daughter asked her friend, “Do you have Jesus living in your heart?” Her friend replied that she did and Erwin’s daughter responded, “I think you have a bunch of other people living in there as well.”
When Christ comes to dwell in us, we have a new identity. We no longer have to try to be someone we are not. We can be free to be the person God created us to be.
We are going to watch a drama performed by our DTS students called “King of Hearts”. It is a powerful drama about how we try to hide behind a false identity.
We need to establish our identity in Christ. We can be free in Christ to be who we have been created to be. We do not need to try to be something we are not to hide our fears or present a false image to other people.
In Christ we discover our true identity and our purpose. Celebrate your uniqueness and enjoy the great variety of personalities in the Body of Christ. Be secure in your identity in Christ. Don’t be a copycat, be who God created you to be.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Responding to Problems
Recently in the Guatemala news there was a report of a man who was shot to death near the Immigration office in Guatemala City. I was just there a couple of weeks ago and never thought that someone would be shot in this location because of all the people who are there. The news reported that the man who was killed had been working outside the Immigration office for many years helping people with their paperwork. They speculated that someone did not like his work and decided to hire assassins to take him out. A permanent solution to one problem but it also created a series of other problems.
Problems are a part of life. Someone once said there are no problems just people. Almost all of our problems are a result of relationship issues. How we confront our problems and deal with them will determine how we will grow as believers.
At times we wish we could just push a button and have our problems disappear. I watched an episode of Bonanza, an old television show our family watched every Sunday night that presented a very unique way to deal with problems. Here is one episode in which the Cartwright family and their hired hands went to San Francisco to celebrate. Unknown to them was a ship that needed workers and they worked in cooperation with a local drinking establishment to get people in a very unique way that was also used to solve problems people caused in the bar. In the scene we will watch one of the Cartwrights, Hos who was looking for their hired men as well as his father who had disappeared after going to the bar. He came searching for answers created a stir in the bar trying to solve the missing persons problem.
A very unique way to solve a problem at least for a short period of time. But life is not that easy, problems come to us and often require a lot of thought and energy to resolve them. We are always faced with choices in how we will resolve situations and problems we encounter. I want to look at three responses to problems tonight.
Denial
The easiest thing for many people is simply deny that there is a problem. It is easy for us to deny something that in our mind does not exist. At times we have blind spots in certain areas of our life. It may be a habit or attitude that we have that has become part of our behavior and we do it unconsciously and are really unaware of its effects on other people. We are unaware of our issues until someone brings them to our attention. Once we are made aware we have a decision to make and often we choose to deny we have a problem.
A friend of mine related how his dad would come home every day, sit in his chair and read the paper and no one could interrupt him or say anything to him. His dad did not realize how his behavior was shutting out his children and building a wall of separation between them. This went on for years and it was not until recently that when he was confronted with his past behaviors. His immediate reaction was to deny that he had done anything wrong. Awhile later he realized what he had been doing and he asked his children to forgive him. For years he was blinded to what he was really doing and I am sure he wishes he could relive those days. It took years for his children to get up enough courage to confront him with many of the behaviors that had driven them away from him. He was not a very approachable person and I am sure they thought it was not worth the effort to try to talk about something he would deny being a problem. Denial is often our first reaction when we are confronted by someone who points out a fault that we have. Denial is never a solution. It only serves to alienate people from you who perhaps love you and are trying to help you. For most of us this is our usual response when someone confronts us with an issue. Our pride keeps us from really listening and accepting what the other person is telling us. It is easy for us to deny what they are saying and discredit them stating that they do not know what they are talking about. We get offended perhaps by the way it was spoken to us or by the words they spoke and we become defensive. We quickly shut these people out. When we are confronted we need to be aware of the response of our heart. We may say the right words to the person confronting us but our heart is not in agreement with them. We placate them with words yet remain in denial of what they have said. Pay attention to what is really happening in your heart. The Holy Spirit is very good at bringing an uneasy feeling when we are in denial. There will be heaviness in our spirit that we must acknowledge.
Delay
A second reaction when confronted with a problem is to delay doing anything about it. We accept the fact that there is a problem but we do not want to do anything to confront it and do what needs to be done. Sometimes we think that given enough time it will go away or if we move away the problem will not follow us. Last year there was a young man around 30 years old who lived in Antigua and came to our coffee house when we had it in operation. He came to some of our meetings and seemed to want to get his life in order. We never really knew all of his past but one day he was in Central Park in Antigua when agents from Interpol arrested him in the park and brought him back to the USA to face charges for crimes he had committed. Rather than face his problems and taking care of cleaning up his record he decided to flee to Guatemala thinking it was a safe place and he would go unnoticed. Yet I am sure that in the back of his mind, he knew that he was delaying the inevitable. He eventually went to court and was convicted and given a 5 year sentence in jail. He was in the end relieved that he finally came to terms with his past even though it meant going to jail for awhile. The Bible is pretty clear when it states, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32.23). The longer we delay the greater the level of anxiety builds in our heart. King David tried this tactic of delay. He thought he had his sin covered when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and she became pregnant. His secret did not remain a secret because God would not let him get away with what he had done. It was tearing David apart and God in his mercy sent Nathan the prophet to uncover the secret and help David get the healing he needed. Psalms 32 addresses the issue David had with his own sin and how it tormented him.
Psalms 32: 3-4
3While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
The longer we delay the more misery we bring to our lives. It affects us spiritually, emotionally, and physically. There really is no benefit in delaying our confession. God waited patiently for David to come to him and admit his sin but David delayed and suffered for it.
Deal Truthfully
The final option is to deal truthfully with our problem by admitting it is a problem and seeking the forgiveness and help we need to get back on track. When Nathan confronted David, David knew he had to deal with his problem, admit his sin and receive God’s forgiveness.
Psalms 51
3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
. Unconfessed sin is really a huge ball and chain that is attached to us. It hinders us from progressing and causes great pain. When we finally deal honestly and truthfully with our problem we set in motion the healing process. The healing begins with our relationship with God because all sin is an affront to God, David acknowledge that he had sinned against God first and foremost. Once this relationship is restored the next step is to rebuild the other relationships that have been damaged by our actions and attitudes. This can be a very difficult thing to do because you have to humble yourself and go to ask forgiveness and bring restitution to the people you have offended. We put ourselves at risk of being rejected, reviled and renounced when we do this. We cannot control the reaction or response of the offended person and we have to be prepared to receive this. It will be painful and it may be costly but it can also be the first steps in restoring a relationship built on honesty and transparency. When Christ talked to Zacchaeus the tax collector, who were known for taking more money than they should have from the people, his response was pretty amazing because he offered to repay anyone he had taken money from, four times as much as he had stolen.
8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Luke 19:8.
Restitution and restoration must always be at our own expense and it may be costly but relationships and a clean conscience are more valuable than money. The word restoration means to set a broken bone back in place. This can be painful but when the bone heals it is stronger than when it was before it was broken.
When it comes to restoring a relationship we have to be willing to do what the other person asks of us. We really are in no position to demand anything from them. As long as what they ask of us is not excessive we have to be willing to submit ourselves to do what is necessary.
If we are willing to go through confession and restitution we can be used of God to teach other’s His ways.
Once David understood what God was trying to establish truth his life through dealing with his sin he submitted himself to God to receive the forgiveness, healing and restoration he needed.
6 You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you
When he completed the restoration process, we will
Have a heart that seeks to be taught God’s wisdom
Have a heart that is clean before the Lord
Experience joy and gladness
Receive a clean heart and a right spirit
Enjoy intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit
Have a spirit that is willing to submit to God
When this is our experience then we can like David teach other sinners the ways of God so they could return to Him.
When we have been restored, God can take our failures and use them as teaching tools for others who are in the same situation or are on the verge of making the same errors we committed. Our testimony of restoration can be used to offer hope to others who are not walking in the freedom God wants them to experience.
God’s goal in revealing and dealing with sin is not punishment but restoration of our lives and our relationships. We can choose to deny the problem, delay our response or we can deal honestly and truthfully with what has been shown to us and begin the restoration process.
Let God have his way in your life when you encounter problems. Allow him access to your pain and he will bring more freedom than you could have imagined.
Problems are a part of life. Someone once said there are no problems just people. Almost all of our problems are a result of relationship issues. How we confront our problems and deal with them will determine how we will grow as believers.
At times we wish we could just push a button and have our problems disappear. I watched an episode of Bonanza, an old television show our family watched every Sunday night that presented a very unique way to deal with problems. Here is one episode in which the Cartwright family and their hired hands went to San Francisco to celebrate. Unknown to them was a ship that needed workers and they worked in cooperation with a local drinking establishment to get people in a very unique way that was also used to solve problems people caused in the bar. In the scene we will watch one of the Cartwrights, Hos who was looking for their hired men as well as his father who had disappeared after going to the bar. He came searching for answers created a stir in the bar trying to solve the missing persons problem.
A very unique way to solve a problem at least for a short period of time. But life is not that easy, problems come to us and often require a lot of thought and energy to resolve them. We are always faced with choices in how we will resolve situations and problems we encounter. I want to look at three responses to problems tonight.
Denial
The easiest thing for many people is simply deny that there is a problem. It is easy for us to deny something that in our mind does not exist. At times we have blind spots in certain areas of our life. It may be a habit or attitude that we have that has become part of our behavior and we do it unconsciously and are really unaware of its effects on other people. We are unaware of our issues until someone brings them to our attention. Once we are made aware we have a decision to make and often we choose to deny we have a problem.
A friend of mine related how his dad would come home every day, sit in his chair and read the paper and no one could interrupt him or say anything to him. His dad did not realize how his behavior was shutting out his children and building a wall of separation between them. This went on for years and it was not until recently that when he was confronted with his past behaviors. His immediate reaction was to deny that he had done anything wrong. Awhile later he realized what he had been doing and he asked his children to forgive him. For years he was blinded to what he was really doing and I am sure he wishes he could relive those days. It took years for his children to get up enough courage to confront him with many of the behaviors that had driven them away from him. He was not a very approachable person and I am sure they thought it was not worth the effort to try to talk about something he would deny being a problem. Denial is often our first reaction when we are confronted by someone who points out a fault that we have. Denial is never a solution. It only serves to alienate people from you who perhaps love you and are trying to help you. For most of us this is our usual response when someone confronts us with an issue. Our pride keeps us from really listening and accepting what the other person is telling us. It is easy for us to deny what they are saying and discredit them stating that they do not know what they are talking about. We get offended perhaps by the way it was spoken to us or by the words they spoke and we become defensive. We quickly shut these people out. When we are confronted we need to be aware of the response of our heart. We may say the right words to the person confronting us but our heart is not in agreement with them. We placate them with words yet remain in denial of what they have said. Pay attention to what is really happening in your heart. The Holy Spirit is very good at bringing an uneasy feeling when we are in denial. There will be heaviness in our spirit that we must acknowledge.
Delay
A second reaction when confronted with a problem is to delay doing anything about it. We accept the fact that there is a problem but we do not want to do anything to confront it and do what needs to be done. Sometimes we think that given enough time it will go away or if we move away the problem will not follow us. Last year there was a young man around 30 years old who lived in Antigua and came to our coffee house when we had it in operation. He came to some of our meetings and seemed to want to get his life in order. We never really knew all of his past but one day he was in Central Park in Antigua when agents from Interpol arrested him in the park and brought him back to the USA to face charges for crimes he had committed. Rather than face his problems and taking care of cleaning up his record he decided to flee to Guatemala thinking it was a safe place and he would go unnoticed. Yet I am sure that in the back of his mind, he knew that he was delaying the inevitable. He eventually went to court and was convicted and given a 5 year sentence in jail. He was in the end relieved that he finally came to terms with his past even though it meant going to jail for awhile. The Bible is pretty clear when it states, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32.23). The longer we delay the greater the level of anxiety builds in our heart. King David tried this tactic of delay. He thought he had his sin covered when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and she became pregnant. His secret did not remain a secret because God would not let him get away with what he had done. It was tearing David apart and God in his mercy sent Nathan the prophet to uncover the secret and help David get the healing he needed. Psalms 32 addresses the issue David had with his own sin and how it tormented him.
Psalms 32: 3-4
3While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
The longer we delay the more misery we bring to our lives. It affects us spiritually, emotionally, and physically. There really is no benefit in delaying our confession. God waited patiently for David to come to him and admit his sin but David delayed and suffered for it.
Deal Truthfully
The final option is to deal truthfully with our problem by admitting it is a problem and seeking the forgiveness and help we need to get back on track. When Nathan confronted David, David knew he had to deal with his problem, admit his sin and receive God’s forgiveness.
Psalms 51
3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
. Unconfessed sin is really a huge ball and chain that is attached to us. It hinders us from progressing and causes great pain. When we finally deal honestly and truthfully with our problem we set in motion the healing process. The healing begins with our relationship with God because all sin is an affront to God, David acknowledge that he had sinned against God first and foremost. Once this relationship is restored the next step is to rebuild the other relationships that have been damaged by our actions and attitudes. This can be a very difficult thing to do because you have to humble yourself and go to ask forgiveness and bring restitution to the people you have offended. We put ourselves at risk of being rejected, reviled and renounced when we do this. We cannot control the reaction or response of the offended person and we have to be prepared to receive this. It will be painful and it may be costly but it can also be the first steps in restoring a relationship built on honesty and transparency. When Christ talked to Zacchaeus the tax collector, who were known for taking more money than they should have from the people, his response was pretty amazing because he offered to repay anyone he had taken money from, four times as much as he had stolen.
8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Luke 19:8.
Restitution and restoration must always be at our own expense and it may be costly but relationships and a clean conscience are more valuable than money. The word restoration means to set a broken bone back in place. This can be painful but when the bone heals it is stronger than when it was before it was broken.
When it comes to restoring a relationship we have to be willing to do what the other person asks of us. We really are in no position to demand anything from them. As long as what they ask of us is not excessive we have to be willing to submit ourselves to do what is necessary.
If we are willing to go through confession and restitution we can be used of God to teach other’s His ways.
Once David understood what God was trying to establish truth his life through dealing with his sin he submitted himself to God to receive the forgiveness, healing and restoration he needed.
6 You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you
When he completed the restoration process, we will
Have a heart that seeks to be taught God’s wisdom
Have a heart that is clean before the Lord
Experience joy and gladness
Receive a clean heart and a right spirit
Enjoy intimacy with God through the Holy Spirit
Have a spirit that is willing to submit to God
When this is our experience then we can like David teach other sinners the ways of God so they could return to Him.
When we have been restored, God can take our failures and use them as teaching tools for others who are in the same situation or are on the verge of making the same errors we committed. Our testimony of restoration can be used to offer hope to others who are not walking in the freedom God wants them to experience.
God’s goal in revealing and dealing with sin is not punishment but restoration of our lives and our relationships. We can choose to deny the problem, delay our response or we can deal honestly and truthfully with what has been shown to us and begin the restoration process.
Let God have his way in your life when you encounter problems. Allow him access to your pain and he will bring more freedom than you could have imagined.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Knowing Christ
Knowing Christ
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Phil 3:7-10
Paul wrote these words while he was imprisoned in Rome. He had no regrets regarding his life of service to the Lord. In the previous verses Paul recounted what his life was like as a religious zealout, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, the cream of the crop regarding what he thought it meant to be a True Jew. Paul understood that everything he tried to accomplish for God was truly a work of the flesh, it was his own efforts to be a righteous person according to the Law. Paul thought he had the perfect pedigree that is until he truly met Christ. When he understood who Christ was and what he had done for him, Paul changed his thoughts about his past life. Those things that were of value to him and others he counted them as a loss. They did not add value to his life but rather robbed him of having the true knowledge of Christ. The righteousness he thought he had gained through the works of his flesh did not accomplish the righteousness that can only be found through faith in Christ.
Righteousness means to be in right standing with God. When you are in right standing with God you are accepted by him. The only way we can be acceptable before him is to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. When Paul discovered this truth it set him free. That is why he called it the excellence of knowing Christ. He found the key to being righteous before God and it was through the work Christ did on the cross. Paul could now declare, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” This truth completely set him free from trying to fulfill the demands of the law. Paul lost everything he regarded in his past life as important. He lost his status among the Jewish leaders. He lost his position and all the entitlements that came with him. Muslims experience this same loss when they come to Christ. Many are completely rejected by the family and it is as though they have died and no longer exist. For some they may be killed because they have left Islam and their killing is justified in the Coran. Paul lost everything and was persecuted severely for following Christ. All the prestige he once felt was now counted as nothing because he found the knowledge of Christ. What Paul gained in knowing Christ far exceeded anything he had ever been given or ever would be given living as he had previously without Christ.
For Paul and for us as believers the greatest knowledge we can ever have is the knowledge of Christ. Everything else in life is secondary to knowing Christ. Our passion must be the same as Paul’s, to gain the knowledge of Christ and continue learning about him for all of our lives. Paul wrote in Colossians 2: 3 that in Christ “…in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge..” The more we seek to know Christ, the more knowledge and wisdom we will gain. It requires effort on our part to seek after Christ, to study the Scriptures and apply ourselves to the understanding we gain.
We live in a world that is full of information but what the world needs is a revelation of Christ because in Him is found all wisdom and knowledge. The enemy has been very successful in sidetracking people from knowing Christ through philosophies and other religions. Over ½ of the world is lost, separated from God and pursuing other gods. Many have made up their own religion based on good works or other ideas that will not make them righteous before God. Only Christ can make us righteous before God, acceptable to Him. If you are trusting in anything else you will be disappointed, you will not be accepted into the Kingdom of heaven.
The cry of Paul’s heart was “that I may know him.” I like how the Amplified Bible states it, “that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of his person] more strongly and clearly.” Knowing Christ comes progressively, we don’t understand all there is to know about him. He reveals new things to us about his Person as we continue to passionately pursue gaining knowledge of Him. Christ wants greater depth of our understanding of Him and greater intimacy as we gain more knowledge of Him. The more you know the better it gets and in Christ there is no end. We will never reach the point where we will know it all, we will constantly be exploring the wonders of Christ throughout eternity.
We have just begun our DTS and our goal is “To know Him (Christ) and make Him known.” The students have set aside these next 5 months of their lives to pursue this knowledge of Christ and take that knowledge and share it with a lost world.
I pray that this is the goal for each of us, to know Christ as he really is and for who he is. ..I pray that each of us will never settle for only partial knowledge of Christ, to be content where we are at and miss out on all the Christ has for us. Are you hungry for the knowledge of Christ? Are you passionately pursuing to know Him intimately and in greater depth? How is your spiritual appetite for the wisdom and knowledge that comes through Christ? There is no greater study to pursue than the study of God and Christ. All the other pursuits of knowledge in any area of life as exciting as they may be can never compare with knowing Christ. The earthly knowledge we gain will all pass away but the knowledge of Christ is eternal.
Paul not only wanted to know Christ but he also want to know, understand and experience the power of Christ displayed in his resurrection. Christ through his resurrection defeated the greatest power on earth, the power of death. Death brought finality to life and many people live in fear of death. Many people believe that once you die, it is over. There is nothing after physical death. Other religions teach that you will be reincarnated into another life form based on the life you lived on earth. Christ demonstrated to the world that the power of death was defeated when he rose from the grave. The resurrection power changes everything. If we are raised from the dead then this life on earth is temporal, death in the physical is only a transition to the eternal. The resurrection power of Christ is available to the believer today. There is nothing more powerful than the power to transform a life. We can see the power of God being demonstrated in the earth today through the signs, wonders and miracles that are happening. These miracles defy the laws of nature and are inexplicable. Healings are being reported where metal parts placed in the body are disappearing or the person is able to do things they never were nor should be able to do with the metal part in their body. These amazing miracles are nothing to be compared with the resurrection power that will one day transform this human body into a new heavenly body that will never get sick, never experience pain or suffering and will become an eternal body. This is real power and we get to experience it.
Paul also wanted to understand and participate in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. Paul already had experienced a great deal of suffering, physically, mentally and spiritually. He was not asking for a life of pleasure and ease but desired to live in conformity to the death of Christ. The servant is not above his master and if Christ was willing to suffer in the flesh, Paul was also willing to do the same for the sake of Christ. This is not a message that is popular among many believers today who want to experience just the blessings of the Christian life. To think about suffering for Christ is not on the radar screen, it is to be avoided. This attitude to me reflects that the person does not really understand the surpassing value of knowing Christ or the excellency of knowing Christ. Whatever suffering or persecution may come from following Christ is worth it if it will bring others to Christ and allow us to be a witness unto him. The thought of suffering or inconvenience or living at a lower standard of living to have the opportunity to share Christ with others is difficult for many believers to embrace yet desire. Paul was willing to go through many forms of suffering, knowing that Christ had suffered greatly for him. Christ's sufferings continued when Paul admittedly persecuted the church and for this Paul was very repentant. During WWII when decisions were made to invade enemy territory, one of the factors that was always given consideration is how many lives would be lost in the battle. It was inevitable; people were going to die from enemy fire or friendly fire. It was always a difficult decision for those in authority yet the prize they were trying to gain, the freedom of the people, was worth the expenditure of human life. Thousands of soldiers gave their lives for the freedom of people they did not know. We have something more valuable than earthly freedom. We must be willing to experience suffering and persecution so that others will come to know Christ.
The final frontier for missions is going to require people who are willing to suffer for Christ. The nations that are most resistant and militantly opposed to the Gospel will require people who are willing to suffer for the sake of Christ. It will require people like Paul who want to share in the sufferings of Christ. It will not be easy but it will be very rewarding because you will be one who has the privilege of bringing Christ to people who have never heard of him or have been given wrong information about him. Those who are willing to go, to be afflicted and suffer for the sake of Christ will experience him at a deeper level of intimacy and comfort. I read this poem that I think reflects the life of many believers who want a comfortable life.
Comfort me, Lord, and... pay my bills
Comfort me, Lord, and... cure my ills
Comfort me, Lord, and... remove my fears
Comfort me, Lord, and... dry my tears
Comfort me, Lord, and... increase my wealth
Comfort me, Lord, and... preserve my health
Comfort me, Lord, and... plead my case
Comfort me, Lord, and... enlarge my place
Comfort me, Lord, and... tell me "why?"
Comfort me, Lord, and... set me on high
Comfort me, Lord, and... do what I say
Comfort me, Lord, and... do it today
The Spirit listened as I uttered my mind
He said not a word as I pleaded and pined
And then He spoke in the language of conviction
Saying, "Comfort isn't comfort in the absence of affliction."
Are we really willing to go through affliction for Christ or do we just want to be comforted from the seemingly minor things in life that have consumed us?
Paul’s attitude and desire was to be conformed to Christ’s death. It was not that he had a death wish but rather that he was willing to pay whatever price that was required of him.
Paul was a seeker of the intimate and deep knowledge of Christ, not head knowledge but experiential knowledge of Christ. He was also sought to understand and experience the resurrection power of Christ and finally he was willing to share in the sufferings of Christ for the privilege of bringing the Gospel message to the lost.
Paul challenged the believers to follow him as he followed Christ. He pursued Christ with passion to know Him and serve Him. May the same be said of our lives.
7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Phil 3:7-10
Paul wrote these words while he was imprisoned in Rome. He had no regrets regarding his life of service to the Lord. In the previous verses Paul recounted what his life was like as a religious zealout, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, the cream of the crop regarding what he thought it meant to be a True Jew. Paul understood that everything he tried to accomplish for God was truly a work of the flesh, it was his own efforts to be a righteous person according to the Law. Paul thought he had the perfect pedigree that is until he truly met Christ. When he understood who Christ was and what he had done for him, Paul changed his thoughts about his past life. Those things that were of value to him and others he counted them as a loss. They did not add value to his life but rather robbed him of having the true knowledge of Christ. The righteousness he thought he had gained through the works of his flesh did not accomplish the righteousness that can only be found through faith in Christ.
Righteousness means to be in right standing with God. When you are in right standing with God you are accepted by him. The only way we can be acceptable before him is to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. When Paul discovered this truth it set him free. That is why he called it the excellence of knowing Christ. He found the key to being righteous before God and it was through the work Christ did on the cross. Paul could now declare, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” This truth completely set him free from trying to fulfill the demands of the law. Paul lost everything he regarded in his past life as important. He lost his status among the Jewish leaders. He lost his position and all the entitlements that came with him. Muslims experience this same loss when they come to Christ. Many are completely rejected by the family and it is as though they have died and no longer exist. For some they may be killed because they have left Islam and their killing is justified in the Coran. Paul lost everything and was persecuted severely for following Christ. All the prestige he once felt was now counted as nothing because he found the knowledge of Christ. What Paul gained in knowing Christ far exceeded anything he had ever been given or ever would be given living as he had previously without Christ.
For Paul and for us as believers the greatest knowledge we can ever have is the knowledge of Christ. Everything else in life is secondary to knowing Christ. Our passion must be the same as Paul’s, to gain the knowledge of Christ and continue learning about him for all of our lives. Paul wrote in Colossians 2: 3 that in Christ “…in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge..” The more we seek to know Christ, the more knowledge and wisdom we will gain. It requires effort on our part to seek after Christ, to study the Scriptures and apply ourselves to the understanding we gain.
We live in a world that is full of information but what the world needs is a revelation of Christ because in Him is found all wisdom and knowledge. The enemy has been very successful in sidetracking people from knowing Christ through philosophies and other religions. Over ½ of the world is lost, separated from God and pursuing other gods. Many have made up their own religion based on good works or other ideas that will not make them righteous before God. Only Christ can make us righteous before God, acceptable to Him. If you are trusting in anything else you will be disappointed, you will not be accepted into the Kingdom of heaven.
The cry of Paul’s heart was “that I may know him.” I like how the Amplified Bible states it, “that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of his person] more strongly and clearly.” Knowing Christ comes progressively, we don’t understand all there is to know about him. He reveals new things to us about his Person as we continue to passionately pursue gaining knowledge of Him. Christ wants greater depth of our understanding of Him and greater intimacy as we gain more knowledge of Him. The more you know the better it gets and in Christ there is no end. We will never reach the point where we will know it all, we will constantly be exploring the wonders of Christ throughout eternity.
We have just begun our DTS and our goal is “To know Him (Christ) and make Him known.” The students have set aside these next 5 months of their lives to pursue this knowledge of Christ and take that knowledge and share it with a lost world.
I pray that this is the goal for each of us, to know Christ as he really is and for who he is. ..I pray that each of us will never settle for only partial knowledge of Christ, to be content where we are at and miss out on all the Christ has for us. Are you hungry for the knowledge of Christ? Are you passionately pursuing to know Him intimately and in greater depth? How is your spiritual appetite for the wisdom and knowledge that comes through Christ? There is no greater study to pursue than the study of God and Christ. All the other pursuits of knowledge in any area of life as exciting as they may be can never compare with knowing Christ. The earthly knowledge we gain will all pass away but the knowledge of Christ is eternal.
Paul not only wanted to know Christ but he also want to know, understand and experience the power of Christ displayed in his resurrection. Christ through his resurrection defeated the greatest power on earth, the power of death. Death brought finality to life and many people live in fear of death. Many people believe that once you die, it is over. There is nothing after physical death. Other religions teach that you will be reincarnated into another life form based on the life you lived on earth. Christ demonstrated to the world that the power of death was defeated when he rose from the grave. The resurrection power changes everything. If we are raised from the dead then this life on earth is temporal, death in the physical is only a transition to the eternal. The resurrection power of Christ is available to the believer today. There is nothing more powerful than the power to transform a life. We can see the power of God being demonstrated in the earth today through the signs, wonders and miracles that are happening. These miracles defy the laws of nature and are inexplicable. Healings are being reported where metal parts placed in the body are disappearing or the person is able to do things they never were nor should be able to do with the metal part in their body. These amazing miracles are nothing to be compared with the resurrection power that will one day transform this human body into a new heavenly body that will never get sick, never experience pain or suffering and will become an eternal body. This is real power and we get to experience it.
Paul also wanted to understand and participate in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. Paul already had experienced a great deal of suffering, physically, mentally and spiritually. He was not asking for a life of pleasure and ease but desired to live in conformity to the death of Christ. The servant is not above his master and if Christ was willing to suffer in the flesh, Paul was also willing to do the same for the sake of Christ. This is not a message that is popular among many believers today who want to experience just the blessings of the Christian life. To think about suffering for Christ is not on the radar screen, it is to be avoided. This attitude to me reflects that the person does not really understand the surpassing value of knowing Christ or the excellency of knowing Christ. Whatever suffering or persecution may come from following Christ is worth it if it will bring others to Christ and allow us to be a witness unto him. The thought of suffering or inconvenience or living at a lower standard of living to have the opportunity to share Christ with others is difficult for many believers to embrace yet desire. Paul was willing to go through many forms of suffering, knowing that Christ had suffered greatly for him. Christ's sufferings continued when Paul admittedly persecuted the church and for this Paul was very repentant. During WWII when decisions were made to invade enemy territory, one of the factors that was always given consideration is how many lives would be lost in the battle. It was inevitable; people were going to die from enemy fire or friendly fire. It was always a difficult decision for those in authority yet the prize they were trying to gain, the freedom of the people, was worth the expenditure of human life. Thousands of soldiers gave their lives for the freedom of people they did not know. We have something more valuable than earthly freedom. We must be willing to experience suffering and persecution so that others will come to know Christ.
The final frontier for missions is going to require people who are willing to suffer for Christ. The nations that are most resistant and militantly opposed to the Gospel will require people who are willing to suffer for the sake of Christ. It will require people like Paul who want to share in the sufferings of Christ. It will not be easy but it will be very rewarding because you will be one who has the privilege of bringing Christ to people who have never heard of him or have been given wrong information about him. Those who are willing to go, to be afflicted and suffer for the sake of Christ will experience him at a deeper level of intimacy and comfort. I read this poem that I think reflects the life of many believers who want a comfortable life.
Comfort me, Lord, and... pay my bills
Comfort me, Lord, and... cure my ills
Comfort me, Lord, and... remove my fears
Comfort me, Lord, and... dry my tears
Comfort me, Lord, and... increase my wealth
Comfort me, Lord, and... preserve my health
Comfort me, Lord, and... plead my case
Comfort me, Lord, and... enlarge my place
Comfort me, Lord, and... tell me "why?"
Comfort me, Lord, and... set me on high
Comfort me, Lord, and... do what I say
Comfort me, Lord, and... do it today
The Spirit listened as I uttered my mind
He said not a word as I pleaded and pined
And then He spoke in the language of conviction
Saying, "Comfort isn't comfort in the absence of affliction."
Are we really willing to go through affliction for Christ or do we just want to be comforted from the seemingly minor things in life that have consumed us?
Paul’s attitude and desire was to be conformed to Christ’s death. It was not that he had a death wish but rather that he was willing to pay whatever price that was required of him.
Paul was a seeker of the intimate and deep knowledge of Christ, not head knowledge but experiential knowledge of Christ. He was also sought to understand and experience the resurrection power of Christ and finally he was willing to share in the sufferings of Christ for the privilege of bringing the Gospel message to the lost.
Paul challenged the believers to follow him as he followed Christ. He pursued Christ with passion to know Him and serve Him. May the same be said of our lives.
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