Spiritual Songs: I Have a Shelter

I think I posted this before, but I really needed it today. I hope it encourages you.

Hymns: Take the Name of Jesus with You

This song, "Take the Name of Jesus with You," offers us a gentle reminder of the power of Jesus' name. The words were written by Lydia Baxter and the music by William H. Doanev. The words remind of us both the darkness we face in this world and the joy that is ours through Jesus. Heed the advice of this old him, and begin to meditate on the glorious riches of Christ.

Take the name of Jesus with you, Child of sorrow and of woe;
It will joy and comfort give you, take it there wher-e're you go.

Chorus:
Precious name, oh, how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heav'n;
Precious name, oh, how sweet! Hope of earth and joy of heav'n.

Take the name of Jesus ever, As a shield from every snare;
When temptations round you gather, breath that holy name in prayer.

Oh, the precious name of Jesus, How it thrills our souls with joy,
When His loving arms receive us, and His song our tongues employ.

At the name of Jesus bowing, Falling prostrate at His feet;
King of kings in heaven we'll crown Him when our journey is complete.

Correct Me If I'm Wrong

Humility is a difficult thing to fake. I don't mean that people can't pretend to be humble. I mean, if you are not truly humble, your pride will eventually come to the surface. Without true humility, you'll eventually blow your cover.

What does it mean to be humble? Humility is the ability to see yourself for who you truly are and recognize that the world doesn't revolve around you. A humble person can put someone else first, not because they have to, but because it is the right thing to do.

Humility focuses more on responsibilities than rights. Being humble doesn't mean a person doesn't think he has rights. It means he understands that his rights have to be used responsibly.

One of the fastest ways to test a persons humility is to correct them. Pride hates correction. Why? Because correction implies (or explicitly states) that a person is wrong. Pride has developed an exception to every rule, and therefore needs no correction.

Ask yourself, "What is my reaction to correction?". Let's assume you got overwhelmed (because you are overworked and under appreciated) and you missed an appointment. The person with whom you were to meet is upset. They accuse you of being disorganized and lazy. How would you feel?

Do you feel betrayed? bewildered? hurt? defensive? How certain are you that there isn't a shred of truth in their accusations? Pride will have you on the defensive. It will arm you with a list of reasons that you can't be wrong.

Humility acknowledges the mistake. It acknowledges limitation and the temptation to defend oneself. Humility takes the time to consider the complaint, then acts accordingly.

Jesus walked in humility. He had a humble heart. His followers need to pursue humility, as well. I want a humble heart, but I wrestle with pride every day. I wish correction didn't chaff me as much, but it does. Until that day, my prayer will be, "God, grant me the ability to endure correction until my heart walks in humility." 

Sermon Recap 2-24-13

Morning: The sermon, "The Most Important Question You'll Ever Answer," focused on Matthew 16:13-20. In this passage, Jesus asked the most important question that a person can face. It is a question we must all answer. Our answer determines our destiny.

Some fail to understand who Jesus is. Jesus wanted to understand how the crowd perceived him. The disciples rattled of names: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or another prophet. The names could reflect a popular opinion of Jesus: a man recognized as one who can work and speak on behalf of God. Or it may reflect negative opinions of Jesus. John and Elijah were scene, from a political stand point, as trouble makers. They were wilderness wild men. Jeremiah was called the crying prophet and was not well liked in this day.

Today we are tempted to use words like teacher or leader or example, but we share the same inclination to keep Jesus at arms link or to dismiss him. C. S. Lewis warned,

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing people often say about him, "I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I do not accept his claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with a man who says he's a poached egg--or else the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to (Mere Christianity, 55-56).

We must recognize who Jesus is. How should we answer the question? We must acknowledge Jesus is the Christ. Christ or Messiah means anointed. Jesus was anointed by God as prophet, priest, and king. As prophet, he teaches us the word and ways of God calling us to walk in obedience. As priest, he is both the one who offer the sacrifice and the sacrifice that satisfies God's wrath. As King, he is our true leader.


We must acknowledge that he is the Son of God. In Jesus' day the crowd's understood the claim to be God's Son meant that he was equal with God. A true faith confession rests in knowing that Jesus is God. He is fully human and fully divine.

Truths we need to remember about this confession:

It is mark of God's favor. Jesus pronounced Peter as blessed, because he had been permitted to recognize Jesus. It was all of grace. In this world, we either live under God's blessing or his curse.

It is the truth upon which the Church is built. The foundation of the Church isn't a man, but the truth that Jesus is the Son of God. As people confess their sins and turn to Christ in faith, they are united together in the Church. We lay no other foundation except Jesus Christ.

It is the message that will free the world. Wherever we preach the gospel, people will be freed. Wherever we horde the gospel, people will continue to be enslaved to sin and death.


Evening: Movie Night begins at 5:00 pm.

Uprooting the Lie

The events that shape our lives often leave a residual energy that impacts our current situation. Who hasn't had an embarrassing moment that they wish they could forget, yet still think about it from time to time? Unfortunately for most of us, it's the lies we were told that impact us the most.

A little girl is singing her heart out and someone tells her to "knock off that racket." Now she believes her voice is unpleasant. She doesn't join the choir in school or at church because she doesn't want to subject people to the racket of her voice. She can't believe that her voice could now be a thing of beauty.

A boy sits alone at the lunch table because his classmates think he's a loser. He is young, inexperienced, and unskilled. He's clumsy and overweight. He doesn't understand how they do things because he is from a different culture. The few kids who do talk to him are only friendly when no one else is around. He looks at himself and he sees a loser.

You've been there. There is a lie resting in your heart and mind right now. It probably just reared its ugly head. You try to get over it, but it clings to you. Ignoring won't make it go away.

The only way to kill a lie is with the truth. The trouble with lies are they are a lot like a rash that won't go away. The truth has to be applied frequently.

For this reason, we need, as others have said, to preach the gospel to ourselves. That little girl needs to know that even if she croaks like a frog, God still loves her. That little boy needs to hear that Jesus doesn't see him as a loser. The message of Christ isn't just what saves us, it is what shapes us as well.

The lies that wage war against our souls are anchored deep. The gospel penetrates deeper. It makes us new. It gives us a sense of worth. Rest in Christ, and let him bring rest to your soul.

Finding Your Fit

"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" (1 Cor. 12:4-7).

This passage is part of a larger context dealing with spiritual gifts. Paul addressed a church that  struggled with divisive attitudes, and it appears they struggled with spiritual gifts, as well. In this passage, he is reminding us that every believer has a purpose in the kingdom of God.

The Spirit has given each of us a gift. In 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, Paul lists some of the spiritual gifts his audience had received. His point is that believers have a spiritual gift.

The Lord calls each of us to serve. Each of us has a place of unique service in the body of Christ.

God is at work in each of us. God enables us to use the gifts he has given us as we serve him. He empowers his people to work.

The gifts are for the common good. We are not to horde our spiritual gifts, but share them. We are to use them for the evangelizing of the lost, the edification of the saints, and the energizing of the lapsed.

Here are some of my observations concerning spiritual gifts:

1. Conversion must come before gifting. If we have not come to faith in Christ, there is no reason to look for a spiritual gift.

2. Look at the pattern: gift -- service -- energy. God gives us gifts, but we don't often recognize them until we gotten to work.

3. We must always remember the proper balance: unity through Christ, but diversity in gifting/service. We don't have to strive to be someone else.

4. Spiritual gifts aren't natural talents/abilities, but they may work with those talents and abilities.

5. Spiritual gifts are often connected with previous training or experience.

6. Spiritual gifts have practical purpose.

7. Spiritual gifts are usually discovered through working with others.

8. You have at least one spiritual gift.

9. You also have a job to do and God will enable you to do it.

10. You will probably be frightened the first few times you use you spiritual gifts, but you'll also enjoy it.

We were created to know God and reflect his glory. As new creatures in Christ, we are be renewed in the image of our Creator. When we look back on the things God has brought us through, we can get an idea of where he might be leading us. If we are living for the glory of God, we can rest in knowing he knew, from the beginning of time, where we would be at this very moment. He isn't shaping us to reflect someone else. He is shaping us to reflect himself.

A Recipe for Miscommunication

Little in life can be as exciting as miscommunication. All it takes is one missed appointment or one innocent comment that spirals into a massive argument, and all of the sudden life gets interesting. In case your life lacks the excitement you desire, I propose this recipe for miscommunication:

Don't address a problem quickly. Whenever you are given an important communication: a) don't write it down, b) don't ask for clarification, and c) don't act on it quickly. Haste makes waste.  Put it off until the last possible moment--trust me it gets real exciting.

When you think there has been a misunderstanding on your part or the part of another, don't speak up. Speaking up will only cause conflict. But not as much conflict as staying silent. Conflict equals excitement. I bet you heart is just racing think about it.

When you speak, aim for brevity not clarity. The people to whom you are speaking won't care if they can't understand what you are talking about, so long as you say it quickly. Also, don't worry about having a point. They're usually unnecessary. Random thoughts interjected into conversations make it more interesting. Squirrel. See what I did there.

Talk more than you listen. This may seem contradictory to the last point, but really only reinforces it. Not listening to others forces them to learn how to speak more briefly. Plus, they don't have a point either, so why worry about the details. You can multitask while they are talking--check your email, make a grocery list, remind yourself to contact that kid from third grade you hadn't thought about in twenty-something years, oh what was his name? Now, you have a least two tasks finished.

The last piece of this recipe is indecision. Just of pinch of indecision can help you solidify the rest of these rules. What should I do? What should I do? Why make up your mind right now, when putting it off will be more exciting later?

Your moments away from some really exciting miscommunications. Arguments! Missed deadlines! Stress! Pressure! Confusion! Here we come. 

Hymns: They Will Know We Are Christians

Jesus said, "By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).

Meditating upon the above verse, Peter Scholtes penned the song, "They'll Know We Are Christians." With haunting simplicity this hymn stresses the necessity of mutual love and respect among Christians. He writes:

We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord.

We are one in the Spirit; we are one in the Lord.

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.

Chorus:

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.

Yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand.

We will walk with each other; we will walk hand in hand.

And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land.

Chorus

We will work with each other; we will work side by side.

We will work with each other; we will work side by side.

And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride.

Chorus

All praise to the Father, from whom all things come.

All praise to Christ Jesus, His only Son.

And all praise to the Spirit, who makes us one.

Chorus

The Lord has called us to love one another, and to that we should strive. Where we fall short we confess and repent and move forward in love. Here is the Jars of Clay version of "They Will Know We Are Christians":

Surviving the Demolition Derby of the Mind

Do ever feel like the thoughts in your mind have all crashed together? Have you ever heard the noise of a thousand different thoughts all screaming to be heard at once? The temptation is to ignore the noise, to escape it in any way possible.

We think that every thought has its rightful place, and that it should be given a chance to heard. Not every thought is worthy of thinking. You might be thinking,"How do I keep from thinking worthless thoughts?" I doubt it is possible. I haven't learned how to do it yet, but I'm not nearly advanced at this life as I would like to be.

We can't keep bad or worthless thoughts from springing to mind from time to time, but we can determine what we do with them. The key is recognizing the difference between a good thought and a bad thought. From there, we have to learn how to shift our thinking.

How do we discern the value of our thoughts? At the risk of over simplifying, we need to ask how our thoughts relate to the Word of God. Do they reflect God's understanding of good? Do our thoughts focus on things that displease God?

Paul urged, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Phil. 4:8).

Paul's words give us a framework to analyze our thoughts. We should focus on thoughts that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy. Imagine how this grid would effect our perceptions about life, others, and ourselves.

Let's say you struggle with feeling unloved. Is that true? Is there no one, anywhere who loves you? What about God, doesn't he love you? The cross teaches you that God does love you. You might respond, "I know God loves me, but it would be nice if others loved me, too." Are you so sure no one else loves you?

If you would focus on the truth of God's love rather than your feelings of being unloved, in time the knowledge of God's abiding love would shape your perceptions of yourself and the world around you. Living in the light of God's love would free you to love others more freely. You wouldn't have to fear that they might not love you in return, because you already have God's love.

We should give priority to the thoughts that draw us closer to God and into the service of others. Sometimes, we become too fixated on ourselves. The end result is usually destructive. We fixate, then we isolate, then retaliate. We would be wiser to fix our attention on God, and allow him to direct our attention outward to the needs of others.

In the end, our thoughts may crash together like junkers in a demolition derby, but with patience we can salvage life changing truths from the wreckage. Pull one thought from the pile (it doesn't matter which one you start with). Ask yourself, does it pass Paul's standard of worth (Phil. 4:8)? If it doesn't pass the worthwhile test, move on to another thought. Follow this pattern until you have identified the thoughts that need attention, then prioritize them in order of importance. Deal with the ones that need immediate attention, write down the ones that need to be addressed later.

Don't expect that the important thoughts will all be pleasant. Sometimes, the sting in a criticism is the kernel of truth we don't want to hear. At other times, you might be called to worry about someone else's needs, before you get to take care of your own. It may take a life time to learn how to sort out your thoughts, but it will be worth the effort.

Sunday Recap 2-10-13

Morning: The sermon, "Through Jesus' Eyes," focused on Mark 6:30-44. In this passage, Mark helps us to see the world through Jesus' eyes.

1. Jesus had compassion on the shepherdless. Jesus recognized that the people were only wool and meat to their political and spiritual leaders. They needed to know about him and his kingdom, so he taught them. Then he fed them.

2. Jesus had faith that God could take a little and make it much. The disciples doubted that five loaves and two fish could be useful, but Jesus knew that God could take nothing and make it something. He knew that the gift would be more than sufficient.

3. Jesus had gratitude for and generosity with the things God provided. Jesus thanked the Father for what was provided and began sharing it with others. We, who have been blessed, need to do the same.

Evening: We looked at sharing the gospel with children.

St. Louis Partnership

I recently went to St. Louis for a vision trip. The Kentucky Baptist Convention has partnered with local St. Louis Baptist associations to provide assistance with church revitalization and church planting. The plan is to help established churches experience renewal, to help new churches experience encouragement, and to help plant new congregations throughout the St. Louis area.

This project is important to me. I was born in St. Louis and although I have lived in Kentucky for more than 30 years, I still think of St. Louis as where I am from. I have family in the city (and the surrounding area). The 15-county area around the city has about 2.8 million residents. An estimated 2 million of them are spiritually lost.

The Gasper River Association of Baptists, here in Butler County, is considering participating in the Kentucky-St. Louis partnership. I went to investigate on behalf of the association. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. I hope we can be a part of it for years to come.

Sunday Recap 2-3-13

Morning: The sermon, "Becoming a Worshiper," focused on John 9:35-41. In this passage, John demonstrates the right response to Jesus-faith and worship. We are meant to see worship as an integral part of our identity.

In the life of this healed blind man, we see two analogies: moving from death to life and blindness to sight. Through his excommunication from the synagogue, the man became dead (figuratively speaking). Jesus brought him life by bringing him into a new community. His blindness and sight are developed as metaphors later.

As we witness the man responding to faith, we find him believing and worshiping. If Jesus were merely a man or a good teacher, allowing this man to worship him would have been blasphemous. But as the eternal Son of God, come in the flesh, it was right.

The end of this story points to both edges of the gospel. For some, the gospel brings life and forgiveness. For others, their continual rejection of the Spirit's witness leaves them hardened in their sin.

Worship is more than what we do, it is part of who we are. It colors the rest of what we do. I hope you become a worshiper of Jesus in your thinking.

Evening: Business meeting.