Where, O death, is your sting!? (1 Cor. 15)

"If there is no resurrection from the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." 1 Corinthians 15:13-14

When Paul was writing to the church of Corinth, he had a mess to clean up. The church had all sorts of problems that included incest, spiritual immaturity, marriage problems and false teaching. This church had questioned Paul's apostolic authority and were even questioning Christ's resurrection from the dead. Paul spends 58 verses in chapter 15 explaining the necessity as well as the reality of the resurrection to these people who had fallen under false teaching.

This scenario is not new today. There are millions who do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Chrsit. Paul states "For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith us futile; you are still in your sins." (15:16-17) If Christ has not been raised, then He didn't overcome death and we are forgiven our sins and we cannot live eternally in Heaven. Thus, the doctrine of the resurrection is the hope of our salvation.

Paul later says "If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die." (15:32) As my teacher in seminary put it, "If Christ was not raised, go to the Olive Garden and max our your credit card. Go live on the beach and get one of those drinks with an umbrella in it and make the most out of life."

Sadly, this is the logical conclusion of holding to the view that the resurrection did not happen. But the resurrection did happen and accepting this fact gives us victory over death. "Where, O Death is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."(15:55-57) Amen.

How did we get here?

"After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals." Judges 2:10-11

The great theologian and pastor Chuck Swindoll notes that a certain historian stated that the average age of most world civilizations is a duration of about 200 years (The U.S. is a little over 200 so far). And almost without exception, every civilization passes through a similar sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith (For the U.S. this stage would be immigrants fleeing persecution in Europe)
2. From spiritual faith to great courage (colonials rising up against England)
3. From great courage to liberty (Revolutionary War)
4. From liberty to abundance (post-WW II)
5. From abundance to leisure (current status of the U.S. as a whole)
6. From leisure to selfishness (current)
7. From selfishness to complacency (current)
8. From complacency to apathy (current)
9. From apathy to dependency
10. From dependency to weakness
11. From weakness BACK TO BONDAGE

Now, I have obviously added where the U.S. stands in this cycle via parentheses. What does all this mean? Well, the current status of America is somewhere between stages 5-8. If we follow the path that almost every civilization has followed, I hope the latter stages come later rather than sooner. What does this have to do with the book of Judges? During this 300 year period of Jewish history, God bestowed His grace on His chosen people and took them into the promised land only to have them disobey Him time and time and time again. God always raised up a judge to raise the Israelites out of bondage, but "when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshiping them." 2:19

What other gods do we as Americans risk serving? Of course we do not literally bow down and sacrifice food to other idols, but we do sacrifice other facets of our life: our time, our money, our priorities, even our families. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, God has given us a second chance at eternal life with Him. Jesus paid our ransom as well as our penalty for sin. If we have accepted this fact of life and Jesus is our Lord and Savior, we are His and are no longer slaves to this world, but are slaves to Him. Let's not let the vicious cycle of the book of Judges affect our life, eventhough it is affecting the culture of our country which is clearly on the road to destruction, unless God bestows grace on our sinful nation. Let us not compromise our beliefs, but daily take up our cross and follow Jesus.

When all hope seems lost...

"Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might...Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me...he has delivered me from all my troubles..." (Psalm 54:1, 4, 7)

In this Psalm, David is crying out to God while fleeing from Saul. 1 Kings 23:14 says "David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.

God is sovereign. We should remember that whenever we face trials in our lives, when we face struggles with people, God is there. What comfort there is to know that the God the creator of the universe) is there for us (a vapor in the wind) in our time of need. Indeed, there will be sometimes in our lives where God is the only person there for us. Why is he there for us? What did we do to merit His grace? Nothing. He is there for us, ultimately, so when there seems no way out of the situation we're in and we are like David hiding in our cave while the Sauls of our life are after us, we will HAVE to turn to God. It is in these trials of life that we know without a doubt that God is real and that He is soveriegn and that He is righteous and that He helps us and sustains us.

When David's life was literally on the line, David reveals to us three attributes of God.

1) He is our Rescuer (v.1)
2) He is our Sustainer/Helper (v.4)
3) He is our Deliverer (v.7)

Our Lord God, not only the creator and ruler of this universe but also our personal rescuer, sustainer and deliverer. Praise be to God!

The Call to Pastor (pt.4) Exalting the Savior

EXALTING THE SAVIOR

The last part of the vision of the pastor should include exalting the Savior. Indeed, all parts of the pastor’s ministry to his flock should include ultimately bring glory to the Lord since that is what we are created for. Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:31 states: “…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (NKJV). “God’s most fundamental allegiance is to His own glory. He is committed to being God before He is committed to being anything else.”[1] If bringing glory to God is important the most important aspect of life, how much more so should it be for us, his creation? The answer to this question is that bringing glory to God should be our main goal in ministry, as well as in our lives.

Besides being a doer of God’s word with respect to 1 Corinthians 10:31 there are also several practical and intentional ways a church can bring glory to God. A pastor’s vision should include bring glory to God through worship and the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Worship

<>Exalting the Savior should come about through every aspect of our lives. MacArthur states that “the ultimate purpose of mankind is to worship God and to enjoy His creation.”[2] Piper states that God “is committed with all His infinite and eternal might to display (His) glory and to present the honor of his name…let us declare boldly and powerfully what God loves most – the glory of God.”[3] What is worship then? Worship is “the honor and adoration directed to God.”[4] Ralph Martin defines worship as “the dramatic celebration of God in His supreme worth in such a manner that his ‘worthiness’ becomes the norm and inspiration of human living.”[5] Furthermore, it is up to the pastor to practice worship and ensure that his flock does the same. He must “teach the church to worship, lead them in worship, and join them in worship.”[6]Therefore, in our worship services, everything should be directed to the glory of God. We should preach, pray, sing, celebrate, and even give to the glory of God.[7] After all, we are in the ministry not to glorify ourselves, but instead to glorify God.

Lord’s Supper and Baptism

We can also exalt the Savior by worshipping Him through the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Baptism, taken from the Greek word “baptizo” means to “plunge, dip, immerse” something in water.[8] There are many views of what is the meaning of Baptism and even the significance. MacArthur believes that this “failure to take baptism seriously is at the root of the most serious problems in today’s church because it betrays an unfaithfulness to the simple and direct commands of the Lord.”[9] What is the purpose of baptism? When a believer is baptized by immersion into water, he or she is “demonstrating not just the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ but also his union with Christ in that death, burial, and resurrection.”[10] We must practice baptism in our churches because it shows the public profession of the believer’s faith and underscores what exactly Jesus did for us on the cross at Calvary. Also, by becoming a believer in Christ, through baptism, we are announcing to the world our intentions of living a life worthy of the calling of God.

<>The Lord’s Supper, also called communion, is the other ordinance that the pastor’s vision of his church should include. The Lord’s Supper should be understood as a remembrance of what Jesus has done for us, much like baptism. Grudem presents seven symbols affirmed in the ceremony: Christ’s death, our participation in the benefits of Christ’s death, spiritual nourishment, the unity of believers, Christ affirming His love for us, Christ affirming that all the blessings of salvation are reserved for us, and the believer affirming his faith in Christ.[11] However, the Lord’s Supper is also a time to present ourselves clean before God. 1 Corinthians states that each participant should “examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup” and those who did not do this beforehand, “eats and drinks judgment to himself.”[12]

Corporate Prayer

The final part of the pastor’s vision for the local church should include exalting the savior through corporate prayer. Prayer is “personal communication with God.”[13] All pastors should have a consistent personal prayer relationship with God. However, praying with others, especially with the church, should be a consistent practice as well. Jesus teaches in Matthew 18:19-20 that “I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them” (NIV). Also, when we pray publicly, “care is required in our language in a way that does not apply when we pray privately.”[14] This practice will help us bring clarity to our petitions.

<>
CONCLUSION <> The purpose of the church should be to equip the saints, evangelize the world, and exalt the Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Through these three intentional acts to which all Christians are called, the pastor can faithfully model to his flock, that Christ has entrusted him to take care, how we are called to live. We are not called to ungodliness but we are called to holiness. It is the obligation of the pastor to ensure that he leads the flock the best he can through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and Holy Scripture.

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[1] John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, (Broadman and Holman: Nashville, 2002), 9.

[2] MacArthur, 69.

[3] John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, 8-9.

[4] MacArthur., 69.

[5] Ibid., 69.

[6] Ibid., 71.

<> <>[7] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1005.
[8] Grudem, 967.
[9] MacArthur, 359.
[10] Ibid., 363.

<>[11] Grudem, 991.
[12] MacArthur., 358.
[13] Grudem, 376.
<>[14] Prime and Begg, 82.

The Call to Pastor (pt.3) Evangelism

EVANGELIZING THE WORLD

The next major section of a pastor’s vision should include that of evangelism and spreading the gospel of Christ locally as well as universally. Acts 1:8 states “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (NKJV). This verse is not only the theme for the book of Acts it should also be the theme for the pastor’s vision on evangelism.

The first way of doing practical evangelism is through the local community of the church. There have been numerous books written on evangelism and “church growth.” However, what does the Bible say is the correct way of doing evangelism? The book of Acts shows tells of Jesus’ apostles going from house to house spreading the Gospel. Consequently, door-to-door visitation should be a staple of any evangelism program at any church. However, there is common thread among effective evangelistic churches. Thom Rainer lists several of these among churches which have high baptism rates. These traits include preaching the Word of God, bathing the entire church in prayer, an effective Sunday School program, a weekly visitation program, an intentional youth ministry, and a committed music ministry.[1] A healthy, commission-driven church will take full advantages of these types of ministries in order to locally fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 29:19-20.

In addition to fulfilling the Great Commission locally, churches should also be committed to worldwide evangelism. Fortunately, those churches which cannot send missionaries abroad have the ability to help send missionaries by giving money to the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention through the local church. A certain percentage of money that church members give to the church is given to the IMB for the express purpose of supporting missionaries.[2] Giving money through the local church for missions should be part of every pastor’s vision for his work. It is clear through scripture that the church is called to make disciples for Christ. Evangelizing locally through the different members of Christ’s body in the local church combined with sending and commissioning for world missions will fulfill this calling to which Christ has given us.

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[1] Thom Rainer, Effective Evangelistic Churches, (Broadman and Holman: Nashville, 1996), 14-22.

[2] International Mission Board Hompage: http://imb.org/giving/funding/Fundchart_P4840A.pdf

The Call to Pastor (pt.2) Discipleship/Edification

Discipleship

Once the authoritative nature of expository preaching is being carried out in the church the pastor’s vision should also include a proper attitude of discipleship. One of the many reasons for Christians’ failure to maintain a consistently healthy spiritual lifestyle is because the church does not have a sufficient vision of discipleship. Included in the discipleship role of the church is also the practice of church discipline. If there has been one area of church life that has been neglected recently it is the practice of church discipline. There is a great misunderstanding by what is meant by church discipline. The purpose of this practice is to restore and reconcile the believer who is going astray, to keep the sin from spreading to others, and to protect the purity of the church and honor of Christ.[1] Matthew 18:15-17 gives explicit directions on how to carry out church discipline. From this passage of scripture it is clear that with any consistent, unrepentant sin, it is the pastor’s duty to confront that person and let the person know that his sin is disrupting the church and that he should repent. If the member refuses and is not repentant, then the pastor should take two or three of the most spiritual men in the congregation and approach the member again. If the member still refuses to repent and does not choose to leave the church, then the church may vote that the member be suspended from church membership. This formula for church discipline is Biblical and is the only one that will ensure the purity and unity of the church.

Edification

Perhaps one of the most neglected aspects of the pastor’s vision of his church is proper edification of his flock. What is meant by the term edification? Jim Shaddix defines edification as the “building up” of Christ’s body of believers into His image through the ministry of His Word.[2] Shaddix explains that this “building up” comes from feeding the congregation a steady diet of God’s Word. This feeding comes from proper teaching through books of the Bible and explaining the foundational doctrines of the Christian life.

In addition to teaching the Word of God to the congregation, a pastor can also edify his flock properly by shepherding them through proper pastoral ministry and care. John MacArthur states that the pastor must “exercise oversight of them (his flock) and must lead them by the example of his life.”[3] The character of the pastor is of utmost importance, and the traits of his character are spelled out clearly in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 as well as Titus 1:5-9. The pastor should always strive to be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine, not pugnacious, gentle, uncontentious, not greedy, ruling his own house well, not a novice, of good reputation, not resentful, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, just, devout, and self-controlled. After reading these qualifications one may ask “Who can be like this?” No pastor can based on his own righteousness but through reliance on the Holy Spirit he can. That is what God wants his pastor to do: rely on His Spirit and strive to model to the flock how we should live.

In addition to preaching and modeling to the flock how to live, the pastor should also meet the flock’s needs practically through ministry. Derek Prime and Alistair Begg have an excellent chapter on the practicalities of pastoral ministry in their book On Being a Pastor. The pastor should consume himself with visiting church members in their homes, visiting lost people, visiting those in hospitals, and even writing letters of encouragement to others. The point the authors make that the New Testament letters themselves illustrate the value of letters in pastoral work is a valid one.[4] Doing ministry should be a primary job description of a “minister.” The pastor should minister to the needs of the flock to the best of his ability. If the church is too large for the minister to do this effectively, and many instances this is the case, there should be a pastor at the church whose sole purpose is to minister to the needs of the congregation

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[1] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 894-895.

[2] Jim Shaddix, The Passion Driven Sermon, (Nashville: Broadman, 2003), 77.

[3] John MacArthur, Jr., Rediscovering Pastoral Ministry, (Nashville:Word, 1995), 29.

[4] Prime and Begg, On Being a Pastor, 180.

The Call to Pastor (pt.1)

INTRODUCTION

<> The future of every local church hinges on the vision of its pastor. The importance of the decision to call a godly pastor to serve a particular congregation cannot be overstated. The pastor’s vision for the church where he serves is of the utmost importance in the future life of that church. The pastor’s vision will indeed shape every decision that is made, every life that is touched, and every situation that is resolved (or even unresolved). The vision of the pastor should not be to be well known and respected, or to have a large church or congregation.[1] The vision of the pastor is to be a shepherd of the flock of Christ, His church.
The concern of this essay is that of the pastor’s vision for his work in the local church. This essay will seek to prove that the vision of a pastor should include the purpose of the church. In addition the purpose of the church should be to equip the saints, evangelize the world, and exalt the Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ.

EQUIPPING THE SAINTS

<> The primary element of the vision of the pastor is to feed the flock. This important description of what a pastor should do is seen in the book of John 21:15-17. Peter, a self-professed pastor (1 Pet. 5:1), accepts the assignment of feeding and tending Christ’s sheep. This conversation between Jesus and Peter takes place after Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection but before His ascension into Heaven and His session at the right hand of God. The Father has been given all authority of heaven and earth to Jesus and Jesus likewise has entrusted His earthly flock to Peter. Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him and Peter replies: “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You” (John 21:15, NKJV). Because Peter loves the Lord he has accepted the all important task of feeding and taking care of the flock of Jesus which is the church. It is this responsibility that all pastors have when they accept God’s call to be a shepherd of Christ’s flock.
The responsibilities which shepherds of the church have are first, to equip the flock for ministry through feeding the flock through biblical, text-driven preaching. The next responsibility is to equip the flock by proper discipleship. The last responsibility is for the pastor to equip the flock through edifying them by exhortation and unity.

Expository Preaching

<>There is no doubt that preaching constitutes a major priority among the pastor’s work as well as his vision for the church. Preaching “is a key element in the dramatic story of God’s revelation.” More importantly, “authentic preaching was not an invention of man to spread his theological ideas.”[2] Furthermore, the Greek word for “revelation” is apocalypses, which means “that which is unveiled.” Therefore, through the vehicle of preaching, God “removes the veil of mystery and shows man a glimpse of His majesty and purpose.[3]
There are many different philosophies of how preaching should be done. Biblically and historically expository preaching is the most effective way to feed the flock as well as proclaim the gospel message as an act of evangelism.
What is expository preaching? Expository preaching can be defined as where “the preacher selects a passage, studies it to determine its structure, organizes his major points around that structure, and constructs and outline and moves the hearer in logical fashion toward the major theme of the passage.”[4] Notice that the pastor selects the passage but does not decide what to preach or how to organize it. The text, which is direct revelation from God through divinely inspired writers, decides the outline since it was the author who wrote the text originally.[5] It is the responsibility of the preacher to ensure that his flock is fed the necessary food that is expository preaching.

(part 2 coming soon)

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[1] Derek Prime and Alistair Begg, On Being a Pastor (Chicago: Moody, 2004), 49.

[2] Wayne V. McDill, The Moment of Truth (Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 1999), 5.

[3] McDill, Moment of Truth, 5.

[4] Robert C. Anderson, The Effective Pastor, (Chicago: Moody, 1985), 179.

[5] See the section on “Inspiration of the Bible” in Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix’s A General Introduction to the Bible, (Chicago: Moody, 1986), 21-200 for a thorough investigation and explanation of the doctrine of inspiration.

Modeling our Faithfulness (pt.3)

Not only can we model our faithfulness by imitating and announcing our Savior, but we can model our faithfulness by turning to our Savior. (v.9)

Look at verse 9: In order to serve God, we have to turn from our old ways. The Greco-Roman world at this time had all sorts of idols that they worshipped as gods. Neighboring Athens even prayed to “the unknown God.” (Read Acts 17). These neighboring people had even told Paul how the Thessalonians were not like the world. Perhaps they had told Paul: “They don’t worship idols anymore. They worship the Lord. They confess this Jesus person.” Read on…Paul says the “living and true God.” All of these other idols are not living, they are dead! We all have idols in our lives today. For some of us, our idols are our jobs. We worship our jobs. Some of us worship alcohol. Some of us worship pornography. Some of us worship the television. Some of us even worship sports. We all have tensions in our lives that keep us from turning to our Savior. Do you know another pet peeve I have about driving? If I’m going the wrong way, I hate to turn around. If I’m on the beltline and I miss my exit sometimes I even convince myself it would be easier to just keep going and make the loop then to get off the exit and turn around. Turning around and admitting you’ve made a mistake is not an easy thing to do. But in order to model our faithfulness to Jesus, we have to keep turning to Him.. The Thessalonians had successfully turned from these idols and people knew it – it was evident in their lives.

Finally, we can model our faithfulness by waiting on our Savior. (v.10)

Look at verse 10… “to wait for His Son from Heaven.” In this phrase exists the reason why we place our faith in Christ. Jesus is coming back! This is the part where the Thessalonians faltered. They were so ready and so willing to imitate Christ that they had quit their jobs and literally waiting on Jesus to come back. We don’t need to do that, but we should wait on Him. Look what else Paul writes...Jesus is in Heaven. He is not in the grave. God raised him from the dead. Every other religion knows where their ‘leader’ is buried. One’s buried over here, one’s buried over there. The pope has even been buried. But praise God that we don’t know where Jesus is buried! Why? Because Jesus’ body is in Heaven with the Father! This is the hope of our salvation. Finally, look at the last part of the verse… “Jesus delivers us from the wrath to come.” When God made man, Adam sinned. Since Adam, every man has sinned. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The only problem is that in order to be in Heaven with God we have to be cleansed from sin. Jesus came to die for us and is our substitution, our propitiation for our sins! Because of Jesus taking our sins and making them His, we are able to live in Heaven as if we never sinned!

Relationships take work. We have a special relationship with the Father that requires us to confess him as savior and Lord. But just like all other relationships, we have to work on ours. Jesus has rescued us from our sins and given us eternal life with Him. One day we will be with Him in Heaven, but right now we’re like that friend who lives miles away that we never get to see. One day we’ll see him, but until then we have to make it a priority in our lives to make to model our faithfulness, the faith that we have in Jesus our Lord.

Modeling our Faithfulness (pt.2)

The second way we can model our faithfulness is by announcing our Savior. (v.8)

Verse 8 states that we are called to announce to the World that Christ is our Lord and Savior. The Greek word for “sounded forth” literally meant “to sound like a trumpet.” These people not only spread the word of God, they sounded it out like a trumpet. And what this means it that people knew what the Thessalonians were about. They not only walked the walk, they talked the talk. You know that phrase “you have to not only talk the talk, you have to walk the walk?” Well the reverse is true: you not only have to walk the walk, you’ve got to talk the talk. All of us as believers have reservations about talking to others about Jesus. We desire to be liked, we don’t want to be ridiculed or risk being made fun of. Talking the talk can be scary. Thessalonica was very conveniently situated for traffic, many merchants traded through Macedonia, Achaia, and different parts of Greece. If you worked at the ports then you had access to all types of people from all parts of the country, not to mention other countries. Look at the next part of the verse: Paul says “your faith toward God has gone out.” The believers were doing such a good job of evangelizing that Paul didn’t need to tell them to do it..

Imagine what it was like to live in that time. Picture a hardworking Thessalonian. He lives in a major trade hub. His job is to receive shipments down at the dock. This man meets all types of interesting people. He meets people from all over Greece: Athens, Corinth. Over time relationships develop with these people. The same people come ever so often to deliver and trade goods back and forth. “How’s your family doing?” They know each other’s family. A certain trust develops. One day the traveler from Athens isn’t doing so well. He’s lost hope in this life. There is a family tragedy. He doesn’t know how to deal with it. The man introduces his friend to Jesus. “I’ve heard about this Jesus he says, I don’t need him. What can he do?” The man tells him what Jesus has done for us. We can apply this in our town as well. Maybe you work on the factory line and you stand by the same people every day and hear of their problems and know that they need Christ. Maybe you are a schoolteacher and your fellow schoolteacher friend has problems that can only be cured by placing their faith in Christ. Maybe you are a truck driver and you know other truck drivers who live the lonely life of driving rigs thousands of miles. God will always give us an opportunity to tell others about Christ. We can model our faithfulness to Christ by announcing Him as our Savior to our community and the rest of the world.

(part 3 to be continued)

Modeling our Faithfulness (pt.1)

College was a great time in my life and I made a lot of great friends. As I've gotten older, do you know what I’ve realized? Relationships take work. I've come to realize that you really have to make it a point to keep in touch with old friends or family who live in other cities. Part of the reason for this is that we all have busy lives. We work all day long at our jobs. When we come home, we have chores that have to be done at home, not to mention obligations to spend time with our family. When we do have free time, if there is any such thing, we just want to relax. We know we have friends and family living elsewhere that would really like to talk to us and catch up but we can’t find enough time or space in our day planner for them.However, of all of our relationships, our most important one is with God. God is like that friend or family member who is always there, waiting for us to get in touch with Him . But we have to make the effort to do so. Just as easy as it is to pick up the phone to call a friend it is as easy to get alone and read God's word and pray. And as other relationships, if we don’t make time for God the relationship will suffer. Thus, we have to be faithful in our relationship with Christ to truly have an effective ministry and a content and happy life. As Christians we are called to model our faithfulness to Jesus, and if we do this correctly, our community will take notice.

1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 says:

“And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.”

The first way we can model our faithfulness in God is by imitating our Savior. (v.6-7)

Verse 6 says “and you became followers of us…” This word “followers” literally means “imitators” of Paul, Silas, and Timothy. However, they were not only imitators of them they were imitators of the Lord. Not every preacher you see or hear is worth imitating. When watching and listening to Christian preachers and teachers we need to make sure that what they teach, preach, and more importantly how they live is in accordance with scripture. Notice what the second part of the verse says: “having received much affliction…” No doubt they suffered for imitating Christ. Thessalonica was the third largest city in all of Greece. And like any big city, it was an evil one. There were all kinds of sinful things going on. Archeologists have even excavated a sex shop from this time period. It was not the popular thing to do to imitate Christ. But they did anyway. Notice what the next part says: they did this with “joy of the Holy Spirit.” The joy that they had in their lives from the Holy Spirit enabled them to persevere despite troubles and affliction while they were imitating Christ.

Verse 7 says…"so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.” These believers modeled faithfulness by imitating the Lord in how they lived and it was evident to those around them. Did you know that if people know you are a Christian they will constnatly watch you? When we live our lives, we should live knowing that at all times people are watching us…it’s a big responsibility. We need to make sure that if we profess to be Christians that we are imitating our Savior. We need to be careful. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I’m driving down the road and someone races past me or cuts me off recklessly. I really hate that. But what I hate even more is when that care who has zoomed in front of me has a fish on the back of there car. As a good friend of mine has said anytime someone’s car speeds past him he wants to pull up beside that car and say “I saw your fish!” We need to make sure that when people "see our fish" they see an imitation of Christ. We will have suffering in our lives, but through the joy of the Holy Spirit we will persevere and the world will take notice. We can model our faithfulness to our Lord by imitating our Savior, Jesus Christ.

(continued tomorrow)

A new "high" on the horizon

I think I have just read one of the most disturbing pieces of journalism ever written. It's not the actual article or author that is disturbing...instead, it is the content of the article. Apparently, this past weekend in Rhode Island, a group of people (mostly teenagers and young professionals) decided to hang themselves by 3 inch fish hooks....yes you read that right. You can read the article for yourself here. WARNING: There are pictures that are not for the faint of heart. Asked why they partake in this type of activity the participants often gave answers like :

"I was on Cloud Nine," the Wethersfield, Connecticut teenager said as he joined fellow body suspension practitioners at an annual convention over the weekend. "It was euphoric. It was spiritual. I'd do it again today if I wasn't so sore."

And: "It's a conquest of some sort. People are pushing the envelope more and more to attain some kind of separation and identification from society, and this is one way of doing it," she said. "Most people who probably are pretty healthy are not going to go to that extreme."

Also, "Look at his face. He's so serene," said Rosemary Curtis, watching her boyfriend swing slowly in the "Superman" pose. "We've had some really rough times this year, and he needed this really bad."

But this sums it up:"It's searching for answers, trying new things," Hiller said. "You can only get pierced and tattooed so many times."

This 'convention' just shows how people are starving for attention as well as some kind of meaning, acceptance, and fulfillment for their lives. Tattoos and piercings are not enough for these people. They get 'high' by defying and dealing through pain. But like all 'highs' they are temporary. However, the spiritual 'high' of knowing that one has eternal life through Christ Jesus never goes away. Christ died for me, you, the alcoholic, the CEO and the people who hang themselves from 3-inch fish hooks. We are all sinners and deserve nothing but what our sins condemn us to...eternal torment. However, Christ has rescued us from this death and it is our job as believers to make sure that people know this Truth so that they can find meaning in their life and not have to literally 'hang' themselves.

Government-Issued Baby Boom

Here are two of the most interesting stories I've read this week. The first tells of the literal 'baby boom' that the country of Australia is going through and (believe it or not), the government is behind the "push!" It is no secret that the falling birth rate of almost all civilized nations is the product of couples not wanting children. We live in a day and age where a newborn has a much greater chance of survival then even 100 years ago. However, the Lord's command of "be fruitful and multiply" has not been heeded too well. It is extremely comforting to see a government pushing for three, (count em three) children per family. Children are indeed a blessing from God and those couples who can't have kids naturally always have a yearning to do so (Prov. 30:16)...way to go Australia for making procreation a priority.

The second comes from England and is equally astounding: "Organizers of a major erotic festival are closing for business in Manchester due to a lack of interest, which they blame on recalcitrant northern English men." Yes, you read that right. The articles goes on to say: " Organizers said their research shows northern women wanted to attend the three-day adult show but were "under the thumb of their other halves."

Yes, both of these two stories are good for our society. One half of the world is celebrating sex and one its main byproducts (the creation of children) while the other half of the world is not celebrating a perverted imitation of what sex why God created sex. Maybe there is hope for this world after all...