The Holy Spirit can be confusing…

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And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem without knowing what will happen to me there. 23 except that the Holy Spirit warns me in town after town that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me. Acts 20:22-23

They repeatedly told Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. Acts 21:4

10 While we remained there for a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it, and said, “The Holy Spirit says this: ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man whose belt this is, and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” 12 When we heard this, both we and the local people begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.  (Acts 21:10-12, NET)

 

In Paul’s dramatic approach to Jerusalem the people he meets warn him against going to Jerusalem. Some bible interpreters even argue that “spirit” in the first passage is Paul’s spirit, rather than the Holy Spirit because the tension is too great for them to believe the Holy Spirit would both compel someone to do something AND warn them not to do it.

However, Jesus faced a similar tension in His own life when He struggled in prayer before His crucifixion. He wished for a different trial than the one He was going to face, and prayed against it even to the point of sweating drops of blood.

I believe Paul needed both the motivation and the preparation for suffering that the Spirit provided in these instances. He needed to have a firm resolve that takes a lot of thought and even argument to set in a person’s mind.

 

We should also avoid being put off when we see conflict arise between godly people with godly intentions. While we should be VERY intentional to make sure everyone is speaking what they believe to be God’s perspective, yet we should also be aware that often times God leads us to a place of tension and disagreement that we are meant to stay in, rather than resolve.

There will be times when we disagree with a leader or parent, but should obey and respect His decision because God has put Him in charge and the decision is not morally or ethically wrong—its just different than we would make if we were in his place.

There will be times when we don’t see a matter eye to eye with other believers, but where the difference in belief should not hurt our friendship, because its not moral or does not change the way we worship God together in our larger gatherings.

There are times when someone holds a strong personal conviction that we disagree with. As long as its not directly in conflict with Scripture, we should avoid thinking that God has told us what that person must do. God rarely gives us insight into His instructions to someone else. We must trust and pray for them to hear God’s voice clearly, and allow them to act on what they believe, even if its wrong. If they make a mistake, they will learn from it. Our goal is to encourage and advise and pray, not to play the role of the Holy Spirit or hear the Holy Spirit for someone else.

Degrees of Surrender – Mark’s Gospel, chapter 8

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One of the things I LOVE about the accounts of Jesus life, is that they leave absolutely no room for people to consider Jesus a good teacher. They are packed with miracles and claims to be God’s Son. To reinterpret or dismiss any of the accounts of Jesus life that we currently have would be to claim that you can see the mind of a writer from 2,000 years ago who lived in a completely different time and culture–who even spoke a different language than you do! Making a claim like that is akin to claiming that YOU are God’s Son–you’d be one intelligent person to be able to rebuild the past!

Most people, when they really encounter Jesus, encounter Him as their Savior. They trust that His death on the cross paved the way for them to have a relationship with God–and they ask for that relationship to be restored in their life. That’s not a bad place to start…but it’s certainly only scratching the surface of where God ultimately wants to be. They are surrendering their lives…but only the part of their lives that they are most familiar with at that time. And for a time, everything is awesome in their new relationship.

Later, those new Christians come back to the gospels and they begin to re-encounter the bold, miracle-working, no nonsense Son of God and they realize that Jesus wants MORE. They gave Him a voice in their lives, but He wants to be THE VOICE. He wants to change the way they manage their finances. He wants to reshape their marriage. He is dedicated to sending them out to serve their community’s needs. A piece at a time, Jesus chips away at enemy held territory in our lives–bad habits and selfish ideals. And it hurts. Surrender is never easy…even if we have done it before. In fact, the second time of surrender is often the hardest one we ever face!

The greatest mistake Christians make is at the point of second surrender. They either refuse to surrender, or worse: they walk away thinking that they have failed Jesus and aren’t worthy of being Christians. Nothing is farther from the truth! No one can surrender it all the first time. Surrender comes in stages in the Christian life. Like an enemy held island, Jesus has established a foothold in our lives, and He takes the rest of the territory back in stages. By taking it a piece at a time, He preserves and shapes us. We need to go slowly. Change is hard. Trust is being built. Like Peter and the disciples during their early travels, they are growing in how much they trust God, and with each miracle, each storm-calming experience, every act of love, they grow more and more willing to place more of their lives in His control.

We are all moving toward a day when we wake up every day and are simply ready to surrender whatever new thing Jesus asks us to surrender each day. There’s always something. We are moving toward an attitude of surrender. In church world, we often talk about moving from the place where Jesus is your Savior, to the place where He is LORD. A place where you see Him more and more as He really is–not an advisor, a rescuer or a friend, but as the majestic, wise, powerful King to whom you owe complete allegiance. We are naturally skeptical of people with great authority in this world. We should be–they are human! But one day we realize that God is never going to let us down, that He deserves to have all the authority in the world. And when we arrive there one day, we surrender.

So the question to ask as you connect with God is: where are You asking me to surrender my life more, right now? And what keeps me from being more surrendered to You?

Christmas Traditions: Part 1 – What do I celebrate?

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Christmas is a worldwide holiday season and has been for 100’s of years, and it has picked up and given birth to too many traditions to count or explain! Many times Christians get worried that they are bringing too much commercialism or even pagan religion into their homes, since there are not clear lines between Christian traditions and other parts of the season.

While I may carry on this theme for a bit and explain a few of my favorite traditions, I wanted to start with a bit of general advice related to this issue. So here are my top 3 encouragements to anyone evaluating Christmas traditions:

(1) Personally adopt or invent traditions that you enjoy and give them meaning that reflects Jesus, not simply Santa or giving gifts.
The reason we don’t know the meaning of traditions is that people stopped explaining it. Take time to explain your traditions every year–make them meaningful! The point is not, “what traditions have non-Christian origins?”, rather, the question is, why do you do these things? Christians have stolen tons of things from nonChristians and used them for a worthy cause. Martin Luther used to steal bar songs and rewrite the lyrics into worship hymns. what matters is whether you make each action spiritual.

(2) Don’t be a hater.
Just because you don’t like a tradition or don’t think its a good one, doesn’t mean you need to make others feel bad for doing it. We are trying to express Jesus love. When Christians go around bashing other people for not being “Christian enough” in their celebration of Christmas, all people hear is, “You suck. God is a hater who judges you for petty things like Christmas lights”

(3) The celebration of Christmas is about God giving us a gift we did not deserve.
If you want to celebrate Christmas to it’s greatest emphasis, make sure you take time to serve people who need help–even if they don’t deserve or ask for the help. Make traditions out of hosting people for dinner who aren’t the kind of people you’d normally go out with, paying for someone’s lunch behind you in line, or serving a soldier who’s returning to Fort Campbell this Christmas without holiday plans. Basically, celebrate Christmas by going to an extreme to serve others with your time and money. That’s the best Christmas tradition.

Remember, there’s nothing in the Bible that tells us to celebrate Christmas. The church created this tradition and season because we wanted to focus on Jesus arrival and the kindness of God.

Also remember that the world celebrates Christmas entirely differently than we do. Ask someone from another country how they celebrate Christmas. It may just open your eyes and heart to something new!

10The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people. 11Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord. – Luke’s Gospel, chapter 2

A Person of Influence Isn’t Always What You Picture

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So often we think of a person of influence in terms of politicians, celebrities, CEO’s and bosses…but so often a servant is given one of the most influential roles in the world. I read this entry from the Daily bread last month and LOVED IT. The Daily Bread www.odb.org is a phenomenal daily devotional that is available free in print or on just about every smart phone there is. It’s worth checking out and adding to your daily time with God if you need something new and fresh. Check out this entry on influence below:

Tuesday,
July 30, 2013

A Person Of Influence

She said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” —2 Kings 5:3

If you Google “person of influence,” the search will take you to various lists of “the most influential people in the world.” These lists usually include political leaders; business entrepreneurs and athletes; along with people in science, the arts, and entertainment. You will not find the names of cooks and cleaners who work for them. Yet those in so-called lowly positions often influence the people they serve.

The story of Naaman, a high-ranking military commander, includes two kings and a prophet of God (2 Kings 5:1-15). Yet it was the servants in the background whose words led to Naaman being cured of leprosy, a career-ending, life-changing disease. A young servant girl taken captive from Israel told Naaman’s wife that a prophet in Samaria could heal him (vv.2-3). When Elisha’s instructions to bathe in the Jordan River angered Naaman, his servants urged him to follow the prophet’s orders. The result was Naaman’s restoration to health and his declaration, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel” (v.15).

What a beautiful picture of our role as followers of Jesus Christ! We are called to be people of influence—the Lord’s servants who point others to the One whose touch can change their lives.  David C. McCasland

Lord, I would like to live a life of influence like
Naaman’s servant girl—to be brave and bold
to touch the lives of others by pointing them
to You. Fill me, Holy Spirit, with Your power.

Christ sends us out to bring others in.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright  1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2013 RBC Ministries–Grand Rapids, MI 49555

Churches that Hurt…should not run you off

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I have seen my fair share of people hurt by churches in the past few years and I definitely empathize with their pain and anger toward untrustworthy individuals.

However I find a lot of these people discontent over imperfect churches, hoping to find the perfect one out there somewhere, and I think that is a myth that needs to be broken. I hope you realize that this issue is not connected with the American church model…it’s been the issue since the first days of the church. Paul–the first and greatest church planter laments to Timothy that everyone has abandoned and betrayed him in 2 Timothy. The church has been highly imperfect from those first days, and it remains that way today. Even the great Reformer Martin Luther died a bitter drunkard isolated from the church he had help restart.

Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.  (2Tim 4:9-17, ESV)

 

Wikipedia summarized Martin Luther’s final days like this:

His poor physical health made him short-tempered and even harsher in his writings and comments. His wife Katharina was overheard saying, “Dear husband, you are too rude,” and he responded, “They are teaching me to be rude.” In 1545 and 1546 Luther preached three times in the Market Church in Halle, staying with his friend Justus Jonas during Christmas.

His last sermon was delivered at Eisleben, his place of birth, on 15 February 1546, three days before his death. It was “entirely devoted to the obdurate Jews, whom it was a matter of great urgency to expel from all German territory,” according to Léon Poliakov. James Mackinnon writes that it concluded with a “fiery summons to drive the Jews bag and baggage from their midst, unless they desisted from their calumny and their usury and became Christians.” Luther said, “we want to practice Christian love toward them and pray that they convert,” but also that they are “our public enemies … and if they could kill us all, they would gladly do so. And so often they do.”

 

All in all, Don’t go looking for a church that will never hurt you. It doesn’t exist. Go looking for a church that will admit its faults and ask your forgiveness when confronted. Don’t withdrawal from relationships because they hurt–confront those relationships like we are instructed to in Matthew 18 and watch as God makes you both better friends and better church members. It is only through working through hurt that we find and deepen trust. We see that in movies and on TV shows all the time…but somehow we miss it in real life. That’s the lesson God has taught me in recent years. And I hope you will try and find that it is true for you too.

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  (Matt 5:23-24, ESV)

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.   (Matt 18:15-17, ESV)

I am reminded finally of Mark–a companion on Paul and Barnabas first missionary journey, who abandoned them part of the way through their trip. When they prepared to make a second journey, Paul and Barnabas disagreed so much over whether to take Mark along again that they ended up traveling separately. Paul was not ready to forgive. However even though they separated, Paul came to forgive and deeply appreciate Mark.In what was probably his final letter, he wrote: “Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry.” We must learn to be hurt, and yet still be the ones to seek reconciliation.

Praying for those hurt by the church today. I really hope they find healing and the key to relationships through confrontation and forgiveness.

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