Anger

Why do some people seem to always be angry, looking for a fight?  Why do people get angry, even unreasonably angry?  It even seems contagious.  Have you ever had someone get angry with you and the next thing you know you join right in with them.  There is one main reason for this behavior.  It can all be summed up in SELF.  We have this world view that life is about us, problem is all of us think this way – a conflict waiting to happen. 

So what do we do about it?  We could get in a position of power and authority that will silence any opposition to having things our.  Sometimes we hold it in and take it home where we can take out our anger on someone who is weaker or less likely to win in a fight with us.  Or we could take a look at what God tells us to do, unfortunately this is sometimes the last place we go to.  Next time some gets angry with you or someone else were you might be able to intervene and calm things down try a gentle, kind response.

Proverbs 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Man is self-centered and self serving by our very sin nature. We only see things from our little world, seldom will one really try to understand the others point of view. We have a propensity to jump to conclusions, fill in the blanks for actions and words unsaid, attribute motives, and stew over injustices (real or perceived).

James 1:19 This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

We have got to come to the understanding that our lives and this world is not about us.  The Bible states it this way “In the beginning God”, this life, this world is all about God – not you or me.  Instead of getting angry about what someone has done or has failed to do for you or your value system – seek instead to serve and do them good.  In fact take it a step further and seek out the most underserving person around – someone that doesn’t really care for you, that maybe is foul mouth and smelling, maybe even someone who has gone out of their way to harm you in the past.  That is your person to love and do good.  Precisely because they don’t deserve it and are in no position to compensate you for your efforts.

My friend that is the picture of what God through His Son Jesus Christ has done for you.  You deserved Hell, He gave you Heaven.  You deserved death, He gave you life.  You deserved hatred, He gave you love.

Matthew 5:39 "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.  41 "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy. 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 "If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

sherman

Losing Heart

What Happens When You Lose Heart

We saw a bumper sticker the other day which read “Not feeling close to God Lately; then Who Moved”.

Living life can wear on you, especially when you don’t see any hope of things getting better before they get much worse. It can be easy to find one self disheartened, worn out, wondering if it is worth it. When so few others seem to care about what God has deemed as important. Reading Jeremiah 15:15-21 I find the words I needed to hear.

The prophet expresses his loss of heart, kind of a hopeless, helplessness. His frustration that it seems even God has left his side. He sees all of the problems in his life are directly connected to his devoted following of the LORD, … for I have been called by Your name …

His abhorrent feelings toward the people and their ways are because of his love for God’s word and way. He has been expelled from society, rejected by men and now he feels abandon by the LORD. He hurts and the hurt doesn’t diminish over time, …why is my pain perpetual…

God answers the prophet in what seemed an unusual word. “If you return, then I will restore you … if you extract the precious from the worthless … For I am with you to save you and deliver you.”

Take another look at the Lord’s answer. It wasn’t that God had abandon Jeremiah, but the other way around. Jeremiah had become consumed with thinking about his situation and sorrow and had lost sight of God.

So what was/is the solution?

Get rid of the worthless things in your life. Psalm 115 speaks of the creation of man’s hands, specifically idols, how when we serve and focus on something we become like that something. Focus on your problems and yourself you become self-absorbed, sort of an inverted pride.

Focus instead on the LORD. When everything in this world says as Job’s wife did “Curse God and die” remember the faith, hope and love that saved you. Hebrews 11 says without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is active not passive. It trusts in God when everything else around you seems to say He has abandoned you.

He is always faithful even when we can’t see Him. He is working all this out for your good and His glory. May He find us faithful.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, Philippians 3: 7

A Proper View of Life and Death

Have you ever stopped and considered what defines your life?  By that I mean what are you known by, what is your character?  What defines our lives is what we live for.  Whether it is material possessions, money, fame, work, your family, church, pleasure, your self – the one thing that is central to your existence.  It is not what you say you live for but what your life shows that you live for.

Life is very short yet some bad decisions can make life very long.  Either way eternity is longer and what we do in this life follows us to some extent into eternity.

HOW WE  LIVE MATTERS!

When there is someone that we know who seems to die before their time, have you ever asked why God would allow that to happen to them.  Maybe the right question is “why did God let me live?”  For what purpose are you alive. 

How should we live and How should we die?

Jesus left us with a pattern to follow:

He lived a perfect life so that God could treat Him as if He had lived my sin – so that God could treat me as if I had lived His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This is the pattern we are to follow – so what is that going to look like in our lives?

We often sing about magnifying Christ.  I always thought of that in the same terms as exalt.  It finally dawned on we one day that it means magnify as in a magnifying glass.   You see most people don’t see the relevance of God – in other words what does He have to do with my life?  People have obstacles that skew their view of reality- things like earning more money, playing and enjoying life, living for themselves.  Both believers and non-believers can fall into this mode.  It is our job to magnify Christ to them.  So how do we do it?  Number one we have to remove the obstacles out of our own lives so that we aren’t one to others.  We call this being a HYPOCRITE.  So that by what we say and do people can see Christ in our lives.

Paul explained this in Acts 17:24-27 that the reason God has placed each one of us where we are is so that we might find Him that we sometimes seem as very far away when the reality is He is very near.  Kind of like that right side mirror in your car.  It says things in the mirror are closer than they appear.  Our vision is distorted by SIN.  We want to be a clear magnifier of Jesus. 

Paul while writing the book of Philippians is jailed and likely to die soon, but his was his observation – that the gospel had reached the palace guard and even into the household of Caesar.  All because of the way he lived while facing death.  He puts in this way to Live is Christ to Die is Gain.  Either way he won. 

People must be able to see a difference in those of us who call ourselves by the name of Christ.  They can’t be left wandering or confused.  God put you right where he wanted – the mission field is right where you live every day.  What does this world see in your day to day life. 

This is the BOTTOM LINE of my thoughts of to how we are to live:

Love does what it does not have to do to those who don’t deserve it.  This is the pattern Christ gave us!

Your life is not to be defined by circumstances surrounding you, but rather your life is defined by how you live in the midst of your circumstance and adversity.

Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain….27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel

 

sherman

Why Do Bad Things Happen

It wasn’t always this way.  You know, the pain and suffering in this old world.  Each one us can recount story after story of things gone wrong in our lives through “no fault” of our own.  Why is it that bad things happen?

Well before Adam and Eve decided to disobey God all of creation was in perfect harmony.  After that things just went from bad to worse.  Man got kicked out of the garden, but didn’t learn his lesson.  Next thing we know man has gotten more and more sinful until there is only one godly family left in the world.  Perhaps you have heard of Noah.  More catastrophe came upon the earth because of the sinfulness of man.  The entire world was destroyed except those in the ark.  Look at where we have ended up since then.  Man got together and started to build a tower to heaven in Babel when he was commanded by God to go out to all the earth, what did he do but all settle down in one place.  God confused the languages and caused the people to scatter over the face of the earth.  Sometimes when people don’t obey God simply intervenes to change their minds.

So down to this day animals are fearful of men, this happened after the flood.  Men and women try to rule over one another, this happened at the fall.  Man seeks to set up a god like himself, this started in the heart of Satan.  So here we are today in a world that has been subjected to the sinful consequences of man’s rebellion against God.  Just like these horrible tornados that passed through the Tennessee Valley last week.  This world is in constant turmoil.  Pain and suffering, misery and disease plague man all because of sin.  Its not that any of you have done anything in particular that was bad that the tornados came, but rather a long-term consequence to the rebellious nature of man.

So what do we do about?  Is there anything we can do about it?  None of this took God by surprise.  So Why?  SO What?

God has given us all things in our lives to get our attention.  To help us look towards Him.  Man never has had much use for God when things are going his way.  God uses the things in life to draw us to Himself, to grow us up to be like Jesus, to help us long to be with Him in eternity.  This old world is not our final home.  We are just passing through.  You can either live for yourself and die in your sins or you can die to yourself and live to the glory of God.  There is no middle ground, and God is only going to wait so long for you to come to your right mind.

God offers you eternal life beginning today.  A life whose joy is independent of the pain and chaos in this world.  That joy is rooted in belonging to Him for eternity not in the fleeting circumstances of this short life.  God spared you this last week for a reason.  And it wasn’t so you could live for yourself.  If you don’t know Him you may not get another wakeup call.  If you do know Him where are you at in your walk?  These are matters of eternal significance don’t blow it off – you may not get another chance.

 

Romans 8:19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

 

sherman

Supersizing or Downsizing

 

The word of God can be a times difficult to properly interpret.  We must be careful to pay close attention to the complete context and surrounding text.  Many times people will either over emphasize a particular teaching or minimize the intent of a passage.  As an example I would like to take a look at one particular passage of scripture in the New Testament, Mark 4:3-20.  This scripture has been taught from many different view points.  The first view point I would like to examine is the minimizing view.

Some preachers teach that there are three types of “saved soil” represented.  They consider that only the first type of soil “by the road” where the seed is taken away by the birds represents the unsaved.  This position sees the next two soils as backslidden Christians.  True believers that have let things get in their way of following Christ.  and they might would say the last type is the believer that is actively following God.  This is an example of minimizing the impact of the words of Christ.  If we just look at Christ’s own explanation it becomes clear that the first three soil types are all unbelievers because the only soil that produces good fruit is the final one.  Not only that but not everyone in the last category produces the same amount.  The key point is that they all produce something.  Verse 16 makes clear the connection between the first and second types of soil.  The third type is a bit more difficult in that there appears to be something going on, but nothing is being produced.  These are likely representative of the unsaved within the congregation – tares among the wheat.  They look the part, say the right things, but their heart is completely entangled in the affairs of this world they are the religious that have an appearance of godliness but there is no power in them. Next we will consider the supersizing of this teaching.

Still others will look at this with such overemphasis that they cannot leave any room for Christians that do struggle with remaining sin in their life yet have proof of God’s redemption in their heart.  There is a reason that the master commands his servants not to rip up the tares from the wheat.  They would likely pull up and destroy some who are truly God’s children in the process.  We really cannot tell which is which until they reach maturity.  The point really is that we must be aware that there are unsaved masquerading as the real deal and that we are called to examine our own faith and see if it is real.  You don’t need to be trusting in a persons affirmation that your faith is real, but knowing it because of the living relationship you have with Christ.  Another position that has been taken is that since there are only four types of soil and that only one type is truly regenerated then only 25% of all humanity will be saved.  This again is not the point of the passage to name a number, in fact it may well be much lower percentage than that – just consider the narrow and wide gate scripture.  So what is the point of this passage.

In verses 13-20 Christ Himself tells us just what this text means without any ambiguity.  The first He tells us in verse 13 is that there is something in this parable that will be critical to understanding all of the other parables.  So what is it that we must understand from this parable?  Not everyone who hears the gospel will be saved.  Not everyone who says a prayer and walks an isle posses eternal life.  We cannot always tell the difference between real and fake Christians.  Every true believer will produce good works as a result of their salvation not as a condition for receiving salvation. 

Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Every true believer will produce good works as a result of their salvation not as a condition for receiving salvation.  Hearing then receiving the word will always produce a life that desires to OBEY God.

I believe that most people have good intentions when they supersize or downsize a section of scripture.  Seeing it as either too harsh that there is no way that is what is meant or they key in on a singular doctrine and concentrate so much on that one doctrine that they almost ignore the rest.  It is never love to soften the force of scripture nor is it love to hammer home some pet doctrine.  We need to let the word of God clearly speak for itself consistently interpreting scripture with scripture.

Basic hermeneutics (that means how we interpret the Bible) is simply this read the scripture in complete context that means the entire book of the Bible where it is located and in light of what the rest of scripture declares on that subject.  If you read something and the meaning seems right and makes sense then you likely have the right sense of the passage.

The bottom line is there are some very wonderful promises  and very real consequences in scripture.  Just because we have trouble accepting or understanding something doesn’t make it wrong.  The point of growing in Christ is to become more and more like Him, not to somehow conform God into some image of Him that we have to make Christianity compatible with our own beliefs.

Read the word faithfully, pray for clarity and understanding, obey what you already understand and you will grow more and more into the image of Christ.

sherman

The Whole Counsel of GOD

 

Ezekiel 2:7 "But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious. 8 "Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.

Have you ever been around a preacher or teacher that seems to hit the same topic over and over again.  I am not speaking of the gospel, but of something such as tithing, modest clothing, love, or sovereignty.  Really it could be most anything.  But they seem to go out of their way to bring up the subject not matter the section of scripture or the topic. 

Maybe it was a teacher or preacher that will tend to skip over sections of scripture that might be controversial or difficult.  Or it might be that they never go to some subjects at all due to fear of upsetting somebody. In either case we have an out of balance view of scripture.

Yet there is another group that seems to teach every doctrine down to the smallest detail, yet they lack any application of what they know.  They seem to get lost in having all the right doctrines and somehow they think that is enough (Revelation 2:4 – they have lost their love).  This application anemia is killing many reformed churches today.

We cannot pick and choose what we like and exclude what we don’t.  The church today suffers from a lack of knowledge and a lack of application.  You don’t have to go out of your way to hammer home some pet doctrine.  You shouldn’t be afraid to speak the truth in a loving manner, no matter the audience.  We should expect that people who trust in Christ for salvation should grow in Christ-likeness as well.  The same power that saves us, makes us able and yearning to obey.

It all starts at the Word of God.  In your own personal studies do you skip over something that might be convicting or key in only to those things that apply to someone else.  God wants us to grow up into a mature believer in all ways, not just in a few.  That means sometimes we are going to have to hear some difficult teachings, repent, be more diligent at following, pay attention to our own lives (others do).

So why this topic?  I was reading in Ezekiel 1-2 this morning.  I noticed particularly that God gave a message to Ezekiel.  He even told him that they wouldn’t listen to Him.  He even warned him not to be stubborn and stiff necked like them.  It made me examine myself.  How to do I approach scripture?  Do I teach the whole counsel of God – starting with myself?  You and I are accountable to God with what we teach to ourselves, family, friends, classes, churches, etc.…

Obey what you know.  Learn what scripture says and put it into practical application in your life.  Teach what you have learned to someone else and help bring them along as you follow Christ. You are teaching others something just by what you live out.  None of us were meant to do this alone.

Acts 20:26 "Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Saying All The Right Things

Ever walk into a church with all of the right doctrines, ministries, associations and trappings.  From the outside everything looks like it is right where it is supposed to be – sounds like the way a lot of people are when they go to church.  An outward conformity to a list of rules or a set of principles – but missing the heart.  It is symptomatic of our society.  We all want to be accept and to excel in the eyes of others.

This all came to mind today when I visited a church out here in California.  It was a reformed theology church.  Their focus above the entrance – the five SOLAS – Faith Alone, Grace Alone, Scripture Alone, Christ Alone, the Glory of God Alone.  Very true thing, very good things, this is the way they wanted to be known.  But it appeared to me in my short visit that somewhere in the process they had lost their heart.

God speaks of this in Revelation 2:1-7.  The church of Ephesus had a lot of things going for them:  good deeds, hatred of false teachers, perseverance for the things of Christ, but they lost something in the process.  It is something all of us can lose sight of, it slips away so quietly and easily while in our minds we are doing the work of Christ.

“They Lost Their First Love”

So what are we to do?  Jesus says to them remember where you came from, who you were when Christ saved you, repent and go back to the basics of loving Christ, spending time in the word getting to know Him, slowing down enough to listen to Him.  Peter sums it up this way in 2 Peter 1:1-15:  Our lives start with the foundation of faith and in all things that we do it is to look like love.  When we forget to love God with everything we have and to love others better than ourselves we have misrepresented God and the Gospel. 

So where are you at in your walk?  Does your life look like love?  Do you need to repent and go back to the basics?

Think about it.  I know I am.  Examine yourself before God does it for you. 

Does your life look like love – the love of God?

sherman

Music and the Christian

 

These are a few thoughts on Christian Music. First I think it is worth mentioning that not all Christian music is designed for cooperate worship. Some is intended for the individual consumption (maybe in the car) and some for the concert stage. The intentional design of some music may very well be for a specific target audience in a specific environment. Whether the music is for use in cooperate worship or not, these are all legitimate venues for Christian music.

(1)What about the tune? Is the tune easy to remember? Does it reflect the words of the song?

- Have you ever tried singing Oh Happy Day to the original tune from the 1700’s? It sounds extremely somber and sad. There are many excellent hymns from years past. There is nothing wrong with updating the music tune. Some people will prefer the old tunes and the old hymns – there’s nothing wrong with that.

(2) Can I understand the words?

- I cannot understand the Farsi language. Many people who have not been raised in the church and utilized the KJV bible may have some difficulties to comprehend the archaic English language. The message and the music need to be relevant to the audience, this means comprehendable.

(3) Are the lyrics doctrinally sound?

- No Hersey Allowed. That being noted, that doesn’t mean every song has to dig to the deepest depths of theological knowledge. They might even be a little light on doctrine yet heavy on basic praise. Go check out the Psalms.

(4) What about music designed to evoke emotional response and appeal to the sense?

- Ever heard Handel's Messiah, been moved by an Easter musical. What most people really object to in this category is music with a beat or plugged in. This isn’t about evoking an emotional response – its about people that don’t like that rock music. It is simply people trying to make a preference law. Any good tune is design to convey and evoke the emotion of the lyrics..

(8) What about empty repetition?

- I have no idea how "Praise God" or lyrics such as those from Revelation 5:11-14 would ever get old or be considered empty. Yet these are the types of complaints I have heard from people on modern worship music. So unless you're expecting something to happen because you keep saying it – its not a bad thing.

(9) What about musical instruments?

- I touched on this one once before. Some people think it should be acapella, others only piano and organ. This is about preference not biblical mandate. Just because you don’t find a particular instrument or style to minister to you doesn’t invalidate it. Many of these Christians in Rock and Metal music are reaching people you or I never could. Try getting to know them before you toss them aside because of their looks and music.

Finally, there is great liberty in music for the Christian. Most of us spend our time trying to invoke our own convictions as law on others. That needs to come to a halt. If you can’t defend it clearly from scripture then it is just an opinion and not binding. We need to apply the same measure to this medium as any other (i.e. TV). Is it edifying? Do you have a clear conscience before God?

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8

The Purpose of Prayer 


Some people think that prayer is a personal wish maker that you turn on and off. Others see it as something reserved only for those big emergencies. Still others think that the more people praying on an issue the more likely they are to get their way with God. Even though the prayer of a single righteous man is very powerful and effective (James 5:16).On the far end are those who believe in the sovereignty of God so much that they see no need to pray, “God will do what God will do” – so they ignore the command to pray (Ephesians 6:18).

So then what is the purpose of prayer?

God wants us to pour out our hearts before his throne. He cares for our needs, struggles, pain and desires. He wants us to do the same for others and bring those to him as well. He even brings things into our lives that will drive us to our knees, drive us closer to His heart. As He answers our prayers in His timing and His way - He wants to hear our joy and praises as well.

So again why pray?

1. We need it. Quite frankly we cannot live in this world of pain and sorrow apart from a vibrant relationship to God. How can we know Him if we don’t commune with Him. It is or pathway of communication, blessing and understanding.

2. We were never meant to be self sufficient and self serving. We are to be involved in the lives of others. Helping to bear their burdens. Praying for them in their situation, for another’s salvation, for understanding, and peace.

3. We are commanded to do so for our own good. God wants us involved with what He is doing in our midst. To see faith turned into reality (John 11:40). It connects us with the lives of other believers nearby and far away. More involvement in prayer means more people are involved in praise. We get to share more in God’s work.

4. As we commune with God our thoughts become more like His. We pray in concert with His will not for our own selfish motives.

So what is the purpose of prayer? It is to conform our thoughts, concerns, and desires into becoming more and more align with those of Christ. It is so that we and others may give more praise, honor and glory to God as we see Him move in our midst. May God conform and transform us so that we may be vessels of mercy that may minister to the saints and the lost.

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.