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One doesn’t have to be married for long to realize the wisdom in a simple, yet painfully accurate, statement. “Happy Wife, Happy Life!” And a man does not have to be married long to realize that no matter how much he makes, how hard he works, or how smart he is, the way to achieve the first is summarized in another simple statement. “What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is yours.” Relationships are built on common ground, and while the above statements seem very slanted toward the female in the relationships, the ability and willingness to claim nothing as your own and share everything is what brings about intimacy, trust, joy, and faithfulness. This same principle applies to friendships, family relationships, and almost any non-business relationship that we are engaged in.

So why do so many of us observe this in our personally lives but not in our Christian relationships. Membership in the Church gets regarded as a “paid service”, our fellow members are evaluated, either intentionally or unintentionally, by their “worth” to us and the overall organization, and our tithes and offerings determined by what we are “getting out of it”. To be fair, we can often get the impression that our worth to the Church is based on how much we give, our opinions can be more or less effective based on our length of time or amounts given, and feeling like a “part” of the Church can be hard when others withhold companionship and compassion because we didn’t grow up in the Church (either that church or the Church overall).

Acts 4:32-35 details what should be our example for “Church membership”. Being one in heart and mind, not claiming individual possessions or contributions as their own, and making certain that no one was in need because they distributed everything so that no one suffered. All of this though was a common expression of the grace given to them as believers and they were bold in their faith and action. So what happened? In the simplest of terms, the Church went from a Body to a Building. When Paul wrote to the Churches, his letters were all the believers in that area, not an episcopal letter to the congregations under his care. As time progressed, Church History indicated that there were those who “interpreted” certain theological points, which led to divisions in the Early Church. Those divisions turned into divisions over leadership. Those divisions led to each leader dictating how to keep members obedient to them… and here we are in 2019 and everything seems to be about us, our church, our theology, our money, our people, which turns to me, me, ME.

Reverend Billy Graham had preached a revival once and afterward, a critic claimed he had just set the Church back 200 years. His response was that he was saddened by that because he wanted to set it back 2000 years. There should be no surprise that there is a correlation between the unity of the believers in their prayer, possessions, and therefore, power of preaching the Good News of Christ. What they preached was about Christ, His saving Grace, and the change that they had happen as they sought to be like Him. Juxtapose that with how the current climate of the Christian Church is bent on territory, political favors, and being given honor that is neither promised by Scripture nor deserved when the Church is engaged in self-seeking, counter-Christian behaviors and attitudes. The more we claim the Gospel is about us and benefiting us, the more the world will continue to be repelled by OUR message and reject even those who are centered on Scripture and Spirit filled.

As we seek to get a “faith lift”, perhaps we need to go back to our roots. Forget about progresses made in the interest of growing denominations or individual churches. Forget about who our parents were in our local congregations and communities. Forget claiming that we are “Christian Nation” and how the Church should be the main group governing. Remember that we are called to be separate from the world, that the Bible is meant to be lived and not quoted to support our personal opinions, and remember the chains from which we were set free when we were in sin. Remember that we are called to be servants, the last in line to be given honor, and that the power we yield is not our own, so we should only wield it as instructed. If we are to be in battle against authorities, powers of this dark world, and the forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12), we need to focus on that with the weapons given to us and avoid directing our efforts on those who are victims of them. Our role is to set them free rather than strike them down, liberate rather than leave them enslaved.

Imagine the Church set on fire against sin and darkness without those who have been caught in sin and darkness being set ablaze. Imagine the Church known by its love, compassion, and truth instead of politically charged opinions and power over others. Imagine being a Church that lived such a radically remarkable life of love and grace that the world wanted to be part of it as they did when the Church was known by believers who were one in heart and mind and no one wanted for anything.

Is the World determining my area of service, or does Christ?

Is my faith about what Christ does for me or what Christ does through me?

One February 3rd in 1970, the students at Asbury College in Wilmore KY attended chapel just like other students had since the college was founded in 1890. A single student’s confession of “I have wasted so much time” set a fire in the hearts of every student, faculty member and staff member that was there and lasted for the next 144 hours, sending out 2,000 witness teams to more than 130 campuses all over the country. The complete and total surrender of that moment and the wills of those present allowed the Holy Spirit to come in. The revival was not planned. It happened… and the Spirit ran wild.

Acts 1: 4-8 details when Jesus spoke to his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit, the precursor to Pentacost. If we want to experience revival, the same three things must be present now as was present then. Our directions must be given by God, and received in faith. We must wait to receive the Holy Spirit if we are to have the promised power we need. But most importantly, seek it out where God has told us will occur.

We like to invoke the Holy Spirit so that we can receive power, but invoking the Holy Spirit, and being open to it, is not necessarily the same thing. Expecting the Holy Spirit to come in the way we desire it to come is seldom, if ever, the way we will receive the Holy Spirit. We must be ready, open, and receptive to whatever the Spirit wills. We cannot bend the Holy Spirit to OUR will as though it works for us and is waiting around like a genie in a bottle to grant us our wishes. We either receive what the Holy Spirit brings, or we live without because we want to control how we want it.

It is tempting to view OUR vision as God’s and want to invoke the Holy Spirit to bless what we want to do, have happen, or will into existence. It is WRONG as well as foolish. When we invoke the Spirit to bless us with prestige or power, expecting it to happen because we want it and we put “In Jesus’ Name” on the end, we will often be disappointed…and humbled soon. The vision must seek to glorify God, not us, and the invocation of the Holy Spirit needs to be free of OUR agendas. When we surrender our lives, our church, and our surroundings to God’s will, the Holy Spirit is able to show us the power that will transform our lives and our circumstances into occasions to display His Glory in us and through us.

Do I desire to bless what I want or do I bless Him with what He wants?

How can I free my prayer of my agenda when asking for His will to be done?

I love musicals. The story told with songs, the dramatic flair surrounding even the simplest stories, and the humor that is often left out of mainstream music. My first experience with musicals was seeing Peter Pan at the Denver Performing Arts Center. The second had me singing songs in church about the Fruit of the Spirit, a musical called, “The Music Machine.” One song was sung by and about Herbert the Snail and the people around him that thought he moved too slowly. But Herbert had not always been that way. The song tells how when he was younger, he would rush around, crashing into things. The solution is found when his father takes him aside and explains how impatience causes worry, and that in the end, it is important to remember that God is patient with us. I do not remember every song by heart, but I constantly have that song playing in my head when I lose my patience with others and myself.

The Prophet, Habakkuk (Huh-Baa-Kuck), had a problem with patience too. In Habakkuk 1:12-2:3, Habakkuk has started questioning God’s plans. His understanding is that God is swift and mighty, solid as a Rock and seeks justice quickly for any wrongdoing or evil. His questioning is spiritual. He sees the evil in the world, the harm done to God’s people and questions why God is so slow to act. Habakkuk receives his answer from God in verse 2. He is told to write it down and spread it around. There is a plan that will be revealed at an appointed time. It is solid and true, and worth waiting for.

One might wonder the reaction of Habakkuk at that moment. He is already impatient with the evil that seems to have seeped in everywhere, and God’s answer is “There is a plan, tell everyone there is a plan, and the plan will be revealed in due time”…. NO DETAILS!!! Of course, Habakkuk’s response is found in the third chapter… He praises God and pleads for mercy for the evil people as God is delivering His Holy Wrath. That preaches!

We often want to know what God is doing NOW. We want to know what God is going to do NOW. We want to tell others what Our God is going to do NOW. The main problem with wanting every answer NOW is that we miss out on the joy of waiting, trusting, and watching as God’s plan unfolds, in the world, in our neighbors, and in ourselves. The Bible is filled with servants of the LORD that had to wait a very long time to reap the benefits that God had promised. Perhaps the failings of the Church, Christians... and basically anyone else in this world has been that we fail at being patient, want instant results, and in the end, we decide to handle it our own way. We hear someone utter "God has a plan for you" and we want to know every detail, a financial agenda, and if it involves a free car or a big house.

There is likely a great reason why scripture is filled both with people who waited a very long time and ones who were less than patient for God to unfold His Great Vision for their lives in His own time. Those who obeyed and trusted are those we want to be like, but those who were not seem to resemble us more closely than we like. God tells Abraham that He will give him a son... and Sarah loses patience and takes matters into her own hand... then bears a son and cast out his other son and his mother so Sarah doesn't have to look at them. Fast forward a couple millennia, and we have Christians and Jews fighting Abraham's other son's descendants. God tells Jonah He has a plan for where he should go, Jonah says "Great!", but turns tail when he finds out God's plan involves going to save people Jonah can't stand. Fast forward past Jesus saying to "Go into all the World", and we find God's people determining who they think should be saved and basing it upon what is in their comfort zone.

Like any Masterful Creator, the beauty and awe is able to be discovered when the time is taken to make every detail stand out instead of being rushed. Joseph waited on a dream he received for several years, in a pit, twice. In the end, not only was he given so much more than he could have expected, but his back-stabbing brothers were thankful for that annoying little brother. Every disciple found that by focusing on doing what they were commissioned to do instead of how many people might not like them, God poured out the Holy Spirit and set every land on fire with it, surpassing any expectation the Disciples could have had. When we let go of the expectations, the agendas, and preconceived notions of what we should be doing or what our lives or surrounds "should" look like, we begin walking the path God has put us on and one day we realize the goals we didn't set have been exceeded by God's plan for us. The only plan we need to make is, pray for God to do something, trust that He will do more, and praise Him daily for what we know to be true... that God is God for a good reason... and we are not for even better ones.

How can I cultivate a spirit of patience in my daily life and worship of God?

Do I let other people or my own agendas distract me from where God wants me to go?

https://youtu.be/9kn6Z2Mop5I

I am not a fan of “celebrity preachers”. Whether it is Jimmy Swaggart, Joel Osteen, or Franklin Graham, I am hesitant to regard their messages as “gospel truth” the more popular they become. It is not that they speak complete untruth, but their popularity seems to be often be connected to an agenda. I have known colleagues that gradually conform to the institution they serve, changing their beliefs regardless of their reading of scripture. There is a definite reason why St Augustine, in his treatise “On Christian Doctrine”, devotes three parts to Hermeneutics (study of Scripture) and only one part to Homiletics (proclamation of Scripture). The reason he gives is that one might become so eloquent that a preacher could completely misrepresent the meaning and the listener would not know the difference. I have often found it telling when a preacher devotes an entire sermon to a single line of scripture. When this occurs, it is often because the preacher has a message they want to tell and need Scripture to "back them up".

This can be true of any of us when we have an opinion and want God to "have our back" instead of us sharing God's message for a person or the Church in general. How we represent the Bible, the Church, and Christ Himself depends entirely upon how well we know Christ and His message. By taking a worldly view of the Epistles and the Old Testament, it can lead us to inauthentic and inaccurate conclusions of who we are and how our lives are to reflect Christ. We only need to look to the internet and the local news to see how a poor reading of Scripture reflects in those whose lives do not mirror Christ. It is no surprise why the Church often is losing members as Christ becomes a historical figure in them instead of the model we base our thoughts, actions, and attitudes toward our world.

It is easy for us to ride on "spiritual coattails" in the Church. When I went through confirmation as a teenager, we were told that while our parents had provided guidance, as well as other church members, we needed to know why we believed what we believed and read the Bible ourselves so that we possessed our own understanding. Unfortunately, many a child will claim their parent’s faith as justification for why their belief is correct. The same is true for spouses, relatives, and “prestigious” church memberships where one person claims authority by proxy. I remember a time when I had come home to visit at a time when there was a crisis in the church we belonged. I gave my thoughts, my reasoning, and the Scriptures I based them upon. The next morning, as I was in a class, I heard my mother in the next room saying the exact things I had mentioned the night before as though they were her own thoughts.

John 3:1-21 and John 8:31-47 show how Jesus addresses this problem with Nicodemus and later with other Jewish followers. He questioned how a Jewish official could know so much yet not understand matters of God as well as he understood human matters. The issue of being born again, a process where one discards the old view, a non-God centered one, for a life that is totally committed to God and His Word. Later on, Jesus addresses those who were claiming salvation solely based on being descendants of Abraham. In both cases, Jesus draws the line where each person must accept the Son and his teachings for themselves. Jesus clearly indicates his teachings are from God, not His own. Each must accept those teachings in order to be saved.

Too many times, we are tempted to claim to be a follower when we have never taken the time to find, let alone follow, Jesus. We become what Kyle Idleman refers to as a "fan" of Jesus, not a follower. We are "pro-Jesus" as long as Jesus says what we like, agrees with our own bias, and does what we approve of. If we were to actually be follower, we would disregard our own life, look to Scripture to direct our paths and inform our attitudes, and become more like Christ than just a better version of ourselves.

One of the key focuses of Jesus' lessons and advice is Love. This is perhaps the most central to a Christian worldview and also the most overlooked when we interact with others. 1 Corinthians 13 lays out how everything we do is to be done in love. This is not because it is “nice” or “sensible”, but because it is the most durable and important part of who we are in Christ. Our “utility” in the church fades, our faith wanes according to circumstances even for the most faithful follower, but love is the strongest of all to overcome any evil, comfort any affliction, and redeem the worst sinner. The reason for this strength is not because we are able to love more than any other thing we do, but because God is able to change anything because of His love. 1 John 4:7-21 just reinforces that we are to love others because God loved us. Unfortunately, love seems to be the first thing we forget when we get our feelings hurt, our pride is wounded or our anger is stoked, but it is to be our central focus and centering force to bring us back to “normal” when we fly off. It is great that God’s love in us is what does that rather than a feeling that can ebb and flow.

The hardest part of us as Christ’s followers is most often when we get a sense of entitlement. It is what pulls us to believe that we are due a certain amount of respect or that our faith gives us a supernatural ability to be right about everything. 1 Peter 2:11-25 lays out that we are ultimately “God’s slaves”. Our lives are subject to His pleasing, His word is the ultimate authority and nothing we do is to be of our own choosing but directed by God. We are not instructed to do all of this because God is a control freak, but because God is good, righteous, holy, and free of attitude to act in a way that is contrary to His own being or character. Taking our orders from a good and faithful master is our best decision because we are prone to wavering according to whims but God is steadfast in His actions and His love for us.

As we encounter others in this year, may we encounter Christ, seeking to be more like him rather than just a better version of ourselves. In seeking to be more like Christ in body, mind, and spirit, we run the risk of becoming the kind of person that others would be attracted to become like as well, one who resembles Christ and His Loving Father.

Do I resemble Christ or the world in my decisions, actions and attitudes?

Do I use Scripture to influence my views and actions, or to justify my own opinions, Godly or not?