A Life of Ignorance

So many times many of my brothers and sisters in Christ have had a tendency to look at the world around them with a touch of condemnation. On the one hand I can see how they have gotten to that point. I mean I believe as Christians we are called to stand up for God's standard for all of humanity. When we begin to do this it is easy to fall into a mode of condemnation. This is not what God has called us to. To help us avoid falling into that trap we should keep in mind Paul's words to Timothy.

In I Timothy 1:13 Paul explains his persecution of the Christians as acts of ignorance. He was lost and he acted lost. Our world is lost and that is the way they will act. We should not be surprised or shocked when they delve into any variety of morally detestable things. This is what lost people do. Some seem to do more than others but in the eyes of God none is more lost than the other. There are not divisions of lostness. "I once was lost but now I am found."

Like Paul I did many things that I should not have done when I was lost. I am not proud of those things but I am no longer ashamed of them either. God has used them to mold me in to the man I am today. He has used all of my life to mold me and shape. I could not be ministering in the place and with the people God brings my way if I had not made those mistakes. Of course, I still make mistakes and I will continue to do so. I know God uses all things for the good of those who trust in Him and so I know that as I continue on He will take the mistakes I make and turn them around for good. For this to happen though I must be willing to repent of sins and ask God for His forgiveness which He freely gives.

Do the Demons Know Your Name?

Have you ever considered how much the demons know about you? Do they even know who you are? Do they know your actions?

Usually when we consider these kinds of questions we think in terms of all the things we have done wrong. We remember the guilt and shame the devil has placed upon about or past mistakes. In many ways we sell the demons short. They know much more about us than we realize. In Acts 19 (vv 13-16) we see an evil spirit saying that he knows Jesus and Paul but he does not know the ones who are trying command him in Jesus' name. This dialog shows us two important things when it comes to demons.

First, if you want to have power over the demonic you must begin by having the right relationship with Jesus Christ. You must acknowledge Him as your Lord and Savior. In the story in Acts 19 the Jewish exorcist did not know who Jesus was. They had never asked Jesus for forgiveness of their sins or proclaimed Him Lord and Master over their life. This lack of relationship allowed the demon to physically overpower them. This is in contrast to the many times that the Apostles were able to simply cast out demons in the name of Jesus.

Second, the evil spirit knew who Paul was. How? I think it is because of Paul's actions against the evil of the world. Simply out Paul had been an incredible force against the forces of evil in the world and as such he was well know to all of the Demons. I think this kind of reputation would be a wonderful one to have within the demonic world. It is my hope and prayer that all of the demons of the world will know my name because I have made a difference for Jesus.

Happy Happy Happy

A lot has been said in recent months and years about the direction and state of the Southern Baptist Convention. While I do not know of everything that has been going on, I do know enough to become frustrated and annoyed. This being said I have a couple of comments on all of these matters.

First, I believe that all parties involved and true born again believers and as such are a part of family. I love them and God loves. With that I believe that for the most part all parties desire to do and live God's will. The believe they are doing what is best for them, their church and their denomination.

Second, God is bigger than all of this! As Bob the Tomato and Junior Asparagus once said "God is bigger that the Boogie Man and He is watching out for you and me!"

So what does all of this have to do with my post title (Happy Happy Happy). Well, I am happy! Despite the fact that so many negative things are going on around me, God is lifting up my emotions and guard my heart. He is beginning to open doors in my ministry beyond anything I could have imagined. I know the coming year holds its share of trials yet I also know it will hold its share joys and triumphs. I look forward to what God has in store for myself, my family, my church and my friends.

Now that I have told you a little bit about is going on in my world. What about yours? What is God doing in your life?

Fear for the New Year

Happy New Year!

So what are your plans for the coming year? Anything big and special? For me I plan to live my life with more fear than ever before!

No that was not a typo. I really do want to live with more fear than in years past. I know I do not fear God enough. Many people today think that when the Bible says to fear God it simply means to have an awe or reverence for God. This is true but it is not the complete picture of what it means to have a healthy fear of God. To get a better understanding of this concept we must take a look at the story of Ananias and Sapphira from Acts 5.

In this story we can happen when you do not follow the will of God. Simply put Ananias and Sapphira were killed because they lied to God and tried to deceive both God and man. Now this does not mean that every time we lie or cheat God will kill us. I think though the response of the people gives us an indication of how we should fear God. The Greek word used in verse 11 actaully means that which strikes terror . The people who heard these stories did not simply have this feeling of awe or reverence for God, they were struck with fear and trembling. Paul speaks to Timothy on this same topic in I Timothy 5:20 where we are called to be fearful of sinning.

So how does one balance this call to fear with the concept of grace. I am not sure I have an answer for this other than to say that the two go hand in hand for the Christian. Grace allows us to not only avoid the pain and suffering of Hell but it also allows to sometimes avoid the pain and suffering of sin in this world. Each person must find out how God desires them to live in this balance of fear and grace. For me that means learning more and more this year about fear.

Moral Authority

Do Christians have Moral Authority or Power? The answer to this question depends on who you ask.

If you ask the majority of people in the US they would probably say something like this "Not really. What have they done to earn that authority? I mean look at all of the stuff going on in the Catholic Church and in other churches" From a worldly stand point the Church has lost a great deal of its power to pronounce what is right and what is wrong. So much so that the entire concept of right and wrong has been questioned.

However, the book of Acts tells us something completely different. In Acts 1:8 we are told that when the Holy Spirit comes to us then we receive power. The Greek word used for power is Dunamis. The word Dunamis has many connotations one of which is to have moral power or authority. Simply put then the Church (under the power of the Holy Spirit) has by divine declaration, Moral Authority here on Earth.

Eternity

Have you ever considered what Heaven might be like. If you go to Heaven what will you do? Will it be fun? Will we get to play games? Will be long one continuous church service?

There is so much about Heaven we will not know this side of death. The book of Revelation does give us some glimpses into what life may be like in Heaven. One of the most consistent themes through out the Book of Revelation is the constant state of movement. These movements though are always initiated by the will of God. The angels, elders, and living creature only act when God wants them to. This a far cry from how things happen here and now. This does not mean we will not have free will or choice in Heaven, however sin will no longer be something we desire to do. Essentially, we will chose not to sin every again. We will finally get to experience life as it was designed to be in the Garden of Eden. John's Revelation is not our only source of information about Heaven.

I believe we can gleam a great deal about Heaven from what we know of God's character and His original design. Humanity was created in God's image. One of the results of this is that we are social beings. God Himself is social. Even before the creation of man, God had fellowship within the Trinity. To me this means we will have fellowship with others in Heaven. We will interact with friends, family and strangers. This means I will someday see my precious Colin and Hannah again. This means that if your departed loved ones knew Jesus then you will see them again and you will rejoice together.

I believe we will have fun in Heaven. God is not a boring a God and as such He would not create a Heaven that is boring. I am not totally sure how this will play out but I am not worried about because I know God will take care of this for me.

The details of Heaven are one of the great mysteries of Christianity. It is one of those mysteries that will not be fully solved until we are there. If you want to be there with us then there are somethings you need to do now. Revelation 20:15 makes it clear that your name must be written into the Lamb's book of life to not only avoid Hell but to be granted entrance into Heaven. To have your name in the Book of Life is actually a simple process.

First, you must acknowledge that you like all of us are a sinner who cannot be your own will cannot become perfect.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” We must all realize that we are sinners and that we need forgiveness. We are not worthy of God’s grace."

Second, you must realize that through Jesus, God gave us a way to be saved from our sins. God showed us His love by giving us the potential for life (Heaven is a part of this life) through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Next, you must see that if we remain sinners, we will die. However, if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and repent of our sins, we will have eternal life.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Next, you need only to believe that Jesus Christ id Lord and that God raised Him from the dead.

Romans 10:9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

If you believe that Jesus is Lord then by willingly praying this prayer you will be saved.

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.”

If you have prayed this prayer today let myself or your pastor know today so that we may celebrate with you in this life changing choice.

Silence in Heaven

Can you imagine what it must have been like for John (Revelation 8) to be in the presence of God, the Angels and all of the hosts of Heaven and there be absolute silence. I know for me I have always heard that there is always singing and praising to God in Heaven. This is mostly true. In fact, in Revelation 7 we see the great multitude giving praise and glory to God. Then at the opening of the Seventh Seal there was 30 minutes of silence. I am not exactly sure why there was such silence. I think though much of it had to do with the reality of the Seventh Seal. The reality of the intense suffering that was soon to occur on Earth struck all of Heaven at once. I cannot help but thing that in their hearts many of the Angels and other Heavenly Creatures felt a sense of sorrow for those still left on Earth.

In the end though I believe this silence teach us that we must take the time to be silent for God. If the hosts of Heaven were called (though in silence) to be silent then shouldn't we also be silent before Him. When we do this we must also allow the Holy Spirit to come and teach us things that we might no otherwise have been able to learn. My challenge to you and me is to take the time and be silent before God and see what He has to show us.