12/29/13

Jesus Yawned

I recently completed teaching an online class on the Letter to the Hebrews. For a few weeks I am sharing thoughts that came from this study.

He [the high priest] can deal gently with people who are ignorant and easily deceived, since he himself is subject to weakness. (Hebrews 5:2 ISV)

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. (Hebrews 5:7 ESV)

With these words, the author of Hebrews is beginning to make his case for Jesus being the new and greater high priest under a new and greater covenant. This writer, who began his work with great emphasis on the fact that Jesus is preexistent and divine (Hebrews 1), now, emphasizes Jesus’ humanity perhaps more than any writer in the New Testament.

12/21/13

Jesus...Our Emmanuel

I have just completed teaching an online class on the Letter to the Hebrews. For a few weeks I am sharing thoughts that came from this study.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16 )
This wasn’t planned (at least by me), but it works out very well to look at this passage from Hebrews 4 the same week as the world pauses to remember the birth of Jesus. The author of the letter has not yet developed his important teaching on how Jesus is the new and greater high priest, but that doesn’t keep him from going ahead and pointing out that in that role Jesus can fully relate to us.

12/15/13

From "This is bad" Comes Very Good

I have just completed teaching an online class on the Letter to the Hebrews. For a few weeks I will be sharing thoughts that came from this study.

Of all the lessons we gain from the letter to Hebrews there is one that is very easy to miss and that is how God works for good even in things that are not good. You may ask where does the writer of Hebrews teach this idea. Probably no where explicitly.

12/6/13

Today...Your Heart!

The writer of Hebrews uses some rather involved and even complicated rabbinic style arguments to make his point again and again that it would be foolish, even disastrous, for his readers to go back to the practice of the Old Covenant now that Jesus and God’s great salvation has come.
However, in chapters 3 and 4 we see that his main concern is not that they understand some intricate theological argument. His main concern is that the keep their hearts in the right place. This is lesson needed for every generation in every situation.

12/1/13

But We See Jesus

I am currently teaching an online class on the Letter to the Hebrews. While discussion of any passage in this letter needs to involve careful and sometimes lengthy examination of the context and background, there are still some gems from this fascinating letter that I want to share in these short weekly notes.  For several weeks we will look at some of these. More careful study on your part is always recommended.
In Hebrews, the writer quotes from the Psalms describing how all things are put under man’s feet and how everything is made subject to him, and then he adds: “Yet, at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus” (2:8-9).
Most great mind-changing thoughts include the word "but" and this one is no exception.  The writer takes note of the fact we don’t yet see everything in submission to man or to the man that was written about in the psalm, and yet he adds, ‘but we see Jesus.”
There is a great lesson in this for us. We sometimes come away from Scripture with certain expectations. We come away from our times with God looking to see certain promises fulfilled on our time table. However, those expectations are not always met and the promises are not always realized as we thought they would be. If our faith wavers a bit, that is a time to remember, “but we see Jesus.” Sure, we thought certain things would happen in a certain way. Then, they didn’t. But still, we see Jesus. We still see his life, his teachings, his miracles. We still see his trust in God, his cross and his resurrection. Yes, we have questions, “but we see Jesus.”

There are plenty of times when we don't understand, when we don’t see all things working together for good, when we wonder just where God is, but even in those moments we can see Jesus and remember that there are truths about him that are undeniable. There may be some "unbelievables," but the "undeniables" are greater. Yes, there are plenty of things we don't understand, but our faith can remain, even if a bit disturbed, through challenges, disappointments and perplexing times because "we see Jesus." 

11/24/13

Prayer: For Enemies

For a few weeks we have been featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is excerpted and adapted from a chapter by John Porter, the lead evangelist for the South Florida Church in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale.

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. . . .” (Matthew 5:44).

Opposition to us as disciples may take the form of critical brothers, angry family members, deceptive journalists, or even, as Jesus himself could attest to, murderers.  But whoever the enemies may be, the words of Jesus are still the same:  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to be glaringly different from those around us.  Living in a “religious” part of the world where people are apparently “good” can make this challenging at times. Ironically, it is our enemies who afford us the opportunity to glorify God by shining like stars in the universe (Philippians 2:15).  Perhaps in no other area can a Christian so obviously distinguish himself from the religious “do-gooders.”  To forgive, love and pray for our enemies is behavior described in the Bible as “perfect” (Matthew 5:48) that is, like God.  To be “like God” is to go completely “against the grain” of our sinful human nature.  Only someone who loves God earnestly and has an eternal perspective on life is able to surrender himself to this depth of love.

11/10/13

Prayer: For Others

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is excerpted and adapted from a chapter by Lavonia Drabot who is a women’s ministry leader in Charlotte NC.

And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.  If he has sinned he will be forgiven.  Therefore, confess your sins to each another and pray for each another so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:15-16).

In the dark.  On their knees.  Silently and aloud.  People have prayed for each of us-both before and after we became Christians.  God worked in those prayers to soften our hearts and expose our sin, to lead us to repentance.  Once we were forgiven and healed, we began to pray for others.  The cycle of intercessory prayer.  The multiplying principle.  Each one passes on the blessing he has received.  To intercede or pray on someone else’s behalf is a privilege.  We approach the God of the universe and he hears us.  Our prayers are sacrifices which are pleasing to him (Hebrews 13:15).

11/3/13

Prayer: In our Weakness

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is excerpted and adapted from a chapter by my good friend and fellow teacher, Steve Brown. His comments were written one year after he had a sudden onset of paralysis on one side of his body.

After six weeks in the hospital, the doctors decided that my paralysis was due to multiple sclerosis (MS).  It was a shocking introduction to weakness, and the beginning of a struggle to understand what God was doing and what he wanted me to learn. I had become weak.  And I thought of Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 12: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

10/27/13

Prayer: For Boldness and Courage

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is excerpted and adapted from a chapter by Guillermo Adame who is lead evangelist for the San Diego Church of Christ.

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

“Wow!  You want me to be on the Bombay mission team?”  Those words went through my head as I tried to remain calm back in July 1986.  Feelings of excitement mixed with uncertainty filled my body.  But it was fear that gripped me.  Why?  God had been preparing me for six years to “go anywhere, do anything."  God had taught me so much about not being fearful and timid.  But this was different!  India was going to turn my whole life upside down.  Everything was going to be new.  New friends, new culture, new country.  I needed to pray.

10/20/13

Prayer: For Character Change

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is excerpted and adapted from a chapter by Jeanie Shaw who is a women’s ministry leader in Boston.

                Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place (Psalm 51:6).


As I write this article I look at a piece of torn, battered paper that is like an old friend to me.  It is a page from my prayer list that is prayed through over and over again.  I purposely did not type it up to look fancy, because I wanted its simplicity to remind me that before God, my character is exposed.  I must look at the inner parts, the inmost places.

10/14/13

Prayer: For Our Daily Bread

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is excerpted and adapted from a chapter by Terry Adame who is now women’s ministry leader in San Diego, California.

“Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (Matthew 6:28-30)

Every one of us has daily needs—needs that so easily can become worries and anxieties if we are not trusting and relying on God through prayer.  First, Jesus teaches us to pray, “Give us today our daily bread.”  Then he calls us to trust that God will meet all these needs.

10/6/13

Alone and in Private

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is excerpted and adapted from a chapter by Kim Strondak who is now a disciple of Jesus in Portland, ME.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?     (Psalm 42:1-2).
Memories of an early morning prayer walk at Loon Mountain remind me of the power of private prayer.  At 5:00 a.m. I gazed up at the stars and the moon in the cool out-of-doors.  The mountains engulfed me in their majesty as I sat perched on a large boulder, waiting to pray with a sister.  But she didn’t show.  God knew that I needed   time alone with him. 

9/29/13

Reasoning with God

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is excerpted and adapted from a chapter by Randy McKean who now serves as an evangelist and elder in Northern Virginia.

A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me!  My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession. . .” He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to their dogs.”[puppy dogs] “Yes, Lord,” she said, “but even the dogs [wild dogs] eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”  Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted” (Matthew 15:21-28).

Reasoning with God in prayer is an expression of great faith and God always rewards faith-especially great faith!  This is one of the two times in the New Testament where Jesus commends a person for having “great faith.”  Certainly the Canaanite woman was persistent but, more than that, she reasoned with Jesus.  Initially, no one listened to her plea.  Then she was told “No” with a short explanation.  Eventually she was told “No” again with a further explanation.  At this point, she began to reason with Jesus which demonstrated a deep belief concerning his ability to heal her daughter.  Jesus did not take offense at this-in fact he was quite impressed!  He appreciated her expression of great faith. 

9/22/13

Honest to God

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is an excerpt from a chapter by Dave Eastman who serves as an evangelist in the Chicago Church of Christ. 

How long, O Lord? 
Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
(Psalm 13:1-2).

How many of us have felt this way at some point? It is likely that David wrote this during the time when Saul was hunting him from place to place, a very intense time for him.  What needs to impress us about this prayer of David is not his great faith, nor his meekness before God nor his peace during trial—it is his heartfelt honesty.

9/15/13

The Power of Praise

           For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is an excerpt from a chapter by Leigh Kinnard who serves as a women’s ministry leader in the New York City Church of Christ.              

              Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

There is power in praise and in thanksgiving.  There is power in looking at what God has done and then rejoicing and being grateful. If this were not powerful, God would not call for it.  Pray continually.  But what should be the content of those continual prayers?

9/8/13

God Blesses Hungry Hearts

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is the second of two excerpts from chapter by Steve Kinnard who serves as a teacher in the New York City Church of Christ.

When we pray rightly and righteously, it allows God to work powerfully in our lives.  Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).  They will be filled—it will happen.  “Ask, and it will be given to you;  seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).  Those who seek will not be denied. 

9/1/13

Hungering for God

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is the first of two we will publish from a chapter by Steve Kinnard who serves as a teacher in the New York City Church of Christ.
            

               As a doe longs for running streams,
                so longs my soul for you, my God.

                My soul thirsts for God, the God of life;
                when shall I go to see the face of God?
                (Psalm 42:1‑2, The Jerusalem Bible)

True prayer is a yearning for God.  The person who rightly prays hungers and thirsts for God.  Most people in the developed world have never really been hungry.  At most we have experienced a self-imposed hunger from fasting.  I once fasted for 21 days on just water.  By the fourth day, I felt really hungry.  Every cell in my body was crying out for food.  But my situation was somewhat artificial.  At any moment I could have grabbed a hamburger or pulled out a “Twinkie.”  With real hunger comes a sense of desperation—and urgency.

8/25/13

God Enjoys Our Prayers

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995 by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is excerpted and adapted from a chapter by Robyn Williams who serves as women’s ministry leader in the Los Angeles Church of Christ.

Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people (Revelation 5:8b)

For there to be a relationship, both people must communicate.  God speaks to us through his Word; we speak to God through our prayers.  As we open up our hearts and thoughts to him in prayer, God enjoys hearing our prayers.  They are like golden bowls of incense to him.

8/18/13

Able to Save Completely

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray  ©1995  by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is an excerpt from a chapter by Marilyn Kreite who now lives in British Columbia.

Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. . . .He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself (Hebrews 7:25, 27b).

We go through times where we study, we pray, we share our faith.  We see ourselves growing, really changing to be like Jesus.  God blesses us with fruit, and our friends commend us.  It is well with our souls. . .  Suddenly, deep crevices of sin are exposed in our hearts, and the walls of well-being crack and cave in.  Our sinfulness looms larger than life–larger, it seems, than the blood of Jesus can ever conquer.  Tidal waves of doubt assail us. He saved me once from all my sins.  Can he do it again? 

8/12/13

Abba, Father

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray©1995  by Discipleship Publications International and edited by Tom and Sheila Jones. This week’s post is an excerpt from a chapter by Tom.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).
  
God is amazing.  He can shine enough light through a small window to illuminate a whole house.  In three small New Testament verses he opens up for us a whole new way of understanding him and the kind of relationship we can enjoy with him now and forever.  First, we have Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, saying  “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36).  Then we have Paul, in Romans 8:15 (above) and in Galatians 4:6, saying that those of us who have come into Christ can also cry “Abba, Father.” 

8/4/13

Almighty God

For a few weeks we are featuring material from Teach Us to Pray©1995  by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is an excerpt from a chapter by Ron Drabot who now ministers in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Upon taking a ministry staff position at the age of 23 in Columbus, Ohio, I quickly realized that leading, maintaining and growing a spiritual ministry was much beyond what I humanly could accomplish.  A mighty deed such as this required direct help from an Almighty God.

7/28/13

Teach Us to Pray

The next few weeks we will feature material from Teach Us to Pray ©1995  by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is an excerpt from the Introduction to the book which was edited by Tom A. and Sheila Jones.

When the disciples said to Jesus, as recorded in Luke 11:1, “Lord, teach us to pray,” for once they were asking for the right thing. If a relationship with God is the most important matter in life, then nothing is more important than knowing how to pray.

7/21/13

Heaven Will Not Disappoint

This week we feature one final chapter from The Promises of God ©1998 by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is an excerpt from a chapter written by Tom.


A lot of things don’t live up to our expectations. I remember a family vacation we took when I was a young teen. We had saved for months to go to a golfing paradise. Upon arrival our vision was dashed. The place was a dump. The hotel rooms were dirty. The golf course was worse. The fairways were as hard as rock and the greens were the worst we had ever seen. We played nine holes and asked for our money back. Heaven will not be like that. No one will be disappointed. 

7/14/13

He Will Save the Crushed in Spirit

This week we continue to  feature material from The Promises of God ©1998 by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is an excerpt from a chapter by Marylou Craig who serves along side her husband Larry who is an elder in the New York City Church of Christ.

 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

All of us as servants of God will face various kinds of injustice. We will be wounded by the destructive forces of sin in our world. It may be ill treatment by a family member or close friend that will hurt us emotionally, psychologically, or perhaps even physically.

7/7/13

Your Enemy Will Flee

Again this week we feature material from The Promises of God ©1998 by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is an excerpt from a chapter by Jimmy Allen who is an elder and evangelist in the Greater Hartford Church.

We have a common enemy that must be overcome. The devil is variously described as the accuser, the adversary, the enemy, an evil spirit, the father of lies, a murderer, the power of darkness, the prince of this world, the ruler of the darkness of this world, the spirit that works in the children of disobedience, the tempter, the god of this world, and the wicked one. Quite a list! He relentlessly attacks the world, the church and individuals. He is a great strategist, liar and cheat. You had better get ready!

6/30/13

Though You Have Many Troubles, I Will Deliver You from Them All

Again this week we feature material from The Promises of God ©1998 by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is an excerpt from a chapter by my good friend, Steve Brown, who  now makes his home in McAllen, Texas.

A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all…
                                                                                                                                Psalm 34:19

Like Tanya Tucker used to sing, “It’s never any trouble for me to find some kind of trouble.”

I think of Victor, a twenty-two-year-old college student who recently died from cancer. He was a disciple. He loved God. He was fruitful—reaching out and converting his neighbor. And all the while cancer ravaged his body. Then there is Karen, who became a disciple a few years ago. Like many, she hoped that her husband, who was actually reached out to before she was, would also become a Christian. He didn’t. Instead, their marriage ended in divorce and she has been a single mom with four small children to raise alone. Then there is my own case: Forty years old with four kids and working in the ministry. Without warning, I went from being an active, athletic man (well, that’s what my wife says) to being crippled and paralyzed on one side with multiple sclerosis—no more road races with my sons, or one-on-one basketball, or any other sports with them.

6/25/13

God's Delight

This past weekend Sheila and I had the honor of spending time with the Jackson Church in Jackson, Mississippi. While there, I was reminded of a passage from Psalms that has long been a favorite of mine:

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man;
 the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. Psalm 147:10-11

Of course, you would expect me to like this passage since my legs haven’t worked much for the last fifteen or twenty years. I am just glad that is not counted against me! But the passage is about much more than legs. It is telling us that man’s ways are not God’s ways. God is not impressed with the things men are normally impressed with. God does not look at things the same way we do.

6/16/13

In All Things God Will Work for Good

Again this week we feature an excerpt from The Promises of God ©1998 by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is from a chapter by Henry Kriete who  lives in British Columbia.

                          And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28

Life can overwhelm us sometimes. Tragedy can overtake us. Disappointments and failures and misunderstandings can wreak havoc with our best plans and most cherished dreams. Friends suffer, and loved ones die. Diseases rip us apart, and trusted partners fail us. We are overlooked for promotions, slandered, forgotten, neglected and even abused. Maybe we can’t bear children. A spouse is unfaithful. God forbid, we are asked to pick up and move. Perhaps we are betrayed—if not for thirty pieces of silver, at least with a kiss. And not to mention our own sin—against others and God—time and time again. “All things” is a lot of things.

6/9/13

Change Your...Listening

Sometimes we need a mind change to overcome a challenging circumstance like an illness or a loss. Sometimes we need a mind change to overcome an obstacle that could stop a good work. But very often we need a mind change because our minds are not as much like that of Jesus as they need to be.
Today in the assembly, the preacher read from James:My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…” (James 1:19). The preacher gave some good examples of how we should apply this, and then I thought about some other ways that this passage needs to change our minds.

6/2/13

God's Discipline Produces a Harvest

 Again this week we feature an excerpt from The Promises of God ©1998 by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is from a chapter by Barbara Porter, women's leader in the South Florida church.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

[In the opening of the chapter Barbara described a very challenging time she and husband, John, went through in dealing with medical problems developed by their children. Then she writes what follows.]

I remember wrestling with Psalm 119 many times and meditating on verses 75-76, “I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness you have afflicted me. May your unfailing love be my comfort…”.  Although we could not cling to any particular medicine or treatment, we could most assuredly trust that God was allowing us to undergo this trial. It was all happening, not in spite of God’s faithfulness, but because of God’s faithfulness. Nevertheless, it was difficult to “feel” God’s unfailing love and comfort. We literally had to decide to believe what the Bible teaches and trust in the very nature of God, that he is love. We had to remember that this discipline would produce a harvest of righteousness and peace if we allowed ourselves to be trained by it.

5/26/13

I Will Not Forget You!

Again this week we feature an excerpt from The Promises of God ©1998 by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is from a chapter that Sheila wrote for the book.


“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child she has borne?

Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!
16 
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are ever before me.  (Is. 49:`15-16)


A true story: Two-day-old Carly was lying contentedly in her hospital “cradle” with her sleeping mother nearby, exhausted from the birth ordeal. When her mother awakened, she cast a sleepy gaze toward her baby. Her eyes widened in horror. Panic rose. Her heart began to pound rapidly. Carly was gone! Her bed was empty.

5/19/13

I Will Sustain You

Again this week we feature an excerpt from The Promises of God ©1998 by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is from a chapter that I wrote for the book.

"Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
        all you who remain of the house of Israel,
    you whom I have upheld since you were conceived,
        and have carried since your birth.
  Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he,
        I am he who will sustain you.
    I have made you and I will carry you;
        I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
                                                                                  Isaiah 46:3-4

Those of you reading this book surely represent many age groups. Some of you are still in your youth and can hardly imagine ever growing old. Even if getting old seems like something very far off, think about this: In some way life is not always going to be as it is now. You are going to experience changes and some of them will be a bit unnerving. You may not like to think about it, but some of you who have been healthy will get sick.

5/12/13

If You Seek Me...You Will Find Me

Again this week we feature an excerpt from The Promises of God ©1998 by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is from a chapter written by Jeff Chacon.

God is merciful. He is truly the God of the second chance, and the third, and the fourth, and God delivered to me another of his very precious promises, a promise that is ever so precious when it is needed ever so badly:

5/5/13

If You Forgive Others


Again this week we feature an excerpt from The Promises of God ©1998 by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is from a chapter written by Roger Lamb.

The need to forgive others is incredibly real. Most of us grow up learning to be disillusioned with promises—especially promises to forgive. We both forgive and ask for forgiveness, thinking that we have buried the hatchet. But just a single fit of rage later, we quickly reach for the handle of the hatchet again. It may be the handle to one or one hundred past hurts that we sling at the person who has committed the new offense. We have all been on the receiving end of that hatchet, and it is not a pretty sight. And it does not feel good. That is the definition of dysfunctional relationships: the inability to solve conflict and forgive.

4/28/13

The Power of a Promise


For the next few weeks we will post excerpts adapted from The Promises of God ©1998 by Discipleship Publications International. This week’s post is by yours truly.

Disappointments with employers, politicians, those who owe us money and maybe even family members have made some of us highly skeptical about promises. Often promises have come to represent efforts to pacify us at the moment. They can be easily made because the promiser does not usually have to fulfill the promise immediately. But if we allow our disillusionment about man and his promises to color our view of the promises of God, we make a terrible mistake. 

4/21/13

The Cross - Part 2


Today we are reprinting a final excerpt from the 1993 book, Thirty Days at the Foot of the Cross.  


"The cross puts everything to the test," wrote Martin Luther. How much more powerfully and righteously we will live if we learn to ask in every situation: "What does the cross mean here?"

4/14/13

The Cross - Part 1


Today and next Monday we reprint two final excerpts from the 1993 book, Thirty Days at the Foot of the Cross. These final two segments were written by Tom.

 Before the cross we stand amazed. How can one event be so rich in meaning? How can something once so repugnant and loathsome now point to solutions to every human problem? Only through the working of God could it be so.

4/7/13

Turning the Tables


Today we again feature excerpts from the 1993 book, Thirty Days at the Foot of the Cross. These thoughts are by John McGuirk who now leads the church in Paris, France.


"Since the children have flesh and blood, he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil. . ." (Hebrews 2:14).
Double and triple teamed even from birth by Satan, who regarded him as public enemy number one, Jesus never gave in to sin, not even once. Satan pulled out all the stops, and he stopped at nothing.  He had the home court advantage, and Jesus was in his deadly sights at all times. 

Jesus never earned the wages of sin and did not deserve to die, and in fact didn't have to die.  However, as Satan lost his effort to pull Jesus into sin, he no doubt took satisfaction in seeing Jesus accused, despised, abused and executed. Watching so many people doing his bidding had to give him a feeling of power.  But it was short-lived.  What looked like Satan's greatest hour became God's greatest victory.   The tables were dramatically turned as Jesus burst forth from that grave on the first day of the week.  Evil seemed to have the upper hand, but righteousness walked away in triumph.

3/24/13

Denial without Regret


Today we again feature excerpts from the 1993 book, Thirty Days at the Foot of the Cross. These thoughts are by Javier Amaya who lived in Boston at the time and now has returned to serve the church there again.


"Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers" (1 John 3:16).

 And Jesus said, "That's enough!. . .Have him do it not me!. . .That's not my responsibility!. . .I'm tired; let somebody else do it. . .I'll do it later!. . .Why me?. . .You do it. . .It's too late, and I've done enough. . .That's not my job. . .Get off my back!. . .I'll do it at my pace and when I feel like it."

3/17/13

Life through Death


This week we are reprinting an excerpt from a chapter by Gordon Ferguson in Thirty Days at the Foot of the Cross.
  
"Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.  The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:23-25).

We human beings are our own worst enemies.  We want control.  We want our own judgment, our opinions, our desires, our power!  We refuse to deny self daily and stay surrendered.  Therefore, failure and frustration creep in once more. 

3/10/13

Who Gets the Credit?


"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Galatians 6:14)

 The cross affirms our worth.  The cross frees us from performing, from making sure we get the credit due us.  In our old natures, we take that credit and very carefully wrap our sense of worth around it.  We are fearful of losing any credit, because that would lessen the amount of worth that we could wrap around it.  Less credit—less worth, we reason.

3/3/13

Watch Out for the World's Mold

“With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.” (Romans 12:1-2, J.B. Phillips New Testament in Modern English)


New life in Jesus means a different life in Jesus. It means saying “No” to a whole system of thinking that is all around us, trying to press us into its mold. It means saying “Yes” to a radically new way of thinking that presents itself as the Age to Come breaks into this present age in the form of the Kingdom of God. Sadly, too many say “Yes” to Jesus and then proceed to just baptize their culture and keep living by its dictates instead of letting Jesus remold their thinking and lead them on a new road altogether.

If that is all you have time for today, let me suggest you just meditate on that idea, but when you have time for a much longer read, I hope you will check out this piece on “Jesus, Politics and Social Media” which is found on our new “Articles” tab on the Mind Change site.

2/24/13

Nothing Will Stop Him from Loving


"But God demonstrated his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

We don't feel good at all when we know we are unloved.  We don't feel much better when we aren't sure if we are loved. But what a difference it makes when we absolutely know that we are loved--when there has been a demonstration that proves it.

However, if we know we are loved because of our looks or our money or our performance, an insecurity lies just below the surface of those good feelings.  As good as it feels to be loved, we know we could lose it if accident, illness, bankruptcy or failure were to rob us of those things that endear us to others.

2/17/13

Needs Met


I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Philippians 4:18-20  

Paul uses financial terms to express spiritual principles.  He is first eager to “credit to their account” (or affirm) their concern for his needs.  He is just as eager to let them know their gift was far more than a “full payment” for the ways he had poured himself out for them.  Not that Paul was expecting or demanding to be repaid, he simply wanted the disciples to see the working of an important spiritual principle:  When we give to meet the needs of others, God will amply supply our own needs (with interest).  In others words, we can never outgive God.  As Jesus put it, lose your life and you find it.

2/10/13

I Have Learned the Secret


“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13  

One of the most memorized  lines in Philippians comes as Paul plucks words from the beliefs of his day and gives them entirely new meanings.  First he says, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”  He uses the favorite word of every Stoic—the Greek word autarxia.  To the Stoic it meant “self-sufficiency or not needing a thing because I have mastered myself.”  Paul had something else in mind.

2/3/13

The Power of (Faithful) Thoughts


Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable¾if anything is excellent or praiseworthy¾think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me¾put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:8-9).

What kind of day did you have yesterday?  What kind of week have you had?  In what direction is your thinking tending to go?  Are you feeling positive and upbeat or negative and discouraged?  Ready to take on the world or head back to bed?  Paul’s message to you is this:  when you are “in the Lord” (back to vs. 4), you can always change your mind, and when you change your mind, everything changes.  If life is feeling like a heavy weight, if problems are threatening to overwhelm you, if the forecast offers little hope of sunshine, you can still set your mind on right and good things that will change the way you feel.

1/27/13

Rejoice...Always


Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all.  The Lord is near (Philippians 4:4-5).


 It is rather amazing the way circumstances can enhance credibility.  It would be one thing to hear “rejoice always” from someone living in plenty, comfort and great health.  It is a different thing altogether to hear it from someone living in circumstances that would test and challenge us all. At the time of this writing Paul was not in good circumstances.  He had been in worse ones, but Roman imprisonment was no picnic, and if conditions on the inside weren’t so good, neither were some of those on the “outside” where the church was not always being what God wanted her to be.  And yet, Paul insisted that he and others could still rejoice.  They could still affirm life, or, more accurately, they could still affirm God.

1/20/13

Pressing On


Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.  Only let us live up to what we have already attained (Philippians 3:13-16).

Salvation is not through a “righteousness of our own.”  But if that thought leads to sloth or laziness, we show we have missed the grace of God.   There is so much more to know.  There is so much more growing to do.  The heart that understands Christ is “compelled by the love of Christ.” The disciple who realizes that Jesus has taken hold of him, wants to take hold of everything that Jesus has planned for his life.  Such a one does not sit and wait for life to come to him; he “presses on.”  This word (dioko) was used in both hunting and foot racing.  It could describe pursuing, chasing, even overtaking and capturing. Inspired by Christ, the true disciple wants to “go for it”¾to discover all God has in the storehouses of his love.

1/13/13

Knowing Christ



                   I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:11).
               
 I want to know Christ.  The man who had a face-to-face encounter with the risen Lord said simply, “I want to know Christ.”  Did he not already know him?  After three days of fasting and prayer (Acts 9:9)?  After three years of personal training (Galatians 1:11-24)?  After a visit to the third heaven (visions and revelations, 2 Corinthians 12:1-6)?  Paul uses the Greek verb ginoskein which is kin to the Hebrew that describes the sexual relationship in marriage. Paul is not thinking sexually here, but he did want an ever-growing, personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

1/6/13

Shining



Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life (Philippians 2:14-16a).

 Dark nights were also as dark as they are now.  Paul’s generation was as “crooked and depraved” as is our own.    People then had the same, ”What’s-in-it-for-me?” attitudes as they do now:  “I’m not going to do any more than I have to.”  “Why should I work?  She isn’t!”  “I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it.  I don’t really care who it hurts.  After all, what I want is the most important consideration here.”  Lust, selfishness, pride, deceit¾no century has had a corner on the commodities of the sinful nature.