Something New Starting

There is a new congregation coming to Fort Dodge. It is called Joy in Life Church. This will be an elder-led congregation. The elders/pastor(s) will teach and equip the saints for the work of the ministry, which will be led and overseen by the deacons.

What will not be allowed is for people to tear others down. There will no room for divisive attitudes. There will be no room for divisive words. There will be no room for divisive actions. There will be no room for speaking ill of and tearing down others with speech or actions.

On the contrary, what the focus will be is found in the following 3 passages:

“Pursue love, and be zealous for spiritual things, but so that you may prophesy all the more. For the one speaking a tongue does not speak to people, but to God, for no one hears, but in spirit he speaks mysteries. But the one prophesying speaks to people edification and exhortation and comfort. The one speaking a tongue edifies himself, but the one prophesying builds up the congregation” – 1 Corinthians 14:1-4

“How stands the case then, brothers? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.” – 1 Corinthians 14:26

“Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25

The focus will be on pouring into the lives of others through word and deed. This pouring will be done through pouring love and edification into others. It will be done through encouraging others into deeper love and greater works. It’s all about building up, not tearing down.

So, this is active, not passive. The people are to be participating in pouring into the lives of others. And they need to be prepared to do so at all times, whether planned or unexpected.

Because of this, anytime there is a gathering of the congregation, while the purpose for the gathering may vary, the motivation will remain the same.

If the purpose of the gathering is for worship, the motivation is pouring into others and building them up.

If the purpose of the gathering is fellowship, the motivation is pouring into others and building them up.

If the purpose of the gathering is ministry, the motivation is pouring into others and building them up.

Whatever the purpose of the gathering, the motivation is pouring into the lives of others and building them up.

This means that the people must be prepared before going to the gathering. They must consider from the Holy Spirit how He would have them participate in pouring into someone’s life at the gathering and building up that person.

This is how I, as the lead pastor of this new congregation, will be teaching and leading the people, for, you see, if the people are always prepared to pour into the life of another and build up that person, whether the opportunity is planned or unexpected, the amount of people whose lives are building built up and encouraged will be great and the opportunities will abound.

May God be praised.

Not Good enough

I had a conversation with someone who knows I am a pastor. During this conversation, he made a statement that, due to time and circumstances, I didn’t have the opportunity to address, but wished I did.

What was that statement? He said, “My Christianity is doing good deeds.”

What’s the problem with that statement? It’s not good enough. The Bible doesn’t teach that what it means to be a Christian is doing good deeds. My goodness, there are those who don’t believe God even exists who do good things. In fact, there are many!

Now, don’t get me wrong. Doing good works is a natural result of being a follower of Christ, but just doing good works does not make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage with a car makes you a mechanic.

The Bible, in multiple places, is very clear about what it means to become a Christian:

John 1:12 – “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to be children of God, to those believing in His name.”

Romans 10:9: “Anyone who confesses with his mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believes in his heart that God has raised Him from the dead will be saved.”

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

Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are you saved, through faith,and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, lest anyone should boast.”

The list could go on and on and on.

Christianity isn’t good works, though there are good works done. Christianity is about one receiving Jesus through belief, believing that He was God in flesh, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, crucified, buried, resurrected on the 3rd day, and is returning for those who have received Him.

It is about repenting, confessing sin, and turning to Jesus as one’s only hope for salvation and eternal life. There are many good people who do good deeds who are on the path to an eternity without God and of torment. It is called hell.

Any definition of Christianity that does not have this life-altering encounter with the risen Christ, which occurs through repentance, confessing, and belief, falls woefully short. And any type of Christianity that is only about doing good works is not true Christianity.

I hope I have the opportunity to share more with this person. But as I close this post, I guess my question to him about his type of “Christianity” would be thus: “In your type of Christianity, how many good deeds is enough to get you into heaven and how many bad deeds is one too many to keep you out?”

What is the question?

Over my many years of being a follower of Jesus, being a pastor, and being knowledgeable of a variety of congregations and situations, I believe that there is something that must be stated. Actually, it should be shouted from everywhere. There is something very important that is often forgotten about, not considered much, if at all, what should happen whenever those who claim to be followers of Jesus gather together. And it doesn’t matter the stated purpose of the gathering. It could be a gathering for worship; it still applies. It could be a business meeting; it still applies. It could be a board meeting; it still applies. It could be an informal gathering; it still applies. Whatever the reason for the gathering, it still applies.

Let me give you two passages of Scripture:

1 Corinthians 14:26 – “What shall we say then, brothers? When you come together, each has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, or has an interpretation. Let all be for edification.”

Hebrews 10:24-25 – “…and let us consider how we may encourage one another unto love and good works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves, just as some are in the habit of doing, but being encouraging, and so much more as you see the day approaching.”

Between the Apostle Paul and the writer of Hebrews, there are to be 3 things that are to be the goal of every gathering: edification, building up others in love, and encouraging each other unto good works. In my many years of following Christ, I have personally been present at, and have heard from others about their experiences, gatherings where not only were these three things not the focus or goal, their opposites were. I have seen people torn down; I have seen hateful and spiteful things said about others; I have seen people step away from doing ministry/good works because of hurtful and vindictive things being said to them.

Honestly, what these people who say and do these opposing things have as their goal is control. They want to be in charge. They want to have the power. They want to be the ones calling the shots, And if they feel like someone is somehow threatening their control or not falling line with what they think should be done, then they attack.

My wife has had this happen to her. I know, but the perpetrator doesn’t know I know, that a woman in one of the congregations I have served, in a restaurant among her friends, was being quite negative and critical of my wife. She was saying hurtful things about her, tearing her down, as she was talking to her friends while there in the restaurant. And I believe she felt perfectly justified in doing so, even though it goes against these two passages and others. For this woman, it was all about her getting her way; it was all about her being in charge; it was all about the others in the congregation looking to her for guidance in the area of the church’s music ministry rather than my wife. She definitely felt threatened by my wife’s anointing in the area of music. And she sought to tear down my wife in multiple ways because of it. Definitely not edifying, building up another in love, or encouraging one to go further in good works. And if I may be so bold, she was actually doing the work of the devil, because he seeks to tear down and destroy. That’s what she was doing.

It has become far too common, expected even, that when Christians gather together, for people to be torn down, to have hateful, mean, and vindictive things said to and about them, and/or to be discouraged from doing ministry because those who want to be in charge don’t like how these others do or might do ministry/good deeds.

Frankly, should it come as any surprise that so many congregations are struggling to survive when the above is the reality? Young people are rejecting the church in droves. They are neither stupid nor blind. They see these things occur. These are the same things they experience out in the world, in their jobs, in their schools, and other places. Why would they want to experience it again in a church? They don’t because they aren’t dumb.

I know of pastors who have left the pastorate because of these types of experiences, of having hurtful and hateful things said by members of their congregations about them and their families. And you couldn’t pay them enough to return to the pastorate.

Let me end this post this way. Do you ever consider, as you anticipate and prepare to be present at a gathering of believers, how you will actively build up others present at that gathering, how you will build them up in love, and/or how you will encourage/spur them on to deeper ministry/good works? Or do you give it no thought at all?

And that is the question.

Devotional for August 14, 2017: “The Right Question Follow-up”

“But sanctify Christ in your hearts, always ready with an answer to everyone asking you for an account about the hope that is in you.” – 1 Peter 3:15

Recently, I shared a clip of Dr. John Perkins talking about a question that Christians shouldn’t be asking people. If you didn’t see it, click here. I have not been able to get what Dr. Perkins said out of my mind.

It reminded me of a personal account I read some years ago by a pastor who served on a college campus. He had started a relationship with a young man, a college student. While they were talking over coffee one day, the pastor decided to share the gospel message with this young man. As he was explaining the gospel to him, the young man was nodding his head like he was agreeing with what he was hearing.

So, the pastor decided to go for “closing the deal.” He asked the young man if he wanted to pray to receive Christ as Savior. The pastor was shocked by what the young man said next. He said, “No thank you.” The pastor responded, “I don’t understand. You seemed to be agreeing with everything I said. Why don’t you want to become a Christian?”

The young man responded, “Because I don’t want to be like you.”

And there it is – “I don’t want to be like you.” Explaining the gospel to someone doesn’t work if that person doesn’t want to be what the gospel has created you to be. What that young man had seen from Christians, what he had seen people be changed into after becoming a follower of Christ, was not good in his eyes. And he didn’t want to become that type of person.

And that’s the reason why I quoted Peter’s words from his first letter. So, let me ask you this question:

When was the last time someone said he or she wanted to be like you?

When was the last time, because of how you live life because of being a follower of Jesus, because of how He has changed your life, that someone observed that and asked you about it or said, “How do I become like you?”

Living a life that is led by faith, living a life that is full of power, living a life that is so interwoven with peace, living a life full of the fruit of the Spirit, that type of life is so unlike what people see that, when they do see it, they want to know how they can experience it as well.

So, let me finish by asking this question for your deep consideration:

How has the gospel so radically altered you and changed your life to be so different from others that they cannot help but take notice?

Devotional for August 13, 2017 – “Ever Thought of Asking This Question?”

“And this is the confidence which we have toward Him, that whatever we should ask according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us whatever we should ask, we know that we have the requests which we request from Him.” – 1 John 5:14-15

There is a particular phenomenon that can be found on Facebook. It can be found in other places, but it seems to be quite prevalent on social media. Maybe you’ve noticed it. Maybe you have even participated in it. What is this phenomenon? People asking people to pray about something or for someone. When this is done, it is common for the expected way to pray to be stated or implied. So, a person is asked to pray and told the result for which s/he is expected to pray.

But here’s the problem; what if that’s not what God wants to do? According to the words of John the Apostle from above, the confidence in praying and knowing that God hears us is when we pray what is according to His will.

What about, before praying, we actually ask God what He wants to do in a particular situation and then we pray that? What if praying becomes about what God wants to do and less, or nothing, about what we want? What if praying becomes more about God and less about us? What if the focus of prayer shifts to God and His will, instead of ours?

Sometimes I wonder if the common way that prayer is approached today is more like treating God like a butler or a genie and expecting Him to adhere to our desires and wants than it is about Him.

I know of a long time follower of Jesus who refuses to pray for traveling safety for someone. No, it’s not that he doesn’t care about the person, but it was through an accident while traveling that God got ahold of him. So this man says, “What if God wants to use some type of traffic incident to do something in that person’s life like He did with him? Because of that possibility, I won’t pray for traveling mercies for a person.”

So, before praying, stop and take some time to ask God what He wants to do. Then close the mouth and open the ears, physically and those of your spirit. Understand that this could take some time. God may not speak immediately, but He will speak eventually. Listen to what comes to you. And then pray that.

And when you do that, you will be moving from praying to proclaiming. And then you will see your confidence in praying grow.

Devotional for August 12, 2017: “Opening the Mind”

“Now He said to them, ‘These are my words which I spoke to you while was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” – Luke 24:44-45

What can often go overlooked about the above passage is how it played out in how the apostles did things in Acts. Notice what Jesus said. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He opened their minds to understand how the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms spoke about Him.

Take a look at the early chapters of Acts, maybe up through chapter 10 or so, where the apostles and others preached, paying specific attention to those places where they quote from Scripture, meaning what we know today as the Old Testament. Would you like to guess from what portions of the Scriptures they quoted? You guessed it: the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Those were the quotes that they used to prove that Jesus is the Christ.

Jesus opened their minds to understand and it showed in how they thought and how they went about demonstrating to people who were listening to them why Jesus was who He said He was and what He had to endure and experience. And understood they did.

What about us today? Obviously the way in which Jesus opened the minds of the disciples (He was physically with them) is not what has happened to us, but through the Holy Spirit, we who believe have had our minds open as well to understand, to have a level of perception that goes beyond the physical into the spiritual.

At one point in his first letter to the Corinthian believers, Paul says that we, believers, have the mind of Christ because we have the Spirit. That means our perception and understanding of things are at a different level.

So, remember that. Seek to have that perception and understanding sharpened by spending time with the one who gave us that mind – the Spirit. It will open up things to you like never before.

Devotional for August 11, 2017 – “You Are not Impotent”

“[that you may know] what is the surpassing greatness of His power unto us who are believing according to the energizing of the might of His strength, which He energized in Christ, raising Him from death and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenlies far above all rule and authority and power and lordship and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the coming one and He subjected everything under His feet and gave Him to be the head over all things for the church, which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.” – Ephesians 1:19-23

As a believer, have you ever felt powerless? How about impotent? Have you ever convinced yourself that you were powerless or impotent? Well, that’s a lie straight from the pit of hell and the father of lies, Satan himself.

You are not powerless nor impotent, not because you, in yourself have power, but because God has directed the very same power that energized the resurrection of Christ toward and in you and through you. You are powerful because of God’s power.

That means that the power of Satan and his followers cannot hold a candle to you as a follower of Jesus. Because he knows that, Satan has to resort to convincing you that you are not powerful but impotent. He knows that if you realize the power that flows through you because of the power that God has directed toward, in, and through you, he’s in big trouble.

So, remember who and whose you are and what the One who has claimed you has poured into you. When you remember this, how you approach different situations will change. When you remember this, it is amazing how you can impact this world by directing the power of God and His kingdom in this realm.

Devotional for August 10, 2017: “Stop Asking This Question”

For today’s devotional, I invite you to click here and listen to this short clip of Dr. John Perkins explaining why Christians must stop asking people this question. It might surprise you.

Devotional for August 9, 2017: “Biblical Belief”

“For in the same way God loved the world that He gave His only unique Son, that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

You may have noticed that my translation of what is probably the most well-known verse in the Bible is a little different than the common translations. My translation is actually the correct one. Jesus isn’t talking about the quality or the depth of God’s love. He’s talking about how God went about displaying His love, and it is in direct connection with what He has just said in verses 14-15. I’d invite you to see how the preceding verses connect with what Jesus says in verse 16 and on.

But that’s not the topic of today’s devotional; it’s about belief and what biblical belief is.

Biblical belief changes one’s perspective.

Biblical belief changes how one sees things. It changes how one views the world and people. Biblical belief changes how you think. If your beliefs do not change your perspective, then they aren’t truly beliefs. They are nothing more than propositional truths that you know in your head.

Biblical belief changes one’s actions.

One’s actions reveal what one truly believes. That’s the foundation of biblical belief. The statement, “And you shall know them by their fruit,” is true for what one truly believes. What a person truly believes is upon what a person acts. If you don’t believe a chair will hold your weight, you won’t sit in it. Whether or not you are willing to sit in that chair reveals what you truly believe about that chair. It’s the same way with what we believe about God.

Do you believe that God will provide as He promised? Then you will be generous with money when He calls you to give. If you aren’t, then you don’t truly believe He will provide, because biblical belief is belief upon which we act.

So, what do you say you truly believe? What do your actions say you truly believe? And do they match?

Devotional for August 8th, 2017 – “What Will You Choose”

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled nor be afraid.” – Jesus (John 14:27)

If Jesus left his peace with us and not only left it but gave it to us, then why is stress such common thing for followers of Jesus? Is it because Jesus lied and really didn’t leave His peace or give it? Is it because Jesus’ peace really isn’t worth much at all and isn’t very good at dealing with stress in one’s life?

Obviously, the answers to both of those questions is, “Absolutely not!” Then why do so many Christians struggle with stress, with being “stressed out” in life and the situations in which they find themselves?

Could it be that they haven’t taken hold of what has been given to them? Could it be that they don’t understand what is theirs in the first place?

Peace isn’t the opposite of stress; trust is.

This is important to understand. Peace isn’t the opposite of stress any more than peace is the absence of war. Peace is the result. Trusting in God and who He is for you is the opposite of stress. How much stress do you think there is in heaven? The way some Christians are so stressed out about things would cause one to think that God is sitting in heaven freaking out wondering what He’s going to do about a certain situation or pulling out his hair because of not knowing what to do.

Peace comes from proper perspective

There is no stress in heaven. God is in absolute control, of EVERYTHING! Nothing is outside of His control. And if that is reality (and it is), then trusting the One who has all things under control brings about that peace. It’s there; it has been left here and given by Jesus. It is ours for the taking. When we have this perspective, peace comes naturally. When we view things through the lens of heaven, peace is the natural result.

And that brings me to the last thing…

Peace is a choice; I get to choose.

Life is full of choices, but this is an important one. Each of us gets to choose which we will have: stress or peace. We cannot have both. Because peace is the result of trust, and trust is the opposite of stress, peace and stress cannot occupy the same space at the same time. And we get to choose which one we will keep. Personally, I choose peace because, frankly, stress sucks. And who’d want to live that way? I know I don’t. So I choose peace, and it’s wonderful. It doesn’t mean that everything goes right for me, but it does mean that I know God has it handled. And I rest in that. So, as Joshua said to the Israelites in Joshua 24:14-15, “If it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

What will you choose?