Insight for the Journey

There was a youth minister in Texas who loved his Irish Setter.  I mean he loved this dog!  He was so devoted to the dog that when the dog had to go to the animal hospital, the youth minister took his pillow, went to the animal hospital and spent the night in the kennel with Josh, his beloved dog.

The preacher took note of that and decided he would use it as an illustration.  So one Sunday night he had the Youth Pastor bring the dog.  He brought the dog up on the platform.  And the preacher threw a ball down the aisle and he said, “Fetch, Josh.”  And Josh wouldn’t fetch for religion. 

So the preacher called up a banker out of the church and he said, “Get this dog to fetch.”  And the banker took some money out of his wallet, waved it in front of the dog and he said, “Fetch, Josh.”  Josh wouldn’t do it for money. 

The preacher then called up a body builder, a powerful young man.  The body builder growled in Josh’s ear, “Fetch, Fetch!”  But Josh wouldn’t fetch for power. 

The preacher then asked the entire congregation to yell in unison, “Fetch, fetch, fetch, fetch.”  But Josh wouldn’t go get the ball for pressure. 

The preacher then called up a beautiful young girl (auburn hair, clear skin, extremely attractive) and seductively she whispered in the dog’s ear, “Josh, would you please fetch for me?”  And the preacher said he had to admit that the dog did flinch just a little.JJ  But Josh wouldn’t fetch for beauty. 

And then the Youth Pastor, the master, said to the dog, “Fetch, Josh.”  And the dog bolted after that ball, picked it up, and brought it back.  He was obedient to his master, the recognized authority in his life.

Who are you fetchin’ for?

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Recently, my family and I viewed a video at home about flight #93, the United Airlines flight that was hi-jacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001 and eventually crashed in a field killing everyone on board.  Because of the brave actions of the passengers, flight #93 was the only plane hi-jacked that day that did not reach its intended target.  Most experts believe that without the intervention of the passengers that day the plane would have been flown into either the White House or the Capitol Building.

The thing that caught us off guard was the emotion the movie evoked.  I was expecting a sort of a low-budget, second-rate film about something that, although very important, happened seven years ago.  Boy was I wrong!  We were deeply moved.  The movie portrayed phone calls made from people on board to family members and others.  At first they had no idea of what danger they were in.  But as they put the puzzle together, eventually they had enough information to know this was a suicide mission and that their lives were going to end that day one way or another.   That knowledge of impending death changed everything!  It added a sense of urgency and significance to every move they made, every word they said.

When the stakes are “life and death,” friends, it changes everything!  If the people safe on the ground could have done so, they would have done anything, paid any price to get the people they loved safely off that plane that was headed to destruction.  They would have spared no expense, endured any inconvenience, to save the ones they loved.

The Bible says that this world is headed for a fiery destruction.  Not in one or two places, but in dozens of passages, it teaches that.  The enemy of our souls who seeks to kill, steal, and destroy has hi-jacked this planet and our lives and is hell-bent toward destroying as many as possible.

That’s why Jesus came (see Luke 19:10).  His is a rescue mission to save people like you and me who are headed for destruction.  Some are well aware and others aren’t, but we all have a rendezvous with death and judgment (see Hebrews 9:27).  But Jesus said, “I’ve come that you might have life” (see John 10:10).

The church exists to get that message out.  At Grace Fellowship we print it on the back of the bulletin every week.  One of our purposes is to love unbelievers by evangelizing them.  And if we really love people, we will spare no expense, take any risk, remove any barriers to allow them to receive the good news about how they can be rescued.  The task of bringing people to Jesus Christ is the highest mission of the church.  The Bible says that this world with all its pleasures is going to perish (see 1 John 2:15-17).  It’s headed toward a fiery ending one day.  Our only hope is through Jesus Christ.  If we really believe that is true, we’re going to do everything we can to persuade as many people as possible to come to Jesus Christ while there is time.      

The question is, “How far are you willing to go to get that message out?”  We’d do well to hear Paul’s ringing challenge in 1 Corinthians 9.  He is a great model for us of one willing to go to any length to make sure the gospel is heard and seen.  He identified with the culture as much as possible in order to reach as many as possible.  Why?  Because people are on that hi-jacked plane headed for destruction.  Paul says, “Be willing to adapt in order to reach people more effectively.”  If you’re not willing to adapt your approach to fit the culture, you’re not really showing love for those people headed for destruction.  Why would you let your cultural convictions and preferences stand in the way of them coming to Christ?  Listen to how Paul described his passion.

1 Corinthians 9:19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.  22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.  23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Now the key verse in this is verse 22: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”  It seems Paul’s philosophy was, “Whatever it takes!”  I do not mean by “whatever” that he would try to change the essential message.  He expressed forcefully how he felt about anyone who would dare do that (see Galatians 1:6-9).  Paul’s “all things” is referring to non-essentials that can legitimately be changed.  That is, things that would fall in the second and third circles.  Paul was willing to adapt manners, styles and methods if it meant he could build a bridge for the gospel.  Can we do any less?

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In roughly 51 AD Paul made the following statement about himself in 1 Corinthians 15:9 “I am the least of all the apostles.”  To me, that statement reflects humility.  As he looks around at the other apostles he concludes “I am the least.”

Approximately 10 years later in about 61 AD Paul writes the following statement: “I am less than the least of all God’s people” (Ephesians 3:8).  While that could be perceived as humble, many would see that statement as overly demeaning.  Perhaps Paul is using a sort of literary hyperbole, not intending for people to take it literally, but rather catch his self-deprecating tone. 

About three years later in approximately 64 AD he takes it even further in stating, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15).  Notice, he did not say “I used to be the worst.”  He said, “I am the worst.”

Modern popular psychology would conclude that Paul has a terrible self-esteem problem.  Notice the downward spiral over a thirteen year span: “least of the apostles, less than the least of all God’s people, the worst of sinners.”  What is wrong with this guy?

I think grace has a way of boosting us without inflating us and humbling us without destroying us.  The more we understand of the amazing grace of God, the more we are… well, … amazed.  Show me an arrogant, strutting Christian and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t know God very well.

Paul’s grace story made him humble.

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We do not pray because we really don’t think it important enough.

What do you think?  Agree?  Or, disagree?

As I think of my own deficient prayer life and the dearth of it I see in others, this is my only logical conclusion.  I do not say it with a pious, high brow attitude.  I simply state it as a self-evident fact.  If we believed it was more important, we would practice it more.  Period!

We believe in hustle and bustle.  Ours is an age of human confidence and self promotion.  We follow the ‘do it yourself” philosophy of human push and human scheming.

The church of Christ has never had more resources at our fingertips, more money to back us, more savvy technology to aid us, and more knowledge to inform us, than we do today.  But without the animating presence of God to energize us, all these things fall flat.

We need to pray.

What do you think?

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Prayer is the most powerful act in which a true Christ-follower can engage. Do you believe that statement? Or is it just the kind of rhetoric a preacher would use?My sense is that there are very few people, at least in the western world, who really think of prayer as a powerful activity. It is more often seen as the work of the elderly, the physically challenged, or children; those who can’t do for themselves.

But it has not always been that way. Consider these words from R.A. Torrey, a Christian leader from about a century ago:
“Prayer is the key that unlocks all the storehouses of God’s infinite grace and power. All that God is, and all that God has, are at the disposal of prayer. But we must use the key. Prayer can do anything that God can do, and as God can do anything, prayer is omnipotent. No one can stand against the one who knows how to pray and who meets all the conditions of prevailing prayer and who really prays. “The Lord God Omnipotent” works from him and works through him.”

Those words touch places in my soul that seldom get stirred. I long to experience that kind of power from God. What would Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel and other Old Testament leaders have done without the powerful intervention of God? Without that same divine interjection of power, how would the early, first-century church have even gotten off the ground? More personally, how will we stand for God in an increasingly complex society without power from above?

Can I be blunt? Without the “storehouse of God’s infinite grace and power” being unlocked by prayer, we may be exhausting ourselves with religious activity while bearing no lasting fruit.

Have you turned the key lately?

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Socrates once said, “The truth is in the mean.”  By that he meant that the truth is often found only by holding two things in tension.  The best path is often between the two extremes.  For instance, good parenting is keeping your balance between being too strict on one hand, or being overly lenient on the other.  Good parents know how to discipline in love, because both extremes exasperate the child. 

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This weekend at Grace Fellowship we are talking about water baptism.  Most of the people who attend Grace were baptized as infants.  Their parents made that choice for them.  Yet, we encourage people who have consciously chosen to put their faith in Christ to be baptized by immersion, whether they have ever been baptized before or not.  Sometimes that is called “believer’s baptism” because you believe and then choose to be baptized.

This raises all kinds of questions about the nature, purpose, and affects of baptism in a person’s life.  For instance, people ask me sometimes, “Are you saying that if I’m not baptized by immersion I’m lost?  Are you saying that my godly grandmother who was sprinkled for baptism is not in heaven?”  No.  I’m not saying that.  God judges each individual, individually.  He knows our heart, our motives, our opportunity, and he knows our response.  It was a glorious day for me when I realized that I wasn’t suppose to play God and determine everybody else’s salvation.

I’ve known people who were baptized by immersion and went on to live like the devil.  And I’ve known people who were sprinkled as infants, later committed their lives to Christ and demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit, and were never baptized as a believer.  I am suggesting that each of us is responsible for responding to the light that we have.  If there is something that you clearly understand the Bible to be teaching, you are responsible for obeying what you know to do.

Let’s say you own a grocery store and your parents owned the same grocery store, and your grandparents owned the same store before them!  And they are as honest as possible.  But the State Inspector comes in one day and says, “Did you know your scales are off?”  You say, “Well sir, we’ve been using that old scale to weigh meat for over 40 years now.”  And he says, “Well, it’s off!  You say you’re giving people a pound of meat and your giving them only 15 ounces.”

Is he calling your parents and your grandparents crooks?  Are your grandparents and your parents dishonest?  No.  But you would be if you didn’t change.  The Bible says, “To him who knows to do good and then doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.”

We are responsible to obey what we know God is saying.  Rather than do as little as possible to be obedient to Christ, we ought to do as much as possible.

Are you responding to the light you have?  Are you obeying what you know to be true?

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  Some time ago an inquiring photographer stopped six people on the streets of New York and asked them this question: “What is the most important event in history?”  He got some interesting answers.  Someone said that1)         They thought the most important event in history was the settlement of Jamestown by the English.

2)         Someone else thought it was the defeat of the Saracens at Tours.

3)         The defeat of the Japanese at the end of World War II.

4)         Someone else said it was the invention of the wheel.

5)         The invention of the atomic bomb,

But the sixth answer was given by a 14-year-old schoolboy.  He replied that the greatest event in human history

6)         Was the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

That young man revealed keen insight.  I don’t know how you look at Jesus; whether you look at Him from the viewpoint of a skeptic or a believer.  But of one thing I am certain:  Jesus has influenced the thinking of the world in a way that no other person has.

He is central to the centuries.  He never wrote a word that we know of, yet His words fashion our laws.  We date all time, forward and backward, from the date of His birth.  We say that something happened so many years B.C. — that is, before Christ. Or so many years A.D. — Anno Domini, “The Year of Our Lord,” or since the time of Christ.  Every time you date a document or consult a calendar you pay silent tribute to the centrality of Jesus.

It’s not just at Christmas that we are reminded of Him.  Browse through an art museum and you find that artists through the ages have been captivated by Him.  The greatest music ever written was written by men and women influenced by Him.  More books have been written about Jesus and His life and ministry than about any other person in history.  His impact is monumental!

This Christmas, don’t just celebrate His birth; celebrate His positive influence on this planet.  His birth, life, death and resurrection is the greatest event in history!

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I’m coming home from teaching at a School of Evangelism where we had over 400 Pastors, evangelists, and other Christian leaders, representing dozens of different denominations and states in the U.S.  For three days we laughed, cried, sang, prayed, talked, ate, listened, learned and rejoiced together.

I was struck by the diversity of evangelistic methods I heard discussed.  Let me list a few:

I met one young man who used to work for Ringling Brothers Circus.  He is a stunt bike-rider who does death defying leaps through fiery hoops to hook interest and then he shares a clear, hard-hitting gospel message about the “leap of faith.” 

I met another young evangelist who has “crusade-type” meetings in large gymnasiums and seeks to reach basic middle-class people.

I met a woman who sings professionally and seeks to win people to Christ through musical concerts.

I met a man from the mid-west who still believes in door-to-door evangelism.

I met a church-planter from Kentucky who is seeking to reach marginalized people groups from many nations who are the poorest of the poor.

I met a businessman who uses his successful business as a platform to share Christ.

The list goes on and on…

An evangelist to native Americans…

A Christian professor…

A farmer who also pastors and gives altar calls…

A member of a rapid response team that responds to people in crisis and shares the gospel and hope…

A woman who leads people to Christ through a phone counseling ministry…

Wow!  I could keep going.

My point is that effective evangelism is not about methods.  It’s about universal principles that God blesses all over the world.  All of these people I met this week are seeking to first live the gospel, and then share the unchanging message in a way that is relevant in their context.  If you tried to take the farmer and make him do motorcycle stunts…he would fail miserably.  If you took the door-to-door guy and forced him to preach in large gymnasiums, it wouldn’t work.

Rule number #1 in evangelism: take the unchanging gospel and deliver it in a style that makes it interesting and accessible to the hearers.  What would that mean for you?  What does that mean for you?

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I believe that gratitude is the mother of all virtues.  And, quite frankly, I have a lot to be grateful for.  But I am most grateful for the fact that nothing can separate me from God’s love, and that His grace keeps reaching out to me.  The security and comfort that brings keeps my heart singing even in my worst days.

When the Golden Gate Bridge was being built back in the 1930s, during the first half of construction, over a dozen men fell to their deaths.  So they stopped construction, and suspended a huge net under the superstructure.  During the last half of construction only six people fell, but none of them died.  Amazingly, the supervisor said that the work proceeded at 25% greater efficiency.  Having the net under them did not make the men careless.  It made them more confident.

When we understand there is a net under us called grace, we become more secure, more joyful, more courageous and effective in the Christian life.  I guess it’s possible for some demented man to fall down into that net, and then crawl over to the edge, and push aside anybody who wanted to rescue him, and then jump over the edge.  And it certainly is possible for people to keep exploiting God’s grace but even then, God’s love is reaching out to lift us up.  Even then, he is waiting lovingly for us to return.

When Jesus wanted to paint a picture of what God was like, he didn’t picture a tyrant with a whip in his hand.  He said, “Let me tell you a story.  A certain man had two sons, and one of them rebelled against the father’s love and went away.  The father did not restrain him.  He didn’t go into the far country, where he was living a sinful life, and yank him back.  But when the boy repented and returned, the father saw him when he was far off and ran to meet him.  And he smothered his repentant talk on his shoulder and he called out to the servants, ‘Get the robe and the ring and the shoes.  Let’s have a celebration.  My son was dead and now he’s alive.  He was lost, but now he’s found.'”  Jesus’ picture of God was not a tyrant with a whip, but a father running to forgive.

There’s an old song that chokes me up every time I hear it: 

“The love of God is greater far

than tongue or pen can ever tell. 

It goes beyond the highest star

and reaches to the lowest hell.” 

And I just love the third stanza that goes like this:

“Could we with ink the ocean fill,

and were the sky of parchment made,

and if every stalk on earth a quill,

and every man a scribe by trade,

to write the love of God above

would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could the scroll

Contain the whole

Though stretched from sky to sky.”

The word of God promises that nothing-nothing-nothing-in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  That, my friend, is reason to give thanks!

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