James

Finish Well

December 23, 2010
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Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life. 1 Timothy 6:12

As we close out 2010 there are many thoughts that caress our minds. Some have lost loved ones; others have had major medical problems. Some have changed jobs and others have seen relationships die. Some have made it through the year without any crisis. Others have fared well in spite of crisis. Some have succumbed to drifting and slipping away from truths taught and practiced for so long.

What is the key to longevity? In physical life it is clean living, good genes, healthy habits and care taken. At the relational level it is clean living, good partners, healthy habits and careful living. In the emotional life it is care taken, proper self-control, kindness given and received, emotional outlets that don’t scar and Spirit controlled actions. In our spiritual lives it is all the above plus the following:

Being intentional rather than drifting. God has built us so that we follow the way we set our minds to. Half-hearted commitment will not last beyond ill-advised New Year’s resolutions. Make them January 1 and forget them January 15. The choice must be made with all the heart, soul, mind and strength. Anything less will fade as the year goes by.

Being committed no-matter-what, rather than committed-as-long-as. What does it take to finish the year as faithful servants to Jesus? When the first temptation comes and we fall, it means that we have not really stepped into this new life for Christ. When we choose to miss being with our church family once, it makes it so easy the next time. Many have made a resolution to service but found it easier to make than to keep.

Being in community rather than lone rangers. A branch disconnected from the root will wither and dry. Branches joined together on regular bases will encourage faithfulness and will help us complete the year as faithful to the one who was faithful to us.

This is how the birth of Jesus took place…

December 17, 2010
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This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about… Matthew 1:18

No law of science can explain the birth of the Christ Child. It can only be explained by an act of the Almighty God. Mary couldn’t explain it herself, much less explain it to her friends and family. Neither could Joseph. The unusual visitor caused Joseph to change his prospective. 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

Mary and Joseph decided to remain in Bethlehem after Jesus was born. Faithful to the Law of Moses they had Jesus circumcised when he was eight days old. Jesus was presented in the temple at Jerusalem when he was forty days old.

It was at this occasion that Mary and Joseph were met by two senior saints: Simeon and Anna. The shepherds had already told their story. Now it was time for Simeon and Anna to tell theirs. What a story they told!

Later the Magi will arrive from the East. The “East” could be Parthia, Babylon, Persia or Egypt. Older scholars pick Persia; the scholars of today seem to favor Babylon. Either way they would have taken several months to travel to Bethlehem. That would explain the statement in Matthew 2:11 “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary.

It is a time of special intervention from heaven. God will now keep his promise to Abraham that “In your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed”. Is was a giant step for God and a giant step for mankind.

We rejoice with the shepherds, the magi, the angels, Simeon and Anna, Joseph and Mary. We bow the knee to Jesus who was born in Bethlehem and we bring gifts to him: our very souls!

A Plentiful Harvest…but few workers?

November 27, 2010
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“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Matthew 9:37

Most of us are aware that we don’t tell the old, old story as much and as enticingly as we would like. If we are honest we probably are a bit uncomfortable with the whole idea of evangelism.

Most people associate evangelism with hard-sell methods and fire scares.  There are many approaches to this tactic.

  1. The scalp hunter – This person tries to save souls to add to his collection of trophies.
  2. The shoehorn approach – This person uses any opening to slip in the gospel.
  3. The con-man approach – The gospel is introduced under false pretenses.
  4. The 2×4 approach – Pressure it put on the lost as he seeks to blast him with a blessing and clobber him into the kingdom.

Scripture gives three approaches to reaching the lost:

  1. Proclamation – Peter used this in Acts 2 and 3,000 people were baptized.
  2. The confrontational approach – Philip used this method when he met the Ethiopian in Acts 8. “Do you understand what you are reading?”
  3. The relational approach – Paul’s approach to the people in Thessalonica (I Thessalonians 2:8) We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.

It is this last approach that can make a difference for us.  Daily we make relationships at work and play.  Every day we can use these relationships to influence others for good.  Our example and our love for Jesus should be the armor we wear and others can take note.  In our families and among our friends there are many who could be influenced to come to Jesus.  Let’s do what we can to help people to come to know Christ.

The Power of Forgiveness

November 16, 2010
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Lord, Increase our faith! Luke 17:5

Forgiveness is one of those areas where we look at scripture and frown. We sometimes winch as we read the Bible and see how much God forgives and how much He requires us to forgive.

Many have suffered the atrocities of others and have either become embittered or developed a spirit of forgiveness. Our ladies book club has recently read and discussed Corrie ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. This book chronicles the atrocities in the wake of the German invasion of Holland. (1942 family very active in Dutch underground hiding refugees. 1944 arrested with entire family, sent first to Dutch prisons, finally to notorious Ravensbruck in Germany.)

Desmund Tutu wrote a book in 2000 about the need to forgive and move on. He called his book, No Future Without Forgiveness. He describes the liberating power of confession in paving the way to freedom. Dietrich Bonhoffer suffered great inhumanities from the prison guards and the system that was so diabolical. Yet, he was able to move on within this suffering and write some of the greatest literature known to us today.

Terrible things have happened to people of our world and the call for forgiveness seems out of place. Most of us will not suffer such terrible atrocities. The little offences that have so upset us are trifling compared to the inhumanities of prison camps and deaths of loved ones.

Back to Luke 17: If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Little wonder that the disciples ask for an increase of faith. I sometimes do the same. Do You?

Where were you baptized?

November 13, 2010
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Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. Mark 16:16

Israel government officials and environmentalists are clashing over one of the holiest spots in the Holy Land. In July, Israel’s health ministry discussed closing access to the spot on the lower Jordan River that Christians traditionally link with Jesus’ baptism. The environmental group calls attention to the sewage, pollutants, and heavy diversion of water. Israel’s Ministry of Tourism insisted the water was fine.

One of my friends from high school who married into the Spere Gospel Singing family took his children to the Jordan to have them baptized when they reached the age of accountability. He thought that it would have greater meaning if done there. When I was in Israel in the late 80s we took a man down to the Sea of Galilee and baptized him into Christ.

Did it take on greater significance than the recent baptisms in our local baptistery? The place of baptism has little significance. The person doing the baptism has little to do with the result of baptism. What is important is what is going on in the heart of the person being baptized.

Jesus set the example for baptism when John baptized him in the Jordan. Since then millions have given their lives to him and have been buried with him in baptism. If he delays his coming we hope that many others will take advantage of his blood and receive the forgiveness of sins. Heaven awaits our entrance when we are wearing Jesus as our clothing.

I’m sorry about the pollution of any river and certainly hope the Jordan can be cared for properly. I hope even more that many in our community will study the Bible and come to Jesus for their eternal destiny.

I Want to Know Christ

October 30, 2010
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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 3:10-11

Paul had a prayer and a goal. He wanted to know Christ and he wanted others to know him. Knowing here is more than knowing facts. It has to do with a personal relationship with Jesus our Lord.

One of the most common stumbling stones to real knowledge of Christ is to think we know him and identify with one part. Some are like the blind men who felt different parts of an elephant. One assumes that spiritual life is like a trunk, another thinks that the spiritual life is like a tail, yet another feels the part and concludes that the spiritual life is like a leg.

Even the great apostle Paul knew that there is more to Christ than is humanly possible to fully comprehend. Everything in the spiritual life resists neat categorization. As we read and reread the gospel stories, we find new gems and new riches. We never fail to learn new truths. We can study the Bible for years and know that there are new truths awaiting us as we eagerly await our next reading.

To some who seem to know the scriptures well, the knowledge can become a conceit and a way to control. The humility of wisdom always whispers that there is more.

As we approach the study of the Holy Scriptures with open minds, this teachable spirit will allow us to gain new insights from the Word of God. Our prayer is as Paul prayed: I want to know Christ!

Technophobes?

October 16, 2010
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A techno-phobe is afraid of technology. It’s an interesting label for a person, since the word technology actually just means “a study of an art, craft, or technique.” Technologies are simply tools.

Did you know that the Bible was once a technological wonder? In its time we witness the progress from writing on tablets of stone, to the use of scrolls, and eventually to the binding of individual leafs into a book known as a codex. Christianity, according to many historians, was a driving force behind the spread of books. Gutenburg’s printing press is famous for its production of the Holy Bible.
Whether it is books or boats or telegraphs or emails, Christians have always used the tools available to them to proclaim the message of the gospel. It’s a message worth sharing in any sort of media.

Our website is one technology we use to spread the message of Jesus. Since 2006, we have had 3,475 different visitors to the site who viewed more than 17,300 pages. These visitors represent 63 countries on 6 continents, and every state except for Wyoming, Alaska, and Vermont. Our sermons have been listened to at least an additional 4,500 times—try adding that figure to our weekly attendance board! With this tool, we have literally “gone into all the world” without ever leaving our desks.

If you haven’t visited lately, check out the site’s redesigned look. We’ve added a few features to help you use it to communicate the gospel. At the bottom of every entry on our site, there is now a button that will send a copy of it to a friend via email. Just click and type an address, and the site does the rest. There’s a “print” button if you want to print a bulletin article for a friend. Leighann Jack has begun work to help us catalog our library, and you can see some of the books in the church library (as well as mine and James’) but looking in the “Our Library” section. You can view our most up-to-date membership directory under the “Members” menu, using the password available in the church office. (And when you find incorrect information, you can tell me, Lori, or Keith about it, too!)

Whether our tools are computers or wrenches, pens or hands to hold, it doesn’t matter. Whatever tools we have, we want to use them to the glory of God!

September 11th

September 12, 2010
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Yesterday was the 9th anniversary of the event that captured the horror of the world. Two jumbo jets flew into the twin World Trade Towers in New York City. Where were you when you first saw the horrors of 3, 000 men, women and children dying in this world man-made disaster?

I was in New Zealand when the terrorists struck. It was interesting to see the different angles that broadcasters from New Zealand, Australia and Asia gave to the death of their own citizens. We need to remember that there were deaths from nearly every major country in the world.

Investigators learned quickly that the cruel murderers were of the Muslim faith. They were radicals who hate people and care little for lives. It is properly noted that there were 60 Muslims in the dead at Ground Zero (+19 of the terrorists). These radicals have no respect for life even of their own religion.

I think that many religions breed radical off springs. I also think that the Islamic religion tends to be one of the worst religions for breeding terrorists. It might be good to examine where the religion began and its history. (We did a lesson comparing Jesus and Mohammed last Christmas.)

On this anniversary of 9/11/2001 we can feel a sense of safety as we live in a secure country. Yet, nothing is absolutely secure except our hope in Jesus. We need to be reminded that this world is not our final home.

Let us pray that there will never be a repeat of 9/11. I Timothy 2:1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone– 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

We Need Examples

September 7, 2010
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Set an example for the believers  in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. I Timothy 4:12

What the world needs now is a good example. We find few in our world who live the life they proclaim with their words. We become accustom to men and women in the political world speaking with forked tongue. We see businesses caught up in one scandal after another. The press likes to find leaders in the Christian movement caught in a sin. They can gloat over the sins of Christians but can’t see their own.

It is no easy task to live a daily life of humility, faith, purity and love. There are many examples around us that seem to beckon us to a life of compromise. Giving in to the desi9res of the flesh is not looked on as a weakness unless you get caught. Getting caught is the greatest of sins.

Not so for us who try to live a life of dedication to our Lord Jesus Christ. We want to please him in every way. Our lives are to bring honor to him and not dishonor to his love.

I like what Francis of Assisi said about preaching. “Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.” Examples either make or break the presentation of the good news of Jesus.

Others have made similar statements about the effectiveness of good examples. “I’d rather see a sermon that hear one any day.” “An ounce of examples is worth a pound of words.” “Empty words may be flattering but examples are more likely to last”

It is healthy for us to look into our own hearts to see what is there. What is there will always make its way to the surface. The mouth usually will speak what is in the heart. We can work on being more kind and gentle as we live our lives before others. Let your light shine with a good example this week.

The know-it-all?

August 28, 2010
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Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.  Romans 14:13

My wife recently was reading a book called The Know It All. As I understand the theme of the book it is about a fellow who read through the Encyclopedia Britannica. For most this is boring reading and most of us would only do it in research for some school project.

This man was a “Know it all” on almost any subject. I have heard people referred to as “having just enough knowledge to be dangerous”. Maybe this is what Paul is referencing in Romans 14. There have always been people who make up their minds what others should do and how they should do it and attempt to get them to get on with it.

The Message is pretty forceful when this verse is translated, “Forget about deciding what’s right for each other”. I have the annoying habit of deciding what is right for others and attempting to get them to fall in line. It may even be what is right but God never commissioned me to decide for others. If a person wanted to celebrate a certain day, that’s between him and God. We are not to make these judgments for others. Back off brother James! Verse 6 says, “He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.”

Trusting others to make good decision about questionable things is part of maturing in Christ. Some have never reached this maturity but need to move off the plateau on which they have parked. God is the judge and we are never to broach His domain. Let God be the one who leads and guides. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

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