I learned a new word yesterday as I was studying from 2 Peter 3. In this chapter, Peter is warning his readers not to start believing that God’s promises were not true just because they hadn’t come about as of yet. Obviously this was in direct reference to “The Day of the Lord.” Since that time, many have joined the ranks of those who doubt and believe that “The Day of the Lord” came about with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD and from that point on, everything has just moved along routinely without the threat of God’s judgment or the hope of His return. In the study of geology this is called Uniformitarianism. It means that the same processes that have occurred in the past will continue to occur and nothing new will happen.
I know many folks who have this mindset. They are like huge rocks and don’t want to be moved. They don’t like change, they want things to be the same today as it was ten years ago (with a few exceptions like cars, microwaves, big screen TV’s, i-pods, cell phones, etc). But they don’t want their job to change, their house to change, their church to change or the disciplines needed to stay close to God.
Just as God is not the author of confusion, He is not the author of spiritual Uniformitarianism. He is the author of change. When we come to Christ, there should be a huge change. Even if we weren’t drunks, drug addicts, murderers, abusers, etc, there should be a major change in our life when we come to Him! Our desires should change, our thinking should change and who knows what else God wants to change. He wants to renew, restore, and regenerate us!
Another thought I had was that in the Old Testament, the phrase for the Holy Spirit (God) was “The Holy Wind.” In the New Testament, God the Spirit is referred to as “breath.”
Then in John 3:8 we are told that the Spirit of God works much like the wind in nature. We don’t know where it comes from or where it will blow to. It blows wherever it pleases.
Sounds to me like following after God will bring about a lot of change. So, if any two days or any two events (like church on Sunday) are ever the same perhaps we haven’t followed the Wind!
Always in Pursuit!
Showing posts with label Wednesday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wednesday. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Righteous in this Generation
Righteous in this Generation
“I have found you righteous in this generation….” This is what God said to Noah as he invited Noah and his family into the ark.
Noah wasn’t the only one in Scripture to be found “righteous in their generation.” A bit earlier, God must have found Enoch to be righteous in his generation. (Genesis 5:24 tells us that Enoch walked with God and was no more.)
Reading through the history of Israel you will find many others that were considered to be righteous in their generation: Joseph was righteous in his generation; Judah, even though he almost blew it, chose to be righteous in his generation. My favorites were the Hebrew princes taken captive by the Babylonians: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. These young men, even though they lived among the Babylonians were found to be righteous in their generation.
I’m sure it wasn’t easy to be righteous in these generations. There wasn’t much encouragement from the culture to be righteous and there were few models of righteousness. Apparently there were no others like Enoch, so God took him; it was only Noah, the Mrs., their sons and wives that were in the ark. Only Lot, his wife, (for awhile until she got a bit too salty,) and their two daughters escaped Sodom & Gomorrah.
If we read the account of the three Hebrew princes and the fiery furnace, it appears that they alone were righteous among the throngs that bowed before the idol. And of all the other leaders of Babylon, it was only Daniel that ended up condemned to be lunch for the lions.
In the state of Iowa, where I’ve lived for nearly 20 years, you can legally gamble via local or national lotteries; you can go to casinos; there are dog tracks; a horse track; and then there is I-80 (sometimes it’s a gamble). Our state has been the leader in abortions for many years, and recently the Supreme Court of Iowa said it was okay for gays/lesbians to marry. The culture of our state is far from righteous but God is still searching for those who will be righteous in their generation. It may lead to our very own furnace and we may feel the breath of some lions. Just keep in mind that God walked in the furnace with the princes and the lions suddenly lost their appetite. Not to mention that Noah and his family didn’t get wet.
May we be found righteous in this generation!
Always in Pursuit!
“I have found you righteous in this generation….” This is what God said to Noah as he invited Noah and his family into the ark.
Noah wasn’t the only one in Scripture to be found “righteous in their generation.” A bit earlier, God must have found Enoch to be righteous in his generation. (Genesis 5:24 tells us that Enoch walked with God and was no more.)
Reading through the history of Israel you will find many others that were considered to be righteous in their generation: Joseph was righteous in his generation; Judah, even though he almost blew it, chose to be righteous in his generation. My favorites were the Hebrew princes taken captive by the Babylonians: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. These young men, even though they lived among the Babylonians were found to be righteous in their generation.
I’m sure it wasn’t easy to be righteous in these generations. There wasn’t much encouragement from the culture to be righteous and there were few models of righteousness. Apparently there were no others like Enoch, so God took him; it was only Noah, the Mrs., their sons and wives that were in the ark. Only Lot, his wife, (for awhile until she got a bit too salty,) and their two daughters escaped Sodom & Gomorrah.
If we read the account of the three Hebrew princes and the fiery furnace, it appears that they alone were righteous among the throngs that bowed before the idol. And of all the other leaders of Babylon, it was only Daniel that ended up condemned to be lunch for the lions.
In the state of Iowa, where I’ve lived for nearly 20 years, you can legally gamble via local or national lotteries; you can go to casinos; there are dog tracks; a horse track; and then there is I-80 (sometimes it’s a gamble). Our state has been the leader in abortions for many years, and recently the Supreme Court of Iowa said it was okay for gays/lesbians to marry. The culture of our state is far from righteous but God is still searching for those who will be righteous in their generation. It may lead to our very own furnace and we may feel the breath of some lions. Just keep in mind that God walked in the furnace with the princes and the lions suddenly lost their appetite. Not to mention that Noah and his family didn’t get wet.
May we be found righteous in this generation!
Always in Pursuit!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
More Agape’
In the early ‘80’s, I was serving on a three man church staff near St. Louis. Early one morning I received a call from the senior pastor asking me to go to the local hospital to be with a family that had just called. Their father was dying and they wanted a pastor from our church. Neither of us knew the name of the family. (By the way, he was headed to be with a family from the church whose mom was also dying at another hospital.)
As I walked into the hospital room one of the sons, probably in his late 20’s or early 30’s simply said to me that his father was dying and didn’t know Jesus. I boldly walked to the side of the bed and took the man’s hand. He was in a semi-conscious state so getting a response was difficult work. Long story short, I was able to lead him to the Lord that morning just before things got worse.
For the next three or four hours, doctors and nurses worked on him only to walk away from the bed saying that they done all they could do but he probably only had a few more hours left.
As we stood there, I realized I still didn’t know anything about the family or why they had called our church. No one looked the least bit familiar. So I asked the son why they had called our church. His story still tremendously impacts me nearly 30 years later.
He simply told me that when he, his brother and sister were 9, 10 and 11 years old respectively, a man from our church named “Joe” used to come by every week, pick them up and take them to church. I can’t remember if Joe took them in his car or drove a church bus but Joe was the one responsible for picking these three kids up every week.
The kids eventually quit coming to church and none of them had gone to any church since that time. Their lives had been good, money was okay, health was okay but now as their father was dying, they recognized the fragility of life and their need for God.
His next comment was bigger than life. He said that he knew based on what had happened to them at our church nearly 20 years prior, that there would be someone there to care for them and help them out during this time of their life.
In my last blog entry, I mentioned that the Apostle Paul concluded his defining chapter of “agape” or “love,” by saying that in the end, the only thing that will be left standing is love. This event has served as a bigger than life object lesson to me. Hopefully it will to you.
By the way, I found Joe. He was a deacon in our church and when I asked about these kids, he laughed and told me numerous stories about those three. It seems they were not model kids. They were found hiding in the church, climbing on the light poles, and doing all sorts of mischief. But look what happened because Joe showed them some “agape.”
Always In Pursuit!
In the early ‘80’s, I was serving on a three man church staff near St. Louis. Early one morning I received a call from the senior pastor asking me to go to the local hospital to be with a family that had just called. Their father was dying and they wanted a pastor from our church. Neither of us knew the name of the family. (By the way, he was headed to be with a family from the church whose mom was also dying at another hospital.)
As I walked into the hospital room one of the sons, probably in his late 20’s or early 30’s simply said to me that his father was dying and didn’t know Jesus. I boldly walked to the side of the bed and took the man’s hand. He was in a semi-conscious state so getting a response was difficult work. Long story short, I was able to lead him to the Lord that morning just before things got worse.
For the next three or four hours, doctors and nurses worked on him only to walk away from the bed saying that they done all they could do but he probably only had a few more hours left.
As we stood there, I realized I still didn’t know anything about the family or why they had called our church. No one looked the least bit familiar. So I asked the son why they had called our church. His story still tremendously impacts me nearly 30 years later.
He simply told me that when he, his brother and sister were 9, 10 and 11 years old respectively, a man from our church named “Joe” used to come by every week, pick them up and take them to church. I can’t remember if Joe took them in his car or drove a church bus but Joe was the one responsible for picking these three kids up every week.
The kids eventually quit coming to church and none of them had gone to any church since that time. Their lives had been good, money was okay, health was okay but now as their father was dying, they recognized the fragility of life and their need for God.
His next comment was bigger than life. He said that he knew based on what had happened to them at our church nearly 20 years prior, that there would be someone there to care for them and help them out during this time of their life.
In my last blog entry, I mentioned that the Apostle Paul concluded his defining chapter of “agape” or “love,” by saying that in the end, the only thing that will be left standing is love. This event has served as a bigger than life object lesson to me. Hopefully it will to you.
By the way, I found Joe. He was a deacon in our church and when I asked about these kids, he laughed and told me numerous stories about those three. It seems they were not model kids. They were found hiding in the church, climbing on the light poles, and doing all sorts of mischief. But look what happened because Joe showed them some “agape.”
Always In Pursuit!
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