The Good Life

Life in Christ: Extraordinary Life

What really differentiates the life of an unbeliever from the life of a believer? Jesus proclaimed to in John 10:10 that he came to bring abundant life. So, where is your full life? Is your life more abundant than your unbelieving friends? A good place to begin trying to answer that question is identify your source of authority for telling you what is a full life. If you listen to the pop culture, the definition of the good life probably won't sound like the traditional Christian answer. If we believe that God's Word is sufficient, then a walk through the Bible would be the best stroll available to define life that is full.

First Baptist Church of Diana recently adopted a mission statement that says, "The mission of FBC is to lead ordinary people to extraordinary life in Christ." The statement is based on an interpretation of John 10:10 and Matthew 28:18-20. In the Matthew passage we are commanded to make disciples and the John passage defines life in Christ as abundant. A further examination of the 10th chapter of John reveals an imposter that would steal life. The definition of abundant life by pop colluder can be equated to the deceiver who enters as a thief. Pop culture steals the good life rather than giving the good life.

So what is this good life?

Simple Discipleship

Simple Disciple

The purpose of the Christian church is to glorify God. The foremost task of the church is to make disciples. Jesus made this fact very clear in what we know as the great commission found in Matthew 28:18-20. His command is to go and make disciples. Paul is also very clear in 2 Corinthians 4:5-10 as to what kind of disciples they were to be making. They and the modern Christian are to be about the business of making disciples of Jesus Christ.

If the goal is to make disciples, it would be fruitful to know what a disciple looks like and how to measure one. According to definitions handed down through the ages, definitions that are in agreement with the Greek word translated disciples, a disciple is a student that adheres to the teaching of his master. Some have said he is one who follows His master. Jesus would agree and defined discipleship in Luke 9:23 when he said, "if any man come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me." Literally there are three commitments disclosed. Jesus also established the measuring rod. In John 15:8 he said, My Father is glorified in this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. A disciple is measured by his fruit and defined in subrogating his will to the will of God, laying his life down daily (taking up a cross) picking up God's life for Him, and going where God wants him to go. The disciples life is a life laid down for Jesus. An illustration might be in order. Men who guard the life of the President of the United States are trained to do what ever necessary to protect his life even if it takes their own. They lay down their life for the president.


In our Acts 14 passage, we can understand that it only took a few months to make disciples in the area where Paul was serving as a missionary. He was only there for about a year and made disciples in several cities. Making a disciple is a short term exercise. Developing into a mature believer is a life long process.

Don't Sink the Ship

Joshua: Don't Sink the Ship

Someone once said, “ it is not the water on the outside that sinks a ship, but that water that gets on the inside.” By the same token, it is not the sin of around a person that destroys his life, but the sin within the person. It is not the sin outside an organization that brings it down, but sin inside the organization. The story of the Israelites and their attack on Ai, found in the seventh chapter of Joshua, helped to teach these truths and serves as a great illustration to teach us today.

As the story goes, the army of the Israelites had gone to Jericho and witnessed God overthrowing a powerful city. God had placed them under a ban preventing them from great personal gain. A short time later they sent a force up against the city of Ai. The army lost its courage, turned and ran. As a result, thirty-six of them were killed and the whole nation was humiliated. Upon a prayerful investigation it was revealed that a soldier named Achan (his name means trouble) had violated the ban and taken gold for himself. The story reveals that the reason for their defeat at Ai was due to Achan’s sin. It was water on the inside that threatened the ship. After Achan was stoned, the armies again went up against Ai only to be successful.

The stoning may seem a little harsh to you and me, but it illustrates the seriousness of our sin. In a world so full of individualism it would do us well to remember how our sins affect others. On this side of the cross we know full well that Jesus came to take away the sins of the world. We have the privilege to approach the throne of Grace because of His blood shed on Calvary. Still, our sins have an affect on others. Sins in the lives of the parents have an affect on the lives of their children. Sins of the executive have an affect on every employee in the corporation. Sins of the government officials have an affect on the entire nation. Sins of the Sunday School teacher have an affect on the whole class. Sins of the Pastors and deacons have an affect on the entire church and her witness. Water inside the boat is what sinks the ship.

Ten Commandments: Number 1

Ten Commandments: Commandment Number 1

What is the meaning of civilization? Those who live in so called civilized countries seem to take pride when comparing themselves to countries known to be uncivilized. A civilized society expects to live together in some measurable sense of community. From a Christian perspective, this idea of living in community is in complete harmony with not only the New Testament ideals but also the revelation of God in the Old Testament. One would be hard pressed to find a greater example of God's desire for civilized community than in the Ten Commandments. Moses received these commandments in direct conversation with God. These commandments are first recorded as a group in the twentieth chapter of Exodus. The setting is ninety days after the Israelites had left the control of the Egyptian government and began a journey toward a land God had given them. At the advice of Jethro, Moses had organized the people and placed leaders into authority. The next step in maintaining order among one and one half million people was to establish a law code, or a standard of behavior.
God gave Moses a standard of behavior designed to bring allegiance to himself and order among the people. The first four of the commandments, or laws, that God gave to Moses deal with their relationship to himself. The following six deal with relationships to others. The first of these laws establish the premise of who is to be their god. God says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” The word for gods here is elohim, which in its basic from means power. The word before is not a word denoting sequence or priority but presence. Literally, you shall not give allegiance to other power in my presence. God was teaching Moses and the Israelites that they were to trust Him as the power that would provide for all their needs.
Although the word “before” does not suggest priority, the placing of this as the first commandment does. This commandment was placed at the top of the list because this is the commandment that flows to all others. If this commandment is not observed, the others are practically useless. That statement could arouse some argument. However, upon reflection and examination, you will find that if the first commandment is ignored, the validity of those that follow will soon be questioned. In the words of Ravi Zaccharias, this is because “if there is a moral law, there must also be a moral law giver.” God stands as the righteous judge completely observing this law that is given. When there is not allegiance and respect to God, mankind naturally does what is right in his own eyes. The result is not civilization but the absence of civilization, or chaos.
Someone has suggested that in our current society, we are really not threatened by the strong beliefs in named deities as were common in the days of Moses. The assertion is, rather, that the deities served by modern man are without names or recognition as gods. The suggestion includes the deities of public opinion, personal pleasure, and success. This suggestion has merit if we trust any of these as a power to grant us abundant life. Could it be that the age in which we live has turned into that previous description of an uncivilized generation, they lived as if there was not god and did what was right in their own eyes.

Ten Commandments: The Sabbath

Ten Commandments: The Sabbath

With all the talk about the Ten Commandments and where it is appropriate for them to be posted, a simple study of those commandments is definitely in order. God gave the commandments to Moses as the anchor for the moral and ceremonial law he would soon implement. They were given to protect and enhance God’s relationship with the people and to make life better, everyday.

In Exodus 20:8-11, the Bible outlines the importance of the Sabbath day. There is a great liberation in these verses; man does not have to work seven days each week. He is liberated from work for one whole day each week. Of course, the flip side of that truth is the other, which says we are to work the other six.

I am convinced that if we in the church could keep this commandment there would be a great revival that would sweep across this land. The economic impact alone would be absolutely staggering. What exactly does it mean to keep the Sabbath day holy?