As I stated on my early Sunday Morning post, the opportunities for the week are tremendous. We made the 500 mile drive to a small community near Eagle Pass to get a mission group set to conduct a Bible School in a community that has no Baptist and no evangelical witness. Today they had nineteen children in attendance.
Personally, I attended portions of the Pastors conference, met up with some old friends and met others for the first time. Conventions really are about networking and fellowship as well as worship and business. I had the pleasure to meet Eric Geiger, coauthor of Simple Church. I also met Ed Stetzer and discussed some ideas about missional churches. It was also good to meet some of the blogger crowd including Wes Kinney, Bart Barber, and VolFan. They are certainly gracious men standing on their convictions, their love for Jesus, their love for the lost, and their love for Southern Baptist.
As always, Johnny Hunt is a messenger of blessing when he preaches. Jimmy Drapers testimony about temptation should be a warning to us all and James Merrit issued an equally compelling plea. Due to the fact that I arrived in San Antonio well after midnight, I did not attend the afternoon session. Hays Wicker did a fantastic job in lining up the Pastor’s conference. If the crowd tonight is any indicator of things to come, we will see a large crowd for this convention.
I also attended the SBTC welcome to Texas meeting only to be encouraged by Bobby Welch, Morris Chapman, and Bart Barber.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
United We Stand
What an incredible amount of opportunity this week holds. Today I will be preaching a message that God has burned into my heart called, “All for One and One for All.” It is taken from Philippians 2:2 and centers on a unity in spirit. That is ironic on the eve of the Southern Baptist Convention to be held in San Antonio. The outline is simple and comes from just one verse.
Be of the same mind.
Maintain the same love.
Be united in Spirit.
Be intent on one purpose.
While reading about the word that is translated mind, I found that it could easily be translated opinion as well. I have been told all of my life that we Baptist are entitled to our own opinion, yet in the church Paul is saying that our opinions ought to be the same. He also writes on the same subject in Romans 12:2 when he says our minds are to be renewed so that we will know what the will of God is. In verse 5 of Philippians 2 he also says our attitude, another translation of the same word translated mind, should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.
In order for the church to be the church, there must be a transformation of mind. Minds cannot be divided between the things of God and the things of the world. The person who stands with one foot in the church and another in the world is a person with a divided mind, not a sober mind. There will be little or no power in the church where the members are divided in mind. The transformation of mind goes beyond the individual to the whole. In order for the church to be the church, those who make up the church must share a common mind. Their opinions must agree.
Maintain the same love. Yes the word love here is that agape kind of love, which Jesus literally defined. I am told that of the literature written in Greek prior to the coming of Jesus, this word Agape was used very sparingly. It is continually used to describe the love of the Lord toward us and therefore is defined by Jesus. In John 13:34-35 it is this love that causes the world to know who are His followers.
The very word maintain reminds us that this is not a task to be accomplished without intentional effort. In the area where I was raised we had dirt roads. No oil top, a few black tops, but most of the roads other than state highways to this day are dirt. The county owns what we called maintainers. Some call them a scraper, but let it be known that they have to continually scrape the dirt from the ditches upon the road in order for it to be maintained. If there is a maintenance mode the church needs to be in today, it is the maintenance of Agape love for one another.
United in spirit. This phrase has also been translated as “in one accord.” Notice that it does not say uniform in spirit but united in spirit. In one accord is quite different than all one chord. In one accord leaves ample room for a variety of instruments to work together just as Romans 12 reminds us that there are many members of the body who bring together a variety of gifts to make a beautiful music. While all four of these imperatives work together as a whole, it is this unity of spirit or lack of it that poses one of the greatest threats to the health of the church. Spirit literally means wind and is used to describe the heart, soul, and essence of one’s life. We could say a person has a cheerful spirit or a sad spirit. We are speaking of their demeanor knowing full well that it is a person’s demeanor that shapes their life. So here, the Bible is speaking of the demeanor and will of a local church body. It is to be united. Haven’t you heard it said, united we stand, divided we fall. Jesus told us in Luke 11:25 that any house divided against itself will not stand. When the opinions or minds of the people in a congregation are not the same, the spirit will be divided. When the spirit is divided, the house will fall.
The opposite of a united spirit is a divided spirit or a contentious spirit. Some years ago, while my boys were playing baseball, we traveled to a nearby town for them to play. A man stood behind the backstop and taunted the umpire. The umpire was a young man, maybe 19 or 20 years old. The man had a very contentious spirit and was just waiting for the umpire to miss a call by some 1/10,000 of an inch, upon which time he would go into a tirade against the call. The man was contentious hoping to sway the umpire to call for his grandson who was pitching. He had a contentious spirit.
I was listening to Herb Reavis from North Jacksonville Baptist Church in Florida the other day that said this about this subject. He said, "it is not the mean people who are destroying churches today." It is the nice people. The mean people say what they will say and the nice people do nothing. If we are to have unity in the church, the nice people have to stand up. I thought about that day at the ballpark. I simply moved over next to the man and when he disagreed with the call, I simply disagreed with him. When he said it must have been a ball, I said it looked like a strike. Do you know in short order, this man quit yelling at the umpire and our boys had a good contest? It is the same way in the church. Minority voices often find that they can control a church by verbal dissent, which dampens the spirit and destroys unity. So what do we do? When someone says I didn’t like that song and you did, simply say, I am sorry that you did not like that song but it really ministered to me. When they say, I wish we wouldn’t do that and you think it is ok, say so. Stand up. By standing up you will quiet the voices of dissention opening the door for a unity of spirit.
Intent on one purpose. Phil. 3:10-14 That purpose is not in the past it is in the present and the future. It is not about yesterday but today. It is not only about tomorrow and glory but today and walking with Him. Our purpose is summed up in the great commission where Jesus told his followers to go and make disciples of all the nations. That commission has been accepted and is the mission of the church. But our overarching purpose ladies and gentlemen is to glorify Jesus. Some have said that is knowing Jesus and making Him known. The word intent is not merely about a simmering intention but more closely thought of as being intense. It is one that knows, neither life, nor death, nor principalities, nor powers shall separate us from the love of Christ. It is the intensity that the Hebrew writer spoke of when he said Heb 12:1-2
Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
NASU
Imagine this, hearts that are intense on one purpose. That intensity might be like the intense furnace where the three Hebrew children survived the fiery furnace. Intent like the hot sun in the desert on a clear sunny day in early August.
There it is. All things lined up in one direction. Minds, love, spirit and purpose. What could God do with such a church? In these days of our convention, what could God do with such a convention?
In addition to my attendance at the convention this week, our church will be conducting a Bible School in small Texas community that has no Baptist witness.
My what opportunities God is giving us this week. May He be glorified in all we do.
Be of the same mind.
Maintain the same love.
Be united in Spirit.
Be intent on one purpose.
While reading about the word that is translated mind, I found that it could easily be translated opinion as well. I have been told all of my life that we Baptist are entitled to our own opinion, yet in the church Paul is saying that our opinions ought to be the same. He also writes on the same subject in Romans 12:2 when he says our minds are to be renewed so that we will know what the will of God is. In verse 5 of Philippians 2 he also says our attitude, another translation of the same word translated mind, should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.
In order for the church to be the church, there must be a transformation of mind. Minds cannot be divided between the things of God and the things of the world. The person who stands with one foot in the church and another in the world is a person with a divided mind, not a sober mind. There will be little or no power in the church where the members are divided in mind. The transformation of mind goes beyond the individual to the whole. In order for the church to be the church, those who make up the church must share a common mind. Their opinions must agree.
Maintain the same love. Yes the word love here is that agape kind of love, which Jesus literally defined. I am told that of the literature written in Greek prior to the coming of Jesus, this word Agape was used very sparingly. It is continually used to describe the love of the Lord toward us and therefore is defined by Jesus. In John 13:34-35 it is this love that causes the world to know who are His followers.
The very word maintain reminds us that this is not a task to be accomplished without intentional effort. In the area where I was raised we had dirt roads. No oil top, a few black tops, but most of the roads other than state highways to this day are dirt. The county owns what we called maintainers. Some call them a scraper, but let it be known that they have to continually scrape the dirt from the ditches upon the road in order for it to be maintained. If there is a maintenance mode the church needs to be in today, it is the maintenance of Agape love for one another.
United in spirit. This phrase has also been translated as “in one accord.” Notice that it does not say uniform in spirit but united in spirit. In one accord is quite different than all one chord. In one accord leaves ample room for a variety of instruments to work together just as Romans 12 reminds us that there are many members of the body who bring together a variety of gifts to make a beautiful music. While all four of these imperatives work together as a whole, it is this unity of spirit or lack of it that poses one of the greatest threats to the health of the church. Spirit literally means wind and is used to describe the heart, soul, and essence of one’s life. We could say a person has a cheerful spirit or a sad spirit. We are speaking of their demeanor knowing full well that it is a person’s demeanor that shapes their life. So here, the Bible is speaking of the demeanor and will of a local church body. It is to be united. Haven’t you heard it said, united we stand, divided we fall. Jesus told us in Luke 11:25 that any house divided against itself will not stand. When the opinions or minds of the people in a congregation are not the same, the spirit will be divided. When the spirit is divided, the house will fall.
The opposite of a united spirit is a divided spirit or a contentious spirit. Some years ago, while my boys were playing baseball, we traveled to a nearby town for them to play. A man stood behind the backstop and taunted the umpire. The umpire was a young man, maybe 19 or 20 years old. The man had a very contentious spirit and was just waiting for the umpire to miss a call by some 1/10,000 of an inch, upon which time he would go into a tirade against the call. The man was contentious hoping to sway the umpire to call for his grandson who was pitching. He had a contentious spirit.
I was listening to Herb Reavis from North Jacksonville Baptist Church in Florida the other day that said this about this subject. He said, "it is not the mean people who are destroying churches today." It is the nice people. The mean people say what they will say and the nice people do nothing. If we are to have unity in the church, the nice people have to stand up. I thought about that day at the ballpark. I simply moved over next to the man and when he disagreed with the call, I simply disagreed with him. When he said it must have been a ball, I said it looked like a strike. Do you know in short order, this man quit yelling at the umpire and our boys had a good contest? It is the same way in the church. Minority voices often find that they can control a church by verbal dissent, which dampens the spirit and destroys unity. So what do we do? When someone says I didn’t like that song and you did, simply say, I am sorry that you did not like that song but it really ministered to me. When they say, I wish we wouldn’t do that and you think it is ok, say so. Stand up. By standing up you will quiet the voices of dissention opening the door for a unity of spirit.
Intent on one purpose. Phil. 3:10-14 That purpose is not in the past it is in the present and the future. It is not about yesterday but today. It is not only about tomorrow and glory but today and walking with Him. Our purpose is summed up in the great commission where Jesus told his followers to go and make disciples of all the nations. That commission has been accepted and is the mission of the church. But our overarching purpose ladies and gentlemen is to glorify Jesus. Some have said that is knowing Jesus and making Him known. The word intent is not merely about a simmering intention but more closely thought of as being intense. It is one that knows, neither life, nor death, nor principalities, nor powers shall separate us from the love of Christ. It is the intensity that the Hebrew writer spoke of when he said Heb 12:1-2
Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
NASU
Imagine this, hearts that are intense on one purpose. That intensity might be like the intense furnace where the three Hebrew children survived the fiery furnace. Intent like the hot sun in the desert on a clear sunny day in early August.
There it is. All things lined up in one direction. Minds, love, spirit and purpose. What could God do with such a church? In these days of our convention, what could God do with such a convention?
In addition to my attendance at the convention this week, our church will be conducting a Bible School in small Texas community that has no Baptist witness.
My what opportunities God is giving us this week. May He be glorified in all we do.
Thursday, December 7, 2006
The Good Life
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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?
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