Don't Delete All Forwards

I don't know how much you know about how we got the Bible that we have today. Most of the New Testament is letters weren't all written at one time. These letters were sent out to specific churches dealing with specific problems that the early church found so useful that they circulated the letters between each other. I assume that a letter received wider circulation because it dealt with an issue that more churches were dealing with.

These letters are like forwards. They weren't written to us, but someone felt that they were so important that they forwarded them on to us. Okay, let's be honest. Most of the things we get forwarded to us these days aren't really important enough to be forwarded. And  if you're like me, I typically just ignore most forwards. And I think we mentally do that with a lot of the Bible. We ignore it like we do forwards. We think,"Oh, there is the Bible." And we ignore it.

As of the time of writing this, my inbox has 47,243 unread messages. I figure someday that Yahoo will actually limit my space, but they haven't yet. These are messages that I have received and never done anything with. Not deleting my messages was some crazy New Years' resolution that I made way back in 2008. Since then, like you, I have been inundated with message after message. Many of them forwards. And I ignore them. Never open them. Never delete them.  They just sit there. Untouched. Somewhere in the great nether. I just did some simple math and figured out that I have saved over 13 hours by not even wasting one second on each of these 47,000 emails.

You may not be psychotic like me with your emails and trying to save time. But I share this, not to just give you a glimpse of my psychosis, but to show you that we ignore messages. We must. We are bombarded with message after message, day after day.  

In his book Data Smog, David Shenk states, “The average American is targeted by 3000 messages per day. That includes phone calls, e-mail, meetings, conversations."

In the AMAHandbook for Managing Business to Business Marketing Communications, it notes, "The average American adult is exposed to over 600 advertising messages in a single 24-hour period."

Direct Marketing News reveals, "Each of us sees more ads alone in one year than people of 50 years ago saw in an entire lifetime."

So, in our attempt to exist in our message inundated society without going crazy, we train ourselves to ignore or just delete messages that we receive.  

But we are shaped and transformed by many messages that we are exposed to. And Paul's letters sent out to some of the early churches have been forwarded to us today. We have collected these letters in what we know as the Bible; letters that the early church felt were so important that they circulated them among themselves. Letters that we have come to recognize as inspired by God. These letters are battling for our attention in this world that is trying to distract us. It is my hope that we won't just ignore these forwards. Our lives will be better if we give Paul's letters the attention they deserve.

Discerning God's Will - Part Two - Fleeces, Obstacles, and Such

How do we find God's will?  A timeless question.

Even the Apostle Paul struggled with this question.  When he attempted to go into Bithynia, the Spirit of Jesus did not allow him to continue on.  Paul was trying to go somewhere God did not want him to go.  He initially misunderstood God’s will.  If Paul can screw discerning God’s will up, so can we.

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.  Acts 16:6-7 (ESV)

It would be nice if Luke in writing the book of Acts told us how the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them into Asia, but it doesn’t.  And I think this omission is intentional.  If the Bible told us some specific way to know God’s will, then that would be the way we would always use.  We would be become reliant upon a divining ritual rather than a relationship with the Divine. 

What seems to be a closed door might not be a closed door but an obstacle to overcome.  The key to knowing God’s will and doing what He wants us to do in life is to have our heart surrendered to God and learn to listen to his often quiet, guiding voice inside us – the place where the Spirit dwells.  Sometimes circumstances that would appear like a closed door might just be a setback that we have to have the will to persevere through.  Other times, what might seem like a minor hurdle might be a stop sign from God.  We have to learn to be able to listen to the voice of God in our hearts.  There is no easy formula, but learning to listen in our hearts is the only way we can discern whether a setback is an obstacle to overcome or a closed door prompting us to put the brakes on. 

Gideon, a biblical character full of doubt, was told by the Lord that He would be used to free Israel.  Gideon did use a method that we could turn into a formula, although I would not advise it.  What it does show though is that God is willing to make His will clear to you when you genuinely seek it even if you are full of doubt and fear.  

Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.   Judges 6:36-40 (ESV)

God was willing to reaffirm his calling to a doubting Gideon, and He will do the same for us.  Although it will prove useful to remember that there really is no set formula, just a relationship with God that He can lead through.

God Loves the Unlikely - Do We?

When we read stories of the Good Samaritan or the conversion of Paul in the Bible, we often miss their inherent shock value to the original audience.  Paul converting would be like me telling the story of Osama bin Laden becoming a Christian and inviting you to come listen to him.  You can see why Christians were hesitant to accept him.  The Good Samaritan in modern terms would resemble a story where the pastor, the churchgoer, and the Christian book writer all passed by a hurting man on the street.  After them, along came a drug addict, a sex offender, or a gang member and they helped the hurting man that the religious people passed by.  Not only did they help him, but then shelled out the money to have them treated at the hospital.  The conversion of Paul was shocking and tough to swallow.  The story of the Good Samaritan was offensive to those ingrained in religion that focused more on rituals and keeping the law than on loving sinners and enemies.

Today I want to talk about a particular story that turned the religion of Jesus’ day upside down.  You probably already know the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. 

Before we begin, I want to point out some facts about the book of John in which this story is told.  John wrote his books later than most of the writers of the New Testament.  Most of the New Testament books were written in 50-60 AD.  It is thought that John wrote his gospel in 85 AD.  This is significant in that the stories that John told were chosen out of all of the stories he could tell to correct problems in the church.  So when we read stories in the book of John, we can see problems that were creeping into the church only fifty years after it was established. 

From the story of the woman at the well, we can see that the church was struggling with accepting the unlikely like Samaritans as equals in Christ. In today’s term the unlikely are no longer a race; they might be former or struggling drug addicts, sex offenders, drunks, the homeless, or some other person that we think God could never help.  Saying that a group of people cannot be transformed by the story of Jesus through His people living as Him is just wrong.  History reveals unlikely person after unlikely person who has surrendered their lives to Jesus. 

When I googled “God took the unlikely and made him into a servant” – I just want to note that is what I googled - I came to a page that was a former porn star who had given her life over to Jesus and was working with other porn stars to help people into a healthy relationship with God and a way out of the industry.  No matter where we are at in life, what terrible acts we have done, God offers forgiveness, reveals to us the worth He created us with, and is willing to use us to bring about His will.  No groups of people, whether they are Samaritans or Christian killers, like the stories in the Bible, or the modern day equivalents of people that society looks down on like porn stars, sex offenders, drug addicts, or whatever group of people we might hate, are too far from God to be forgiven and transformed. 

Alice Cooper was the first musician “to combine vaudeville and rock ‘n’ roll, inventing a genre that has since been emulated by such groups as KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, and Marilyn Manson.”    He became a Christian in the 80s but never did the Christian music scene; he just claims to be a musician who is a Christian rather than a Christian musician.  He said in an interview, “"I've had a couple of people that were friends of mine that I've talked to that have vocally said they have [accepted Christ]. I have talked to some big stars about this, some really horrific characters ... and you'd be surprised. The ones that you would think are the furthest gone are the ones that are more apt to listen."  He also said, “"'I was one thing at one time, and I'm something new. I'm a new creature now. Don't judge Alice by what he used to be. Praise God for what I am now.'" 

As Christians and churchgoers, we have a sinful tendency to not forgive or forget people’s past, especially those in the church who might not have such a tarnished past.  We need to realize that God is a God who loves to heal the forgotten and bring the unlikely back to his purpose.  We can’t read the Gospels and avoid seeing that Jesus is for the unlikely.  The sinners.  People, if we’re honest with ourselves, like you and me.

My dog dying, Health and Wealth, and the Apostle Paul

This week I have looked in the face of death and deterioration. 

My dog, Nafai, has diabetes with endocrinosis.  The vet said that it is a medical emergency and that Nafai should be hospitalized and treated or we should consider putting him down.  In order to decide the time to bring him in, we should choose three things that he loves and when he stops enjoying them, that is the time to put him to sleep.  My dog does not enjoy a whole lot except hanging around us, something he is still doing most of the time.  So we will wait until he doesn’t want to hang out with us, no longer wags his tail happily when we come home, or is suffering too much.  So far, he doesn’t appear to be suffering a whole lot although he is not eating much.  He has gone days without eating.

On Tuesday, Ron, a nice man from our church, and I had a battle with the giant Ash tree in my back yard.  The top half of it is dead and Ron heats his house with a woodburning stove; the two together made it a perfect time to cut it down.  But Ash is huge and has put up a tremendous fight.  We were not able to cut it down with the 16” chainsaw.  Then on Thursday Tommie, another nice man from our church, came over and we fought with Ash for two hours, but eventually Ash fell.

Although I love my dog it will be nothing like losing a friend or close family member.  Losing a loved pet or seeing the decay in the world around us are lesser reminders of death, suffering, and that the things of this world are only temporary, but they are preparation for the greater losses.  And greater losses will come.  Look around.  Everyone we encounter is going to suffer and die, unless Jesus comes first.  Courtney, a nice lady from our church, posted an anonymous quote on Facebook this week: “Don’t worry about life, you’re not going to survive it anyway.”

In some religious circles, where the health and wealth gospel is taught, it is really foreign to talk about suffering and the fact that we suffer is blamed on our lack of faith.  I just cannot come to that view through Scripture.  And you should know from my recent messages that I do believe God heals and helps his people prosper.  But sometimes he doesn’t.  

The Apostle Paul knew suffering firsthand.  He was imprisoned multiple times, received forty lashes less one five separate times, beaten by rods, stoned on one occasion, was in a shipwreck three times, adrift on the sea for a full night and day.  He was not kept safe from danger as he says he faced danger from rivers, robbers, Jews, and Gentiles; he faced danger in the city, in the wilderness, at sea, and from fake Christians.  He toiled through many sleepless night, starving and thirsty, out in the cold without shelter (2 Cor 11:23-28).  His ministry was a ministry of hope, glory, and the power of the Spirit, but it was also a ministry of suffering.

And the writer of Hebrews elaborates on the sufferings of the faithful:

“Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy— wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.  And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect”  Heb 11:35-40 (ESV).

If you find yourself suffering, you don't need to blame yourself.  Use that pain to draw closer to God.  In many cases, you can't choose whether you suffer or not, but you can choose how you respond to suffering.  The Apostle Paul suffered.  Many great Christians I have known have suffered.  Jesus Himself suffered.  And you will too.  It's part of this fallen world, a fallen world that we strive to bring into line with God's will, but fallen nonetheless.  A fallen world that we suffer in at times while trying to bring God's perfect kingdom into the here and now as much as possible.