This week's message is one that can be confusing.  It speaks about two sides of the same coin ... the faith in the unseen promises of God and the actions (our actions) that profess faith.  Notice I didn't say they professed this faith with words.  Look at the list.  Not many great talkers ... but many who risked it all for a God they loved.  They professed it [faith] by following God's calling in complete trust of His promises.  Hebrews 11 is the hall of fame of people who had this kind of faith.  They followed, struggled, failed, had victories and often saw nothing of the end of the promise ... yet they believed.  Many of them were people we would shun or avoid because they were messed-up.  But their lives were invested in a God that saw their risk, their steps and their pain.

Are we like them?  Over the past few weeks I have seen some disturbing images.  People who say they are Christians clap for the number of executions conducted in Texas.  People applaud as debaters spell out that a person who has chosen not to buy health insurance should be allowed to die.  I distinctly remember Jesus talking about having compassion for those in prison and being in the business of healing.  Casting Crowns performed a song that had the lyrics, "If we are the body, why aren't His hands healing,  why aren't His arms reaching, why aren't His words teaching?"  When we, as Christians, are in the forums of our world it should be as if Jesus were there.  And when Jesus comes to town, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come."  How do these things happen?  Through those who, Jesus said, gave the world flavor and revelation about Him (salt and light).  For is is our task to proclaim (by our lives and by our lived-out witness) that God's kingdom is come.  Our Lord reigns both in the future and the present!

Read Matthew 23.  See if those claiming to be the Church today are known for what Jesus pronounces judgement upon, or if we are known for mercy, grace, peace and a loving spirit.  When I see folks claiming to be God's people that are known for bitterness, anger, vengeance, prejudice, and war, I fear for their souls.  I fear that they will meet a Maker who says to them, (Matthew 25) "I never knew you."

One Verse

1 Corinthians 12 is an oft-quoted passage with many points about the body of Christ, the Church.  But today I want to focus on one verse.  Here it is: "All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it."  I am reading Kyle Idleman's book, Not A Fan.  The book relates to the way folks often call themselves the people of God, yet they have issues when it comes to being followers of the Jesus they call their leader.  He uses the example from last week's message in which our allegiance to Jesus is a bit like a husband who has his wife's picture in his wallet with pictures of other women he likes to hang out with.  How do you think this will play out at home with the wife?
In this passage from Paul's first book to the Corinthians Paul is stating two basic facts.  First, the Body of Christ (the Church) is made up of all the followers of Christ together.  No one is better, more important, or more vital than another because we are a unit.  If each part serves its function the body thrives.  If a part goes on strike, chooses to function like another part, decides to take a year off or just says "Let all those other parts be the Church ... I'm just along for the ride"... the entire body fails to be and do its job.  Second, if you are a Christian you cannot opt-out of the Body.  You ARE part of the Body even if you choose behavior that is a poor witness or is detrimental to the whole Body.
Kyle Idleman asks "What'll it be?"  Do you really choose to be part of this Body of Christ?  Or, do you choose to be a fan of Christ (liking Him, believing He exists, thinking His Word is wise ... but failing to put His Word into your life)?  God is waiting for your answer.  Pastor Randy

Stuck

During the past week I have encountered some interesting reading and situations.  A man came by needing some help but lingered as (I believe) what he really needed came to the forefront.  He was stuck.  His questions were the commonly complex questions of humanity ... "why is there pain and hurt? ... can a good and loving God create a place of punishment? ... can anyone stop the pain in my life?"  I spent some time on two of these questions.  As we talked I was taken by how much his common questions and his need for easy answers are just like some so-called experts who try to give cliche' answers to many Biblical questions.  They seek the easy out.  They want a quick fix.  Their arguments are designed to cut off those who don't buy their shallow view of an immense, unfathomable God.  Phillip Yancey addresses these same issues in his book "Where Is God When It Hurts."  His sick friend is visited by Christians who use the 'shallow God' technique with all of the pat terms that come along for the ride.  I thought of how useless those words are when I am speaking to a man losing his livelihood ... a woman with a third diagnosis of cancer ... a teen whose father puts money first and everything else as "fluff" ... a faithful disciple with a terminal illness ... they don't need cliche' arguments.  They don't care about the multitude of translations (i.e., interpretations) of Scripture, the tracking of the races in Genesis, the theories about the authorship of Hebrews or whether or not Jesus used a stick or His finger as He drew in the dirt in John.  They want to hear from Christ ... how His Words speak healing into their pain and how they can have God's peace.  They need the company of the Psalmist who weeps and groans with them.  They connect with Job who lost everything except his life.  They need the story of a Father who saw His Son die to conquer death, once for all of us.  They don't need "what did you do wrong?"  And "God caused this to make you stronger!" drives them running and screaming from their only means of salvation.  Litmus tests of non-essential doctrine that they 'must' believe is an insult to Christ who said we are saved by (and only by) our faith in Him (guess that is why Jesus taught using faith principles).   Let's try another approach ... God's plan is to bring you safely home to Him (Exodus 19) ... God isn't always the source of our hurts but He is always sufficient (Paul's understanding of his chronic pain) ... God's desire is for every person to choose Him and live in eternity with Him, a place with no pain (John 3:16 and Revelation).  God does heal, sometimes using doctors, sometimes using miracles and sometimes through death and resurrection.  Though people make evil choices, do evil things to other people and are sometimes in the wrong place at the wrong time, only God has the ability to turn the evil of this present age to His good (all things work for good to those who place their faith in Him).  God sees the beginning and end of our issues (good and bad) and if we place Him first His destination for us will always be inside the perfection of His leading (though we should not be arrogant enough to think we will always see it or know it in this life).  My heart hurts when we spend energy, resources, time, anger, conflict and life on issues that will mean nothing in eternity.  We could free-up most of the internet, lots of bookshelves, scores of emails and most of our brain space if we got rid of the useless things we know (or think we know) about God.  John relates his take on this as he tells us, "In the beginning was the Word ... and the Word was God and the Word was with God.  Through Him everything was made."  He is saying that the game has changed.  The lens through which we look at the world is now the Word made flesh.  We have been given the true revelation of God in Jesus.  We look back through the lens of Christ.  We see the present through that lens ... we are blessed because of this, yet we continue to seek the wisdom of the Pharisees.  And, praise God, we see and have a future because of that lens.  God's Word says we can store up treasures in heaven or store up wrath in hell.  When we lead people into life-consuming pursuit of doctrines that claim to be "key" when these doctrines place themselves above the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus, we (in my belief) are not storing up heavenly treasures. Pastor Randy

Being a Disciple

Our subject this week is all about being a disciple of Christ.  Lots of people I have know profess to be Jesus-followers.  In the Hebrew context (they called him Rabbi or teacher) a follower would walk and 'abide' with the teacher, listening, learning, asking questions and emulating.  This is the Biblical context to which we are called.
This weeks blog will be more questions than answers.  We know the Biblical call is to grow into the likeness of Christ ... to reflect Him as we make choices that show our devotion ... to follow with deed, not just words.
Here are those pesky questions:
1. How is my walk?  Do I walk (as the follower would walk with the teacher) so close that I taste the Rabbi's dust in my mouth?  Am I close enough to hear Him?
2. Do I listen to Him?  When I pray do I try to hear what God is saying back to me?  Do I read the things He said in His Word?  And, do I obey or do I find myself ignoring His commands?
3. Do I learn?  Am I closer to Him today than yesterday?  Do I find myself pining for the time when God was close or do I rejoice that my relationship with Him is growing?
4. Do I ask questions like the twelve used to ask?  Am I so bound by cliches that I am more afraid to ask God a question than I am to walk in ignorance?  Am I so bound to my ideology that I cannot think outside the box of my world?  Is Jesus God of my choices even if those choices place me at odds with the folks I hang out with?
5. Do I try to emulate Jesus?  If the truest form of flattery is imitation, how does my life look as an imitation of the person Jesus that I claim as Lord and Savior?  If He is both Lord and Savior shouldn't I be into trying to do the things that Jesus would do?
OK ... I told you the questions would be hard!  Come Sunday and we will debrief these questions and try to come up with some answers to live out every day.  See you there!  Pastor Randy