The Truth About Lies

  Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. 21 I have not written to you that you do not know the truth, but that you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.
1 John 2:20–23 NET

Taken from The Modern Day Disciple Bible Study on 1, 2, & 3 John

In an effort to combat the cultic notions of the day, which denied the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and touted a secret knowledge as the mark of enlightenment, John lays it all out for his readers. He boldly proclaims that belief in Jesus Christ, as He was revealed to the apostles, is the mark of true enlightenment. Anything that disagrees with this is a distortion of the truth, or as John puts it, a lie. John had a very down-to-earth understanding of who Jesus was. John was essentially one of Jesus’ roommates for the better part of Jesus’ three-year ministry. John ate with Jesus, laughed and cried with Jesus, walked for miles with Jesus, and saw Jesus perform many miracles and wonderful signs that all pointed to Jesus being the Christ. John was there when Jesus was betrayed, and John followed Jesus as He was taken captive. John saw Jesus, bloody and suffocating on the cross. However, John also witnessed the resurrection. He talked with and ate with the risen Christ. He watched as Thomas put his fingers in the very real wounds of Jesus’ resurrected body. Yes, John knew all about Jesus, and now there were people saying that Jesus was nothing more than a ghost and were destroying the faith of those who were young and impression- able in their faith. So, John vehemently contends that the people who are espousing those myths are liars – antichrists, actually. The Son is risen, indeed. Be on guard against lies. They’ll slither into your life carrying a deadly poison. But take heart. The Son of Man came to crush the serpent and all the lies of the enemy.

Your Outlook

How is your outlook and attitude about life today?  Has it been a good day, or a rotten day or has your day been someplace in-between?  I like what Romans 8 has to say about our outlook.  5 For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit.  There is good news in this verse concerning our outlook and attitude about life.  First your outlook is shape-able; if you live in the spirit it is shaped by the spirit, however when we drift into the flesh our outlook is shaped by the flesh.  Second your attitude is predictable, you can have the worst day of your life in the spirit, and remain positive, or you can have the best day of your life in the flesh and have a negative outlook.  The choice is yours, your outlook is predictable. Finally, your outlook is significant, verse six goes on to say that the outlook of the flesh leads to death, but the outlook of the spirit leads to life and peace.  The stakes are high, live in the spirit have your outlook shaped by the spirit and I know you will have a wonderful day today.

The Rich Young Man…

In the tenth chapter of Mark’s gospel we find the story of the rich young ruler. For centuries many have considered this to be one of the saddest encounters in the Gospel.  We frequently beat up on this young man for his lack of faith, but have you ever considered all of the good qualities that we observe about him through this encounter he had with Jesus?  For example, this young man was eager to follow Christ; he was humble, he was concerned about spiritual things, he was morally pure, he was in a position of authority and had not abused that authority, he was wealthy and yet his wealth had not corrupted him.  As the father of a daughter myself I look at this man from the outside and say this is the kind of person I want my daughter to marry.  However, on the inside he possessed a fatal flaw, and one simple thing kept him from following Jesus, and as a result he missed his fresh start.  Jesus loved this young man and he loves you too.  I pray that you won’t let one thing, whatever it may be, keep you from following Christ.  Instead I want to encourage you to trust in Jesus and follow him with all of your heart!

Do you think God trusts you?

When it comes to God we frequently consider things like His love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. But have you ever considered how much God trusts you? Trust is a natural by-product of love, and God’s great love for humanity has lead Him to place great trust in humanity as well.  For example, scripture is clear that all the silver and gold belong to God.  Yet He places it in the hands of people like you and me to be stewards of that money.  God could have used angels, animals, rocks, or any other means to spread the gospel, but He trusted humanity with the greatest mission the world has ever known.  God could micromanage your family, but instead He trusts you as a parent to raise your children in a way that honors Him.  The list is endless and so is His confidence and trust in you.  Yes God loves you, but never forget that he has placed a great deal of trust in you as well.

At The End of My Rope…

We rightly look up to people like the Apostle Paul, but when we examine his life we find that like the rest of us he was human and his humanity frequently got the better of him.  Paul struggled with the same things we all do, and he constantly had to battle his flesh just as each of us continue to do today.  There is a failure passage in Romans 7 where Paul laments about this struggle.  I recently read it from the translation called The Message and enjoyed the way it really captured Paul’s frustration with this problem. Maybe it will speak to you and perhaps even encourage you if like Paul you find yourself at the end of your rope today.

Romans 7:14–25 MESSAGE  14 I can anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. 15 What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. 16 So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary. 17 But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! 18 I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. 19 I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. 20 My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. 21 It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. 22 I truly delight in God’s commands, 23 but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. 24 I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? 25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

The Future is a Phantom, Seeking To Spook You

My good friends Larry and Amanda Castro are missonaries in Quito Ecuador. I read this post on their blog today and i thought it was great.  I pray that it will encourage you and bless you too.

5 Questions To Ask About Your Preaching…

 

I recently read this article, because I know many pastors read this blog I thought I would pass it on, its something everyone who preaches or teaches should read and consider.

You do it every week. Maybe you do it several times a week. Preaching. You are, by trade, someone who speaks to others. After a while, it can become easy to slip into preaching mode, without doing some self-assessment and taking stock of how you’re doing. For that reason, here are five questions to ask about your preaching.

1. Is it from the Bible? Most importantly, preaching must be from the Bible. Without the Bible, there is no such thing as meaningful preaching. What are you left with? Your opinions? A self-help seminar? Financial advice? A science lesson? Maybe there is a place for financial advice, scientific facts and some self-help tips, but ultimately, everything must come to rest upon the Bible. This is God’s Word. This is what we have to rely on, believe in, and proclaim. As you analyze your preaching, ask, “Am I telling people what the Bible says?”
2. Is it clear? You may have a crystal-clear outline. You may have a beautiful idea of what your sermon is going to sound like. Is it coming out okay? Clarity of communication is more important than the elegance of communication. There is a place for adding finesse, but it is more essential to effective communication that you are being clear in what you say. Ask yourself, “Is what I’m saying making sense? Is it logical? Is it forthright? Is it plain?”
3. Is there an obvious theme? When someone actively listens to a good sermon, they should be able to walk away with a clear idea of what that sermon was about. They may not be able to recall the exact outline, or specific wording, but they should be able to remember the theme. For this reason, it’s important that your sermon be designed to communicate just one theme. One. Not three. When someone asks a listener what the sermon was about, the wrong answer would be, “Uh. Well he talked about Christian liberty, and then about love. And then there was a bunch about evangelism, or missions or something.” One theme. Make it obvious.
4. Is the length appropriate? There is no law about the length of sermons. Some people will tolerate one-hour sermons. Others will tune you out after twenty minutes. Don’t attempt to impose your own idea about how long your people should endure your preaching. You should be able to sense this. If you’re dissatisfied with their sermon-endurance level, perhaps you can build up their stamina over time. But you’ve got to have something meaningful to say. Make sure that you’re identifying the right length, and sticking with it. You may have a lot of material prepared, but people are only going to listen to so much.
5. Does it connect with people where they are? Preachers are legendary for their ability to talk right over people’s heads. Whether they’re using lofty vocabulary, reading from dry commentaries, or discussing esoteric themes, some preaching styles are notoriously detached. How about yours? Does your congregation of, say, working-class attendees care about what you’re discussing? Is there a connection with their daily lives? Does your vocabulary match their own? Do you identify with their needs and struggles? If preaching is to be effective, it must connect with people. Don’t preach to a congregation you wish you had. Instead, talk to the people that you do have.

The good news about preaching is that it’s a work in progress. Whether you’re a golden-mouth orator, or are hardly able to hobble two sentences together, you can always improve. Your public speaking ability is important, but not nearly as important about the content of what you’re speaking. The most important thing is that you are faithfully teaching and living God’s Word.