BLAST FROM THE PAST

Acts 11:25  Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

Stories from the past are important to society. They remind us of former struggles, gains, and losses so that we can learn from them and try to avoid earlier mistakes while at the same time building on the good foundations laid by our ancestors. The stories told in monasteries serve the same function, and are an important part of monastic education and formation. [One] story involved two junior monks, one of whom told the other, “If this were truly a Christian place, people wouldn’t do things that upset me.” The one who said it didn’t stay in the monastery very long. He was confused about love.

We all suffer from the same confusion at times. We mistakenly think that others who profess to love God and follow Jesus will do so only in ways that we understand and approve. We wrongly expect people to show their love for God and neighbor by behaving only in ways with which we are comfortable and that reinforce our own beliefs, rather than causing us to question our assumptions. The life of Jesus teaches us how wrong we can be.

Jesus upset almost everyone at some point, and yet he loved them all. His example teaches us how to truly love by seeing people as they are and accepting them as they are, while expecting them to grow, hoping and praying for their growth, and joyfully respecting their ultimate maturity as images of God. Images that are unique, beautiful and different from each other but still images of the infinite God.

Many times we think we love someone or feel loved while in a certain group, but are merely enjoying the emotional high that the person or group brings us. The expansion of our heart in love is important, because we must avoid the opposite habit of gripping things tightly to our chests out of fear. Never confuse love with control. Love allows others to follow their own life paths; fear tries to control the paths of others. We can destroy this fear and controlling mindset by trusting that God knows all things and loves all people and has a plan specific to each person we know.

The Abbey Newsletter by Br. Abraham.   

WHO KILLED JESUS CHRIST? 

Romans 4:25  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

For centuries, Christians, Jews, scholars, leaders and laymen have debated this question. Many lay blame on the Jews since they were the ones who had shouted approval for Barabbas instead of Jesus, to be crucified. Some say Pilate is to blame since he turned his back on Christ when he could have spared him knowing he was innocent of the charges. Others heap the blame on Judas and Herod for the grand conspiracy that brought their political threat to the cross of death. Who killed Jesus? Whom can we clearly blame?

If Adam had never sinned then sin and death never would have entered the world of mankind until you or I first sinned. Now, if we sinned only that one time, God would still have sent Jesus to take your place and to receive the punishment for your sin himself. God loves the world and you in particular, enough to have allowed his Son to die for everyone or even you alone, so you would not suffer the penalty for your sin, death eternal. Can you see that one sin was sufficient to send Jesus to the Cross on Calvary’s hill. Now you can see that in all truth, our sins sent Jesus to be killed.

Christianity is a personal matter because of the issue of “my” sins. Christ died for each individual sin of each individual person. He died for your sins. This personal nature of His sacrifice can only elicit the response of total surrender to him in devotion and thanksgiving.

How will you respond to His sacrifice for You? How will you show your gratitude to Him?

Jericho Road Ministries Chapel, by Rev.Bruce W. Gimbel, September 16, 2005  . 

HAVING PROBLEMS WITH PEACE? 

Romans 5:1  Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many people equate peace with the absence of conflict, and that peace may be acquired by removing from life things that are stressful and troubling. In the end, after much effort these same people have been quite disappointed. Wealthy people find ways to seclude themselves from the day to day troubles of life and work. They surround themselves with lavish possessions, homes scattered in remote places, distracting hobbies and the like, all to keep disturbances at bay and peace in their created worlds. In the end they forget that all these locations and possessions do not remove the source of turmoil in life. They can never escape from themselves.

            John the Baptist was arrested by King Herod and throne into prison. While he sat in that dark and dank cell, Herod sat on a throne of gold amid his court and all the pleasures and comforts that being king provided. He had many friends and grand possessions but he was still troubled greatly. Although John sat chained in rat infested cell of squalor, he sat there in peace. These two men lived in quite different surroundings and with quite different relationships to God. John had peace because he trusted God through faith. Herod rejected God, he exchanged faith for controlled circumstances and found only trouble and anxiety.

            When you cannot seem to find peace in your life, stop looking at your surroundings. They can deceive you, making other things appear to be the source of your trouble. Peace in life can only be found in God’s presence. If you are finding yourself without peace, go to Him in prayer and seek His loving hand on your heart and mind, trust him and find peace.

Jericho Road Ministries Chapel, by Rev.Bruce W. Gimbel, February 27, 2002.  

THE VULNERABLE BELIEVER 

1 Corinthians 6:1  As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain…now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

It is quite easy for people to verbally profess faith in Christ. There is nothing difficult or life threatening to say those words. But to say them and not live them is a vain or worthless effort. It means nothing to God and other people to live life centered on us and making statements about ideas and beliefs that are not reflected in your daily living. Of what use are such words or phrases. They are only valuable in establishing acceptance of your self from the group of people with whom you associate or live. If you say the right things then you can be a part of the group. That is what words can provide, the right ticket in the door.

Before this verse one of chapter six Paul writes about a new creature who is in relationship to God and subsequently he speaks of hardships and sufferings that result from the new creature who is reconciled to God. A person who has received God’s grace will find his or her life turned inside out because they have been changed and are now seeking to be an instrument of God’s to change others. This is not a life that has merely verbal professions and no concern for people beyond the circle of those who accept you.

            In all the struggles and contradictions that people see in the lives of Christians it is a wonder that anyone goes to heaven. But the professing person who loves his fellow man, exhibits that love in obedience to God’s Word and shows mercy to all people there is hope and assurance from their faith. Like Paul, you and I may face the same contradictory responses from others but we should not shy away or run but open wider our hearts to them, make ourselves vulnerable in heart, soul and mind knowing that Christ, himself, was vulnerable to the end because he loved his fellow man and obeyed his Father.

Jericho Road Ministries Chapel, by Rev.Bruce W. Gimbel, December 7, 2006.   

WHO’S CONTROLLING YOUR FUTURE 

Matthew 25:24-25  They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

One day Jesus said to his disciples: “I’d like you to carry a stone for Me.” He didn’t give any explanation. So the disciples looked around for a stone to carry, and Peter, being the practical sort, sought out the smallest stone he could possibly find. After all, Jesus didn’t give any regulations for weight and size! So he put it in his pocket. Jesus then said: “Follow Me.”

He led them on a journey. About noontime Jesus had everyone sit down. He waved his hands and all the stones turned to bread. He said, “Now it’s time for lunch.” In a few seconds, Peter’s lunch was over. When lunch was done Jesus told them to stand up. He said again, “I’d like you to carry a stone for Me.” This time Peter said, “Aha! Now I get it!” So he looked around and saw a small boulder. He hoisted it on his back and it was painful, it made him stagger. But he said, “I can’t wait for supper.” Jesus then said: “Follow Me.”

He led them on a journey, with Peter barely being able to keep up. Around supper time Jesus led them to the side of a river. He said, “Now everyone throw your stones into the water.” They did. Then he said, “Follow Me,” and began to walk. Peter and the others looked at him dumbfounded. Jesus sighed and said, “Don’t you remember what I asked you to do? Who were you carrying the stone for?”

The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller, pg.51  

ACCEPTED BY HIM 

John 8:6-8 Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time…

            A wise man once said that a truly intelligent person is one who has learned to be happy with himself. The secret of self-acceptance, often hidden from the wise and clever, the Ph.D.’s and power brokers of this world, is the way of integrity born of fidelity to the dream. When we are comfortable with ourselves, a new-found freedom blossoms. Am I free? If not, why not?

“When we accept ourselves for what we are, we cease to hunger for power or the acceptance of others because our self-intimacy reinforces our inner sense of security. We are no longer preoccupied with being powerful or popular. We no longer fear criticism or contradiction because we accept the reality of human limitations. Integrated, we are no longer plagued with the desire to please others because simply being true to ourselves brings lasting inner peace.”

The risk-taking disciple who dares to listen to his feelings, rather than to the voice of authority or to the majority, may quickly discover that his inner echoes do not resonate with the vox populi. He finds this is unnerving to himself and disturbing to the palace guard.

The risk-takers, who listen to the Spirit speaking through their feelings are ready to chance something, fully aware that the history of Christian spirituality is not one of obedient conformity, however much some people prefer to view it that way. Rather, as Francis, Dominic, Ignatius and others saw, it is a history of fidelity to the dream, writing the gospel afresh for one’s own generation, and imaginative response to the needs of the Church.

A Stranger to Self-Hatred: A Glimpse of Jesus by Brennan Manning, pgs.103-105.   

FAITH IS PAINFUL 

James 2:21-22  Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

Kirk Nowery tells the story of a speech given by King George VI of England. It was an important radio speech at a disarmament conference in the 1930’s. As someone walked across the stage and tripped on the wires for the King’s microphone, his message was about to be cut off. The engineer in charge, seeing what had happened, quickly grabbed the wire that was broken, and held it in his hands, making his body the conduit for the electricity needed for the microphone. He held that wire for twenty minutes, until the King was done speaking. It must have been a very painful experience. Afterward he had some burns on his hands. Thus the world got to hear the King’s message without interruption.

            The engineer recognized the importance of the message to be delivered. He recognized his own life in the King’s service was in jeopardy. His actions reflected his trust in the King’s leadership. In one simple yet painful act, we see this man’s faith. How often do you and I turn from an action of faith because we know it will hurt? Pain is not just physical but is emotional, psychological and spiritual. When was the last time you put off a difficult relationship or meeting because of the potential for emotional pain? How often do we run from doing what is right because it will “hurt”?

            Abraham’s faith led him to into the pain of doubt, anger, confusion, uncertainty, and the potential for loss and grief. Instead of running, he prepared for the smallest details of the sacrifice. Trust accompanied his pain-filled steps of faith. As a result, God’s message was communicated. Sometimes we can never anticipate what outcome God will bring. Like Abraham, God wants us to struggle with the pain that faith in Him often entails. God uses us to communicate His will to others. That can be painful. But we can be sure that God knows the end results and they are always perfect. Now that’s good news!

Jericho Road Ministries: Chapel Service. Rev. Bruce W. Gimbel

WHO’S IN CONTROL? 

Matthew 28:18-19 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples…

I try to be sensitive to the Lord about each person who comes through our program while still holding fast to our guidelines. It would be easier to follow the law to the letter, but I don’t think that would be the best for each client. Mercifully, we serve a living God who is able to lead, guide, and direct us. We are not following the last will and testament of a deceased wise man. He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today.

Many of our residents get upset when a client receives different disciplinary actions for the apparently same infractions. We all seem to have an innate sense of right and wrong, and when it is not followed it is very distressing. This is especially true when we feel another person has been in the wrong. How is it that we always seem to see all the extenuating circumstances when we are the offender?

God makes it clear in His Word that He looks upon the heart. That is what I try to do when I counsel and discipline the residents. I endeavor to see the reasons behind their behavior and help them to grow through their trials. In the parable of the workers, the master did not reward each according to the hours they worked, but paid them all the same wages at the end of the day. The workers were very upset about the injustice of that, but Jesus pointed out that each had received what they had agreed upon. It was actually a metaphor showing that everyone who calls upon the  name of the Lord shall be saved…It also illustrates how different God’s thoughts are from our thoughts…It also boils down to one thing. Either you believe that God is in control of your life or you don’t. If He is in control, then He is in control of your authority and how their actions will affect you. If He is not in control, then you must continue to try to be god yourself by controlling and manipulating every situation in your life. How tiresome…

Excerpt from The Lighthouse News by Jeff Retsyn, August 2008   

REAL LOVE IS A PERSONAL EXCHANGE 

1 John 3:16-18      This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 

In the real world of relationships it is impossible to love people with a problem or a need without in some sense sharing or even changing places with them. All real life-changing love involves some form of this kind of exchange.

           

It requires very little of you to love a person who is pulled together and happy. Think, however, of emotionally wounded people. There is no way to listen and love people like that and stay completely emotionally intact yourself. It may be that they may feel stronger and more affirmed as you talk, but that won’t happen without you being quite emotionally drained yourself. It’s them or you. To bring them up emotionally you must be willing to be drained emotionally.

           

            All life-changing love toward people with serious needs is a substitutional sacrifice. If you become personally involved with them, in some way, their weaknesses flow toward you as your strengths flow toward them. In The Cross of Christ, John Stott writes that substitution is at the heart of the Christian message: “The essence of sin is we human beings substituting ourselves for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for us. We…put ourselves where only God deserves to be; God…puts himself where we deserve to be.”

            If that is true, how can God be a God of love if he does not become personally involved in suffering the same violence, oppression, grief, weakness, and pain that we experience? The answer to that question is twofold. First, God can’t. Second, only one major world religion even claims that God does.

The Reason For God by Tim Keller, pg.193-5  

CELEBRATE THE DARKNESS 

Mark 1:32-37 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"

Death to self is necessary in order to live for God. A crucifixion of the ego is required. That is why mature Christian prayer inevitably leads to the purification of what St. John of the Cross called the dark night of the senses and the spirit which, through loneliness and aridity, buries egoism and leads us out of ourselves to experience God.

The “dark night” is a very real place, as anyone who has been there will tell you. Alan Jones calls it “the second conversion.” While the first conversion was characterized by joy and enthusiasm and filled with felt consolation and a profound sense of God’s presence, the second is marked by dryness, barrenness, desolation, and a profound sense of God’s absence. The dark night is an indispensable stage of spiritual growth both for the individual Christian and the church.

Merton writes:  There is an absolute need for the solitary, bare, dark, beyond-thought, beyond-feeling type of prayer.… Unless that dimension is there in the church somewhere, the whole caboodle lacks life and light and intelligence. It is a kind of hidden, secret, unknown stabilizer and compass too. About this I have no hesitation or doubts.

Though painful, the purification of the ego in the dark night is the high road to Christian freedom and maturity. In fact, it is often an answer to prayer.

The Signature of Jesus, by Brennan Manning, pg. 132.

A CHRISTIAN’S CORE IDENTITY 

Luke 6:37-38  "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." 

Writhing in agony on the cross, Jesus says, “I know every moment of sin, selfishness, dishonesty, and degraded love that has disfigured your life, and I do not judge you unworthy of compassion, forgiveness, and salvation. Now you be like that with others. Judge no one.”

            Only when we claim the love of the crucified Christ with heartfelt conviction, this love that transcends all judgments, can we overcome all fear of judgment. As long as we continue to live as if we are what we do, as if we are what we have, and as if we are what other people think about us, we will remain filled with judgments, opinions, evaluations, and condemnations. We will remain addicted to the need to put people in their place.

            Yet to the extent that we embrace the truth that our core identity is not rooted in our success in ministry or in our popularity with kids and parents or with power in the local church, but in the passionate, pursuing, infinite – what G. K. Chesterton called the “furious” love of God embodied in his crucified Son – to that degree we can let go of our need to judge our friends, spouses, children, pastors, gays, straights, Asians, Caucasians, and the sin-scarred wino on the street. We can be free from the need to judge others by claiming for ourselves the truth, “I am the disciple whom Jesus loves.”

The Signature of Jesus, by Brennan Manning, pg. 60.

                        

OUR COUNSELOR 

John 14:15-17  "If you love me, you will obey what I command.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth.

It’s correct to say that the Holy Spirit is our Counselor, because that’s what he does and is supposed to do. Right now, I don’t want to debate about his divine being or substance. Christ indicates here that the Spirit is a distinct person – the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. But in John 15, we also see that the Spirit is God – the Holy Spirit is one in essence with the Father and the Son. For now, it’s enough to learn that he is called a counselor for us.

            The word counselor shows us how we should think of the Holy Spirit. A counselor is not a lawgiver or someone like Moses, who frightens us with the devil, death, and hell. No, a counselor fills a troubled heart with joy toward God. A counselor encourages us to be happy that our sins have been forgiven, death has been conquered, heaven has been opened, and God is smiling upon us.

            Whoever understands what it means for the Spirit to be our Counselor will have already won the battle. That person will find nothing but pure comfort and joy in heaven and on earth. Because the Father is the one who sends him to help us, and because Christ is the one who asks him to do so, this sending is certainly not done out of anger. Instead, it flows from a fatherly, heartfelt love. So Christians should remind themselves of this name for the Holy Spirit. He is a counselor, and we are the troubled and timid ones whom he helps.

Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional by Martin Luther, August 16.

THE BIBLE AND THE GOOD LIFE

Isaiah 30:15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

            The Bible knows all about false gods and idols, things unworthy of our loyalty. Its first moral tale, that of Adam and Eve, is not about sex ore even about disobedience. We might say that it is about a false trust in the benevolence of knowledge, for it was the fruit of that tree that got the first society into trouble. “O put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of man; for there is no help in them,” we read in Psalm 146. “Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horse,” says Psalm 20:7-8, “but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen; but we are risen and stand upright.” The Bible, if nothing else, is a book about the dangers of false trust:

“Put no trust in a neighbor, have no confidence in a friend, guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom, For the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house. But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. (Micah 7:5-7)

            A book that knows this about the human condition must also know a lot about God. We can trust what that book has to say about the source of trust. It is not the Bible but the God of the Bible in whom we find someone, something, worthy of our loyalty, our ultimate concern, our trust…

            For tired people weary of noise and striving after that which gives no reward, a book that promises this is worth taking seriously; and now, perhaps, having exhausted ourselves and all of the alternatives, we may just begin to do so.

The Good Book by Peter J. Gomes, pg.190-191.

SHEPHERDS USE THE RIGHT TOOLS

Psalm 23:4   Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

            The Shepherd of old used a Rod and Staff to shepherd the flock. The Rod was used to discipline, inspect and direct individual sheep or the entire flock. The Staff was topped with a hook. It was used to catch a stray or pull others out of danger. Both the Rod and Staff were used by the Shepherd to steady his own walk as he guided the flock over rough terrain. Today, we could use a Compass and a Fence to simulate our role as Shepherds. The Compass like the Rod is used to point the flock in the proper direction. The Compass allows the shepherd to know whether they are on course. The Fence, likewise, provides the boundaries within which the individual sheep and flock are to operate. They are kept together as a group within the guidelines set down by the Shepherd. A good shepherd will bring the strays back within the Fence. Both the Compass and Fence are tools for the shepherd to remain diligent himself in achieving his goals and steadies his decisions as he leads the flock.

            The Compass and the Fence enable the shepherd to allow the individuals to make decisions and take steps themselves within these two parameters. When leaders do not allow the followers to make their decisions within the parameters, problems develop. Followers will never grow and develop in appropriate ways. Their own decision making muscles will weaken or waste away. Generally, the people closest to the action will have the most information to bring to the decision. What does this style of leadership look like? Sometimes it looks like doing nothing. One otherwise impressive leader sometimes seemed lazy or inattentive.  He would allow things to fall on the ground and make a mess.  It was his way of forcing others to step up. Guide them to see the necessary data and information and helping them frame the precise question to be answered in a decision can be crucial.…Build the fences and wait…This will require the patience, faith and wisdom of a great shepherd leader.

Shepherd Leadership: Wisdom for Leaders From Psalm 23 by Blaine McCormick & David Davenport, pgs.67-69.

GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18     Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

            The early church at Thessalonica was anxiously awaiting the return of Christ. Jesus had promised to return to take his people with Him to be with God the Father. Look-outs were placed around the town. People talked much about Jesus’ teachings. They wondered from which direction he would come. Would it be out of the clouds as he had left them? Or maybe he would show up walking down the road. The people were preoccupied with his return. They ignored their leaders. They stopped working. They ignored the needs of themselves and others. Life was put on hold.

            The world has changed since those early days of the church. In fact life has really taken a 360 degree turn. We are preoccupied today, but with different things. People waste their days with leisure activities. They chase after happiness and comfort from short-lived pleasures like money, food and sex. The world has lost focus of Christ. The poor get poorer. The sick get sicker. A large percentage of the world today remains in poverty while the rich and comfortable few occupy every minute of their lives with selfish pursuits. The world has not really changed all that much.

            God calls us to responsible Christian living. We are not to be idle in play but are to work in order to provide for our family and our church family. We are to remain focused on Christ. But all this is to be done with proper balance and focus. We are to listen to the spiritual leaders God has placed over us. We are to serve one another in love. We are to encourage the timid and help the weak. And most importantly, we are to always joyfully pray, giving thanks in all circumstances to our God.

Jericho Road Ministries: Chapel Service. Rev. Bruce W. Gimbel.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF DISCIPLESHIP 

2 Corinthians 13:4    For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him to serve you.

The great marvel of Jesus was that He was voluntarily weak. Any coward among us can hit back when hit, but it takes an exceedingly strong nature not to hit back. Jesus Christ never did. If we are going to follow His example we shall find that all His teaching leads along that line. But ultimately, at the final wind-up of His great purpose, those who have followed His steps reign with Him. Those who reign with Him are not the sanctified in possibility, in ecstasy, but those who have gone through actually. Equal duties, not equal rights, are the keynote of the spiritual world; equal rights are the clamor of the natural world. The protest of power through grace, if we are following Jesus, is that we no longer insist on our rights, we see that we fulfill our duty.

That is the philosophy of a poor, perfect, pure discipleship. Remember, these are not conditions of salvation, but of discipleship. Those of us who have entered into a conscious experience of the salvation of Jesus by the grace of God, whose whole inner life is drawn towards God, have the privilege of being disciples, if we will. The Bible never refers to degrees of salvation, but there are degrees of it in actual experience. The spiritual privileges and opportunities of all disciples are equal; it has nothing to do with education or natural ability. “One is your Master, even Christ.” We have no business to bring in that abomination of the lower regions that makes us think too little of ourselves; to think too little of ourselves is simply the flip-side of conceit. If I am a disciple of Jesus, He is my Master, I am looking to Him, and the thought of self never enters. So crush on the threshold of your mind any of those lame, limping ‘Oh, I can’ts, you see I am not gifted.’ The great stumbling-block in the way of some people being simple disciples is that they are gifted, so gifted that they won’t trust God. So clear away all those things from the thought of discipleship; we all have absolutely equal privileges, and there is no limit to what God can do in and through us.

If Thou Wilt Be Perfect by Oswald Chambers, pg.110-111.

THE COMPANY OF THESE POOR PEOPLE 

Acts 11:25-26  Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. 

When I had heard and considered what they said, I left them, and went about my employment again: but their talk and discourse went with me, also my heart would linger with them, for I was greatly affected by their words, both because by them I was convinced that I wanted the true tokens of a truly godly man, and also because by them I was convinced of the happy and blessed condition of him that was a part of them.

Therefore I would often make it my business to go again and again into the company of these poor people; for I could not stay away; and the more I went among them, the more I did question my condition; and, as still I do remember, I found two things at which I did sometimes marvel, (especially considering what a blind, ignorant, sordid and ungodly wretch I was before) the one was, a very great softness and tenderness of heart, which caused me to fall under the conviction of what by Scripture they asserted; and the other was, a great bending in my mind to a continual meditating on them, and on all other good things which at any time I heard or read of.

By these things my mind was now so turned…still crying out, Give, give (Proverbs 30:15); it was so fixed on eternity, and on the things about the kingdom of heaven…that neither pleasures, nor profits, nor persuasions, nor threats, could loosen it, or make it let go its hold; and though I may speak it with shame, yet it is in very deed a certain truth, it would then have been as difficult for me to have taken my mind from heaven to earth, as I have found it often since to get it again from earth to heaven.

Grace Abounding To The Chief Of Sinners by John Bunyan, pg.15.

     

THE PLEASURE OF PEARS 

Romans 2:14-15 Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.

The reins were relaxed to allow me to amuse myself. There was no strict discipline to keep me in check, which led to an unbridled dissoluteness in many different directions. In all of this there was a thick mist shutting me off from the brightness of your face, my God, and my iniquity as it were “burst out from my fatness”.

Theft receives certain punishment by your law, Lord, and by the law written in the hearts of men which not even iniquity itself destroys. For what thief can endure being robbed by another thief? He cannot tolerate it even if he is rich and the other is destitute. I wanted to carry out an act of theft and did so, driven by no kind of need other than my inner lack of any sense of, or feeling for, justice. Wickedness filled me. I stole something which I had in plenty and of much better quality. My desire was to enjoy not what I sought by stealing but merely the excitement of thieving and the doing of what was wrong. There was a pear tree near our vineyard laden with fruit, though attractive in neither color nor taste. To shake the fruit off the tree and carry off the pears, I and a gang of naughty adolescents set off late at night after we had continued our game in the streets. We carried off a huge load of pears. But they were not for our feasts but merely to throw to the pigs. Even if we ate a few, nevertheless our pleasure lay in doing what was not allowed.

I had no motive for my wickedness except wickedness itself. It was foul, and I loved it. I loved the self-destruction, I loved my fall, not the object for which I had fallen but my fall itself. My depraved soul leaped down from your firmament to ruin. I was seeking not to gain anything by shameful means, but shame for its own sake.

Confessions, by Saint Augustine, pg. 27-28.

THE SHOCKING ALTERNATIVE 

 John 10:19-21 At these words the Jews were again divided. Many of them said, "He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?" But others said, "These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

            Among these Jews there suddenly turns up a man who goes about talking as if He was God. He claims to forgive sins. He says He has always existed. He says He is coming to judge the world at the end of time.

            One part of the claim tends to slip past us unnoticed… I mean the claim to forgive sins: any sins. Now unless the speaker is God, this is really so preposterous as to be comic. We can all understand how a man forgives offences against himself. You tread on my toe and I forgive you, you steal my money and I forgive you. But what should we make of a man… who announced that he forgave you for treading on other men’s toes and stealing other men’s money? Asinine…is the kindest description we should give of his conduct. Yet this is what Jesus did…He unhesitatingly behaved as if He was the party chiefly …offended in all offences. This makes sense only if He really was God.

            I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: ore else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis, pg. 40-41.

COME OUT AND LIVE 

John 11:39-41  "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

            God has always had and always will have the power to raise us from the dead. Period. He does not need our help. We are powerless over our own lives, just ask any man at our Rescue Mission. Besides, it’s not about us. It’s all about Jesus. “Our only role is to stick our feet straight up in the air and admit that without God we might as well be put to bed with a shovel. Now that is a message that can empty a church out fast”, writes Barbara Brown Taylor, in her book God In Pain.

            This story is not about Lazarus, Mary, Martha or the crowds. This story is not even about you and I. The story is about God. This event is given to shake us awake from disbelief. This and other miracles are spiritual darts designed to puncture our self-centered understandings about the world, ourselves and about God. This story goes beyond the realm of physical death. It is not merely given to reveal the power of God in Jesus. The story is designed to reflect the glorification of God by an individual’s belief in Jesus Christ.

            Death is disbelieving. Disbelief is the reality of spiritual death in a person. It is disbelief in God that must be overcome. Spiritual death is an obstacle to our faith in God. The people attending the funeral were absorbed with the circumstances of Lazarus’ death. They saw their faith in Jesus destroyed by the death of Lazarus. This event transcends the circumstances of death. Lazarus’ death was designed to show God’s glory, overcome disbelief and bring people to faith in Him.  Remember, Lazarus came out!    Now Live!!!

Jericho Road Ministries: Chapel Service. Rev. Bruce W. Gimbel.

DON’T WAIT TO PRAY

Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

You must pray when you are in the heat of temptation – when your mind is preoccupied with thoughts of lust or revenge. If someone urges you to pray under these circumstances, your mind often insists that it’s too impure – as if your dirty thoughts leave no room for prayer. But you must not wait for temptation to end or the thoughts of lust and other sins to totally disappear from your mind before you pray.

At precisely the moment when you feel the strongest temptation and are least prepared to pray, go to a place where you can be alone. Pray the Lord’s Prayer or any other prayer you can think of to defend against the devil and his temptations. Then you will feel the temptation decrease, and Satan will run away. Those who think you should wait until your mind is free from impure thoughts to pray only help Satan, who is already far too strong. Waiting to pray is an unchristian approach to prayer. It’s a teaching that comes from the devil.

In order to keep yourself from believing these kinds of wrong ideas, you must follow David’s example in this psalm. Even after David admitted his terrible sin with Bathsheba, he didn’t run away from God. He didn’t say what Peter foolishly said while in the boat: “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). Instead, David trusted in God’s mercy and began to pray, “Lord, even though I am a sinner, have pity on me.” The time when you feel your sins the most is exactly the time when you most need to pray to God.

Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional, By Martin Luther. January 20.

GOD IS HOLY

Leviticus 11:44-45 I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.       

Why must I start with the holiness of God rather than with His love?’ I suggest that if you do not start with the holiness of God you will never understand God’s plan of salvation, which is that salvation is only possible to us through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross on Calvary’s hill. But the question arises; why is that cross essential, why is that the only way whereby man can be saved? If God is only love and compassion and mercy, then the cross is surely meaningless, for if God is love alone, then all He needs to do when man sins is to forgive him. But the whole message is that the cross is at the center, and without that death God, I say with reverence, cannot forgive.

So what is the trouble? And here is the answer – ‘God is light and in him is no darkness at all.’ And that means that He is just and righteous; it means that He is of such pure countenance that He cannot behold and look upon iniquity; it is the holiness of God that demands the cross, so without starting with holiness there is no meaning in the cross. It is not surprising that the cross has been discounted by modern theologians; it is because they have started with the love of God without His holiness. It is because they have forgotten the life of God, His holy life, that everything in Him is holy; with God love and forgiveness are not things of weakness or compromise. He can only forgive sin as He has dealt with it in His own holy manner, and that is what He did upon the cross.

Therefore it is essential to start with the holiness of God; otherwise the plan of redemption, the scheme of salvation, becomes meaningless and we can see no point or purpose in some of the central doctrines of the Christian faith. But if I start with the holiness of God I see that the incarnation must take place; the cross is absolutely essential, and the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit and every other part of the great plan as well.

Life In Christ: Studies in 1 John, By Martyn Lloyd-Jones, pg. 101.

FATHER AND SON

    John 10:24-30 “…If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe… I and the Father are one."

            The humility of Christ is not the moderation of keeping one’s exact place in the scale of being, but rather that of absolute dependence on God and absolute trust in Him, with the consequent ability to remove mountains. The secret of the meekness and the gentleness of Christ lies in his relation to God…. Thus any one of the virtues of Jesus may be taken as the key to the understanding of his character and teaching; but each is intelligible in its apparent radicalism only as a relation to God. It is better, of course, not to attempt to delineate him by describing one of his excellences but rather to take them all together, those to which we have referred and others. In either case, however, it seems evident that the strangeness, the heroic stature, the extremism and sublimity of this person, considered morally, is due to that unique devotion to God and to that single-hearted trust in Him which can be symbolized by no other figure of speech so well as by the one which calls him Son of God.

            Hence belief in Jesus Christ by men in their various cultures always means belief in God. No one can know the Son without acknowledging the Father. To be related in devotion and obedience to Jesus Christ is to be related to the One to whom he undeviatingly points. As Son of God he points away from the many values of man’s social life to the One who alone is good; from the many powers which men use and on which they depend to the One who alone is powerful; from the many times and seasons of history with their hopes and fears to the One who is Lord of all times and is alone to be feared and hoped for; he points away from all that is conditioned to the Unconditioned. He does not direct attention away from this world to another; but from all worlds, present and future, material and spiritual, to the One who creates all worlds, who is the Other of all worlds.

Christ and Culture by H. Richard Niebuhr, pg. 27.

THE CONTENT OF THE BIBLE

John 3:16-18 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

              According to the Christian view, the Bible contains an account of a revelation from God to man, which is found nowhere else. It is true, the Bible also contains a confirmation and a wonderful enrichment of the revelations which are given also by the things that God has made and by the conscience of man… But in addition to such reaffirmations of what might conceivably be learned elsewhere – as a matter of fact, because of men’s blindness, even so much is leaned elsewhere only in comparatively obscure fashion – the Bible also contains an account of a revelation which is absolutely new. That new revelation concerns the way by which sinful man cn come into communion with the living God.

            The way was opened, according to the Bible, by an act of God, when, almost nineteen hundred years ago, outside the walls of Jerusalem, the eternal Son was offered as a sacrifice for the sins of men. To that one great event the whole Old Testament looks forward, and in that one event the whole of the New Testament finds its center and core. Salvation then, according to the Bible, is not something that was discovered, but something that happened. Hence appears the uniqueness of the Bible. All the ideas of Christianity might be discovered in some other religion, yet there would be in that other religion no Christianity. For Christianity depends, not upon a complex of ideas, but upon the narration of an event. Without that event, the world, in the Christian view, is altogether dark, and humanity is lost under the guilt of sin. There can be no salvation by the discovery of eternal truth, for eternal truth brings naught but despair, because of sin. But a new face has been put upon life by the blessed thing that God did when He offered up His only begotten Son.

Christianity & Liberalism by J. Gresham Machen, pg.69.

WHO KILLED JESUS CHRIST? 

Romans 4:25  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

For centuries, Christians, Jews, scholars, leaders and laymen have debated this question. Many lay blame on the Jews since they were the ones who had shouted approval for Barabbas instead of Jesus, to be crucified. Some say Pilate is to blame since he turned his back on Christ when he could have spared him knowing he was innocent of the charges. Others heap the blame on Judas and Herod for the grand conspiracy that brought their political threat to the cross of death. Who killed Jesus? Whom can we clearly blame?

If Adam had nevere sinned then sin and death never would have entered the world of mankind until you or I first sinned. Now, if we sinned only that one time, God would still have sent Jesus to take your place and to receive the punishment for your sin himself. God loves the world and you in particular, enough to have allowed his Son to die for everyone or even you alone, so you would not suffer the penalty for your sin, death eternal. Can you see that one sin was sufficient to send Jesus to the Cross on Calvary’s hill. Now you can see that in all truth, our sins sent Jesus to be killed.

Christianity is a personal matter because of the issue of “my” sins. Christ died for each individual sin of each individual person. He died for your sins. This personal nature of His sacrifice can only elicit the response of total surrender to him in devotion and thanksgiving.

How will you respond to His sacrifice for You? How will you show your gratitude to Him?

Jericho Road Ministries Chapel, by Rev.Bruce W. Gimbel, September 16, 2005  .

WHO’S IN CONTROL?

Matthew 28:18-19 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples…

“I try to be sensitive to the Lord about each person who comes through our program while still holding fast to our guidelines. It would be easier to follow the law to the letter, but I don’t think that would be the best for each client. Mercifully, we serve a living God who is able to lead, guide, and direct us. We are not following the last will and testament of a deceased wise man. He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today.

            Many of our residents get upset when a client receives different disciplinary actions for the apparently same infractions. We all seem to have an innate sense of right and wrong, and when it is not followed it is very distressing. This is especially true when we feel another person has been in the wrong. How is it that we always seem to see all the extenuating circumstances when we are the offender?

            God makes it clear in His Word that He looks upon the heart. That is what I try to do when I counsel and discipline the residents. I endeavor to see the reasons behind their behavior and help them to grow through their trials. In the parable of the workers, the master did not reward each according to the hours they worked, but paid them all the same wages at the end of the day. The workers were very upset about the injustice of that, but Jesus pointed out that each had received what they had agreed upon. It was actually a metaphor showing that everyone who calls upon the  name of the Lord shall be saved…It also illustrates how different God’s thoughts are from our thoughts…It also boils down to one thing. Either you believe that God is in control of your life or you don’t. If He is in control, then He is in control of your authority and how their actions will affect you. If He is not in control, then you must continue to try to be god yourself by controlling and manipulating every situation in your life. How tiresome…

Excerpt from The Lighthouse News by Jeff Retsyn, August 2008   

THE ATONEMENT OF CHRIST

Romans 8:31-33 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.

It is frequently objected that this doctrine is inconsistent with the full and free offer of Christ in the Gospel. This is a grave misunderstanding and misrepresentation. The truth really is that it is only on the basis of such a doctrine that we can have a free and full offer of Christ to lost men. What is offered to men in the gospel? It is not the possibility of salvation, not simply the opportunity of salvation. What is offered is salvation. To be more specific, it is Christ himself in all the glory of his person and in all the perfection of his finished work who is offered. And he is offered as the one who made expiation for sin and wrought redemption. But he could not be offered in this capacity or character if he had not secured salvation and accomplished redemption. He could not be offered as Saviour and as the one who embodies in himself salvation full and free if he had simply made the salvation of all men possible or merely had made provision for the salvation of all. It is the very doctrine that Christ procured and secured redemption that invests the free offer of the gospel with richness and power. It is that doctrine alone that allows for a presentation of Christ that will be worthy of the glory of his accomplishment and of his person. It is because Christ procured and secured redemption that he is an all-sufficient and suitable Saviour. It is as such he is offered, and the faith that this offer demands is the faith of self-commitment to him as the one who is the eternal embodiment of the efficacy accruing from obedience completed and redemption secured.

  

Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray, pg. 65.

THE TRUE VINE

  John 15:5-8 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

            Dear soul, the character of a branch, its strength, and the fruit it bears, depend entirely upon the Vine. And your life as branch depends entirely upon your apprehension of what our Lord Jesus is. Therefore never separate the two words: “I the Vine – you the Branch.” Your life and strength and fruit depend upon what your Lord Jesus is! Therefore worship and trust Him; let Him be your one desire and the one occupation of your heart. And when you feel that you do not and cannot know Him aright, then just remember it is part of His responsibility as Vine to make Himself known to you. He does this not in thoughts and conceptions – no – but in a hidden growth within the life that is humbly and restfully and entirely given up to wait on Him. The Vine reveals itself within the branch; thence comes the growth and fruit, Christ dwells and works within His branch; only be a branch, waiting on Him to do all; He will be to thee the true Vine. The Father Himself, the divine Husbandman, is able to make thee a branch worthy of the heavenly Vine. Thou shalt not be disappointed. 

The True Vine by Rev. Andrew Murray, pg. 35.

AN ATMOSPHERE OF HOMELESSNESS 

  Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

            I ask you quite simply, does anybody know of a single example in history or has anybody ever heard of anything in the present, that is even remotely like what Jesus says here to his disciples? Have you ever heard of anybody daring to say, “Humanly speaking, I have nothing to offer you but the enmity of the world and the shrieking of demons. I do not give you a seat in the cabinet, but rather deliver you to public scorn. I send you out [just think how ridiculous, how utterly mad this is!] as sheep in the midst of wolves.” Have you ever heard of anyone saying this and then not going on to say, “But when you have fought your way through you will reap the fruit of your labors; the world will finally acclaim you and sing your praises, shouting ‘You’ve won, you’ve won, despite it all!’”

            No, instead Jesus says, “you will never get away from persecution and tribulation; the servant will never be greater than his master, and this will go on until I come again. There may be times of prosperity – and why shouldn’t Christianity too become the fashion, all kinds of things have become the latest craze? – and men may shout ‘Hosanna’ to you. But just wait, just wait a little while, and the cries ‘Crucify him’ and ‘Barabbas’ will follow. The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head and of you too it will be true: here we have no lasting city. This need not necessarily mean you will always be cast out; but believe me, whether it be merely the slightly contemptuous tolerance with which people observe you saying your table prayer in a restaurant, or going to church on a Sunday morning, or whether it be some great political system that challenges your faith, believe me, in every age to the end of time there will be those who will see to it that you are surrounded with an atmosphere of homelessness.”

Life Can Begin Again by Helmut Thielicke, pg. 12.

FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE

           

Titus 1:1-3 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness-- a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.

The element of notitia refers to knowledge. Though faith is not identical to knowledge, it is not devoid of knowledge. Saving faith does not occur in an intellectual vacuum. It is not ignorance or superstition masquerading as faith. There is a crucial difference between authentic faith and credulity.

Superstition confuses reality and fantasy, truth and falsehood. Superstition is the hallmark of magic and paganism. People indeed “believe in” superstitious things, but such faith has nothing to do with the saving faith of which Scripture speaks. The intrusive power of superstition is great, attested to repeatedly in the Old Testament. Israel displayed a proclivity for syncretism, an irreligious blending or mixing of elements of pagan religion into the content of divinely revealed truth. Nor is the New Testament unaware of the seductive power of sorcery, magic, and superstition that threatened the early church. No period of church history has escaped the influence of spurious faith and superstitious credulity. The modern era is replete with evidence of New Age and occult ideas embraced by professing Christians.

Notitia has to do with the content of faith, the data or information to be received, understood, and embraced. Faith has a clear and rational object. What we believe has eternal consequences. A popular aphorism…in our day is this: “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere.” This “credo” is on a collision course with Christianity. It preaches another gospel of “justification by faith”, which reveals, after a momentary second glance, that it is the very antithesis of the gospel and of sola fide [faith alone]. This reduces justification by faith alone to justification by sincerity alone.

Faith Alone by R. C. Sproul, pg.75.

STUDY IN HIS PRESENCE

2Timothy  2:14-16 Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

            In all its branches alike, theology has as its unique end to make God known: the student of theology is brought by his daily task into the presence of God, and is kept there. Can a religious man stand in the presence of God, and not worship? It is possible, I have said, to study even theology in a purely secular spirit. But surely that is possible only for an irreligious man, or at least for an unreligious man. And here I place in your hands at once a touchstone by which you may discern your religious state, and an instrument for the quickening of your religious life. Do you prosecute your daily tasks as students of theology as “religious exercises”? If you do not, look to yourselves: it is surely not all right with the spiritual condition of that man who can busy himself daily with divine things, with a cold and impassive heart. If you do, rejoice. But in any case, see that you do! And, that you do it ever more and more abundantly.

Whatever you may have done in the past, for the future make all your theological studies “religious exercises.” This is the great rule for a rich and wholesome religious life in a theological student. Put your heart into your studies; do not merely occupy your mind with them, but put your heart into them. They bring you daily and hourly into the very presence of God; his ways, his dealing with men, the infinite majesty of his Being form their very subject matter. Put the shoes from off your feet in this holy presence!

The Religious Life of Theological Students by Benjamin B. Warfield, pg. 5.