Sunday “left-overs” on Tuesday

0
  • Posted by Danny
  • Tuesday, February 28, 2012


    • Giving is great when comprehension of grace is deep!

    Hezekiah ascended to the Throne after a couple of decades of serious spiritual decay. Here’s the historical record…
    • Uzziah is greatly blessed…until pride in accomplishments removes God from the throne of his heart and he seats himself in God’s place.
    • The legendary King dies with the mark of God’s curse upon him and a son ascends to the throne. In personal piety, Jotham follows the Law of the Lord. But in practice, the King neither prioritizes worship no stirs the heart of his people to turn from idolatrous practices. His reign looks good in the performance side, but bad on the eternal plane.
    • Then the wheels fall off! Along comes sixteen downgrade years under the influence of Ahaz. He not only ignores true worship at the Temple of the Lord, but he actually institutes idols into the routine of his life. He takes it beyond the pale of our imagination. He sacrifices his very own children LITERALLY on the fires of pagan idols! When times got tough, he raided the House of the Lord and gave its sacred properties as a bribe to God’s enemies. “In the time of his distress he became yet more faithless to the Lord…” 2 Chron. 28:22
    The canvas is set, displaying the darkened skyline of ultimate decadence and an unbridgeable chasm of departure from the Lord – enter Hezekiah.  

    He immediately sets out to return the heart of his people to the Lord. Both properties and people are consecrated again. Blood is shed and blood is applied as formerly defiled places and people are cleansed. The praise band cranks up its instruments and the worship team raises up their voices. “And they sang praise with gladness, and they bowed and worshiped. Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.” 2 Chron. 29:36 God had prepared carefully what His people were about to do spontaneously. The people had just witnessed the incineration of (in today’s dollars) a $22,750 offering! And the worship had only just begun…

    By week’s end, the people of God, so enormously moved by the covering and restoring grace of God, gave offerings totaling $7,700,000. As they watched that entire gift rise to heaven in consuming smoke, they sang, they prayed, and they rejoiced. Giving is great when comprehension of grace is deep!

    Cleansing Corinth from the Church 1 Corinthians 5:6-13

    0
  • Posted by Danny
  • Friday, February 24, 2012

    • The evidence has faded away. No one entering the Sunday gathering, nor arriving for any weekday activity even notices it any longer; but at the time, they left their mark.

    It was raining hard but Jerry and I were on a mission, so we ignored the weather. With rags in hand and a powerful chemical, we scrubbed away the message spray painted on the front of the church building. It took effort and time, but we felt that we had done the best we could do in light of the circumstances. Graffiti was erased. Some of our fellow churches were not so blessed. The same message painted on brick walls requires far more effort if it is to be permanently removed. Spray-painting a message on a church entrance is not appropriate; and rightfully, even the non-religious of our city would display a bit of indignation. Who would assault a church building and consider it acceptable to display such crude artistic effort?

    This blue metal building is not the Church. It is, however, a facility resource where the Church regularly gathers. The Lord of the Church is far more concerned about what marks the gathered Church than He is about what graffiti message marks its housing. So while we take immediate and energetic action when the spray paint declares its message, we tend to give little attention when its members "mark" the true Church.

    "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple." (1 Corinthians 3:16-7) In seeing the Church, the Apostle was indignant, but those who were the Church were indifferent. "You are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Your boasting is not good."

    Read more »

    The Down-side Of Grace

    0
  • Posted by Danny
  • Tuesday, February 21, 2012
    • 1 Corinthians 5:1-5

    Striking the balance between Legalism and Liberty is a continual challenge. As Dr. Tom Dworak would say in his Bible studies on grace, “It is far easier to live under law than to live under grace. Under law you have checklists to determine your behavior. Under grace you must study, reflect, pray and decide. Its always easier to have someone else do your thinking for you!”

    As we move to the second major section of Paul’s correspondence with the Corinthian saints, we receive a “wake up” call regarding the abuses of grace. A brother has gone beyond the pale of moral latitudes and his brothers and sisters seem to interpret it as an amazing testimony of the covering breadth of grace. Paul issues a stern wake up call. “Because he is our brother and his lifestyle is distorting the purity of the gospel, step up to him and call him out on it. Challenge him to radical repentance!”

    In reflection, our summary was:

    Take it personally: As David prayed, we must pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there is ANY hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way.” Our own hearts deceive us but they are an open book to Him! (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

    Pray up and Step up: Non-involvement may seem the comfortable way but it is not the loving way. Care enough to personally prepare your own heart and then love enough to go. (Matthew 7:1-5)

    Keep it private: Talk it over with God and no one else. He knows and it is He who turns the heart. Expect that grace will greet your going and that a heart will be turned toward home. (Matthew 18:15)
    Read more »

    The Down-side of Grace 1 Cor. 5

    0
  • Posted by Danny
  • Friday, February 17, 2012

    • "I have never fallen into sin!"

    That statement, boldly declared among the more that 45 men assembled, brought an uncomfortable hush to the room. Words like: ARROGANT, SELF-RIGHTEOUS, IGNORANT, certainly filled many minds. Such pride!

    The context: At the opening gathering of a men's retreat, our host/coordinator had initiated a get-to-know-you activity. Andy personally introduced himself and added a brief bio of his spiritual journey. As each man around the room followed this template, a definite motif unfolded. Most of the men had a clear testimony of saving faith in Jesus Christ. But nearly everyone also included a statement that sounded a bit like this: "After I believed, I fell into sin. I fell into the kind of things I had been doing before I trusted Christ." Now, gratefully, we were spared most of the gory details, but salvation followed by falling back became a theme.

    A gracious God effects a most gracious, rescuing gospel. He snatches from the binding grip of sin its helpless slaves and emancipates them to become servants of righteousness so they may joyfully pursue a new life of holiness. From the agony of bondage to the hilarity of freedom. One could rightly expect that every memory of past decadence would produce increasing repulsion. Who would ever want to go back?!

    "But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin from the heart...having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness." Romans 6:17-18

    Regrettably, so much like thankless Israel enjoying longed-for freedom from Egypt, slowly the painful memories were replaced by romanticized flashbacks. And they longed to go back.

    "I have never fallen into sin." Then, following an appropriate pause for impact, our brother John added, "Every sin I have committed, I chose to do!" And the room was filled with conscience-convicted laughter that acknowledged that truth...

    "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" Romans 6:1-2

    See you Sunday, Church!

    Pastor Tom

    Glancing back as we move forward…faithNOTES on Tuesdays

    0
  • Posted by Danny
  • Tuesday, February 14, 2012

    • There is an amazing word of hope for unsaveable sinners!

    The reality of their saving faith is not in question.  It is an established fact.  “To those sanctified in Christ Jesus…” But the delayed maturing?  That, too, is an established fact.  With a loving but firm and direct letter, Paul sends correction their way.  He reminds them of the secret to their inevitable growing up.  “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”  1 Cor 1:9

    He reminds them of three glorious truths:

    1.     It is thru the scandalous grace of the Cross that God does what no other power can do…He saves certified sinners!  1:17-18, 23-24, 30-31
    2.     Spiritually blind eyes are able to see with eternity’s clarity when the Cross of Christ is embraced.  2:7-8, 12-13, 16
    3.     We are, both individually and corporately, a work of transforming grace…in process!  3:1, 7, 11, 14-16, 22-23

    But then the paternal heart of their founding pastor is laid out on the page.  As he moves to addressing specific questions of living the Cross-centered life in a sin saturated community, Paul assures them that the firmness about to be revealed comes to them for their good from the very heart of one who truly loves them and is committed to them.

    PATERNAL PASSION:
    ·      “I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as beloved children”  4:14

    PATERNAL POSTURE:
    ·      “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel”  4:14

    PATERNAL PATTERN:
    ·      “I urge you, then, be imitators of me”  4:16

    PATERNAL PURPOSE:
    ·      “For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power”  4:20

    Let them, therefore:
    REFLECT DEEPLY upon such saving grace
    REJOICE GREATLY, for the penalty and the shame of sin has been removed
    REACH OUT COURAGEOUSLY.  There is great news for every unsaveable sinner!

    Press on, Church!
    Pastor Tom

    Changes to Faithnotes

    0
  • Posted by Danny
    • Starting in March, we will moving Faithnotes into The City, our new communications tool. If you would still like to read and receive Faithnotes, please join the Faithnotes group in The City. If you haven't yet signed up for The City, you can do so this Sunday at the kiosk in the back of the Worship Center. 

    BEST. JOB. EVER.

    0
  • Posted by Danny
  • Friday, February 10, 2012

    • This opportunity might be the best job I have ever had!

    Now, I do know a thing or two about jobs. High school farmhand. Gas station attendant. Factory line supervisor. Grocery department manager. Shopping mall custodian. Lighting technician (actually, just had security clearance in an aeronautic design center to go in and change fluorescent light bulbs J). Homebuilder. Floor covering installer. Youth pastor. Preacher. Youth pastor. Shepherd. As I said, I DO know a thing or two about jobs!

    But THIS job sounds like a dream come true. I would be entrusted with the material assets of a great estate. I would have the freedom to manage those as I deemed to be the best. My task would be to distribute those resources in a manner that would cause them to increase while leaving a lasting impact through their usage. It was a heavier thing than simply keeping the stuff together. Investment for impact and increase was the goal. But to sweeten the offer even more, I would be given the complete freedom of setting my own salary! I could designate whatever portion of the owner's assets, I considered to be appropriate, to provide myself and my family a nice living wage. Now, isn't that the best job ever?

    Read more »

    Loving God More and Giving Him Less

    0
  • Posted by Danny
  • Friday, February 3, 2012

    • "The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." 2 Corinthians 9:6

    They were called "set-aside acres" and he had field after field of them. After the morning service had ended, I was given directions to the home where I would be the dinner guest of one of the Elders of the host congregation. They had selected this particular house for my afternoon relaxation for one key reason. The home was just over the Nebraska line from the Wyoming community where I was preaching that weekend and Nebraska was playing in a televised game in Columbia, Missouri. My host for the game was an avid Nebraska fan and the only one in the Wyoming congregation who had the game coming into his television. So they gracious arranged for me to enjoy a great farm-cooked meal AND some great Husker football.

    As I turned off the Wyoming highway onto the gravel county road, I was amazed at how many acres of land along both sides of the road appeared to be nothing more than weed beds. Mile after mile of untilled and unplanted fields surrounded me. Finally, following the sketched map in my lap, I turned off the gravel and into a long lane, driving up to a meticulously manicured farmyard. It was impressive for its orderliness and also for its absence of visible farm implements; not a tractor was in sight!

    As we enjoyed home cooking, I inquired about all the unfarmed land around us. "I retired at an early age," my host said with a smile. "They actually pay me NOT to farm that ground! Those are called 'set-aside acres' and for conservation purposes I receive a check for not putting them into tillage." He lived on a beautiful farmstead and had a new career in a business in a neighboring community. Money for not planting.

    Read more »
    Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)