Inside Out Living

I received a great question from someone on Sunday in regard to level of graciousness in their life. It came from a brother who loves Jesus and yet recognizes that in his life he does not demonstrate the level of graciousness that he desires to demonstrate. I think many of us can relate with this so I started a list of simple (and not so simple) things that each of us can do to increase the level of graciousness in our lives. These are in no certain order. Please comment on what you would include on this list.

Ways to increase graciousness:

1. Buy a stranger a cup of coffee next time you are in Starbucks.
2. Buy everyone in line at Starbucks a cup of coffee.
3. Spend a Saturday serving someone who cannot repay you.
4. Serve a mean at a local homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
5. Buy a single mother some groceries or diapers.
6. Ask five people you know how you can pray for them, then do it and follow up and ask how they are doing.
7. Deliver meals to shut ins.
8. Volunteer at a nursing home.
9. Volunteer at a hospital for terminally ill children.
10. Buy a stranger a tank of gas.
11. Give blood.
12. Mow you neighbors yard when they are at work.
13. Shovel your neighbors driveway next time it snows.
14. Tell a service employee 'thank you' next time they serve you.

What would you add?

This past Sunday I preached on James 3:13-18 about the wisdom that comes down from above.

NIV James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

In the message I put an emphasis on how we are to give evidence of our wisdom through the deeds that are done in humility. Now in talking about humility I put an emphasis on how we do not promote ourselves and the acts of service that we do. The reason for this emphasis is that the "selfish ambition" James speaks of in verse 14 refers to some who promotes themselves like a politician with an agenda.

So the question was asked by someone after church, a good question no less, that how can we give evidence of our wisdom if we are not to promote what we are doing. To him these two thoughts seemed to conflict, and in a way he was right.

So then how do we 'show' our heavenly wisdom by deeds done in humility without being guilty of promoting ourselves and trying to gain recognition. I think the answer lies in how it is found out what you are doing.

The point that James is making is that if you truly are wise and understanding then there should be some evidence in your life of deeds done in humility. And we know that humility comes from wisdom. He isn't telling us to promote or proclaim the good deeds that we have done, but rather if you are doing what you should be doing then more than likely someone will stand up and take notice.

Yes some deeds we do will not be recognized, which is more than ok because our Father who sees what we do in secret will reward us accordingly. However, more often than not someone will notice your acts of service and will see the humility present within your attitude and that will reflect the godly wisdom that you are indeed exercising.

So then it is possible to give evidence of wisdom through deeds done in humility without shamelessly calling attention to our service.

Last week I preached a message titled tongue depressor on James 3:1-12.

It was a challenging passage for all of us to look at because as James says, no one is able to control their tongue perfectly. We all sin and we all stumble.

After the message I received the following question from one of our regular attenders.

Your sermon last week dealt with the tongue. You made the statement that none of us can control our tongues perfectly and yet James 1:26 says the following.

If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.

I don't doubt that you are correct in your assessment; I just don't know what to do with this pesky little verse.

It is not entirely impossible to harmonize these two different passages.

In James 1:19-27 the point that James is making is that our beliefs should influence our actions. He says that we should be doers of the Word, not merely hearers of it. So in verse 26 his point is that if you think yourself religious and yet your religion does not impact your life, specifically here influence the words you say, then your religion is not accomplishing anything, it is worthless.

This would be the individual who maybe attends church religiously or even reads their Bible religiously but never allows God to change their life. They continue to live their life according to their rules and have merely added a religious life on top of what they are already doing. Religion that works, is that which actually changes us from the inside out so that we are changed not just in what we do, but what we say and think as well.

Now in the section I preached on in James 3:1-12, the main point that James is trying to make is that even though no one can ever live without making a mistake with their words, for those who claim to be children of God we should not be both cursing people and praising God. To say that you aren't always perfect in what you say is not the same as the 'uncontrolled' or 'unbridled' tongue that James speaks of in 1:26.

This morning I heard on K-Love about a newly proposed application for all of you iPhone users called "A Note to God." The application was designed by a Sacramento area teen named Allen Wright who thought the idea up when he was lying in bed and feeling lonesome. The concept is simple, you text your throught or prayer 'to God' where it is stored on a database. The app also allows you to view others' prayers and show your support of the prayers by clicking on a thumbs up.

I don't really want to discourage Allen from using his creativity in his efforts to exercise his faith, but I have a few concerns about some unintended consequences of this app. I don't plan on using the app myself, primarily because I don't have an iPhone nor plan on getting one, but also because I don't see it as necessary.

I understand the goal to be to give people an outlet for their prayers, to create a community of prayer, and to be able to pray for others' prayer requests that are posted (of course it is all anonymous). However as the Rev. James Murphy, who was quoted in the Sacramento Bee article, said, "Prayer is direct to God, and God should be the primary motive...If the motive is to be seen by others, be careful. There's a sense in which prayer is private." Now I do believe in corporate or group prayer and that there is nothing wrong with sharing prayer requests, but he danger of praying in groups or in public is praying to gain the approval of those around you. This is the first concern that I have is that the feature that allows people to state their approval of the prayer sets people up to be praying for the approval of others and not to connect or petition God himself. This is what Jesus condemned the Pharisees for in Matthew 6:5, "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full."

The other concern that I have probably has something to do with my understanding of the grip that technology has on our culture. This may have something to do with the fact that I am old enough to remember when my family got our first home computer, when we first connected to the internet, and when we still used rotary phones, and cell phones were the size of bricks. Will God honestly hear and answer a prayer that is sent to a database somewhere in California. Is that seriously a prayer? Will people become dependent upon technology to prayer and forget that they can pray anytime anywhere regardless of their battery life or cell coverage. If a prayer becomes deleted from the database does that mean it is now invalid? I know I am getting a little scarcastic here but this are just some of the questions that I think about in reading this story.

Now I have to admit this isn't all that different than what myself and others are already doing on facebook and twitter. How much different is it really than the written prayers of the great spiritual fathers who have gone before us? I have typed prayers on both those applications and so they have been read by others. Some of them are responses of prayer for others and some are just expressions of what God has put on my heart. So maybe this whole rant has been hypocritical, I don't know. I like to think that when I have typed the prayers that the typed message is more for the benefit of the reader, not for God. God already knows my thoughts and my needs before the words even leave my mouth or my fingers hit the keyboard. So I guess this is my conclusion. The prayer is my personal communication with God (whether that is said internally or externally), the writing of the prayer down is not the prayer itself, but a record of it that is intended to benefit others or help them in their spiritual journey.

In the first chapter of the book of Romans in the New Testament, we read some helpful words for those of us who wrestle with trying to figure out what this sin nature is all about. Essentially the beginning of our depravity is the fact that we are unwilling to recognize and worship God as God. In saying the 'beginning of our depravity' I don't mean to imply that we are not born without a sin nature, for we most certainly are, rather it is to say that our refusal to recognize God as such is the source of sin and depravity. Now we see in this passage that even though we do inherit this depravity, its presence does not remove the ability nor the responsibility for making a decision to recognize and worship the one true God.

A key thought in this passage is in the middle of verse 21, "And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like." By definition the one who is created is not able to dictate who or what their creator is. This would be like a child who is able to pick their biological parents. The idea of this scenario would seem crazy to us and yet this is what many people do when it comes to their understanding of God. They pick and choose what they like or dislike about beliefs or statements of God, to create their own concept of who God is. Why would someone want to worship something that they have created in their own mind, unless the deity they have created then allows them to continue to live according to their own rules and conceptions of what life should be like. This is the issue for so many people is that they want to live life by a set of rules that they design rather than recognize that there is a God who created life, set the rules of the universe, and has lovingly revealed himself through Jesus Christ.

So the question for you today is this, are you worshipping a deity that you have defined to clear your conscience, or are you worshipping a Deity that created you and has revealed Himself to you?

This last Sunday our Sunday School class had a discussion about fellowship as a part or the 201 Discovering Spiritual Maturity class. As a part of that discussion I made the point that our fellowship as Christians, as the Body of Christ, should be qualitatively different that the fellowship of the local social or service clubs such as Eagles, Rotary, Elks, etc.

Before I continue I want to make a few things clear; I am not advocating that we pattern the way the church works after a social club, not I am saying that believers cannot be involved in these clubs. In fact I believe that we should be involved with groups outside of the church as a part of missional living.

So what am I saying here. What I am saying is that if our fellowship (relationships, community) is not qualitatively different than that of a social or service club, then we are not really functioning as the Body of Christ. If our relationships are not marked by a willingness to forgive and extend mercy and grace then why would anyone want to be a part of our community? If our faith in Christ does not lead to change in the way in which we interact, then what good is our faith for. If someone wants to go somewhere just to be accepted and make friends then they don't need the church for that.

What are ways in which you have been blessed by Christian Fellowship?

Do you see relationships in the church as deeper and more meaningful?

Are you able to be real with brothers and sisters in Christ?

How do you think Christian fellowship should be different than relationships within the world?

True Faced is a message by John Lynch (Not the football player) of Leadership Catalyst that you should definitely listen to. It is about how we don't need to go around with our masks on pretending that we don't have any issues and that everything is fine. Click here for a place to download the message.

I was reading in Luke 7 this morning and was impressed by the response of the immoral woman to the experience of being forgiven by Jesus. I have to ask myself if I am more like the pharisee or more like the immoral woman. Do I rejoice when someone who has lived in sin receives forgiveness? Do I judge instead of extend forgiveness? Am I happy to see people in my church that don't fit the social norms or "church goers?" Tough questions that we all have to answer for ourselves.

The bottom line is that without forgiveness none of us would have a life worth living. No one has the right to claim access to God without first being forgiven by the shed blood of Jesus. And since I am only made acceptable to God through faith in Jesus and his death and resurrection then I have no right to exclude someone else from experiencing the same forgiveness and justification before the father.

Here is a powerful story about forgiveness that I shared on Sunday.

Another Mother's Son
When my beloved 18-year-old son was murdered in 1996, I thought my life was over. When it finally sunk in that this vivacious child of mine was dead, I felt as if I were having a heart attack from head to toe. I was numb. In order to survive this twisted nightmare, I moved to a different level of consciousness.

During the trial, I wasn't allowed to speak to Robbie's murderer. On the day of the hearing, I got my first glimpse of Shawn. He stared at the floor as they led him into the dimly lit courtroom. Shadows masked his face, distorting his features, giving him a grotesque fiendish appearance. Although it was my decision not to take the stand, I made it clear to the judge that I wanted to speak with this evil perpetrator after his sentencing.

At the conclusion of the arduous proceedings, the judge summoned me to his chambers. Filled with rage and hatred, I followed the bailiff into a small, paneled office. My heart beat faster with each step as I prepared to meet the young man who took my son's life. Shawn stood in the corner, head down, crying like a baby. His hands and feet shackled; this trembling, pitiful 20-year-old wore little more than baggy orange prison garb. As I watched this boy, so forlorn - no parents, no friends and no support - all I saw was another mother's son.

Suddenly I found myself asking, "Can I give you a hug, Shawn?" He looked up, revealing a childlike face stained with tears and nodded his consent. The bailiff motioned me toward the prisoner. I walked over and put my arms around him. "I forgive you for this horrible thing you've done. I will pray for you every day that you're in prison. I would rather my Robbie be where he is than where you're going." Our eyes connected for a few moments, and then the bailiff escorted me from the room.

Shawn received a 20-to-40-year sentence. How do you compare that to the life of my son? No sentence could bring Robbie back. I still wonder what made Shawn commit this crime. He has given me several explanations, but I still don't have an answer. He has been in prison for five years now, and, so far, I'm his only visitor. Shawn's sentencing has given me no satisfaction, but I believe the compassion I felt in the judge's chamber that day was a gift from God.

Because of the abrupt changes in my life, I'm now part of a prison ministry. I know I could not heal the deep, dark places of hatred and revenge, imbedded within my heart and soul, had I not forgiven my son's murderer. Forgiveness has set me free.

Hatred and revenge won't bring back my beloved son, Robbie, but Shawn is someone's son too. The hatred has to stop somewhere. What better place to begin than with me?

About the Authors: Mary G. Lodge is a mother to five children, eleven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. She is a Stephan Minister in her church and enjoys speaking on the subject of forgiveness. Contact her at LodgeDoor@aol.com . Together, Laura Lagana and Tom Lagana are co-authors of "Serving Time, Serving Others" and "Chicken Soup for the Volunteer's Soul." They travel the country as professional speakers and authors, incorporating motivational and inspirational programs behind prison walls on their journey. Laura is author/editor of "Touched by Angels of Mercy" and Tom Lagana is co-author of "Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul."

Reprinted by permission of Laura Lagana www.LauraLagana.com , Tom Lagana www.TomLagana.com and Mary Lodge, Copyright 2003, from "Serving Time, Serving Others, Acts of Kindness by Inmates, Prison Staff, Victims, and Volunteers." In order to protect the rights of the copyright holder, no portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent. All rights reserved.

In honor of Mother's Day this coming Sunday I thought I would share this little tidbit. This is also a teaser for this Sunday's message on "How Moms Reveal the Image of God." Enjoy.

The Meanest Mother in the World

We had the meanest mother in the whole world! While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs, and toast. When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do. She always insisted on us telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds. Then, life was really tough! Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them. While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.

Because of our mother, we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's property, or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault. We never got drunk, took up smoking, stayed out all night, or a million other things, other kids did. Sundays were reserved for church, and we never missed once. We knew better than to ask to spend the night with a friend on Saturdays.

Now that we have left home, we are all God-fearing, educated, honest adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was. I think that's what is wrong with the world today. It just doesn't have enough mean moms anymore.

Source unknown

Happy Mothers Day

I was reading in Luke 5 this morning about when Jesus called Peter and James and John to be his disciples. I was quite interested in Jesus' response to Peter, after Peter realized that he was in the presence of the Lord.

At the start of this account, Peter, a fisherman didn't fully understand who Jesus was, even though in the previous chapter Jesus had healed his mother-in-law (Luke 4:38-41). On a side note, it could be that Peter wasn't all that thrilled that Jesus healed his mother-in-law, I don't know I am just sayin'. But now in chapter 5 Jesus does something that really gets Peter's attention. He demonstrates his power over the sea as he orchestrates the largest catch of fish that Peter has probably ever witnessed. Is there any surprise that when they are back at the Sea of Galilee after the resurrection that Peter immediately recognizes Jesus to be the stranger who told them to cast their nets on the otherside providing them with a big catch. I do find it curious that Peter appears to be more impacted by the tremendous catch of fish than by Jesus healing his mother-in-law from a bad fever. It just goes to show that catching a fish is far harder than recovering from a bad illness, not that I think that is the point of the story.

Ok, back to the point. When Peter realizes what Jesus has done, he quickly realizes who Jesus is. This presents Peter with a problem because he knows that he is a sinful human who is not fit to be in the presence of a holy God. He is probably envisioning Isaiah 6 in his mind as he realizes that he is face to face with God in the flesh. While Peter's reaction is appropriate (that is his understanding of his own sinfulness), Jesus' next statement to him reveals that Peter's sin will not prevent fellowship with Jesus.

Why does Jesus tell Peter not to be afraid? The reason he tells this to Peter is because it is not Peter's sin that will prevent him from having fellowship with God through Jesus. Now don't get me wrong here and think that I am presenting a concept of universal salvation, because I am not. Peter is fully lost in his sin and is eternally separated from God at the point that he encounters Jesus, but the point of Jesus statement is that he doesn't have to fear because his sin does not disqualify him from being able to receive salvation as a free gift.

This is because it isn't our sin that prevents us from receiving salvation, but rather it is our refusal to place our faith in Jesus that prevents us from receiving the free gift of salvation. Yes God does take sin seriously and there are eternal consequences for our sin, but the glorious message of the Bible is that Jesus has taken the consequences for our sin upon himself and that through faith we can receive the gift of eternal life.

I was reading in Luke 3 this morning and I noticed that three times John the Baptist was asked the question "What should we do?"

These people who were asking the question had come to John to confess sins and be baptized in order to give evidence of their turning to God for salvation. So the question that they asked is not one of what should they do to gain salvation, but rather how should they live in light of putting their faith in God.

The answers that John the Baptist gives them are quite revealing for us as we consider how are we to now live as members of God's family. Here is a basic summary of John's instructions:

Give what you have to those who need it.
Practice honesty and integrity in all you do.
Be content with your material possessions.

If we lived this way every day, how great would be the opportunities for the gospel be?

In Luke chapter two is the account of Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the temple to dedicate him on the eighth day according to the law of Moses. The priest at the time was named Simeon and the Lord had already revealed to Simeon that he would not die until he saw the Messiah. When Mary and Joseph arrived, Simeon was there having been led by the spirit to go to the temple. Immediately, I would presume with divine prompting, he recognizes Jesus as the son of God, the Messiah the Savior, and he gives the child a prophetic blessing"

Lord, now I can die in peace!
As you promised me,
I have seen the Savior you have given to all people.
He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel.

It is the middle line that contains "given to all people that I want to focus on today. Many evangelical Christians do not realize that there are many theologians and scholars in the church who do not believe that statement to really be true. They deny that Jesus was really sent for all people and that he died and rose again to say everyone.

This thinking was born with the five points of Calvinism and the Synod of Dort (1618-19) that formalized those five points. I am not going to provide here a full treatment of Calvinism nor explain all five of its points. The focus today is on the extent of the Atonement of Jesus. In essence Calvinism teaches that the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross only pays for the sins of the elect (Those that God chose to regenerate and grant the ability to believe to). The logical conclusion of this teaching then is that if you are unelect, Jesus didn't die for you and the penalty for your sins (death see Rom. 6:23) has not been paid.

The problem with this teaching in Calvinism is that it doesn't fit with the Bible. There are numerous verses in Scripture, including the passage above, that point to the fact that Jesus came to die for the entire world, not just for the elect. And if Calvinism is right then the message of the Bible is a cruel joke, because Scripture is very clear that Jesus came to die on the cross for everyone.

Our church preaches a message of Free Grace, meaning saving grace (forgiveness of sins and restoration of relationship with God) is available to all who believe in Jesus Christ for their eternal salvation. You don't have to prove anything or change anything in your life, God's offer of free salvation through faith in Jesus is available to all persons everywhere.

You can have confidence that you will spend eternity in relationship with God in heaven by simply believing in Jesus Christ for you salvation.

If you are uncertain if your pastor or church really believes that anyone can be saved, then ask your elders and pastor? And if they don't believe that anyone can be saved, then ask them why not, because the Bible clearly teaches that anyone can be saved.

Here is a very interesting article about the impact of technology on preaching and how we do church and plant churches. You may or may not agree with everything in the article, but if you care at all about the future of what church will look like the article is well worth reading.

http://www.the-next-wave-ezine.info/issue123/index.cfm?id=46&ref=COVERSTORY