Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Evangelism

OK. I’m trying to be honest. But it’s hard. I don’t like being wrong.

God has called me to preach and pastor a church. One major responsibility is to lead the church in sharing the gospel with the lost people around us. I can do that in a sermon when a lost person wanders in. I like doing it. I am comfortable doing it.

But going out and finding them and meeting them and sharing the gospel with them is hard. I’ve never been good at it except for about a year and a half under the mentoring of David McLemore. (I wish David was still alive; I need his encouragement.)

It’s not an option though. Not if I want to be a pastor. Really, not even if I want to be a Christian.

OK. So I’m praying really hard for the Spirit to change me. That sounded like I’m blaming the Spirit. I didn’t mean that. It is the Spirit’s desire and responsibility to change me, but I have to be changeable, moldable, teachable.

“Lord, I give you my fear and pride and inadequacies. I want to make you known everywhere I go.”

Friday, April 17, 2009

A few days after Easter

I wonder what you are doing today. Most of us have gone back to our routine of work or school or whatever. We stopped long enough to enjoy Easter and perhaps celebrate Jesus resurrection.

But what about the disciples? The build-up to Easter was horrible for them but the days following were amazing. If we could couple our enthusiastic build-up with their awesome follow-up I think we might get Easter right.

We look forward to Easter because we know Jesus is alive even though we was arrested, beaten, and crucified. They lived forward from Easter because Jesus was alive and with them again.

Let’s remember to bring the meaning of Easter forward into our routine lives and then life won’t be so routine.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Despair

Imaging the silence. And the short glances across the room. Boiling within each one were accusations toward the others but kept silenced only by their own feelings of guilt. No one dared talk about what might have been or what will be.

Jesus was dead. He was in the tomb. Their three-year-old expectations were shattered. Hope was gone. Despair was reality.

But Sunday morning will be so different!

Despair

Imaging the silence. And the short glances across the room. Boiling within each one were accusations toward the others but kept silenced only by their own feelings of guilt. No one dared talk about what might have been or what will be.

Jesus was dead. He was in the tomb. Their three-year-old expectations were shattered. Hope was gone. Despair was reality.

But Sunday morning will be so different!

Friday, April 10, 2009

It's All Good

One of my friends rarely complains. “It’s all good” must be his favorite saying. Sometimes I know he’s not being truthful, though.

Today is Good Friday. For some people, it’s good because they get a day off from school or work. Others like it because they head out of town for a long weekend. There are a few who might use the day to get some extra work done around the house or begin spring cleaning.

I’m not opposed to any of these things, but I think we miss the point when we focus on how we will spend the time rather than on why we get the day off in the first place.

Today is Good Friday because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us. He is God. He is perfect. He did not deserve to die; we did. But God’s demand for a sacrifice for sin required the perfect, spotless lamb. In Jewish history, this sacrifice of atonement happened once each year to atone for the sins the people had committed since last year. Each family was responsible for its own sacrifice.

But that was just a temporary placeholder until Jesus did the real thing on the cross. The Bible says that his sacrifice was done once and for all. We are not required to make an animal sacrifice anymore because Jesus, the Lamb of God, already did it. It happened on a Friday. Now we celebrate Good Friday because all is good with God if we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord.

You are still required to make a sacrifice – just not an annual animal sacrifice of atonement. You are required to sacrifice yourself daily to God’s plan and purpose. It’s all good.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Maundy Thursday

It’s now Thursday of Holy Week. This is the day when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet, shared a final meal with them, initiated communion, gave words of comfort about the Comforter, taught about the branches’ dependence upon the vine, prayed in the garden while his friends slept, and was arrested by the Roman guard.

Busy day.

But it was what he came to do. He came to model and teach a servant’s heart. He came to let us know we need him or we die. He came to die for us even though the thought crossed his mind that maybe there was another way to reconcile sinners to God.

He came for you. He knew and knows the wrongs you have done. Everything from selfishness to telling lies to looking at dirty pictures to taking money from your employer’s till to pointing a gun at someone and pulling the trigger. I know, you didn’t do all that. Maybe you didn’t do any of that. But still there’s something in your past, maybe in your present, that the Bible calls “sin.” And sin separates you from God.

He came because of your sin. And he died because of your sin. He came into your world so that you could enter his heaven.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was arrested by people who thought they had just cause. They didn’t but they were used by God to fulfill his plan to deal with your sin. You should have died for your sin; but Jesus did so you don’t have to. He didn’t die for blasphemy or treason or inciting a riot. He died for you.

If you think the Friday after Thanksgiving is a busy day for retailers, you need to understand that the Thursday before Easter was a busy day for Jesus.

Maundy. It means “command.” Jesus commanded us to serve and to love and to trust and to obey and to remember and to believe.

Busy day.

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Yes, Jesus is real!

Every year around this time you can read articles in national news magazines and watch documentaries on broadcast and cable TV channels about the validity of the Bible’s claim that Jesus died on the cross. This year is no exception.

Honestly, I’m surprised the media outlets even bother anymore. As recently as a few decades ago, the popular thought among Americans was that Jesus did in fact die on the cross, that he is the Son of God, and that eternal life is gained only through a faith relationship with him. So few Americans believe all that anymore that it hardly makes sense to publish or air the story. I wonder what the readership or viewership is for those pieces.

I’m surprised to see it but I’m glad they still do it. At least those who read the headline or the TV guide are faced with the suggestion that Jesus is who the Bible claims him to be. While that’s not exactly “God’s Word” it is still enough truth for the Spirit to work with it and draw a seeking heart to Jesus.

Christians must realize that just the suggestion of the truth is enough – when all too often we shy away from the truth because of the possible negative responses we may get. God can use anything we give him. But don’t you want to give him your best effort?