It's not what you might think!

At one time or another, most of us have seen notes, headlines or articles such as these in your local church bulletin: "The eight graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet on Friday. You are invited to attend this tragedy." Or " The Low Self-Esteem group will meet Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Please use the back door." Or "Remember to pray for the many who are sick of our church and community." Or one of my favorites, "Don't let worry kill you, let us help."

Then there are the newspaper headlines which are designed to catch our attention such as these: "Sun or rain expected today, Dark tonight." Or "Psychics predict, the world didn't end yesterday!" Or "Cincinnati Dry Cleaner sentenced in suit!" Or again one of my favorites, "Tips to avoid alligators: Don't swim in waters inhabited by large alligators."

Of course each of these sentences, were trying to convey a thought which could very easily be interpreted another way. That's not what the authors intended, it's not what you might think after reading these statements. How do we know what was the intention of the author? If we know them it helps, if we have some insight into the culture and social events that helps also. But if we are readers of their other writings often they will explain what they mean more clearly in one place than another.

Of course I want us to think about this in regards to God's Word. I have been encouraging you to read God's word daily. I don't care if you have a particular plan or not, just let God speak to you every day. It's important to do that if you ever want to understand God's message for yourself and not have to just take someone else's word for what He says!

Many years ago I was in a religious discussion with another preacher. We disagreed about the meaning of a particular passage of scripture which I though was very clear. I finally asked him to explain to me what the scripture meant. I was shocked by the response of: "I don't know what it means, but it doesn't mean what it says!" I still shake my head in amazement at that answer from a religious leader. I can't fathom the idea that God's Word doesn't mean what it says.

I know that some of you get confused by all of the different beliefs and teachings you hear. I can sympathize with you as you are sometimes overwhelmed by what someone might say. Here is one of the keys to understanding God's Word (and ending the confusion) that was driven into my thinking over 40 years ago when I was a preaching student. "Let God's Word interpret itself." In other words, read and study the bible daily. Allow God to speak to you through His Word and you may be amazed at how your understanding will grow. Don't worry so much about what preachers, writers, or commentators have to say, let God's Word teach you and you will find a much less confusing world.

Spend time in God's Word, it just might not be what you think at all!

Another point of view

        

 

Have you ever thought of how we get locked in to one way of thinking about things? Really, while most of us may feel that we are open minded or at least not locked into only one way of thinking, we sometimes are. It is sometimes the little things in life that help us to refocus, things that jar us out of our rut and cause us to re-think things.

There is a cute story I ran across that illustrates this point (I think). Notice the "other point of view" seen here: While I sat in the reception area of my doctor's office, a woman rolled an elderly man in a wheelchair into the room.

As she went to the receptionist's desk, the man sat there, alone and silent. Just as I was thinking I should make small talk with him, a little boy slipped off his mother's lap and walked over to the wheelchair.

Placing his hand on the man's, he said, "I know how you feel. My mom makes me ride in the stroller, too."

That story brings to mind the words of Jesus found in Matthew 18:1-4. "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."(NIV)

Throughout the four Gospel books Jesus confronted the Scribes and Pharisees. In general I don't believe it was because they were bad people, but they could only see a thing from the context of what they had been taught was the way to believe and act. They could not understand that the one they claimed to serve was standing in their midst, they were in a rut, locked into seeing only through the filter of men's teachings.

I will readily admit that I am somewhat fixed in my thinking. I know what I believe and more importantly, why I believe what I believe. I admit that I have a filter through which I see and interact with the world in general. It is the filter of the Word of God. I know that I sometimes fail, but my goal it to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 and search the scriptures every day to see that my beliefs are in line with God's Word. I strive to filter my relationships in the same way that I might see others as the child in the story, without prejudices, only with a desire to help. I know that I don't always succeed in this, but that is my goal.

I pray that God will help each of us humble ourselves, if necessary to see things and people differently, so that we might be worthy of His kingdom. How do you see the world around you?

THE CHALLENGE!

"One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” (v. 26) Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” (v. 29)  The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" (Luke 10:25-27  NLT)

Notice especially verse 26, in response to the question. Another translation of verse 26 reads this way: "He answered, "What's written in God's Law? How do you interpret it?" (MSG)

It appears that Jesus is trying very hard to get this fellow to think about it himself.  He wanted him to draw some conclusions, which he worked out by himself!

Lots of folks today really don't like to do that! They prefer to be told the meaning or interpretation, which avoids (1) the necessity of thinking for themselves or (2) that they might have to take an unpopular stand and received some criticism. It's always easier when someone else give us the answer, because it gives us somewhere to "point the finger of blame," rather than accept responsibility ourselves.

You may have heard this story before, but it makes a valuable illustration of the point. It seems that a minister decided that a visual demonstration would add emphasis to his Sunday sermon. Four worms were placed into four separate jars.

1. The first worm was put into a container of alcohol.

2. The second worm was put into a container of cigarette smoke.

3. The third worm was put into a container of chocolate syrup.
4. The fourth worm was put into a container of good clean soil.

At the conclusion of the sermon, the Minister noted the following results:

1. The first worm in alcohol...Dead.
2. The second worm in cigarette smoke...Dead.
3. Third worm in chocolate syrup...Dead.
4. Fourth worm in good clean soil...Alive . 

So the Minister asked the congregation, (Just like Jesus) … "What did you learn from this demonstration?" 

An Older church member was sitting in the back, quickly raised her hand and said; here is what I see:  "As long as you drink, smoke and eat chocolate, you won't have worms!"

I'm pretty sure that was not the lesson the minister had in mind when he made the demonstration. I believe he was trying to make the point that there are some things which are bad for the body. However the church member interpreted the lesson so that she wasn't inconvenienced by possibly having to give up something she liked. (Before you write me ladies, the issue of whether chocolate is really toxic or not, is not the point of the story either, but it does drown worms!)

Jesus answered the man's question and told him simply, "Do this and live". The passage in Luke 10:29 shows us the man's response. Jesus told him nothing complicated, nothing difficult, nothing hard to understand. He just told him to do what you already know you should do, but the man wanted to get in the last word.

We are told: "The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" I really like the modern translation of this particular verse that says, "Looking for a loophole, he asked, "And just how would you define 'neighbor'?" (MSG)

Far too often I've seen the exact same reasoning among folks I talk with. They understand the message of God's Word; they just don't want to do what he says. They are "looking for a loophole," looking for a way to get around doing what God says, or living the way he says they should live.

James deals with this problem in James 4:17 where he writes, "Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." (NLT)

So where are you in your search for truth? I believe that it's not the things that we don't know or understand that really bother most of us. It is living up to what we already know we should be doing that gives us the most problems. Perhaps it's time to ask yourself how much you resemble the man in the story which Luke records. Maybe it's time to stop looking for loopholes and start doing what we already know we should. The challenge is to bring our daily living into line with what we say we believe!

Russ Lawson, Messages From The Heart

Time and Tide

TIME AND TIDE

English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer who lived in the late 1300's once wrote, "Time and Tide wait for no man." His meaning of course was that you can't stop time any more than you can stop the tide going out, mankind just doesn't have that power within them. It says that there are some areas of our lives over which we just have no control.

For some people that would be a very fatalistic view of life. They would throw up there hands and say, "what's the use in trying, you just cannot control things which happen to you."

It's true that we often have little control over parts of our lives. No we cannot stop change, we cannot stop aging, we cannot stop death; we just do not have that power. How do we who are Christians deal with these things, how do we look with hope to the future?

I love the story shared years ago by Norman Vincent Peale. He said, when he was a boy there was a picture hanging in his school classroom. The picture showed a lonely beach with the tide out and a boat lying tilted over on the sand far from the waters edge.

That is a sad picture, what use is a boat far removed from the water? Boats are made for the water; they serve no purpose without it. To some people that speaks of their lives, it seems that their lives have no purpose, they can't seem to find their way, they can't find that which makes them feel happy or fulfilled. They view themselves as that beached boat. To put it clearly, they have lost hope.

Now here is "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey used to say. It seems that on the bottom of the picture was a small inscription which said, "Remember, the tide always comes back." 

The point: Remember when everything seems against you, when you are finding it difficult to hold on in life, NEVER give up because the tide will turn eventually. The writer of Hebrews says this about life: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne." (Hebrews 12:1-2, NLT)

"Lets us run with endurance the race…" The word "endurance" is defined in this way: "in the New Testament, it is the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings. It is to live our lives patiently and steadfastly," (Strong's Dictionary of NT words). The apostle Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6:11 that we are to pursue (run after trying to catch) endurance.

My prayer is that each of us can be like the church in Thessalonica to which Paul writes these words, "We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." (NIV) Their endurance was inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. In what do you hope if not him? Time and tide may wait for no man, but our Savior waits for us always.

MYSTERIES

Life it seems; is full of mysteries, (Things you can't fathom or understand). Sometimes it is the little everyday things that can be the greatest mystery. For example, my wife's purse! We have been together for close to 46 years and it is still a mystery to me. I'm not saying that I don't appreciate that she carries one and all of the things she has with her when I or she need them. What I find a mystery is first, how she gets so many things inside of that small bag and second, how she finds the things she needs. Some of the most dreaded words for me are, "it's in my purse, just get it." I have sworn off looking for anything in her purse. The scenario generally goes something like this: "It's in my purse, just get it yourself." I pick up the purse, peer inside, move around the various items for awhile and eventually give up with these words, "I can't find it." Frustrated at my inability to find the thing she takes the purse and in a few moments she delivers the item which had evaded me.

Another thing I find a mystery is the kitchen drawer with plastic storage containers. I find it an overwhelming task to match a container with a lid that fits. Many times I have opened to drawer, stared blankly into it for a few moments, closed the drawer and just walked away. It is a mystery to me how my wife can find a matching set. Somehow my wife has the mysterious ability to perceive some things that I cannot.

Another mystery for some folks is the Word of God. They look at the bible as a mysterious book full of unfathomable stories or tales. It is incomprehensible to them that they could find the answers they need for dealing with life's problems, much less find God speaking to them through it. To be honest, much of the confusion surrounding the bible is fostered by men (and women) who claim to have some special understanding of it.

Just yesterday, one of our church members shared with me that a friend at work had made a statement about something which their church practiced. They were adamant that if another church did not practice that thing then they were wrong. They could not tell them where in the bible the idea was found, but "their preacher said, so it had to be true."    

Well, that's another mystery to me I guess. Why would anyone blindly take the word of another person (even if they wear the title of preacher or pastor) about something that affected their life in eternity? It is a mystery to me that people do not just read the bible for themselves. You see, I am on a life long mission to urge people to read the bible. It is God speaking to us about the most important thing in the world, our living with him.

You might say, "But the bible is a mystery to me, I can't understand it." That statement is just not true, but then don't take my word for it. Notice what the apostle Paul had to say about it (in the bible). "God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ.." (Ephesians 3:3-4, NLT)

I kind of like the way this paraphrase of this passage puts these verses: "As you read over what I have written to you, you'll be able to see for yourselves into the mystery of Christ. None of our ancestors understood this. Only in our time has it been made clear by God's Spirit through his holy apostles and prophets of this new order. The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I've been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board." (Ephesians 3:4-6, The Message)

Yes, the Bible clears up the mysteries, "the Messages is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board." There is only one catch! You have to read it to understand it!