Story Telling

Jesus was a fellow that liked to tell stories in fact you could always count on him for a story. He was also a keen observer on things going on around him and when he noticed something in particular he would begin to tell a story.

In Luke 14:7-11 Jesus was at a feast put on by a “Ruler of the Pharisees” that’s Jew talk for a really big dog in the Jewish religion. Jesus noticed that the guests were competing with each other for the best seats and of course started in with a story. Here’s how it goes… there’s a big party and one of the guests decides to sit up by the host but then another guest came in, perhaps the mayor of the city, and the host tells the guy sitting next to him… “do you mind sitting at the end of the table I had intended for the mayor to sit here.” Jesus concludes that the embarrassment is intense and it would be better when you came to the party to kind of hang back and let the host sit you in a better place if he chose to.

And then he concludes, “For everyone that exalts himself shall be humbled; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.”

Keep in mind that Jesus tells this story in the middle of the party to guests who had been involved in inappropriate behavior. It does kind of kill the mood at a party.

I like it that Jesus was a story teller because I like to tell stories too but I guess one of the differences between me and Jesus is I usually like to tell stories to entertain people and make them laugh. I’ve never seen Jesus tell a story just to entertain people.

It’s not wrong to bring joy into people’s lives… in fact it’s a good thing but let’s also be attentive to what’s going on around us and instead of taking the short cut of condemning behavior, illustrate it with a story that will stick in the mind of the listener.

That’s reminds me of a story.

No Joke

There’s an old joke about a farmer who was going broke farming so he quit and started selling hammers. He would buy hammers for $3 apiece and sell them for $2 each. He was happy and doing a pretty good business but a friend advised him that for every hammer he sold he was losing $1. His reply? “it’s more profitable than farming”.

That joke is similar to what people sometimes do with their lives. Activities like drunkenness, sexual immorality, unfaithfulness to a spouse, etc. can cause folks to view their lives as being spiritually bankrupt. So they decide to go to church or pray or read the Bible every once in a while without actually correcting the behaviors that got them into such a big mess to begin with.

Going to church, praying and reading the Bible are good things to do but until we take some corrective action in our lives and commit ourselves fully to Jesus Christ and his teachings, we are still “going broke”… Like buying hammers for $3 and selling them for $2. Don’t make a joke out of your lives.

http://parkwaychurchnews.blogspot.com/2013/05/no-joke.html

Medal of Honor

The newspapers recently had a story about Garlin Murl Connor, a deceased WWII veteran who won four Silver Stars, one Bronze Star and three Purple hearts. His military actions were reviewed and he was awarded the Medal of Honor for one of his heroic actions.

I don’t know why, but I did some investigation to find out just what Murl Connor did to merit such an honor. It seems he was recuperating from a wound (shot through the hip) in a field hospital when he heard the Germans were going to counter attack so he slipped out of the hospital to rejoin his comrades. He then volunteered to move to a forward position to call in artillery strikes on the advancing German army. Including calling in artillery on his own position, he was willing to die to save the lives of his fellow GIs.

It made me wonder why you would leave the comfort of a hospital bed and risk your life for others. I mean he had already done plenty.

I’ve read other accounts of American GIs who so loved their fellow soldiers that they wouldn’t leave them. They wouldn’t go home on their own they wanted to keep fighting until they could all go home. Many of them thought they weren’t getting out alive anyway so they would do anything to protect their fellow soldiers so they could go home.

What does a hero look like? His wife who was 16 years old at the time said when she first saw him he was just 5 foot 6 inches and skinny as a rail. She wondered aloud how he could be a hero. They were married a week later. She said he would frequently wake up in the middle of the night having nightmares and would just go out on the porch and smoke a cigarette to calm himself down. That’s what a hero looks like, just like anyone else.

Garlin Murl Connor, just 26 years old, was willing to die for his fellow soldiers whom he loved.

Jesus Christ said in John 13:34-35 that the identifying mark of his people would be sacrificial love for each other. Ultimately that means giving up the most important thing to us… our own lives, but includes everything leading up to that including our time, our money, our possessions, etc. If we can’t give up those things then we’re fooling ourselves if we think we’ll give up our lives for someone else.

Our congregation is an army of Christian soldiers. We have a great enemy who must be defeated. We can’t conquer him with hand grenades or artillery or bombs or any kind of munition. He can only be defeated with love.

I’ve got a feeling that when we march into Heaven the Angels will be clapping and cheering for those who have been victorious over Satan and the spiritual cowards will be skulking ashamedly to their destination.

Remember Garlin Murl Connor for his sacrifices on the battlefield but there is a greater one that he who died so we all can live… never forget Him.

Be Perfect as God is Perfect

In the “Sermon on the Mount” the Beatitudes serve as an introduction or preview to the over-all sermon.

For example, “Blessed are you when men shall reproach you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for me sake. Rejoice… great is your reward in Heaven” (5:11) Fast forward to 5:43-48, “You have heard it said… love your neighbor and hate your enemy but I say…. Love enemies and bless those who persecute you…that you may be sons of your Father…” See the connection? In the introduction they are blessed when persecuted but in the extended teaching (5:43-48) they are to “love” their persecutors and “pray” for them. They cannot just be persecuted for righteousness sake and expect to receive a blessing from God they have to “love” their persecutors and that love is made evident by bowing the knee and praying for them.

If they don’t behave in this fashion they are just like the “publicans” and Gentiles” (whom they would ordinarily despise) and are not like…God. To God they look like Publicans and Gentiles. In my opinion this may be the hardest thing God asks us to do.

But let’s look at one more thing (verse 48) “you shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”.

Most people look at this verse and say, “that’s impossible no one can be perfect like God is perfect all we can do is try and fall short” and that would be incorrect. God doesn’t give us an instruction that is impossible to keep… hard but not impossible.

Let’s look at a few examples. Jesus while hanging on the cross prayed to God to forgive his persecutors because they didn’t really know what they were doing.

Stephen as he was being stoned by his persecutors prayed to God to not lay their sin against them.

Paul in Phil. 3:8-15 identifies himself as being “perfect” and advises the others who are “perfect” among his readers to be similarly minded.

We are instructed to be “perfect”. We have instructions on how to be “perfect” and we have examples of individuals who are “perfect” so that we can become perfect.

No one said it would be easy but it can be done.

The bigger question is why does God want us to be like him? Think about that.

What is Subjection?

Ephesians 5:22, introduces the concept that Christians are required to be in “subjection” to each other.

The word translated “subjection” is a Greek word that is ordinarily used to describe soldiers who are under authority in a military sense.

In the above context Christians are to view other Christians as being superior in rank (whether they are or not).

The word “subjection” is next used as a directive towards wives. They are to be in “subjection” to their husbands.

It is important at this point to see what the requirements are towards children and bond-servants. Children are supposed to be “obedient” to their parents and bond-servants are supposed to be “obedient” to their masters.

Here’s the point about wives… they are not children and they are not servants. They are not required to be in “obedience” to their husbands they are supposed to be in “subjection”. That’s important because some husbands can get those two things confused.

Note that “subjection” is based on “love”. Christ first “loved” the church and she (the church) “subjected” herself to him. Same thing in marriage, the husband “loves “ his wife and because of that love she willingly agrees to “subject” herself to him and respect his headship.

Also note that the word “fear” modifies both “subjection” and obedience as it concerns Christians, wives and bond-servants. When you read “fear” think “respect”.

Why is that word used. I’ll tell you why. It’s not fake “subjection” it’s real “subjection”. Sometimes people can fake when Jesus wants it to be real (from the heart).

Without real “subjection” and real “love” the marital relationship cannot become what God intended for it to be.

God promises great blessings to those who follow his directives. Have a little faith, follow the recipe… do your part and God will do his part.

Nicodemus and the Samaritan Woman

Two character are introduced in John 3&4.

Nicodemus was a Ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee and a Teacher of Israel. That means he was a student of God’s word and knew it forwards and backwards, inside and out. He came to Jesus with a simple statement… “Rabbi we know that you are a teacher sent from God because no one can do the signs you are doing unless God is with him”.

Jesus, never one to mince words or waste time, cuts to the chase…. “Except one be born again he cannot see the (coming) Kingdom of God.”

You see, Jesus knew who Nicodemus was and knew that Nicodemus knew what was in the Old Testament (from a human perspective). Nicodemus was obedient to the 10 commandments, kept the proper form of worship, kept the Sabbath and feast days properly, etc., etc., etc. Jesus just needed to correct some misconceptions that Nicodemus had about the coming Kingdom.

The second character introduced was different than Nicodemus. She was an un-named Samaritan woman. In contrast to Nicodemus she knew next to nothing about the Old Testament. As a Samaritan all she had been taught and all she knew were the first 5 books of the Bible. Samaritans had improper worship and they didn’t celebrate the Passover properly. The Jews despised them for their corruption of God’s commandments.

Jesus was sitting at a well when the woman approached and asked her for a drink of water. The woman, knowing that Jesus was a Jew, was surprised that he would even acknowledge her presence and was bold enough to state that to him.

Jesus replied, if you knew who I am you could have asked and I would have given you living water. The conversation evolves into the age old question between the Samaritans and the Jews… where is the proper place to worship? Jesus informs her that the Jews are worshipping correctly (and the Samaritans are not) but then proceeds to tell her that a time is coming… the coming of the Kingdom… when neither place will be the correct place to worship.

So we might ask the question… why didn’t Jesus answer the Samaritan woman like he did Nicodemus? Why didn’t he tell her… “except one be born again he cannot enter the Kingdom of God?” And the answer is because they were in different places in their understanding of God’s word

The reality is Jesus taught them both the same basic thing. Both audiences had to believe that in the new Kingdom, citizens would have to worship in Spirit and in Truth, he just took different approaches to accomplish that task.

Of course the same thing is true today. You cannot necessarily teach two individuals the exact same way but we do have to end up in the same place. If we have the idea that we can just quote some passage like Acts 2:38 with the idea of accept it or reject it and feel like we have done our job as a teacher then we are sadly mistaken.

The Gospel is for all including those who know their Bible (but misunderstand it) and for those who know next to nothing about the Bible. As a teacher prepare yourself for every kind of student.

Pray for the Holy Spirit Luke 11:13

Luke chapter 11 begins with Jesus teaching his disciples how to pray. He first gives them the initial form of prayer and then he teaches some concepts about prayer.

The first concept about our prayers is a comparison of asking our neighbors for something and asking God for something. Sometimes we almost have to beg our earthly friends to do something for us but God is not like that… he will willingly answer our prayer requests.

The second concept is the value of the thing requested in prayer. Parents will willingly give and address their children’s physical needs. God however will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask for him.

That raises several questions… We can ask for the Holy Spirit? Who would even think to ask for the Holy Spirit? And just what are we asking for?

Right on the heels of this teaching, Jesus casts out a demon, i.e. an evil spiritual being. This isn’t just some random story Jesus decides to tell. There is a connection.

In verse 24, Jesus describes a man who had an evil spirit in him and the evil spirit decides to leave and find another human to live in. He can’t find one so he decides to go back home to the human he used to live in and takes seven other evil or unclean spirits to go with him. Jesus concludes that the last state of the man is worse than the first state.

Who would ask God for the Holy Spirit? Perhaps some poor soul who had an evil spirit.

You see, the demon decided to leave the man on his own accord. He was looking for another place to live. The man had not done anything to get rid of the demon or made any change his life to prevent demon possession.

Including, having faith in God and manifesting that faith by praying for God’s protection in the form of the Holy Spirit. Without God's help the unfortunate man was at the mercy of demons.

This dovetail sweetly with Ephesians 1:13-14… “In whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

Once we believe, God seals us with the Holy Spirit. A seal is an identifying stamp. What is its purpose? It’s a no trespassing sign for Satan. It is also a down payment of our inheritance which when fully paid is life eternal with God.

Have faith in God. Pray to him because he will answer and he can give greater gifts than can be found on earth. Then… you won’t have to worry about Satan.

45th Wedding Anniversary

This is something I posted to Facebook on June 1st. Happy anniversary to my wife of 45 years. 45 years ago today, one week after graduating from High School, we eloped to Lake Charles, Louisiana. I tell people the reason we did that is because at the time... in Texas... they wouldn't let first cousins marry. But they would in Louisiana. Of course that's a joke. Julie Bedwell is the only girl I ever dated. A lot of people would say that we somehow found our soul mates as if failures in marriage are somehow due to bad luck. The truth is that we were committed to each other based on our faith in Jesus Christ and would not allow Satan to separate what God had put together. God has blessed me in many ways but my greatest blessing has been Julie Perkins.