Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed

New! It is a word that we love. One of my ‘weaknesses’ is that about every 2 years I start to notice new cars, even though my transportation is perfectly good, it’s the ‘new’ thing that captivates me. This week I replaced my 6 year old computer with a new laptop. Yep! The old one was still working, a little slow, but just fine, however, I figured I ‘needed’ a ‘new’ one. 

New cars, computers, and phones are one thing, but ‘new’ truth is quite another.  Many are suggesting that our Christianity is in need of a re-working, that we might need to get the message to better fit our world if we want to keep our churches open. What about that?

New methods to present an unchanging Gospel are great. Given my season in life, even adapting to new methods, however, is proving a little more challenging.  The difficulty is in discerning what is just an adaptation and what is an attempt to re-write the Truth of God.  So many would turn Jesus into a great Teacher, the Gospel into moral maxims.  The Truth is that He was God in flesh, the Perfect Man, who died on the Cross, and Who was raised, bodily, from His grave to live forever as our Savior, King, and High Priest!   It is that Resurrection that substantiates His claim to be 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life.'  We are not just changed by learning a doctrine, we are transformed by an encounter with a living Jesus who makes us, though dead to God, alive in the Spirit.

I am a Christian because Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, and hundreds of other people gave first-hand testimony that a dead man returned to walk with them. Some might say, “Jerry, that does not sell in our scientific age. Dead people do not rise from the grave.” Except that Jesus did, which was, is, and will be the proof of our faith. If Jesus did not come back from the grave, then His claim to be God come to Earth was bogus and we must give him a place among other spiritual teachers of history. We can then treat his words like those of any other philosopher/teacher; free to pick and choose what we like, mixing and matching them with those of the Buddha, of Mohammed, of Confucius, and our Grandpa! The troubling issue of "Truth" is gone, replaced by "preference" which allows each one of do whatever is right in our own eyes! How convenient for a society that worships autonomy and choice!

Here is what Paul declares about Jesus. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (Colossians 1:15-20, NIV)

Has the Gospel been misinterpreted, twisted, and bent by some?  We cannot ignore the fact that Jesus has been made the captive of those who use Him to control, enslave, and enrich themselves! The Church, through the ages, has made some choices that are awful, ugly, and inexcusable – often ‘in the Name of Christ.’  But, that does not invalidate the Gospel. If you are wrestling with faith, go again to the testimony of the four Gospels, written by men who knew Him, who heard Him teach, who saw Him alive after the grave!  They show us a Man who gave us a real NEW way to live – to love God, to love others. Jesus did not hold onto power for Himself. He gave Himself away. 

And, yes, the majesty of His claim to be the Judge of all the earth lies in His willingness to be the Servant Savior of all. He is the Man of the Cross as well as the Lord of the Universe. None of us need fear complete trust, total submission, to One who would leave a perfect Heaven, endure scorn and rejection, who would challenge people intent on using power to oppress, and ultimately die for the very people who rejected His message. Such a Man has demonstrated so great a love that I willingly accept His judgment, willingly bow myself before His Truth - because that which He demands of me is not designed for His good, but rather to give me life! He said, "It is the Spirit who gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life." (John 6:63, NLT)
 
Don't be duped by those who, in the name of truth, would rob you of the Truth. Yes, they may well have confused the religion, the letter of the law that kills, with the Gospel that liberates and gives life. They may even believe that they are doing us a service by freeing us from 'silly superstitions.'
 
The word from the Word is Jesus' prayer for you and me. Meditate on it today and feel the power of the Spirit and Truth! Speaking to His Father, the night before His crucifixion, He prays for us-

“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth." (John 17:13-17, NLT)  This is the Gospel of Christ!

______________

What A Beautiful Name

(Worship at the link)

You were the Word at the beginning

One with God the Lord Most High

Your hidden glory in creation

Now revealed in You our Christ

What a beautiful Name it is

What a beautiful Name it is

The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a beautiful Name it is

Nothing compares to this

What a beautiful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

You didn't want heaven without us

So Jesus You brought heaven down

My sin was great Your love was greater

What could separate us now

What a wonderful Name it is

What a wonderful Name it is

The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a wonderful Name it is

Nothing compares to this

What a wonderful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

What a wonderful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

Death could not hold You

The veil tore before You

You silence the boast of sin and grave

The heavens are roaring

The praise of Your glory

For You are raised to life again

You have no rival

You have no equal

Now and forever God You reign

Yours is the kingdom

Yours is the glory

Yours is the Name above all names

What a powerful Name it is

What a powerful Name it is

The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a powerful Name it is

Nothing can stand against

What a powerful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

What a powerful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

What a powerful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

Ben Fielding | Brooke Ligertwood

© 2016 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

I’m Mad at Hell and I’m not going to take it any longer!

 

In the middle of our celebration of love yesterday, while we were exchanging cards with sweethearts and cherished friends to express our affection, a grenade of sorrow landed blowing up our good feelings, leaving us shaking our heads and shedding tears. An 18 year man walked into a high school in south Florida and shot 17 to death, wounding 14 more, at last report. In the last several years this has become a story too familiar to us. Remember our shock over the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999? That day our nation was shaken at the news of two boys with rifles who took 11 lives in their high school before ending their own.  Two decades later school shooting are happening, on average, more than 50 times each year!! Something is desperately wrong with America.

I refuse to shake my head and just ‘move on’ any longer! Like that weeping ex-FBI agent on CNN last who broke down in the middle of his report, declaring “I can’t do it, I can’t do it,” I will not accept that is the new normal. This is a time to put away our rhetoric, to stop blaming the ‘other party,’ to forget about tinkering with laws that won’t restrain angry, often mentally unbalanced, people determined to kill. This is a spiritual crisis and it is time for Christ’s church to go to her knees to seek wisdom and take to her feet to strengthen families and communities. Singing our songs on Sunday morning isn’t enough. Gathering in our safe building to hear insipid sermons that comfort us while the world is burning down, just isn’t good enough for me now. God needs people who will weep until they have heard from Heaven and who will stand up to serve. Yes, many in our godless land  will mock us. This week, on a major network, a commentator blatantly said that ‘hearing Jesus speak’ is a sign of mental illness.  I’m not angry at her, I just want to let her see that she is simply wrong. How? When the overflow of supernaturally empowered service that begins to turn the tide!

We need to ‘hear from Jesus!’ Pastors need to re-discover the Truth and speak it, wisely, lovingly, and with the anointing of the Spirit of God. Christians need to get over their fixation with trying to “save the culture” by electing people who say things they like to hear and get on with caring for the poor, embracing the fatherless with real care, rebuilding Sunday Schools that really teach the Scripture, and most of all – pray, pray, pray – not fearful, whiny prayers for God’s protection, but rather bold prayers that say, “Lord, send me to serve, regardless of late nights, rejection, fatigue, or inconvenience. I’m ready to die to my Self to do what You want me to do.”  The legacy like that William Wilberforce, who spent his life combating the slave trade, enduring criticism and rejection, is what I desire. William Booth, a Methodist preacher, walked the squalid slums of London and said it had to change. He founded the Salvation Army and changed that city for God, by caring for those society had forgotten. Many pastors mocked his street preaching and some even reviled him for disturbing the ‘natural order’ of things!

I will preach Christ, Crucified, Savior, and Lord. I will not be a militant, I will be a man of love. I will not take up a political cause, I’ll take up my Bible and tell anybody who will listen that Jesus loves them, that He will save them from their sins, and I will see lives changed, so help me God.  I am mad at Hell and I am not going to take it any longer.

An ancient king of Judah knew that the kingdom was in jeopardy.  He assembled the people and led them in prayer before going out to battle. The armies of Hell stand at the gates to kill and destroy. Families are being shattered. America is at a breaking point. So, I take an excerpt of his prayer to as the word from the Word today. “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you. …  See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession you gave us as an inheritance. O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.” (2 Chronicles 20:6-12, NIV)  

__________

Abba, forgive us for our impotence,

Born of our love of comfort and our apathy.

Rouse Your Church!
Shut our mouths and open our hearts.
Forgive us, O Lord, for our foolish idolization of

political leaders who we imagine to be our saviors.

Make us broken, rip our hearts.
Fill our eyes with tears, not of self-pity,

But for those enslaved by Satan,

Battered by evil, and lost to Your love.

Send ME with new passion for those who

need You.

Give ME hands that serve tirelessly.

Take MY comfort, disturb my sleep,

use MY resources.
Yes, Lord, send me.

For Jesus’ sake and for the Kingdom’s cause.

In His holy Name, I pray.

Amen.

Is God Smart Enough for you?

After a couple of visits to the office, I came to this conclusion: “I don’t trust the competence of this physician.” The certificates on the wall said that all the necessary study was finished for an M.D. degree but despite those credentials, he just did not seem to grasp what was going on with me. He did the same things other doctors have done in the past, but he did not offer any real help for my malady. Whether he is actually a good doctor or if I misjudged him remains unclear. Perhaps I do not even have the ability to evaluate his medical ability, but my loss of confidence is significant. I am no longer receiving care from him!

God is competent! Perhaps even that statement offends or amuses you. “Who are you, Jerry, to judge Him?” you may be asking, and you are right. However, if I do not trust Him, if I think He is unable to care for me, I will act as if HE is incompetent. I will turn to my own resources, caring for myself. Even though the answer to this question seems obvious, let me ask you to ponder it – Is God smart enough for you? Do you trust His Word enough to obey even the hard parts? When you are in difficult times is He the One to whom you turn first?

In an amazing song of praise that sums up the first part of the letter to the Romans, we are reminded of Who God truly is.

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”
“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen." (Romans 11:33-36, NIV)  

God is complete in wisdom. There is nothing He cannot or does not know. Let that sink in. He gets you. There is no problem He cannot solve, nothing that is beyond His comprehension.  Paul uses the word “unsearchable” not to mean that God is beyond our knowledge, but to remind us that we can never fully define or understand Him because of His infinite Being and Might.

In our conceit, we sometimes think that we need to explain the ‘reality’ of our situation to Him. He does not need our advice, nor does He seek our counsel. He does – get this! - love you, me, this world. We were created that He could enjoy us, that we could serve and worship Him, and that He could care for us and ultimately receive us into His Presence for eternity. The great human tragedy is the sinful pride that leads us to go our own way, to reject His wisdom.  God is able, competent, loving, engaged, and wise.

Whatever faces you, wherever you find yourself today – stay close to your Father!

If your life is full, your joy overflowing, thank Him and realize that “from Him are all things.”

If you are in trials, the winds of hardships battering you, trust Him, knowing that “from Him are all things.”

Here is a word from the Word. My prayer is that you will make the Sovereign Lord your refuge.

"When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds." (Psalm 73:21-28, NIV)

________

How Great Is Our God

(worship at this link)

The splendor of the King

Clothed in majesty

Let all the earth rejoice

All the earth rejoice

He wraps Himself in light

And darkness tries to hide

And trembles at His voice

And trembles at His voice

How great is our God

Sing with me

How great is our God

And all will see how great

How great is our God

And age to age He stands

And time is in His hands

Beginning and the End

Beginning and the End

The Godhead three in one

Father Spirit Son

The Lion and the Lamb

The Lion and the Lamb

Name above all names

Worthy of all praise

My heart will sing

How great is our God

Chris Tomlin | Ed Cash | Jesse Reeves

© 2004 sixsteps Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)