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Jump Start # 204

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 204

Luke 15:11 “And He said, ‘A certain man had two sons’”

  With these simple words Jesus begins the greatest parable of all time, the story of the prodigal son. This is my favorite lesson that Jesus taught. I never get tired of looking at this wonderful illustration of the grace and love of God. Jesus is giving us a snapshot, made in words, of God. This is what God looks like. And what a picture it is. The prodigal messed up big time. He wasted, ruined and shamed not only himself but the family. He put himself in a hopeless situation. In many ways he deserved to be where he was, the pig pen.

  But he came to his senses (sin is senseless). He remembered how his father was. His father was fair and generous, even to servants. Oh, to be just a servant would be better than he was at the present time. He returned. He was sorry. His father embraced, accepted and celebrated his return. His father, our Father, forgave him, accepted him and gave him a second chance. God is good. God wants us back home with him. We were not made for life with pigs. God has so much better awaiting us, but we have to come home. You’ll remember that the father didn’t go out to the pig pen and drag the boy home. The prodigal came. He returned changed. He was bankrupt emotionally and spiritually.

  What a great story! So many profound lessons! The call of the far country. The young who think they know it all. The father who let him go. The long road back home. The powerful lesson of forgiveness. Grace! Thinking about each of these makes us a better people. Each of us have been on that road that leads away from God. We thought we knew better. There were times when we just didn’t think we needed God around so much. How wrong we were. For many of us, it took living among the pigs to wake us up and to rattle our senses spiritually. Thanks be to God for sparing our lives during those wayward years.

  This parable begins with the simple statement, “A certain man had two sons…” Biblical scholars have read much into what this family represents. All agree that the father is God. Some see the sons representing the Jews and the Gentiles, possibly. Contextually, the prodigal represents the sinners, especially the tax collectors, that found a friend in Jesus. The Lord had been accused of hanging around “those” kind of people at the start of this chapter. The parable of the lost sheep, lost coin and lost boys are an answer to that accusation. The other boy, the older son who stayed home, represents the Pharisees who were jealous and had an attitude toward “those” sinners. The father wanted both boys home. All fathers do.

  But what an interesting picture of this family—dysfunctional as it was. Older son, who is diligent to do things right, but has a sorry attitude about everything, especially his younger brother. He is miserable yet faithful. The younger one, the prodigal, is the free spirit. He reminds many of us of our college years. Wild, irresponsible, looking for a good time and not seeing beyond the weekend. While he is reckless, law breaking and sinful, he seems to have a good attitude, especially about his father. These two boys are like some homes, but more so, like many folks at church. You have the strict, diligent kind who are so focused on doing everything right. They have great intentions. But they seem miserable. Everyone who is not doing things the way they think it should be done are viewed as wrong. Wrong is a popular word with these folks. There are things wrong in the society. There are things wrong at work. Some members are wrong at church. Some families are wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Then there are those like the younger son. They don’t seem to concerned about rules and what is wrong. They say things in Bible classes that makes some snicker and whisper. They are teetering on the edge of moral right and wrong. The leadership is especially concerned about these folks. They wonder if they will ever get it. But what a delightful, refreshing and honest spirit they have about them. They are fun to be around because they enjoy God’s blessings.

  Two boys in one family…two kinds of members in one church. Which is better? Obedient but miserable or loose but joyous? Do we have to pick? God loved them both. I find myself walking in both boys shoes from time to time…strictly following that primitive pattern of Scripture but seeing everyone as wrong and other times, messing up here and there but realizing what a great God we have and just wanting to shout that from the rooftop. Both boys were welcomed at God’s table. The older son needed to lighten up some and realize that he is not as perfect as he thinks he is and learn to accept others, even after they have sinned. The young son needs to learn that pleasing his father comes about by doing what he says. Obedience is important.

  God’s family has both, doesn’t it? It helps to realize this and to know that I need to work more on myself and point fingers less. Honesty tells me that I have been both boys. That’s easy to do. Now, I must work on being more like the father. That’s the trick and that’s when we are really getting the lesson of Jesus. It doesn’t matter which son I am more like, I need to be like the father. “O to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer…”

Roger

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Jump Start # 203

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 203

Ephesians 4:3 “being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”

  Unity—what a great concept and relationship! The Psalmist described unity as the refreshing morning dew. Paul’s words to the Ephesians was to preserve it! Before a person can do that, they must first have unity.

  We are so used to living in a world without unity. There are always wars, somewhere. There are fights in high school, and there is dysfunction in families. The number one reason why most people switch jobs is because they can’t get along or fit in with the other workers. The expression, “going postal” has become a catch phrase to define disgruntled employees. Moms and Dads  divorce, Republicans can’t stand Democrats and Democrats can’t stand Republicans and churches split. This is our world! Wonderful isn’t it.

  When we turn this discussion religiously, or better still, Biblically, most folks have resigned themselves to accept that churches disagree. Isn’t it interesting to see so many church buildings located so close to each other. Even in small towns, a person will find two or three different kinds of churches on the same block. It’s almost like different kinds of hamburger franchises. They all claim to believe in Jesus. They all use the Bible. They all want to go to Heaven and they all say that they love—but there they stand, for generations, separate buildings often times meeting at the very same hour on Sunday. If they are all for the same thing, then why don’t they merge? Why don’t they sell the other buildings? Could it be that the talk and the walk simply don’t match?

  Later in this same chapter, Paul lays out what is called the seven pillars of unity: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. Unity comes from standing upon these seven platforms. Compromise is not unity. Don’t ask, don’t tell isn’t unity.

  A little over 200 years ago, in this very area, something remarkable took place. There was a movement, a revival, a return back to the Bible. Men from different faiths started asking, What if we simply went back to the Bible for our rule of faith? What if we got rid of the creed books, by-laws and church doctrines? If it wasn’t in the Bible, then we wouldn’t do it. What if we just called our selves Christians—and nothing else. What if we took the Lord’s Supper on Sunday as they did in the Bible? What if we did away with a “clergy” and men with faith and conviction preached? What if we immersed for the remission of sins as was done in the Bible times? What if congregations were independent and governed by elders or shepherds and there was no organization above or greater than the local church? What if?

  Throughout Southern Indiana and Kentucky men started doing this. They found that many things that they had been preaching were really not in the Bible. They stopped preaching those things. Whole congregations changed. A movement swept over the prairie like a brush fire. We are Christians and only Christians became the plea. We speak where the Bible speaks became the motto. They found agreement and unity among many. They all had the same platform –the word of God. That was the ringing sound that pulled them all together, the ancient Gospel of Jesus Christ. They found that if everyone only followed theBible and nothing else, they would be all be the same. They would have unity. Those were remarkable times in history.

  But do you know what happened? Folks began to inject their opinions and what they wanted and how they thought things ought to be. Before long, lines were drawn. Divisions took place. Each had to find their own way to worship the way they wanted to. The cry for unity was no longer heard. Church buildings were built, often right across the street from each other. Until here we are today. For a non-church going family, the scene is confusing and crazy. Why are there so many churches if they all believe the same thing? Good question. Maybe they don’t believe the same any more. Why can’t they all get along? Better question. How? Who is going to be in charge? Who decides what? The biggest church? The richest church? Or, how about let the Bible be in charge. We understand this concept in other areas. When a person goes to the hardware store, he knows 12 inches is 12 inches. The same applies if he is at a Walmart of a high end department store. There is an accepted standard to how long 12 inches is. The same works with our money. One dollar is one dollar whether you are at McDonalds or Neiman Marcus. Everyone has agreed upon a standard. If everyone could do that religiously, unity would prevail.

  Can that spirit of unity resurface again in this country? Sure! Who will start it? Are you willing to do just what the Bible says and nothing else? If it’s not in the Bible, leave it. If the Bible teaches it, do it! Can you live with that? That’s where this starts. And it starts, not with me waiting for you, but with me coming to Christ. Jesus said, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.” Deny self. No opinions. No, “here’s what I like.” No, “this is what I think works best.” No, “my grandfather always said…” Just the Bible, and nothing else. Unity is based upon a standard, and that standard is the word of God.

  Are we diligent to preserve the unity or content to accept the division?

Roger

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Jump Start # 202

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 202

1 Peter 2:24 “And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”

  Here in this passage Peter shows the saving work of Jesus Christ. Christ died on the cross for us. He bore our sins. He did this so we could be healed. There are many contrasts layered throughout this verse.

  • The sinless Christ carried our sins. Paul said, “He became sin…”
  • He died and we were healed
  • We die so we can live

  It is that last contrast that I want us to think about today. We die…we live. There is an order here. Death then life. Remember, Paul said, “I have been crucified (DIE)…Christ lives in me (LIFE). The Romans were told, “We have become united with Him in the likeness of His death…we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection” (6:5). The Colossians were told, “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed…” Later it says, “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices; and have put on the new self…” (Col. 3).

  Old and new….death and life. These are running themes throughout the New Testament. Our problems today are sins. Marriage problems are sin problems. Relationship problems are sin problems. Faith problems are sin problems. Church problems are sin problems. And the problem with sin is that we just haven’t put it to death yet. We know we should pull the plug. We know that it is the right thing to do. Sin isn’t helping things. Sin holds us back. We must let it go. We must let sin die, but we just can’t do it. So it lingers. It holds on. It hangs around. And we struggle. Guilt problems. Shameful feelings. Regrets. We think, more verses. More church services. More prayers. More doing. And off we go. It works for a while. We feel good. Things are turning around and then, sin rises up again. It’s the same thing again. Gossip…lust…pride…Why, we wonder? We do we keep going backward rather than forward? Why do we not conquer these sins?

  Do you know the answer? Peter tells you. We haven’t killed sin. We are wanting to live in righteousness without having to kill sin. That won’t work. It never does. Sin will always keep us going backward. We must put to death sin.

  That’s hard, really hard. And the reason is, because sin is so easy. You don’t have to think about it. Sin is comfortable and sin is fun. Sin, from our perspective, isn’t disgusting. If we saw it as God sees it, we’d have a different heart about it. But as it is, sin is fun. It’s wrong. We shouldn’t be doing it, but we could be doing worse. Right? That’s the way we tend to think. But sin is the worst. It ruins a good soul. It cripples opportunity and it limits our faith and spiritual growth. There is nothing good about sin. It needs to go away. It needs to die.

  Do you know anyone with cancer? My wife is a cancer nurse. My dad had cancer. My mother died from cancer. My mother-in-law is a hospice volunteer to cancer patients. I’ve known many people who had cancer. I have seen the destruction, damage and tears caused by cancer. I’m not a fan of cancer. I don’t know any worthwhile thing that it does. I’ve come to hate cancer. I wish the world was cancer free. Every time I hear of someone that I know getting cancer, I just sigh. Not another one. You may understand my feelings about cancer. Now, can I feel that way about sin? Can I hate sin? Can I despise sin? Can I get to the point that I feel that there is nothing worthwhile about sin? Do I get to the point where I wish the world was sin free?

  This is where putting sin to death begins. It may be that too many of us haven’t gotten there yet. We were baptized into Christ, but we buried a live man, not a dead man. We were raised, not a new man, but the same man. We’ve added church services to our schedule, but we are no different. We’ve remained the same.

  Peter tells us to die to sin! Kill it! Don’t let it linger…don’t watch it. Let it go. And then start living to righteousness.

  It’s hard…but you can do it! Peter said so.

Roger

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Jump Start # 201

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 201

Genesis 6:5 “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

  Our verse today is extremely old, going back several thousand years. The condition of man was so bad that God decided to destroy all life with a flood, except for Noah, his family and the few animals God told them to take with them. God was fed up. He had enough. The next verse says that “God was sorry that He made man on the earth…” Can you imagine? Nothing as we know it would be. There would be no history. This shows that God doesn’t need us, but we sure need Him.

  There are many thoughts that need to be explored here.

First, the flood did happen. It was not an allegory or figure of God’s disappointment. The flood was real. Jesus referred to it as a fact. Peter refers to the flood several times in his epistles. The evidence from fossils and geology attest to a flood. It happened, but it will never happen again, God promised.

  Second, man can get very far from God. I don’t know what kind of law God had for man, but there had to be one. God never left man on his own. God directs the steps of man. The wickedness of man was great…every intent of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY evil CONTINUALLY. This wasn’t a few lapses of judgment followed by sorrow and repentance– this was standard behavior for man. Removal of God from society, the home and especially our hearts leads us to a dark emptiness that is filled with sin. The passage implies that this is the way it was with the majority or most of the people. Some are like that today. Their thoughts are twisted and dark. They can’t say anything nice. Perversion, cursing and wrong are as common as breathing. Their conversation is filled with sexually offensive terms. They are loud and proud of the way they are. They ruin the atmosphere for righteous people. I’ve seen kind hearted people have to walk out of theatres, plays, and arenas, because of the obnoxious and rude behavior of others. I have seen far too many young people going down this road, with an attitude on top of that. Every intent of the heart is evil. What a waste of a life. What missed opportunity. Made by God but denying God.

  Third, God simply gave up on them. Understand, before this, in the garden, God started the process of redemption. When He placed the curses upon Adam and Eve for disobeying Him, He said, “the seed of woman would bruise the head of the serpent” – this was the promise of the coming of Christ. But here a few chapters and several hundred years later, God was so disappointed that basically started all over. This is hard for us on this side of the cross to grasp. We see God as patient and merciful. God puts up with a lot, but never gives up. But He did! Peter tells us that God is patient not wanting any to be lost but to come to repentance. There is a time coming when God will send Jesus. He will say, “Enough.” We don’t know when that will be, but it shows us that even God has a limit.

  Fourth, have you ever thought about the opposite of this verse? If the thoughts were wicked and every intention of the heart evil continually, what if the thoughts were righteous and every intent of the heart was holy continually…what would God’s response be? You know. He would swell with joy and happiness. He would embrace and help and open doors and as a Father watches his child do well, God would feel the same. Impossible? For the majority, yes, because they don’t have Christ. But what about us? Can we do it for an hour? How about a day? Every thought righteous continually…wonder what that would do to you? Wonder if people would notice? Give it a try…and try is how it is done. It’s not natural. You have to work at it. You have to block out the selfish thoughts, the evil thoughts, the sinful thoughts. You have to fill your mind with Christ. Count your many blessings and name them one by one. For a day, every thought continually righteous. Try it!

Roger

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Jump Start # 200

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 200

Nehemiah 8:8 “They read from the book, from the law of God, translating to give the sense so that they understood the reading.”

  Today makes another milestone for our Jump Starts—number 200! That’s amazing. So many of you have read every one of these and many have shared them with others. I would never have dreamed that this little idea would have such a huge impact as it has.

  Our goal from day one with our Jump Starts, was to give you a verse and a few comments by me that would help you get the day going. Often with our busy schedules we put reading the Bible on the back burner. Most understand the importance of reading the Bible, but life happens and our good intentions get interrupted by sick kids, overcrowded schedules and starting the day running late. Through the medium of email, our Jump Starts have never intended to replace your private study of God’s word, but rather to give something to think about and consider as the day begins. Our thoughts have dealt with our walk with God and our personal relationship with him.

  The verse for today, taken from Nehemiah, shows the importance of teaching. Nehemiah had rallied the nation to rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. They worked together and worked hard in accomplishing that. One thing remained that needed to be rebuilt—and that was their faith in God. Nehemiah set to light the fire within their hearts once again. To do that, he had Ezra and the priests read from the Law of God. They made sense of what was read so that the people would understand. It is through the Bible that we are encouraged, we are warned and we learn. The Bible builds our faith and answers our questions. Doubts seem to disappear as we learn more and more of God’s will. Spending time with the Bible is one of the best things you can do. It is life changing. Our Jump Start exercise has shown that the Bible is full of verses that are fascinating to read and intriguing to understand. There seems to be no end to such a study.

  We see why God’s word is called “living and active…” and why the person is considered blessed who spends time in the word. Confidence seems to soar the more we spend with our Bibles and we find ourselves being busy doing things for others. What a wonderful impact this book can have upon us.

  For now our plans are to continue on with the daily Jump Starts. If down the road we stop this exercise we hope it has taught you how to look at just a verse or two and give it some serious thought, reflection and application to your life. You can always start the day with a verse.

  Thank you for reading these and sharing them with others. I hope somewhere within these past 200 Jump Starts that something has been said that has helped you. I know they have helped me. Whenever a good and honest heart meets the word of God, good things will happen. That’s just the way those things work.

  Read—understand– apply. That makes all the difference in the world. Paul told the Ephesians “not to be unwise, but to understand the will of the Lord” (5:17). Knowledge empowers. Knowledge strengthens. Knowledge of God’s word is the best of all, it is life changing!

Roger