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Jump Start # 396

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 396 

1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant.”

  The “love chapter” – 1 Corinthians 13. Love has been the themes of great songs, movies and books. Romantic love leads to weddings. We used to have a saying growing up, “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Sally pushing the baby carriage.”

  The love verses here in Corinthians are read often at weddings. Paul isn’t talking about marriage, boyfriends and girlfriends or even romance. Paul is talking to the Corinthians about getting along. They seemed to excelled in NOT getting along. They fussed over preachers, they sued each other, they divided over the Lord’s Supper and were inside out about spiritual gifts. They misunderstood them and used them as a means of feeling superior. Chapters 12-14 are about spiritual gifts. Paul explains them. Paul tells of their function and purpose. Paul gives instruction about how they are to be used. In the midst of this, he throws in “the love verses.”

  • Love is: patient, kind, rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, never fails.

 

  • Love is not: jealous, bragging, arrogant, act unbecomingly, self seeking, provoked, takes into account a wrong suffered, rejoicing in wrong.

  Love is. Love is not. The love Paul writes is from the Greek “agape” which is the highest level of love. It is a choice, not an emotion. It decides to love, not based upon the behavior of others, therefore it is not reactionary. This is the love that God has for us.

  The Corinthians needed to hear that. We do too. Much of their fussing would disappear if they had the proper attitude toward each other. I wonder if the same would work for us. It’s sad to see brethren fussing, and often it’s over little stuff, and often it leads to folks leaving and even starting new congregations. Why? This kind of behavior only makes the Devil smile. If folks can’t get along here, how in the world do they expect to spend forever together? I wonder if God will put some of us on the same log for about 10,000 years, until we start liking each other.

  Our verse today introduces the “love theme.” Paul begins by saying, ‘love is patient.’ Patience is found in the fruit of the spirit and the virtues of a Christian. Be patient. Love is patient. Now we could talk about patience and driving or patience with kids, but that’s not the context. Paul is talking about patience with other Christians within the same congregation. We need that.

  As a preacher, I’m always concerned about time. I want worship service to flow like a well planned and thought out operation. Every detail, every part matters. But you get the song leader and he’s standing in the pulpit, flipping through the song book looking for what he wants to lead next. He has picked out his songs. He’s doing it, “Live.” Every stares. Or, the guy who is supposed to read Scripture and he can’t find the chapter in his Bible. He didn’t put his ribbon there. Or the man giving announcements that is just rambling on and on. On those that are late, every week. Those things make me want to SCREAM. Paul says, ‘love is patient.’

  But I’m not sure Paul even has Sunday worship service in mind. He’s talking about the relationship with each other. Patience is needed. Some understand. Some don’t. Some have to be told, more than one time. Some ask the same questions, over and over. Some excel and some seem to be stuck in neutral. Some are doing well and some want to bring in baggage and ideas and teachings from their past and not all of these are true and accurate. Patience.

  The lack of patience makes us bitter toward some. It makes us be short with them. It causes us to remove ourselves and not want to be around them. The next word Paul uses in this love chapter is kind. Love is kind. See the connection? Without patience, it’s hard to be kind. Patience is on the inside and kindness is on the outside. Patience is an attitude and kindness is a behavior. It’s hard to be kind without first being patient. It’s hard to be patient without being kind.

  Some folks really try our patience. Some have to make a joke out of everything and that gets old fast. Some tell you the same things over and over. Some take ten minutes to tell a two minute story. Some are slow. These things are easy to see. They are in others. It’s hard for us to think that those in the congregation need patience to put up with me. The mirror is a wonderful spiritual tool. You mean others need to be patient with me? Yeah, that’s right. Some of us talk too fast. Some of us interrupt others. Some of us always seem to be in a hurry. Some of us don’t take the time to explain things because it’s been explained once and isn’t that enough. Some want to get to the point of things so much that they miss the history of why people are the way they are. You see, that’s me.  It’s hard to imagine that people need to be patient with me, I’m the preacher. But they do, they really do. And this is the key of these love verses—not looking at the other person, but holding that mirror up and looking at what you see.

  Love is patient. Love is kind. Growth takes time. Change takes time. Love understands. Love waits. Love accepts because God accepts.

  Interesting chapter. I wonder if it helped the Corinthians? I wonder if it helps me?

Roger

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Jump Start # 395

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 395 

Romans 15:1 “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.”

 This verse is one of those relationship passages that remind us that we are connected to each other. We need each other, whether we want to admit it or not. Often it’s the “not” category for most of us. Certainly, on Sunday worship we need a preacher, song leader and someone to get the Lord’s Supper ready for the rest of us, but that’s about the extent of it. Through the week we get along pretty good on our own. Who are we kidding? We need each other all the time. We need the prayers of others. We need their encouragement. We need to know that they are there for us. And they need us!

  Romans 14-15 are chapters about this connection. One of the things a person finds out very quickly is that not everyone thinks the way I do. Some are different. Some come from different backgrounds and some have had different experiences. The Roman church had a mixture of Jewish and Roman backgrounds. This mixture was upsetting because not everyone did the same things. Some could eat meats, some couldn’t. Some observed special days, others didn’t. When the “did’s” and the “didn’ts” got together, it caused raised eyebrows, whispers and judging. The immediate thought is, because you are different, you are wrong. Wrong is a favorite word of many people. Their definition of “wrong” is anything that I don’t like. The music is wrong, because I don’t like that type of music. The car you drive is wrong, because I don’t like that brand. You watch wrong shows on TV, because I don’t like those shows. This spills over into the spiritual. You are wrong spiritually, means to some, you are sinning. Some use the expressions, “wrong,” and “you are sinning,” to get a person to do what they want them to do. It’s the ultimate gift—GUILT. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. They pressure, they talk, they judge (a real problem here in Romans) and they condemn. Eventually, if you don’t change, they stop having anything to do with you.

  Religious people like to judge. I’ve noticed that. I fight that. One reason is that we care for others and we don’t want them to be “wrong” (there’s our word again). God has a place for judging and as a church we have to. Fellowship is determined by walking in light (1 Jn 1:7). How do we know who is walking in the light and who is in the dark without some examination or judging.

  All of this brings two central thoughts for us:

1. It is God who determines what is right and what is wrong. That was the problem in Romans 14. God had accepted both the weak and the strong. You may do something that I don’t like and in my thinking, I’d never do it myself, but there is a difference with dislike and sinful. Sin is a violation of God’s law. Putting the label, “sinful” on something doesn’t mean it is. God determines what He accepts and what He doesn’t. There are some things that are not sinful, even though I don’t like them. That’s hard for some of us to deal with. It was hard for the Romans, that’s why we have two chapters on this stuff. It’s wrong because God’s word says so and not because I say so.

2. We ought to spend more time judging ourselves than the rest of creation. Some can be so quick to point fingers and shout, “That’s wrong,” yet do they do that to themselves. Some seem to be so worried about what other churches are doing, what’s going on in other congregations, more than what’s going on in their own hearts. The emphasis in the NT is looking intently at the perfect law of liberty. Doing this will cause us to examine ourselves and make adjustments to please God.

  Our verse today shows these thoughts. First, quit pleasing yourself. Quit just thinking about yourself. It’s not always about ME. That leads me to learn to bear the weaknesses of others. This is not tolerating sin. God wants us to repent of sin, not “bear” sin. Weaknesses are things that conscience won’t allow a person to do. Not sinful, just dislikes. My grandpa would never cut his yard on Sunday. That’s just the way he was. It could be that Sunday was the only day it wasn’t raining, he still wouldn’t cut on that day. Is it sinful to cut grass on Sunday? No (unless you skip church and that’s another problem). We all have things like that. I don’t like preaching without wearing a tie (and it best be a good one). Is it wrong to preach without a tie? No. I’m certain that Jesus never wore a tie. It’s just me. Now I know some preachers that never preach in ties. Are they “wrong”? No. Are they sinning? No. I’m the same way about wearing blue jeans to church services. Wrong? No. Just me. Now how am I to act toward those who come Sunday, without a tie and wearing blue jeans? Do I roll my eyes and avoid them? No. Who is weak on this? Them or me? I’m not sure, it may be me! I can pressure them to change and they can pressure me to change. We can get so tense that we split and have a “tie only, no blue jean church” and a “no tie, only blue jean church.” To that, Jesus would roll His eyes. Get along, is the message. If it’s not wrong, then quit trying to change them into you and quit acting as if they have done something wrong.

  Some come from work straight to church services wearing nursing uniforms and other outfits that they are required to wear at work. We can roll our eyes and wrinkle our lips at them and in disgust say, ‘why don’t they go home first and change,’ (which probably means they wouldn’t be able to make it at all) or we can be thankful that at the end of a busy day they made time for the Lord.

  The list is long on our differences. We are not all the same. It helps to remember that God has accepted us as we are, quirks and all, and we need to do the same with others.

  We need each other! We all need Jesus!

  Roger

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Jump Start # 394

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 394 

Matthew 6:34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” 

  Worry—that demon that fills our hearts with fear, steals our sleep at night, and robs our appetite for life. We worry. Jesus tells us don’t, but we do. This section of the sermon on the mount is very intense.

  • Jesus tells the disciples not to worry (v. 25, 31, 34).
  • He tells them that worry doesn’t change things (27).
  • He asks them, ‘why are you worried’ (28)

  Worry is really a faith problem. We don’t like to admit that, but it is. That’s the direction Jesus goes with this in His thoughts. The birds are taken care of by God, aren’t you worth more than birds? Trust God. The flowers are beautiful, they don’t get that way by worrying. God provides. Trust God. The greater our trust the less we worry. The more we worry, the less we trust. That’s just how it works.

  Our verse today is the one area of worry that so many of us have trouble with. We worry about tomorrow. We bring tomorrow into our today.  There is so much that may happen tomorrow. We just want it all to be fixed, solved and smoothed out before we get there. We want to know that the kids will be ok. They will find good jobs, marry well. We want to know that our retirement funds will pay off as we are planning. We worry about tomorrow.

  Jesus says,  ‘tomorrow will care for itself.’  We live with today, not tomorrow. This is not to say that we don’t plan for tomorrow. The farmer who plants is anticipating a harvest, not on the day he plants, but tomorrow. We save for retirement, which will be used not today, but tomorrow. The Proverbs reminds us that the slothful or lazy man doesn’t have because he didn’t prepare. The wise man uses the illustration of the ant, that is always busy. The Lord is not saying spend all you have today, live for today, don’t think about tomorrow—that’s not the thought here. He is talking about worry. Don’t bring tomorrow’s problems into today. Don’t anticipate. Don’t fear what is not there. When you get to the next day, you will deal with the things there. Things tend to change and we can’t figure out tomorrow, because things may not be the same. You can’t life a lifetime in one day. You make plans for tomorrow, but they may have to be adjusted or even changed once you get there. Don’t fret about that now.

  Secondly, the Lord tells us that each day has enough trouble of its own. Isn’t that the truth. We didn’t need the Lord to tell us that, we know that from living it. There is trouble today! Problems…crisis…issues…heartache…disappointments…failures…sins…big stuff! And that’s just on today’s menu. Get through today. You have enough in your heart with today that you don’t need to squeeze in tomorrow. You need the Lord today to make it.

  A strange thing about worry, once the crisis has passed, we tend to forget about it. Most of us don’t remember what we worried about three years ago. At the time, it was major. We got through it. Life took us further down the road. New problems. New adventures. The old worries past. God helped us. God got us through. We tend to forget that. I think this is what Jesus was trying to get the disciples to see. God has been there for you. He is always there for you. He will get you through. The trouble of today is not carried by you alone, God is with you. This is more than a discourse on worry, it is a lesson about realizing the value of God and how much God loves you and cares for you. God is active in your life. We sometimes don’t see it or realize it, but He is. He loves you. He wants the best for you—and that may not be financial as we’d like it to be, as it is spiritual. God wants you to grow in love and trust of Him.

  A new quote I saw the other day, “Don’t worry about tomorrow, God is already there!” He’s there before we are. He’s there before our problems are. He’s there. But He’s also here, today. Live for God today. Make today a good day with God. Bring glory to God in what you do.

  Don’t worry—easy to say. Hard to do. With God it is possible. Without Him, impossible!

Roger

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Jump Start # 393

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 393 

Galatians 4:11 “I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”

  The Galatian churches seemed to be tail spinning. Instead of progressing in the Gospel, they were confused and going backward to the Law of Moses that they left. In the first chapter Paul marvels that they are deserting Christ for another Gospel (1:6). He asks them who “bewitched you” (3:1). In the fourth chapter, Paul says, “…you who want to be under the law…” (4:21) and, “you observe days and months and seasons and year” (4:10). Then comes our verse, “I fear for you…”

  Paul says, “perhaps I have labored over you in vain.” The word “vain” means empty. It’s a favorite word of Solomon in Ecclesiastes. As Paul uses it here in Galatians, he means that his work was a waste of time.

  Have you ever felt that way? Moms do. They clean the house and get it all polished and spic and span and then the kids and often times, that includes Dad, burst home and in less than 30 minutes, it’s a mess. Dishes everywhere. Toys scattered everywhere. Clothes on the floor. It took Mom all day to clean. She sighs and feels that her work was a waste of time. It was in vain.

  A person can feel that way about their job. You might work long and hard on a project, putting many hours into it, only to see it rejected and not even used. A waste of time, it was in vain.

  Those who feel as if their work was a waste of time, feel used, unappreciated and they second guess themselves. Maybe I should have done something else instead. Maybe I ought to do something else.

  Paul wondered if his work was in vain. His work was preaching. The Galatians had received the word and started the journey as Christians. After Paul left, Jewish influences came in and stirred things up. Some were doubting. Some were abandoning. Paul felt like his work was a waste of time.

  This presents an interesting thought before us, and that is the responsibility of listeners after the sermon has been preached. Often we spend a lot of time talking about the role of the preacher, and rightly so, but little is said about the role of the listeners, especially after the lesson has been given. Even the best of preachers, and Paul would be high on that list, is not doing much good if the audience does not sense the responsibility of learning, growing and changing.

  I don’t often get to sit in the audience any more, I’m usually the one preaching. But I’ve been there. It’s easy to day dream, to let your mind go to “la-la” land, or to think about things you need to do when you get home. I know. I’ve done that. I know folks do that when I preach. You hear bits and pieces but not much else. We go home and few things change. We know. We’ve heard it before. We’re pretty good people.

  The Galatians knew. The Galatians had left the Jewish system for Christ. They knew the answers to the Jewish influences. They were being pulled that way and didn’t see where it was taking them. Poor Paul. He must have wondered what more could he have done.

  It’s not the preaching that we are talking about, it’s the gospel of Christ. Do we make it vain by not being moved, challenged and changed by it? On a Tuesday, does the Gospel of Christ affect us? It ought to. Does it make me realize that I belong to the King and I am His citizen. I am to be righteous. I am to be His light. I am His voice. I am His eyes in this world.

  Paul “feared” for the Galatians. I fear that by Tuesday we are so busy working and living that what happened on Sunday doesn’t register on our radar. I fear that we live in two worlds, the world of Sunday where God is ever before us, and the world that makes up the rest of the week, where we are not ungodly, just not God– conscious.

  I read a quote years ago that really stuck with me. It said, “Live as if one foot is already in Heaven.” The Bible says it this way, “set your mind on things above” or “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” One foot already in Heaven. Almost there. What a powerful thought.

  Live for Christ every day, every moment. The decisions you make—Christ based. The choices you make—Christ based. The attitude you choose today—Christ based. The way you drive—Christ based. Your words—Christ based. Your clothing—Christ based. Your choice of TV shows to watch—Christ based.

  Live as if one foot is already in Heaven!

Roger

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Jump Start # 392

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 392

Acts 18:23 “And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.”

  Our verse today introduces Paul’s third preaching trip, often called, missionary journey. He traveled long and far and endured much to preach Jesus Christ. One lesson this verse brings out is the importance of “strengthening the disciples.” This is found earlier in Acts, as well:

  • Acts 14:22 “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.’”

 

  • Acts 15:32 “Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brethren with a lengthy message.”

  Strengthening the disciples—that is a great concept and an important work. This is valuable because, this is how a church becomes strong in faith. To have a strong church, you must have strong members. Getting stronger doesn’t just happen with time. Paul told the Ephesians to “Be strong in the Lord.”

  We need to be strong, because the spiritual battle before us is intense and tough. It’s not for the weak, they won’t make it. Satan doesn’t play by the rules and he is out to destroy. We need to be strong.

  It is from strong members that our Bible class teachers come. It is from strong men that elders come. It is from strong members that the church remains on it’s true course. A study of church history will show that when false things were introduced and tried and accepted, it came from those not content with God’s way. Silent voices, weaker faiths and those that did not want to cause any problems stood by while the church changed directions and after a couple of generations they left the path that God had set for it. We need stronger disciples.

  The way to get stronger is more Bible, not less. More preaching, not less…more Bible studies, not less. More depth, not less…more teaching, not less. I’m seeing a trend where congregations for whatever reason are giving up preaching, and times together. Some say the distance is too much. Some say the crowds are too small. Having less isn’t the answer.

  As we think about this, we must first ask ourselves, “Am I getting stronger spiritually?” Do I show in my faith, attitude and behavior and actions that I am a stronger disciple today than five years ago? Simply going to church services isn’t the right answer. Some go but they don’t get stronger. It’s a social thing. See my friends, play with the babies, have a good time, but my soul doesn’t get fed, it doesn’t get challenged, it doesn’t get stronger.

  How does a person get physically stronger? You might say, “Hit the gym.” Start running. Start lifting weights. It’ll make you sweat. It’ll make you sore and tired. It’s hard. But those that stay with it, get stronger and stronger. At first, results are hard to see. But stay at it. In time it shows. I know a guy who decided to take up running. The first day, he ran to the mail box and nearly died. The next day to the end of the street. That’s all he could do. He hurt so bad. But he stayed with it. More and more. Today he’s running in mini marathons. He’s in great shape. He’s strong.

  The same works spiritually. There’s no magical plan, there’ no great sermon that one time will get you where you need to be. You do a little, every day. Learn, apply, study, practice, do. It’ll hurt. You’ll want to quit. Satan will throw you curve balls to mess you up. But you stay with it. More, more. Reading the Bible. Learning the Bible. Teaching the Bible. Using other resources to help you and in time you going all the way down the street and back without feeling like you just died.

  I wonder if we’ve gotten used to the preacher spoon feeding us. He does all the work…all the study and he tells us and that’s all we need. Not a good system. We need to grow. We need to be able to do some preaching. We need to do some teaching. We need to know. The preacher can help, but it’s not his job to get us strong, it’s ours.

  Strengthening the disciples…that’s a great expression. Strong disciples that can recognize right and wrong. Strong disciples that can help others. Strong disciples that can carry on with the apostles left those regions. Strong disciples that stand with the Lord.

  We don’t need more members, we need stronger members! Stronger members will lead to more members. More members without strength is a mess. It’s babysitting. It’s putting out fires. Strong members have the heart of a servant…they are like Jesus.

  What are you doing to make yourself stronger spiritually? What are you doing to help others get stronger? Things to think about!

Roger