15

Jump Start # 391

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 391 

James 5:13 “Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.”

  The practical book of James tells us how to live. It’s not a book of theory, nor arguments, nor do we find fulfillment of prophecy, nor the grand process of salvation, but just instruction upon instruction about making our faith alive in our world. That’s what it’s all about. That’s the hard part of Christianity—it’s not the thinking part, it’s the doing part.

  Our verse today covers the broad range of emotions that we go through—suffering or cheerfulness. Suffering has a way of knocking the stuffin’ out of us. It knots our stomachs, causes doubts to arise in our hearts and makes us wonder how come. James began this book by talking about trials. There he told us that they will come and they come in various forms—multicolored is what the Greek word means. That’s just swell, isn’t it? It’s hard enough if there was just one kind of suffering, but there are many. James may have those trials in mind. He may also be thinking about persecution, the ultimate form of suffering. Either way, we just get the stuffin’ smacked out us.

  James tells the sufferers to pray. Pray because God is on the throne. Pray that you will be strengthened through the suffering. Pray that you will come out standing and strong.

  The other side of emotions is cheerfulness. Isn’t it amazing how many times in a day we ask, “How you doing?” I think sometimes we don’t really care and we just don’t know what else to say. There are days in which we are doing well. We feel well. We’ve accomplished much that day. We feel good in our faith and walk with the Lord. We are cheerful. We rejoice. In those occasions, James says, sing praises! Praise carries the idea of thanking God and complimenting God. It is realizing that the reason I am cheerful is because of the blessings of God.

  So there we are…miserable, either on the outside or the inside or both, or cheerful or most likely, a combination of both. Some may be leaning more toward the miserable side and others leaning more toward the cheerful side.

  What is interesting is how James found a way to include God in our lives no matter how we feel. Some days are so good. Those are times to pray. Other days are awesome. Those are days to sing praises. Either way, we are connecting to God. What a great concept. So often, we use how we feel as a measure of our connecting with God. If things are great, we will. But if things are so great, especially if we are on the suffering side of things, we tend to let that be a reason to remove God from our life. Not so, says James.

  The cheerful one is easy to understand. He feels good, things are going well, he’s in a great mood. It’s easy to sing praises. It’s the other one that gets us. When we’re suffering we don’t feel like much of anything. We especially need God. We become weak and vulnerable at such times. We need God. We tend to isolate ourselves. We need God. We get discouraged and want to quit. We need God.

  Praying and singing…those are the characteristics of a Christian.

  How are you feeling today? Have you connected to God? He’s wanting you to.

Roger

14

Jump Start # 390

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 390 

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

  Paul’s words to the Colossian church fill a section that defines their relationship with each other as Christians. In this chapter Paul says:

  • Do not lie to one another (9)
  • Put on a heart of compassi0n, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (12)
  • Forgive each other (13)
  • Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts (15)
  • Teach and admonish one another through singing (16)

  How we treat one another is a reflection of how we feel about one another. Through Jesus we are connect to each other and have a special bond for one another. We are in this together and we need each other.

  Our verse for today is often used to show the type of music that God approves of today. We sing. One of the characteristics of the churches of Christ is vocal music. Friends who do not understand often reply, “You don’t have music in your church.” No, we don’t use instruments. We sing and singing is music. The reason? It’s not our tradition or to be unique, it’s according to the New Testament. Nine times in the N.T. singing is found in relationship to worship of God. It is the only example we find of the music in the church. Brethren sang. There are no examples of the early church using instruments. History supports that fact. Instead of being progressive, my intention is to look backward and to follow the example and pattern we find in the N.T. To be “primitive” and to follow the blueprint established by God. Some say, “There are no verses that say, ‘Thou shall not use a piano.’” Correct. But God said “sing.” If I do that, then I am following God’s pattern. It’s not hard.

  Often, that is the extent of these verses for us—a discussion of music authorized by God. We overlook the opening expression of this passage, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.” That’s a rich expression and it defines who we are and the motive of what we do. God’s word fills our heart. From that heart filled life comes our behavior, our character and our attitudes. I wonder if we are too filled with the world sometimes. As a result we become anxious, angry, and selfish. Would being filled with Christ’s word make us different? I tend to think so. Christ’s words will take us back to the Gospels where we find the self-less, loving Savior who had the heart of a servant. How can those words fill my heart and they not affect me and change me? What a pure example. What a powerful statement.

  Fill your hearts with Christ’s words. His words of doctrine…His words of what is right…His words of devotion to God…His prayers…His life…His sacrifice…His love. It seems that the more I am filled with Christ, as Paul told the Galatians, “Christ liveth in me,” then the less of Roger I will in my heart. The trouble I find myself in is not because of Christ’s words in my heart, but too much of me in my heart.

  Now this brings us to a couple of practical thoughts. First, how do I get Christ’s words to fill my heart? That’s up to me. I have to put them in there. It comes from reading the Bible, thinking godly, and wanting God in my heart. It doesn’t just happen. It doesn’t happen just because I sit in a church building and hear some preacher preach. Some are filled with anger because they have saturated themselves with people and things that make them angry. The music they listen to, the people they hang out with, the shows they watch all lead down the road to anger. With others it’s wealth and stuff. With others it’s lust. With others it’s self. Why are we like this? It’s what we have chosen and what we fill our lives with.

  Paul’s words in Phil. 4:8, to let your mind dwell upon the things that are right, pure, honorable, lovely show us exactly how all of this works. The Psalmist in Ps 1 says that the righteous man meditates upon God’s word day and night. Being filled is a matter of what I’m putting in my bucket each day. If I fill my bucket full of junk, then that’s what fills my heart. A dear friend of mine years ago wrote, “Each day, dump the junk!” That’s it!

  The heart filled with Christ words will sing thankfully to God. In the midst of our storms, the heart filled with Christ will continue to praise God. Such a heart will be cheerful and an encouragement to others. It will be a source of refreshment to those it comes in contact. We sometimes say, “Well, that’s just the way that person is.” No. It’s because they are filled with Christ’s words. Instead of gathering rocks to throw, like the Pharisees did when they brought the adulterous woman to Christ, he forgave her and gave her a second chance. Instead of rolling the lip as they did toward Zaccheus, Jesus went to his home.

  God’s word is living and active. Get it inside of you and it will do things to you. It will change you. It will allow you to see the world differently. It’s a wonderful affect. I’ve been under the influence of Christ’s words for a long time and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. It has a way of bringing me back where I need to be when I get out of line and it has a wonderful way of molding and shaping attitudes, outlooks and behavior.

  Under the influence—that’s what Paul is talking about. Under the influence of God’s word.

Roger

13

Jump Start # 389

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 389 

2 Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”

  Paul is talking about salvation. He shows contrasts and changes of status between Jesus and us. Jesus was rich and became poor. We were poor and became rich. The original “rags to riches” story—but this one, done God’s way.

  Jesus was rich in Heaven. He is God. He was involved with creation and worthy of praise and honor of all the world. Jesus came to earth and in doing so He became poor. He lived like us. He got tired every day and had to go to sleep. He had to eat. There were bug bites, cranky people, heat, storms on the water, complaints, criticisms, and temptations. The worst of all, Jesus died. There is no death in Heaven—remember those Revelation passages. Jesus was accused of having a demon, others charged Him with being a glutton, and some even said He was a Samaritan, which would have been an extremely racial expression among the Jews. They spit on Jesus, beat Him, and nailed Him to the cross. None of those things happen in Heaven. He became poor. Many in the crowds saw Him as a teacher and nothing more. He didn’t fit the model they had for the Messiah, so He was accused of blasphemy. Jesus became poor. He did that for us.

  The apostle reminds us that we once were poor. He is not talking about economics but spiritual bankruptcy. Romans tells us that all have sinned. In another Roman passage it says that there is none that is righteous, not one. We were sinners, destined for eternal separation from God. That is as poor as a person can get. Helpless, hopeless and without God was our condition and our fate.

  The death and resurrection of Jesus brought salvation to those who believed and obeyed Jesus. Through that process, we became rich. We have been adopted into the family of God and become heirs of God. We have an inheritance awaiting us, which is Heaven. Nothing compares to Heaven. There is no place on earth that is as nice or just like Heaven. Earth is limited because of time, sin and brokenness. Disney is not Heaven. The Super Bowl is not Heaven.

  The saving grace of Jesus Christ made this possible. It made this switch in our spiritual economy. Without Jesus, we remain broke and busted. Because of Jesus, we are rich.

  These thoughts help us. We can feel left behind by the world. You may be driving an old car, living in a place you don’t like and barely getting by. That has a way of wearing on a person and getting them down. But if you are a Christian, you are rich. You have something that is more valuable than money—and that is salvation. You are headed to a place that is far better than anyone has ever seen and it’s not for a visit. It’s not a vacation. You don’t go through Heaven with a tour group. It becomes your home. And it’s not just for a semester, or a year, but forever. You’ll live there longer than you live on earth. And you will live with the greatest people of all time—the people of Heaven.

  We need to remember what God has done for us. We need to continue to walk with God and be thankful for that wonderful love and grace of Christ. We are rich in Christ, what a great thought and a great relationship.

  Paul would say at the end of the next chapter, “thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

Roger

12

Jump Start # 388

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 388 

Luke 15:13 “And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.”

  The prodigal son—what a great story of Jesus. One that is familiar to us and one that we know too well from personal experience. There are many interesting facets of this parable: the reason why Jesus told this; the attitude of the prodigal; the older brother who was lost at home; the loving father who mirrors our Father in Heaven.

  Today, I want to focus upon just one aspect, the call of the far country. It was that distant country in the mind and heart of the prodigal that led him to approach his father about his inheritance, insulting as it was, since the father was still alive. There is something about that far country. The idea of adventure, excitement, thrills and mostly living without the restrictions and rules of the father. It meant doing what I finally want to do. It meant the rejection of the way he was brought up. The far country tugged on his heart for a long time. I don’t see this as being an impulsive whim but something that the prodigal thought and thought about for a long time. Finally he mustered up the courage to approach his father. Finally, he was going to set out and go.

  In Jesus’ story the far country was more than the dreams of a young man. We all have them. They are what motivate us through college and those early jobs. The dream of owning a house is what people in apartments think about. More space, your own yard, buying instead of renting. The dream of a decent full time job instead of sacking groceries. The dream of being married. We all have dreams. This is not what Jesus has in mind.

  The far country or the “distant land” (NAS) was far from the way he was raised. It involved the immoral and the wrong. It is the sinful. There is an attraction and a pull. Sin does that to a person. The thrill of wrong. The excitement of sin. The appeal of doing what you can’t do tugs on many hearts. The book of Proverbs tells us not to envy the evil doer. Hollywood does that. There are not very many movies about decent people just living each day with the Lord. But the bank robbers, the kidnappers, the wicked, they are glamorized in the movies.

  The prodigal had been thinking about the far country for some time. He wanted to go. It began with a thought. Then those thoughts conquered what he knew was right and wrong. He fed those thoughts and kept them alive. He planned. The thought. He calculated. He was in the far country a long time before he ever approached his father. And that is the thought we need to consider.

  Most marriages do not simply crash at a moment. One in the marriage has been thinking, and for a long time, about getting out. Just as the prodigal had thought and thought and in his mind he was already there, so it happens in marriages. The thought of leaving is fed and built upon. The person sees it, thinks it, until one day, they announce, I’m leaving.

  The same concept happens within a church. Rarely does someone just decide to quit attending and quit walking with the Lord. It’s gradual. It’s a downward slippery slope. It begins by feeling disconnected to everyone else. Mistakes of others are highlighted. Misery is fed. The person starts thinking that there is nothing to church services. Those feelings accelerate until one Sunday the person decides no longer to come. Guilt bothers them for a bit. They do it again, and again. And before long, they simply do not “believe the way the rest of you do.”

  Three parallels here: a prodigal who ran from home; an unhappy mate that leaves a marriage and a discouraged Christian who leaves the church and God.

  • All of these began with thinking about leaving. All knew it was wrong but the far country called them and pulled on their hearts.

 

  • Instead of defeating those thoughts, they fed them. They grew them. They could see this being a reality.

 

  • Finally, they got the nerve to act upon them.

The far country still calls. What is a person to do. First, quit dwelling upon it. The far country means throwing away everything that you believe in and everything that is right and good. Fed your faith, not your doubts. Dwell upon what is right. Paul told the Philippians to let them minds dwell upon that which is good, pure and right (4:8). The Colossians were told to set their minds on things above (Col 2). Could it be that we are our own worse enemy.

  The story of the prodigal tells us how wrong his thinking was. He wasted everything. He didn’t think about famines. His friends left when the money left and in the end the only one he could count on was his father. Life at home was far better than life with pigs. His dreams became a nightmare. Ruined, shamed and guilty were not the experiences he anticipated.

  Nothing can be better than God’s way! Nothing.

Got some far country stirring around in your heart? Be careful. It’s not good. You know better. You know what’s right. Time to get back to feeding your faith. God has always been good to you. He has treated you better than you deserve. The far country makes us only think of self. How happy I will be…how much I deserve this…how it’s time for me to do what I want to do. Dumb thinking. Satan talk. Stick with the Lord, that’s the answer.

  Roger

11

Jump Start # 387

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 387 

2 Timothy 4:5 “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 

Note: This Jump Start is dedicated to James Finney—a fine man, a dependable and faithful preacher who lived this passage. James passed away Saturday at the age of 95.

  Words from a preacher to a preacher—that’s what our verse is about today. Four simple statements that define the character of the preacher’s work.

  • Be sober—same words used by Peter when he told us about Satan being a roaring lion. To be sober is to be serious, alert and conscious of what is going on. Preachers are not stand up comedians. They are want-a-be actors. They are presenters of God’s word.

 

  • Endure hardships—this is a contrast to what Paul said earlier in this chapter. He reminded Timothy that a time was coming when the listeners would NOT ENDURE sound doctrine. That can’t endure, but you must endure. They can’t endure God nor His word. As a result they will make your life miserable. You endure. You hang in there. Don’t quit because it’s difficult. Don’t throw in the towel because you don’t get 5 weeks of vacation like some in the business world. Few things are worse than a preacher who can’t endure. Hardships in Paul’s mind was persecution. He and the early preachers faced it. Stephen was killed after the audience put their hands on their ears, rushed him and then stoned him. Paul was beaten many times. They endured. Today, the preacher must endure the sarcasm, nit picking and tongue of many folks, especially and sadly, those from the congregation. Some pick and pick at the preacher until he finally gets fed up and leaves. Then they are astonished that he left. Shame on us for that! Don’t they realize that God will judge them for the way they are treating another Christian? Endure, Paul says. The message is greater than you.

 

  • Do the work of an evangelist—This is it! Just what is that work? Paul seemed to know. Timothy seemed to know. There wasn’t a job description given here—simply, go do it. Evangelist evangelize, that is, they preach and teach God’s word. This is done to the lost with the goal of bringing them to Christ. This is done to the church with the goal of strengthening them. That is what the preacher is supposed to do. Preach and teach. He does that orally. He does that publically. He does that through writing. He does that privately. His role is preach and teach. He is not the fund raiser, as if there was such a thing in the first century. He is not the mechanic for all things broken at the church house. He is not the one available to take people to the airport because “everyone else is working.” He is to preach and teach. This means two things. He has to study to know. You can’t teach what you don’t know. So he must read. A preacher who doesn’t like to read is like a doctor who doesn’t like blood. Such a one is in the wrong business. Reading, thinking, studying, learning. The second aspect is that the preacher must be around people. All kinds of people in all kinds of settings. The preacher must like people and be comfortable around people. Someone who doesn’t like people is in the wrong business if he plans to preach. Many of these people have dirty lives. They are in a mess. They need Jesus. This is why the preacher must connect with them. If they were perfect, they wouldn’t need Jesus and they certainly wouldn’t need a preacher.

  Most of us see the finished product on Sunday morning—the sermon. Sermon writing isn’t easy. It looks it. And many have given a lesson or two and think this is pretty fair stuff and there really isn’t much to this. That’s true if you give a lesson or two once or twice a year. Try it this week. Plus think of something wrothwhile write to write in the bulletin. Also the church wants you to teach a couple of classes this week. Then you have a few private Bible studies this week. Then there are the phone calls and the “can you get me some information on…” things. Now if someone dies during the week, the preacher will need to do a funeral as well. Now when all of this is done, the preacher starts all over the next week. Thinking up ideas that are fresh and interesting is one of the hardest tasks for preachers. Some do well with this. Others struggle.

  Now, about that sermon, it needs to be interesting or the people will get bored very fast. The sermon has to say something or you are just wasting time. And if the preacher has any kind of heart, he needs to realize that he needs to try to convince, warn, encourage, challenge or simply move the audience to a greater relationship with the Lord. This means he must teach some things that are controversial, difficult and even hard. He needs to teach and preach some things that he doesn’t feel like it. He must teach some things that the audience may not like. The preacher needs to please Jesus, not the church.

  Now, add to this, once the sermon idea has been found, and the preacher has spent time making it, researching, studying, writing and polishing it the best he can, the delivery can make or break the whole message. If the preacher is in a foul mood, tired or just had his ear chewed off  by some member, he must some how find the right attitude and spirit to make the message come across to have the right effect. Few things are worse than a mad preacher shouting from the pulpit.

  Now you might think that I am really on my soap box today, sorry about that. I love preaching. I love writing sermons. If I could make a living out of just writing sermons I think I’d do it. I’ve seen young preachers who have taken so much verbal abuse that they just couldn’t endure any more, and they quit. That saddens me.

  • Fulfill your ministry is Paul’s final words here. Fulfill is to finish. Fulfilled prophecy is prophecy that has been completed. Preachers need to finish. It’d help if some finished their sermons—some seem to last forever. But what Paul has in mind is completing your task. Teach and preach. Do it as long as you can. Do it everywhere you can. You do these things because you love the Lord and you love souls. No other reason. That alone is your passion. It excites the preacher and causes him to get up after he has been knocked down. It causes him to return to the office and begin work on his next sermon. Some sermons soar and they change lives forever. Some sermons seem to fall flat and will never be preached again. Such is preaching.

  God has blessed me to be know some incredible preachers in my life. Some of my dearest friends are preachers. I love them for what they are doing. I am amazed at their talent. I thank the Lord that they are on this side of the kingdom. And someday, they will wear out, like my friend James Finney and they will go to that land that they have tried to get the world to see. They will rest from their years of labor.

  Endure…work…finish—those are Paul’s words to Timothy and to all preachers of God’s word.

Roger