17

Jump Start # 3247

Posted on January 17, 2023 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3247

Luke 12:20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared.’”

Our verse today reveals the stunning, shocking and sobering words of God. This comes from Jesus’ parable about the farmer who wanted to tear down his barns and build larger ones. His plans and goals were to take it easy after that. He had everything mapped out in his mind. This was going to work. This was going to be good. Everything was set.

Then comes the horrific words of our verse today. This very night. Tonight. Now. Not next week. Not next month. Not down the road. Not in a year or two. Not even tomorrow. Now. Tonight, you will die. No time to make alternative plans. No time to contact others. The sand in the hourglass was empty. He would die and he would die with plans in his head for tomorrow, but no tomorrow would come for him.

Jesus told this parable as a response to someone who had interrupted Jesus with the demand to settle a family problem about inheritance. “Tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me” is what the person asked Jesus. Did the brother keep it all? Did this man get his lawful share but he wanted more? None of those things mattered. Rather than listening to Jesus, this man wants Jesus to settle a family dispute over money. The Lord who had nothing, was not about to get tangled into that mess. That was not His purpose for being here. So, Jesus, rather than telling the other brother what ought to be done, tells this one about a greedy farmer who died suddenly. The greedy farmer represents the man with the question who interrupted Jesus.

Understand, the issue here is not about barns. It’s not about how large your barns are or how many barns you have. You and I have all torn down barns. Most of us live in larger homes than what we started out with when we were first married. Many of us own more cars, more TVs, and such like. When first married, I could put my entire life’s possessions in a four-door car. No way today. I couldn’t even get my library in such a space. The issue isn’t barns, it’s hearts.

The farmer never includes God. He never thanks God. He never plans to help God. It was all about himself. It’s mine, he thought, even though it was God who sent the rains and the sunshine that made his crops grow. Without God’s help, the farmer had nothing. He doesn’t seem to acknowledge that.

This night your soul is required of you. Give that some thought:

First, if this were true of us, we too would have some plans that would never be completed. The farmer who thought he was rich, was really poor. He thought he had years. He didn’t even have another day. He thought he controlled the future. He couldn’t even control the night. When we forget our place and when we leave God out of our lives and plans, we easily could find ourselves in the same place that this farmer was in. Whether death, or the coming of Jesus, there will be books unfinished. There will be sermons that never got preached. There will be letters that were never received and good that never was completed.

Second, someday our soul will be required of us. This isn’t shocking. This isn’t new news to us. It is appointed unto man to die once, Hebrews tells us. That divine appointment is always kept by God. The farmer was ready for tomorrow but he wasn’t ready for today.

This tells us that if there is some unfinished business, we ought to finish it. Need to apologize? What are you waiting for? Need to forgive? Best get about doing that. Need to get serious about the Lord. Now is the time. Our farmer in this story didn’t know. I expect he would have done a few things differently had he known, but he didn’t. And, likely, most of us won’t know either. We expect another day. We just know that we’ll be around tomorrow. That’s the way the farmer thought. He was so wrong.

Third, all of this reminds us that God is more important than anything else. Character and faith are far more valuable than barns and stuff that we put in those barns. One may have the finest collection of something, but when our soul is required, that collection will not help us. The God who owns the whole world is not impressed with the collections we have.

The parables of Jesus often involve pain and very unhappy endings. Only in the world of Disney does everyone live happily ever after. These parables do not make nice bedtime stories for children. They were intended to awaken us and drive a stake into our hearts to see how serious the Lord is. The parables were shocking in that culture. There were not intended to be nice, loveable stories. They often were a slap in the face. The very idea that a Jewish boy feeding pigs comes home to a celebration. No way. A man beaten and left for dead is ignored by the religious establishment. How embarrassing. Parables did that. This parable, about the barns, does that.

This very night…someday that wil be true of each of us. Are you ready, as the old hymn goes? Are you ready, are you ready, are you ready for the judgment day? If not, you ought to do something about it, and you ought to do it right now!

Roger

16

Jump Start # 3246

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3246

Luke 15:4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it?”

Our verse today, part of that triplet series of lost and found is a powerful reminder of how much God thinks of us and wants us to be with Him. Recently, I was teaching some things about what God started. We began with creation and then moved to a class about our relationship with Him. God seeks us to be with Him.

In that study, I brought up the idea of Deism. That’s an old idea that many of our founding fathers embraced. It’s the idea that God exists but that He has left us on our own. No revelations. No divine interventions. No miracles. Which of course concludes with Jesus not being divine. From the standpoint of a deist, the Bible is not from God. It couldn’t be, because that would mean the Divine has injected Himself into our world and our lives.

It seems to me that without realizing it, many moderns have a form of deism in them. They claim to believe in God, but they want God to leave them alone. Don’t interfere with what I am doing. Don’t layer my life with do’s and don’ts and don’t tell me what I ought to do. Just be there, but leave me alone.

The steps between deism, agnosticism and atheism are very close to one another. Knowing God is out there but He leaves us alone can quickly slide into something is out there but we don’t know who or what it is, and that is just a shadow from saying, nothing is out there.

What is life like under the umbrella of deism?

First, God leaves you alone. That may sound great to some, but that leaves you on your own. Pray, but in deism, God won’t answer your prayer. No help in how to live. No guidance about direction or moral living. You are left to just guess.

Second, there are no promises nor hope in deism. For a promise to exist, God had to reach out and connect and reveal to us. Deism doesn’t allow that. Is there a Heaven? The Bible says so. The deist doesn’t know. There is no way to know. From the deist standpoint, not only are we traveling in a fog, but we are headed down a dark tunnel and no one knows what awaits us. Scary. Uncertain. What a terrible way to live.

Third, there is nothing pulling us out of sin nor away from the troubles of wrong in deism. God doesn’t have a written word in deism. God doesn’t come looking for us, as our passage illustrates. There is no perfect sacrifice for our sins in deism. The hole that we fall in has no escape. No Savior. No forgiveness. No future. No reason to do good. No purpose defined. That’s deism.

Our verse today illustrates God as the shepherd. He comes looking for us. He doesn’t cut His loses. Every sheep is important to Him. He doesn’t sit on Heaven’s porch and wait for us to come back. He is out looking. He sends the hounds of Heaven after us. Through His word, our memory, our conscience, the words of brethren, the power of worship, those divine hounds find a way of reaching us. They remind us. They convict us. They bother us. A sign on a post, “Jesus loves you,” a message on Facebook about the goodness of God, a friend who reaches out to you…those hounds find us and they point us back to where we belong.

Moderns who want God to leave them alone, don’t know what they are wishing. I’m thankful God has not left us alone. I’m thankful that He has revealed Himself and now we know Him. I’m thankful that His presence surrounds us. I’m thankful for all the Heavenly reminders of what we ought to do.

Just leave me alone, is a true picture of what Hell is. Nothing good. No hope. No help. And, no God.

The Lord is looking for each one of us. He wants us back home with Him. He searches that house for the lost coin. He’s looking for the prodigal to return. Salvation and hope await us.

Roger

13

Jump Start # 3245

Posted on January 13, 2023 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3245

James 4:5 “Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: He jealously desires the spirit which He has made to dwell in us?”

God wants something. He wants something from you, and you have it. God isn’t interested in stock portfolios, real estate, collectables, trophies, awards, square footage of your house, the brand names you wear. Those are the things that impress us. They turn our heads. They make us say, “Wow.” Those things do not impress God.

The Lord is interested in you. He longs for that spirit that He put in you. Unique and special as you are, God wants you. God wants you to want Him. God wants to call you His friend, as He did Abraham. God wants you, as David did, to seek after His heart.

Large church buildings, crowded assemblies, all the latest and greatest in technology may grab our attention, but what God is after is only found on the inside of each of us. He’s after your spirit. And, only you can give your spirit to God.

That spirit of yours is made in His image. It’s creative. It has a will. It defines us and molds us. Our personality, our character, our attitudes, our moods are all wrapped tightly around our spirit. It is who we are. Those things can be shaped, changed, improved upon and molded. One cannot separate our spirit from us. It is who we are. Hair color, your body fat, whether you wear glasses or not are merely the external. They are the wrappings. Our spirit is what is in the package. That’s what God made. That’s what God is interested in. The internal.

Why does God desire our spirit?

First, our spirit is more like Him than anything else. God doesn’t have a yard to mow. God doesn’t have a bedtime. God doesn’t need to watch what He eats. That’s our world. It’s not His world. But our spirit transcends this world into His world. Grace, hope, forgiveness, compassion, generosity, those qualities, qualities of God, come from within, from our spirit. Our bodies die, our spirit lives on. Our bodies are earthly, our spirit is spiritual. A vain, superficial god would be after our money, our stuff and all the glitter the world can produce. Jehovah is not like that. He knows what is good and right. He wants you.

Second, our spirit is what endures through eternity. Our spirit doesn’t age. Our spirit doesn’t have memory issues. Our spirit can soar, even when one is locked away in a prison, like Paul. Our spirit can be hopeful, even as the footsteps of persecutors approach, as the Revelation readers understood. In the hymn, Amazing Grace, there is a line that says, “when we’ve been there ten thousand years.” I’ve always liked that line. In one sense, we won’t realize or know it’s been 10,000 years because time belongs to earth and not Heaven. It is our souls, that spirit within us, that will endure 10,000 x 10,000 years.

Third, our spirit is what Jesus came to redeem. He didn’t come to save the environment. He didn’t come to make schools better. He didn’t come to weed out the corruption in politics. He came to save our souls. He didn’t come so we could live longer here on the planet. The Gospel of John says, “Where I am, there you may be also.” He died so we could live. He came into our world, so we could come into His world. Earth became His home, so Heaven could become our home.

The ESV states our verse today as, “He yearns for our spirit.” And, this is more than a divine wish, urging or liking. God is actively doing what He can to save you. He has plastered this universe with strong evidence of His existence. He has preserved His word, His will, for you and I to know. He has left examples then and now for us to follow. He has established His kingdom to be a haven, a fellowship, a work and a place of acceptance for us.

Oh, yes, the Lord yearns for our spirit. The real question is, “How much do we yearn for God?” Just how hard are we trying? Do we allow the first little thing to sidetrack us, discourage us, and defeat us. Do we toss in the towel because someone says something negative towards us? Do we complain about every little discomfort we notice?

Oh, may we yearn for God as He does for us.

Roger

12

Jump Start # 3244

Posted on January 12, 2023 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3244

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Three times in the first chapter of Joshua the statement, “Be strong and courageous” is found. Two major things were taking place. First, Joshua was leading the nation. New eyes. New blood. There are always some who don’t like a new face leading people. Complaining, critical and judgmental are usually what is found when someone doesn’t like the current leader. If you don’t believe this, just look at politics or look at a losing team in sports. The second major thing taking place is that the nation was packing up and heading to the promise land. The word was sent through the camp, three days. Three days and we are moving. And, it wasn’t round and round like in the wilderness. This time they were crossing the Jordan River and they are heading in.

So, to fortify all the preparations, Joshua is told, three times, to be strong and courageous. God assured him that He would be with the new leader, just as He was with Moses. This wasn’t going to be walking through the gates at Disney. No. The words of the spies long ago was still true. There were fortified cities. There were strong armies. They had the call from God to drive out these people. Be strong and courageous. Those words were necessary.

God promised to go ahead of them. The battles would belong to the Lord. Yet, still, they had to march in. They had to fight. They needed to be strong and courageous. And, it begins first with Joshua. It’s hard for followers to be courageous when the leaders are scared. When the leaders are looking for cover to hide, the followers won’t be brave.

And, these same powerful words need to be spoken among us and to us today. We need to be strong and courageous. We need preachers who are not afraid to speak God’s word with clarity, boldness and truthfulness. This does not mean being ugly. This does not mean mocking or making fun of others. But it neither means hiding behind the pulpit because you have a mortgage, need a pay check and are afraid of losing your job. The pulpit isn’t the first and most times not the best way to deal with fortified cities. One on one, private conversations with the Bible open, can do more good than a month of sermons.

We need shepherds today who are strong and courageous. Tough decisions must be made. It is easy for shepherds to follow the sheep rather than being out front leading the flock. Understanding where the congregation is spiritually and what they need at the moment is foremost in helping people connect with God. Generic, standard replies, such as, “They all need the Bible,” is true, but where in that Bible do they need it the most? Is the congregation young in faith? Are they mostly mature in faith? Have they gone through trials and troubles? Do they understand the fundamentals? When things arise, such as the need for discipline, does the church understand why that is so important? Strong and courageous leaders will help a church become strong and courageous.

We need parents who are strong and courageous. It’s tough being a parent. This world has lost all sense and is flying without any direction or compass. Saying “no,” doesn’t usually win you the parent of the year award, but it may be the very thing to keep your child safe, godly and grounded. No to some movies and shows. No to some friends. No to some activities. But, it is also important to offer great positive alternatives. You can’t do this, but here is something that you can do. If all your child hears is “no,” from you, then he will despise you and want to get away from you as quickly as he can.

We need disciples who are strong and courageous. We need members who can look the world in the face and say, “Nope, I don’t agree, go along, nor support that.” One can do that kindly. One can do that without being rude or offensive. But one needs to do that. The corporate world jumps every time the progressives have a new idea. They run embracing new change fearing that someone will call them a name, never realizing the inconsistencies they create and how one sided most of those policies become.

Strong and courageous. For Joshua, Jericho was first in line. God was going to test Israel. He was going to make them really trust Him. There was no charging the gates. No battering ramps. No fiery arrows. March around once a day for a week. Then march around seven times and blow trumpets and break pitchers. Put that on paper. That sure seems like a dumb battle plan. It looked like a suicide mission. But, with God, anything can happen. Be strong and courageous. Trust the Lord. He knows.

We certainly need those words today.

Roger

11

Jump Start # 3243

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3243

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

  Recently a post has been circulating around on Facebook entitled, “Twelve things you need to know about your preacher.” I will list the twelve statements from that article:

  1. He is lonely, and so is his wife.
  2. Ministers and their families are watched constantly.
  3. He will be criticized often, many times without just cause.
  4. Members will gossip about the minister and his family.
  5. Members will challenge the preacher in his knowledge of Scripture.
  6. He is on call 24/7.
  7. He will probably be underpaid.
  8. Ministers will be blamed for the church’s failings.
  9. Preachers are not pastors, but members expect them to be pastors.
  10. Preachers frequently deal with discouragement.
  11. When a minister loses his job, he starts over from scratch.
  12. The minister serves the church, but he fights for his family.

What a list! I’ve been doing this preaching thing for more than four decades. And, yes, I could not only agree with just about all of those things, I could add about a dozen more. Christmas and New Year’s Day fell on a Sunday recently. Most had the day off. The preacher didn’t. If he wanted the day off, he would have to take a vacation. Even on vacation, the preacher realizes that Sunday is coming. Sunday is always coming. A class needs to be taught. A sermon must be preached. On vacation he is working because Sunday is coming. It’s hard to relax because Sunday is always coming. I have stayed with folks where the guest bed was the pull out couch in the living room. I was the last to bed and the first up because everyone walked through the living room. I’ve had strange dogs licking my face in the middle of the night at a home I was staying in.

I remember years ago one of the elders in Kansas City, going through the year end stuff. He came to my salary. He stated it before everyone, which was a bit awkward. He then went on to tell the congregation that there were no taxes taken out, no insurance offered, no retirement plan, no benefits. I leaned over to my wife and said, “Remind me why I am doing this?”

But here is my take on that Facebook article. It reminds me of the guy who owned a small farm and he hated it. He wanted to move. He hired an agent to list his property. One day as he was reading about another place, beautiful pond, quaint but darling home, wonderful garden, scenic view, he called his agent and said that he wanted to see that place. That’s exactly what I’m looking for. The agent told him that he was reading about his own property. When one is discouraged all he can see are the problems and often he fails to see all the good things.

First, there is a divine dignity to preaching. Run through the list of preachers in the Bible, such as Noah, Moses, the prophets, John the Baptist, the apostles and even our Lord. Preaching was God’s way and God’s design to spread the message. Go into all the world and preach. Not put on a play. Not write a book. Not tell stand up jokes. Preach. Preaching is God’s choice.

Each week we preachers get to stand before an audience and deliver the word of God. There is no other message more important than the saving message of Jesus Christ. This is greater than finding the cure for Covid, cancer or any other ill that plagues our times. The answer to rising crime is Jesus. The answer to prejudice is Jesus. The answer to selfishness is Jesus. And, we preachers get to bring the book before the people. What an honor. And, on top of that, we get paid. We get paid for what we ought to do for free.

Week after week, people come with a question. They seek your wisdom and insight. They are looking for help. They come to the preacher because they trust him. They know his character. They love him. What a joy it is to help people understand, see and learn.

It would do good for current preachers to take a strow down through history, even American history and look what preachers endured. Many were paid with a live chicken. Many crossed rivers on horseback and then stood, dripping wet, before a crowd and preached. They traveled by train, by horseback and foot. They preached in log cabins, out under trees and just poured their souls out for Jesus Christ. Those reminders sure make us today seem like we have nothing to complain about.

Second, every job, and that is EVERY job, has down sides, negative things and parts that are not easy or pleasant. Working with the public is tough these days. The guy who drives the truck, the doc in the office, the pilot in the skies, the one in the military, the school teacher, the house wife, and, yes, the preacher, all have good things and unpleasant things that come with the job. One can focus upon the negatives, and if he does that long enough, he’ll eventually quit.

In a time when we are seeing fewer and fewer preachers, I find it troubling that such a post is making the rounds on Facebook. Rather than encouraging, it’s discouraging. Rather than rallying the troops, it spreads discontent and may cause even more to quit. Sure, some brethren have been critical and unfair. Some elderships are misguided and troublesome, but there have been so many wonderful, wonderful disciples that have encouraged, helped and supported we preachers through the years.

In the past few weeks I have preached far too many funerals. Those are tough for me. I try to make each one unique and special. I pour hours into writing those words that I will speak. When I am done, I am really done. Emotionally drained, tired, and wondering all along if I did any good for a hurting family. The love of others is what drives us preachers. It’s not the pay. It’s not the hours. It’s helping souls connect with Jesus.

Not everyone ought to preach. And, we need to stop trying to make preaching like a business model, because it never will be. On the ball shepherds can do a lot to help the situation with their preacher. Preaching is different and very few understand it except a fellow preacher. But, neither do I understand the funeral business. I’ve been around a lot of funeral directors lately and only someone in their business truly understands their world. But isn’t that the same for a doctor? There are many professions that on the outside may seem easy, but once one steps into it, our eyes are really opened.

Have I been discouraged as a preacher? Yes. Have I felt alone? Yes. Have I felt underpaid? Yes. Have I been criticized? Yes. Have people gossiped about me? Probably. So, then why do you do it? One simple answer, Jesus.

The greatest marvel of all, is how God takes the perfect story about His perfect Son and allows imperfect people like me to tell that story. That is amazing. And, I get to do it over and over and over.

It’s time to stop the pity party. Put away the tissues. Put on your big boy pants and take a long look at what the apostles went through. We are not the scum of the earth, as they were. We are not homeless, as they were. We have not gone about hungry, thirsty and poorly treated, as they were. We have been blessed. What an honor it is to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our verse today says, “endure hardships.” Complaining about how hard it is doesn’t sound much like enduring. Onward Christian Soldiers—that’s our call. That’s our mission. In rain or in sunshine, we will deliver the message of Heaven to a dying world.

Could things be better? Certainly. Wise shepherds who read this ought to give serious thought about how they could make life better for their preacher. It begins with simply asking that question. Have you ever done that? Sure you give him a paycheck, but is that it? Does he struggle with discouragement? Is he approaching burnout? Do you even know? How close are you to the preacher?

Just sitting down, one on one, a shepherd and the preacher, being honest, transparent and open, will go a long, long way to helping things. You see the polished sermon on Sunday morning. What’s the week been like for him?

The more conversations that can take place, without the fear of intimidation, threats, or possibly losing his job, the more a team atmosphere will be created and the more good that will be done for the kingdom.

God bless my fellow preachers! Maybe no will ever know all that you do, but God does. Keep it up. You are making a difference now and for eternity!

Roger