Sunday, March 17, 2013

Two Roads

Everyday, we make decisions about ourselves and how we want the people around us to view us. Whether its something as simple as choosing white socks over black socks or as complicated as who we eat with (or don't eat with) in the dining common, decisions consume our lives.

Sometimes our decisions have long running effects. If you chose to wear black socks one day, I highly doubt that your purpose in life would change too much. The friends we chose does affect a good deal. The church you chose, though, has the strongest effect on our lives (providing we are not only going to church when we feel like it).

Most of our biggest and life-changing events occur during the our teen and college years. During our junior high years, we are the most impressionable. It is then that we determine what is cool and what is not. The friends we chose during those years will steer us either toward God or toward the world. During high school is when we begin to think and look toward the future and make decisions as to our lifetime goals. College is when we decide who we are. We are no longer under as much parental guidance. Suddenly, we are on our own, perhaps across the country, and we must make decisions about what we truly do believe.

60% of all college students leave the faith they grew up with. More then half. That's kinda scary. What happens is, the students decide to attend a secular university (not necessarily a problem) and are forced to be on the defensive spiritually. The problem is, these students are crippled without a shield to defend themselves. So many people share the same testimony: I grew up in a Christian home and got saved when I was a little kid. All of their life, their faith based on someone else (this is not saying they are not saved, just that their foundation was never strengthened). When asked why they believe something, the response often is "well, that is what my church teaches". There is no maturity behind a statement like that, and those in the world are waiting to hear it and jump to destroy a faith without foundation.

Teenagers are often raised with rules, yet lack the principles behind them. They hear "thou shalt not" or "thou shalt" day in and day out from school, church, and parents. Some will ask why, but most simply accept it (unless it "cramps their style").

This is why ministry directed at youth is so important. It is during this time that we have the opportunity to teach young men and women why they should believe what they do. As Christians, we are not called to follow our parents faith, we are called as soldiers, irrelevant of patriarchy, to stand up and defend our faith. More then that, we are called on to be on the offensive and proclaim our faith.

When a soldier stands to fight in battle, he does not chose to stand on think sand which will move and trip him, but rather on a solid rock so that he is stable and unshakable to wield his sword. Sand and rock are made up of the same thing, but one is ground up and the other is solid ground.

But how are these principles to be taught so that they do not become rules? Titus 2 and 3 give us a model to follow for teaching those who follow behind us in the practicality of the faith. 2 Timothy 2:2 goes further when Paul tells Timothy to tell others of the things which Timothy learned by Paul.

What is lacking is not education in the faith and the dos and don'ts, but understanding what a true relationship with God is. When our God becomes merely a god of rules, it is no wonder that the minute we are not forced to obey them, we turn away from them. But when our lives are lived because we are completely in love with God, we naturally will become more like Him and evidence the fruits of the Spirit. This leads to a desire to know as much as we possibly can about Him and study His word for the answers. Then we are led to ask why.

Why is not a bad question. Why is preparation for the battle. Why did Jesus die on the cross? Why did He have to rise again? Why do bad things happen to people? Why should I read a Book that is 2,000 years old? Why? This is how we must teach the upcoming generations: we must teach them to ask why before the world does. 1 Peter 3:15 says "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear". In order to be ready, we must train. A soldier does not enter a battlefield with a sword if he has never touched one before. So should not a soldier of the cross venture into this world without knowing how to wield the sword of God. A soldier's commander makes sure that he is prepared by teaching him the skills necessary. We have a responsibility to teach those coming behind us how to wield their swords.

Because of Him,
Missa

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Right Of Way

Ye are not under the law, but ye are under grace! Romans 6:14 is the most freeing verse in the New Testament! It is simply amazing that God has sent His Son to completely fulfill the law in our stead and then to take the penalty for our failure to keep it to remove us from the ritual lifestyle of temple worship. We are no longer tied to sacrifices and dietary restrictions (yeah bacon!) to be able to maintain our relationship with Him. We can have a relationship with Him! We have access to God through a great High Priest who has experienced all of the temptations and hardships we have and is still without sin. We have instant access to this God.

But how far does this liberty allow us to go?

That truly is the wrong question to ask. If you need to define where the line of sin is, you should be as far away from that line as possible.

This past week during chapel at the big Bob, the topic was alcohol and the Christian. Throughout the entire week, social media exploded with "haters" who railed against the stand that this college took, insisting that because it was not strictly forbidden in Scripture, we should, as Christians, be allowed to consume alcohol on a social level. Please note, I am not talking about stuff like mouthwash and vanilla extract, but alcohol in the sense of beer, wine, or distilled liquors.




For me, the choice is clear for all Christians: we need to abstain from alcohol.

The purpose of our life as Christians is to glorify God in all that we say, do, eat, or drink. Glory can be defined as the visible manifestation of God's essence. (Thanks Pastor Mike. :) ) When we are consuming alcohol, can we truly say that this drink will be the best option to show my God to those around me? Well, it's just a drink, who really cares? Well, speaking from experience, the world knows that alcohol is not something Christians "do". I have worked in a secular environment where there were alcohol parties on a regular basis. I was among the youngest employees, yet I was over the legal drinking age. Everyone around me knew that I was a Christian. I never hid it, but rather proclaimed it as my reason for everything I did and how I responded. When the beers were passed around, I was asked if I would take one. When I gave my reason (which I will explain later) my co-worker shrugged it off. A few days later, she approached me and told me that if I had taken a drink, she would not have been able to believe that I was a Christian anymore. What's the big deal? One drink will not make me drunk.

The big deal is we are associated with our choices. Drinking of all kinds has been negatively associated in recent days as being a decidedly non-Christian activity.

In addition to this, medically it is truly unwise. The idea that I will not get drunk after one drink is actually not true. After one drink, your body has been affected. The alcohol enters your blood stream and begins to inhibit your vision and reasoning skills. You are no longer able to fully control your body. We are commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to control us and not some other substance. It is fairly universally agreed among Christians that social drug use is to be condemned because you lose control over yourself. Why should anyone freely give up control simply because the Bible does not expressly forbid it? The principles are there in Scripture, Christians have chosen to ignore it.

Alcohol also is a poison and has been shown to increase the risk for cancer as well as self-inflicted injuries (car wrecks), and kidney/liver/stomach failure.

But they drank wine in the Bible! True, but not in the same way that it is drank now. Wine was always diluted with water... even among gentiles. Even the Romans, with their promiscuous ways, did not drink straight wine. The purpose of wine was to cleanse the water to make it drinkable. We have all seen the commercials on TV for charities dedicated to bringing good water to third world countries. In the times of the Bible, there was little understanding of sanitation processes. The idea of bacteria was not even conceived. There was simply the knowledge that if you added a small amount of wine to water, it would make it drinkable. The alcohol would kill the bacteria. (Wait, aren't we filled with good bacteria...?) Even now when traveling to other countries, the advice always is to not drink the water, unless you are able to somehow kill the germs (most likely by boiling the water).

The wine in the Bible was also not as intense alcoholically as it is now. We have sought out the way to get a buzz from this drink and have discovered distillation processes that were not possible with the technology available back then. Again, we are should not allow ourselves to be controlled by anything other then the Holy Spirit.

Consider again your testimony. I know people who were alcoholics. We are judged in our actions towards and around them. In 1 Corinthians 10, we have the illustration of the meat offered to idols. True, the meat itself was not bad, nor was it expressly forbidden. But Paul clearly shows that we are judged not only by our own personal conscience, but of those around us. I have already shown that the unsaved do not think it right for Christians to drink, but it is also true that there are Christians who have either personally struggled with alcoholism or have family who have struggled with it. Would it not be best to give up a small liberty for the sake of a brother?

Perhaps it is because my desire is to be in full time ministry, but I cannot see why any Christian would chose to imbibe socially. Consider carefully everything you do and seek to do all things completely and totally for the glory of God. Do not allow yourselves to "claim your freedom" because it is available.

When I was preparing to take the test to get my driving permit, I was told that there was no law that absolutely gave anyone the right of way. We are merely told who is to yield the right of way. The same is true of Christians. We are not told when we have the right to do something we are told to yield to those around us.

Because of Him,
Missa

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Effectual Fruit

How hard does a peach tree work to make peaches? Well, it doesn't, of course. It's a peach tree.

I've heard that illustration so many times in my life, but I do have to ask;

Are the fruits of the spirit, like love, joy, meekness, are they a choice or natural?

Maybe I'm the only one, but I've been taught that love is not merely a feeling, but that you actively chose to love someone, in a true Christlike manner. (Kinda talking about romantic love, but this really applies to all relationships in our life). So, if we are bearing fruit as a Christian, do we still have a choice in bearing fruit? If a Christian is not evidencing a certain fruit, are they really a Christian?

I was very convicted this past week that I am not a generally meek person. I love to argue for argument's sake. Meekness is a fruit of the Spirit, but it is certainly not a strong point for me. But does a fruit bearing tree ever struggle with producing less then excellent fruit?

Galatians 5:25 says "if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit". It could also be translated as "since we have been given life by the Spirit, we ought to manifest that life in our walk". In our natural born state of being unsaved, we have no life. We are completely dead and are unable to produce any fruit of any kind. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are given life.  Colossians 2:13 "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;" Our life as Christians is not mere physical life given to every creature that draws breath on this planet, but rather the complete and satisfying life of eternity, never to end, always to be in fellowship with our Creator. We are animated by the Holy Spirit unto life and good works, which God has set that we as Christians should do.

But God did not create robots. We are not reprogrammed at salvation to just spew out joy, peace, patience, goodness. It is a result of gratitude and love that we are constantly looking to know Him more and be more like Him. As we have the Holy Spirit giving us life in us, we ought to act like it. The thing about love is that it compels us. We act toward the object of our love in a manner that is not in our natural being. In this case, we show the fruits of the Spirit.
Love: Unconditional,
Joy:Inexplicable,
Peace:Incomprehensible,
Longsuffering: Undeterable,
Gentleness: Charitable,
Goodness: Everendurable,
Faith: Unmeasureable,
Meekness: Unavoidable,
Temperance: Unpoluteable

It is not in us to produce the fruit as dead creatures, but only through the life of the Holy Spirit.



Some say, though, that fruit can be imitated. Have you ever had a strawberry right off of the bush? Compare that to strawberry candy. Though there is some resemblance, it is so poor that no one who has had the fruit will have any difficulty telling the difference.

Because of Him,
Missa