For many years my grandmother, Alice Cox, lived with her uncle, Forrest Queen, in his farm house in rural Kentucky. Mama Cox taught school and took care of the household chores for her bachelor uncle. Uncle Forrest not only farmed, he owned and operated a general store that sold just about anything people needed. The store was only about 150 yards from his house.
I remember that during the summer months when she was out of school, Mama would fix lunch for Uncle Forrest every day. When lunch was ready, she would go out the back door and ring a bell to signal lunchtime. When Uncle Forrest heard the bell, he walked to the house for his noontime meal.
When it comes time for communion each Sunday, we don’t hear a literal bell ring, but we know that it is time for the Lord’s Supper. For centuries the church has gathered together on Sunday to participate in this wonderful celebration that reminds us of God’s great love that was shown to the world in his sacrifice of his only Son Jesus to pay for the sins of all mankind. When that time comes, let’s not miss our cue. Let’s “answer the bell” every time it rings!
“On the first day of the week we came together to break bread…”—Acts 20:7.
“Preachers who love their congregations will hold them to high standards. They will refuse to lessen the high calling of discipleship. They will honor the gravity of Biblical truth with applications of equal gravity…Grace calls us to a higher standard than did the Law.”—Daniel Overdorf.
Unfortunately, high standards do not seem to be desirable for many people who claim to follow Christ. A lot of people prefer to hear a watered-down version of the Bible, and, sadly, many preachers are happy to deliver messages that these itching ears long to hear.
Over and over, Jesus teaches that it is not an easy thing to be his disciple. In order to truly follow him you must deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow him daily. You must die to yourself in order to live for him.
But over and over, people ignore this critical principle of Christianity. They put themselves first instead of Christ. They get their standards from the world rather than from the one they call their Lord. Jesus asks of them, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).
Like Overdorf says, loving preachers hold their congregations to high standards. You can’t love people and let them continue in false beliefs. You cannot love people and allow them to reject the standards that God plainly sets in his Word. You cannot love people without correcting them when their behavior is horribly sinful. This is true for all Christians, not just preachers.
Part of the problem is that we have lost the true definition of love. Our culture believes that loving people includes affirming them in whatever sinful attitude or lifestyle they have chosen to adopt. Furthermore, many feel that the only way we can love people is to say things that make them happy, no matter how much the truth of the Bible has to be twisted, ignored or rejected.
Sadly, this way of thinking has crept into the church. The highest priority for many preachers, and other church leaders, is to never offend anyone. But here is the thing—the Bible is offensive to many people! It always has been and always will be! If your goal is to never offend anyone, you need to move the goalposts. Our goal should be to please God, not people. If we are pleasing God, godly people will recognize this and will appreciate our commitment to speaking the truth in love. Those who are not godly will not only fail to understand, they will no doubt be offended by our stance for the truth.
It’s not just the preachers who need to show their love by holding Christians to high standards. Church leaders need to support their truth-telling preacher when he is unjustly attacked. Church members must develop thicker skin and learn the meaning of repentance. Godly parents must hold their children to high standards. For all Christians, holiness must be of the utmost importance. Since Jesus went to the cross to pay an extremely high price for our sins, how dare we take lightly the sin in our own lives and in the collective life of the congregation?
The church in America needs to do some serious self-evaluation. We need to re-examine our standards to make sure that they are in line with what God says, not with what the world says. It’s time for a revival of holiness.
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”–Ephesians 4:14-15.
I have always had trouble recognizing faces. Whenever I meet someone new, it seems like I need to have five or six different conversations with them before I can easily know who they are when I see them. It doesn’t take much to throw me off. If you are wearing glasses when I meet you, and the next time we meet you don’t have glasses on, you might have to remind me who you are. If we have recently met, and you change your hair style, I might not know you the next time I see you. If you are dressed differently from when we first met, or if I see you in a different setting, I may struggle to remember who you are. This has caused me a bit of embarrassment on a few occasions. I try to study faces, but this is something that I will always struggle with.
Aren’t you glad that Jesus does not have any trouble recognizing his people!
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”—John 10:14.
When I attended the University of Kentucky in the mid-1980s, the men’s basketball program had an interesting tradition. Every year they would schedule an open tryout for any students who wanted to try to earn a spot on the team’s roster. They did not usually award a spot on the team to any of those who tried out, but occasionally they did. This player would practice with the team, be given a uniform and would sit at the end of the bench—an actual Kentucky Wildcat! He would become a crowd favorite and would only get into the game in the last minute of a blowout. This player could say that he had been a player for one of the greatest college sports programs of all time. Who wouldn’t want that?
One year when the announcement came about the tryout, I decided to give it a shot. I had absolutely no expectations of making the team. I just wanted to be able to say that I had tried out. So I showed up, along with two or three dozen other young men. And they were younger than me, as I was a non-traditional student, about 26 years old. They were also in better physical condition than I was. And, yes, they could all play the game of basketball much better than I could.
The first part of the tryout wasn’t so bad. We just spent some time shooting the basketball. It was very informal. Even then, I could tell I was in over my head. Others were swishing shots from 20 feet. My shots from 15 feet were rimming out.
Then the coach in charge of the tryouts called us all together. It was one of the assistant coaches. Eddie Sutton, the head coach at the time, did not even bother to show up. The coach told us that we could resume our informal shooting, and after a few minutes we would begin to run some drills.
At this point I knew that things were about to get ugly. The drills would show beyond a shadow of a doubt that I did not belong on the same court with these other fellows. Any further participation in the tryout would result in my embarrassment, probably to the point of humiliation. I did not want that. So I did the only thing I could do. I subtly put on my warmup clothes and sneaked out the side door. So ended my “tryout” with the Kentucky Wildcat basketball team.
In many areas of life, we have to make honest assessments about our abilities, or our lack thereof. We must humbly accept our skill level and make our plans accordingly. It is certainly true in the kingdom of God. We are all blessed, but we are not given the same types of skills and abilities. We must humbly and joyfully accept the position that God has given us, and simply perform to the best of our ability in whatever area the Lord has called and enabled us to serve.
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”—Romans 12:3.
Cruise ships often stop at different ports along the way and allow their passengers to disembark for shopping or sight-seeing. Passengers who leave the ship are told the exact time they must be back on board before the ship sets sail for its next destination. If the ship leaves without them, they must make their own travel arrangements to either meet the ship at the next port or make their way home. Sometimes the captain will give a few minutes grace period before leaving the port. Sometimes he doesn’t. My wife and I have watched with amusement as stragglers frantically hurry back to the ship before it is too late to get on board.
This reminds us of the need to be safely within the church when Jesus returns. The difference is, he never did announce the time of his second coming. He just says we need to be ready at all times.
Don’t miss your heavenly destination! Stay faithful to Jesus and be ready for his return!
“What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”—Mark 13:37.
An endangered Mexican grey wolf was reportedly shot to death in Arizona this past January 2nd. Federal authorities have confirmed that the wolf was killed and are conducting an investigation into the incident. Animal rights activists are upset about this killing. Some have called it tragic. One said that it was “…a heinous crime…many of us are grieving his loss.”
While it is a noble thing to mourn the loss of any of God’s creatures, it is especially important to mourn the loss of human beings that are created in God’s image. Tomorrow marks the anniversary of one of history’s most horrific assaults on the sanctity of human life. On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court made the disastrous Roe v. Wade decision, essentially legalizing abortion on demand in all 50 states. Christians across the nation are marking that anniversary in different ways. The Family Foundation issued this message today:
“Today is the ‘National March for Life’ where tens of thousands of pro-life Americans will unite at the National Mall and march on Capitol Hill. The march today takes place on the anniversary of one of the most heinous and utterly odious rulings in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court, the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
For forty-nine years now, the United States has lost over sixty million Americans, due to them being murdered in the womb from abortion being legal in all fifty states. It is nothing short of a spine-chilling and gut-wrenching fact that every ninety-seven seconds an innocent American is murdered in the womb at Planned Parenthood.
As pro-life advocates, we know this is not only unacceptable but also unsustainable for us as a nation to continue to allow the murdering of innocent life. That is why today, the largest annual human rights demonstration in the world will take place as bold and fearless Americans for life will descend upon Capitol Hill to proclaim that life is sacred and must be protected.
Let us join with our fellow pro-life Americans today, whether with them in the march or afar, that life is a fundamental human right, and that each person is created in the image of God and has inherent dignity and worth. Let us together resolve today, that the days of legalized abortion are numbered and must be outlawed in our lifetime!”
Let’s help The Family Foundation and other pro-life groups get the message out about the sanctity of life. Let’s help people make godly decisions when faced with an unexpected pregnancy. Let’s proclaim the message of forgiveness through Jesus for anyone who has been guilty of participating in abortion in any way. Let’s work and pray for an America where life is protected because it is deemed to be precious.
A little girl came running to her mother and shouted, “Mommy! Mommy! There’s a lion in the front yard!” Her mother rushed to the window and looked out. Instead of a lion in their front yard, she saw a big, furry dog.
Disappointed in her daughter, the mother said, “I have warned you before about lying. You go up to your room right now and pray to God about this.” The little girl obediently went up to her room and prayed.
After a while the mother checked in on her daughter. She asked, “Did you pray about what you said?”
“Yes,” the daughter answered. “And God told me that the first time he saw that dog, he thought it was a lion too!”
“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”—Ephesians 4:25.
We often refer to a familiar prayer in the Bible as the “Lord’s Prayer”. You know, the one that starts out, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” Some scholars suggest that perhaps we should call that prayer the “Model Prayer” because Jesus says that this is how we should pray. Maybe it would be better to call another prayer, the one found in John 17, the “Lord’s Prayer”, because this is a prayer that Jesus prayed for himself.
The prayer we find in John 17 is one that Jesus prayed toward the end of his life. He knew that he was about to be arrested, put on trial and crucified to pay for the sins of all humanity. As he approached his destiny on the cross, he offered up a prayer that consisted of three parts.
First, Jesus prayed for himself. He acknowledged that he was finishing the work that his heavenly Father had sent him to do. Now he prayed that the Father would restore the glory that Jesus had experienced with God before the world began.
After he prayed for himself, Jesus prayed for his closest disciples. They would soon face a heart-breaking challenge as their leader would be arrested and crucified. Jesus prayed that God would protect them and keep them united. He also prayed that they would experience the full measure of the joy of Jesus and that they would be sanctified by the truth of God’s word as they have been sent out into the world to carry on the mission of Jesus Christ building his church.
The third part of the prayer should be particularly interesting to us because here Jesus prayed for those who would believe in him because of the message of the apostles. That’s us! We have believed the gospel message that has been proclaimed throughout the ages, and Jesus prayed a special prayer for us. The main thing he prayed for is that we would be united so that the world will believe that God sent Jesus into the world out of his great love for his people.
It is a shame that there is so much division in the kingdom of God. This must disappoint Jesus greatly, because this is not what he prayed for. We can have differences of opinion on certain matters. Like someone once pointed out, “You don’t have to be my twin in order to be my brother in Christ.” However, on essential doctrinal matters, there should be no divisions. We should be as one. And the purpose of this unity is so that the world will believe our message of salvation through Jesus.
Let’s do all we can to strive for unity in the kingdom, so that the prayer of Jesus will be answered, and that the gospel message will be accepted by those who see the oneness of those who claim to follow Jesus.
On Sunday, January 9, a single-engine plane in Los Angeles had engine failure during takeoff and went down moments later. The plane came to rest on some railroad tracks, the cockpit crumpled and the pilot bleeding from his injuries. Los Angeles police officers quickly arrived at the scene and began attending to the injured man. Their rescue efforts instantly became more urgent when they realized that a train was heading for them at full speed. Officers dragged the injured pilot away from the plane just seconds before the train barreled into it. One officer noted that the pilot had cheated death twice in the span of 10 minutes.
We may cheat death occasionally, but death will eventually catch up to us. However, for Christians, death does not mean defeat. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 says, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There are a lot of people talking about Jesus these days. However, I have to wonder if some of them ever bother to pick up a Bible. Because many of the modern day views of Jesus contradict what the Scriptures say about him.
Some will insist that Jesus only preaches on love. However, the Jesus we read about in the gospels also preaches on holiness and the wrath of God. He says in Luke 13:5, “…unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Many preachers today will tell you that Jesus promises prosperity—some call it “the health and wealth gospel”. They maintain that followers of Jesus can expect to have continual health and nice, fat bank accounts. Jesus doesn’t promise this. As a matter of fact, he says in John 16:33, “…In this world you will have trouble…”
Others claim that Jesus never says anything negative, that his teaching is always positive and uplifting. It is true that many of Jesus’ sayings are truly encouraging and inspirational. But it is also true that Jesus often warns against sin, judgment and hell. Consider Matthew 5:29-30—“If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”
Some people believe that Jesus was universally loved and accepted by the world. But the Bible says that he came unto his own and his own did not receive him (John 1:11). Jesus himself warns in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” Rather than being loved and accepted, Jesus was despised and rejected by the world.
There are those who think that Jesus only exists to serve their will. They treat the Son of God as if he were their own personal butler. But Jesus doesn’t serve our will; he serves the will of God. Consider John 4:34—“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
Finally, many people are under the wrong impression the Jesus would never offend anyone at any time for any reason. The real Jesus offended a lot of people with his truth. You don’t get nailed to a cross because you never offended anyone!
Like I said earlier, there are a lot of people saying a lot of things about Jesus, and many of them simply don’t know what they are talking about. They have either invented their own “Jesus”, or they have bought into someone else’s distortion of who Jesus really is. Be very careful what you believe about Jesus! Don’t get your information about Jesus from sources that prove themselves to be unreliable. Let the Bible inform you about Jesus. We must take him for who he really is, not some fairy tale that others have chosen to believe. Devote your life to studying the gospels in order to become familiar with the real Jesus. Then you won’t fall for anyone’s false view about Christ.
Jesustrek 