Pray for Our Nation

“In His name the nations will put their hope.” —Matthew 12:21

How has the latest terrorist attack affected your life? I heard of one person who made a drastic commitment to tell all of their friends about Jesus. This person, a devout Christian, knew the police officer from Boston who was shot and killed. The Christian friend confessed that he had never witnessed to this policeman. Life is fragile, and time may be short for anyone of us. Don’t miss an opportunity to do good deeds or share the good news of Jesus.

Another person vowed to never again ride a plane or use any form of mass transit. Although we cannot live in fear, the Boston bombing has caused all of us to rethink the most ordinary circumstances. I followed a drug sales rep or young doctor down the hall in the hospital, yesterday. It stood out in my mind because he was carrying a large backpack. My mind drifted to some strange fearful thoughts. “Where could I run if there was a pressure cooker bomb in the backpack?” “How far and through how many walls would a bomb of that size go?” I never even looked at the gentleman; all I could see was the backpack.

Many of us feel quite helpless in combating global terrorism. It seems the world is in a downward tailspin. How do we stop it? Jesus once told a parable teaching people that we “always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1). The parable was a lesson on praying and praying continually until God answers your prayer. Jesus may not have used the acronym but He was encouraging us to P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Something Happens) We may not be able to stop folks from making bombs or prevent radical ideologies from corrupting young minds, but we can pray and touch the power of God.

On Thursday, May 2, many people all across America have decided not to lose heart or give up on our country. They will gather at churches, public squares, courthouses, and in private homes to pray for our nation. It is called the National Day of Prayer. Here in Johnstown, in addition to prayer services in individual churches, there will be a noon gathering downtown in Central Park at the gazebo. The Celebrate One Unity Service will be held at the Greater Johnstown Christian Fellowship at 7:00 PM. Although the Celebrate One event also emphasizes Christians united together to worship Jesus Christ, both events will pray for our nation.

2013 marks the 9^th year for Celebrate One. This year’s theme verse is Matthew 12:21, “In His name the nations will put their hope.” The Name referred to is the name of Jesus. Acts 4:12 tells us, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Rather than fear or lose hope, Christians will gather together and declare their faith in Jesus Christ as the only Savior and only hope for our world. Jesus Himself said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Let us pray for the victims of the attack in Boston and for all innocent victims of terrorism around the world, but let us also do something proactive. Let us pray. Let us not lose heart. Let us not recoil in fear. God is our refuge and strength in time of trouble; therefore, we will not fear (Psalm 46). Let us unite with other Christians and lift our nation, our leaders, our churches, and our communities and families to God. I hope each of you will take some kind of positive step of faith in the face of the challenges our world faces today. Join with someone and pray.

Dealing with Anger

Dealing with Anger

“ Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.”   —Ephesians 4:26

I’m a pouter. Yes, as a child, I learned to suffer silently. I vividly remember as an eleven or twelve year old getting scolded by my dad. That was nearly a half a century ago and times were different. My dad might erupt in a rage at some shortcoming on my part and slap me up across the back of the head or grab my shirt collar and throw me towards one corner of the room to get my attention. Incidentally, it was always the opposite corner from where he was ordering me to go so I had to go past him for another up-slap or speedy encouragement with his foot. I learned that sighing or eye rolling was not an appropriate way of expressing my frustration and protest.

Today, I can sympathize more with my dad. He was trying to keep my blended family together and struggling to keep our financial heads above the bills. As a pre-teen trying to keep up with adult chores on our gentleman’s farm, I felt wrongly accused. It seemed to me that anytime anything was broken or went wrong, I was blamed. To this day, I still feel I was innocent, but then again, I was twelve.

Early in my married life, the first 25 or 30 years, I thought I was sparing my wife grief by not sharing my frustrations. In reality, Darlene would simply assume my quietness and pouting meant she was not measuring up or had done something to offend me. I didn’t realize speaking the truth in love would have spared much grief and been healthier for our marriage.

My experiences from childhood were reinforced by the Christian notion that anger is bad. After my conversion, I came to believe any expression of negative emotions like anger, sadness, fear, and so on were non-Christian. Now, I am learning that God gave the negative emotion of anger for our benefit. True, in our fallen world, we misuse this emotion and abuse others in the process. God gave us anger as an emotional signal that something needs to be changed. It was intended to be a positive motivator to be used in giving feedback about how life can be lived better.

Scripture teaches us to “Be angry, and yet do not sin.” We keep from sinning by addressing anger before the sun goes down. A few verses later, Ephesians tells us, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” (4:31). Notice the company anger keeps in verse 31. Bitterness, wrath, slander and malice are the sins that result from allowing frustrations and disappointments to fester. If you are angry, do something with it before it does something in you or causes you to do something to others.

There are generally three ways we deal with anger: repressing it, expressing it, or releasing it. Repressing anger, stuffing it down into your personality and believing if ignored, it will go away, never works. Expressing and releasing anger are effective if done at the right time and in the appropriate manner. If we express anger within a relationship with truth and love as our motivation, good results may occur. When no good can come by expression and there is no opportunity for reconciliation, we may choose to release our anger. It actually hurts us more than the other person by keeping it.

Ephesians 4 goes on to talk about preventing anger from becoming a deep-seated hatred by applying kindness and forgiveness (32). We can only forgive and offer kindness in the face of frustration and pain as we have received the forgiveness and grace of God in Jesus Christ. Is there someone you need to forgive? Is there an injustice you need to address? By God’s grace, may you find release and appropriate expression of your anger today.

Jesus Came for Sinners

“It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”    —Mark 2:17

The other day, my daughter asked me to pick up a prescription at the hospital where she works. She gave me detailed instructions how to find the hospital’s pharmacy. I found a solid door with a locking handle, no windows, and a small sign that read, “Employees Only.”

As I waited to get the prescription, I was struck by the irony a hospital pharmacy for employees only. It seemed funny or odd or maybe sad. I know this hospital gives out thousands of prescriptions to in-patients every day, but I thought, “Don’t hospitals exist to heal the sick?” This particular pharmacy was an added convenience, a perk for employees.

The Church often functions like a hospital for healthy folks. The Church offers many great benefits to those of us on the inside. Sometimes only those who have been part of the church for many years know all the secret doors to open in order to find help. Those on the inside have all the connections to resources and assistance. A majority of the money in the western church goes to benefit those already righteous, already believers, already church members. Jesus said He came to call sinners. Jesus’ call and the Church’s mission are for those on the outside. Just as a hospital exists primarily not to benefit the doctors, nurses, and staff but the sick on the outside in need of healing; so the Church’s primary calling is to seek to save that which was lost. John Wesley told the early circuit-riding preachers, “You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work.”

The Church exists for those not yet a part of it. This makes for an interesting problem. Those who give nothing to the church budget, those having no vote or voice in the mission and vision of the church, and those most likely to criticize Christians are the exact persons whom Jesus calls us to focus on in ministry. We exist to reach outside ourselves. Of course, there should be great benefits to those inside. We should be responsible for each other just as a family cares for one of its members. Jesus told us to love one another, but Jesus also said to leave the 99 in the flock and to go find the one that was lost.

How much of your energy, money, and prayers go out to those who are lost. If we would do a time study, we would probably find most of our ministry time goes toward ourselves or those most like us within our church family. If we would do a simple analysis on our offerings and charitable gifts, we might be saddened by the fact we give in the exact opposite direction to the teachings of Jesus, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.” The next time you pray, compare the number of people you lift to God who are connected to a church with the number who have no church family.

We may not all be able to be Superman, Michael Jordan, or Sidney Crosby, but we can all serve like a Mother Teresa, encourage like a Barnabas, and pray with the faith of Peter, James, and John. The first command concerning the lost world was given by Jesus in Matthew 9, “Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest’” (37-38).

Many churches, Christians, and pastors are obsessed about the number of worshippers who attend their services. Jesus seemed to be more concerned about the numbers who are not attending. Jesus came to seek the lost and commanded us to go and make disciples. Which part of that command do we have trouble understanding, the “G” or the “O?”

Risen With Christ

“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”  —1 Corinthians 15:14

I just read the most incredible description of a modern day resurrection. The Jesus’ Film folks were showing the Jesus’ Film in a very antagonistic region of the world. As they showed the film in an open field, another group was meeting behind closed doors planning to attack and stop it. They attacked the small group viewing the movie with stones. As everyone ran off and hid in the bush, the group pelted the film team’s car with rocks for an hour and a half and set fire to the film equipment. After the attackers left the area, the Christians started their car and fled back to their home base.

A week later, the head of the film team was surprised to hear that the opposition leader had become a follower of Jesus. When the attacker went to bed that night, he had a vivid vision of Jesus hanging on the cross, suffering. In his dream, Jesus turned to him, said his name, and asked, “Why are you persecuting me?” As a spiritual leader, the revelation was too much for him to grasp. Stunned and still in his dream, he said, “Jesus, if you are really God, heal my chronic ailment.” When he awoke the next morning, he was completely healed!

Jesus is alive and speaks to people today by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, dreams, visions, other Christians, the Church, and our circumstances. The resurrection of Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith. Paul clearly stated this truth, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.” Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is one of the most documented and established facts of history. Lives have been transformed, kingdoms conquered, and the entire course of human history transformed forever.

 

The fact and miracle of the resurrection actually happened and has been reenacted hundreds and thousands of times in the life of the Church. The fearful, wanderer is raised to live a life of peace and purpose. God transforms the violent brawler and hater into a gentle-hearted, lover of people through an encounter with the risen Christ. God’s grace changes the addict into a clean and holy person who gives rather than steals. The fowl-mouthed blasphemer becomes a preacher of the Good News of Jesus. A murderer and persecutor of the church becomes a missionary to a lost world. Every one of these instances is a resurrection. The dead in sin has become alive in Christ.

 

The resurrection of Jesus is not just an event in history that we celebrate on Easter Sunday, but a living experience of the Christian’s life. Josh McDowell describes this reality in his authority prayer, “I have been co-resurrected, co-ascended and co-seated with Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father” (Handbook of Today's Religions). This authority for believers is based on Ephesians 2:5-6, “When we were dead in our transgressions, [God] made us alive together with Christ … and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Friend, if you are a Christian believer, Easter Sunday should be one of the highest moments of celebration. Yes, we look back to the historical fact of what Jesus did then. It’s true. It’s documented. It’s miraculous. Let us also live into the reality of who we are in Jesus Christ and the power of God at work in each of us, today. You, too, are co-resurrected with Christ. You are co-ascended with Christ, and you are co-seated in heavenly places with Christ. Let us rise up with Christ and live our Christian lives with authority and confidence. 

Called Out to Return

“Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”    —Mark 5:19

We are all still feeling pretty green these days. St. Patrick’s Day makes everyone celebrate even the slightest Irish roots. St. Patrick holds a great place in Christian history. Patrick grew up in northeastern England. His family was aristocrats who adopted Roman ways during the Roman occupation of England; therefore, Patrick spoke Latin but also understood Welsh. He grew up in a Christian home but was rebellious and an unbeliever.

At age 16, a band of Celtic pirates from Ireland invaded the Britons capturing Patrick and other youth as slaves. Patrick was sold to a prosperous tribal chief and druid where he worked herding cattle. As Patrick lived in the Irish countryside, he prayed, worshipped God, and became a fervent believer in Jesus. He grew to love the Celtic culture and became burdened for the Celts that they would also find faith in the Lord. After six years, a voice spoke to Patrick in a dream, “You are going home. Look! Your ship is ready.” In the morning, Patrick arose and walked to the coast and boarded a ship.

After several years Patrick arrived back home serving as a priest. In England at age 48, he  saw in a dream an angel named Victor bringing letters from his former captors in Ireland that read, “We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.” God, who had visited Patrick in Ireland directing him to leave, was calling him to return as a missionary.

The New Testament word for church is “ecclesia.” It means those called out and gathered together. The original meaning referred to people of the Greek city-states who were called out of their homes to gather in the city square to vote. The same concept applies to the Church as Christians have been called out of sin and this world to be the people of God gathered for worship and ministry. The Church, like St. Patrick, has been called out of this world and slavery to sin to be sent back as missionaries.

One of the earliest references to someone being sent back to former captors as a missionary is the demon-possessed man from the region of Gerasenes. When Jesus and the Disciples left Israel and went across the Sea of Galilee, they met a demoniac whom the townspeople could not even control with chains. The man had fled civilization and lived in the graveyards where the demons would cause him to cry out and cut himself (Mark 5:5).

Jesus set this man free by casting out a legion of demons from him. When Jesus was leaving the area, the man wanted to follow Him, but Jesus sent him back. “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you” (Mark 5:19). We too, like St. Patrick and the demoniac, have been set free and called out of the world in order that we might return and tell others of God’s mercy.

How has God set you free? “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Once you are free “indeed,” Jesus may call you to return and share Christ’s love with others. Be careful; remember it took God 26 years to set Patrick free enough to send him back to Ireland. “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). We have been called out of sin’s slavery to return and serve in love. Let us go in God’s timing with His message of hope, love, and forgiveness.

Serving One Another

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”                 —John 13:14

I enjoy doing almost anything, at least for a while. I am not a painter, but every time my children need something painted at their house, I am there. I do a pretty good job for the first couple rooms. I enjoy the new or renewed experience for the first and second room. I generally don’t commit to more than three rooms. After three, painting becomes a boring chore.

I am extroverted by nature making me somewhat inquisitive and outgoing. I like to try new things, but not necessarily for very long. I love to help people, but don’t want to become responsible for every detail of their lives. I guess I like to act a little like Superman. No, I can’t jump tall buildings and am not faster than a speeding bullet, but I often show up at a time of crisis, do my thing, and zoom off to the next need. Did you ever notice how Superman flies in, defeats the villain, rescues the girl, and flies away? He doesn’t stay behind to do the day in and day out clean up.

I think Simon Peter may have had some of those Superman genes. He was an impulsive and heroic type. I could see Peter jumping in and saving the day, but within a short while, Peter would be looking for someone to rescue him. During the Last Supper, Jesus disrobed and washed the feet of His Disciples like a common slave. When He came to Peter, Peter impulsively refused. Either Peter thought washing feet was too humiliating for Jesus (maybe for himself) or Peter didn’t want to have to follow Jesus’ example.

Jesus said, “Now that I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” Although spoken directly to the Disciples, Jesus’ words are for us today. Washing one another’s feet means serving one another in the most humble and practical ways. The tense and voice of the Greek verb describes an ongoing action, wash and continue washing. Looking through the scriptures, we can find many other references to “one another,” but the command to stop washing feet or stop serving one another never appears.

As Christians, we are entirely dependent upon God’s supernatural grace and power to serve one another. We do not necessarily depend upon God’s grace to do heroic acts and withstand crises. Human nature and pride are enough to get us through for the moment. But to live 24/7 as a child of God performing acts of humble service in an ordinary, unnoticed existence requires God’s grace. Peter was quick to swing a sword to defend Jesus at the arrest and quick to jump out of the boat to walk to Jesus on water, “but he ‘followed Him at a distance’ on dry land (Mark 14:54)” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost, Oct. 21).

Jesus said we should go and wash one another’s feet, and He has never told us to stop. Let us continue to serve one another until the Lord returns. We cannot persevere in humble service without God’s power, love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7). As the Lord gives us opportunity to serve, He also gives us of Himself, His Holy Spirit.

How about you? Are you more heroic than humble? It is human nature for us to want to do exceptional things for God, but heroic impulsive acts do not serve one another well. To serve one another, to wash feet as Jesus did, “we have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets among ordinary people” (My Utmost, Oct 21). We cannot accomplish this in one decisive visit or in a few minutes of service. Let us serve and continue serving one another.

Dealing With Circumstances

“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”                      —Philippians 2:8

I vividly remember waiting for a table at a popular restaurant a few years ago. A large number of people were ahead of me. As I waited, I recognized friends from church so I walked over and chatted a few minutes. When the hostess called their names, someone much farther down the list ran up and began to complain that they had come in long before my friends. I actually think they might have been referring to me. They were so forceful with their protest that my friends retreated in fear, and said, “Please take our table. We don’t want any trouble.” My friends were the next ones seated—no harm done, but Darlene and I seemed to wait forever.

I had an appointment in an hour and could delay no longer. Not only was the line long, but the service was very slow. (It makes me wonder why this was such a popular restaurant.) I asked the hostess how close my name was to the top. She replied, “Oh, I seated you ten minutes ago.” “No you didn’t. I’m still standing here.” At this point, I still hadn’t lost my cool. I calmly considered my options. Even if they seated me that second, the service was so slow that I would never make my appointment. So we went to the restaurant next door which had equally good food and better service but not the “cool-factor” popularity.

We cannot always control our circumstances, but we can surely control our attitudes in dealing with those circumstances. I kept my cool at the restaurant, but it probably wasn’t due to me being a Christian. I was utterly spellbound at how crazily the events played out. Sometimes in difficult circumstances, the only thing we can change is our attitude. Often that makes all the difference in the world. There are times, however, when we must and should change our circumstances. We may be employed in a difficult situation that we need to change, but we don’t have to have a bad attitude as we leave.

Philippians 2:5 exhorts us to have the attitude of Jesus Christ. The next few verses help us understand some of the challenges Christ faced and the attitude with which He faced them. “And being found in the appearance as a man” (2:8), describes that as Jesus chose to give up His position of equality with God, He found Himself in the circumstances of being a mere human. Human beings who fall from a high position or privilege usually respond with self-pity or critical finger pointing.

When Jesus found Himself in such a lowered status, He took on the role of a servant, humbled Himself, and became obedient. You and I may often do the right thing, but not always with the right attitude. Jesus did the right thing, obedience, and with the right attitude, humility. There is an old saying, “It’s hard to soar like an eagle when you are surrounded by a flock of turkeys.” Jesus was surrounded by miracle-seeking crowds, an unbelieving family, and religious and political enemies, yet He did the will of God with the joy of the Lord in His heart.

How are you handling the circumstances you find yourself in today? Are you doing the right thing? Sometimes, that is all we worry about, but how’s your attitude as you deal with your circumstances? Few, if any of us, have resisted sin to the point of death, and none of us have experienced the descent into humility as Christ did. Let us call upon God and ask the Holy Spirit to give us the attitude of Christ as we deal with the circumstances that God allows us to experience.