On Mission

When I wake up I like to remind myself to be on mission for Christ. In Luke 19:10, Jesus stated His "mission statement," "to seek and save the lost." Ever since I have returned from Jerusalem I have been studying the Gospels. Tonight I was studying Luke 5:29-32, the scripture where Jesus was dining with sinners at Matthew's house. The Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus' disciples , "Why he was eating and drinking with tax collectors  and sinners? Jesus replied to them, "the healthy don't need a doctor, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Jesus referred to the Pharisees and their allies as the healthy and righteous. In contrast, Jesus labeled the tax collectors as the sick and the sinners. Jesus never meant the Pharisees were actually righteous, but only that they saw themselves that way.
In this story, those who the Pharisees viewed as sinners realized they were spiritually sick and desparately needed a spiritual doctor who could guide them to repentance.
Thus Jesus had a great desire or a "mission" to guide these sinners to repentance.
But the key to understanding this scripture is that these sinners came seeking to find out how they could be saved. Thus Jesus was dinning with them and preparing to share with them how they could turn away from their sins and one day live forever in heaven.
I pray there will be sinners dine with me and other Christians who will come seeking the life changing good news of Jesus Christ!

Hobby Lobby

I received this story in an email tonight about Hobby Lobby.
Hobby Lobby is a Christian based business and a store my wife and I support fully. They have stood against the contracpetive mandate of Obamacare, a biblical stand I agree with.

The owner and CEO David Green attends Council Road Baptist Church in Bethany, OK:
I thought I would share his philosphy on business.
"We’re Christians, and we run our business on Christian principles. I’ve
always said that the first two goals of our business are (1) to run our
business in harmony with God’s laws, and (2) to focus on people more
than money. And that’s what we’ve tried to do. We close early so our
employees can see their families at night. We keep our stores closed on
Sundays, one of the week’s biggest shopping days, so that our workers
and their families can enjoy a day of rest. We believe that it is by
God’s grace that Hobby Lobby has endured, and he has blessed us and our
employees. We’ve not only added jobs in a weak economy, we’ve raised
wages for the past four years in a row. Our full-time employees start
at 80% above minimum wage.

Read more: http://savingourfuture.com/2013/03/hobby-lobby-may-close/#ixzz2Mh9s5wln

Observing versus Judging

We observe something when we become aware of it. We acknowledge "this is so." We judge when we form an opinion, as in "I think this about that." Observation is a neutral act of taking in information upon which we base our responses. Judgment involves rendering an opinion regarding the relative value or merit of what is being observed.
No matter what you do for a living, these two concepts should be understood.
Christians around the world are accused of judging others, when in reality their observations are based on actions, words, or visible habits. When Kirk Cameron spoke out about homosexuality based upon his biblical convictions he was blasted for a week for being judgmental. Even the great Billy Graham was bashed for standing up for the Marriage Amendment in North Carolina this past May.
Often times people rush to judgments of their own based upon nothing more than their personal opinion. The genuine Christian or "spiritual person" can evaluate everything, yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone (1 Corinthians 2:15). Is that because they are perfect and better than other people? Absolutely not. The spiritual person can discern everything with respect to his or her wisdom, yet he or she is examined by no one. This is what the Bible says, this is not an opinion, this is truth. The spiritual person's discernment is an understanding of the deep things of God freely given to the believer by the Holy Spirit that dwells inside him or her. The "spiritual person" is examined by the Lord as Judge to determine how faithful he has been to living and proclaiming the truth.
Obviously, unbelievers are able to recognize Christian's faults and shortcomings, we all have them. But they are not to evaluate their true nature as spiritual people who have been transformed into children of God.

Crucified with Christ

The walk of a genuine disciple of Christ can be lonely and hard, but fulfilling and strengthening. Especially when that Christian walk is experienced in full time ministry as mine is. Whether in corporate America or in the military, my ministry challenges are varied and constant. But I have learned to love the testing and the growth that follows.  Each day is a chance to allow the Holy Spirit to increase, while I decrease (John 3:30). Once I made a decision to accept the testimony of Christ, I affirmed that God was truth (John 3:33). Once I did this I could no longer straddle the world and my dedication to Christ. A life committed to full submission in Christ and understanding that it is no longer I that live, but Christ you lives in me requires suffering and criticism, while forgiving those who lie against me and attempt to hurt me and my family. You can't do this with a temporal mind. I have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:19) and no one who is not "born again" is ever going to understand what this means. However, I pray that they will one day. Paul meant he was going to live each day as if died on the cross with Christ. While I will continue to live physically, spiritually I no longer live for myself, but for Christ. Thus, if anything is toxic to my soul, my mind, or my body I remove it from my life.

 

Wisdom from Adversity

My wife was sharing this verse with me this evening. A verse my pastor was preaching about this morning at our church.
The wisdom of scripture is amazing!

Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes to force people to look at their mortality seriously and thus to consider carefully how they should live. It should serve the same purpose for us today.

In chapter 7, Solomon lists numerous wise sayings, to include verse 3: "Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad."

In the Christian life, more is learned from adversity than from pleasure. Thus, perception is not reality. The person with spiritual eyes sees past the surface and learns to look at what is inside a person.
A sad face can sometimes mean a glad heart, like when a heart breaks for sinners, but rejoices inside at the hope they could have in Christ.

Inside Old City Jerusalem

There were people selling bread in every corner of old city Jerusalem. I bought a chocolate, cinnamon croissant from this man. It was very good!

Self-Examination

Something we have to do as Christians is examine our hearts and test ourselves to see if we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). This is something I do daily. I fall short in many areas, but I'm grateful to be able to see my errors and this is only because God allows me to see them. I have learned that a believer never gets beyond the need for regular self-examination.  We are also called to do this before prayer and before receiving the Lord's Supper.
This deployment has been challenging in ways that only few can understand from my perspective. I wake up each day with one purpose and that is to be on mission for the Lord. My heart breaks for the unsaved and many days there seems to be walls placed in my way, primarily by the Devil and his forces. I get frustrated and after self-examination, I have found a great amount of cynicism in my heart. During my time of study, I was reading Jesus' instructions to His disciples in Mark 6:6-13. Jesus told them if any place doesn't welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.
If I could I would shake the dust off my feet, but I have no where else to go at the moment, the Lord has me here in Egypt. 
This action of shaking the dust off their feet, was a gesture of judgment against those who rejected their message about Jesus.
I pray that God will cleanse my heart of my cyncism and break open the hearts of our soldiers to receive the gospel.
I love people and it hurts when they won't even taste what the Lord has to offer.
If they get a taste, they will be fulfilled for life and find the the Bible is worth living.