Serving: A servant's heart

The last letter in our acronym APES is S for SERVING. Our culture is all about leading, being large and in charge, being the boss, being at the top of the heap. Jesus said the world system and culture was the same in biblical times, but emphasized that SERVING others was the key to understanding His way, His ministry, and what he expected of His followers...

Matthew 20:25 You know that the rulers in the world lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. "It should not be this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you should be your servant, and whoever wishes to become first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man (Jesus) did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Paul pulls back the veil of eternity to magnify this amazing story of how the King of the Universe, willingly and purposefully took on a humble life of service...

Philippians 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves that was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

We, in our freedom in Christ are exhorted to use that freedom for service...

Galatians 5:13 For you were called to freedom; only do not freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

But, what should we do, how do we serve. This starts with the main directive, the primary, making disciples...

Matthew 28:19-20 All authority has been given Me in heaven and on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Beyond mentoring though, we are encouraged to meet social and physical needs in Jesus’ name...

Matthew 25:35-40 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Simple “random acts of kindness” are significant as well...

Matthew 10:42 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

I’m excited about the opportunity to take our Fishersmen group to a new level, by adding the service component. Please pray that God’s Spirit will lead us in unity to know what He has for us in kingdom work in the community to make a difference.

AMAZING PSALM 22

It’s the 22^nd so I get treated again to the 22^nd Psalm which is amazing!

When Jesus hung on the cross and uttered “My God, my God, why has’t Thou forsaken me?” The crowd around was wondering if Elijah would come in his chariot, or if something spectacular would occur.

But the scribes in the crowd, who memorized scripture, and recited Psalms based on being given the first phrase or two, would have immediately thought through Psalm 22, and perhaps for some the scales of disbelief fell from their eyes.

Psalm 22 is a vivid prophecy over 400 years earlier of what the Messiah would go through if put to death on the cross. Let’s look at the words: (I’ve put the crucifixion account references as links)

6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8 “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. 15 My strength is dried like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs have surrounded me; a bend of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my garments among them and cost lots for my clothing.

Such amazing prophecy! Such amazing composure, to in death not only say “Father forgive them for the know not what they do, “ but also to try to witness to the scribes one last time.

I have to conclude as the centurion at the cross did, when Jesus breathed His last, “Truly, this must be the Son of God!”

Blessings

APES ARE ENCOURAGING

One of the most important things the fishersmen group does for one another is to encourage, or be encouraging. The world beats you down, Christ lifts you up. It’s easy to find a critic, it’s a blessing to find an encouraging word.

First Thessalonians says we should encourage one another and build each other up. (5:11)

The bible says we should encourage each other in specific ways: In faithfulness, in good deeds, and exercising self-control.

Hebrews 3:12-14 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Titus 2:6-7a Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7In everything set them an example by doing what is good.

Scripture gives at least two ways we can encourage one another, by setting a good example and by sharing God’s encouraging word.

Acts 15:31-22 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.

I am most excited and hopeful about the fruit of our Fishersmen APES being encouragers for each other and for our wives and children at home.

Saved?

Believer, or non-believer? Saved, or not saved? Christian, or non-Christian? Cultural, or Activities, or Relational Christian? In our group last year we talked about authentic Christianity and who are authentic followers of Christ. My pastor just recently wrote an email on what it means to be saved. I thought it would be good blog information.

"... the Word of faith that we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.'" - Romans 10:8b-9

What does it take to be saved? Obviously, this is a most important question and let me assure you that you'll get different answers from different Christian theologians and certainly, different answers from adherents to different religions. Before I tackle that question with you, maybe it would be wise for us to look (once again) at the meaning of the word, "saved." What is it exactly that we are being saved from? In other words, we can't just use the word "saved" without indicating the thing or person or situation or place that one is being saved from. Does that make sense?

In a nutshell, let's state that when we are saved, we are saved from Satan, sin, self, our past, sickness, God's wrath, hell and purposelessness. Wow, a lot more there than we might have thought at first, huh? Having given a rather simple answer to that first question, we might then go on to ask, "What are we saved for?" Again, rather quickly, we are saved for God's glory, for Heaven, for Kingdom work, to become worshipers and to enter the family of God whereby we become heirs to all things spiritual, and we are saved in order for us to know life as it was meant to be lived, in other words, we now have a purpose, a reason for living.

That then, brings us to the question of how are we saved? As we stated a few moments ago, that question is answered in a good many ways by a number of different folks, and anytime that happens, it seems to me we have to go to the one plumb line that we have, and that is the Bible. Here, in the most important theological letter in the New Testament, we come upon a major find: Paul tells us that there are two component parts necessary for us to be saved: public confession of Jesus as Lord (the One who has been put in charge, the One who has the authority) and a personal belief that God raised Jesus from the dead (as Paul tells us in another passage, if Jesus was not raised from the dead, then we are hopeless and should be pitied by all). Why the necessity of a public confession? Simply because it was being demanded at that time, that all Roman citizens and slaves were to pronounce or confess that "Caesar is Lord." To not give that proclamation might mean death or prison. Christians were not wimps, they knew Caesar was no Lord, and by the same token, they knew Jesus was! If a person is not willing to confess that Jesus is Lord publicly, then is that person not ashamed or afraid? For many people at that time and even today, that public proclamation is given at their baptism or when they join a church. Of course, we are talking about believer's baptism and not infant baptism, since infants can't make any kind of confession, right?

The second component is to believe personally that God raised Jesus from the dead, validating His person, His teachings, His identity and His total uniqueness. I hope even as we write these words, that you are seeing that a lot of people who, when asked, might answer that they "believe in Jesus," are really just saying that they believe that Jesus once lived, that He was a real person. Not good enough, huh? That's the same thing as saying, "I believe that Napoleon lived." Big deal. What difference does it make? None. The only thing that matters is that we believe personally that God raised Jesus from the dead!

So, here at the beginning of this new year, let me ask you: are you saved? Would you like to be? (see above!)

This is Pastor Bruce (Bendinger from Church of the Lakes)

PRAYERFUL APES

If we want to be good Fishersmen APES in 2010 we need to be (P)rayerful! It’s hard to have a good relationship with anyone if you don’t communicate, and Billy Graham says, ”Prayer is the rope that pulls God and man together. But it doesn’t pull God down to us; it pulls us to Him.” We start out in prayer trying to get God focused on our needs and concerns, and end up getting lined up with His thoughts and will; and this brings us peace. Paul told the Philippians, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

God wants to hear from His kids, and it allows us to participate in what He wants to accomplish. Scripture tells us that a lot of times we don’t have, because we don’t ask. And James tells us that, “The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.” James 5:16b

So if we want to get closer to God, be more like Jesus, and be good followers in 2010, we’ll need to do some more praying. Paul tells the original Timothy, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men.” I Timothy 2:1 He thought prayer was the beginning. The place to start… in 2010!

Corrie Ten Boom challenges the Christian by asking, “Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” If you dig into Operation Timothy (OT), Book 2, Chapter 6 you’ll find even more cool quotes and Bible teaching to help you be a prayerful APE! If you haven’t been through O.T. think about it for 2010. If you’ve started, but stopped, consider beginning again.