The Big Questions

God calls people to Himself in many ways. Some are called by trial, others by blessing, and some by a search for answers to life’s big questions. You’ve heard that all men have a hole in them in the shape that only God can fill. But, also within man are unanswered questions about origin and purpose for which we strive to find satisfactory answers.

How did the earth and all that we see get here? How did man become man? Why is all this here? And, why am I alive? What purpose do I have? Where am I going, or supposed to go? What will the future hold for man, the earth?

Philosophers, Science, and different cultures have come up with some interesting answers to these questions. But, does the Bible speak to these “big questions.” Let’s explore the big questions in the next few posts.

Who Was St. Patrick?

St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. But for all his celebrity, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. Many of the stories traditionally associated with St. Patrick, including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, the products of hundreds of years of exaggerated storytelling.

See the rest of the article here from History.com. Also, see Wikipedia on St. Patrick.

GOOD COUNSEL

The Bible’s book of wisdom says, “A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.” “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.” And, “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed.” (Proverbs 1:5, 12:15, 15:22)

But many times, people seek counsel from the wrong places. I;m always amazed and saddened at the young lady, who in having problems with her marriage, goes and talks with her friends who just filed for, or just went through a divorce. Or, the disgruntled employee at work, who gets together with other unhappy, disgruntled employees to share complaints or run down the employer. We can predict the outcome of these activities. Soon, the young lady will herself file for divorce and suffer a failed marriage. And, almost as certain, that young man will not be employed by that firm within a year.

But where does one get wise counsel? Here are some verses that point us to God, His Son, The Holy Spirit, and God’s Word.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight

Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;And the government will rest on His shoulders;And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

John 16:7,13 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor (Holy Spirit) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. But when He, the Spirit of truth, (Holy Spirit) comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

Psalm 19:7-11 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

God’s word also says we should be ready and willing to give wise counsel to our brother, but the Greek word Nouthesia gets translated instruct, teach, or admonish. Dictionaries will tell you ADMONISH means: to warn or counsel in terms of someone’s behavior, to put on guard, to indicate duties or obligations, to express warning or disapproval especially in a gentle, earnest or solicitous manner, to give friendly earnest advice or encouragement.

Here’s Paul telling us we are capable and should give wise counsel to our Christian family:

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing (counseling) one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)

And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish (counsel) one another. (Romans 15:14)

Are you called to be a Christian counselor? Are you in His Word, in prayer, and full of the Spirit, so you’ll be ready?

Remember… Oil and perfume make the heart glad,So a man's counsel is sweet to his friend. (Proverbs 27:9)

Does Jesus need a PR guy?

Here's a neat, unedited post from my pastor's daily encouragement email entitled "Morning Glories," I thought I'd share. It shows what a great pastor I have at Church of the Lakes...

"Then He [Jesus] called the crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." -Mark 8:34

You know, if you were trying to come up with a new religion that would be a sure-fired success, you might go to a Public Relations firm and seek advice from them as to what this new religion should offer and what its expectations should be. A good P.R. expert might say things like, "Well, make sure that you offer all kinds of "feel good" talk and "no-guilt" messages. Never mention the need to repent or deal with sin or selfishness or anything like that. Keep it simple and easy and pleasant and just tell the people, 'If it feels good, go ahead and do it.'" Seems like that might work, what do you think? Obviously, Jesus never visited a P.R. guy and yet Christianity is the largest religion in the world today.

More than 1/3 of the population of the planet are Christians, at least in name. And did Jesus make it easy to be a Christian? Nope. In fact, He set the bar higher than anyone had ever done before. He didn't offer a "feel good" religion at all; He said that if a person were to be a true follower of His, they would need to "die to self daily" and allow Jesus to be in control. Tell me that doesn't go contrary to what many people want!

Why did Jesus tell us that "self-denial" and "Christ-acceptance" would be, of necessity, the hallmarks of being His followers? Because, out of all the created things in the entire universe, the only things that aren't working to Swiss clocklike perfection are human lives. People are out of control, because they want to be in control. Does that make sense? Here's the reality of the situation: we are born with the ability to make choices. We can choose this or that, right or wrong, us or God. We can choose to do our own thing and go our own way. We can choose to reject God's Word and rebel against God's law. We can choose to live a very selfish life. And God will let us do those things, because He gave us free will. We will, however, pay a pretty hefty price for our self-directed choices. In time, we will discover that life doesn't work when we're in charge. We are too ignorant, too silly, too sinful and too blind to make it work. We stumble, we falter, we hurt others and we embarrass ourselves. At some point, hopefully, we realize that our desire to control our own life is a bad desire and a stupid decision. We begin to long for someone smarter, wiser, stronger and more righteous than we are, to take over. And hopefully, someone tells us that that is just exactly what Jesus wants to do for us!

Even then, after we've made a mess of our lives, and even when we've heard about Jesus, we still wrestle with our own thoughts and desires. We're not at all sure that we can trust this Jesus. But, and I encourage you to reread the Gospels, Jesus has never tricked or messed over anyone. He said Himself, "I have come that you might have life and have it to the fullest." (John 10:10)

So, even at the moment when we are convinced that we need to yield to Him, there may still be doubt and unbelief. Get past it! Read the Gospels. Talk to your pastor. Pray! Then, having counted the cost, give up your control and let Jesus take control. It will positively amaze you what Jesus can do with a surrendered will. Let me summarize it like this: When Jesus is in control, life works! And life only works when Jesus is in control. Trust Him, and then sing the hymn "I Surrender All."

This is Pastor Bruce

Lent

Happy Mardi Gras to you! That means “Fat Tuesday” or the last day of feasting before the Christian season of Lent, beginning tomorrow on Ash Wednesday. Here are a couple of links to learn about Lent, or the 40 day preparation period before Resurrection Day, aka “Easter.”

Giving up meat during Lent is a western tradition, but fasting, praying, and a time of self denial and reflection to get closer to God is certainly biblical. God set apart most of his dramatic messengers for a time of reflection and preparation before using them in a more dynamic way: Moses, Joseph, and Jesus Himself to name a few. (See the links under their names)

How will you approach Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday this year?

Will this time be same old same old, or a special pilgrimage of faith?

Will you seek to be in His word more regularly, be more diligent in prayer?

Will you commit less time to a fruitless activity, to build in more time for kingdom work?

Does God want you to prepare you for a closer walk with Him, and for something great?

JUST DIRT

In January, my post “Your Identity – Who am I?” talked about our spiritual nature and position in Christ as believers. When we’re beat down by life, or struggling, this post tells us what we should remember about ourselves as children of God. We are still in the flesh though, and we can go the other way and get pride-full at times, or forget we were made in the image of God, true, but we are earthy, and God’s word says we are but dust.

Here’s the Genesis account, and an important question from Job:

Genesis 2:7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Job 10:9 “Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again?”

OK, so you’re a modernist, but science still confirms scripture when the human body is analyzed. In biology class they taught us this the formula CHOPSNaClCa which is a collection of the symbols of elements from which we are made: Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Potassium, Sulfur, Sodium, Chlorine, Calcium. A fancy way of saying the same stuff as the earth, roughly… Dirt. (And, by the way, science still can't measure the soul, or detect the spirit, the real lasting you.)

Whereas, we may forget our frame, the stuff we’re made of, our Heavenly Father never does.

Psa 103:13-14 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.

So, why do we even pass through this life, in a temporary, mortal body, that the Word calls “our tent?” What good is dust? Ah, but every farmer knows that good dirt, can grow good crops!

Mark 4:8, 20 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.” Some people are like … Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”

Go be fruitful, Dusty!

He chooses

The truths of man’s free will and God’s sovereignty is perhaps the ultimate paradox of the Christian world view. A paradox is defined as two seemingly contradictory facts or opposing statements, that at the same time are both true. And so it goes, man is a free moral agent, we can make choices, good and bad. But, God reserves His right to chose too. And, He has unlimited power and control to get His way. This bothers the dickens out of man, who in the flesh desires to feel good and chose what he wants to do without consequence all the time. But the Christ follower understands that God’s sovereignty and choice is a very good thing. Here are some important things God chooses:

God chooses us, to receive faith so that we can trust in Jesus and become His children.
John 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Romans 8:28-30 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

God chooses our spiritual gifts. Equipping each one to serve the family.
I Corinthians 12:4-7 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.* There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God* works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

God chooses our good works, or fruit.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

God even chooses our trials; the grit and sandpaper in our life that mold us.
Job 1:8, 12 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?* There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God* and shuns evil.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has* is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Acts 9:15-16 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument* to carry my name before the Gentiles* and their kings* and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful;* he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.* But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Aren’t you glad, He makes the important choices?