Hindsight

I received this letter at Church this past Sunday and it was so exciting to see God at work at GateWay!  The first thing I would challenge this person to do is get in a Small Group, get connected with other Christians so they can get fellowship and encouragement.

“Dear Pastor Ed,

I am writing you this letter to tell you thank you. I received Christ into my heart one month ago at GateWay Church during one of your sermons. I was completely lost, full of anger, self-pity, rage and hurt.  I was a broken man and considering suicide.  I let other people control my emotions and my feelings. I was fighting a war I couldn’t win and the devil had a choke hold on my life.  I blamed everybody else for all my problems (poor me).  That all changed in an instant when I received Jesus. I was healed, it is an absolute miracle!!  God now fights all my battles and he guides me through every decision I make.  I’m still a sinner and I still have problems but now I let God takeover.  What a feeling!!  Thanks you for your role in this miracle I believe God worked through you that day in church to speak to me and I finally listened. My wife has always been a Christian and all I ever did was judge her and tear her down, but now she saw the miracle in my life and it’s amazing how Jesus works through other people to get his message out there.  I could go on for hours about what’s happened to me but I won’t.  Thank you so much GateWay Church!!”

Receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is a supernatural act of God in which  we all get to participate; from Greeters to Café to Ushers to Sunday School to music to speakers to sound techs, we all participate with God’s purpose!  

That’s what being Biblical, Radical and Viral are all about this year at GateWay.

Hindsight

As Jesus prepared Himself for the cross he spent His last hour of freedom in the Grove of Gethsemane praying while the disciples slept.  Luke 22:44 says that He prayed in agony.  The Greek word is agonia from which we get our English word agony.  It comes from the root word for, “an assembly.”  That seems odd doesn’t it!  We think of agony as an emotional state.  This word was used for an assembly that was gathering to watch contests or gladiatorial games.  Being an observer or participant in gladiatorial games would cause intense emotion because often at least one participant would lose their life in the game.  No one really knows how the word transformed from assembly to intense emotional strain and anguish, we just know it changed emphasis. 

We find Jesus in Gethsemane in agonia.  We know that Gethsemane was an olive press that extracted oil from olives.  It wasn’t a location but a tool.  Jesus is under such intense pressure and agonia that He is sweating drop of blood.  The weight of the physical pain of the cross and the weight of the spiritual pain of separation from His Father caused agonia.

To help Himself deal with the pressure He prayed the same prayer three times.  “Let this cup pass yet not My will but Thine be done.”  God answered His prayer by allowing Judas and the Roman cohort to find Him, place Him on trial and crucify Him!  Yet Jesus never uttered a word of protest, He accepted God’s call and will for His life.

When under extreme pressure I wonder how many times we pray without getting to a point of acceptance for God’s will for our lives!  I’m certainly not saying that all pain is God’s plan but some pain is and it would serve us well to live out the example of Jesus.  To accept the difficulty and be God’s servant through a difficult time.  Maybe we’ll be an example to someone else.  

Hindsight

The interaction in the Gospel of John between Jesus, the Jewish leaders and Pilate is much longer than in any other Gospel, 18:28-19:16.  The statement that I find most interesting is the very first verse in the story, “They led Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium in order that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.”

The Roman soldiers slept, prepped, ate, and made home out of the Praetorium building, therefore they were called the Praetorium guards. The Jewish religious leaders couldn’t set foot inside the area because holy men would stand on unholy ground and thus defile themselves.

They should have said, “What a great opportunity! Let’s go into the Praetorium and invite all the Roman military to come join us for the Passover dinner and maybe they’ll learn about our God and devote their lives to Him.”

The Jewish leaders God wanted to spiritually impact both Jews and Gentiles would not set foot outside their cocoon.  They built ridiculous boundaries around themselves so that anyone outside their culture looked at them and said, “Why in the world would I want to be like that?!  Forget following their God!”

The reason Jesus was so appealing to both Jews and Gentiles is that he was willing to go where people had a sincere heart to know God.  He would walk on Gentile as well as Jewish soil.  He would speak to Jews and Gentiles.  He would teach both men and women.  He was approachable, likable and normal!  Just think, THE most abnormal guy Jesus, both man and God simultaneously, was also the most normal guy and that’s what made Him appealing!

Wherever you are, whatever you are, however you are, Jesus is willing to get on your page, on your level, into your home, your car and live life with you.  Even if your home is the Praetorium.

Hindsight

I’m a cheapskate!  My wife is really cheap too but we call each other frugal so we don’t feel badly about being cheap skates.  A couple of years ago I needed a pair of high top tennis shoes to play basketball.  I wanted high tops because I had sprained my ankle and I thought they would help.

So I went to Ross and started looking through racks of tennis shoes.  I found a pair of Air Jordans, (I said it was a few years ago) that were beet red and cheap.  The problem was they were a half size too small.  But I tried them on and I thought they were a little bigger than the size (did I mention I’m cheap) so I bought them.

I went to the gym and played for about 30 minutes and the shoes worked great.  They were a little snug but I like them that way (cheapskates are great rationalizers.)

The next time I went to play we played a double header and I played more of each game.  I noticed my toes hurt a little at the end of the first game but I hadn’t been exercising or running much so a little pain was to be expected. 

When I started into the next game I knew I was overdoing it and thought, “I’m going to be a sore tomorrow.” And I thought, “My feet sure hurt but I can’t quit in the middle,” so I finished the game.

I went home and pulled off my tennis shoes and my white athletic socks were soaked in blood!  I pulled off my socks and both my big toe nails had lifted totally off my toes because of the intense pressure my short shoes were putting on them.

We make choices and then our choices make us.

I chose to be cheap.

I chose to buy wrong size shoes.

I chose to play too long.

It was my wife’s fault.

How do you like that logic?  Works for me.

Hindsight

Our culture really does teach life consists of the things we acquire.  It is heard in blaring volume from billboards, televisions, radios and high gloss magazine layouts.

We are promised that real happiness comes from a purchase, we try to buy it through buying the newest, brightest and best.

It’s like a man who rides a donkey carrying a long stick.  On the end of that stick there hangs a carrot on a string.  The carrot promises far more than it is able to deliver.  The donkey trudges on and on believing that soon he’ll be chomping on a juicy reward only to find his hunger growing with each step.

Living for acquisition is like the fly who looks down and says, “My dinner!”  Only to hear the Venus Fly Trap say, “MY DINNER!”

Years ago Apple Computer created the iPhone, I recently bought an iPhone 4s.  The next week they brought out the iPhone 5. People stand in line with perfectly good iPhone’s to get the newest.  Why?  The answers vary but they really boil down to one thing, a new toy.

Jesus parable of the “Rich man” tells us if we believe in Jesus Christ we’ll invest in His Kingdom work.  If we believe in the American dream we’ll invest in that Kingdom.  Jesus forces us to make an intelligent choice.  

You can’t purchase eternal life, but our purchases reveal our gratefulness for eternal life.

Hindsight

The result of our GateWay on Mission vote this past Sunday was:

356 people voted yes and 1 voted no on the budget, all the new Leadership Team members (deacons) were approved!  What a great day of reviewing 2012 and envisioning a Biblical, Radical and Viral 2013!

There were a couple of questions that a few people asked me yesterday in regards to the passage from Acts19:1-22.  The most prominent was, “What is this speaking in tongues thing that the book of Acts talks about?”  Let me address that with a couple of clarifying points.

First let me say, not everyone agrees with me.  That’s okay.  Where good men disagree wise men walk softly.  If you have a different opinion, God bless you and please extend me an extra measure of grace.

Second, if your view is different than mine I never want to disrupt nor discourage anyone’s connection with God or anyone’s spiritual development and depth.  You’re totally free to pursue and practice your spiritual disciplines in your life.

Third, I believe that speaking in tongues was a gift only given to the early church to solidify it’s unity, leadership and expansiveness.

How?

First, the people in Jerusalem speaking in tongues was a sign of judgment to Israel for rejecting their Messiah.  Duet. 28:1 & 49 says that if the nation did not obey the Lord then judgment would come from a nation, “…whose language you shall not understand.”  The speaking of foreign tongues on the day of Pentecost was a sign to Israel that God was bringing to pass what he had promised for their disobedience.

Second, the Samaritans, Acts 8:17, received the Holy Spirit when the Apostles Peter and John laid their hands on them.  Why?  Because God was uniting Israel with Samaria demonstrating all descendants of Abraham were welcome in the Church of Jesus Christ under the leadership of the Apostles.

Third, the Romans, Acts 10:35-36 &44-48, received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues when the Apostle Peter went to preach to them and unite them into the church of Jesus Christ.  Why?  Because “…in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right, is welcome to Him…preaching peace through Jesus Christ…” (vs. 35-36)  So even Gentiles and Romans can be an equal member of the church of Jesus Christ!  That was a RADICAL concept to the Jewish people.

Fourthly, the Gentiles outside of Israel, Acts 19:6, received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues when the Apostle Paul laid hands on them so that God could demonstrate authoritatively that all nations are equally welcome in the family, kingdom and church of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:11-22 says that the wall around the Temple that divided Jews and Gentiles has been torn down and that there is now unity.  Jesus Christ has purchased peace and created a new building (Temple) called the Church and it’s built on one foundation called the Apostles authority and Jesus is the chief cornerstone in that foundation.

Speaking in tongues was not a spiritual practice in the early church for deep disciples, it was God’s way of demonstrating to everyone that all nations are welcome in God’s family, the church of Jesus Christ.

Again, let’s never use for disunity what God used to unify the entire world under our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ!

Hindsight 

The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee which means he was an Eastern thinker.  He was also fluent in all Roman culture and customs so he spoke Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and Latin. 

He was the perfect bridge building leader to be the Apostle to the Western Gentiles.  He was culturally Eastern but was a Western major in college!

When Paul writes his Epistles he writes like a Westerner.  He writes simple, to the point, factual statements about our relationship with Christ. (S.F.S. = simple factual statements)

         Romans 4:5, he who, “…believes in Him who justifies the                       ungodly,”, justifies simply means pronounced righteous. (S.F.S.)

         Ephesians 2:1, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,” without Christ we’re spiritually dead. (S.F.S.)

         I Corinthians 12:20, “But now there are many members, but one body.”  Paul is referring to the church body. (S.F.S.)

Simple statements built on a one-word theme; righteous, death, body.  A one-word theme is the hub of Paul’s thought, we who are Westerners then think about what are the resulting ideas or spokes that radiate outward from that thematic hub.

When we read the stories of Jesus he teaches as an Easterner.  He chooses characters in a plot and gives them motives, friends and enemies. There are evil surprises and unexpected heroes along their journey.

         “A man was traveling down the Jericho road…”

         “A woman lost a coin…”

         “A farmer went out to sow…”

Story is the round tire on a wheel, the characters are the spokes of the wheel, the point of the story is the hub.  We are left to discern from the actions and activities of the characters as they roll down the road what the hub point of the story is!

That’s more work!!!  That's why the Bible says wisdom is so important.

Welcome aboard the U.S.S. GateWay, as you disembark be reminded that going ashore means engaging with the people God has given you to influence and touch.  (If this doesn’t make any sense to you, you’ll have to listen to the sermon from 1/13/13)

God bless,

Pastor Ed

Hindsight

When we look at the story Jesus tells at the end of the sermon on the mount we don’t often fully grasp the significance of that summation.

Matthew was a tax collector.  As a tax collector he was trained in a Roman form of short-hand.  When he listened to Jesus sermons I’m sure he took a few notes.  So when we read Matthew we find 5 major sermons given by Jesus.

Yet when I read the sermon on the mount it doesn’t really read as one sermon, it feels more like a compilation of the poignant ideas of many sermons blended together by topic.  In fact that’s the way the Old Testament recorders of history put together their stories.  They didn’t feel it necessary to put stories in chronological order but sometimes preferred topical order. 

Matthew puts this house on the rock story at the end of what we call the sermon on the mount.  So we need to think of it as the culmination, pinnacle, apex and climax of Jesus story.  We also need to use it to interpret the entire sermon.  

When you go see a movie and you find out who the murderer is at the end, all of a sudden all the clues throughout the movie make sense.  The same is true of the sermon on the mount.

Therefore you can read the sermon on the mounts as follows:

If you apply the Beatitudes (5:1-20) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

If you apply the King’s Edicts (5:21-48) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

If you apply the Strategy for Spiritual Growth (6) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

If you apply the Relationship of Father to Son (7:1-23) to your life you’re like a man who builds his house on the rock.

Read through Matthew 5, 6, & 7 and see if this story helps you read the rest of the sermon.

I feel very self-conscious and inadequate writing today but I’m compelled to address the Newtown Connecticut tragedy.  I hope this is accepted as I intend it.

In the 1980’s Karen Burton Mains toured the refuge camps of the world.  Camps where adults and children were held for political crimes or famine related issues.  The camps were excruciatingly inhumane and ultimately chaotic. From her experiences she wrote a book that is incredibly meaningful to me entitled, “The Fragile Curtain.”  She chose that title because she came to realize that in the U.S.A. she was living behind a black curtain that kept her blind from the traumas the people in the rest of the world encountered.  There was a phrase she used toward the end of the book to describe the horrific conditions she experienced.  She wrote this, “My fragile curtain has been torn.”  That is how I feel today. 

Without the hope of eternal life in Christ, where there is no more crying or mourning or pain, where there is no more death, my hope in comfort and consolation would be shredded.  There is an insidious evil in our world, even in the supposedly safe areas of America, which defies rational explanation or logical understanding.  Evil has seeped into the lives of the naïve and innocent with a raw intensity that will defy psychiatry and counseling for years.  It will lift its horrendously ugly head in dreams and feelings in those who have endured their horribly traumatic day and they will never fully heal.  PTSD and other syndromes will be discussed and encountered for lifetimes.  There will be no opportunity for denial.  There is no reason “why” that will open the door of insight and personal healing.  Irrationality has no definition and this kind of childhood violence has no justification, therefore finding a satisfying explanation is impossible.  Healing the brokenhearted and binding their wounds will be slow.

The only option for us is love.  To love those who have lost someone they love. To love them so that possibly one day they might be able to encounter a day that has some normality to it with no high definition memories.  Every Christmas will force the facing of a holy day milieu that will be oppressive and dark.  

We desperately need to feel the grief of fellow humans who are just trying to take their next breath.  Who will get to that point of exhaustion and hope for some brief period of sleep so the hurt can be held at bay for an hour or two.  If I sound morbid and defeatist it’s because I, in a very very minor partial way, realize how long and painful will be the healing from emotional grief for a 5 year old child.

My fragile curtain has been torn.  I thank God my children are alive and enjoying life. And yet I fret.  I worry selfishly because I don’t want to be a grieving parent.  I don’t want to be the one who loses someone they love.

Praying for the community of people in Newtown with tangible expressions of love is our only option.  It won’t allow anyone to escape the psychological damage, and the process of grief that these poor people will have to endure.  But we can at least expend sympathy and some small acts of love.

If you have the gift of mercy or compassion why not write down the name of a parent who has lost a child today and send a card every month for a few years.  See if God can use your concern and love to, in some small way, help someone to heal.  

One other thing, hug, forgive, call, love your kids, parents, family, and thank God for the privilege of having them in your life.

So, for your Pastor, tonight, if you have young kids, do what was my favorite part of being a dad of young kids.  Give them a bath and afterward pull their little wet, warm, naked bodies wrapped in terry cloth close and inhale the sweet scent of shampoo and soap.  Then throw them down on the carpet and put your mouth on their bellies and blow out as hard as you can, making what Bill Cosby used to call "zerbets!"  Which are really just giant fart noises made with your mouth on their belly!  And while their laughing hysterically and asking you why you're crying just say, "God has filled me so full of love for you it just leaks out."

God bless,

Pastor Ed

Hindsight

Zacharias had finished offering the incense inside the Holy Place of the Temple.  He had prayed, talked to the angel Gabriel and emerged from the Temple to take his place on the porch.  He descended the stairs of the porch and approached the altar where the sacrifice was arranged.  He was supposed to now offer the prayer, called the Benediction, and the fires would be lit to finish the Sabbath sacrifice to God. 

But he found he couldn’t utter a word!  The statement of the angel Gabriel was true!  He could no longer speak. 

People initially waited and waited, the tension rising, the moment becoming more and more uncomfortable.  “Zacharias is supposed to pray, why doesn’t he open his mouth?!” they wondered.

Finally another priest moves toward him and others follow.  They discover Zacharias is not so emotionally and spiritually moved by his moment in the Temple that he’s unable to speak.  He’s not so overwhelmed by his responsibility to pray in front of all these hundreds of people that he cannot speak.  He’s just unable to speak!

Nine months and eight days later they bring their baby to the Temple for circumcision and naming. When the child is named John Zacharias’ ability to speak returns and he prays the prayer that he would have prayed at the altar.  He addresses God and honors all that He has done and will do for His people.  Then he adds a few choice sentences for the role his own son John will play in the plan of God.

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; For you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; To give to His people the knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins…”

John is called a Prophet!  There hadn’t been one seen for 400 years in Israel.  And it was true.  John prepared people for the coming of Jesus Christ.  When Jesus stepped into his public teaching role John said of Him, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” 

Do you remember what Jesus said of John?  He said, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist…”  Matthew 11:11

Hindsight

The interesting thing about Biblical prophecy is that the readers during Jesus time accepted the prophecy as prediction of the future.  That sounds a little silly but today we have to prove that the prophecy was actually written before it was fulfilled, then prove that it wasn’t tampered with, then prove that it applies to the actual event, then prove something else!  But when Jesus fulfilled prophecy it was in existence for at least 400 years and everyone knew it was written before it happened. Their parents had read it to them in synagogue before Jesus was born. They knew it wasn’t tampered with because they had memorized it together as a family before Jesus was born.  They lived in the culture where Jesus fulfilled it exactly as it was written. 

Why am I telling you this?

Because the impact of prophecy was greater on the original readers during Jesus time than it is on us today!  Why?  Because they felt the authenticity, they felt the exact fulfillment, they felt the authority and they felt the actual event!  We feel the shadow of a fulfillment that is 2,000 years old. 

Think of the end of child labor in the English-speaking world!  Wow, doesn’t that make your toes tingle?  Think of the end of home remedies and the advent of modern medicine!  Wow, doesn’t that bring back recollections of the black plague, polio and epidemic influenza that used to kill thousands?  Think of the end of outhouses!  Wow, doesn’t that bring back memories of walking through the snow in the middle of the night?  None of those issues are very meaningful to us because most of us didn’t experience the improvement of life or the direct impact of those culture shifts.

Because we’re separated from the events of prophecy we lose the emotional impact of the audaciousness of the fulfillment.

If I could give you an experience of the hair on the back of your neck standing up I’d have to; pick the stock, exhort you to put every penny you could scrounge up into it and tell you to hold it for 2 years, 2 months, 2 days, 2 hours and 22 minutes and then sell it at the exact time I prescribed and you’d be a trillionaire!  You’d appreciate my prophetic ability.  The hair on the back of your neck would stand up.

That’s the feeling the first century Jewish people experienced when Jesus fulfilled prophecy.  Jesus fulfilling prophecy struck people as unbelievable.  So they put it all on the line for Jesus and he fulfilled every expectation and prophecy the Old Testament could throw at Him!

I just wish I could feel the ancient fulfillment in the here and now like they did!

Hindsight

Freedom is one of the tremendous blessings for which I’m thankful to God!  I didn’t mention it in my sermon Sunday because I had to keep my message to 9 tremendous blessings!  But I am so thankful for a country that allows me to live out my freedom of religion in whatever way I see fit. 

Freedom is why we have the opportunity tonight at 4:30 to hand out fliers inviting Visalia Christmas Parade attenders to GateWay during the holiday season. 

146 people responded to the gospel of Jesus Christ in 2011and made a commitment.  Did you know that we're on the same pace or even ahead of that number this year?  Do you think God is using GateWay to reach, touch, heal, encourage, and save people in the Visalia region for Christ? 

Almost 38 years ago Cindy invited me to go to church with her.  I heard the message and responded by accepting Christ.  There are people who are valuable to God waiting to connect in a relationship with Him if we’ll just be bold and invite them to GateWay. 

We’re meeting at Starbucks on Main St. at 4:30.  Be a part of what God is doing at GateWay. 

Let’s utilize our freedom of religious expression and reach out to those who don’t have a church home this Christmas season.  

Hindsight

$41,218.00 worth of cash and commitments were made to Network Missions at GateWay on Sunday!  Thank you for your generosity and trust in what GateWay is doing to reach people for Christ.  Because of your gifts we were able to give Pastor Bill’s Metro Ministries a check for $10,000.00  That gift will keep buses rolling and Sunday School happening all over New York.  If you weren't able to give and would like to just drop a check in the offering marked "Network Missions."

I hope you had a great day hearing Pastor Bill Wilson’s story.  Someone said the job of a Pastor is,  “To comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable!”  I think Pastor Bill epitomizes that sentiment.  He went to Brooklyn to be a missionary to the urban world and his desire was to not only make a difference not in their physical living conditions but in their knowledge of God and commitment to Jesus Christ.  The staff of Metro Ministries has literally led tens of thousands of children to Christ.

I hope your were inspired and motivated not just to give financially but to think of yourself as the Bill Wilson missionary to your world!

GateWay to Christmas is coming and it’s the perfect opportunity to be on mission to invite friends, relatives and neighbors to a Christian Christmas experience.  Take a step of faith and buy some extra tickets and reach your friends for Christ!

Hindsight

Romans 16 is a roll call of important people in the life of the Apostle Paul.  I hope you’re taking time this week to make your list of people who are important in your life!

Bill Wilson is one of those important people for me.

I met Bill in 1987 at People’s Church in Fresno.  I was astounded by his story of moving into the Bushwick community of Brooklynn to begin a ministry to retrieve and minister to hurting and abandoned children. Bill began with the name of Yogi Bear Sunday School but soon adopted the new name of Metro Ministries.

Bushwick is an area filled with drugs, violence and urban dysfunction.  Bill has been beaten, stabbed and shot in the face, yet he stays in this to touch the lives of children.

Due to the success of Metro’s programs, President George Bush, Sr. appointed Pastor Bill to serve on the National Commission on America’s Urban Families in 1991. Metro’s influence was also identified as a factor in the noticeable reduction of crime in the Bushwick community and the organization was featured on ABC’s Nightline.

Bill will be speaking at GateWay this Sunday at 8:45, 10:30 and 6pm (There will be a Thursday night service but Bill will not be able to be a part of it.)

If you’d like to read Bill’s biographical book please call the church office and come by and pick up a copy as they’re available.

Come meet someone who was added to my list!  Bring some friends, they will be amazed by Bill’s story.

God bless,

Pastor Ed

Hindsight

Devotion to Jesus Christ was the topic at church Sunday (Acts 2:42.)  I want to highlight two ideas that I really didn’t have enough time to fully develop.  The first idea is the meaning of the word devotion itself.  The early Church devoted itself to 4 goals:

            #1.  Devotion to learning the teaching of Jesus through the Apostles.  All the theology that the early church wrote down for us so we could understand the full impact of who Jesus is.  The fact that He is a part of the Trinity.  That there is a Father, Son and Holy Spirit united in love and mission to reclaim their creation.  That each has specific responsibilities within that relationship.

            #2.  Devotion to the fellowship of all those who claim Christ as their Savior and join together as a family.  The early church had a fellowship that went beyond just gathering on Sunday mornings.  They ate meals together in homes to build relationship.  They gathered sometimes daily to hear scripture read and taught on because they had no Bibles of their own.

            #3.  Devotion to Communion.  The crucifixion of Jesus was so fresh in the minds of new believers because it was just a few weeks previous to their faith.  They could picture in their minds crucifixion because they had personally witnessed, maybe not Jesus crucifixion, but some crucifixion.  You couldn’t live anywhere in the Roman Empire and not have seen at least one crucifixion.

            #4.  Devotion to prayer.  There’s no greater challenge for us fast paced Western Christians than the spiritual discipline of prayer.  Practicing the presence of God so that they prayed without ceasing was the way the early church coped with the stress of living out their faith.  A few years later Paul would write New Testament books where he had to encourage people to pray because the persecution of the Romans drove the church underground.

The second idea I want to discuss is the outworking of the word devotion through the Church of Jesus Christ.  This word devotion is the strongest word for communication in the book of Acts.  It communicates that the early church took responsibility for communicating to their culture the truth and value of Jesus Christ but also His grace and love.  They took time to connect with people.  They took time to include others. 

The number one way people became Christians was through the experience of a worship service where Jesus was made the center of worship and a sermon was given to explain how to connect to people.

It’s always important for everyone to know how to share the gospel.  Every person in church should be able to ask, “If a friend were to ask you how to get to heaven what would you say?” and then tell them how to get to heaven.  

But the early church invited people into churches to experience worship and hear the Apostles teaching.  We can do the same thing today!  Invite people to church, especially those who’ve never been to an energetic, alive church!  Let them experience what it means to see other normal people worship God and interact with the Word of God through sermons. 

What does taking notes during a sermon say to new people?  “Wow, these people take this Bible thing seriously!”

What does engaged singing say to new people?  "Wow, these people take this worship thing seriously!"

This week think about the elements of devotion and practice the presence of God both outside during the week and then inside when we gather in the name of Jesus.

Hindsight

Jeff Link told a story in the Traditional Service at GateWay a couple of Sunday’s ago that stuck with me.  He cited a San Francisco Chronicle newspaper story that included a suicide note from a young man who jumped to his death off the Golden Gate Bridge.  The note was found in his apartment the day after he jumped.  The suicide note said, “If someone notices my distress and talks to me on my walk to the bridge I won’t jump.”  No one noticed and no one talked to him.

This sad story drives home the point I made on Sunday about encouragement.  There are times when all of us need the crutch of encouragement.  There’s pain, discomfort and injury in our lives and we need somebody, anybody to come alongside and prop us up with a little crutch of encouragement.  A kind or thoughtful word is helpful. 

Proverbs 25:11 says, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver (a great combination to make an expensive piece of jewelry), Is a word spoken in right circumstances (a great combination to make an encouraging statement.”

I  like the Irish fable:

         There were four people in the world, Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.  Now, there was a very important task that was Everybody’s job, but Everybody thought that Somebody was going to do it. But Somebody didn’t do it. Anybody could have done it but Nobody did it. Everybody thought that Somebody was going to do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. So, it ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody because Nobody did what Anybody could have done.”

Encouragement is a choice that anybody can make.

Hindsight

Some have asked about the books I recommended on Sunday so here they are:

Hide or Seek by Dr. James Dobson

Parenting with Love and Logic by Dr. Foster Cline

Christian Child Rearing and Personality Development by Dr. Paul Meier

These 3 books have been very significant to me in raising my kids.  I hope they are helpful to you as well.

Parents can feel isolated and embarrassed about issues their kids are dealing with and never confide in another parent about their struggles.  Some parents also feel hesitant about going to a counselor to get some feedback concerning how their parenting is working.  So reading a couple of books is so helpful for gaining the depth of wisdom that comes from professionals who counsel hundreds of parents. 

I’ve found in my own life there can be a fog of understanding when I’m trying to evaluate my life.  I was sitting in a counselors office a couple of years ago talking about some struggles I was having and after about an hour this psychologist said to me, “You know what your problem is?!”  I said, “No, that’s why I’m here!”  He said, “You sound very …!”  I said, “That’s it!”  In one short hour this guy was able to put his finger on the heart of the issue and help summarize my difficulty.  That was really helpful because I could see what I needed to do next to correct the issue.  The fog dissipated and the next steps were clear.

I recommend books because they can be just as helpful as counseling and the cost is a whole lot lower.  You also get advice from people who have seen child rearing patterns and strategies that have consistently worked.  Advice about breaking your own negative parenting patterns are a part of these books as well.

Take action, don’t get discouraged and quit trying or sit in apathetic silence, get a couple of books and try a few new ideas.  Hopefully they’ll pay off in big relationship rewards with your kids.

God bless,

Pastor Ed