Hindsight

Yesterday I wished I’d had time to develop the difference between real guilt and false guilt or what some psychologists call objective vs. subjective guilt.

Real guilt is when we can name a law, social standard or Biblical teaching that we have specifically violated.

False guilt or subjective guilt: is an uncomfortable feeling or regret, remorse, shame or condemnation that we experience when we have done something that we can’t put our finger on. 

False guilt is this free floating anxiety that can be caused by:  Unrealistic personal expectations, a sense of inferiority, or social pressure.

One of the largest causes of false guilt is poor conscience development as a child.  Dr. Gary Collins in his book Christian Counseling writes, “When the home is warm, predictable and secure, and when there is more emphasis on approval and giving encouragement than on punishment and criticism- then the child knows what it means to experience forgiveness.  But when there are poor parental models, and /or moral training which is punitive, critical, fear-ridden or highly demanding, then the child becomes angry, rigid, critical and burdened by a continuing sense of guilt.”

He finishes his article with this statement, “Remember that two good ways to learn about forgiveness are to practice it and to experience it.”

The first step is always, “Do what you can do!”  Practice forgiving and you’ll get better at accepting forgiveness which will help you eliminate guilt.

Personal counseling for guilt can be extremely helpful if you experience constant guilt from poor moral training with your parents.

Trinity Ministries Inc. here in Visalia has some really helpful counselors that can assist you in conquering the guilt dilemma. 

God bless,

Pastor Ed

Hindsight

I have a friend who is also a Pastor.  He was standing in a line at Starbucks behind a young lady who enjoyed talking, and she chose to talk to him. At one point in the conversation he asked her if she had ever tried church.  
She came a little unhinged and got a little angry and began to recite to him how badly she’d been hurt by the few churches she’d attended and she would have nothing to do with hypocrites like that. 

“You seem very upset,” he said, “and you still seem angry with those people, maybe even a little bitter.”

“I am!” she said.

He, in a very soft kind voice said, “How’s that anger-bitterness thing working for you in the rest of life?”

Her lip quivered and her eyes filled and she said, “Not very well.” 

They sat for an hour at Starbucks and had a long conversation over their coffee!

When you connect with Christ you encounter an inheritance of grace that changes the color of everything! Even at Starbucks.

Hindsight

Genesis 3 is the historical recording of Adam and Eve’s original sin.  From their distrust of God’s word and God’s character to their trust in the serpent’s word and character, sin entered the entire human race!  This story explains the original fall of humanity through which we all inherited the sin and guilt of Adam and Eve!  We all inherit a sin nature and the naturally inherited consequences for sin. 

The strategy of the serpent worked so well in this original scene that he has continued to pursue men and women in exactly the same way-by tempting them to distrust God’s word and God’s character. 

Is this a story of how I can sin and lose my relationship with God and my salvation today?  No. 

While the serpent’s strategy is the same, and my weakness is the same, Jesus’ payment for my sin is sufficient and my relationship with God is secure through Christ. 

Let me ask you, what do you think God’s ultimate plan is? I believe it is to bring as many people as possible into a saving knowledge of His Son’s payment on the cross for our sin? 

The Bible is not primarily a book about how to make bad people good, even though it can do that!  It’s primarily a book about how to make spiritually dead people alive!

Hindsight

Pastor Bill Yoshimoto leads our GateWay staff every morning in prayer.  He pulls out his World prayer book which lists every country of the world, lists what their needs are, lists what the major religions are and what percentage of Christians are there.  We pray for GateWay and then we pray for that country.

In Ephesians 6:18 Paul writes, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view,  be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…”

Paul uses the word “all” four different times.  He says that we are to:

#1.  Pray when we’re thinking about the armor of God!  Each piece of armor is a gift from God but it also has a corresponding act of obedience.  So pray that you’ll be obedient to the armor with which God has gifted you.

#2  Pray at all times!  Whatever you face in terms of struggle, temptation or blessing, you are to pray.  You can pray with a request or you can pray with thanksgiving.

#3.  Pray with perseverance!  The last thing we start and the first thing we give up is prayer.  Paul commands us to persevere in prayer.

#4.  Pray for all saints!  This simply means prayer for all the followers of Jesus             Christ. 

Stop right now and pray for the four “alls” that Paul lists.

God bless,

Pastor Ed

Hindsight

The Olympics have been great!  I’ve enjoyed watching swimming, track, tennis, volleyball, and diving.  I think it’s a wonderful tradition to get all the countries of the world together and compete against each other in a spirit of friendship.  The teams are still distinct because each country represented dresses it’s athletes in uniforms that distinctly point out who is on what team. 

That’s what the passage in Ephesians 5:1-14 is all about, behaving in a way in which you proudly represent God’s team.  That’s always Paul’s highest principle. 

Sometimes we read passages like this and as we read we think, “I can’t be a Christian because there have been times when I’ve failed to do what Paul says to do, I’ve sinned, and therefore I’m an idolater (5:5) and am not a Christian anymore!” 

What Paul is actually saying is, “The people of Ephesus who worship at the Temple of Artemis (Diana) are idolater’s because they worship a false goddess, don’t be influenced to behave like them, they’re on the wrong team.”

The influence of the Roman Empire and the Temple of Artemis (Diana) was constantly and blatantly in the face of these early Christians. 

Look at these contrasts:

            Rome said, “Mercy is weakness!”            Paul said, “Mercy is a virtue!”

            Rome said, “Conquer and take!”            Paul said, “Give to one another!”

            Rome said, “Sex is worship of gods!”            Paul said, “Sex is for marriage!”

            Rome said, “Enslave the world!”            Paul said, “All are free in Christ!”

Paul wants all followers of Christ to understand that they are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9.)  The pagan Roman Empire was all about power and indulgence.  The Christian church according to Paul was all about grace and love. 

Once you’re on God’s team, you’re on God’s team because Christ paid your enrollment fee! 

Now that you’re on the team there are 3 rules:

             #1.  Mimic the coach (5:1,)

            #2.  Develop character like the coach (5:8-9,)

            #3.  Influence others to leave their Roman coach and join the new team                                     and coach (5:13-14.)

Hindsight

When I read, The No-Complaining Rule, by Jon Gordon I was struck by his usage of a Gallup Poll(pg.117.)  He cited a British study of 400 people which showed that when something bad happened to them they attempted to use it for a springboard into something good.  To turn misfortune into fortune!

They identified 5 deeply held beliefs that aided them:

#1.  Trust in a bigger plan.  Believe there is a God who is at work in your life with a phenomenal purpose that you may not be totally able to grasp.

#2.  Find strength in adversity.  Be like General Patton during World War II, “I was born for this time!”

#3.  Failure today leads to success tomorrow.  Like Woody Allen said, “Eighty percent of success is just showing up!” 

#4.  The worst event in life is often a catalyst for the best.  Crisis is often the very thing that motivates people to seek God.

#5.  Positive or Negative- the choice is ours.  

I like Chuck Swindoll’s quote about attitude:

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

If we’re going to grow to maturity in Christ we’ve got to be solution focused and attitude adjusted!

Hindsight

This past Sunday we took a look at the church.  Jesus Christ founded it, the Apostles guided it, Paul expanded it and we inherited it!  When we analyze the New Testament we find numerous statements concerning what human relationships in the Church are supposed to embody.  Paul lists five attitudes that are essential for a church health in Ephesians 4:2-3: humility, gentleness, patience, love and peace.  I wish I could say that all churches everywhere have always reflected these values. 

Consider the scope of getting everyone on the same page.  Of the 6.9 billion people worldwide 2.2 billion people say they belong to the church.  That’s one third of all the people who exist on this planet today!  There are Christians in churches in every one of the 223 countries of the world. Christianity is the major religion of the world.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Prevailing_world_religions_map.png) 

According to the Pew Forum the church of Jesus has quadrupled in the last one hundred years, but the percentage of Christians has stayed at about one third of the worldwide population.  
Yet there has been an amazing shift. 

In 1900 two thirds of all Christians lived in Europe, now only about a quarter of all Christians live in Europe.  Because of missionaries sub-Sahara Africa now makes up about a quarter of all Christians.  Of all current Christians one third are in the Americas and one eighth are found in Asia.  Asian Christians are also a result of sacrificial missionaries who went there 150 years ago.

If we look back in history we’ll see that these numbers represent healthy progress for the church.  It’s estimated that in 500 AD twenty two percent of the world was Christian. It’s also been estimated that by 1500 AD there had been a decrease in the worldwide church to nineteen percent.  However, today it’s above thirty percent!  God is at work in His world.

Yet our world is still broken.  When we hear of tragedies like the shootings in Aurora Colorado.  It proves to us that Satan is alive and well on planet Earth.  Jesus said that Satan has come to, “…steal and kill and destroy…” (John 10:10) and that certainly was the horrific result in Colorado.  But Jesus continues and says, “…I have come that they may have life and it to the full!” 

So when Paul writes to the Ephesians urging them to aggressively, “…live a life worthy of the calling you have received” he is praying that we will be militant representatives of the church with these five attitudes: humility, gentleness, patience, love and peace. The only hope for the world is the church of Jesus Christ.  The only hope for your world is you! 

(All the above numbers were taken from The Pew Forum, in consultation with demographers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg Austria, acquired and analyzed about 2,400 data sources, including censuses and general population surveys to arrive at Christian populations.  Http://pewforum.org/Christian/Global-Christianity-exec.aspx?print=true)