What game are you playing?

God’s spirit dwells in us so we can live righteously, as Jesus did. Romans 3:25 states, “God presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice …”

Much like a baseball batter getting ready to step up to the plate…a believer is position to hit the ball because of Jesus. You don’t take the bat and ball to a basket ball game, or a soccer game or a hockey game or even a football game…although the Indianapolis Colts might have played a better game last week if they had showed up with a bat and ball … the reality is that the church has been getting into position with their own agenda and forgot we are a people of grace, a people of discipline, and a people positioned in Jesus Christ to face the world.

For God to be just, He must remain true to his own principles. His holiness dictated that “the soul who sins will die” (Ezek. 18:4). The penalty for sin – namely, death – had to be paid in a way that was acceptable to God. God explained through Moses why a blood sacrifice was required… “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” (Lev. 17:11). Science has proven this today… the blood in your body is essential in providing life to your body. A life must be given for a life to be spared.

It was this basis that God positioned himself to redeem us and in return we are positioned to live in Jesus. The Almighty God provided a perfectly sinless sacrifice for all mankind. The only way God’s justice could be satisfied and His holiness could be maintained was for Jesus Christ to take our guilt and sin upon Himself and die in our place.

So we step up to the plate for the game of life and we get ready to hit the mark, growing in faith, drawing closer to God and to each other … because Jesus has positioned us in His redemption.

Our position is to passionate follow Jesus in the power of God’s justification. What game are you playing? The game of survival or the game of proactive and intentional game of living? You know I love ya, Don

I am not simply surviving!!!

Last November, marked my 20^th year as an ordained minister. When I was new to ministry, some one patted me on the back and gave me this advice, “Just do the best you can.” This is neither biblical nor is it helpful advice. My mentor and good friend over heard her advice and said to me… “She means well.”

I have had some of the best mentors a person could ask for in my Christian walk. These faithful saints have taught me about being a believer…the truth is that living for Jesus is not about doing the best you can, Being a Christ Follower is not just survival. Living for Jesus is more than just “getting by with the best your can” mentality. Living is passionately taking hold of the truth and letting it set you free from the burden of life. Living for Jesus is trusting Jesus and it is obeying Jesus. Living for Jesus is the best identity a person can hope for.

This text reveals to us that we are all on level playing ground when it comes to sin and  living for Jesus. It is not about how good we are…it is about His goodness within us.

Building within us the goodness is to examine our actions as they relate to God’s desire for us to live a life of righteousness. God is the ultimate authority when it comes to what is right and wrong. God is the source of all good and truth in the world. He is right in all things. Our righteous acts cannot make us righteous.

From a Christian perspective, righteousness is defined as being in right standing with God because of Christ‘s death on the cross. Righteousness can only come from God through Jesus Christ. If we pursue actions and activities that line up with God, then this is a righteous way for a person to live their life.

Being righteous is living in honor, integrity, respect of those around you and demonstrating love. A righteous person is willing to sacrifice, willing to avoid thinking only about themselves, while striving to enhance the lives of those around them.

I don't want to be known as a believer that is simply surviving or doing the best I can...I want to be known as a follower of Jesus that is passionately following Jesus.

I pray you will join me...You know I love ya, Don

Devoted to God and to each other!

Luke’s summary statement of Acts 2.42 records that salvation unified the believers as a community while establishing a new initiation in joining the band of Jesus followers. The believers remain a very Jewish community in Acts 2. Luke records the first Christians as demonstrating a devoted life to the Apostle’s teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayer. These disciplines are supporting the growth and transformation of the early church in connection with their Jewish roots by praying at the temple (3.1; 6.9) and observing Jewish traditions (10.9-17). Minear describes the work of the Holy Spirit in transforming the early believers as; “the very emergence of faith is a work of the Spirit, for it bespeaks the weaving of a new fabric of relationship, personal and social, earthly and heaven, human and divine.”[1] The reception of Jesus as Lord and Savior changed the worldview. The commitment of the believer was no longer a cultural religious commitment, but a devotion to radical change within the believer and in the view of the world.

“Devoted” is defined in several dictionaries with a common theme of staying the course and remaining faithful. The TDNT defines προσκαρτερἐω as “to be devoted to.”[2]  TDNT explains the meaning of the word with examples consistently focused and persistently loyal. Strong’s Greek agrees with the TDNT adding, “continually devoting themselves.”[3] Louw-Nida further describes “devoted” as meaning; “to continue to do something with intense effort, with the possible implication of and despite difficulty—‘to devote oneself to, to keep on, to persist in’.”^[4] The choice of words that Luke uses is descriptive of the passion recorded in the passages following Acts 2.42.

I agree with Bock’s assessment that the imperfect periphrastic construction of the verb speaks directly to an active and ongoing devotion. Devoted (προσκαρτερἐω) is used ten times in the NT, and six of the ten are in the book of Acts (1.14; 2.42; 2.46; 6.4; 8.13; 10.7). Bock describes their devotion mentioned in Acts 2.42 as “echoes of their unity of mind as described in Acts 1.14.”[5] The early Christians demonstrated unity of mind, which encouraged their actions of living a committed to God and to each other. 

Seeking to be devoted to God and to each other...you know I love ya, Don

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[1] Paul Sevier Minear. “Holy People, Holy Land, Holy City: The Genesis and Genius of Christian Attitudes.” Int. 37 1 Ja (1983), 23.

[2] W. Grundmann, III “προσκαρτερἐω"  TDNT abr. G. Bromily ed. 417-418.

[3] R. L. Thomas,  “προσκαρτερἐω" #4342  Strong’s: Updated edition.

^[4] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. “προσκαρτερἐω" #662 L&N (elect. 2nd edition.) 1996. New York: United Bible Societies.

[5] Darrell L. Bock, Acts. (BECNT; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007). 149.

Too Much "in" to get anyone "out."

A few years ago (seven to be exact). I preached a sermon with a story that would become real only a few months later. When Mathew was born and he picked up the staph infection, I began to loose hope. Without hope, fear creeps in and many frightening thoughts and attitudes start to dictate a persons actions. As was the case in me...I was scheduled to drive to a prayer meeting for Matthew and Karen was going to stay with him at the hospital.

Now my mother, a.k.a. Granny, was 400 miles away. About 1:00 PM, a nurse walked in an announced, "Granny is here." Karen and I looked at each other and said, "What?" The nurse responded, "Yeah, Granny is here, can she come in?" We said of course, and sure enough, Granny had arrived.

She then drove me to the prayer meeting and reminded me of the story in the sermon. It goes like this:

A man falls into a hole and can't get out. Along comes a preacher. The man calls out and asks for the preachers help. The preacher preaches a long and awesome sermon. Then walks on.

Along comes Rabbi and the man yells out and asks for the rabbi's help. The Rabbi gives this awesome and well spoken prayer that would cause anyone to weep. Then walks on.

Along comes the man's best friend. The man in the hole hollers out in his loudest voice for help. The man's best friend jumps in the hole with him. Startled, the man says to his friend, "Hey, what are you doing, now both of us are stuck in this hole." The friend answers, "Yeah, but I've been down here before and know the way out."

Granny has been down in the hole a few times and she knows the way out. She heard the despair in her sons voice and she made a quick seven hour drive to Virginia and jumped into the hole with me. Paul writes in Romans 12:1-2; "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." We don't have to read much further to see that Paul is preaching the world will be confused by our faith in the cross and the foolishness our "Christ dedication" will be perceived by our worldly friends, family, and acquaintances.

No matter how attractive we make this package of a dying man, that is God in the flesh, bruised, beaten, bleeding with flesh torn and swollen, the message it contains is going to be a hard sell among current ways of thinking. Our culture wants its money, its time, and its love of self. The cross is not any of those things.

Jesus Christ came out of nowhere. He was a man for all times, at home in no time at all. He came to make visible what was invisible. Jesus Christ brought the eternal truths of God into the arena of daily human life and culture, but he was not enmeshed in that culture. He was not defined by first-century Roman life. His life and his message transcended his culture and time.

Simultaneously, Jesus stood both inside and outside of culture. This ability of the gospel to transform as well as transcend, that is to stand outside of culture as well as inside, is the aspect of the gospel that our present traditional and contemporary efforts lack. I am wondering if as a "church" are too much "in" to be able to lead anyone "out." In other words, we jumped in the hole with the man as his best friend and hung out there so long, we have forget how to get out.

A rediscovering of our passions and the message that Christ is risen from the dead and tht we need to "come awake" is needed in all of our hearts. We need Christ-followers to step up be willing to lead people to the cross. The cross of sacrifice and determination. Worship is defined, "Declaring how much God is worth in your life." Well, in all our technology, our work to meet people where they are and the "stuff" of today's worship, we seem to have neglected the reality that Jesus is worth it all...every effort, every word, every goal, every cent, every sacrifice, and every moment!

I am still thankful for the day Granny arrived and helped me out of the hole. She grasps these things and spends half her year in Africa trying to save children's lives. Currently, she is setting up a special needs school in Neryi, Kenya in honor of her Grandson, Nicholas. She is a passionate woman of faith. I pray someday I will grow up to be more like her.

You know I love ya and lets get out of this hole together. Don