I crack a fearful smile when I think about the fact that when I was a twenty something pastor I would hear these words from the Apostle Paul, “…so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” and I would say to myself, “No way!”. But today, at age 52, I hear these words from Paul and I shudder inside. As a pastor I know I have preached and taught in such a way that I was bringing others to faith but was not sure whether at the same time I had a proper faith. I guess what I am saying is, just because you’ve become a Christian doesn’t mean you’re always a Christian. People can, and do, fall out of faith. Sometimes those very people are still within the church. Jesus Himself said, “Many will say to me ‘Lord, Lord”, but I will say to them, ‘I don’t know you!’” Athletes disqualify themselves from the sport they compete in by breaking the rules, by playing by their own self-defined rules. The same is true for the qualification, and disqualification, in spiritual matters. Paul can speak to this topic because he knows it first hand. There was a time in his life when he thought he was serving God, and he was actually fighting against Him.

Disqualification comes when we begin to create a Christianity for ourselves that is of our own making. We begin to rest upon our knowledge and reason, rather than the grace and mercy of our God. Whether we are a new Christian or have been one for decades, whether we are a lay person in the pew or the pastor preaching the sermon, we must work to make sure that our faith is confidently rooted in Jesus and not ourselves. We need to cling to God’s truths, and not our interpretation of those truths. We need to know that there is an enemy out there who will do everything he can to pull us away from the truth. We need to stay true to God’s Word. We need to stay in a Christian community that feeds our spiritual lives. We need to discipline ourselves to hear the voice of Jesus (our Good Shepherd) over the voices of this world, or even, the voices within our own minds.

Let’s make sure that in the end we have fought the fight and run the race marked out for us by Jesus Christ.

Peace!

Tom

Peace!

Tom

Acts Lesson 8 (Tuesday Night)

We’ve certainly heard a lot of philosophizing in our society today about “living with a purpose”. The question always becomes, what purpose? There have been many self-help books written about discovering your purpose and fulfilling your life purpose. Even in Christian circles we have been pushed to have “purpose-driven” lives and churches. In the midst of all that thought and discussion, Paul’s words in our text today are important to consider. Paul tells us to remember that everybody is running. The question is, what are they running for and toward? In a race, only one gets the prize. It is the one who understands where the finish line is and who has trained hard to get there. The rest run, but in vain.

No matter what our occupation/vocation might be, we all run the same race and have the same purpose. We are called to live as members of the kingdom of God. We are to see heaven as our finish line. We are called to be intimately connected to God’s kingdom through word and prayer so we might be certain that our training and running is not in vain. Our lives must be directly connected to God’s kingdom so that our daily lives are seasoned with God’s calling on our lives.

Today, and always, may we live with a kingdom of heaven purpose.

Peace!

Tom

Lately, I have been putting a lot of thought into evangelism strategies that I think might work for the 21st century. Today’s verse takes me to exactly what I have been thinking. Decades ago, most people in the Western World shared enough similar principles in their worldviews that one could directly begin a spiritual conversation around those shared principles as bridges to the Gospel. An example would be that most Americans share enough similar moral values that one could speak of right and wrong, guilt and shame, and they could relate. But that is not true today. We no longer share similar worldviews, values or morals. We have very little common ground from which to begin a discussion and eventually bridge to the Gospel. We can just keep slinging spiritual truths at a society that has no frame of reference to consider/evaluate them. So, what do we do?

Paul’s words for us today is that we need to “…become all things to all men…”. We need to begin where they are. We need to know enough about their worldview that we can reveal its weak points and create doubts about its stability. If we can reveal the flaws of someone’s worldview, we succeed in two things. First, that we care enough to know where the other person is coming from. Secondly, that once their foundation is in question, they will be willing to consider other views that may be more consistent with truth and reality. The key for 21st century evangelism is to apologetically defend the faith only after you have begun where the other person is. We need to step onto their island and discuss reality as it is understood there, and then begin to build a bridge to God’s island of truth.

Let’s begin with their truth and gradually move toward ours.

Peace!

Tom

I know it has been too long, but here they are!  Attached are two months worth of Bible studies and a recently preached sermon.  I pray that these audio files are a blessing to you.

Peace!

Tom

Acts Lesson 5 (Tuesday Night)

Acts Lesson 6 (Tuesday Night)

Acts Lesson 7 (Tuesday Night)

Daniel Lesson 5 (Sunday Night)

Daniel Lesson 6 (Sunday Night)

Daniel Lesson 7 (Sunday Night)

Daniel Lesson 8 (Sunday Night)

Palm Sunday 2012

Last week of Jesus’ life

Easter 2012

Sermon at Goodrich United Methodist Church

I absolutely love these verses from Paul. They give us a glimpse into his spiritual heart and see what makes him tick. After his conversion, he immediately began to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and never stopped. What kept him going? What kept him on such a feverish pace? God did! That’s right! Paul stated clearly that he was compelled to preach. He didn’t do it voluntarily, but involuntarily, like one doing his duty. I can so relate to what Paul is saying. Ever since I converted to the Christian faith at age 17 I haven’t been able to stop talking about Jesus. I mean, I have to. It wells up inside me and I feel like I might explode if I don’t have an avenue to let it out. I know teachers, preachers, nurses, businessmen, and others who must do something for the kingdom of God or they feel like they’ll explode.

How about you? Is God pressing in on you? Is He pushing you toward an area of your life that is uncomfortable and scary? If so, respond to it. Go with it. Most likely the Holy Spirit is compelling you into service. He wants you to know what your place is in the body of Christ and begin to respond to His push. It is good and right to be moved and directed by the Holy Spirit. May we each find our place in the Body of Christ and follow the Spirit’s lead as He compels us into service.

Peace!

Tom

Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden was to allow their orientation to turn inward. They were created to love God with their whole heart, mind soul and strength, and to love each other as themselves. They were created “other”-oriented because they were created in the image of God, and God is other-oriented.  His love is always oriented toward us. He loves us unilaterally and unconditionally. But in the garden of Eden love’s orientation turned inward. For Adam and Eve, what was important to them on that day was themselves. Their orientation turned inward. They saw that the forbidden fruit looked good to eat and would make them wise, so they ate. And they lost everything. From that point on man would, in his self-oriented state,  hide from God and accuse Him and everyone around him for the wrongs in his life.

But we have been redeemed and have been born anew. We are new creatures in Christ. Our old self-oriented nature has been crucified with Christ. We have been born of the Spirit of God. We are new creatures. We have the capacity to daily die to the old man and rise to the new. We once again have the ability to be other-oriented. Paul is telling us in our verses for today that we must be other-oriented even in the area of our Christian freedom. We must always focus on those around us, and not just on what we are free to do. Paul is telling us that it would be better for us to sacrifice our freedom for the sake of another than to let our freedom offend and confuse the heart and conscience of another Christian.

In general, let’s be more other-oriented as we live out our Christian lives here on Earth.

Peace!

Tom

Jesus claimed that the religious leaders and Pharisees knew and taught a lot of true doctrine, but their hearts were still far from the Father. James, the brother of Jesus, in his letter states, “The demons believe and shudder.”  Knowledge and reason are required to understand the doctrines of the Christian faith, but they are not enough to provide one’s salvation and eternal life. Twice in our verses for today, Paul mentions the word “love”.  He contrasts love with knowledge and reason and declares that love is supreme. Love is how the Father reveals Himself to us. He loves this sinful world we live in so much that He sent His Son into the world to die for our sins. Jesus also declared that love is how we reveal that we are members of His kingdom. Jesus said that it would be our love that would tell the world that we are His disciples.

There is one more thing I would like to state. When we use “love” in a sentence, a relationship is assumed. If I said, “I love my wife, children, grandson”, you would rightly assume I had a relationship with them in which I expressed that love.  The same is true with God. He desires to have a relationship with us.  He wants you and me to know Him and to know that we are known by Him. Jesus desires more than that you know Him with your head. He wants you to love Him with your heart.

Peace!

Tom

Jesus says in the Gospels, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits (loses) his own soul?” Quite a rhetorical question I would say. If one really thought that at the end of the day, or our life, that these were the only two options, I think most would chose to have their souls. With our verse for today Paul writes in a similar vein, but he adds a very important point. Paul makes clear that at the end of the day, or our life, if we chose the things of this life, we will lose because it’s all passing away. Ultimately, it becomes a choice between that which is (your soul) and nothing. No matter how hard we work to hold onto the things of this world, it will end. It will all end. The language of the committal service is right: “We brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we can take nothing out.”

It never has been, is not, and will never be about the stuff we have. God simply gives us the stuff we have as earthly provision for life. He requires that we, as wise stewards, use our earthly stuff to bring glory to His name and to further His kingdom. The only thing He calls us to hold onto is Him. As branches connected to the Vine, we need to cling to Him and to Him only. Jesus clarifies this again when He says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all these things will be added to you.”

Let’s keep ourselves from becoming engrossed over the stuff we have by remembering always that it will all pass away.

Peace!

Tom

But I thought any human being that was bought was a slave! If we are “bought with a price”, how can we not be slaves to whoever purchased us? But Jesus, who bought us with His own precious blood, tells us, “if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed.” You are absolutely free through the redemptive price Jesus paid on the cross. You are no longer a slave to sin but have been set free to live as God has created you to live. You and I can, as born again Christians, live ever-transforming lives. This being the case, in our verse for today Paul says that we (as free beings) should not return back to slavery to men by tying our lives to their principles and teachings.

Always remember this! False teachings will always bind the consciences of mankind. Teachers will rise up telling us that we must do this, or do that, in order to live faithful lives for God. It’s all a lie. Our enemy (Satan) does not want us living in the freedom of God’s grace. He does not want us to taste the sweetness of what true freedom offers. Jesus called him a “thief”, and it would be just like him to rob us of the greatest gift one could have–freedom. We need to remain free! But how do we do it? I have two suggestions: First, listen to Jesus first! Secondly, only listen to men and women who sound like Jesus!

May we remain free!

Peace!

Tom