Cleaning up spider webs or killing the spider

“Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering - and it's all over much too soon.” Woody Allen

  Recently, we had mouse droppings on a counter top in our basement. The easiest solution to that predicament is to ignore them and work around them. The second easiest solution is to clean them up every time we find them. But most people don’t find either of those options acceptable. So there are now traps loaded with appetizing treats, awaiting Mr. Mouse when he next stops in for dinner. Unfortunately, Mr. Mouse is not going to be very happy, though his unhappiness will be very short lived.

  What would you think though if you learned that we were putting out food and water for this trespasser? Or, that we learned that his nest wasn’t all that comfortable so we went to Menards and bought some higher quality nesting materials for Mr. Mouse and family?

  While there are a few exceptions, most people don’t believe that the Mouse family has any right to be happy, particularly if they are trespassers. But what about everyone else. Isn’t happiness something that we should seek to help everyone attain? After all, we’re Americans. It’s written right in our Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Based on that shouldn’t we do everything we can to help others be happy?  

  No, I don’t believe that we should. One of the things that we miss, even in the Church, is that all social problems have a spiritual root. Yet, ours is a culture that treats “symptoms” (i.e. mouse droppings) and usually fails to address the disease, the core issue. The core issue is a spiritual issue, a relationship with God. And when we only treat symptoms, we can ultimately distract or mask the core issue.

  Today we have 12-step and self help groups for nearly every cultural malady. Those are symptoms. We fail to start with the question: Why are people addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, overeating or even shopping? They’re seeking to fill a God-shaped void in their life. We can counsel it or anesthetize it, yet ultimately, it’s a spiritual issue. We need to be careful we don’t become obstacles to someone seeking to resolve their greatest need by encouraging them to settle for an inadequate substitute.

  Recently, I saw well-intentioned Christians encouraging someone who was bemoaning how lonely he was to try out web sites, like Christianmingle.com to find someone he could date and even potentially marry. His real issue though wasn’t a need for human companionship. That was the symptom of the real need, which was spiritual. Here was a man who was bitter that he was lonely, yet he was being encouraged to find someone so he no longer felt bitter and angry that he was lonely. Yet, if he never addressed that he was bitter at God for his current situation and found peace with God, I can nearly guarantee any human relationship was merely going to be a band-aid to cover over his greater, real need. And his real need would most likely sabotage any relationship he might find.

  Pain is not necessarily a bad thing. Misery, depression, guilt, etc. are not necessarily bad things. Too often, even well meaning Christians seek to enable those suffering to mask those feelings by talking them out, counseling them out, or even medicating them out. Yet, the core issue is a spiritual one. Only Jesus, the Great Physician of our souls has the true cure.

  God in His love often uses pain, discomfort, even misery to drive us to Himself. Read Psalm 107 where you’ll see this truth repeated over and over again. Look at the lives of believers recorded in the Bible and you’ll see how God used crises to drive them to Himself. If we didn’t face crises, most of us would be comfortable in our lostness. We might have some sense of happiness in this world, yet would be miserable for all eternity.

  I know in my own life that God used my Dad being an abuser and a prescription drug addict where I felt so unloved, to drive me to the One who loved me unconditionally. If I’d not been so miserable, I might not have run to the Cross and realized God loved me so much that He gave His only Son to die for my sins so that I could be forgiven, so that I could have a new Father who is always there, knows all about me – even my worst times and faithfully loves me.

  Today we’re beginning a new series: RU BORN 2X. It centers on our greatest need, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It addresses our spiritual disease of sin, not just symptoms. It’s only as we embrace God’s cure of salvation that our lives have purpose, fulfillment and meaning both now and forever.

  Most Americans would claim to be “Christians” and most of those who attend our church would make the same claim, yet Scripture warns us to not be cavalier about the validity of our salvation. 2 Corinthians 13:5 urges us, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

  Over the course of the next few weeks, we’re going to very seriously heed that warning and use the tests of God’s Word as we examine our own souls to make certain that we truly have salvation, have been forgiven and are part of God’s Forever Family. Some weeks may give you a sense of discomfort. But wouldn’t it be better to be uncomfortable now, or even embarrassed than to have deceived yourself or been deceived by Satan, only to discover at the end of life, you really didn’t know Jesus and are separated from Him for all eternity? There’s an old spiritual, Everybody talkin’ ‘bout Heaven ain’t goin’ there. What a tragedy it would be to talk about heaven, to know about heaven but miss it!

Whatever happened to "Welcome to Wal-mart"?

 

“Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer.” Ed Cunningham

  Do you have a favorite restaurant or store? I do. Most of us do. There are places that I go faithfully…though there may be other option, even less expensive options…just because those businesses go out of their way to make me feel welcome.

  Okay, confession is good for the soul, so I’ll fess up – I HATE EXERCISING…I HATE GOING TO THE WELLNESS CENTER. It’s not that I hate exercising, it’s that I hate all of the time that it takes. There are two individuals though who work at the Wellness Center though that help me ti keep going back: Nathan and Veronica. When I walk in the door, they greet me. They know my name. They ask how I’m doing. When I leave, they tell me to have a nice day. They know a little about me and go out of their way to make me feel welcome. I’ll be honest, they’re a major part of why I keep going.

  Have you noticed that Wal-mart no longer has greeters? Personally, I think that’s a marketing blunder. It’s hard to find someone to help you in Wal-mart and they’re workers often aren’t exactly known for their winning personalities. The main reasons people shop at Wal-mart are price and selection. There’s no relationship and no customer loyalty.

  I’m old enough to remember Woolworth, Montgomery Wards, Zayre and even S.S. Kreesge. Do you know what all those stores have in common? They’re gone, extinct. Obviously, there are a variety of reasons for their demise, but someday Wal-mart will probably be among them. Some day someone will out Wal-mart Wal-mart. And it’s the seemingly little things missing like friendliness that contribute to a company’s eventual demise.

  That’s why one of the most important ministries at Grace Church is our Greeting Ministry. Researchers say that church guests decide whether or not to return to a church they’re visiting in the first 10 to 12 minutes upon entering the church. Our greeters help us communicate our message – God cares about you and we care because God cares.

  For several years now, Tammy and Scott Elblein, have led our greeting ministry. They’ve done a great job! Recently, they’ve asked for a break and felt the need to step down (though they’ll still be substitutes J). We’re so thankful for the job they’ve done. Please go out of your way and thank them for their faithfulness. And a big thank you to Rich and Jayne Benson who faithfully greet folk as they come in to church and leave at the end of the service week after week.

  One of our newest members, Steve Fifer, has graciously consented though to take over this vital ministry. Please be praying for Steve as he steps into this role.

  The fact is that you only have one chance to make a first impression. Our Heavenly Father in His providence continually brings newcomers through our doors. I doubt you’d ever find a church that didn’t think that they were a friendly church. Yet, I’ve visited and you no doubt have too, visited churches that think that they’re friendly…and they are…to each other. Because they have friends there, they greet each other and engage each other. What they don’t realize is that there are often new people that are walking right by them and while they’re so caught up in their conversations and greeting their friends, they miss those coming in their doors who are new and don’t have any friends yet in that church. As someone pointedly asked, “What is the difference between a guest and a visitor at church?” It is the difference between never missing another Sunday or just never coming back.

  That’s why it’s so important that all of us are conscious and sensitive to newcomers the Lord might bring into our church. Some of them have never heard the Gospel and are looking for answers, for something to fill that God-shaped hole in their soul. People visit a church for countless reasons. One thing that nearly all of them are looking for – is someone to simply care, someone to notice them, someone to befriend them. Can they count on us?

  That’s why every ministry from our greeters, to our ushers, to our nursery, Sunday Morning LIVE, Children’s Church and even our coffee ministry are so important every weekend every service. Each one of them is communicating that God cares and because He cares, we care, too.

  The most vital part of our weekly welcome committee though is YOU. Let’s be honest, everyone expects the greeters and ushers to be friendly…and hopefully, the Pastor. After all, that’s their ministry. But when you sit next to someone or behind or in front of them…and they’re friendly to you, when they care about you – that really gets your attention. 

  Holiday Inn interviewed 5,000 people to fill 500 positions that were needed to open a new facility.  When the hotel managers interviewed these candidates, they excluded anybody who smiled fewer than four times during the course of their interview. This standard was applied to every available job and to every prospective employee.

  So how many of us would qualify for a job at Holiday Inn? As believers, though we have a lot to smile about, really to rejoice about? We know that we’re loved, forgiven, have God’s grace moment by moment and then have a retirement program and Home waiting for us that’s literally out of this world. No wonder the Apostle Paul commanded us, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).

  I’m so thankful for the Elbleins, the Bensons and Steve Fifer. Yet, it’s not just their job. God has called each of us to be a vital part of the Welcome Committee! I’m all in…how about you?

The regularity of irregularity???

“On the most elementary level, you do not have to go to church to be a Christian. You do not have to go home to be married either. But in both cases if you do not, you will have a very poor relationship.” Kent Hughes

  It’s an area like so many in our culture, even in the Church, where the abnormal has become the normal. In the “normal” Bible-believing church, it’s estimated 30% will miss each Sunday. Church attendance…worship has become a matter of convenience rather than commitment. A new term has developed to designate this group. They’ve been dubbed the “semi-churched.” These are believers who show up some of the time, but not every Sunday. They’re on again/off again, in and out, here one Sunday and then gone for two. It’s disastrous to our personal spiritual health and our church family’s spiritual health. It’s either because we don’t know our Bibles, or worse, we don’t take them seriously. Jesus’ worship habit was to attend a weekly worship service (Luke 4:16). The focus of the New Testament is the local church, so much so that nearly every New Testament book was either written to a local church or a pastor. Jesus loves the church. He died for it. If we love Jesus, we won’t be satisfied with “liking” the church, we’ll love what Jesus loved. If you love someone, you want to spend time with them. You’re not checking your watch, wondering when your time will be up or jump at any excuse to skip. Missing church is not parole from some weekly obligation, it’s missing out on the weekly family reunion. It should bother us, no, it should grieve us to miss being with our spiritual family. Hebrews 10:25 is crystal clear and rather pointed, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Gathering every Lord’s Day with our church family is one of the vital parts of being a growing, maturing Christian. So ask yourself a few questions…

  Have you made going to church an inviolable habit for you and/or your family? You know how you wake up in the morning and think “maybe I’ll make french toast this morning”? That’s not what church attendance should be like. It’s not to be a “if the mood feels right” proposition. Now many of us didn’t grow up this way. I know that I didn’t. As a teenager, I was often the only person attending church from my home and I had to rely on others to give me a ride to church.

  Yet, I know of individuals who are more faithful in going to the gym than many Christians are in attending the worship services of their church. And if one member of the family is sick, then the whole family will often stay home. Can you imagine calling up your employer and telling him, “Listen, my son has a cold so I won’t be coming in today”? In some homes going to church is up for a weekly democratic vote, “Do you kids want to go to church this week?” An education has temporal benefits yet I can’t imagine a parent putting school attendance up for a vote or making it optional.

  Do you plan ahead for Sunday worship? If you rush around Sunday morning trying to find clothes and shoes, and your Bible – it’s not going to prepare you for worship. If we want to be ready for work or school, we go to bed at a decent time. We also give ourselves plenty of time so that we can arrive on time, even early. We arrive anticipating being touched by God’s Spirit and having Him work in our lives. We don’t rush in at the last minute and then rush out with the final “Amen.”

  Do you plan your schedule so that you can minimize being absent from church on Sunday? If you happen to be on vacation, what a great opportunity to worship with other believers from other parts of the country. Most of us don’t skip meals when we’re travelling, why would we skip a spiritual meal? But if Sunday is the weekly family reunion and we truly value our spiritual family, doesn’t that suggest that we should make a real effort to be around on Sunday. If you’re going to be out of town to visit family, why not take Friday off so you can be back on Saturday night? If we are stewards of the time that the Lord has entrusted to us, then we need to re-evaluate a common assumption that Friday evening through Sunday evening are ours to do whatever we want wherever we want. It’s almost impossible to grow in love for Jesus, for your church and minister effectively in your church if you’re regularly not there.

  Do you love the Lord and your church family sacrificially? True love is rarely convenient and often costly. To be with your church family, you may have to limit your plans for Saturday night. It might mean asking your boss to please not schedule you for Sunday morning. Most employers willingly put up with a lot worse than an employee who wants attend church (hangovers, domestic crises, etc.). Use Saturday to catch up on your chores, sleep in and unwind. It may mean telling an obsessed coach that your children will either miss certain games or be late. It’s doubtful that your child is the next Aaron Rodgers or Gabby Douglas but they are going to be the parents of your grandchildren. They are going to be the greatest spiritual influence on them…and they’re leaning it now…from you and what you value.

  If attending church is really a hassle for you and something that you endure, not enjoy – have you considered that maybe you’re not a Christian? Does going to church every week make you a Christian? Absolutely not. Does missing church half of the Sundays in a year make you a non-Christian? No, but it does make one wonder. It’s this simple – God’s people love God and love to be with God’s people. They love to sing praises. They love to hear His Word taught and be fed from the Scriptures. Casual church attendance is usually a sign of spiritual immaturity at best and unbelief at worst. Whenever God calls people out of darkness, He always calls them into the church. If the Sunday worship service is the community of the redeemed, what does your weekly pattern suggest about where you truly belong? Does it indicate that you really love Jesus?

Temple Maintenance

 “Never order food in excess of your body weight.” Erma Bombeck

  Do you have food paranoia? If you don’t, you probably know someone who does. They’re all around us. They’re those individuals who rigorously police what they put into their mouths like customs inspectors with a drug-sniffing dog. They make the TSA look like Paul Bart Mall Cop. With incredible vigilance they scan the horizon for fattening junk food, heart-mugging fats, allergens, carcinogens, engineered genes, and esoteric chemicals – things you can hardly pronounce without a PhD.

  Why do we do this? Why do we so thoroughly police our food intake? Because we want to stay healthy. In other words, we want to avoid death. Good Health = Life; Bad Health = the opposite of life…or Death.

  Can I ask though? Why is it we’re nearly obsessed with what we put into our mouths, yet pay little attention to what we put into our minds? Which one really is more important? Which one has greater ramifications? Most of all, which one is God most concerned about? So which one should we be the most concerned about?

  Please understand what I’m saying. We need to be concerned about what we eat and taking care of our bodies…“temple maintenance.” Yet, in our food, physical body obsessed culture, we’d do well to heed the words of the Apostle Paul, “while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).  So how can “train ourselves in godliness”?

  First, you have to eat right. Please understand that what our Heavenly Father wants most of all desires to have with us is a relationship, not some legalistic ritual. The Bible is God’s love letter to us. It has all the instructions that we need to live a successful life.

  Most of us have received a few love letters. When Jane and I were dating, and she’d write me a letter. I’d read, re-read and re-read that letter. I have nearly every letter that Jane wrote when we were dating. When we love someone we want to hear what they have to say. We hang on every word. That’s how we need to approach God’s Word. We need to hang on every word and let it bathe our souls with God’s love and goodness. 

  Sadly, most of us are like me when it comes to instructions, particularly on how to put something together. I absolutely hate reading instructions. When we buy a shelf or desk that needs to be put together, I just want to jump in. It’s only because of marital confidentiality some dingbat messes I’ve made over the years will never be told. Fortunately, I out-married myself and Jane actually takes the time to read and comprehend the instructions. But if I’ll take the time and read the instructions, and comprehend them, even a two left handed twit like me can put most things together.

  Do you know that I meet Christians all the time who fail to simply read God’s instructions? Then, they wonder why they don’t have inner peace or are depressed or bored or dissatisfied with their life. They won’t take the time to read the instructions. Can I get real radical? Most Christians would have much more fulfilling marriages, family lives, work, leisure, and church life – if they’d just read God’s Instruction Book on a regular basis. Instead, some of them pay a therapist to tell them (though the therapist may not even know it) what God’s Word says about how to have a fulfilled life.

  Second, you have to communicate. Does your Heavenly Father know what you need? Absolutely! Do you know what’s amazing? He wants to hear from us. God wants to hear from me and you, peons as far as this world is concerned, as much as He wants to hear from presidents, kings, queens, celebs and stars of this world. There’s no special line on God’s prayer chain. And do you know the two words that God loves to hear, more than any other, “Thank You!” Recently, I’ve been focusing on more ways to praise God. I’m ashamed to admit that I find it easer to pray (make my requests) than I do to praise.

  Third, you have to exercise. The most miserable individuals in nearly every church have one common trait – they’re good sitters. You’ll find that they can tell you all the things wrong in their lives and often everything wrong in everyone else’s and even everything wrong in the church. They’re not ministers; they’re missionaries of misery. Do you want to grow in your faith? Serve the Lord and serve Him by serving others.

  There’s a reason our world is so unhappy. It’s so self-absorbed. The most common pronouns in miserable people’s vocabularies are: I, me, my and mine. Joy, fulfillment and meaning are spelled with “you” and “them.”

  Fourth, you must have relationships. God designed us for community. A healthy church, a healthy Christian is one who has meaningful relationships with other believers. God never intended for church to be “our one hour” and we scoot. It’s as we interact, pray with one another, serve one another, that we grow. Now that’s not usually comfortable. You’re going to find people in a small group who will drive you crazy…just like, (I know this will come as a shock) you drive them crazy. But that’s how God designed for us to grow.

  Most of us, particularly when we’re in middle age, have settled out in our marriage and relationships with our children. We usually are no longer challenged and are no longer growing. Our spouse or children have taken a que sera, sera attitude with us (what will be, will be). In a smaller group, they haven’t bought our song and dance. They’ll challenge us and we in turn will challenge them, and then something wonderful and profoundly spiritual happens. Even old geezer Chistians find that they are still “training themselves in godliness” and keep growing. But the older we are in our faith (not necessarily mature), the more tempted we are to settled in our Christian walk. That’s not God’s goal for us and it’s spiritually devastating for us. God, in His love, is not satisfied until you and I are conformed to the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29).

  In 2014, change your eating and exercise routines, but remember that will only help for this life. So focus on doing something that will really make a difference both for now and eternity. Commit to “training yourself in godliness.”

Walking through the Bible like a tourist...

 

“The tourist who moves about to see and hear and open himself to all the influences of the places which condense centuries of human greatness is only a man in search of excellence.”  Max Lerner

  Being a tourist has never held a lot of appeal to me. While I like to travel, and I want to see the major sites, historical places and attractions – that’s just not enough. It’s just not satisfying for me. For that, I feel like I could almost watch a TV travelogue or even look at someone else’s snapshots.

  What I really enjoy doing when I visit a new area is to really get to know the area, to find out the unusual stuff, that only the locals know about. And what I really enjoy doing is getting to know the people and the culture.

  This past summer Jane and I stayed at a place called Muddy Pond in Tennessee. We wanted to really get to know the area, so we scouted out the attractions and scenic sites that only locals would typically know. We tend to skip the chain restaurants and look for places that the locals know about and recommend.

  Have you ever thought about this? The Bible is a lot like that. Most Christians know the “big attractions” like Psalm 23, John 3:16 or Romans 8:28, but they fail to take the time to really get to know the neighborhood, and the neighbors are fantastic. You almost feel sorry for certain passages of Scripture. Aren’t the neighbors of Psalm 23 – Psalm 22 and 24 important? You better believe it. How about John 3:17 or Romans 8:29? Great verses, yet the popularity of their next door neighbors has resulted in them being virtually ignored. That’s because too many of us walk through the Bible like a tourist. We fail to invest the time to really get to know the neighborhood. When you do that, you miss so much.

  Whenever we have the time when we are in the Chicago area, we stop at a restaurant that’s famous for its gyros and baklava. In a million years we’d never have found Hubs but Jane’s Uncle and Aunt who lived in Evanston at the time, took us there. It made such an impression on us that we go there at least once a year and have introduced several friends to Hubs. But it’s only because we were with someone who actually knew the neighborhood. And I can’t tell you how many times over the years we’ve made great discoveries because we took some time to explore the neighborhood. The Bible is like that, too.

  God wants us to know that ALL of His Word. Every verse is important. There’s no fluff or filler in God’s Word. That’s what the Bible tells us about itself, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Periodically, I’ll read a book and feel that the author crammed a 100 page book into 200 pages. There’s just a lot of fluff, but that’s not the case with the Bible.

  To be sure, there are verses, sections and books of the Bible that more easily hold our attention than others. Some passages are certainly easier to understand and digest than others. That, though, doesn’t infer that some parts are more important or better than others. God doesn’t have any filler in His Word. Every verse is vital and essential but you’re not going to know that…unless you read it.

  We’re beginning a new year. Please determine to faithfully read God’s Word in 2014. Maybe you want to read the whole Bible through. Perhaps you want to take your time and work through a book at a time. The important thing is to determine to be in God’s Word consistently.

  And even more important than being in God’s Word is to have God’s Word in you. Although the Bible reveals God’s truth to us; it’s primary purpose is not merely to educate us. God did not give us His Word to fill our minds with information. The purpose of God’s Word and the reason that we need to read it and study it is for transformation. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

  Even though our Bibles are printed with ink on pages, the author of Hebrews says that somehow God’s Word is living and active. There’s a dynamic energy at work whenever a person reads the Bible. Somehow the living God is actively working in and through the words of Scripture to impact the reader’s life. This makes the Bible unique from any other book.

  The Bible is described as a sharp double edged sword, which focuses on its ability to penetrate into our lives. The Bible has no blunt edge, every part of it is sharp enough to pierce into our lives with its message. Soul and spirit, joints and marrow, focuses on the Bible ability to penetrate our defenses into the very core of our personality, where our true self is. There, at the core of our personality, the Bible evaluates and discerns our inner thoughts and motives, sifting through our intentions and ideas. God works in our lives through His Word, that’s why the Bible is essential for our spiritual growth and transformation.

  Christianity isn’t some set of ideas. Being a Christian is not about spouting off doctrines or reciting creeds. Being a Christian is foremost about a personal love relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. This love relationship is a life transforming one. You can’t have an encounter with Jesus Christ without being radically changed. Being a Christian isn’t merely accepting certain facts about God or about the Bible. It’s about becoming a follower of Jesus Christ, a devoted disciple in eery part of our lives, as we seek to live lives of passionate devotion to Christ. The Bible is God’s love letter to us and it’s God’s primary means of transforming us. But the Bible will never revolutionize your life as God intended it to do…unless  you faithfully read it and apply it to your life.