Is it okay to miss?

 “A church isn't a group of friends you’ve picked, it’s a group of brothers and sisters God has picked for you.” Michael Scott Horton 

Do you have a regular family dinner? Did you have one when you were growing up? Was the family or extended family gathering for Sunday dinner your tradition?  Because of growing up in a home with virtually no Sunday traditions, family traditions, and healthy family relationships get my attention. It’s just not my history. Family gatherings of any kind just didn’t happen. For most of my teenage years I attended church alone…

  It’s one of the reasons that I enjoy the TV series, Blue Bloods. While Tom Selleck has been a favorite actor for me since his Magnum P.I. days, I love the family dinner scenes in Blue Bloods. They may be disagreeing or at odds with each other, yet every Sunday the Reagan family gathers around the family dinner table. On top of that, every family member participates with different ones being responsible for the food.

  Last Sunday Jane and I were on a “staycation.” When we planned it, we didn’t know it was going to be time change Sunday. And then, it’s Wisconsin so it snowed…so we lost an hour of sleep and the drive to whatever church we chose to worship at was going to be more difficult to get to because of road conditions.

  We looked at websites of some churches pastored by friends and those with our DNA of ministry. With the potential of bad roads, we didn’t want to travel too far. One friend was out of town. Another was doing a series on parenting. Add to that, I didn’t sleep well so when I woke up, I was very tempted to attend “Bedside Baptist with Pastor Sheets.” Or, as many have been doing in a post-Covid world, attend “Lazy-boy Church.”

  But I got convicted and knew that I needed to get out of bed and we drove to an area church. I’m so glad we did! What a blessing! It was a great message! The music stirred our hearts! Because we have several friends who are part of this church family, we were able to reconnect with them.

  Unbeknownst to us, that church was having a major congregational vote on leaving their denomination that day because of apostasy. It was a very emotional day for my pastor friend and his church. So Jane and I were blessed and then we were able to be a blessing…and to think that I seriously considered only thinking of myself and skipping.

  It is virtually impossible to be a healthy growing Christian without faithfully attending the worship services of a local church. It’s not enough to be a Christian and love Jesus. If you love Jesus, you love His family. If you love His family, you want to spend time with them. Yet, there has never been a time in history when it’s more difficult to faithfully attend. There are so many other options, opportunities or obligations to our already overflowing schedules.  

  Please understand. I don’t want to guilt-trip anyone. We need to faithfully attend worship services because we want to please the Lord and love Him, not because we feel guilty or pressured. Yet, our struggles with faithfully attending worship services aren’t totally new.

  The early church was largely composed of slaves and those on the socioeconomic fringes of society. As many as one-third of people living in first-century Greco-Roman society were slaves. A large percentage of those slaves were believers. It’s why they either met early in the morning before the work day began or late at night when it was over. Gathering for corporate worship either had to be before or after the long work day.

  Gathering for corporate worship is rarely convenient. There’s always something else going on. Some are required to work. It’s either work on Sunday morning or be terminated.  

  Most situations though don’t carry that much weight. Just a few years ago pastors felt pressure to be done by noon so the congregation could be home for the Sunday kick-off. Now it’s not noon. It’s youth sports, drama practices, dance recitals, etc. that all meet on Sunday morning. Or suggest to your family that maybe they could start the birthday party for little Matilda a little later so you attend church and they’ll look at you like you just got in from Mars.

  Our culture has moved from very few options to an overwhelming amount. Sunday is just another day. So we have to choose. We can’t have it all or do it all. Sometimes we need to give a little pushback to the culture and needless pressures.

  For example, if your company is asking you to work, if you’re an employee with a good reputation, most will give some flexibility for attending church. Think of all the other reasons that other employees miss or don’t show up. An honest conversation can go a long way.

  Then, what about other youth activities? First, I’d suggest an honest conversation with the leaders or organizers and try to attend the 9 am service. Second, what will have more long-term life value for your child?

  Over the years I’ve known some very talented young athletes. Because they were so gifted, their parents had them in a traveling team. Yet, none went on to play professionally or even play in college. Perhaps because church was lowered on the priorities, as far as I know, none of those talented athletes attend a church of any kind.

  Will church attendance make a difference? Well, where else are we encouraged to focus on what has eternal benefits? Where else are we encouraged to be a better spouse or a person of character? Where else are we encouraged to be ethical, gracious and care for others? Where else are we encouraged to be have a biblical worldview and an ethic of morality?

  Hopefully, those things are taking place in your marriage and home. One reason Scripture so emphasizes the local church is that it’s in the community of God’s people with the echoing of eternal values and godly behavior that we grow spiritually. It helps cement these things in our hearts and the hearts of our children.

  Yet please don’t just attend. Get involved, serve. Find a place for your children to serve. Because in serving we learn to think of others. It also helps our children develop friendships with other Christian adults that they will have after they become adults themselves. While Couch Church is increasingly convenient, the long term price for own hearts is too high! 

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Church Membership Matters

“Once you choose Christ, you must choose His people, too. 

It’s a package deal.  Choose the Father 

and the Son and you have to choose the whole family –

 which you do through a local church.” Jonathan Leeman

 A belief that permeates the pages of the Bible and is essential to a healthy Christian life is commitment. In Matthew 16:24 Jesus told His followers “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” Yet, ours is a culture that’s afraid of commitment. Many couples rationalize, “Why not just live together to see if it works out?” In a similar way, many Christians think, “Why not just attend a church? What’s the point of joining?” Unfortunately, many believers attend a church for years yet never join.

  This Thursday, March 16^th, is the beginning of our New Members class. Attending this class doesn’t commit you to join Grace or make you a member. It does give us an opportunity to share our understanding of Scripture and how it applies to our church. During the eight lessons of this class, we share who we are, what we believe, our passion, and our mission.

  We believe that to be an obedient Christian, you must go beyond church attendance to being a committed, serving member of a church. We’re looking to have others officially join our church who have our DNA, our passion for Jesus, and our desire to reach our community with the gospel.

  So what does the New Testament have to say about church membership? The metaphors that the New Testament uses to describe the local church imply close relationships and committed connection; building, family, army, flock, etc. Add to that, nearly every letter in the New Testament was written to a local church or to the pastor of a local church.

  If church membership is so important why don’t we find church membership mentioned specifically in the New Testament? In the New Testament, you’ll discover membership is implied throughout it. Churches didn’t need to be formalized in the way we need it today because there was only one church per city. If you were a Christian, you didn’t have options on where to attend. If you lived in Ephesus, you were a member of the church there. Today there are dozens of evangelical churches in an area.

  Many New Testament texts infer that local churches knew exactly who their members were. For example, in giving instructions about the Lord’s Supper, Paul wrote (1 Corinthians 11:18), “For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you.” That implies that there was a defined group who came together as a church, though there were sinful divisions among them. In Acts 11:26, Paul and Barnabas “met with the church and taught considerable numbers.” In Acts 14:23, Paul and Barnabas “appointed elders for them in every church” which they’d founded on their missionary journey. Elders were responsible to lead these churches., so obviously, they knew who the members were. A pastor in a church is commanded to shepherd the church (Acts 20:28). You can’t faithfully shepherd if you don’t know who is part of the “flock.”

  To fulfill the responsibilities then of both pastors and members requires a well-defined group of committed believers identified as members of each church. They meet regularly for teaching, worship, fellowship, and prayer.

  Why join? John Stott wrote: If the church is central to God’s purpose, as seen in both history and the gospel, it must surely also be central to our lives. How can we take lightly what God takes so seriously? How dare we push to the circumference what God has placed at the center?” That centrality of the local church to God’s purpose should be reason enough for you to be committed to one. Let me share then just three reasons…

  You should join a church because Christ loves the church and gave Himself for her; if you love Christ, you must love His church and commit yourself to her well-being. In Ephesians 5:25, Paul commands, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.” He talks about how Christ’s aim is to sanctify the church so that He might present her to Himself in all her glory, as beautiful as she possibly can be. Then Paul tells husbands to tenderly nourish and cherish their wives, just as Christ does His church. Throughout this passage, you’d think that Paul was talking about marriage, but then he adds this surprising statement (Eph. 5:32): “This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” In other words, marriage is designed to be an earthly picture of the relationship between the divine Bridegroom and His bride, the church.

  You should join a local church because the church is where you learn practically to love God and love others (the two greatest commandments). You can’t be a “Christian at large” any more than you can be “married at large.” I love all my sisters in Christ in the church worldwide, but there’s only one to whom I’m committed to as my wife. I’m not suggesting we’re to “marry” a church with the same lifelong commitment we vow in marriage, but we do need a strong commitment to help us work through issues and personal conflicts that arise in the church so we grow in grace and love for one another. Commitment is the glue that holds relationships together, enabling us to grow spiritually when there are inevitable conflicts.

  You should join a local church because it is the means Jesus ordained to fulfill His Great Commission. A local church is God’s ordained way of fulfilling His Great Commission. A church must be committed to reaching the lost and making disciples. Paul told the Philippian church (Phil. 1:27), “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” That’s the church’s job!

  God is using our church for His glory! If our mission is your mission, we’d love to have you officially join us! Check out our New Members’ class when it starts this week!

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

 

Courage!

“Cowardice asks the question: ‘Is it safe?’ Consensus asks the question: ‘Is it popular?’ 

Courage asks the question: ‘Is it right’?”  Rod Rogers

 

There’s a scene that takes place toward the very end of The Lord of the Rings trilogy at the end of The Return of the King. It’s during a great battle and during this great battle, there’s a very unlikely warrior, a girl named Eowyn, who sneaks onto the battlefield. As she is there, she finds her king, the King of Rohan. He’s wounded and dying on the battlefield. So she goes to him and stands over him to protect him. As she’s standing there, a dark, demonic enemy comes at her and says, “Get out of the way! Move aside!” 

  But Eowyn doesn’t move, instead, she draws her sword and says, “Do what you will, but be you living or dark undead, I will smite you if you touch my king! I’ll kill you if you touch him!” What amazing courage!

  Yet as Eowyn is standing there protecting her king, there’s another character that is more like most of us – Merry the Hobbit. In that battle, Merry sees that dark, demonic, gigantic enemy. He becomes sick and blind because of the terror that overwhelms him and Merry hides on the battlefield. But at one point he regains his sight and looks up. And guess what he sees? Eowyn is ready to die for her king. And J.R.R. Tolkien  then writes, that “great wonder filled his heart and suddenly the slow-kindled courage awoke and he clenched his fists and he battled as a warrior.”

  When was the last time that you saw courage? When was the last time you saw a Christian with courage? Do you struggle to be courageous? Courage is essential if you and I are going to stand for King Jesus!

  Courage, in the biblical sense, is not some personality trait. A soft-spoken, introverted, calm person can be courageous at a time when a driven, outspoken, brash person shrinks back. Courage is instead acting, by the power of the Spirit, on an urgent conviction in the face of some threat or opposition. Without sufficient courage, we don’t have enough fiber in our conviction to stand for Jesus or face opposition.

  No doubt you’ve heard of those individuals who can be sitting next to a complete stranger on an airplane and boldly share their faith. I’m not one of them. I struggle to be bold. I can feel the pit in my stomach as I share the gospel or make a stand for Christ.

  Many of us as Christians have a tendency to look at past leaders in the Church through rose-colored glasses. We are apt to place them on pedestals and forget that they too had feet of clay and knocking knees.

  It’s why the Apostle Paul so encourages me. Many passages in the New Testament suggest that Paul wasn’t a naturally bold person. For example, in 1 Corinthians 2:3, Paul admits that when he was with the church there, he was with them in “weakness and in fear and much trembling.” Then in  2 Corinthians 10:10, Paul acknowledges that his reputation among the churches was that his “letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” There’s at least one record where Paul directly asks the church to pray for him that he “might “declare [the gospel] boldly.” (Ephesians 6:18-20). On another two occasions, the Lord encourages Paul not to be afraid in the midst of conflict and opposition. This all suggests that Paul may have been a naturally timid personality or at least was not as naturally bold as we tend to think he was.

  That’s just like God. Frequently, He takes those who lack natural gifts and empowers them or gives them the gifts they need to accomplish His will.

  We must pray for courage and pray for other Christians to have courage. There is great pressure today to conform or be silent. None of us want to be attacked, maligned, or caricatured. It’s why, like Paul, we must pray for courage and pray that our brothers and sisters have courage, too. Evidencing courage is usually personal. It’s not primarily manifested with a keyboard as in social media but in personal contact and relationships.

  We must be courageous about that which has true significance. In recent years, Christians have become very outspoken about political positions, yet I can’t personally think of one of those positions that will make an eternal difference. Instead, they’re frequently distractions from the mission Jesus gave us.

  The Bible teaches that there are only two eternal destinations. Jesus commissioned us to share the gospel so that we can bring as many to heaven with us as possible. Most of the other “stuff” is a bit like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

  As we are courageous, it influences others. Like Merry, watching the courage of Eowyn, as others see us acting in courage, it encourages them to act with courage. It’s why it’s vital for us to share what God is doing in our lives, how He is working, and how He is using us.

  Godly courage means being willing to pay the price for what is right. There is great pressure today in the workplace and the classroom to be shamed into silence. Please understand. God didn’t call us to be obnoxious. Some Christians believe that they’re being persecuted because of their biblical positions when they’re really being persecuted because they’re acting like a jerk.

  As much as possible, Christians must have irreproachable behavior. We must be a bit Teflon so accusations can’t stick. The fruit of the Spirit should be so much a part of our life that like Daniel of old (Daniel 6), the only thing that can be found to criticize is that we love Jesus too much. We must consistently act with Christlikeness but must not give our approval to sinful behavior. Sometimes taking a stand for Christ is going to cost us.

  Godly courage means standing for what is right in your home. Every parent feels the pressure to cave to “everybody else is doing it.” It’s why we need a local church family. Our children need to see in our church family that the values in our home are the same as those of other believers in our church. It will help embolden them to have the courage they will need as adults in our darkening world to stand alone for the Savior.

  The same Holy Spirit who emboldened those early believers to stand courageously for Christ, even sometimes at the cost of their lives, has taken up residence within us and gives us courage, too. Courage isn’t the absence of fear. It’s living by faith in the midst of fear, trusting that the Spirit will give us what we need at the right moment to live boldly for King Jesus!

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Is there a Christian response to violence ad mass shootings?

“In the face of evil and tragedy be not weary in well doing. 

Never cease to be moved by the suffering of others. 

Mourn with those who mourn.” Ben Watson

Already this year there have been nearly 70 mass shootings. There have been more mass shootings at this point in 2023 than in any previous year since 2013. With Jane’s growing up in East Lansing, the shootings at MSU took my breath away. We’ve been on that campus many, many times!  Yet, it’s not just mass shootings. Violent crime is growing rampantly everywhere, particularly in urban areas. For example, you have a 1 in 185 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in Racine. A 1 in 60 chance of being one in Milwaukee and a 1 in 24 chance in Chicago. It’s a Mad Max world. So what’s a Christian response?

  First, we need to be honest, there are no simple answers. After each mass shooting self-appointed experts flood social media with solutions. Many are quick to blame access to guns, yet many mass shootings and violent crimes happen in places with the strictest gun controls. One doesn’t need a gun to attack people. Just recently, Weng Sor drove a rented U-Haul and struck nine people in Brooklyn.

  Obviously, there does need to be some gun control. Convicted felons or those with a history of mental illness shouldn’t have access to guns.

  For a myriad of reasons, we have a mental health crises. While some who commit violent crimes are evil, many others suffer from mental illness. Because of their derangement, they’re a danger to themselves and others, and society needs to be protected from them.

  Violent crime and mass shootings are a vertical problem. They reveal the sin inherent in our world and a breakdown with the God who created life. The core solution to reducing violence is not another policy or law. It’s in addressing root causes that result in someone carrying out these horrific crimes. Guns, vehicles, and bombs are the symptoms of the problem. The real problem is the heart of the perpetrator. It’s first a spiritual problem.

  Violence happens because of the brokenness and evil inside each of us. We’re all naturally rebels against God and slaves to sin, compelled to do its bidding. Jesus came to set us free from our sin. The main problem in the world isn’t weapons, bad parenting, poverty, or any other social malady. The problem is that we’re estranged from God and in need of redemption.

  While this doesn’t mean that there isn’t value in dealing with problematic societal structures, it does mean that the primary blame doesn’t reside with politicians, gun dealers, or law enforcement.

  Mourn with those who mourn and pray for all the victims. Christians are to “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15). With so much violence, it’s easy to become desensitized. We’ve seen so many reports of tragedies that we can forget to remember that the lives lost were someone’s sons and daughters, someone’s spouse, or someone’s parent. As Christians, we’re called to identify with the pain of others.

  And we need to pray for those who have experienced tragedy. Every victim has a mother and a father. Many times they have siblings and extended family. The victim of violence is not the only victim.

  Some will retort that “thoughts and prayers” are unhelpful. Christ-followers know that prayer is the most powerful tool we have available. Through prayer, we have access to the God of the universe, the only One who can bring peace to violent situations and comfort to those who have experienced loss. We must be committed to lifting up those in need.

  Violence and murder are natural outcomes of a “Culture of Death.” Genesis 1:27, says “God created man in His image, male and female He created them.” When a culture doesn’t value Imago Dei, that every human being is made in the image of God, then violence and murder of all kinds are tragic byproducts. If one doesn’t value life at its beginning or end, why would one value life in the middle? If one doesn’t believe “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13), for every human being,  the move to take the life of another human being becomes easier to rationalize.  

  While we can’t change the world, we can work to change “our world.”  Since 1982, 134 mass shootings have been carried out in the United States by male shooters. In contrast, only three mass shootings have been carried out by women. Many mass shooters were loners and suicidal prior to carrying out their rampage. The average age is under 35.

  God has designed us for community. He has designed us for relationships. God has not called Christians to live safe lives but invested ones. Too many of us are so busy that we fail to notice those around us with deep needs. It takes very little effort to invest in young people or single adults that God brings into the sphere of your life. Knowing their name, some of their interests and engaging them in conversation humanizes them.

  God designed the local church to be a Christian counterculture from the world. While the world may be filled with disrespect and rudeness, we value kindness and graciousness. While violence may fill the streets, we must cultivate an environment of love, peace, forgiveness and healthy relationships. While environment is not a guarantee against acts of evil, it’s profoundly important. In our families, in our small groups, in our teen and children’s ministries and in all our interactions, we must cultivate an environment that gives people the alternative of a biblical worldview of Christlikeness to the cruelty and emptiness that our world offers.

  We can share the only true hope. Only the gospel of Christ offers true hope. Only Jesus can reconcile us to God and help us reconcile with each other. When we come to Christ, we receive not only forgiveness for our sins, but we also get a new family as we’re adopted into the family of God.

  In the aftermath of great evil, as believers we must cling tighter to the gospel, realizing that we are all lost without it. We must boldly share it. If we truly are concerned with the evil in the world, we must point those around us to the only hope of solving the heart problems that births all evil.

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Now THIS is exciting!

 

“If coming to know Christ is the greatest thing that has happened to you, it only makes sense that the greatest thing you can do for someone else is to introduce them to Him.”  Bill Bright 

Did you watch Sunday’s Super Bowl? It was a nailbiter, particularly if you were a Chiefs or Eagles fan. In the nearly seventy Super Bowls only about a dozen have been close like Sunday night’s game. 

  Can you imagine though if after the Chiefs win that there is no confetti, no party streamers, and no presentation of the Lombardi trophy? Kansas City had something like half a million fans lining the parade route last  Tuesday to welcome the victors home. But what if there had been no victory parade, no celebration…nothing?

  What gets you excited? What news do you find that you just have to share? Do you share with everyone when your team wins? Or, when you graduated from high school or college? How about when you got engaged? Or, had your first child? Everybody gets excited about something, right? So what is it that does that for you? When we’re excited, we have to share it.

  Many years ago we had a woman attending our church who was given a terminal cancer diagnosis. Her doctor told her, “Just go home and prepare your will…your terminal.” I’ll never forget my conversation with her later. What could I say?

  Fortunately, she got a second opinion, and what the first doctor diagnosed as terminal cancer, turned out to be cysts which though serious, were safely surgically removed with no further complications. Do you think that she was excited? Do you think that she had to share her good news with everyone? You better believe it!

  As Christians, we have much better news, the greatest news. Prior to salvation, we were doomed to a Christless eternity. Now we’re forgiven but not just for the sin we committed in the past but for every sin that we will commit in the future. We have a new Father and a new family, one that is so huge it will fill all of heaven. We will never be alone ever again. Jesus has promised to always be with us. We have a new citizenship and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We’re given a new nature so we desire things that are good and wonderful and have eternal value. We even have a new body awaiting us. And the list goes on and on and on.   

  What we have is better than winning the Super Bowl, the World Cup, the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the Mega Lottery all rolled into one, plus so much more. All of those things are only for this life, yet salvation is for all eternity. Redemption is the best thing that will ever happen to any of us.

  Those words from Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade, have echoed in my heart since I read them a few weeks ago. What a powerful insight! “If coming to know Christ is the greatest thing that has happened to you, it only makes sense that the greatest thing you can do for someone else is to introduce them to Him.”

  Sadly think about all of the things that we talk about BUT Jesus. I’m not talking about being some religious nut. The last thing a lost world needs is another religious wacko. Yet our world desperately needs those who are born-again to share the gospel. The gospel is this world’s only hope.

  Today we’re celebrating our 5^th Anniversary in this building. We built this building as a tool. We built it to be a place where believers can get a bigger view of our awesome God as we study God’s Word together so they leave here to share Him with all those they come in contact with. We want it to attract those who haven’t yet met the Lord Jesus so that we can introduce them to our Savior. As a church family, we want to be Jesus’ PR people.

  African-American pastor, E.V. Hill, pastored Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in L.A. for over forty years. One of his most well-known sermons was entitled: When is God at His Best?

  He began his message by referring to the book of Genesis. He talked about creation and described what happened during those first seven days in such amazing detail. Then he said, “This was amazing. It was powerful—but it wasn’t God at His best.” He turned to Exodus and talked about how God delivered the Hebrew people from bondage. He described the plagues, miracles, and the parting of the Red Sea, and again, Hill said, “This was powerful and amazing but it wasn’t God at His best.” He followed this same line of reasoning with the birth of Christ, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. Each time he’d say, “This was powerful and amazing but it wasn’t God at His best.” So when is God at His best? At the end of his sermon, Pastor Hill finally answered that question:

  But God is at his best when he saves lost souls. Would you like for me to tell you when He was at His best? It isn't even in the Bible. God was at His best nearly 51 years ago, with a little country boy, whose mother couldn't make enough money to feed him, and who some people in the country helped raise. At 11 years old, walking down Grandma Jodi's lane, this great, big, old God came all the way down and got right into my heart. Then He got up in my head. Then He got all over me. I didn't know what was happening to me; I didn't understand it. I had to go home and tell Mamma about my experience. She said, "I think God has saved you, boy."

  That is God at his best — when He saved me. When He — the great God of the universe — came all the way down and got into the heart and spirit of an 11 year old boy. Every time He saves a lost soul, that's God at His best. Not the moon and stars. Not the hills and mountains. Not the trees and valleys. Not the rivers and lakes and oceans. But God picking up a drunkard and making him a preacher, picking up a prostitute and making her a singer, picking up people down and out and putting them on their feet, causing us to stand and say, "Glory, He saved me. I'm saved."

  That's God, the Savior, at His best. God is at His best when He's saving. I am but a wretch. It took a miracle to put that sun in place. It took a miracle to put the moon in space. But when He saved my soul, cleansed and made me whole, that was God at His best.”

  At Grace Church, we’re committed to being part of God at His best! That’s what must excite us! We’re committed to sharing with those around us how they can be part of God at His best! Our DNA is sharing how others can meet our Savior so they too can experience God at His best! 

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Love Letters

 

“A real love letter is made of insight, understanding, and compassion. Otherwise it's not a love letter. A true love letter can produce a transformation in the other person, and therefore in the world. But before it produces a transformation in the other person, it has to produce a transformation within us.” Thich Nhat Hanh 

Have you ever read the love letters of famous people? Some of them are wonderful. Mark Twain wrote this letter to his future wife, Olivia Langdon: 

  Out of the depths of my happy heart wells a great tide of love and prayer for this priceless treasure that is confined to my life-long keeping. You cannot see its intangible waves as they flow towards you, darling, but in these lines you will hear, as it were, the distant beating of the surf.”

   Johnny Cash wrote this very honest love letter to his wife, June Carter Cash: “Happy Birthday Princess, We get old and get used to each other. We think alike. We read each others minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit. Maybe sometimes take each other for granted. But once in awhile, like today, I meditate on it and realize how lucky I am to share my life with the greatest woman I ever met. You still fascinate and inspire me. You influence me for the better. You're the object of my desire, the #1 Earthly reason for my existence. I love you very much. Happy Birthday Princess. John”

  This past Christmas season Jane and I watched a movie, Christmas Oranges. In it the father and his daughter were estranged. She wanted to rebuild the relationship but feared her Dad might not read her letters, so she mailed them to his brother to give to her Dad at a time when he felt that they’d be accepted. For some reason the brother just kept them, never sharing them. But when the letters were finally shared, the transformation in the relationship was miraculous.   

  The Bible is God’s love letter to us. Yet, it’s shocking how many Christians rarely or never read it. It’s like having a love letter locked away in a box. A love letter that’s never been read is heartbreaking.

  Maybe you started out the new year committed to faithfully reading your Bible every day but you’ve quit. Today is a new day. Every great habit has to simply start. Here are some suggestions to help you make reading God’s love letter a part of your daily life.

  Choose a Bible version that’s understandable and easy to read. There are very few people who regularly read Shakespeare. The language is archaic and difficult to understand. For most, it’s too much effort.

  The Bible was originally written in Hebrew and Greek. We’re blessed today that we have a variety of accurate versions to choose from. Find a version that works for you. If you have difficulty reading, consider the New Living Translation (NLT), or a study Bible in the English Standard Version (ESV) or the New International Version (NIV). The NLT version of the Bible is the most readable while still being literal in its translation; Study Bibles contain footnotes that explain difficult passages of Scripture. 

  Start small yet be consistent. We all know individuals who were determined to get in shape and start by working out for several hours. They may have done it for a couple of days but soon quit. Starting to read the Bible is like that. It’s better to read for a short period of time consistently, like 5 or 10 minutes, than it is to go on a reading marathon and quit after a few days. Determine to read a chapter or at least half a chapter if possible. Then, pick up the next day where you stopped.

  Chose a time and place convenient for you. It’s best to read in the same place every day. As you do that, you’ll discover there are less distractions.

  Many read their Bible first thing in the morning, choosing to spend time with God before daily distractions get in the way. I’ve found that works best for me. It’s too easy to rationalize that I’ll read my Bible later, but I usually never do. Yet, if mornings aren’t your thing, don’t sweat it. Reading the Bible is more important than the time you read God’s Word.

  It’s best to not start at the beginning. The focus of the Bible is Jesus. It’s truly His-story. If you’re new to Scripture, the best place to start is one of the Gospels, like Mark or John. The Gospels are biographies of Jesus. Once you know Jesus, the rest of the Bible begins to make sense.

  Whatever you do, pick one book of the Bible and then stick with it. Otherwise, you’ll waste time thumbing through the Bible, never quite landing. You’ll also lose the context of a passage. That’s why it’s best to choose one book and read a little each day, one chapter perhaps.  As you work your way through that book, it’s easier to follow the thread of thought and increase your understanding of what God is saying.  

  Pray and ask God for wisdom before you begin reading. God wants us to know Him and He’s promised to give wisdom to those who ask for it (James 1:5). So pause before you open your Bible and ask God to open your spiritual eyes and speak to you. Ask God to use His Word to teach you, to direct you and even to re-direct you, when necessary. Ask Him to use His Word to help you know Him and love Him. Be intentional about getting God’s Word into your thoughts and you’ll soon see your relationship with God thrive and your life change. That’s the purpose of  reading the Bible!

  God’s Word was never meant to just inform us. God wants His Word to transform us. The Bible is God’s love letter written to His people, which includes you. Do you want to know how much God loves you? Read His Word! Start today!

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

The Bear Necessities

 

“Anyone can smile for a photo,

but who is still smiling after the selfie?”  Ken Poirot 

Apparently, humans aren't the only species that take selfies. A wildlife camera in Boulder, Colorado, snapped hundreds of images of a curious black bear last November. The city’s Open Space and Mountain Parks Department set up nine cameras to learn about local wildlife. One of the cameras captured 580 images, about 400 of them were of the same bear. 

  A spokesperson for the Department stated, “These pictures made us laugh, and we thought others would too.” It seems that the bear discovered one of the cameras. Most animals don’t notice them, which are activated by an animal stepping in front of them. They capture animals like deer, beavers, and less curious black bears going about their business. But this bear was enthralled by the camera, posing for some 400 “selfies.”

  That obsessed focus might work out for a bear, but it’s probably not so great for human beings. Studies show that on average, people spend 60% of conversations talking about themselves. That figure jumps to 80% when communicating via social media platforms like Facebook or TikTok.

  God did not design us to be self-focused, even in our own thoughts. The first thing that God declared was not good was for human beings to be alone (Genesis 2:18). We were designed for relationships and community.

  If you’ve just emerged from a life isolated in Antarctica, selfies are those pictures individuals take of themselves with or without a duck face. For some odd reason, the “bathroom” selfie is one of the more popular forms.  And while selfie pictures can be fun and an opportunity to share life and events, selfie thinking can be disastrous. Why?

  Selfie thinking tends to make pain bigger. Ours is a sin-contaminated world and sin is painful. Each one of us is affected by this pain. It can be physical pain, the pain, and strain of relationships, or even mental and emotional pain. The list is endless. Just watch the evening news and the majority of the stories are about someone or some group’s pain.

  As a selfie increases the size and focuses on the individual, self-focus only increases pain. When we spend an inordinate amount of time and energy thinking about ourselves, how we’re suffering, what’s wrong in our life, the pain we’re experiencing, or things we feel we did wrong, it amplifies our pain. It can trap us in a vicious cycle of overthinking and blowing pain out of proportion. It’s a major contributor to depression and anxiety, drains our time and spirit, and leads to unhealthy coping strategies.

  Selfie thinking feeds our pride. Pride blinds us to our own sin. It’s difficult to accept that it’s us and our problem because we’re too proud to accept that we’ve sinned and have issues because we’re consumed with ourselves. Someone said, “pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick but the one who has it.” Pride feeds a sense of self-importance.

  Imagine visiting Niagara Falls with a friend. You’re both viewing one of the most awe-inspiring natural scenes in America, but then you realize your friend is only taking selfies. A hundred pictures later, and your friend is the picture in every single shot. Who wants to see Niagara Falls when your friend is only taking selfies without even the Falls in the background?

  Social media has given everyone a platform to post their opinions. Usually, the one posting assumes their opinion is a fact, after all, it’s their opinion. Yet, a fact is a statement proven to be true or false by data or evidence. Most opinions are based on emotions, personal history, and values—all of which can be completely unsupported by real evidence. It’s like being blind and not knowing it. Leonardo da Vinci wisely observed, “The greatest deception men suffer is their own opinions.”

  The Christian life is anti-selfie thinking. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Denying your self is not thinking harshly of your “self” or hating your “self.” It is just not thinking or focusing on yourself.

  It’s this simple, if you’re living for self, you’re not following Jesus. “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24). The word “deny” is the same word used of Peter’s denials. It means to repudiate, renounce, or disown. Jesus wasn’t talking about denying yourself little pleasures, like giving up dessert. He’s talking about a complete way of life involving a renunciation of living for your own selfish interests and embracing living for the sake of Christ. Denying self and taking up one’s cross are foundational for a life of following of Jesus. It means surrendering the right to control your life and giving that right to the Lord Jesus.  

  To American ears, self-denial sounds so negative, but remember that it was Jesus who said this. In the short term, self-denial is difficult and not very pleasant. But there is joy and peace in the present from it and eternal blessings in the future when a Christian follows Jesus on the path of the cross. In Luke 9:24 Jesus said, “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” When you die to self and follow Jesus, He graciously gives you the ultimate in fulfillment as the by-product—the joy of eternal life and of being affirmed by Jesus before the Father when He comes in glory (9:26)!

  In the movie Chariots of Fire, Scottish runner, Eric Liddell competed in the 1924 Olympics in Paris but Liddell refused to run on a Sunday. After his gold medal in the 400-meter race, he didn’t return to Scotland to have his picture on a box of Wheaties or to live off his endorsements. Eric accepted God’s call to serve as a missionary in China. During the Japanese invasion, Liddell was arrested with other Chinese Christians and placed in a prison camp. Even in the camp, Liddell led others to Christ and discipled them. Months before China was liberated, Eric Liddell died as a prisoner in that camp. At the young age of forty-three, he met his Master face to face. His last words were, “it’s complete surrender,” referring to how he’d given his life to serve the Lord. He’d run another kind of race, for another kind of prize and he received another kind of medal, more priceless than gold and that never perishes.

  Jesus doesn’t call most of us to be missionaries in a faraway land, yet He calls all of us to deny ourselves and follow Him. Selfie thinking is miserable. True fulfillment comes from following Christ. So please feel free to take fun pictures, even selfies, yet make the Lord Jesus the primary picture in your heart and seek to live for Him!

Can we help you spiritually? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.