One Pastor's Perspective

Yesterday I preached on the Greatest Commandments, which consists of the Shema and the Golden Rule.  There is a valuable life principle at work in the Golden Rule, and one that we forget too often.

Fred Sanford (on Sanford and Son … ok, if you remember that, you’re probably my age or older) had his own version of the Golden Rule:  Do unto others BEFORE they do unto you.  Yeah, that’s funny!  It is also what the Golden Rule has become in the modern world.  Get the other guy BEFORE he gets you.  Just straight-up survival of the fittest.  No Godly principles at work here!!

Diana recently faced a situation where a man who barely knows her decided to tell her off over a situation that wasn’t real.  (This did not happen in Florence.)  In hindsight I believe he was doing this to cover one of his own mistakes.  I was not with her at the time, and all I wanted to do is … Well, I’d better not blog too deeply here.  God and I finally saw it His way, and I did want to share something with this guy that I think would help him in life:  If you respect others, they will respect you.  But if you live your life disrespecting others, that is exactly what you will get from them. If you want respect, you must treat others respectfully.  Does that make sense??

Another truth, that this fellow probably wouldn’t understand, is this:  those of us in Christ are called to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.  (That is exactly why God won our little discussion, and He’s right!!)

Jesus said if we will love God with EVERYTHING WE ARE and love each other as much as we love ourselves, we would be getting to the heart of the Law and the Prophets.  God will be pleased and this world will be a much better place!!!

Don’t forget the Golden Rule today!!!

Quite a challenging day we live in … With information at the fingertips of whomever wishes to work for it and social media brimming with EVERYTHING some are doing at EVERY MOMENT.  The term “privacy” has all but lost its meaning.  Yet there are still areas of our lives that need privacy.  That beg for it.

I’m not talking about those dark corners where some hide sin.  Sure, anyone doing wrong wants to keep it in the dark and never wants those around them to know.  No, the fruit that our life exhibits is out there and I do believe people should see the fruit of Christ in us.  So the dichotomy is this:  We SHOULD be concerned about how we live our lives.  And yet, there is a time for privacy.  There are areas that are really not the business of others.

I was talking to a friend tonight about some challenges that poor health presents to a family member.  This family faces some major decisions.  Tough decisions.  And one of the least things they should be worried about is what others think!!  The public sometimes is quick to present opinions without knowing all of the facts.  Often these opinions are formed by people who know less about the facts than they think.  There is a time in life when silence is golden.  Or, as my momma always tells me, “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!!”

Experience with my father tells me you never know what you’ll have to do until the situation of life presents itself.  Then, you pray and ask God for direction … and DO WHAT HE SAYS!!  No matter what others might think!  We’ve been very fortunate with Mom being able to keep Dad at home thus far, and pray for continued help in that area.  But I’ve seen firsthand that sometimes you have to do what you have to do … Regardless of opinions formed on the outside.

As we enter the new year, I hope and pray all of us will think twice before we judge others!!  Try walking a mile in their shoes.  It might change your opinion!

Yesterday I heard some sad news.  About someone I didn’t even know.  But is it still terribly sad. A young man, probably no more than ten years older than me is laying in a hospice house right now in Greenville.  His elderly father sits beside him, faithful until the end, with tears streaming down his face.  Not the Christmas tale I expected to hear yesterday, full of hope and happy endings.  But this is true life.

I do not know him, but his family and my family have been friends for decades.  He was raised by devout Christian parents who believe in Proverbs 22:6, to “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”  And that is exactly what they seemed to do.  But this child chose to go his own way.  More the way of the prodigal son, with a lifestyle filled with drugs and worldly living.  Now, don’t get me wrong: I believe in Proverbs 22:6 as well.  And I have no idea and make no judgments about his soul, because that is not mine to judge.  But, there are a couple of observations about this scenario and I believe are worth pursuing:

1.  Parents can raise multiple children in what appears like the exact same way and they always seem to come out a little differently.  I hear remarks all of the time like:  “How could that kid act like that.  He’s been raised by good parents!!”  We can never forget that each of us has a free will, and many parents have raised children to live godly and clean lives only to see those children chose another path.  That is not a reflection on the parents or their lack of parental skill … that is merely proof that we each have the ability to chose our own path.

2.  And I guess this is something I wish I could say to every kid I know (Lord knows I’ve said it to my two children like a broken record for years):  BE CAREFUL OF THE PEOPLE WITH WHICH YOU SURROUND YOURSELF!!  In other words, the FRIENDS YOU CHOOSE!!  Because they will shape YOU as much or more than you shape them!!  And if you surround yourself with people who are living ungodly lives and doing destructive things, you will too.

So, the best thing you can do for your future is surround yourself with GOOD PEOPLE who have the same kinds of goals in life that you do!!  Because, if you don’t do this, you’ll pay more of a price than you ever intended to pay.  If you believe in Jesus Christ, the best thing you can do is surround yourself with friends that believe in Him and honor Him with their lives, too!

Test me and see if this is not true!!

I’ve been hesitant to write this.  But it is really churning around in my heart and mind, so I guess I cannot escape it any more.  I see something really dangerous on the horizon for the Body of Christ, and I know I will take heat for writing this.  But I cannot run from it anymore.

Reshaping.  Remolding.  Allowing our hearts and minds to evolve (or devolve) into a place that is comfortable for us, yet dangerous for the Kingdom of God.  And  I see it running rampant right now in America.

When we reshape God into something that fits our lives comfortably, we are headed down a DEVASTATING ROAD.  Yet it happens every day and Christians, people who are supposed to know better, are flocking to it.  Because it is easier to reshape and fall into the massive vision of a God who is 50% less filling than it is to walk the narrow path.  Jesus warned us that the wide path would be the easier path to walk, and many would head down that path.  And it would lead to destruction.  He also told us that the path to Him would be narrow and difficult, but it would lead to eternal life.  And now I see churches and even people I love and respect headed down that wide, easy path.  And when I dare to say anything I am labeled as “crazy,” or “jealous,” or a variety of things I haven’t even heard.

I agree that feels very NATURAL for us to seek comfort in our relationship with God, so it doesn’t surprise me that so many are doing this.  And, even though I have a Master of Divinity and an earned doctorate, I don’t consider myself a renowned  theologian … but even I can see from God’s word that a relationship with Him WILL CHALLENGE US, and it WILL CONFRONT US about our sin AND about our OBEDIENCE, and it WILL BE UNCOMFORTABLE at times.  The very nature of the Gospel is confrontational and compels me to strive towards living a Romans 12 life.  And that is neither easy nor comfortable.

I am hoping and praying today that we will all wake up.  Will you join me??

We all (Clemson and Carolina fans) need to step away and realize something about this last exchange in the press:  WE ALL GOT PLAYED.  By SOCIAL MEDIA.

Spurrier didn’t actually say what was attributed to him, but the official twitter account of USC Football attributed it to him SUNDAY and just retracted it LAST NIGHT. Then, Dabo prefaced his comments with his not being sure if Spurrier really said this or not. But the Clemson and Carolina fans left those two details out and went at it. Again.

Yeah, I’m kind sick of it, too. From both sides. And this morning, after seeing all the facts for myself, I think we ALL got played.

I am starting to believe all this rivalry JUNK is really a guise for Satan finding another way to get in between Christian people. I think we all need to rethink this folks!!

You can agree, disagree, or insult me if you’d like.  Whatever you need to do.  But we really were played.  And most of us walked right into it.

Why do we have such a hard time accepting God’s grace??  In this world where, for the most part, hard work and smart navigation are what we have to do to attain any level of success (in the eyes of the world), why is it so hard to accept God’s grace?

Is it hard to believe that God could love us so much that He would send His Son to die on a cross for us??  That He could possibly forgive us, when, in the backs of our minds we wonder how we could EVER forgive anyone if in His shoes??  What’s the deal with all of this?

I’ll tell you what I think … It’s biblical … Ephesians 2  says it is by grace that we’ve been saved, through faith.  It’s not something we could have possibly done for ourselves.  It is a gift from God.  Not by our works, so that we cannot boast.  The challenge for us is having enough faith in God to KNOW that He is good on His word.  That He DOES love us.  His grace is a gift that we cannot possibly earn or deserve … and, yet, it is NECESSARY to accept and believe in order to be saved!!

The bottom line is this:  God loves YOU enough!!!  MORE than enough!!  His grace is big enough to welcome you in!!  And, by the way … He ALREADY knows what you’ve done.

Accept the gift!!  And, love and forgive the way He does!!

Last night, we began a short study on Matthew 5, 6, & 7 (the Sermon on the Mount).  I love how Jesus began that discourse with the Beatitudes.  He basically set the tone for the entire sermon by saying “Everything you THINK you know to be true might not be.  You think the meek are downtrodden, but I tell you they will inherit the earth!  You think those that show mercy will be mowed over, but I tell you they will receive mercy!”  And on and on.

Jesus was spurring His disciples to realize that God sees things differently than we see them.  And Jesus would go on in the sermon to tell them exactly what that meant:  “You have heard it is wrong to commit adultery, but I am telling you it is wrong to even LUST after another woman!”  Jesus was telling them all it is our HEART that matters to God.  And if our HEART is in the right place, our actions will be, too!

Some might think it IMPOSSIBLE for us to really see things God’s way.  It would be impossible to see things from His perspective, because none of us actually ARE God!!  (Although some of us might want to be!!)  TRUE … But, why don’t we start praying to see things as God WANTS US to see them???

If we all pray that, it might just change the world!

There’s a lot to be said for focusing on the positive and moving ahead.  Tommy Dowling, a local leadership guru and church consultant, always reminds me to put energy into the positives!!  We can focus so much on the negatives we forget to nourish and cultivate the positives.  That won’t work in a local church (and it doesn’t work well in ANY business).

Satan gives us plenty of negatives on which we could focus.  And he wants us to do just that!!  I do believe it’s important to listen to criticism and take an honest look at it.  But we cannot bog down in it, just like we cannot ride the wave of praise!!  Truth is, we need to focus on the Holy Spirit and His leadership in EVERYTHING WE DO IN THE CHURCH.  If we do this, He will put the positives and negatives in the proper perspective, in the proper place.

Henry Blackaby reminded us in Experiencing God to discipline ourselves to “find God where He is at work in our lives AND JOIN HIM!!!”  Here’s a challenge for you to do that today!

What a dangerous title and thought!!  How could we EVER manage God Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of all that exists!!  Author of our Salvation!!  And, yet, we try to do even worse things to Him.

Yesterday I referred to events in I Samuel, chapters 4 – 7 concerning the Children of Israel, the Ark of the Covenant, and a really bad plan.  It seems Israel decided to go to war against the Philistines.  When that didn’t go well, they decided to take the Ark of the Covenant, because it was POWERFUL.  It had always dispelled their foes before.  That battle brought great devastation on them, and they lost the Ark!!

Why??  Because they planned it and tried to invoke God’s power into their plan!  He hadn’t told them to go to war in the first place, and He DEFINITELY didn’t tell them to take the Ark!!

They were without the Ark for 20 years.  God didn’t give it back to them until they had purged themselves of their idols and false gods, and realized that without Him, they could do nothing!

EVERYTIME we try to manage God, to invoke His power into our schemes and plans, we are setting ourselves up for miserable failure and a lesson to be learned:  We cannot manage God and shouldn’t EVER dare to try!!!