The Heart of Ministry

"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd". (Matthew 9:36)

The compassion Jesus exhibits here is a primary characteristic of God. Jesus came to earth and died and rose again because of the Father's love. In fact 1st John 4:6 tells us that God is love!

The outworking of love ought to be love. As Jesus had compassion so should we. Sometimes, unfortunately, we draw the wrong conclusions. Love is not an acceptance of human narcissism and self involvement. Love is not the setting of humanity on the throne. The outworking of this kind of love ought to be  a heart that wants to love the Lord, even if the struggle to do that is imperfectly carried out. 

The sheep need a shepherd to lead and guide them. Left to their own devices sheep will not last very long. The shepherd cares for the sheep and the sheep follow after him. Jesus said, My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me" (John 10:27). There lies the troublesome part. Jesus calls us to follow Him by faith. We sometimes fall down and get up and press on. But what about those who resolutely refuse to follow?

God won't make them. Universalists try to deal with this issue by proclaiming that it doesn't matter. Unfortunately, from any honest reading of scripture it does. Judgment for the unbeliever is very real. I think it comes back to love. Love ought to produce love, but what happens if it doesn't? God doesn't force anyone into relationship. If you don't want a relationship with Him He want make you. People get offended when believers talk about judgment, which I find interesting. God loves people so much, and yet, we want to wallow in our own narcissism and rejection of Him until it becomes inconvenient for us. Then we want a free pass. 

My theory is this. If the love of God won't change us now it won't change us then. That kind of rebellion and hatred so permeates our being that even if the Lord were to give a free pass to those who rejected Him in this life that it would rear its ugly head again. He already had one rebellion in the heavens. He doesn't need another one.

As for us. That's why love matters. We need to love the lost and have compassion on them. Love motivated Jesus' earthly walk and ministry and ought to be the prime motivation for each of us every day. It will literally change how we live our lives. It will open doors to share the love of Jesus. As always, they won't always follow after Him, but some will. 

There are people out there who will absolutely fall in love with Jesus because of you. Go out with eyes of compassion and let the Lord use you!

Dare to Ask!

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!"  (Matthew 7:11)

We serve an awesome God. One of the great blessings we have is relationship with the Lord. Out of that relationship we now receive the benefits of being His children. We can approach Him with boldness and confidence. Hebrews 4:16 tells us "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Sometimes we can get to the place that we think the Lord is tired of our asking, but He never is. We don't want our needs to be all we ever talk to the Lord about, but we need not hesitate to approach Him either.  

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." (Matthew 7:7)

"Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him." (Mark 11:23)

Reconciled Enemies

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5:10)

 The love of God is an incredible thing! It is interesting how two people can look at the same circumstances and come to different conclusions. The atheist looks at the world with all of its suffering and pain and concludes that there cannot be a God. The believer looks at the world with all its suffering and pain and  see the desperate need for God.

We were God's enemies and yet He made it possible for us to enter into His kingdom. The humanist worldview (which has infiltrated the church to some extent) is that man is good. History brutally lays waste to this notion. The reality is that Jesus died for us, not because we are good, but because God is good. That's a truth that will set you free!

Words of Life

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." (Proverbs 16:24)

Your words can be powerfully used for ministry. I've always found it interesting how so many people's conversation tends toward the negative.  A little of that goes a long way. It drags on your soul and weighs you down. It's the people who live Proverbs 16:24 that I enjoy being around. We all have people like this in our lives -- those people who, after you have spent some time with them, leave you feeling encouraged and built up. You too can be that person just by making some changes to you conversation and being quick to offer up a word of encouragement.

This is not about vain flattery or an exercise in self-esteem. It's about speaking the truth according to God's Word. We are inundated with negative talkers and naysayers all day long. Don't be one yourself!

Lay Down Your Nets

"Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Immediately they left their nets and followed Him."(Matthew 4:18-20)

I love this story. I think what I particularly like is the response of Peter and Andrew. They immediately quit what they were doing to follow after the Lord. There is no greater call than the call of Jesus to follow after Him.

People sometimes reject the call of God simply out of unbelief, but often they reject it because they have things in their life that they do not want to lay down. We would rather the call of God come without any expectation. We often want to give lip service only to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9 tells us "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Confessing Jesus as Lord is more than just an intellectual belief. It is a confession of allegiance to Him.

It doesn't mean we are going to get everything just right or never sin or make a mistake. It does mean we ought to want what God wants. If God says something is wrong then it is wrong, regardless of my feelings. If He calls something good it is good. His ways are right and perfect.

A good check on our hearts is to consider what are those things in my life that I would have trouble letting go of if the Lord asked? We create idols so easily. It may be an attitude, a belief that doesn't accord with the Word, or something we are doing. I love the picture of Peter and Andrew. They left their nets. Sometimes we create nets that ensnare us by holding onto things the Lord would have us give up. We need to be like Peter and Andrew and be willing to lay down our nets and follow after Him. It is always worth it. There is no one like Jesus!

The Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son
He is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. AMEN.

You Don't Have to go to Hell

For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed. (2nd Thessalonians 1:6-10)

Gospel means "good news." It is the most wonderful news in the history of mankind. Because of His great love God has poured out His grace on us in Christ Jesus and paid for us to have eternal life with Him forever. It is a gift -- we can't earn it -- all we have to do is receive it by faith. It requires some humility to be able to receive the gift, but that's pretty much all. Once we become born again and start walking with the Lord then He works in our lives to change and transform us. Our walk with Him then becomes a relational proposition. We have responsibility to do certain things to grow and the Lord helps us in ways we sometimes see and sometimes don't. Our walk with the Lord is the pinnacle of the human experience. We can now truly love Him, but only because He loved us first (1st John 4:19).

One thing we don't like to talk about too much anymore is that the Gospel is good news because there is bad news. Paul speaks to judgement in 2nd Thessalonians 1 that leaves little room for debate. People argue about Hell and what it may or may not be. I even saw an article by a Universalist titled, "What in the Hell is Hell?" It was basically a mocking critique on the concepts of Hell and eternal judgement. There is little debate that the New Testament writers (in accordance with the Lord Jesus) all viewed judgement as a real event. There is very little else you can do with a Paul's statements like "dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord." I'm not sure how else you take that. I'm amazed how Universalists cherry pick Paul. The intellectual inconsistency is staggering.

For some reason we lose sight of the fact that we are just messengers. Unbelievers get really offended if you believe the historical tenets of the Christian faith. We don't create the doctrine and we have no vested interest in seeing someone go to Hell. I find it somewhat ironic that people who reject Christianity get offended by believers who actually ascribe to historical, Biblical Christian beliefs. I'm not sure they are always quite as confident in their beliefs as they pretend to be.

Somewhere deep down that God spark sure seems to gnaw at people. That is the love of God that woos and calls to them. God is full of mercy and compassion and it is His desire that no one perish. And yet, people do when they refuse to accept the wonderful free gift that is laid out for them. The gospel is the best news in the history of mankind, but part of what makes it such great news is that there is truly bad news for those who reject Jesus.