Calling Concerns

What does God want me to do? That's a question we often ask ourselves. Often we mean in a 'big picture' way, what does He want me to do with my life. Sometimes, though, we mean, "What does He want me to do this week, or today, or this next year?" This question is one we should all ask ourselves often; then bring it to Him to have it answered. God does not call us all to be teachers, or preachers, or missionaries. But God does call us all to do one important thing. -We are to live holy lives before Him.
(I Thes. 4:11, Heb. 12:14, Eph. 1:4, I Peter 1:15, Rom. 12:1, II Peter 3:11)

But what does this mean? How can we do this? Well, for starters we need to remove anything from our lives that takes us away from God's presence and service. Now for different people this can be different things. Some people it may be things like Facebook, video games, certain books, movies, sports, hobbies, or relationships. Often times, these things that we use to remove ourselves from God are not in themselves evil, we just hold them too highly.

After we have removed these things, they also need to be replaced with God-honoring things instead. If we try to remove something without replacing it, we usually end up doing something on the same level as the original problem, maybe even worse. There are many noble, God-honoring pursuits that we can use our time for that we may be skilled at. These things may be direct study of God's Word, taking up a class to teach, or ministering to people around us. Ministering to people does not have to be complex or an official position, it can be deciding to be more available to help out, to share a smile or kind word, or filling some duty that others consider to small to take up their time. Doing these things out of humility for the right reason (to honor and please God) are wonderful ways to fill our time.

But how does this help us fill our calling? Well, thats a good question. Its important to realize that if we are not doing the small things that we can, should, and are called to do, then we will never receive a more specific calling. (Luke 16:10) We should always be wary of desiring more than what we are given; rather we should focus on doing what we are assigned in an excellent manner. (Col. 3:23)

If we are given more, God will require more from us.(Luke 12:48) With this in mind, make sure that what we are already given, whether that that be family, friends, work, or ministry, is being handled in a God-honoring way.

After we have removed those things which hinder us, we need to make sure that we are obeying God's general commands to His people. God will not give us a specific calling if we cannot follow the general calling for all His people.

Sometimes we forget that God is not affected by time. Oh, sure, we know it. But we don't act upon that knowledge. Noah built and labored for 120 years to prepare for a short (but powerful) Flood. Moses prepared for 40 years in Egypt and another 40 in the desert before he was used. Joseph was a servant in a royal house and then a prisoner before he was used to save his people. Jesus was on Earth for 30 years before His public ministry began. God often uses much more time in preparing His people than what the length of the actual ministry is. We need to realize that we may be in our own wilderness or prison experience; or maybe in palace like Moses, learning for the future. We need to trust God and apply ourselves in whatever area He has us in now.

Conclusion

So am I saying we shouldn't desire to have a specific calling? Or that we shouldn't try to have a specific calling? No, what I am saying is that often times we already have a specific calling in our lives we need to improve before we get more responsibilities for the kingdom. May we all work in the calling we already have so that we can improve in the calling that God is also preparing us for.

Teaching Toddlers

Its great fun to watch a toddler walk. They seem to be walking on an invisible deck of a ship as they sway one direction, then the other. They gleefully run as fast as their tottering legs can carry them and end up crashing into some piece of furniture.

In the spiritual world, we also have many toddlers. Often times these are new Christians who also gleefully use their new found faith and enjoy learning and finding out new things. The joy they have as they bounce from one place to another is always fun to watch and join in on.

But sometimes we have spiritual toddlers who are much older. Once they are far enough along that we expect them to be more spiritually discerning, but they are not, we get concerned. So often we assume it is their fault, (and often it may be) but sometimes the fault lies with their teachers. Us.

When you and I see a spiritual toddler who should not be, what do we do? What are we supposed to do? There are those who have been in church for years and don't understand the basic concepts of Christianity any better than the first day the were there. And then there are also those whose lives seem no different now then the day they sought repentance. What is our duty to teach these spiritual toddlers?

Before I get into that, there is an important note we need to make. God, the Holy Spirit, can and does convict people without our help. He convicts of both sin (what to stop doing) and righteousness (what we should do). Only He can change who we are, and who these toddlers are. But in order to understand many concepts we must first learn what they mean. This is where leadership from the Church, (not just the ministerial) becomes important. We are responsible to teach others His ways.

For some toddlers, this means teaching them the meaning of some more complex Theological concepts. Salvation Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification are concepts we should try to have all Christians understand. Take a look at Hebrews 5:12

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

Paul laments the fact that some churches in his day were unable to understand these things. We too need to be teachers, ready to teach toddlers so they too can become teachers.

So are we all supposed to have a Theological degree? No, thats not the point. We are to understand what God has done for us so we may stand firm in Him, not in our own knowledge.

But sometimes we come across those who are spiritually weak. We sometimes mistake these for spiritual toddlers, but there are some important differences. Toddlers do not know better for they have not been taught, whereas the weak are those who, though they know many things, seem to stumble easily and often. Sometimes these spiritually weak brothers and sisters need to be reminded of simple concepts over and over. It is easy for those who are strong spiritually to wonder about the weak and even assume it is their own fault, but we cannot know that for sure. Jesus Himself says more is given to some than to others, and more will be required of those than of the weak. Those who are strong need to bear the burdens of those who are weak. This is one of the important duties of the spiritually strong in our midst.

Tragically, instead of carrying part of their burden as we aught, oft times the strong Christians will merely abandon the weak to fend for themselves. This is a great tragedy of our times, and most likely, of Christian-dom in general. We have a habit of assuming weak means unwilling, and we leave them beside the road. We need instead to help them, dress their wounds and carry them along as needed.

So what then? Do we make sure that these weak also have more Theological knowledge? Is that what they need? Should we just send them to Seminary or Bible College? No. In fact, it often seems that these spiritually weak brethren need us to refrain from confusing them. We need to avoid complex Theological concepts when we interact with them. Instead, we need to let them first gather strength in those elementary things BEFORE we bring them up to a higher level. Sadly, we often just feed them complex doctrine and they get so confused their state is only made worse. Paul says we are to abstain from things that bother the weak among us. In First Corinthians 8:11 Paul talks about this very thing:

 For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.

Conclusion

So how do we tell the difference? Well, sometimes we can't right away. But a few key differences are there. The spiritually weak may be long time Christians, truly sincere, but they struggle with concepts and doctrines. These people we need to give patience and mercy, walking with them as far as they are able, not assuming they want that condition, but also not assuming they will always be in that place. Toddlers are those who do not know because they are either to new to the concept or have not bothered. The truly young toddlers (spiritually speaking) are those who do indeed learn and make progress, they seem to often have the most energetic form of joy.

But those toddlers who seem to not care are those who have just not tried to walk yet. They seem indifferent. These are those that Paul is harsh with. Paul addresses them with strong words, yet when he speaks of the weak brothers spiritually he takes a different tone. May God give us the wisdom to lead and teach properly, whether they be toddlers or weak. May we learn to tell the difference and act accordingly.

Spiritual Silence

In Old Testament times, we see so often that God warned His people before they were punished. They were so often told to repent and turn away or they would have to suffer. Yet, time and time again, they did not heed the prophets.

The last book of the Old Testament is Malachi. After that, Israel suffered 400 years of silence from God. No prophet, no prophecy, no warnings, no comfort. Nothing. God was silent for a period as long as the time of Reformation until now. But then He personally came with the ultimate Good News.

I don't know how you feel, but sometimes I have felt that I have been in a time of spiritual silence in my life. Times where we ask God something and we get no answer. We sometimes beg and plead with Him and He is silent. Why? What's wrong? Have we been abandoned?

While this question and its answer will be different for different people, often this has a common starting point. We usually fall for the errors that the Israelites themselves fell into. There are three types of common errors that I want to look at today.

First, we have the sin of plurality. This is where we worship God, we acknowledge Him and His power, but we also live in the comfort of the society around us. We see this sin of plurality when we have those who claim to be Christians who support gays as morally right, or take evolution as a possibility that God must have forgotten to mention in Genesis, or think that Christ is one of many ways to God. These are grave errors. This is exactly what happened to Israel and Judah. They did not abandon the worship of God. No, they did worse. They added to it. They took things those around them did and added them to what God had commanded. They worshiped in a politically correct way. God cannot tolerate us trying to 'fix' Him. This is one of the most dangerous evils in our day and in theirs.

Second, we often keep other sin and justify it as not a serious problem because it doesn't bother anyone or because other Christians do it too. The Holy Spirit may convict us of something that we should do, or something we should give up. Then, far too often, we find ourselves making excuses for why we are right and God doesn't know what He is talking about. We know deep down that we are wrong, disobedient, but we think if we stay busy, we won't notice. God will not show us a 10 Step Plan if we cannot obey the simple commands and convictions we already have. Often we hear no more from God because what we have already heard we are not obeying.

Third, we often pray in a wrong manner. We go before God and tell Him exactly what we need done, and how He needs to do it. We ignore praying about other things because we are afraid that He will tell us something we don't want to hear. Instead, we need to come before God in a humble fashion and ask Him for His Will. We need to be obedient not only to what He tells us specifically, but also what we already know to do but somehow hope He won't notice that we aren't doing it.

Conclusion

So what do we do? Well, we obey. You know already what the Spirit wants you to do. He will convict you of sin and of righteousness. As God in you, the Holy Spirit will show you what needs to be done. We need to pray to God for forgiveness and understanding if we have fallen into one of these traps or pitfalls. We need to ask Him to fill us and to lead us. Then we need to be faithful stewards and obedient servants.

Breaking the Brotherhood

In our modern world we have so many churches and denominations we can find someone to agree with almost any foolish theory or even downright blasphemy. Some of the ideas out there are just shallow, foolish, or odd; others are truly dangerous. So where do we draw the line?

Well some would say it is at least baptism, that is the breaking point. But then it turns into a debate about what type of baptism is valid. Immersion, infusion, or aspersion? What to do?

Others will say it has to do with more than just the mode of baptism. It is our view on the Trinity and our belief system based on the form of Atonement we believe in.

Still others will go so far as to debate the style of clothing we wear, or the vehicle we drive. In the days of the Church long ago they split the Church over things like whether or not coffee was evil, whether to celebrate Christmas or Epiphany, or what type of hymnbook to use.

Some of the debates of the Church long ago seem foolish to us now. But what about our debates in the modern world? Are they equally foolish? In the perspective of an Eternal God, is our 'church-splitting issue' really that important?

This leads me to the question of today. When is it important to work in unity even if we disagree, and when is it time to remove a brother from our presence, or even excommunicate a brother? Church discipline in our era is incredibly lax. I am sometimes appalled at the issues that churches have considered heretical in the past, and at the extreme measures used to eliminate these things. But in our world we seem to not care what the implication of a doctrine is so long as we don't offend people. Where do we draw the fine line between unity in the body and a member who no longer can be part of the body?

I believe that the first issue we should address in these situations is the attitude of the person in question. Paul tells both Timothy and Titus (his spiritual children or heirs) that those with a quarrelsome attitude should not be tolerated in church. (Titus 3:9-11, I Timothy 6:3-5 & II Timothy 2:16) Paul goes on to give more details about people who will not heed sound teaching (II Timothy chapters 3 & 4) He goes on to tell us that people will willfully ignore the truth they know.

But where is that line in our modern world? Maybe a better question to ask ourselves is this. Are we the ones Paul is talking about in these verses? Could we have become those who are puffed up and proud and understand nothing? Let us turn to God in humility and let Him teach us His way first and then we may carry out His will.

After we have indeed checked ourselves and corrected what needs to be corrected, we are still accountable for our own church and fellowship with believers. It may not be up to us to handle the discipline of the church but we are indeed responsible for our own actions.

A man of too many friends comes to ruin,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. -Prov. 18:24

Here we see that having too many friends can cause problems. This I do believe is directly related to our unity in the Brotherhood. Being part of the Church of Christ is more than having a membership at a church building. We should be careful of the company we keep.

So do I mean that we should not associate with non-believers? No, not at all. I think that is the most foolish aspect of the groups of believers that separate themselves so far from this world. They have no one to actually interact and witness to. We cannot remove ourselves from the responsibility of the Great Commission.

Conclusion

So what am I saying then? Well, mainly this: we are to be very careful of the close Christian company we keep. We all have both acquaintances and friends, and to know who is a close friend and to keep watch on our friendships is important. This is most important in the Brotherhood. We need to be an encouragement to our fellow brothers, not a distraction. And we need to make sure that those who claim to be followers of the Way that we name our friends are also walking in unity with God, not just with us. If we find that a brother is not walking as he should, we need to help him if possible. If he refuses help we need to make sure that we do what we can to walk in whatever path God has given us. Sometimes this will even mean that God will ask us to no longer fellowship with that person. But make sure to spend time with God in prayer before making such an important decision.

Simple Shortcuts

I enjoy my job. I like working with students, watching them learn and grow, & building solid relationships that carry throughout life. One of the things that humors me is how students assume they will know more than their teacher. I've been teaching the same English, Math, and Social Studies classes for years by now, and every set of students will challenge the correct answer at some time. Some students will challenge the answers all the time, thinking that they in their dozen of years of life have found some secret answer that will unlock the mysteries of Math and make the standard formula of hard work obsolete. But year in and year out, these "awesome shortcuts" are found to lead to wrong answers. "One day," I always say to myself, "One day, they will see that they don't have any secret answers, and that truth doesn't change because you want it to." Yet every class, year after year, tries the same thing.

But aren't we all like that? We look for shortcuts in life, in our relationship with God, and with people. We try to find a 'new' way to understand God, one that people have never seen before. We love the idea that we know something others don't. If you doubt that; go online and you can see hundreds of ads that talk about 'secret' methods or 'super fruit' or one 'simple trick'. In the end they are only there to convince you that you too can have secret knowledge.

When we look at God, we need to realize that He does not change, He is consistent in all He is and does. We try to find 'secret' ways of understanding Him. The Da Vince Code is an example of this attempt at finding secret knowledge, as are any parts of the early churches' Gnostic movement. In the end what we want is the same thing that Adam and Eve wanted- to have what we cannot have- ultimate knowledge.

So what's the point of all this? Well, good question. We as humans try so hard to look for 'better' routes, an 'ultimate' way of doing things, or 'super' foods we forget that we do indeed have the ultimate answer. We are to follow Christ. We get so caught up in our own understanding and concepts we forget that Christ wasn't just a sacrifice; He was our perfect example of life itself. If we really want to have 'one simple trick' then I propose it be this: Follow Christ.

Conclusion

We humans love seeking information. We have thousands of ways of doing it. We will ask all sorts of theologians, teachers, preachers, doctors, or talk show hosts how to do things. And as helpful as some of them can be, we need to remember to go to the source of all knowledge, God Himself. But just as those students do, we think we can outsmart God. My students get me sometimes, but we will never outsmart God.

Needed Knowledge

If there is one thing in the modern world that we value highly, it would be knowledge. Knowledge is what has brought our era to a place that has never been attained by mankind before. We obsess over so many forms of it in our world it is astounding. Never has man had more knowledge available at a moment's notice than now. It has given us more technical progress in 200 years than the preceding 5,000. More knowledge advancements happen in a single decade now than did in some millenniums previous. We have created much good for man, but also a greater ability to commit evil.

So how important is knowledge to us? Well, maybe I should ask instead; how much does it mean to you? Is knowledge a great factor in your life? Do you care what you know? Not just in the sciences or technology, but sports, vehicles, and popular culture. We judge people by their knowledge in whatever fields interest us.

Now some knowledge can be fairly fun, but useless. For example, I can name dozens of characters from comic books, give you a detailed description of their lives and histories, yet they never lived. Other people can do this with sports. I have friends who can name every single player on the roster of their favorite team, and also give me a detailed rundown of that teams history over the decades, often more than they would know about the nation's history. As entertaining as these may be, are they of any use?

Let's leave that thought for a moment and turn it toward something else. What about our Biblical and Theological knowledge? How much do we value it? Is it important to us? Do we care if we know the difference between Sanctification and Justification? Or Remonstrants and Reformers? How about between Preterists and Pre-Millenialists? Maybe you are a literalist and dispensationalist? Do you know? Do you care?

Knowledge is important. If I didn't believe that I would make a poor educator. However, knowledge does not deserve our worship. We can know much or little about God. The important part is what we do with our knowledge. Knowledge of the fact does not save our souls.

But knowledge is important once we wish to be leaders spiritually. I believe that every husband aught to be the spiritual leader of his home. As leaders, we need to understand as much as we can so we may lead in the right direction. Theological study is an important part of that quest. We need to know what we believe so we may lead properly.

Take a look at these two pictures and tell me which is a picture of the ocean.

There is no question that the first picture is the prettier of the two. It is the one we like to look at, we enjoy the beauty of the ocean. But the second one is important in its own right. A painter would study the first image; a captain, the second. Both would do so for good reason. Which of them would you say knows the ocean better?

The painter would be well acquainted with the ocean's beauty and peace. The captain would be familiar with the direction of the underlying tides and importance of being right in even the smallest areas of knowledge. Both know the ocean well, but only one is qualified to lead us into it. The painter enjoys the ocean as well as the captain, but the captain is the one we would chose to lead us from Alaska to Australia.

In a similar way, we can be painters or captains. We can enjoy the beauty and peace of God, and fellowship with Him. It is a wonderful experience. But as leaders, we must do as a captain does. We must buckle down and study the parts that may not be as instantly rewarding. We must see that a small change off the coast in Alaska will mean we miss Australia entirely if we do not correct it. We see that even though the painter does indeed know the ocean, the captain must know the implications of mistakes and how to correct them.

So is it important for us all to be captains? I think not. We need the painters in this world. But if you intend to lead people, make sure you study your maps. We cannot lead based on the pretty pictures we paint, but by studying the accurate knowledge of what is, not what could be.

Conclusion

So am I saying that we can only serve God if we have a Theological Degree? No, God does not need our knowledge. He has it all. When we increase in knowledge it is only that we are coming closer to God's truth, not that God was now somehow enlightened. That being said, we need to watch that we follow that knowledge. God is indeed all-knowing; we are not. We can be of more use to Him as ignorant, but obedient servants than as arrogant, self-worshiping rogues. We need knowledge only as far as it is a help to us, it should never replace God Himself.

Live Long and Prosper

18,265

 Thats about how many days there are between the ages of 20 and 80. In other words, if you are  in your twenties and intend on living into your eighties thats roughly how many days you have left. Sure isn't as many as I had planned.

So what will you do with your 20 grand? Every four years you take a solid grand away from that number. And remember, this count assumes you will live to a nice old age. The odds are some of us will not live to see our 80's.

Psalm 90:12 reads,

"So teach us to number our days,
 That we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

Here we see that it is indeed important to take stock of our days and see what we can do with them.


Psalm 103: 15-16 also says,
"As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
¹⁶ When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
And its place acknowledges it no longer."


 As important and busy as our current lives seem, we need to realize that what we deem important today may be unimportant by next year, next week, or even tomorrow. We need to readjust our perspective and look at things from a point of view that is aligned with God's. We need a perspective that is focused on the eternal, not the temporal. C.S. Lewis said it well when he said, "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."

So what is your main goal in life? Graduation? Marriage? Starting a family? Owning a home? Having a 6 figure job? Winning the lottery? A Porche?

While all these things are not inherently evil, making them the main goal of our lives is. If we become too concerned with this world we cannot focus on what really matters in life. If we focus only on our own pleasure we will fail to attain even that.

We've all heard that money doesn't buy happiness. I've heard more then one person say that they would like to test this theory. But why doesn't money buy happiness? Doesn't it feel good to buy stuff?

Yes, it feels great to buy new stuff. And when that fades we buy more right? So money does buy happiness then. Actually, we feel happy because we have something we feel we deserve, or even better, more than we deserve. We love beating the system, winning the lottery, cashing in on a good sale, or getting the better of an insurance company. We like getting stuff because we like being more important than others. But this doesn't last, if you already have a car, you want a newer one. If you have a new one, you soon want the nicer, pricer car. Eventually we run out of things and we still have this need and desire to have more, better, richer. We cannot win the endless circle of stuff. In the end we will have spent all our time on chasing something that wasn't possible to keep. What do we need then?

Well, what do we desire? We desire attention, affection, being given more than we deserve. In short, we want to be special. Can that happen? Lets look.


Psalm 139 addresses our uniqueness before God wonderfully. We were created unique, in God's very image, He breathed life into us, He loves us. This is what can fill our desire for being special. We are unique beings before God. We can come before Him and thank Him for this. We can praise His name for the gifts He has given us.

Ironically, to realize our uniqueness we need to first realize Who God is. Only when we do this can we appreciate the fact that He loves us, created us, and desires us to be His sons and daughters. We need to remember this as we number our days so we use the 18,000-20,000 days we have wisely. Let us turn toward the Author of Life so we may make the short lives we have truly count.

Conclusion

So, let us turn our hearts toward God. Without Him, no matter how many cars, houses, or Swiss bank accounts you hold, you will always be going for more. I don't know about you, but 20,000 days of chasing my own tail seems awfully tiring to me. Let us turn our hearts to him and present hearts of wisdom.

"So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'" -Luke 17:10