From the Elders

Let God Be True

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:52:00 -0500

The question that most often comes to my mind when I see people struggling, and living in darkness, is not, "How can they stand to live that way?" My question is, "What are they believing?" What preconceived notions led them to build their lives, and relationships, on illogical lies, and pervasive clichés?

We know that, even as Christians, we can interpret the Bible through the lens of our presuppositions. So how do I correct and/or avoid mistakes and wrong conclusions? Well, of course, making Jesus our Savior & Lord is the necessary 1^st step into real living and right perspective. "Except a man be born again, he cannot see (or perceive) the kingdom of God", Jesus said.

I, myself, had a lot to unlearn, in order to accommodate the truth of scripture. I found that "Truth" is simply the definition of reality. That’s why truth always emerges eventually, and shows through lies.

Another of the very basic realities that shook me was this: That the Bible reveals God to be walking with us through life; that He is a "personal" Savior. God does not live in what is referred to as the "Eternal Now". If He does, it means that He can never have a new thought, or experience change. However, the Bible tells us that there was a time when Jesus became flesh and walked among us, and then established a New Covenant, and then returned to the Father. It is vital to understand that, at Calvary, there was a time when Jesus, Himself, was cut-off from the Trinity, and a change in the Godhead occurred. He literally died and went to hell, so that we don’t have to. This is not possible in the Eternal Now!

The Eternal Now concept is a modern, philosophical concept, not a biblical one. And, it goes deep. It limits our knowing who God is, and how He works.

Almost 36 years ago, the very first words that ever leapt off the page, and became real to me were from Romans 3:4. With those words, let me admonish you..

...let God be true, but every man a liar...

Maintaining our Spiritual Momentum

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 12:48:00 -0500

How do we maintain our Spiritual Momentum during the hot days of summer? Acts 2:42 gives us some keys; “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Yes, it’s as simple as doing the basics well. When we find ourselves in spiritual peril it usually comes down to a let up in one of these four areas. 1) The Apostles’ Teaching = we must stay in the Word personally and corporately. It’s easy to let this slip during the summer. Our personal time in the word suffers and our commitment to Church declines. 2) The Fellowship = this is not referring to fellowshipping with each other; it’s referring to the Church Family, the Called out One’s. The times we gather together; Sunday’s, Home Groups and Prayer. 3) Breaking of Bread = friendships and fellowship with one another. We need to keep our relationships fresh and current. Three kinds of friendships to maintain; a) Peer friendships, b) those you are discipling and c) those who are discipling you. 4) Prayer = personal prayer as well as Sunday’s at 10:00 am and Wednesday’s at 6:30 pm. We can avoid a lot of trails and hardship in our lives if we can just do the basics well.

Credibility

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 02:00:00 -0500

We all want to be heard. It feels good to be listened to; to have someone respect what we say. Even children like it when you stoop to eye level and listen to them. Is it an authority thing?; a dignity thing?; an identity thing? Last Wednesday night, a new group visited our midweek prayer service. They had just returned from volunteering to minister to the tornado victims in Joplin, Missouri. Although we'd not met before, these strangers had instant credibility with us, because of their testimony of service. They changed us. They helped us!
Credibility is a valuable commodity. The best place to earn it is by doing the Lord's work. Not for that reason of course, but because Jesus, our Savior, our great Commander & Chief, is closest to us when we're on the front line. You know the biblical principle: "humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up." My point is simple. Don't wait. Stay involved. Stay active.
"when they (the Rulers & Elders) saw the courage of Peter & John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13

God's Grace Is ALL I Need

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:56:00 -0500

2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” GNB Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? God’s grace is ALL I need. If God’s grace is all I need, then why do I look so many other places? Most often I find myself looking within, searching for that inner strength, that will power, that spark of energy that will get see me through. And many times…it’s just not there, or at least not enough of it’s there and I fall short. Certainly, if it’s not in me, then it must be in others. If I can just surround myself with people that are strong, I won’t be disappointed. If not in me, if not in others, then it must be in the things I have. No…I don’t have the plasma, the quad-cab hemi, and the list goes on. So what do I have? A loving wife, an amazing son, great friends and a wonderful church family…all by His grace! Those ‘things’ I hold dear, those ‘things’ that carry me through, have ALL come by the grace of God. Yes…it is simple enough when I stop and think about…”My grace is all you need.”

Good & Evil

Sun, 22 May 2011 07:42:00 -0500

(This is an excerpt from my message at the Juvenile Attention Center) Someone has to decide: What is Good and What is Bad. Is something good just because it pleases me right now? Did you ever have something, that you thought was bad, turn out to be good? Getting those vaccinations in second grade is a good example. Yikes! When something happens, how do we judge whether it is Good or Evil? Whether we want to admit it or not, we do have to discern good & evil every day. We judge people, their works, their words, major & minor events, and sometimes we even judge God. We all have preconceived notions about life too, from a multitude of sources. We have authoritative voices that we’ve listened to in forming the bases for our opinions, principles, and prejudices. Sometimes we rely on them to make the big determinations for us. For example: Mother Nature.. Some think that Mother Nature’s way is always best. She should decide who lives and who dies. Do you believe that a thing is good just because it’s “Natural”. Does Mother Nature care? Does she even exist?! Or… Some think that karma will decide. Their mantra is, “What goes around comes around”. How do we even know what “karma” considers good or bad? Where is the living mind that is making this determination? Who are we trusting to make these value judgments for us? You know where I’m going with this; - God. But wait. Some people think, " All that happens is God’s Will”. If so, then everything must be good. Either that, or God must be the author of everything evil too. (Notice how these simple conclusions excuse us from being to blame for the evil we see) Of course, God can bring good out of the worst things, but that doesn’t make Him responsible for the evil in the first place. We cannot accept that everything that happens is God’s Will. So who decides between good & evil in your life? The truth is that we, ourselves, are too young, too proud, too prejudiced, and too stubborn, to judge our world. We need an outsider;- an objective, conscious, honest, someone to declare plainly what is truly right and what is wrong. Well there is a someone and He cares. His standard is love. He says, "Love God and Love your neighbor as you love yourself." He is God, and His name is Jesus.

His Voice

Wed, 11 May 2011 10:27:00 -0500

John 10:1-5 "Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he's up to no good--a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won't follow a stranger's voice but will scatter because they aren't used to the sound of it." MSG What does it say about us if we are constantly following the voice of a ‘stranger’?

EVERYTHING?

Tue, 10 May 2011 14:42:00 -0500

Philippians 4:13 “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” NIV Whatever situation you may find yourself in today or this week, I want to encourage you that God is able to give you the strength needed for VICTORY. Don’t underestimate what God’s power can do through a yielded life. I like the way the Amplified Bible puts it, “I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me – I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me, [that is, I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].” AMP.

Faithfulness

Sun, 08 May 2011 07:53:00 -0500

Getting treated like a child is infuriating, isn’t it?

It’s humiliating to be forced to do something, “..because I said so!”.

Why? Because words like that touch our dignity; they impinge upon our self worth; they yank us back to a kindergarten level of obedience.

What’s the solution?
- Faithfulness!

Faithfulness is a necessary basic. Many many other qualities flow from it. So let’s be clear, on our part, what faithfulness is. After all, our parents, teachers, bosses, and peers, will only trust us as far as they judge us to be faithful.

Faithfulness originates within us; it is not simply a response to someone else. It is not a matter of how obedient we are, although, at the preschool level, it may be. Obedience reflects our trust in authority. Faithfulness reveals our integrity.

God is faithful. He is ever faithful! He does what He says He will do. Hallelluah!

He’s our example!

So…We say it. Then we do it. That’s faithfulness.

It’s that simple, although it’s not that easy. And, it is measured by others, who may not see it for what it is.

But we do. We make our promises, and we keep them.

Purity

Wed, 04 May 2011 13:27:00 -0500

Matt 5:6 “Happy are the pure in heart.” Maintaining a pure heart in the day and age in which we live is not done by happenstance. It takes constant effort and includes the following: First, we need to make an assessment of our lives…a personal inventory. We need to take a hard, honest look at our lives in the light of God’s Word, identifying areas that we fall short. Secondly, we must take responsibility for our faults, by not blaming others or rationalizing our behavior. Thirdly, we must ask God for His forgiveness and cleansing. Fourthly, and perhaps one of the hardest, we need to admit our faults to someone we trust. James 5:16 says, “Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” LB. Find someone you can trust, someone that can keep a confidence, someone that is mature enough to reflect God’s forgiveness and love as well as help hold you accountable. Lastly, we need to accept God’s forgiveness. God forgives us instantly, freely, and completely!

The Refined

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 06:04:00 -0500

We were asked one day to consider what demographic HCI attracted. Who are we here for? Well, of course, there are age groups, and social patterns, families, and all sorts of types, in our church. But who we are @ HCI is not defined by a census. Our focus is not the largest percentile. We are a family. So what commonality do we share? I found my answer in Dave's sermon series on "Healing Choices". As we've gone step by step through the "choices", I've realized that God has been at work in all of us, individually, doing major & minor kinds of surgery. His surgical tools include our day-to-day peaks and valleys; but mostly it's His Word and anointing. It is His nature to restore and give life. Most of us are in the recovery room, so to speak. The healing is not because we are victims. God has been pruning and purging. We have been in the fire, folded and hammered, sharpened and polished. We are the refined!