Jesus

Pentecost – Then What? – VOTD.06.13.17

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Acts 2:42-47

So Pentecost came and the Holy Spirit came and a huge number of people came to faith in Jesus. Then what? Well, people who had turned to faith in Jesus started getting together—daily. That’s right. Every day. And what did they do when they got together? I count 5 things:

1) They devoted themselves to learning more about Jesus.
2) They devoted themselves to the fellowship (talking among themselves—the word for fellowship doesn’t mean chit-chat around a buffet; it means deep relationship and even one-ness).
3) They devoted themselves to eating together (or partaking of the Lord’s Supper; ‘breaking of bread’ could mean either or more likely both); apparently, they did it in their homes (v. 46).
4) The devoted themselves to prayer.
5) They worshipped. “Praising God” was part of the get-together.

Apparently, when they got together, they saw ‘many wonders and sign performed’, as well. So maybe we could say that the outcome was that a 6th thing happened. And a 7th thing that was an outcome was that people began to share. The point is, a lot of people have said, the new converts started doing church. And these 7 things is what their church looked like—every day!

Considering that today’s verses are nearly the only thing the Bible says about how church was done back in the early days, it’s important to consider if we’re doing it like this or if not, why not? There may be good reasons. None of this is mandated. (more…)

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Contact with the Spirit in the Trinity – VOTD.06.12.17

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:15

There’s a brilliant theological concept we call the Trinity, which amazingly, nearly all Christians agree upon. It’s simply a way to describe the ‘three in one’ nature of God: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. These three are One God. Not three parts of God, even though they can act individually. (It can get a lot deeper than that, but that’s all we need for this meditation.)

The ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ are concepts which we can understand pretty easily in the Bible. They have a sort of mental and emotional resonance with us and we can pretty much figure out how they act individually and in harmony with each other and with each of us.

The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is more difficult for many of us to grasp (just as Jesus implied when He spoke of those who are ‘born of the Spirit’ and how they would be (Jn 3:8).

The ‘Spirit’ or in the old English, ‘Ghost’… ‘Holy Ghost’ sounds alien and just a little spooky. So those of us who like to define and pigeonhole things into neat packages so that they are easily taught and understood are going to find the Holy Spirit pretty elusive because He isn’t easily defined—and that’s exactly what Jesus was saying to the theologically-bound Nicodemus in John 3 (v. 10). The Spirit works mysteriously but so tangibly…if we’re watching. (more…)

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Jesus Prevailing – VOTD.04.18.17

After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive (the demon) out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.” Mark 9:28,29

Let’s start with some context. Jesus has just returned with John, James and Peter from the Transfiguration experience. While they were gone, the rest of the disciples were asked to heal and cast out a demon from a boy. They tried but were unsuccessful. So the boy’s father approached Jesus and explained the situation, asking for His help. Jesus healed the boy and cast out the demon.

What about the 9 disciples that awaited Jesus’ return? Why couldn’t they perform the job? Why couldn’t they do what they had been trained to do? What they had been given power to do? What they had already done successfully many times before? Before we try to answer that, let’s look at what they didn’t do:

First, they didn’t concoct some cheap theology to explain away the non-answer—to help God save face (or to help themselves save face). That would be to cheapen the love and power of God, Himself. Too often, we see that done today when we don’t get what we ask for in prayer. We strive to make unanswered prayers acceptable, even the norm. It makes us comfortable.

Second, they didn’t blame the boy or his family. They didn’t blame it on the parent’s sin. Nor did they blame one of their own. They didn’t commence a “witch hunt” to figure out which of them might have sin in their lives that somehow made the prayers of the rest of them powerless.

Third, they didn’t conclude that they must have “got the formula wrong” and work on refining the healing procedure. Often Christians run to James 4:2,3 where it says “You do not have because you do not ask God. And when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (more…)

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Satan Falling – VOTD.04.17.17

Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Luke 10:17

Let’s start with some context. Jesus just received the report of the 70 disciples He had sent out on a mission to “gather in His harvest”. Along the way, they did some pretty amazing things by way of miracles. They came back pretty excited. This wasn’t church as usual, and they knew it.

Jesus knew it, too. Seeing the battle in the spirit realm, even as the 70 disciples saw it in the earthly realm, He knew a vital link had been broken in the chain the evil one used to enslave the people. He saw Satan fall like lighting. There is no place in the Bible that we are told that Satan ever recovered from this fall.

But worse things were in store for our enemy, much worse, as Jesus rose from the dead, which many of us recently celebrated. Satan and his power were defeated when Jesus rose. This is the new reality we live under.

This new reality—the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven—becomes our own as we receive it (Heb 12:28). Now we stand in the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21); and we have the love of God deposited inside of us (2 Cor 13:5). In fact, we have received more than enough to stand victorious over any enemy or attack that could ever come against us: (more…)

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Resurrection and Life – VOTD.04.11.17

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.  John 11:25,26

Last time, we talked about the Passover, and how through Jesus’ blood covering our guilt and shame, we each are made right with God. But what brings us into the fullness of what Jesus accomplished for us in His shed blood and His resurrection? Only one force—the resurrection power of life—zoe in the Greek. It’s the same word as Spirit.

God’s reveals His purpose for Jesus’ shedding His blood: “For this purpose the Son of God was revealed, that He would destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8).

This is the purpose Jesus demonstrated throughout His ministry. He overcame the works of the devil throughout His ministry. He did all that He did (teaching, miracles, conversations, …everything)—all by the power of the Spirit (zoe, life). However, it was His shedding His blood on the cross that actually destroyed those works.

Jesus covered the guilt and shame of humanity when by the power of the Spirit, zoe, life, He reached into the enemy’s realm and overcame death in death’s power. At that moment, our sin and shame were not only covered, like the blood of the Lamb covered the doorposts back in the time of Moses, but by the Spirit, zoe, life, the penalty of our sin (death) was taken on Himself and was and carried out on Him in our behalf.

Jesus conquered death and hell for each of us. God’s purpose in sending Jesus had been accomplished. “…he shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who were held in slavery by death.” (Heb 2:14,15). This resurrection power comes directly out of the heart of God—His love for each of us (Jn 3:16). (more…)

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Life in the Vineyard – VOTD.04.03.17

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ…If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  1 Corinthians12:12,26

Last time we were talking about nurturing new believers and used Paul’s analogy of a mother nursing a child. Another metaphor that might help, is vineyards. Jesus used this in talking about vines and vine-dressers (Jn 15).

Sure, having a healthy vineyard includes weeding out the ugly, and often that’s all the help people will get from their more entrenched churchmates because it’s all we can see. But nurturing Christians can see a lot more and go much further.

A nurturing vinedresser can take the newly-growing shoots and attach them to a trellis so they can get the support sunshine and watering they need to grow higher, stronger, and more fruitful. Otherwise, the newbie might just wallow in the dirt and never go anywhere.

And while the nurturing person might do some weeding, too, they are also backfilling. Like Jesus’ warning about chasing out a demon and leaving the host clean but EMPTY, we often find that Christian discipleship programs are good at ‘weeding’ out the ugly in the lives of people we minister to, but leave craters in their place—like an open invitation for seven-times worse problems in the future (Lk 11:26) if we aren’t backfilling the hole that left with Jesus.

Hurt people are often the ones who are drawn to Jesus. He offers solutions they know they need. But hurt people have a real knack at getting themselves into situations where they will be hurt again and again. Nurturing disciple-makers know that removing the weeds from hurting people’s lives is not enough. (more…)

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Got Milk? – VOTD.04.03.17

I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink and I did not give you solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. 1 Corinthians 3:1,2

I have a Facebook friend who has been defining ‘Christian words’ and phrases you might be used to if you grew up in church, but are meaningless, or apt to be crazily misunderstood, by a non-believer or a new believers who come into our midst.

Done in a humorous way, it underscores just how comfortable we can be with an entire lexicon of church terminology that are lost in the translation for those who haven’t been filled in along the way. One of those terms is ‘disciple’ as in what we are (or should be) as Christians.

So what’s a disciple? A disciple is someone who finds their entire identity, purpose and meaning in Jesus. Jesus is the center of their lives. They are all in, fully committed to Jesus.

Now obviously, most newly-churched people don’t fit that definition… they don’t even know the definition. Sadly, many who have been in the Christian faith a long time don’t know it either. So to counteract that, we have something we call discipling.

‘Discipling’ can be traced to ‘succor’ which is an old fashion term for nursing (as in nursing a baby). This is what Paul was talking about in today’s verse. He’s been discipling these new believers with milk-like truths, easy to deal with. Early on they were babies in the faith and needed to be cared for like spiritual babies if they are going to become mature followers of Jesus. That’s the ministry of discipling in a nutshell. (more…)

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Clean – VOTD.03.13.17

He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. Romans 4:25

Suppose you saw an ad for a laundry detergent that admitted that their product doesn’t get your clothes very clean and suggested the solution is for you not to get your clothes so dirty. However honest the commercial might be, how likely are you to buy that product?

What if instead of improving their product, they gave you a list of things you could do to prevent dirty clothes, like wearing a disposable bib when eating, using better antiperspirants. Wearing dark colors or keeping your children inside, etc.

Yet when it comes to dealing with the problem of sin and falling short of God’s glory, that is how some Christian teachings come across. It’s an example of what is called “blaming the victim”. As today’s verse tells us, that instead of blaming the victim, Jesus became our victim. Clearly, Jesus isn’t blaming the victim. (more…)

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Returning to Our First Love in 2017 pt 3 – VOTD.01.30.17

God has said: “I will never leave you, never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Hebrews 13:5,6

Last time I mentioned that sometimes when I meditate on the words to the worship chorus, “How Great is Our God,” I insert the words ‘How big’ into the song. The size of our God has a lot to do with why we have so much trouble with the ‘first love’ thing. Loving a Big God takes less effort and less discipline, but it requires more faith.

Doctrinally speaking, we all know that God is all-powerful—He’s stronger than the devil; He’s stronger than our problems. But if you talk with many Christians who say they believe this, practically speaking, their devil is bigger than their God, and their problems are too. Some, because of their low expectations of God, have not only shied away from seeking their first love for themselves, they’ve actively discouraged other Christians from pursuing their Lover God.

After all, history shows us many times when Christians were rejected, persecuted, even martyred. When we focus on that, fear becomes our master and we end up walking by fear instead of by faith. History also shows us many times when Christians have seen God rescue them out of certain death. When we focus on that, our confidence in God is fed and we end up walking by faith instead of fear.

Those who focus on our need to protect ourselves and our flocks will always be overwhelmingly aware of the power of the devil. Their God will always be small in their experience of Him. But if our hearts are completely fixed to the One who promises to never leave us nor forsake us, our God grows in our experience and we find Him almighty. We live by faith, not by fear. (more…)

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