Work of the Gospel: October 2010

Monday, October 18, 2010

"In His hand are the depths of the earth..."

What is the last thing you thought about last night before you went to sleep and what was the first thing you thought of this morning when you woke up? I have heard and I agree, that it tells a lot about who we are.

For most of us we are going to have really important things going on in our lives that are going to come to the forefront at times, but I hope that we can make the effort to make such an effort daily that it is God who dwells this close to the surface of our thoughts.

Some people though have never had God or Jesus anywhere near the surface; he is buried as though He never arose from the tomb. But then events bring Him up and they are reminded or they are acquainted with Him.

The 33 miners from Chile who I had mentioned in an earlier post are now safely on the surface after their 69 day harrowing ordeal.

Now that they have emerged some of the personalities and details are emerging with them. There is the Elvis fan, the man who tried to exercise daily, the former soldier who tried to organize, there was the man who had two women waiting at one point for him.

What do you suppose each of these miners and their families thought about when they woke up and when they went to sleep? Maybe we will find out some day as the movies, articles and books start being produced.

While some have focused on the signs of patriotism shown by the country pulling together and the waving of Chilean flags and some the individual miners passion for football (soccer), I have been thrilled with the signs of faith in Christ.

We heard about a man named Jose Henriquez and I hope that one day we will know all the details of his ministry within this earthen prison. At this point it would be conjecture to know what was, is or will be within this man, but God knows, but all I care about was what I saw, Jesus.

We were told that Jose led prayer multiple times a day and that he had asked that 33 bibles be sent down. The title to this posting came to my mind because we learned that he found comfort from Psalm 95 during his ordeal. And there are stories we are learning about Campus Crusade for Christ, their Jesus Film Project and the t-shirts the group sent down to the miners that said Thank you Jesus.

We saw miners that emerged clutching bibles and miners that knelt in prayer upon being lifted from what had been a certain tomb.

All these things are a result of what these men endured and it reminds me of this scripture:

Philippians 1:12-18a

Paul's Chains Advance the Gospel

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

Perhaps like Paul, Jose Henriquez, was “encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” due to his circumstances and as a result some were saved and others who had faith were bolstered. Some were superficially converted perhaps in a “if you get me out of this Father, I will become a priest.” sort of way. But who cares?

What I mean by that is similar to what Paul said above, “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”

The world heard about their prayer groups, their request for Bibles. They heard about the faith that the miners’ families had and many heard about the Campus Crusade for Christ and their “Jesus Film Project” for the first time and the fact that most of the miners emerged from their shared tomb wearing their t-shirts given to them by the Campus Crusade for Christ that said “Thank you Jesus”.

It is important to reflect on all of this and realize how God can use and we can use the whole myriad of experiences that exist in the world to accomplish His will.

And as we also reflect on the ordeal of these 33 men we can remember the “pit” in which they were buried, how they were seemingly without hope but they rationed what supplies they had anyway and through God’s graces they were rewarded for that optimism by being drawn from the depths of the earth.

But for some of these men, it may have been a postponement, a postponement from a destination that they will share with countless others.

People you know will join them and people you don’t will as well.

Will you like Jose Henriquez, be “encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly” for their sake?

Only God knows if Jose’s efforts will make a difference that lasts now that the miners are out of the darkness, hopefully they will stay in the light.

Only God knows what difference the “Jesus Film Project” made for these men.

Only God knows whose dollars were donated that ultimately provided the mp3 player or the staff people who suggested the movie be sent to these miners.

But like I wrote back on September 20^th, “If you think of those miners and you had the ability to ease their burden and perhaps even rescue them, would you not try unceasingly to do whatever it is that you could do for them? Why should the unsaved and their condition be of less importance to us?

The last thing I want you to think about tonight and the first thing tomorrow morning is that and what you are going to do about saving the lost from a place where there will be no hope of escaping.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Your Calling

Imagine if you will that you have a unique job which you perform on a laptop computer that you carry with you in a case wherever you go.

Without the laptop and the programs loaded on it, you cannot do your job, but with it you can do your job anywhere, anytime, anyplace.

Now let’s imagine that this case, in which you keep your valuable laptop locked safely away, is rendered invulnerable even to you because you lost the key!

Suddenly the briefcase, the laptop and you are worthless when it comes to doing your job. Without access to that laptop, the job can’t be done.

Our faith can be just like that, because within us everything we need to do the work that we are to be about is available.

The question is, how often is our faith kept locked away within us?

Locked away our faith and the work it should be about is meaningless.

Now you know without much thought, if for no other reason than the name of this blog, what the work is that we are to be about: The Work of the Gospel.

Many Christians have it in mind that the work of the gospel is for certain called people to do, but they would be wrong!

We should all know that God calls us to different positions among which are those that get the most attention when we think of the called: those that teach and preach. To some these would be known as priests, others as pastors and still some as preachers.

Everyone thinks that it is these that are to do the work of the gospel, and it is.

So if we agree that it is the work of a pastor or a priest to do the work of the gospel, then let’s turn to 1 Peter 2:1-9

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
   "See, I lay a stone in Zion,
      a chosen and precious cornerstone,
   and the one who trusts in him
      will never be put to shame."Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
   "The stone the builders rejected
      has become the capstone," and,
   "A stone that causes men to stumble
      and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

We are all, to paraphrase, chosen to be priests and you agreed with me already that their work was the work of the gospel and the scripture says you are right!

So if we are all called to this priesthood but we are not all called to preach or teach, how do you do this work?

Paul tells us in Romans 12:4-5 that just as we have bodies made of individual parts, so are those of us in Christ forming a body. And as Paul said our body’s parts serve different functions, so also do we serve different functions.

Further along in that same chapter of Romans 12 we see some of the parts or functions that people can play. I believe this to be a very limited partial list, because yes, there is teaching and some of the others more familiar to us and if we have received one of these from God we should be using them. But if you think that none of these apply to you and you leave it at that, you are selling God short in the gifting department!

Do you think the person with a gift of musical talent can’t use that or how about an artist?

I know many who have a gift with languages and there are others who are mechanical. The bottom line again is that as a called and chosen priest, you are to “declare the praises of Him who called you.”

The mechanic could work on cars privately on one Saturday every month and have the freedom to give a surprise discount and when asked why, they could share the gospel with an anything but hostile recipient.

The linguist could translate a blog or website for a ministry that is long on desire for spreading the Good News but short on funds.

The artist could donate the funds from every 10th painting or design logos for churches.

How you “declare the praises of Him who called you” is as limitless as those gifts He has given us.

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” 1 Peter 3:15a

Monday, October 4, 2010

Are you a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal?

The title of today’s post has to do with how we participate in things such as Sunday School or Bible Studies.

I thought about posting this on my blog http://theadultsundayschool.blogspot.com/

however, I have dedicated that to my treatment of the weekly International Sunday School Lesson so I guess this is the place for today’s post.

I think it would be conservative of me to say that any study of God’s word is one to which I will bring a great deal of passion and anything that increases the knowledge shared will be greeted with great enthusiasm and anything that does the opposite will bother me greatly.

When I ask the question, “Are you a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal?” I am quoting from 1 Corinthians 13:1 obviously. In that context Paul was saying if he was speaking “in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” Meaning, if he were talking in tongues but was without love what he had to say would be as meaningless as a gong or a cymbal.

I don’t know about the without love part but I have been a gong, a cymbal, a whole orchestra before and I regret it deeply. This has taken place in Sunday School and Bible Study situations due to my enthusiasm and passion and the fact that God was calling me to teach, but not all of us are and yet we still have an enthusiasm and a passion for God and His word..

Now I realize that some will be so “tone deaf” they will not stop to consider that I am talking about them so everyone of us has to ask if the question at the top of the page is applicable to them.

In Christian love someone should tell you the effect that you are having on your group but the chances are that no one will.

The members of your group don’t want you to be hurt and they don’t want you to lose your enthusiasm. No one wants to be the one that takes on this unpleasant task and no one wants you to not share sometimes or even worse stop coming completely and that is why I am asking you to ask the question of yourself.

Let’s look at a few important issues. Are you the teacher or leader of the group? If you are then you can and should lead the group and decide how much you have to say, steer how you want the discussion to go by asking the questions, taking the group to the areas of the Bible you need for your lesson etc. And not every class has to have a discussion. If you are truly a teacher it isn’t only the pastor that can deliver a message.

Now if you are not the teacher or leader let’s begin with you by saying you must respect that you are not, so let’s look at how you can do that and do it smartly.

If the teacher asks for someone to read and there is a pregnant pause where no one volunteers then occasionally you can be the one to start reading. But it isn’t necessary for you to do it all the time. Remember there is a teacher/leader and I bet they know you will do it and that you enjoy doing it, so they will choose you from time to time and never forget they can break that silence and read themselves!

You probably have an impressive inventory of memorized verses or knowledge of where to find the location in the Bible of important issues but you must resist the urge to share that like you are some kind of machine on automatic.

If the teacher asks the group a question and someone actually manages to answer before you, please don’t feel you need to flesh out the subject. This almost always tends to put a damper on that person’s desire to contribute their two cents in the future, so let’s leave it up to the teacher as to when a subject needs to be filled in a little bit more thoroughly.

Romans 12:4-8 tells us that, “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

When we forget this we are fighting what is naturally given to us by God not only with regard to our own calling but also when we do go against this we create disorder.

If you are a woman and you are not the teacher of the class or leader of the study and you still feel that there is some calling there for you to teach then I suggest you attempt to start your own women’s only group. This may seem blunt, but it doesn’t pay to beat around the bush on these matters. Most women will follow a man as leader naturally but within an existing class or group, few will welcome an incessant contribution by you and it will in fact derail the class leading to some particpants leaving the class.

I would be remiss if I did not revisit the subject of my own guilt in this matter.

I am certain as certain can be that I interjected too often after the leader spoke or after someone shared their thoughts, and that I jumped at too many opportunities to read and quote the scripture. I am just as certain that people didn’t say anything because of the reason’s I gave at the beginning and that a few didn’t continue attending because of me.

So there you have it, I am not just picking on women but all who take their love for God and his word and our need to put on the whole armament of God and use it in error. We end up being gongs and cymbals. In 1 Corinthians 13 where that comes from Paul is stating that without love that is what he in essence would be similar to and I think that applies here as well.

If we consider this with love you will see my point. You can see how this would show more love to the teacher, more love to the group dynamic and more love to the timid.

And lest I forget, teachers, you have a position of authority, use it!