rlosey

The Scriptures usually (maybe even always) say, following Judas’ name “which also betrayed Him” (Him being Jesus Christ).  As I’ve mentioned before, we sometimes don’t take a balanced look at Bible characters; not one of the disciples thought that Judas Iscariot would betray Jesus. And Judas had been traveling with Jesus during His ministry, teaching, healing, etc — doing all of the same good things that the other disciples were doing.

However, none of that is remembered about him unless we make an effort to remember it – what is remembered is how he finished up – betraying Jesus Christ and then committing suicide… a terrible, horrible, tragic ending.

Let us take a  lesson from Judas to not shipwreck at the end of our lives; our journey here on this earth.

May God grant that we finish our course well and in honor and glory to Him; may He grant that we avoid the temptation that would make a shipwreck of our lives and our testimony and bring dishonor to that Name which is honorable above all else!

One of the difficulties I’ve noticed in either studying the Bible or preaching the Bible is to treat the Biblical peoples as either “nearly perfect” or “utterly hopeless”. Some examples:

Elimelech: I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything good about Elimelech; the guy is always beaten up over having moved his poor, suffering family out of the land of Israel, and they were “victims” of his bad decision. Yes, as the head of his family, he is responsible for the decisions made, but consider another alternative: Perhaps he didn’t want to leave, but was nagged into it by Naomi (his wife). Consider that after Elimelech died, Naomi did not move back to Israel. Consider that his sons did not marry heathen women until after he died. Perhaps he refused to let them date heathen women, but Naomi decided after her husband’s death that he was “too strict”. As some may rightly point out, the Bible is silent about the relationship between Naomic and Elimelech. Exactly! So why do people always assume that Elimelech was the backslidden, evil man and Naomi the good, silently suffering wife?

Eli: Here’s another guy that is beaten up a lot because of the sins of his sons. Yes, his sons did sin. But God did not hold him accountable for his son’s sin; God judges each person on the basis of his own sin. Eli’s sin was that, knowing his son’s sin, he let them continue in the priesthood, even though they had disqualified themselves (remind anyone of any prominent preachers of our generation?). Remember that Eli was the man chosen by God to bring up Samuel.

Saul: Most of the messages I heard about Saul are about his incomplete obedience regarding the Amalekites and the years he wasted chasing after David. Yes, these are sins.  But Saul had a very good record in the days before he want bad; if you read his early acts as king, he was very admirable.

Judas: Judas is, of course, the ultimate in “bad guys”, since he betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ.  But consider that when Jesus said that one of those eating at the table would betray Him, the Bible does not say “… and all the disciples looked upon Judas”.  They had no idea.  They all were asking “Is it I?”. (I’ve always thought that perhaps the disciples thought that one of them would accidentally betray Jesus).  Judas went out with the other disciples, preached about the kingdom, had command over evil spirits, etc. Judas is sometimes paired with Simon the Zealot — perhaps Judas was hoping Jesus would restore the Jews to a kingdom and drive out the hated Romans.  Perhaps he thought that by turning Jesus over, Jesus would be forced to use His power.  Granted, these are just speculations, but the goal it to consider some of these people as real people with both good and bad traits.

And, on the other hand, we sometimes view the likes of Abraham, David, and Paul (probably others, too) as some kind of supermen, halfway between God and ordinary people like us.  But they weren’t supermen – they were “ordinary” people who believed in an extraordinary God who chose to do great things through them.

There’s a little story in Mark 1 (verses 31-34) that had some neat lessons for me, and so I thought I’d share them…

For those that desire an on-line summary, Jesus has begun to gather disciples; He has Andrew, Peter, James, and John with Him. He has gone to Peter & Andrew’s house to spend the night. However, word of what He had done earlier that Saturday, and most of the city came with sick friends or family, as well as those possessed with a devil. The Bible tells us that He healed many of them, and cast out many devils, but that they were not allowed to speak because they knew Him.

First note: Are we like the disciples, who followed Him to hear Him speak and to learn of His teachings, or are we like the crowd, who showed up uninvited, and unannounced because they heard about something good at Andrew’s place?  A good “sale” (quite appropriate for the day after so-called “Black Friday”), free healing, a chance to have needs met, and have their friends/loved ones restored.  It was all about their needs, not about Jesus Christ.  Do we loved God for who He is, or for what He can do for us?  Do we do good things for Him so that He will be good to us, or to get good things from Him, or just because He is worthy?

Second note: Jesus is infinitely good – He is well aware that they came merely for what they could get, yet He still healed them.  If most people had been in His position, they would have insisted that the people coming “make a donation to support the ministry”, or that they believe on Him, or SOMETHING.  But Jesus makes no demands of these people; He heals them. How good He is!

Third note: Even though the devils were speaking the truth, Jesus refused to let them speak of Him.  He did not desire the endorsement of demons and devils, even though they spoke the truth about Him.  So… sometimes truth isn’t the only consideration. As the Scripture tells us, there is a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.

Hope you enjoyed this!

The traditional Christian belief is that God is a trinity; a three-in-one entity made up of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (don’t ask me to explain it; in the first place, this is just a quick overview, and in the second place I cannot explain God).  🙂

If one asks a typical pastor or evangelist if he believes in the Holy Spirit, he will say “Of course! That’s basic Christian doctrine.”

What I’m discussing here, however, is not the theological doctrines to which someone gives lip service; I’d like to discuss the practice of some pastors/evangelists.

Growth: is it the pastor’s job to grow people? No, his job is to feed the people by expounded the Scripture; the Holy Spirit will grow people.  Is it the pastor’s job to conform the church members to the pastor’s way of thinking?  No; we are all to conform to Jesus’ image as we surrender to the Holy Spirit.

Psychological manipulation must not usurp the Holy Spirit’s leading.

In the services I have been in, at the end is an invitation, which normally begins with the pastor asking for “every head bowed and every eye closed.”  This is often accompanied by the statement that “no one is looking around” and also a request that no one should be leaving.  The impression given upon visitors and (most) members is that this is a private time between you (the hearer) and God as to what has been said.  Depending on the church, the pastor will ask for those who are not sure they are saved to raise their hands; sometimes he will ask for those to whom God has spoken to raise their hands.  The pastor, in theory, just wants to pray for you.

However, in some churches, the Holy Spirit is thrown right out the door and heavy manipulation begins… if you are saved (a Christian), and God spoke to you through the message, you are urged to come forward.  Sometimes added pressure is brought with the “you aren’t ashamed to show that God has worked in your life, are you?”  The person who is not sure he is saved can be approached be people… “Wow,” (the thought goes), “maybe  God has spoken to them about my uncertainty and I should go forward.”  Or sometimes someone will ask you to go forward with them, and then spring it on you that you raised your hand for salvation.

In some of these churches, the pastor will ask staff members, or special members in the congregation to NOT bow their heads; to NOT close their eyes, and to see who is not sure about their salvation.  These people are encourage to approach and talk to the people.

Sometimes, the pastor will tell the leaders who raised his hand for what later on.

Are we so desperate to see someone say a prayer that we have to resort to such manipulation?

Do some pastors  and/or evangelists really think that God the Holy Spirit is so weak that He cannot convict someone without these kind of techniques??

Let us not be deceptive; if you imply that a hand-raising is private between the person raising his hand and the person in the pulpit, keep it that way!  Don’t spread it, and don’t get caught in a lie with staff or others watching when you told everyone that no one else was watching.

Let’s be honest!

Let’s start today’s thought with a few quotes from the Scriptures:

I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another

If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake

I will not give my glory unto another

These thoughts today are addressed to those who stand behind pulpits; not only pastors, but evangelists, staff members, and perhaps deacons.  It can also apply to those who give testimonies, but guest speakers in pulpits are by far the worst offenders.

I have been in many, many conferences and have heard guest speakers in various churches, and I’m a little tired of hearing them go on and on for 10-20 minutes about how wonderful the pastor is; how wonderful the church is; how wonderful the people are… but they have almost nothing to say about how wonderful God is.  If they say anything, they say “God’s been good to me” – five words.  That’s it.  And yet, they can go on eloquently how wonderful the pastor is, and how he is unusually blessed of God, etc, and so forth for many long minutes.  It gives the impression that they feel that they must do this in order to be invited back again. This is the kind of behavior I’m used to seeing in the world of business, but not in a church that is (supposedly) founded to glorify God.

Some staff members apparently think it is their duty to exalt the pastor; and that is false – your PRIMARY duty is to glorify God through your position (that is the primary duty of all Christians).  If a man is worthy of praise, go ahead and praise him – but don’t give that man a hundreds words of praise, and then all you can say about God is “God has been very good to me”.

I’m afraid that exalting and praising God is a lost practice; when most people praise the Lord, they do it by  listing the good, great, or miraculous things that He has done for them.  But God is still worthy of our praise even if He didn’t do anything good, great, or miraculous for us.  One problem with listing the unusual good things that God has done for you is that it can create the impression in the minds of the people listening to you that YOU are the special one (more spiritual than others, perhaps?) because of what God does for you that He has not done for others.

Maybe a couple of examples will help clear up what I’m trying to say:

#1) God has been so very good to me; the other day, I took my car to get inspected, and discovered that it needed new tires.  That was going to cost me several hundred dollars that I didn’t have.  I laid the problem before God, and that very day I received a check from a church I had preached in last year – enough to cover the need!  Praise the Lord!

#2) God is awesome in His majesty and in His holiness.  But I thank Him tonight for His equally amazing mercy and grace. He had no cause to reach down and save me; I have no merit of my own; nothing to recommend myself to Him.  But He took the time and trouble to gather me to Himself.   When I have been in trouble and distress and not knowing what to do or where to go, He put His loving arms around me and let me know that He loves me.

The first testimony is very common these days. Let’s be honest, however – these kind of things do not happen to most people. As much as it attempts to glorify God, it seems to also be sending the message: “see how important I am to God? He takes care of expenses for me (that he doesn’t take care of for you)”

Certainly the Bible says to give honor to whom honor is due, and the position of a pastor is worthy of honor; I am not trying to detract from that at all.  However, we should never honor and exalt any man more than we exalt the God of all the ages, the living, holy, and true God. If you can talk about how great your pastor is for ten minutes, you should be able to talk about how great God is for at least double that time.

Related to this are the so-called testimonies that I have heard and (sorry to say) that I have given… they often begin with six words that purport to glorify God: “I thank God for my salvation”, and then it veers into either something unusually good that God has done for them, or (worse) into a praise of the church, or the pastor, or some other church member.  Salvation is a wonderful gift from a loving, kind, and merciful heavenly Father, and we SHOULD thank Him for it… but He deserves much better than “I thank Him for saving me”.

Let us determine to give Him the glory He deserves!

On Wednesday nights, we have been studying 1 Cor; it has been a blessing.  Last Wednesday, we were in 1 Cor 15 – part of the message touched on v15 flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; later, the preacher was discussion what our bodies in heaven could be like.

As with many things, that set my mind thinking; one of the reasons we must have a new body in heaven is that this frail, mortal frame cannot see God.  We know from 1 John that God is light.  I’ve been in bed when someone turns on a light.  It hurts my eyes.  Or, going out into the bright sunlight from a dark room — it is so bright that my eyes hurt. I’m sure that’s happened to others, too.  Now, consider that magnified a thousand-fold.  God is light, and if we saw Him as He is, these bodies would incinerate instantly.  We aren’t supposed to look at the sun because it will hurt us.  But the Almighty is pure, true light – even our sun has dark spots. Seeing Him is more than we could bear.

Little wonder that we must have new bodies; thankfully, we will have them and be able to gaze upon “Him who loved us”.