*This post is a newsletter article I wrote for our church newsletter this month.  I know I haven’t “blogged” in a while, for sure not much this year & for that I am truly sorry.  I love writing, but when you are a full-time pastor, with pastoral duties to tend to, and on top of that you add studying for and preaching three messages a week, I find there is simply no extra time for writing, or anything else to say for that matter.  I hope to be able to blog more in the future.  The medium of writing is so powerful & provoking.   So, we’ll see what comes about in the future.

Are you hungry?  Just two days ago, when it was time to submit my newsletter article for this month, I read these verses during my daily Bible reading in Luke 6, Verses 21a & 25a, which say respectively, “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied…”, and then “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.” (Both quoted from the ESV translation.)  The thought hit me, how truly hungry for God & the things of God in my life am I?  One of the great truths we see taught throughout all of Scripture is the point Jesus is trying to make here; that we ought to be truly hungry for, that we would yearn for God and His truth!

I wonder, how hungry are you? When we are hungry physically, we pull up to the table and eat.  Most of us would not think of going one day without eating at least one meal, most of us eat at least two or three.  If you are like me, not only do you eat those meals, but you are thinking about others.  I like to think down the road a bit to see what meals might be coming.  This is what Jesus is talking about.  Rather, Jesus speaks of a spiritual hunger for God, not physical hunger for food.  The point He makes in these verses is that you & I as followers of God should long for more of God & nourishment from His Word.

How many times do you go through a whole day without a solid, sustaining meal from God’s Word?  I’m talking about reading God’s Word, meditating on it for a solid amount of time, so as to bury it down in the deep recesses of your soul.  It seems that I hear from people, mostly indirectly, that their souls seem far from God.  Perhaps the reason you feel far from God is because you ARE malnourished spiritually.  You can’t neglect God’s Word on a daily basis and come to worship services with your fellow brothers & sisters and expect to feel close to God.  You wouldn’t dare try & live a week on one physical meal, but far too often many of us attempt & do this spiritually and we wonder why the service just didn’t seem to have any vigor or passion.  It’s because you haven’t been passionate about God yourself.  If you aren’t spending time with God, regularly, He will be a stranger to you.  He won’t talk to you.  In fact, He will feel far from you.  As the old saying goes, “If you feel far from God, He hasn’t moved.”

What can you do about this?  You can begin by pursuing God again.  He is more than ready for you to come after Him.  In fact, this article is His attempt to come after you, to alert you to this problem/sin in your life.  In God we find fullness of joy & peace.  We find the way of life & happiness.  What steps can you take to get hungry again?  When it comes to my physical hunger, all I have to do is start thinking about a good meal (In fact, I’m picturing a nice, juicy rib-eye steak).  I think the same truth can apply spiritually.  Do you spend time thinking about God on a daily, regular basis?  Start there.  Spend time reading short passages of Scripture as a daily discipline, then stop & think about what that passage teaches you about this great God we love & serve.

These things are just a start to getting back to hungering for God again.  Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are hungry now.”  There is still time to be satisfied, and that desire to be satisfied is a sure sign that God is still working on you!  Hungry yet?

One of my favorite magazines to get in the mail as a pastor during the year is “On Mission”, the North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) publication that comes out several times a year (You can find the online addition by clicking here).  Included in each installment of “On Mission” are stories of the work NAMB is doing throughout North America through Church-Planting, Missionary Involvement, church outreach projects, etc… Many of the articles are both encouraging & inspiring.  It is so great to see how God is using a variety of different people in a variety of different places, in a variety of different ways (We don’t all have to do ministry the same way) across our great continent.  My favorite part of the magazine though is an extra they provide in the pastor’s edition of the magazine, in which they share a number of different statistical information that helps reveal different trends going on across North America.  Every time it is interesting to see how people are changing their habits & beliefs, to see if we (The Church) are keeping up or falling behind.  I’ve got to admit, according to everything I see, not only in “On Mission”, but in various books & resources I view, it appears we are falling behind reaching our continent a little more every day.

Not only are we not reaching our continent, we are also falling behind when it comes to general well-being & happiness.  According to a research organization’s findings online, quoted in “On Mission”, the Southeast has now become one of the least happy places to live in the country (You can view the research yourself on the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index website).  The findings are certainly educational.  The survey calculates & combines findings in a number of different areas, including: General Life Evaluation, Emotional Health, Physical Health, Heathy Behaviors, Work Environment & Basic Access to general necessities of life.  Now, certainly any survey is prone to have certain flaws, but surveys are also useful in revealing certain trends.  Here’s what you will find if you visit & explore on the website linked to above.  You will find in their report that every state in the Southeastern portion of the USA is included in the bottom two tiers of their grid, which ranks states on a scale from happiest to least happy places to live.

Here’s what concerns me most.  It is in these same Southeastern states, which are on the bottom of the scale as far as general happiness is concerned where the Church is most prevalent.  It is in these same Southeastern states where you will find the most number of churches, whether they be Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, you take your pick.  Some might ask, is this an indictment against Christianity?  I guess some may suggest that.  However, as a lifelong member of Southern Baptist Churches & lifelong resident of the Southeast (South & North Carolina in particular) I suggest it is an indictment on our religious traditions, rather than on the Christ we supposedly love & serve.  Some of you are wondering how & why I made this jump?  If you are wondering this it’s because the indictment is against you.  For too long we have separated our faith from our everyday lives.  In other words, our faith is what we do & practice, who we are on Sunday’s & then who or what we are the rest of the week is separated from that “faith” person for the rest of the week.  That is what we have turned Christianity into.  It is no longer about loving, worshiping & serving Jesus.  We have fallen into the pit & rut of our religious traditions and religion has never brought anyone happiness or lasting joy, only Jesus can do that.  We have got to fall in love with Jesus!  We have got to love Jesus more than our religious traditions or preferences.  We have got to love Jesus more than our jobs or careers.  We have got to love Jesus more than our mom’s & dad’s, more than our sons & daughters.  We have got to love Jesus more than anything, more than our lives themselves.

Jesus came to bring “Abundant Life” (John 10: 10).  You don’t get “Abundant Life” from serving a Jesus that is made in our (man’s) image rather than being the One sent from the Father.  The only Jesus who can give life is the One that came from God, in the flesh, to live a perfect life on Earth, for us & The Father, so that our sins could be forgiven & we could be given life through Him.  We have got to love Him!  We have got to follow Him, and we’ve got to do so with all our hearts, soul, mind & strength.  This all begins for all of us by first truly coming to Him in repentance & acceptance of the fact that He is TRULY our ONLY hope.  We are sinners, deserving of nothing but God’s judgement against us, but yet we get forgiveness, pardon & true freedom from sin’s guilt & shame.  Then & only then will we be able to understand how great our God is that He would forgive sinners such as we are, and it’s then we will want to live for Him.

God is truly great!  And it is surely a blessing to live for Him.  Southeast, let’s allow God to turn the tide of this survey/research’s findings.  Let’s confess our sins! Let’s repent of our sinful practices & lifestyles.  Let’s allow God to slay the idols we have created of good things like the religious practices we so cherish (Good things become bad things when we make them god things).  Let’s return, or maybe come for the first time, to the God that loves us & so desires for all people to come to Him.  Then & only then can/will the colors of this map change for God’s glory & our best!

Many of you know this past Christmas I met four (or five, I can’t remember now) Jehovah’s Witnesses in my parent’s drive way while I was going to check the paper box.  Unfortunately, I was so irate over their coming out on Christmas morning to tell us we should not be celebrating Jesus’ birth I was not a very good witness on that morning for Jesus.  I have since sought God’s forgiveness & thankfully claim to believe I John 1: 9 that God has forgiven me for my sins of pride, arrogance & anger.  Today I want to do a little better.  This morning we received a letter from a well-meaning lady (At least the letter claims to be written by a lady) at our church offices.  The letter was written by a Jehova’s Witness person (Not sure what to refer to them as) per the watchtower tract inside along with the arguments made in the letter.  I have come to find out Jehovah’s Witnesses have started using the obituaries listed in the paper to find families who are grieving to spread their ideas by sending what looks like well-meaning to letters of families in grief.  In this post I am going to include the letter we received from the person, with names excluded, and in her letter I am going to underline the major parts that are contradictory to Holy Scripture.  The bottom letter is the response I am making to this person.  Yes, I am going to send a letter to her as well.  I am including all of this information because I want you all to know the truth.  I also want you all to know how to deal with the lies that are being spread in our world & how to respond to them.  Chances are you have had, or will have in the not-too-distant future a Jehovah’s Witness visitor.  They are not Christian!  The message they believe is not a message of hope, but one of false security.  Their message is not a Christian message, it is a lie.  So, with those pleasantries being shared, here we go.

*The letter we received:

“To the family and friends of ________________,

I was so very sorry to read about your loss in today’s newspaper.  While I didn’t know ________________ personally, I am sure that ________________ will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved ________________.

About six years ago, I lost a dear friend in death.  The pain and sadness were nearly unbearable.  However, I found comfort in a promise.  I would like to share that promise with you in hopes that it brings you some measure of comfort, too.

No matter what we go through today, God promises to make things better for all humankind very soon.  He will put an end to everything causing us to suffer–including death (Revelation 21: 3,4).  God will bring back to life all those who have fallen asleep in death in a wonderful resurrection (John 5: 28, 29).  Then, only good and happy people will live on earth forever (Psalm 37: 9-11).  This isn’t just a mere dream.  God will very soon make these promises a reality for all faithful human beings.

You can see _______________ again.  _____________ will be brought back to life right here on Earth and never have to die again.  You all can live happily together forever, and you will never have to say ‘goodbye.’ (I must say this is a possibility & it will be explained in my reply letter)

Death is not a natural occurrence that human beings are supposed to know how to deal with.  God created us with a desire to live forever, and he will soon make that possible.  I hope that focusing on the bright future ahead helps you endure this difficult time.

I have enclosed a brief tract if you would like something encouraging to read.  I will keep you all in my thoughts, and I hope that you continue to heal.”

She closed her letter, Sincerely (In case you were wondering).

Well, here’s my reply to her (With her name left out).

“Dear ______________,

I wanted to let you know we received the letter & tract you sent.  I am sure your motives are sincere, as are mine in writing back to you.  However, the promise & peace you have & speak of are misguided.

Death IS a difficult thing to go through for anyone & it was truly something God never desired/intended for any human being.  But, as the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6: 23a).

Where you are misguided is this, things aren’t going to get better for ALL humankind as you believe.  In your letter you refer to Revelation 21: 3-4 which IS glorious news, but ONLY for those who have been forgiven by God through trusting in His Son, Jesus the Christ!  What you failed to see was the promise that is also made at the end of Revelation 20 (Verse 15), just three verses above those you referenced.  That verse speaks of an everlasting judgment for all those who were “not found written in the book of life,” or as other passages in Scripture teach, did not trust in Jesus’ sacrificial, atoning death on the cross.  You also failed to read all of the verses in the other passage you referenced in John 5: 28-29.  Those verses do speak of reward for those who follow Jesus but also clearly show there is only judgment awaiting those who do not.

The reason I write to you is because your apparent concern for this family is shared by me for you.  What you have been taught is not the whole truth, which in reality makes it no truth.  The message of the whole Bible can be summed up this way: Trust in Jesus, who assumed God’s wrath for you, or you yourself will face it.  In Him & Him alone in hope!  Think about the argument you yourself made.  If all humankind will be saved, why do we need the Jehovah’s Witnesses message?  I invite you to put your faith in the ONE who alone brings forgiveness & life eternal.  Put your faith in Jesus!

In Him, Jamie Rogers.”

I hope this helps you in some of the concerns you may have concerning what is truth.  There is so much more to be said in this dialogue.  If you have any comments or questions feel free to leave them in the comment section below.  Pray this reply letter will be read by her with an open heart and that God uses it to bring her to Himself.

Well, another Christian politician is in hot water over comments he made in public about his faith!  This past week the new governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley, angered many people across his state while speaking after his inauguration at an historic Baptist Church, on Martin Luther King day, in a church in which Dr. King once spoke.  During his speech governor Bentley angered the folks of his state (and many across the nation) when he said, “if you’re a Christian and you’re saved … it makes you and me brother and sister.”  He went on to say, “Now I will have to say that, if we don’t have the same daddy, we’re not brothers and sisters, so anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I’m telling you, you’re not my brother and you’re not my sister, and I want to be your brother.” (All this according to the Birmingham News!)

(Click on photo to see news coverage of the governor’s comments)

I can see why the governor’s comments would anger many people across our biblicaly illiterate nation.  To MANY people who know nothing of God’s Word, The Bible, his words come across as insensitive & hurtful.  However, according to my knowledge of the Bible they are right on.  Jesus said in John 1: 12, “But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe on His name:” (Italics, emphasis mine).

One of the main truths taught throughout the Bible is that there are two basic families represented on earth, the family of Adam & the family of Jesus (Romans 5, I Corinthians 15).  All humans are connected to one another by virtue of our all having descended from Adam.  By our lineage from Adam we all are sinners, facing the sure, coming judgment of God upon all sinners, and we all will die.  However, Jesus came to be a better Adam, the head of a different family of people.  Whereas sin entered humanity through the first Adam, life & salvation are passed onto those who become a part of the family of God, by virtue of their new birth (The “Born again” you may have heard talked about before) into a different family by virtue of their faith in Jesus Christ.  Anyone who chooses to put their faith in Jesus, God’s Son, the Savior of the world is transferred from the family of Adam & is adopted into the family of God, through their faith in Jesus.  ONLY those who have put their faith in Jesus are in this family!  ONLY those who have done this are a part of the family of God.  ONLY those who have put their faith in Jesus have the Father as a dad, thereby ONLY making those brothers & sisters.

Now, that is the truth of Scripture.  Don’t like it?  Don’t get upset, it’s because of your own choosing you believe the way YOU do (and you believing the way you do doesn’t make me unhappy!).  You can choose to believe what the Bible teaches, or not, but don’t hate on someone because they choose to believe it.  In this case, the governor believes that, and he shared his opinion.

Those who are saying that believing such truth will not allow him to govern well on behalf of all the citizens of Alabama also do not understand the Bible.  I don’t know what kind of governor Robert Bentley will be, but I do know this, that by following Jesus Christ and believing that Scripture is truth, it will cause him to govern for the well-being of all the citizens of Alabama.  In fact, he will care more for those who disagree with him more so than those who agree with him.  As a follower of Jesus he is commanded to love the unlovable.  He is taught to punish evildoers & to protect those who abide by the laws.  I think every law abiding citizen would applaud such decisions.

Disagree with his statement?  You may choose to do so, but I am telling you it has no bearing on his care for ALL the people of Alabama, whether they be Christian or not, black or white, man or woman, rich or poor.  I thank God for a man who is willing to take such a stand.  I only wish those who are already speaking out against him would take notice of the truth of his comments and that many would come to faith in Jesus, because not all “go to a better place” when they die.  Only those who have put their faith in Jesus win!

I figured as a help to you all I would put on here the Daily Bible Reading guide I will be using to read through the Bible in a year this year.  It is so important for all followers of Jesus to read His Word.  Over & over again writers of Scripture talk about the importance of the Bible to the life of every believer.  If you are a follower of Jesus I invite you to read through the Bible with me this year.  Let me offer some helpful tips:

1) Find a translation that is easy to understand & read. I would suggest not using the King James Version.  I tend to change the version that I use to read through the Bible in this format.  This past year I used the ESV version, which consequently I may change to start preaching out of in the near future.  Which version does not matter too much just so long as you are not using the TNIV, or The Message or anything like that (Just my preference).  Find a translation to read that you like.  This year I think I have settled on reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible (Lifeway, I expect something for plugging your translation.  Just Kidding!!!).

2) Go ahead and start reading!  Don’t wait until January 1st.  You will miss some days along the way, so go ahead and get an early jump.

3) When you do miss a day, don’t quit!  Make a habit of carving out time every day to read the day’s passage.  If you don’t you will not take time to read it.

4) Find some way of keeping yourself accountable.  Find a group that is going to read through the Bible with you.  Let them hold you accountable to making sure you are reading through the Bible.  This past year I used my twitter account to hold me accountable.  I told people I was going to put up every day a comment on that day’s readings.  I am four reading away from being through for the year.  You may want to try and do the same thing.

5) Pray before you read and ask God to give you understanding.

So, are you ready to embark on an adventure worth taking?  Click  here to find the chart to get started.  Check back in from time to time here and let me know what God is showing you!  Be ready for God to change your life!

I don’t know about you, but I struggle when it comes to thinking of ideas to lead my family in during family worship times.  Due to that fact we don’t do it like we should.  Knowing this, it always helpful when ideas pop into our minds that come from God that allow us to teach our children about Him in a valuable way.  It is also helpful when someone else has an idea we can use and incorporate into our own families schedule.  With that in mind let me offer the following suggestion that I think will be a good idea to do with your family this year leading up to Christmas day with your children.  If you can think of any other suggestions that would be great additions to what I am suggesting feel free to leave them in the comment section.  As with most other family worship ideas I would suggest the father be the leader in the endeavor.  Dad, you read the scripture passages, or call on your children to do so, but dad, you be the one to assign the person who will read.  Dad, lead your family in prayer.  Dad, you begin the songs.  Dad, you work with mom to come up with your own plan, but make sure you take a lead role in front of your children, they need to see you leading in spiritual encounters around your home.  This investment will go farther than you think.

With all that being said, here is the plan, that if began today/tonight and performed every day this week will finish up on Christmas morning.

Monday, December 20:  Scripture Reading – Luke 1: 26-38.  Songs to sing may include, “Emmanuel”, “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus”.

Tuesday, December 21: Scripture Reading – Matthew 1: 18-25. Songs to sing may include, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.

Wednesday, December 22: Scripture Reading – Luke 1: 39-45, 57-66, 80.  Songs to sing may include, “Tell Me the Story of Jesus”

Thursday, December 23: Scripture Reading – Luke 2: 1-7.  Songs to include, “Away in a Manger”, “Silent Night”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”.

Friday, December 24: Scripture Reading – Luke 2: 8-20.  Songs to include, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, “The First Nowell”, “Angels We Have Heard on High”.

Saturday, December 25: Scripture Reading – Matthew 2: 1-12.  Songs to include, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “We Three Kings”, “Joy to the World”.

Well there you have it.  Maybe a new Christmas tradition we can all start together.  The hymns of the church do such a wonderful job of reinforcing the story that God has recorded for us in His Word.  The story written/recorded in the Bible is a story worth you & your children knowing.  I would encourage you at the very least to follow the Scripture reading plan as it is laid out.  That way you don’t have to read the whole Christmas story all at once, and maybe, just maybe, it may stick in your children’s minds a little better.  If you go on the road like we do, then take your plan on the road.  Include Grandparents & other family members.  Who knows, these may be memories that stick with your children for years.  Once you have read the Scriptures each day take a little time & explain them.  Take a little extra time to explain John the Baptist, how he was the one to proclaim of Jesus’ coming.

I pray this Christmas will be a great blessing to you & your family.  I also pray this family Christmas worship time will be a help in that process!

Well here I am a few hours removed from the funeral service better known as the 2010 South Carolina Baptist Convention.  Why the doom/gloom talk?  My observation, that I shared with several friends during the past two days’ proceedings were, “I think we are watching a convention die before our very eyes.”  The South Carolina Baptist Convention lacks power, vision, charisma, passion, faith all as a result of our own idolatrous worship of ourselves and our methods, rather than our dedicated worship to the One true God & His mission to get His gospel to the entire world before it is eternally too late for some who have never heard.

Tuesday afternoon South Carolina Baptist Convention messengers debated for over twenty minutes about .56% points of their budget.  We were debating whether to raise the percentage of money that we send to the Southern Baptist Convention .56%, or keep the percentage where it was at 40.44% of our state’s budget.  In a year when we were encouraged to try and start getting more of our money to the missionaries on the field so they are better equipped to carry out God’s Great Commission our state wanted to debate over .56% points (While various other state conventions voted to raise their percentages to a 50/50 split).  I know the arguments and have heard them these past couple of days:  “Well, we need to keep the money in our state agencies (schools) so we can raise up  more students who will in turn be better equipped to be missionaries for our convention.”  Here’s the big problem with that, they aren’t going to be Southern Baptist missionaries because we don’t have enough money to support the missionaries we already do have (The IMB has cut the number of missionaries serving overseas two straight years because of available funds).  By the way, God doesn’t want Southern Baptist missionaries, He wants Jesus missionaries.  He wants people who will tell others about Him, rather than trying to elicit support for a Cooperative Program.

Here is the question I would like to have asked our convention during our two days of meeting.  Where is our faith?  Do we not believe God will meet our every need for what we feel He is leading us to accomplish?  Where was our passion?  Where was our zeal for the Lord of hosts?  It was sure lacking during our two days of meeting.

We need more than ever a mighty move of God.  God will only do & bless that which brings glory to His name.  Our convention needs to be committed to that as well.  I could honestly care less about the perpetuity of a South Carolina Baptist Convention, or a Cooperative Program, if all we are going to be concerned about is taking care of ourselves.  If our convention does not exist to bring Glory to God’s name among the nations we have no reason to exist.  That is why, for those of you who put down the GCR, we needed a GCR task force to study & report how we could make changes in our conventions to be more  committed to God’s Kingdom than we are Southern Baptist Kingdom-minded.  Do you want to know why young guys are leaving the convention?  It’s because they want to give their lives to something that will last, something that is worth their life’s service!  From what I saw these past couple of days the South Carolina Baptist Convention is on it’s last days.  Honestly, if nothing changes, I pray that would be the case.  I’m not in this thing for the South Carolina Baptist Kingdom, I serve The King, in His Kingdom, who doesn’t need me, or any convention for that matter.  It is our privilege to serve Him.  It’s time for South Carolina Baptist to WAKE UP, and remember that!!!

Are you bummed out?  It seems there is so much discouraging news happening in our world today that many people are becoming more & more discouraged.  This discouragement has even invaded the church house, the one place that should be a beacon of encouragement in our world.  Where is all this discouragement coming from?  It seems to be the result of a number of contributing factors that are piggy-backing on one another.  There is a general sense of doubt about our government and it’s leaders.  To make matters worse our economy seems to be going into the tank.  Job losses are at astronomical levels.  Families seems to have less money than ever before while at the same time prices for everything seem to be sky-rocketing.  These factors & many more seem to have people in the doldrums.

One quick encouraging word about all this.  Take heart, IF you are a believer, a follower of Jesus Christ.  This world is as bad as it gets for you.  We were never meant to be too comfortable or satisfied with this world.  Paul says in I Corinthians 15: 19 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”  In other words, there is something much better coming for us.  When Jesus rose from the dead, which is the context for the above verse (I Corinthians 15 is the longest defense in Scripture concerning the resurrection of Jesus from the dead), He guaranteed that there is a better day coming for all those who believe in Him.  Is this world difficult for a believer to live in?  Sure it is, because it’s not home.  We have a home waiting on us, one where there will be no more pain, suffering, heartache, discouragement, even no more death.  In that home Jesus will reign as the King that He is and all sin & sinners will be abolished.  Don’t spend all your time gazing at the bad news around you, rather spend your time thinking about our coming HOME and let the soon return of Jesus the Christ motivate you to live for His glory by seeking to have as many people as you can prepared for His coming as well.  Better days are coming!

*Click on picture to see video.  Be sure to listen to the lyrics!

Every believer is called/commanded/commissioned by God to be a minister/servant for Him in our world.  Acts makes that point over & over again.  The book of Acts teaches us how the early Church began to fulfill the Great Commission and thereby teaches us as God’s modern-day Church how to do it as well.  Every believer has a ministry to perform, and none are exempt.  What we should desire is that as we perform God’s ministry in the world we should desire to be as effective as we possibly can.  Acts 16: 11-18 can be helpful to us in that aspect, in that it shows us some ministry patterns that Paul and his partners in this second missionary journey employed as they served King Jesus on mission.  Here’s what we learn as we go through this passage…

1) In our life’s ministry we need to go to where the people are and look for hearts receptive to the gospel.  Verses 11-14

This is the pattern throughout the book of Acts.  Paul went to the cities and looked for receptive hearts.

The cities were/are important because that’s where the people are and gospel ministry can be maximized there.  Example, each one reaching one.  Reach more people that can in turn reach more people.  Cities also spill into surrounding areas and effect culture & society at large.  It is not the opposite.  Most Christians seek to change culture the opposite way.  We stay in our small-town communities and preach about the culture with hardly any change to boast of.  Believers must get into the cities and invest time there.  But, we must go there with a plan.  Don’t just go to where the people are, but look for people who’s hearts are open & receptive to the gospel.  Paul usually started in the synagogue but Philippi did not have one.  So, he looked for places where people would be open to public sharing of faith and he found it in a group of women who met to pray with one another.  By the way, this is a very effective way to share the gospel.  Seek to intentionally start conversations with people with the intention of sharing the gospel.

Let me share some news with you about where people hang out.  People are not only in the cities, but they are also online, facebook in particular.  According to the facebook website over 400 million people use facebook.  If facebook were a country that would make it the third largest country on the earth.  The great thing about facebook is over 70% of the users are from outside the United States.  Get on facebook and be strategic about sharing your faith there.

2) In your life’s ministry ascribe value to every individual.

-In verses 11-18 there is something that would have been strikingly unusual to a first century audience that we just read right over.  The first converts in Philippi are WOMEN!  We cannot miss the prominent role women play in God’s story.  (Examples include John 4, Jesus speaking to the woman at the well; Women were the first to hear & proclaim news of the resurrection of Jesus, etc…)  Point is, God ascribes value to women in His Word that their societies did not offer, and that is true even today.  Think about the places where women, and all life in general for that matter, are valued and I will show you a place where Christianity has been accepted or now is being accepted.  Those places place the most dignity & respect on all human life.

Where does this value come from?  It comes from God Himself.  Genesis 1: 27 & 9: 5-6 teach us specifically that God made mankind in His image & likeness.  That’s where human value comes from.

Now, we must be clear here though.  Men & women are equal in value, but they are not the same when it comes to functions/roles they play in church or society in general.  Many liberals have sought to remove any/all restrictions on women performing functions in the church, bowing to the pressures society places on them.  But God’s Word is clear when it comes to this matter.  For those who balk at this idea God already had prophesied this would happen in Genesis 3: 16.  Critics say this devalues women by limiting their roles in church.  Limiting function has nothing to do with value.  Think with me about the trinity.  In our orthodox understanding of the Trinity God has reveals Himself in three distinct persons; Father, Son, Spirit.  All three are equal, but yet, all three perform different functions, and none of the three ever express jealousy/envy towards the other because of the limitations.

Knowing that God places value on all human life should cause those who follow Jesus to do the same.  Believers should not just love the loveable, but should be marked by our love for the unloveable.  This also provides us with all the motivation we need to share the gospel with ALL people.

3) In your life’s ministy recognize there is a real, active enemy to all believers.      Verses 16-18

More will be said about these verses in the future, but for now we must recognize that there is a real, present, active enemy against all believers/followers of Jesus.  We must not overemphasize the spiritual, nor should be underemphasize the spiritual, but rather, we should recognize the presence of spiritual beings, both good & evil and reaffirm our commitment to the Lordship of Jesus, and seek to faithfully serve Him.

These verses tell us about a girl who was demon possessed and through the influence of the demon harrassed the ministry team of Paul, Silas, Timothy & Luke.  Demons are real and they really seek to wreak havoc on those who seek to serve God.  For that reason Paul writes in Ephesians 6: 10-12 about the real presence of demonic forces.  John also later encourages believers in I John 4: 4 that God’s Spirit in us in more powerful that they.  For that reason we must seek to keep on keeping on for Jesus’ sake.

Are you serving Jesus with ALL your heart?  If not, confess your sins of selfishness & idolatry and serve Him.  Do you value ALL human life?  Do you have prejudice in your heart?  Do you harbor sinful feelings & ideas towards other races or gender of people?  Confess & repent and allow God to free you from this.

Isn’t it great news that God values life SO much that He sent His Son to earth to die for the sinfulness of mankind?  If you have not already found forgiveness in Him do so now & surrender your whole life to follow King Jesus.  You will not be disappointed.

Genesis 6: 6 says, “And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart” (ESV).

My heart is grieved when I see so many people in our world living as if God does not exist.  It is one thing to say you believe God exists but an entirely different thing to live like you believe that.

My heart has been sincerely burdened lately when I see so many people who claim to know & follow Jesus live & act as if they don’t.  Do you know anybody like that?  Are you like that?  I must admit, it is easy to see this in other people’s lives, but we do not like it when it is exposed in our own lives.  (I have had to ask God to search my own heart in these areas and confess those sins that have been pointed out in this area as well.)

So many of us say we follow Jesus, but yet we refuse to give Him ALL of our lives.  Followers of Jesus don’t just say some prayer of confession (If you’ve been to Vacation Bible School, this would be the ABC’s of salvation) and then go off and live any old way they want to.  Jesus demands, deserves & expects our whole life.  Listen to these words of Jesus from Luke 14: 25-27, “Now great multitudes went with Him.  And He turned and said to them, ‘If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.‘”  I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds a lot different than the ABC’s of salvation.  That sounds much different than “Repeat this prayer after me.”  Jesus always spoke in terms of total surrender.

I have been noticing lately how many of us live to please ourselves.  Now don’t hear this, that if you follow Jesus you can’t have any fun.  I certainly believe we better have fun, especially with our families.  Studies continually show that one thing Christian families that are producing God-honoring, God-worshipping children have an abundance of is much laughter.  In other words, Christian families need to build in opportunities wherein they can have fun as a family.  What I am pointing out is this, that for all of us, this life is not about us or for us, but rather, we were made to bring honor & glory to Jesus.  You cannot bring Him honor & glory living for your own pleasure or self.  When we do this we rob God of what is only due Him, and we make ourselves idolaters.  Idolaters?  Yes, idolaters!  And who is on the throne we worship when it is all about us?  It is us.  Living for self glory & pleasure makes us a worshipper of self, and God is not happy!

The sad thing is this is going on more & more.  It is what caused God to utter those words quoted at the beginning of this blog, and it is what has to cause God to have those feelings today.  It has to burden God because it burdens my heart when I see myself and other people living for self-pleasure, rather than for God’s glory & honor alone.  God certainly has more invested in this than I do.  He gave His own Son on the cross to save all of us from the effects our sin brings against our own lives.  He gave His own Son to save us from His coming wrath against all sinners, idolaters included (I Corinthians 6: 9-11; Galatians 5: 19-24; Revelation 22: 14-15).

Here’s the good news, I have written this blog post begging you to repent.  Stop living for yourself and turn from this sinful way of life and worship Jesus with your whole being.  There is forgiveness from this grave sin of self-worship/idolatry.  Jesus was punished on the cross FOR our sin.  And by trusting in Him we can be completely forgiven & justified (Declared to be clean, just as if we had never sinned).  It doesn’t happen by doing better.  Even believers/followers of Jesus fall prey to this subtle form of idolatry so often.  All of us are freely forgiven because of God’s grace, not by doing something to make God happier with us.  You see, we all need God’s saving & keeping grace.  But thank God, we can be forgiven.  And the wonderful thing is this, not only are we forgiven, but we are set free from the guilt that sin brings in our lives and we can then & only then experience the joy of living for God’s glory & honor.  And O’h how freeing that is!!!