Christian Living – Page 27 – Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

I Love My Church

I’ve been the preacher at Central Christian Church for just over two months now, and there is only one thing that I can really say at this point…I LOVE MY CHURCH! Over these first two months, we have started getting to know one another, as well as started really looking at where we want to go as we try to impact the community of Carlsbad, NM. In other words, we have started the vision process of seeing where we are and where we want to go. Things are already starting to pick up momentum, and I am extremely excited about where we seem to be headed. One of the first things I wanted to capitalize on was the feel of family. I introduced the idea of our congregation thinking of itself as our “faith family” This wasn’t an idea that I had come up with. Our church in TN called itself a faith family, but I felt that we could adopt that and see immediate benefits from that. Man, have I not been disappointed.

During some of our vision presentations during our recent sermon series on the life of Joseph, I taught on and described what it meant to be a family in respect to our congregation. Basically, there were four things that were stressed. 1. We Take Care of Our Own, 2. We Don’t Fight, 3. There Should Be a Culture of Mentorships/Apprenticeships, and 4. All Are Welcome. After presenting these ideas in a sermon a couple of weeks ago, I have been able to see some of these coming to life. Over the last couple of weeks, I have heard and seen people in our congregation refer to our church as our “faith family”. People are starting to buy in, and I love that we look at each other as family.

The best indication that people are buying in to some of these ideas actually took place today. A family from our congregation had their car break down about three blocks from the church on their way to Sunday School this morning. The word got out that this had happened, and another family offered to try and tow their vehicle for them, back to their house. After church was over, while my wife and I were having lunch together, I got a text that just brought a huge smile to my face. Not only did this guy go to help a member of his “faith family” by towing their car, he actually took the time to see if he could figure out what was wrong with the car. And he was able to not only figure out what was wrong, but he was also able to fix the car at no cost and get this family back on the road. WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN!

Did I say that I LOVE MY CHURCH?!

Christian Living, God, Life

It’s Friday in the World

You see it more and more in America. Christians are coming under attack from groups trying to silence us. Click here for one of the latest examples I have found of groups trying to silence Christians. Individuals and organizations are being told that they cannot publicly speak about their faith and relationship with Jesus. And the more this happens, the more shock and surprise I see from my fellow Christians. I include myself in this category of surprise at times. But should it really surprise us that the world hates us for standing for our beliefs and our relationship with Christ? The more I think about it, the more I think we should be surprised when we aren’t being attacked for our beliefs. Why should we be surprised if we are not being attacked by individuals and organizations? If we are truly living the way Christ has called us to live, and we have the ongoing, life-changing relationship with Him that we should, then we should expect to be attacked.

Jesus himself tells us that the world will hate us. Since it is Good Friday, I have been reading through the Gospel accounts of what is known as Holy Week. This includes the events that take place between the Triumphal Entry the week before Jesus’ crucifixion and His resurrection and ascension. Today, my devotions led me to the Gospel of Mark, reading chapters 11-16. While reading through the Holy Week account from Mark, this thought hit me again like a ton of bricks. I have often said that as American Christians, I’m not sure that it is a good thing that we don’t face some persecution or attacks from others. Not facing persecution can make it easy to just go through the motions, which leads to a faith that may not be a true faith. Then I came across what Jesus tells His disciples (and us) in Mark 13:9-13. He states, “But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” (NASB translation, italics added by me for emphasis).

So, according to Jesus’ own words, we will be hated by all because of our relationship with Him. Our lives should look so different from the rest of the world that they should realize that something is different. If we are not just going through the motions of Christianity, and are actually living out a true relationship with Christ, then the world is going to notice. And the world won’t necessarily like what it sees in us. The article I linked to earlier shows that an organization is after Clemson and Dabo Swinney, but what I was struck by the most were the comments by readers bashing what Swinney is doing at Clemson in sharing his faith. But in all reality, this shouldn’t surprise anyone that this is taking place. All of this means that being a true Christian is not always going to be an easy life. Jesus never promised easy or safe, but He did leave us with a great promise recorded at the end of the Gospel of Matthew. After His resurrection, He left His disciples with a command in Matthew 28:18-20, including a promise that should make a true relationship with Him a beautiful thing. It states, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.‘” (NASB translation, italics added by me for emphasis).

This means that we will face darkness in this world, especially if we are living in a loving relationship with our Savior. But He promises us that He will be with us, and those that endure will be saved. We face the darkness of Jesus crucified on Good Friday. This is a somber day, but as one of my favorite college professors would say when talking about trouble in this world, “It’s Friday, but SUNDAY’S coming!” (Jon Weatherly).

Christian Living, Life

Rise Up!

I am a fan of The Fast and Furious movie series, so the news that Paul Walker, one of the stars of the series, was killed in a car wreck is sad. If you are online at all, and this is the first you are hearing of his death, I would be completely shocked. Facebook, Twitter, and major news feeds alike blew up with this news, and with people stating how much he would be missed. It happens almost every time a celebrity, whether it be an actor, athlete, well-known business man, or a politician dies or is injured. Don’t get me wrong, death is sad and hearing about it is hard sometimes. What is bothering me with this one, and all of the celebrity death coverage for that matter, is the famous are not the only ones that are dying. They are not the only ones that are leaving loved ones behind, or that are making a difference in people’s lives. I mean no disrespect to Paul, his family, or the others that were effected with this. My condolences, sympathy, and most of all my prayers go out to his friends and family.

I want to know, however, why people aren’t mourning in mass the death of any soldier that has died for this country. I want to know why children that are dying of cancer and other major diseases aren’t being covered by all the media. I want to know why, as the Pope recently suggested, the death of a homeless man doesn’t get covered on the evening news. And honestly what I want to know from Christians more than anyone else, is why the persecution of our brothers and sisters around the world isn’t being talked about more than it is. This country has recently failed one of our own citizens, who is now in a prison in Iran, simply for sharing his faith. Some in Congress have called for his release, but our government just made a new deal with Iran, and Saeed’s freedom was not even discussed in these negotiations. This is not just a question that I am posing to others, it’s one that I’m having to take a long hard look at myself.

I know there are brother’s and sisters’ in Christ that are being persecuted and killed every day around the world. I just don’t know their stories. Some of that is because the stories are being hidden by those that are persecuting them. At the same time, it’s because I’ve fallen into the apathy that I loath to see in other people. It’s like I only care about my self and the hardships that I am going through currently, and I don’t do enough to become aware of what is going on around the world. I’m not suggesting that we need to know all the details of everything going on around the world. That would be nearly impossible. What I am suggesting is that we need to quit focusing only on ourselves and caring about our fellow Christians. We need to be in prayer daily for those around the world facing persecution. Persecution is going to come when we are living the way that Christ calls us to live.

Jesus taught his disciples that they were to expect persecutions. In fact, he stated that they would be persecuted because the world had persecuted and would continue persecuting him. John 15:18-25 states, “‘If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’” Persecution is going to happen. But those of us in the position of being able to do anything about it, should. We can be silent no longer. If this country is in an uproar when a celebrity dies, where is our (the Church) uproar when we are made aware of a brother or sister in Christ being killed or persecuted. Saeed is one of many. One was just released from North Korea, but there are more. Rise up Church and quit being silent.

Note: For my thoughts on why we are not being persecuted in America as much as some around the world are, read https://crosseyedjesusfreak.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/outrage-2/