Setting An Example

A lot of times we think that when we as Christians are involved in public ministry - that is when the Lord needs to shine out of us. That might be as we worship on Sunday, teach a Sunday school class, are on worship team, doing a vacation Bible school or on a mission.

But in reality, you are your best witness when you just go about leading your life - going to school, work, with your family.

Paul said this in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 "and aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may live properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one."

People are watching you. How you react in times of trial is important. How you treat your wife, parents, children, friends and neighbors matters.

Just remember that wherever you are you are a representative of Jesus Christ. That ought to change how we act, don't you think?

What to Wear Today

What is your persona? If I were to ask a friend, a family member, a co-worker, and someone you stood in line with at the store - what would they say?

Every day in every situation we put on some sort of clothing - not shirts and skirts, but words and actions. In our culture there are traits that are revered: independence, competition, looking out for self, getting ahead, not letting anyone get to you - and my favorite - every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

I know if you are reading this you may be thinking that your persona is the personality of Jesus - and it should be, but is it? What happened the last time someone cut you off on the freeway or cut in line at the grocery store? Has someone ever cheated you or lied to you or said something mean about you to someone else? Have you ever found yourself running a little rough-shod over someone to get what you wanted? Probably. I know I have.

I ran across a real impacting verse to share with you. It's Philippians 4:5 "Let your gentleness be evident to all." The word "gentleness" can also be translated "mild" or "moderate." It comes from two Greek words that suggest the idea of placing your hand on something else and being like that thing you are touching in form. It would be like cupping a beautiful flower in your hand without harming it, rather than squeezing it in your fist until it is crushed.

That idea is how Paul (and the Lord) wants our personalities to be towards others. It doesn't mean to be a doormat - in another place Paul encourages us not to be timid or afraid of those who oppose the gospel. But I think we can make choices when we deal with others - we can make sure we are taken care of first, and if others survive the effort then okay. Or we can seek to find out what makes someone else tick, and perhaps mold ourselves to help them first.

Philippians 2:4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others . NIV

It's just a thought - when you have a choice of personalities to wear, consider wearing gentleness and an attitude that sees and responds to the interests of others.

The Reunion

I attended a high school reunion last weekend. It was an interesting experience to say the least. One of the most intersting parts of it, though, was a statement made by one of the organizers.

She said: "isn't it great that we can all be together and none of that high school stuff is here?"

What she meant was that none of the cliques and groupings and ostrasizing that so many feel not being in the "in crowd" was absent after these many years.

The funny thing was - she was totally wrong. All of the same stratification that we all suffered through in high school was totally evident there at the reunion - the jocks and popular crowd sat up front and were all hugs and bravado - while the others felt just as left out as before.

Now, I'm not sound sour grapes or anything - I actually do have a point. At first I thought - "isn't it great that in the church none of that "high school" stuff exists?" The trouble is - it does. We have our own cliques and "in" groups in church too. And I think it's wrong. We should make an effort to make sure everyone is equally welcomed and equally treated.

This has been a problem in the church since its inception. James talked about it in his letter (James 2). Paul also addressed the inequality of treatment in the church:

Galatians 3:27-28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female , for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ESV

I know we can't get rid of all the human tendency to gather into groups - including some and exluding others - but we should make that effort - why? In part because of another reunion we will all attend - the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

When Jesus comes to take us away with him in the rapture, we'll attend the biggest blowout reunion the universe has ever seen. At that reunion the organizer will be able to stand up and say "isn't it great that all that earth-stuff is gone?"

Why don't we start now.

Our Constant Battle

If you are a Christian you are in a constant battle. No, I'm not talking about the battle against the enemy: Satan - though that battle is very real. I'm talking about a battle within yourself.

In Galatians 5, Paul says "...the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opossed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do." ESV

The battle within you is the constant struggle between doing what the flesh desires and what the Spirit of God desires. How to tell the difference? Read on in Galatians:

19 "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." ESV

This is what is called an ad hoc list - it isn't inclusive of everything. Lying, for instance, is not in here, but is a work of the flesh. Basically anything that does not bring glory to God is not of the Spirit.

So what are characteristics of the Spirit?

22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." ESV

And that's the key - we can't just push down the flesh and decide in ourselves to be like God - that's making ourselves perfect by our own efforts. It also doesn't mean that you can just do anything you like because Jesus died for your sins (see 5:13).

But if you are in Christ you have been crucified. You no longer live, you no longer own yourself - Jesus does. What Paul wants us to do is actually very simple:

16 "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."

So my word for today is: have the attitude that your flesh is dead, and live your life focused on the Spirit filling you, motivating you, guiding you. The more you relate to God - praying, worshipping, learning, stretching - the less you will find time or desire for the things of the flesh.

How Much Is Too Much?

I've heard Christians quote what they think is a Bible verse: "God won't bring more into my life than I can handle, but with it He will bring a way of escape."

Actually, that's not correct. Here's what the verse in 1 Corinthians actually says:

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape , that you may be able to endure it. ESV

In fact, the opposite of is actually true - God often puts us in places that are beyond our capabilities to handle. Paul the Apostle found himself in those situations often.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. ESV

We don't like to hear these words. We don't like to think of God letting us be overwhelmed, but it's true. So why on earth would He allow something like that into our lives? Paul says it: "to make us rely no on ourselves but on God."

So the next time you are overwhelmed, realize God is working to make you trust in Him more and trust in yourself less.

Finally, listen to what Paul says in chapter 4 of the same letters:

2 Corinthians 4:7-11 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ESV

Imitate Me

Sounds pretty haughty, doesn't it? Truth is there is a lot of truth in that statement - just not how it is sometimes applied today in the church.

I want to take a somewhat reflexive moment on the role of the pastor. There are plenty of good things about being a pastor - and plenty of good reasons for them to exist in the church. The body of Christ needs good teaching and they need godly leaders to watch out for the members of the body and protect them.

The Scripture the title of this post refers to is 1 Corinthians 11:1. It says "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." The problem some pastors face today is that they live the first part of that verse and forget the second. Some pastors see their congregations swell, they get "fans" and some fame. Pastors are human too (I know that seems hard to believe sometimes) and I think all that power goes to our heads.

They start thinking that they are the reason the church is what it is. And they mistakenly start putting more of themselves out there and less of Jesus. When subtle contradictions in character arise, it becomes more their character and less of the Lord's character that they exhibit. But as long as the church is "successful" then they can justify that behavior. "Where God guides, God provides" right?

Well, I want to challenge that - and I say that as a pastor. Our responsiblity is to always reflect the character of our Lord Jesus - and then encourage people to follow that example. It's not our character they are imitating, but the Lord's in us. In any point at which we stray from what Jesus is like then we are wrong wrong wrong and no one should imitate that.

You Can Do Anything You Like

Sounds pretty good, huh? It's true, really, for the Christian. Since you have died in Christ the Law no longer applies to you. Read Romans for more.

Oh - there's just one catch:

1 Corinthians 10:31 "...whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." ESV

That's easy, right? Not really. Think about it - anything you think, say, do - all your motivations, dreams, aspirations, desires - all bringing glory to God. That means it doesn't bring glory to you or anyone else or anything else.

The word "glory" (Gk: doxa) comes from another word that means "to seem." The idea is honor accorded from a good opinion. Jesus revealed the "glory" of God by revealing His character and actions. It drew people with ears to hear to the Father.

Are your words ones that draw people to the Father or repel them ("if this is what a Christian is like I don't want to have anything to do with Jesus")?

It's a good test - if anyone knew fully what I was thinking, or saw what I was doing would it accord a positive or negative opinion about God?

So - do anything you want, just do it to glorify God.

All Things Work Together For Good?

Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." ESV

This is really a great verse - and its one of those that I think you can pluck out of Romans and let it stand on its own without much context. But I also think there is an interesting twist on this if you look at within the scope of what Paul is saying in that chapter of Romans.

On the surface we may interpret this verse as saying "God will work out everything so that I'll feel good about it." Yet if Paul used that logic he would feel like a dismal failure. Many times he was stoned, beaten, yelled at, thrown in jail - all for doing something good: preaching the gospel.

In fact, if you look in Romans 8 he also says "For your sake we are being killed all day long." This doesn't sound like everything is working out okay at all.

There's a song I love by Casting Crowns on their Lifesong album called "Praise You in This Storm." Here is one of the lines:

"I was sure by now that you would have reached down and wipe our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day, but once again I say "amen" and its still raining."

In reality, "working out for good" doesn't mean it works out for good as we see it. It works out for good as God sees it, and sometimes God sees it good that we suffer - like Paul.

So what should we hold on to then? Look at verses 37-38:

"37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

First realize that although it may appear like defeat - God is working behind the scenes to reach His victory - and that no matter what, your connection to God and His love can never be broken - no matter what.

In fact, though, verse 37 is also true. We are more than conquerors. Through Jesus we have conquered the most evil enemy there is: death. Beyond that, no enemy can be that terrible.

So when you are in the midst of struggle and defeat seems all around you - remember that it is God's good that is being worked out, the Spirit is praying for you (verse 26) and that nothing can separate you from your God - nothing!

What About Those Who Haven't Heard?

It's a common question - what about the natives who live in the dark jungle who have never had contact with anyone outside of their tribal area - how could God possible judge them?

Well, there is a Scripture in Romans that helps me to understand this more fully.

Romans 2:12-16 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. ESV

I think one of the things Paul is saying here is that God gave each of us a conscience to help us know right from wrong. Our conscience has been tainted somewhat by sin - Paul later describes it as a "searing" effect. But somehow - even those who have not heard the Law - God will able to judge them by showing them the actions of their own conscience.

I also think that somehow the gospel message has been given to everyone - that there is a God, that we don't measure up, that judgment awaits unless something happens, that if we turn from this evil in us to God Himself as our rescuer, then we can be saved.

Do I know how it works? No. But this I do know - that our God is just and fair and righteous. He will not condemn anyone who does not deserve it. Romans 2 just gives us a clue as how this can happen.

Our Version of Reality

I can't tell you how many times I've heard people tell me "well, my God would (or wouldn't) ... [fill in the blank]." It's great how we like to create our own idea of what God should be like.

It's not that people are stupid - in fact lots of people come to conclusions about God based in part on something real.

Take Ephesus for example. There's a great little story in Acts 19. The city was known for worshipping Diana, or Artemis, the Greek goddess of fertility. The businessmen of that city made a pretty good living making silver shrines and other objects for Artimis. When Paul the Apostle started preaching the gospel all that profit was thrown into doubt because if people started to worship Jesus they wouldn't buy his Artimis shrines anymore.

This guy made lots of trouble and started a riot. In the midst of it, a town official said this:

"Is there anyone anywhere who doesn't know that our dear city Ephesus is protector of glorious Artimis and her sacred stone that fell straight out of heaven?"

Scientists now believe that this "sacred stone" was probably a meteorite. It fell somewhere near Ephesus and was all bumpy. The Ephesians took this reality and said to themselve "boy this could be the image of a many breasted woman just like Artimis - wow - it must be something she has sent us."

This made them feel that the "gods" had chosen their city to be a special protector of Artimis. Now it wasn't anything other than random space debris that got caught in earth's atmosphere. But just look at what the mind and imagination of man made of it.

When it comes to reality - we love to jump to conculsions based in part on what we know and in part on what we see.

For me - I like to base my reality on the fact that Jesus Christ came to earth, said He was from God come to save me, volunteered to die in my place, then actually rose from the grave and was witnessed by hundreds of people. I don't have to interepret that - Jesus laid it out plain and simple.

Instead of me protecting Him - Jesus protects me and isn't a dead stone or a dead god - He is alive forever!

When Good Works Seem to End in Failure

Acts 4:1-4 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. ESV

I noticed something intruiging about these verses. Peter and John are sharing the gospel in the Temple area and the big shots of Judaism come upon them. We know how the story ends - the next day Peter and John have an awesome opportunity to share with the Jewish leaders and witness to them about Jesus Christ.

But I want to focus on what happens before that. Notice in verse three they were arrested and put in custody until the next day. So you are John and Peter. You have just stepped out in ministry, takena big chance and laid out your witness for the Lord. Along come authority figures who take you up and throw you in jail - and there you sit. You have no idea what is going to happen to you, nor do you have any idea what effect your ministry had.

Without Peter and John knowing it, notice what it says in verse 4: "But many of those who had heard the word believed." So while these two men were rotting in jail and worried (perhaps) about what awaited them - the people they had spoken to were getting saved!

The reason I bring this up is that sometimes we hear God speak to our hearts to step out in ministry. We obey that prompting and it seems like it falls flat. We share the gospel and only seem to get rejection, or whatever ministry we have launched on seems to crash on the rocks!

So we go off not knowing if anything we've done has done anything good at all. My word of encouragement is to realize that "My word will not return to me void." All you do for God and in His Spirit will do exactly what He wants it to do - regardless of whether you ever see the outcome.

Don't base your measure of success in ministry by the results, only by your obedience and whether what you did brought glory to God.

I Pledge allegiance ...

The trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a difficult section of Scripture to read. Usually I find myself just hanging on through it all until the joy of the empty tomb. But as I was going through the end of John's gospel a little thing stuck out at me from the trial before Pilate.

John records several encounters between Jesus and the Roman governor. At one point it says that Pilate was convinced Jesus was innocent and tried to free him. As a last ditch effort he had Jesus flogged then presented him to the crowds and said "behold, your king."

I don't know if he was trying to make them feel sorry for Jesus or what - but it seems as if his aim was to get the crowd to go along with him and release Jesus. But the chief priests said something amazing in response:

"We have no king but Caesar." It's so familiar that it doesn't sound odd to us, but you have to remember that most of the leadership in Israel at the time hated Rome with a passion and were fiercely independent. They were so difficult to deal with that Rome had a hard time keeping things under control. History tells us that Pilate was already in trouble for not keeping the peace there in Palestine.

It's just interesting to me that these men would do anything to get rid of Jesus, who was threatening their power. They would even pledge their allegiance to a hate foreign occupier rather than bend their knee and acknowledge that Jesus was indeed King of Kings.

The same holds true for many people today. They would rather give their lives and allegiance to anyone or anything other than to Jesus Christ.

It's so sad that in doing so they gave up the one chance to find real escape from their real oppressor - sin. Please don't make that same mistake.

The Work of God

Let's settle something once and for all. Our natural human tendency is cause and effect. I do something good and it has a good effect. I do something bad and something bad happens. There is a spiritual principal here too - Galatians says "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, whatever a man sows, that shall he also reap."

But when it comes to pleasing God - don't we all want to "do" something? Yes. Well - you can't. Plain and simple. The prophets tell us that all the good things we do are like those rags in the garage that you have meant to throw out and might catch fire at any time burning down your house.

I talked about this in a previous post as well - you simply can't do anything to please God. Your "works" are nothing.

But to satisfy those of us who really want to "do" something to please God let me tell you what Jesus said in a little verse tucked away in John 6.

"This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

See, it really is about Jesus after all. The work of God is not "obey all the rules as best you can." After you believe the important thing is to "be filled with the Spirit" - under the Spirit's power you can obey and you can do the things God calls you to do.

The Wrath of God

The common thinking is that we do good things and God likes us, we do bad things and God sends down His wrath to consume us. So if we do enough good things then it will balance out the bad and God will have to like us.

It's a nice sentiment - and it's wrong. I can believe it if I want but it doesn't make it true. The real truth is much more serious than that and demands our attention.

The Apostle John made a startling statement in chapter 3 of his gospel:

John 3:39 "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal ife; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." NIV

Did you notice that word "remains." It suggests that something was already there and hasn't moved. The truth is that when we were born we already had the wrath of God on us. That's because sin has infected the human race since almost the beginning due to disobedience. It took only one sinful act to bring about God's wrath - and no amount of good work on our part can undo that one act of disobedience.

Without going into huge detail - my point is that we are evil and God is justified in judging us for that evil because He alone is good and pure through and through. That judgment or wrath remains on us except in one circumstance, and that is if we believe that God's Son Jesus stood in our place and received God's wrath meant for us.

I know it's a simple thought for today - but something very profound the meditate on and rejoice in.

The Needs of Jesus

In Luke 22:14 Jesus said "I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer."

It is the night before His arrest, trial, and crucifxion. I don't think we contemplate often enough the humanity of Jesus Christ - preparing to endure what no man has ever had to endure - betrayal, arrest, conviction, crucifixion - then the weight of all the sins of the world and the withdrawl of the Father.

But before that happened, Jesus was anxious and looking forward to one last meal with His disciples - why? I think it was part for fellowship. The road Jesus would walk would be very lonely - no man has ever been down that path and thanks to Jesus will never have to. He also did it for the significance. The Passover is God's picture of the sacrifice of Jesus and here the Lord gets a chance to give His men a concrete thing to use in understanding what Jesus did and also something to continually remind them of His sacrifice (communion).

I just think it's important for us not to lose sight of the fact that Jesus was a man, with human emotions, feelings, and needs. That last night was something Jesus the man needed - and got.

Zacchaeus

Almost eveyone knows the story of Zacchaeus. In Luke 19 we get the narrative - Jesus comes walking to Jericho. There's this guy there - not just a tax collector but a chief tax collector. He's known as that - and for being rich. But there's something odd about him - being rich and infamous, he is still very curious about Jesus. We don't know why - but he is also one other thing that makes approaching Jesus difficult - he's short.

I can just picture the scene - Jesus is walking in with a crowd around him and in the background he sees this little midget of a man running on ahead, jumping up and down trying to get a view and finally climbing up in a tree for a bird's eye view.

So Jesus comes up under the tree and amazingly looks up at Zacchaeus and tells him that he's coming to lunch at this house. I don't remember anywhere else in the gospels that Jesus invites Himself over for a meal. Luke tells us that Zacchaeus hurries down and receives Him "joyfully."

Now - here's the part that I'm interested in today. Zacchaeus says to Jesus, apparently without prompting (except by the grumbles of those around him) that he has changed - that he is giving away half his goods to the poor and if he has cheated anyone (something tax collectors were known for) he would pay it back four times.

Then Jesus responds this way: "Today salvation has come to this house."

So my question is - did salvation come because Zacchaeus mended his ways? If that's the focus then Luke's gospel really is a social gospel - Jesus as the proverb giver who wants everyone to "go out there and care more." Certainly He wants that - but I got a different impression as I read the story.

I think that perhaps what Zacchaeus did was in response to his faith in Jesus. The actions followed the committment.

That's instructive for us too. When we come to Jesus we get a new nature - a changed character. First we realize how evil we really are, and how good Jesus is. When we commit our lives to Him He gives us from that good nature by making us like Him. It's that change of nature that causes a change of character and a change of action.

The idea isn't to change the world so that we change ourselves - but to let Jesus change us and we'll find ourselves changing the world!

Ask

God is a mind reader. He knows what we think even before we think it! So that makes me wonder at verses like in Luke 11 "Ask, and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

Why, if God knows our needs and our thoughts, should we have to ask for anything. Shouldn't He just know and provide for us at the moment we need it?

I think if that were the case we would probably just take God and everything he does for us for granted. Maybe we wouldn't believe in Him at all. God does a lot of things for us without us asking - He keeps the sun coming up and our hearts beating. But for many things He wants us to be an active participant in the process.

And I think there is something about coming before the Lord - recognizing that we are weak and He is strong, we are unable to provide and He is able - that helps us sort out our own problems with flesh and self determination.

But there's something beyond that too I think. In that chapter Jesus tells the story of a man banging on the door to get bread from his neighbor. Now - I don't subscribe to the "storm the gates of heaven" mentality - as I mentioned in a previous post we should always season our prayers with "thy will be done."

However - I think God wants us to be bold in our prayers, and consistent in asking. Here's the key - is what your asking going to bring glory to God or satisfaction to you? If the former, ask away and keep asking! If the latter - keep praying, but look out for God to re-shape your prayer.

What if God's Will Means Suffering?

It's natural for us to avoid pain. I remember one time I accidently grabbed a very very hot rack in an oven and seared my fingers pretty good. It made me shy of touching oven grates even though I knew the oven had been off for days!

Facing trials and stresses is the same way. We want to maximize the good feelings and minimize the troubles. This attitude also shapes our prayers. "God, please get me out of this jam, heal me, rescue me, provide what I need to pay that bill" and etc.

Praying that way is fine - in fact, King David prayed that a lot and wrote those prayers down as Psalms. But what happens if God wants us to undergo suffering? Does that change our prayers or our understanding and relationship with God?

I thought about this after reading Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane:

Mark 14:36 "And he said 'Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.'"

It was God's will that Jesus suffer. And sometimes it is his will that you not be healed, that you not get the money or that the person who is attacking you continues to get away with it. Does this mean God cannot intervene. Of course not. Does it mean God is just a bully who enjoys seeing us humans suffer for our sins. No - I don't believe that for a minute. Does it mean he simply doesn't care? No, I believe God cared deeply about what His Son was going through and He cares deeply about what you go through.

Knowing God intends to allow suffering sometimes makes us look deeper at both ourselves and our trials. "God causes all things to work together for the good." We've read that - and it is true. God is in the business of turning bad into good. In fact, He uses bad to bring about good.

How does that work? It is of course vastly more complicated than we will ever know, but one way is that suffering actually shapes our character and makes us more like God.

The Apostle Peter put it this way: "For whoever has suffered in the flesh and ceased from sin." (1 Peter :1).

Paul - who suffered a great deal by God's will said "When I am weak, then I am strong." He even went so far as to say:

2 Cor 12:9-10 "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities."

So the next time you face hardship - pray for relief, and also pray for - and accept - God's will - even if it means you still suffer.

Just Curious?

Herod was a pretty evil man. He came from a line of evil men and all his family and relatives were a sorry lot. He even married his sister-in-law which was also his neice. Today's soaps or superstars have nothing on Herod. He was known for his cruelty and craftiness in ruling over Israel during the time of Jesus of Nazareth.

Herod's marriage to Herodias didn't go un-noticed. John the Baptist - the forerunner and cousin of Jesus -had publicly lambasted Herod for this sin. So Herod put John in prison.

There's an interesting verse about Herod and John the Baptist in Mark 5.

"And Herodias had a grudge against him (John) and wanted to put him to death. But she could not for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly."

Herod later had John beheaded when Herodias' daughter pleased Herod with a dance at a big bash he had thrown. But what I find interesting is that Herod knew there was something very special about John. Herod recognized him as a holy man. Herod was apparently curious about this man and what he had to say.

I think it's probably likely that John minced no words with Herod when they spoke. I find it fascinating that this very evil and powerful man still wanted to hear words of rebuke from a nobody.

I think this is instructive of the human soul. We are all lost at creation. We inherit the "sin gene" from our parents, passed on to them down through the generations all the way from Adam and Eve. It's a fatal gene. The only way to heal it is to turn to the Great Physician - Jesus Christ - who was born of God and a woman and so didn't have the defective gene. He then gave His life willingly to heal us and give us eternal life.

What it takes though - is repentance and belief. That first step can be a doozy. To repent means to change your mind and change your direction. You have to realize the evil in you and not like it. There is no evidence that thought John I'm sure pointed out the evil that Herod ever decided against it. He later died after refusing to turn away the chants of the crowds that he was a god.

Is someone speaking the gospel into your life? Are you curious about it - want to hear it - recognize that there is something different about the person you know is a Christian? Be careful. Herod heard but did not listen and never turned his heart to God.

Don't just be curious about the gospel - really investigate it, search your heart and God's Word - and then make a decision to give your life for Jesus, after all, He gave His life for you.

And remember - not making a decision is making one - rejecting Jesus.

To Tell or Not To Tell

There is a curious contrast in Mark's gospel. In Chapter 1 He heals a man who was a leper and commands him not to tell anyone, but go to the priests. Then in chapter 5 he throws a legion of demons out of a man in the area of the Gerasenes. That man He said:

Mark 5:19-20 "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. ESV

So what's the difference? It may have been merely practical. In chapter 1 the man did not obey Jesus and spread the news far and wide. This brought huge crowds to Jesus, so much so that He had a hard time moving around. In chapter 5 Jesus was in a gentile area that He wasn't going back to, and so it wouldn't harm His ability to minister elsewhere in Israel.

It could also be the difference in audience. The leprous man was a Jew - the man with Legion was a gentile. Jesus might simply be beginning to spread hints of who He was to a non-Jewish audience, and thus encourages the man to tell his friends and family.

Remember too that Jesus' main activity was to preach the gospel, not perform healings. Perhaps He knew that the gentile man's story being spread abroad would not interfere with that. Also realize that Jesus was NOT out to make Himself famous - just do God's work.

And that's a good word for us. Perhaps there are times when it is not appropriate for someone to share a special miracle you helped bring about if the end result is so much attention on you that it draws you away from doing what God called you to do. I know that runs counter to the way many ministeries operate - they want to shout every miracle (real or not) from the rooftops.

I think these stories would tend to help us re-think that.