THE WORD AND THE WORLD

Jesus prayed, “I have given them Your Word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your Word is truth.”  (John 17:14-17 NKJV)

God's Word teaches forgiveness and the world teaches revenge. The Word teaches sharing and the world teaches hoarding. The Word teaches humility and the world teaches pride. The Word teaches dependence on God and the world teaches self-reliance. The Word teaches us to love God and the world teaches us to love self. The Word teaches us to help those in need and the world teaches us to "take care of your own".

And perhaps one of the most disheartening is that God offers us faith and the world seems to underscore and build fear. It is only with worship to God Almighty that we learn to have complete faith in this life as well as total assurance in the life to come - eternal life. The best, the very best, this world can offer is meaningless compared to the benefits of worshipping the Lord. 

-- Pastor Gary Stone

#6380

 

OUR PLACE IN CHRIST’S REIGN

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.   Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him."  (John 3:16-17 NRSV)

The "world" that Jesus came to save is represented in the birth stories by two groups of people who could hardly be more varied: shepherds from the nearby hillsides and wealthy sages from a foreign land. Farmworkers and well-connected intellectuals, one group from the neighborhood and one who traveled from a far country. No one is a foreigner at the manger; no one is excluded because of economic class. God wants a full table at the heavenly banquet and is willing to look for dinner guests in unexpected places (Luke 14:15-24). Our place in Christ's reign means that we are willing to sit next to someone who appears at first to be alien to us but turns out to be a citizen, a member with us of God's own household. Embraced by this communion of love, we realize our call to the life of the Spirit and we enjoy the fullness of life that comes with Christ's reign of justice, mercy and peace. 

-- Blair Gilmer Meeks in “Expecting the Unexpected”

#6262

THE WAY OF THE CROSS

“And Jesus said to all, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.’”  (Luke 9:23-24 ESV)

The denying ourselves, and taking up our cross, in the full extent of the expression, is not a thing of small concern. It is not expedient only, as are some of the circumstantials of religion, but it is absolutely, indispensably necessary, either to our becoming or continuing Christ’s disciples… If we do not continually deny ourselves, we do not learn of Him, but of other masters. If we do not take our cross daily, we do not come after Him, but after the world, or the prince of the world, or our own fleshly mind. If we are not walking in the way of the cross, we are not following Him. We are not treading in His steps, but going back from, or at least wide of, Christ. 

-- From “The Works of John Wesley, Sermon XLVIII, On Self Denial” by Albert C. Outler

#6215

EMBRACING GENTLENESS

"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near."  (Philippians 4:5 NIV) 

Pastor and author John Vawter once noted, “If we want to demonstrate the uncommon grace of Jesus to a world that worships power, we must set aside our combativeness to embrace gentleness.”

In a world that prizes dominance, assertiveness, and the last word, gentleness often feels like weakness. But Jesus flipped that narrative. He rode into Jerusalem not on a warhorse, but on a donkey. He washed the feet of those who would betray Him. He spoke truth not with thunder, but with tenderness.

Gentleness is not passivity. It is strength under control. It is power under purposeful direction. It is the Spirit-led choice to respond with grace when provoked, to listen when others shout, and to love when the world demands retaliation.

Jesus’ grace is uncommon because it doesn’t play by the world’s rules. It doesn’t seek to win arguments -- it seeks to win hearts. And that kind of grace is only visible when we lay down our need to be right, to be loud, to be first and take up the Jesus way. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™, compiled from a variety of sources

#6210

A PRAYING CHURCH IN TODAY’S WORLD

“The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous person (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God -- it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].”  (James 5:16b AMP)

It is reported that Mary, Queen of Scots, once said, “I fear the prayers of John Knox more that I fear all the armies on the face of the earth.” That was probably the last time anyone feared the prayers of the church.

The world does not fear the church – it barely tolerates it. Generally, the world perceives the church as no longer a player in world affairs, only an observer,… of a culture that has long since abandoned Christian presuppositions as a serious voice in shaping the values of modern society. The church is a quaint relic of the past that lends a certain charm to the neighborhood, a holdover from bygone days, big but harmless, like a beached whale.

For many, the crucial question facing the church is will it survive. I can answer that question. Yes, the church will survive. God has never left Himself without a witness, and His church will still be around when the curtain comes down on this [world]. It may not survive in its present form, but God help us if we’re interested only in surviving. Christ intends that His church do a lot more. 

-- Ronald Dunn in “Don’t Just Stand There, Pray Something: The Incredible Power of Intercessory Prayer”

#5885

SEEKING GOD’S WISDOM

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!"  (Isaiah 5:20,21 NKJV)

We are caught in a dilemma between good and evil, right and wrong. God's Word seeks to inform us about what is right and what is wrong. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Fortunately, we are not simply left with that information. The Holy Spirit then seeks to transform us from wrong to right. (Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18)  However, the way the world deals with the dilemma is to inform us that wrong is right. 

As believers, we must discern between right and wrong, good and evil. Sometimes, societal norms or personal preferences can lead us astray. Let us seek God’s wisdom and align our hearts with His truth. (Ephesians 4:22-24) 

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry

#5853

OUR CHRISTIAN WITNESS TODAY

“That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel... For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…”  (Romans 1:15a,16a NIV)

Our situation today is not as dissimilar from the writing of Paul’s letter to the Romans as we are inclined to think. Make no mistake. The days of casual Christianity are over. The same issue of deep faithfulness is upon us. Once again, we are in a time when to be Christian is to be seen as quaint, backwards, and scientifically ignorant. For some, it is even a sign of being mean spirited and bigoted. And here we must pause for a moment to confess that we have brought some of this on by ourselves through a narrow-minded refusal to love those who disagree and more often than we would like, a coarse indifference to the hurting, hungry, and homeless, both physically and spiritually. Yet surely the response to our appropriate confession is not abject surrender to the whims of our hedonistically saturated civilization. Dean Inge’s famous quote rightly reminds us that “Whoever marries the spirit of this age will find himself [or herself] a widower [or widow] in the next.”

Is it not time to admit that instead of being the transformer of culture we have been transformed by our culture? 

-- Bishop Mike Lowry

#5812

MATURE CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”  (Acts 2:42 NIV)

One aspect of the world that I have been able to identify as harmful to Christians is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once. We assume that if something can be done at all, it can be done quickly and efficiently. Our attention spans have been conditioned by thirty-second commercials. Our sense of reality has been flattened by thirty-page abridgments.

It is not difficult in such a world to get a person interested in the message of the gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to be born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness. 

-- Eugene Peterson in “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction”

#5712

OUR DAY-TO-DAY LIVES

Then Jesus said to them all: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.”  (Luke 9:23 NIV)

The structure and the value system of our world have evolved outside of God’s promises for so long that it seems we are compelled to struggle against our very nature in order to follow Jesus. Like the high-board diver who must determine to overcome his reflexes each time he launches himself into the abyss, we must renew our decision for discipleship every single day. Then, also like the diver, we discover the cool, refreshing, life-giving waters and celebrate that what we have left behind is the dryness and dust.

The skewed priorities of the culture we inhabit run deep.  They are etched into the fabric of our decision–making processes and re-enforced through a thousand messages and object lessons every day.

The morality of faithlessness and instant gratification pushes on our decision-making processes every time we engage the world on its terms. From pop-up ads to song lyrics to posters on the subway walls; from selfish drivers to a boss who lacks integrity and expects compromises; from the allure of another drink to the indecent propositions of a co-worker. The world is broken and we live in it: end of story.

And so we dare not leave our faith at home or bottled up at church when we venture out. We dare not pretend that we can live the Christian life on our own. If Jesus had to say [to His Father], “Not what I want but what You want” (Matthew 26:39), then how much more do we need the power of God’s transforming presence in our day-to-day lives? 

-- Derek Maul in “Get Real: A Spiritual Journey for Men”

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS…

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.”  (1 Timothy 1:15b-17 NIV)

Perhaps the answer to church decline is not to become more like the world, but to challenge its assumptions and offer a different narrative of what life should be like. At least one part of the answer should be to preach what Jesus preached: “Repent and believe in the Good News!” (Mark 1:15b NIV) I suspect that most people know there is something wrong with their lives, something that needs to change. Jesus knew it too. He gets us. He did not say, “Follow your heart,” but, “Come, follow Me.” Until we do, the fullness of life will evade us. It is not mercy to preach Jesus without repentance and new life. It is cruelty.

To reach people for Christ is a noble task, but who is this Christ? Most will agree that He was a wise teacher, a friend to sinners, a misunderstood prophet, a refugee. But He is also God-made-flesh, the embodiment of perfect humanity, the bearer of new life, and, yes, a judge. He gets us. After all, He became one of us, though not for free hugs and vague sentimentality, but to save us. Sin and death abound. The devil is loose in the land. What Western culture needs is not another bearer of its common values with a bit of religious window dressing, but a savior.   

-- David F. Watson, Lead Editor of Firebrand, and Professor of New Testament at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio

#5654

TAKING UP THE CROSS DAILY

Then Jesus said to them all: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.”  (Luke 9:23 NIV)

Whoever determines to live no longer to the desires of people, but to the will of God, will soon find that he or she cannot stick to that purpose without self-denial, without taking up the cross daily. That person will, every day, desire something of the world instead of the cross. But one must deny self or deny the faith. He or she will daily meet with some means of drawing nearer to God that are unpleasing to flesh and blood. In this, therefore, one must either take up the cross or renounce the Master. 

-- John Wesley in "A Collection of Forms of Prayer for Every Day of the Week," 1733

#5539

BRING THEM TO CHURCH

“And they were bringing children to Jesus that He might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, He was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the children come to Me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.’”  (Mark 10:13-14 ESV)

Bring them to church. Saturate their lives with the Word of God. Even if they lay on the floor. Even if they need 437 goldfish and a sucker to be quiet. Even if you stand in the back swaying back and forth holding them. Even when it’s hard. Even when your row looks like a small hurricane just came through. Bring them to church. Let them see you worship. Let them see you pray. Let them see you running toward the Savior ... because if they don’t see and learn these things from you, who are they going to learn them from?

The world will teach them it’s not a priority. The world will teach them it’s okay to lay out, not to pick up their Bibles. The world will direct them so far off course, confuse them, and misinform them that just being “good” is enough. The world won’t teach them about Jesus. That’s our job.

Bring them to church. 

-- Posted on Facebook by First United Methodist Church, South Bend, Indiana

#5490

DYING TO OURSELVES – Part 2

“We don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at Him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges!”  (2 Corinthians 5:16-17 The Message)

[Jesus] turns the world’s views inside out and upside down. He simply cuts against the grain of how we naturally think, and we realize that to follow Jesus, we need to retrain our minds to focus through spectacles we’ve never worn before. The key to thinking His way is an utter surrender, a giving up of the old ways, which never would have worked anyway. 

-- Kyle Idleman in “The End of Me: Where Real Life in the Upside-Down Ways of Jesus Begins” 

#5456

DYING TO OURSELVES – Part 1

“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!”  (2 Corinthians 5:17 NRSV)

How do we die to ourselves?

[As a pastor] I’ve been around my share of dead people. I’ve been in the room before the coroner comes in. I’ve sat with families as their father and husband took his last breath. I’ve stood next to many open caskets as friends and family walked by to say good-bye. And I don’t mean to be coarse, but I’ve noticed something about dead people.

They don’t seem to care very much what other people think of them. They’re not concerned with how nice their clothes are.

Dead people aren’t caught up in their stock investments, nor do they show much interest in getting a promotion. Death renders all worldly points moot. It’s the ultimate, required surrender of yourself and all you have. When Jesus speaks of dying to ourselves, this is what He wants us to think about. All the stuff of the world is dead to us, and we’re dead to it. 

-- Kyle Idleman in “The End of Me: Where Real Life in the Upside-Down Ways of Jesus Begins” 

#5455

THE MASTER’S VOICE

“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,… I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.”  (John 10:14,16)

The mark of a sheep is its ability to hear the Shepherd’s voice.

The mark of the disciple is his or her ability to hear the Master’s voice.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me.”  (Revelation 3:20)

The world rams at your door; Jesus taps at your door. The voices scream for your allegiance; Jesus softly and tender requests it. The world promises flashy pleasure; Jesus promises a quiet dinner… with God.

Which voice do you hear?

Let me state something important. There is never a time during which Jesus is not speaking. Never. There is never a place in which Jesus is not present. Never. There is never a room so dark… a lounge so sensual… an office so sophisticated… that the ever-present, ever-pursuing, relentlessly tender Friend is not there, tapping gently on the doors of our hearts -- waiting to be invited in. 

-- Max Lucado in “In the Eye of the Storm: A Day in the Life of Jesus”

#5447

FILLING OUR MINDS

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- His good, pleasing and perfect will.”  (Romans 12:2 NIV)

How we act will be determined by how we think. If God is to change our lives, He must first change our minds. The human mind cannot be a vacuum. It will be filled either with good or evil. It will be filled either with Christ or with carnality. What will make the difference? It depends on us, and on what we allow to enter our minds. Negatively, our minds must be turned away from evil. We must be careful what kind of [things we watch on the screen], what kind of books we read, the things that occupy our thoughts. But it isn’t enough to put bad thoughts out of our minds. Positively, they must be replaced with good thoughts -- thoughts that are shaped by God and His word, by prayer. 

-- Billy Graham in “Hope for Each Day: Words of Wisdom and Faith”

#5146

THE GOAL OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”  (Romans 12:2 NLT)

The goal of the Christian life is not knowledge, comprehending a bunch of theology, or memorizing large chunks of the Bible. Following Christ is also not about activity, signing up to serve ceaselessly at church, or tackling a daily “to do” list for God. Christ’s ultimate desire for each of us is to make us like Himself. Once we become God’s children by faith in Christ (John 1:12-13) -- once we receive a brand-new nature (2 Corinthians 5:17) -- He wants to utterly transform, from the inside out, the way we think and talk and act. He does this primarily by the truth in His Word, by the power of the Spirit, and with the encouragement of His people. Life is His laboratory for remaking us into the people He originally envisioned, before sin plunged the world into darkness and ruin. Take heart, Christian, Christ is being formed in you! 

-- from “Life Lessons with Max Lucado - Book of Galatians: Free in Christ”

#4855

FOCUSED ON JESUS

“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”  (Hebrews 12:1b-2a NIV)

A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his little daughter, Vanessa.  Finally, he tore a sheet out of his magazine on which was printed the map of the world.  Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to Vanessa, and said, "Go into the other room and see if you can put this together."

After a few minutes, Vanessa returned and handed him the map correctly fitted together.  The father was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly.

"Oh," she said, "on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then the world came together." 

-- Unknown

#4842

CONFORMITY TO THIS WORLD

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  (Romans 12:2 NRSV)

The invasion of the Church by the world is a menace to the extension of Christ's Kingdom.  In all ages conformity to the world by Christians has resulted in lack of spiritual life and a consequent lack of spiritual vision and enterprise.  A secularized or self-centered Church can never evangelize the world.

-- John R. Mott


#4613

A BLIND ANIMOSITY

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. 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."  (John 15:18-19 NIV)

A short story by the Spanish writer Carmen Corde tells of a young woman who gives birth to a blind son.  "I do not want my child to know that he is blind!" she informs family and neighbors, forbidding anyone to use telltale words such as "light," "color," and "sight."  The boy grows up unaware of his disability until one day a strange girl jumps over the fence of the garden and spoils everything by using all the forbidden words.  His world shatters in the face of this unimagined new reality.

In modern times, Christians resemble the strange girl who brings a message from the outside.  To a skeptical audience they bring rumors of another world beyond the fence, of an afterlife beyond death, of a loving God who is somehow working out His will in the chaotic history of this planet.  As in Carmen Corde's story, the news may not be welcome.  "We forget that what is to us an extension of sight is to the rest of the world a peculiar and arrogant blindness," the Catholic novelist Flannery O'Connor admitted.

-- Philip Yancey in “Rumors of Another World”


#4581