Sometimes It's the Little Things

Another missions conference has come and gone. We'll be sharing on Sunday about how tremendous this year's Faith Promise total is, but first I want to tell you about something that is so important when it comes to our daily lives. It's not a big thing, but what a difference it makes! Here it is: Don't ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Let me tell you why.

As we were planning this year's conference we learned that we would have a rare opportunity. Not only would we have a missionary for almost a full week, but we would have both husband and wife here. Alliance missionary couples normally tour separately, but for some reason they would be at our church together before heading their separate ways again.

What should we do? As we prayed and talked about it we came up with some new meetings and ways of doing this year's conference. Then the idea came to mind that we needed to send our missionaries out for a nice private dinner and then put them up in a hotel for the night. As we prayed about it we became convinced that we should "squander" part of this rare opportunity by sending our missionaries away for a day.

When they arrived here, we told them of our plans. They were stunned and amazed that we should do such a thing. They could tell from the number of events that we had planned that it wasn't a case of not wanting them around, instead it was a case of our wanting to bless them. So Thursday afternoon off they went. Harry would return Friday evening, Jane would head to Milaca Friday afternoon.

Here's the thing that made this little gift on our part so wonderful. When Harry arrived back from their "mini-vacation", he told me how wonderful their time had been and that it was the first time that they had a full 24 hours alone with each other since they arrived home from Japan in May. It was a real blessing all made possible because we were willing to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's gentle voice.

How might the Holy Spirit use you to bless others this week? Listen for his still small voice and then obey him. That little thing he asks you to do for someone is probably bigger than you think!

The Christian and the Governement - Part 3

This week we are continuing our study of Romans 13:1-7. So far in our study we have seen that the basic attitude of the Christian toward government should be one of submission. Government is something designed by God to punish evil doers and administer justice. As Christians, we should, as a general principle, submit to its authority. As the text says, "there is no authority except that which God has established."

The next thing we discovered was that the Bible teaches that governing authorities have responsibilities that come from God...and which they will be accountable to God for fulfilling. We discovered that government is to be for the good of the people. It should enact and enforce just and righteous laws. It should be concerned for the poor and powerless in society. In a democracy, Christians have a role to play in assuring that government fulfills its responsibilities.

This week we are going to look at another aspect of the relationship of the Christian to government. The question we are going to be asking is, "If the basic attitude of the Christian to civil authorities is to be one of submission, is there ever a time when the Christian should defy governmental authority?"

An Open Door - Day Eight

During today's worship service missionaries from Kiev shared what God is doing in their lives as they seek to reach others with the love of Christ. These C&MA missionaries have a heart for God and have walked through an open door into the Ukraine. How awesome it is to be a part of the team!

Thank you for taking the plunge this week and making a Faith Promise. Let me remind you of a three things. First, the total amount of our church's Faith Promise has been forwarded on to the National Office to help them plan the missions strategy for the coming year. Second, to give to the Great Commission Fund you simply make a check out to Nashwauk Alliance and put "GCF" in the memo field. We'll forward it on. Alternatively, you can give through the national website. Third, the amount you promised and the fulfilling of that Faith Promise is between you and Jesus. We won't be sending reminders or barrel-chested "collectors" after you. Keeping your Faith Promise should be a fun adventure that you take hand in hand with the Lord.

As Missions Conference ends, let us recommit ourselves to being a vital part of the team that takes the gospel to our neighborhood and to every neighborhood around the world. Let us continually remind ourselves that the greatest thing we can do is nudge someone closer to Jesus. Whether a person has known Jesus a long time or is far from him, they can use gentle encouragement to take a step closer to him. May that encouragement come from us.

An Open Door - Part Seven

Seeking God to discover how he wants us to support missions is a part of being a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. It is a recognition of God's call on our lives to take the gospel "to the nations." It is helping people take the life-giving gospel message places that we cannot go.

Most of our lives are not lived with a concern for what is happening "over there." Sometimes that's due to selfish shortsightedness on our part. That's wrong. We need to be concerned about what is happening around the world. As one person put it, "This generation of believers is responsible for this generation of souls all around the world." We dare not lose sight of this fact.

At the same time, we cannot be so focused on "over there" that we lose sight of what is happening around us. If you have truly surrendered your life to Christ and are willing to go wherever he sends you, there is a reason that you are where you are today. He has you strategically placed to reach a certain group of people. All around you, in your current circle of relationships, are people who need to hear the good news of the gospel. They need to hear of the redemptive love of Christ...from you. What "open doors" exist in your world?

Perhaps that single mom desperately needs to know the love and provision of Jesus.
Perhaps your coworker needs help dealing with the anger that is destroying their home.
Perhaps a classmate is struggle to know that they are worthwhile.
Perhaps the successful business person needs to be reminded that in the end you cannot take your stuff with you.

Take a risk! Pray this simple prayer: "Lord Jesus, you have called me to become a fisher of men. I ask that you would teach me today more about what this means. Point out an open door today and give me the courage to walk through it. Amen."

Then get ready...God is looking for people willing to walk through the doors he opens!

An Open Door - Part Six

Over the past several days, you may have found these devotionals to be a bit dramatic in their call to follow Christ. However, this radical call to deny self has always been a requirement of the followers of Christ (Luke 14:25-33). In a society overflowing with luxury and entertainment, the call to total commitment to the cause of Christ is all the more essential, but ever harder to hear amid the din of the pleasure-seeking crowd. The one who responds to the call with reckless abandon will seem odd to those around them (1 Peter 4:4), yet will find that they can stand in the day of trouble and will yield tremendous fruit for the Kingdom of God (Matt. 13:18-23).

Such preparation is absolutely vital when it comes to completing the Great Commission. In order to finish the task, the Lord needs people who are willing to do whatever he tells them to do.

Take some time to present yourself to God for his service today (Romans 12:1-2).

The leadership team here at Nashwauk Alliance believes that one of the ways that God wants to challenge us this year in completing the Great Commission is through the Faith Promise. Making a Faith Promise is a matter of spending time alone with God and asking Him, "What do you want me to give to the Great Commission Fund over the next 12 months?" What's the right amount? The answer to this question needs to come from Him!

A.B. Simpson, founder of the C&MA suggested that as we seek God, we ask three questions:

1. What can I afford to give? (based on our ability to give)
2. What can I sacrifice from my ordinary expenditures? (based on sacrificial giving)
3. What can I trust God to provide in unexpected income (based on faith in God).

Take time today to begin to seek God for the answers to these questions.

An Open Door - Part Five

Most of us would love to have the clear guidance that Paul received in Acts 16:9-10, don't you agree?

But let's look carefully at what happened after Paul and his friends left for Macedonia. Acts 16:11-15 tells us that they arrived in Philippi and presented the gospel to some women who had gathered to pray. One of them, Lydia, responded to the gospel and was baptized. Cool! What a sign that they were "right on" in following God! Look at the blessing!

Some time later, they were going to the place of prayer and they encountered a demon-possessed slave girl so they cast the demon out of her. This made her owners so mad that they took Paul and his friend Silas to court. The authorities severely flogged Paul and Silas (Acts 16:16-23). We tend to read too fast. Here's what Wikipedia says about flogging:

Typically, the one to be punished was stripped naked and bound to a low pillar so that he could bend over it, or chained to an upright pillar so as to be stretched out. Two lictors (some reports indicate scourgings with four or six lictors) alternated blows from the bare shoulders down the body to the soles of the feet. There was no limit to the number of blows inflicted - this was left to the lictors to decide, though they were normally not supposed to kill the victim.

After being flogged, Paul and Silas were taken to a dark and dank cell in the recesses of the Philippian prison. Their feet were locked in stocks as further punishment and to prevent their escape (Acts 16:24). Not cool. Had they somehow missed God?

We know the story, the Lord causes an earthquake which somehow opened every prison door and caused the chains (and stocks?) of every prisoner to fall off. This leads to jailer and his family to get gloriously saved and the missionaries are escorted out of the city (Acts 16:25-40). Cool.

From there, they went to Thessalonica. They led a large number of people to Christ. So many, in fact, that the religious leaders started a riot and turned the city upside down looking for Paul and Silas. After their hosts were hauled before the authorities, Paul and Silas waited for the cover of night before sneaking out of town (Acts 17:1-10). Cool? Not cool?

Imagine this scenario: You've picked up a brochure for a missions trip. Here is the advertisement: "Some people will get saved, but you will be severely flogged, thrown in jail and hunted by an angry mob. Still suffering from the effects of the flogging, you will be forced to run for your life in the middle of the night."

Ask yourself this question: Would you even consider such a trip?

The disciples, who had left everything to follow Christ (Mark 1:14-20) embarked on just such a trip. In fact, they would eventually all be killed for their faith in Jesus. Read Acts 20:23-24 then let me challenge you to truly "leave your nets" and follow him. He wants to radically change the priorities of our life. Is being with Him and bringing others into the Kingdom truly our greatest concern? Or is it our "nets"...our security, comfort and ease?

An Open Door - Part Four

In the taking the gospel to the nations or across the street to our neighbors, the Holy Spirit is absolutely indispensable. To this statement, most Christians would agree. Yet the sad reality is that for many believers the Holy Spirit plays no active role it their conscious experience. This was not true in the early church. The early church knew the power of prayer and their desperate need for the Holy Spirit to empower and direct their efforts.

Take Acts 13:1-4 for example. The believers in Antioch was worshiping the Lord and fasting. While they were doing this the Holy Spirit spoke to them. The Spirit told them to set apart Saul (Paul) and Barnabas for a specific missionary task. There is no indication here that the church was holding a "brainstorming" session or had called in missions experts to give them counsel. No, the Holy Spirit spoke and they obeyed. It was as simple as that.

Or look at Acts 16:1-10. Paul is traveling from town to town strengthening the churches. They are experiencing daily growth. Notice Acts 16:6. They were going to go to the Roman province of Asia, but the Holy Spirit kept them from doing so. Look at that again. Paul, one of the greatest missionaries the church has known, wanted to go to Asia, but the Holy Spirit prevented him from going. Paul knew the work of the Holy Spirit as a living reality in his life.

They kept traveling, and tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. Now here is something new. In verse 7 the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Jesus. It is important to remember that the Holy Spirit is co-eternal and co-existent with the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus.

Let's link these lessons together.

1. Jesus calls us to follow him and he will cause us to be fishers of men.
2. Jesus teaches that if we find ourselves in a position of being unable to meet the needs of others we are to seek God and he will provide what we need to serve others.
3. Jesus teaches that what God will give us is the Holy Spirit. He tells his followers to wait until they the Holy Spirit comes on them before they begin making disciples.
4. The Holy Spirit that leads and empowers the disciples in the book of Acts is nothing less than the Spirit of Jesus.

Therefore, the our task is the same task as the disciples: Follow Jesus and he will make us fishers of men. Only now, instead of following Jesus' physical presence, we follow the Spirit of Jesus...the Holy Spirit. As Paul puts it in Galatians 5:25: "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." We are to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit just as Simon and Andrew followed Jesus.

Again, have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?

An Open Door - Part Three

Yesterday we talked about how inadequate we can feel about reaching others for Christ. Jesus said we would become "fishers of men" yet we can feel like we've never seen water, much less a fishing pole! We discovered that Jesus tells us that we can go to God and that by persistent prayer we can obtain what we need to meet the needs we see around us. Of course, the greatest need people have is to develop a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Let's look again at the passage we looked at yesterday, but continue on until verse 13 (Luke 11:5-13). After telling the story about the friend who had a guest arrive late at night, Jesus assures us that if we ask, seek and knock we will receive what we need.

But Jesus knows our hearts. He knows that as we contemplate this story our experience with sinful human nature tells us that we need to be wary. Having awakened our friend in the middle of the night pleading for bread, just what might be in the sack that he handed us? Could the bread be stale and moldy? Might the apples have worms in them? What might we put in the sack in similar circumstances?

Jesus assures us, "If your child asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? If he asks for an egg, would you give them a scorpion?" Of course not. His conclusion: If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Isn't it fascinating that the Lord, after talking about a man with nothing to set in front of his guests, tells a story about how the Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? He later goes on to tell his disciples that "they shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you shall be witness..." (Acts 1:8).

The Holy Spirit is absolutely vital in accomplishing the Great Commission. Unfortunately, there are many Christians who know nothing of the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The Holy Spirit is at best an abstract theological concept rather than a living reality in their lives. To the question "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" they must honestly answer "No." (Acts 19:1-7).

What about you? Have you received the Holy Spirit? This filling of the Spirit was so important that Jesus told his disciples not go "fishing for men" until they had received it (Acts 1:4-5). Do you know the reality of the Spirit in your life? Can you honestly say that you are filled with the Holy Spirit...that you are under his control and influence?

If not, then ask, seek and knock until the door has been open and you receive what you need to be able to spread before your guests what they truly need.

An Open Door - Day Two

As this week begins, you may wonder where this is going to lead you. As you look at the people you know, some of them seem far from God and reaching them for Christ seems impossible. As you ponder the Great Commission and the responsibility of taking the gospel to the difficult places like Japan or other difficult countreis, the despair seems to grow within you. How is it possible to accomplish such a task?

Let's take a look at Luke 11:5-8. Jesus tells the story of a man whose friend is knocking on the door in the middle of the night, asking for bread. The man is inconvienced, even irritated, by the request. Yet because of the the friends's boldness, the man gets up and gives him what he needs.

Notice three things about the story. First, the friend was not asking for himself. He had unexpected late-arriving guests who needed to be fed. This was not a selfish request. It was the request of a friend desperate to meet the needs of others. He was not asking for himself. He was simply in the position of desiring to help others and lacked the means to do so.

Second, notice that the friend instinctively knew the place to get what he needed. He knew, that though it was the middle of the night, if he asked he would receive what he needed from his friend. He knew that his friend would have abundant resources to meet the need.

Third, he wouldn't take no for an answer. The Bible says, "though he wouldn't get up because he is his friend, because of his boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs." The Greek word translated "boldness" carries with it the idea of shamelessness or audacity. He came at a time when everyone was in bed and he kept pounding on the door until he received what he needed to meet the needs of his guests.

Does this sound familiar? Surrounded by people needing the bread of life, we wonder "how can I possibly meet these needs? I have nothing to set before them!" We have a friend who has more than adequate resources. What we really need is the boldness and audacity to pound on the door until it opens and we receive what is necessary to meet the needs.

What conclusion did Jesus draw from this parable?

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened."

Are you asking? Will you ask, seek and knock until you have received what you need to meet the needs of others?

An Open Door - Day One

The theme of this year's missions conference is the Open Door. This series of blog entries will help you take to heart the message of the conference and put it to practice in your own life.

Let's start by looking at Mark 1:16-17. It is a familiar story. Simon and Andrew are fishing, using large nets in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus, walking along the shore, beckons them and calls, "Come on! Come follow me...I'll make you fishers of men!" The Bible adds, "at once, they left their nets and followed him."

Jesus is calling again to day. He's beckoning you to join him in the adventure of a lifetime.

I want you to ponder a several things. First, Jesus was interested in a relationship with them. He is interested in a relationship with you. He is inviting you to join him. He knows all about you: your gifts, your fears, your sins and your situation. Still, he calls you into a relationship with him. This isn't about joining a church, or becoming more "religious", whatever that means. Its about accepting an invitation to "do life" with Jesus.

Second, Jesus promises that something else is going to happen: they will become fishers of men. Jesus is going to change their priorities. No longer will they be working to bring fish into the boat. Instead, they will be working to bring people into the Kingdom of God. Jesus is going to take their relatively mundane lives and transform them into something powerful. Their lives will have an eternal impact. Jesus wants to do the same thing in our lives.

Finally, Simon and Andrew were forced to make a decision. They had to decide whether they would follow Jesus or not. I suppose that it would have been possible for Jesus to sit down with them and spend some time letting them get to know him and talking to them about how this whole "fishers of men" thing was going to work. Or perhaps the view of some scholars that Simon and Andrew had met and talked to Jesus before the encounter at the Sea of Galilee is right. In that case, they already knew something about Jesus and fishing for men. In the same way, Jesus might allow us to get to know him and to learn something about "fishing for men" by going to church, attending Bible studies, or reading this blog article.

But there is a time when Jesus will start walking (Mark 1:19, 21). Then we will be faced, like Simon and Andrew were, with the decision of whether we are going to follow him or not.

The time will come when we have to decide whether this "Jesus thing" is actually going to affect how we live. Will we leave our nets to follow him? Where is he going? If we follow him, where will he lead us? Jesus didn't tell them. And he doesn't tell us. He simply promises to be we with us as we become fishers of men...fishing among all the nations of the earth (Matt. 28:29-20).

Are you willing to follow him?

I'd Rather Cancel Christmas...

Each fall as the Missions Conference rolls around I stand in front of the church say something like, "I enjoy the missions conference so much that if I had to choose between Christmas and the missions conference, it wouldn't even be close. The missions conference would win by a mile." I've never really explained why that is so. It goes way beyond the over-commericalization of Christmas.

At its best, Christmas is a time to reflect on one of the most incredible events in all of human history. The fact that God became a man and made his dwelling among us is worth contemplating and celebrating. The incarnation is one of the most central parts of the Christian faith. Without the incarnation there would be no cross, no resurrection, no forgiveness of sin, no reconciliation with the Father. It is worth remembering in a special way.

The missions conference, on the other hand is not about the past at all. It is about what God is doing today...in our day. Whatever part of the world we focus on in our missions conference, exciting things are happening. Missionaries are knocking with increasing fervency on doors long closed. Other doors are beginning to open for the very first time. Still others are wide open and multitudes are flooding into the Kingdom. Other doors have been open so long that new missionaries are flooding out of those countries, carrying the good news around the globe. This is worth learning about and celebrating! But that's not the real reason I prefer the missions conference to Christmas.

As much as I enjoy contemplating the incarnation at Christmas, my deepest longing is to see Jesus face to face. My greatest hunger is for HIM. He himself told us that "this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to the nations, and then the end will come." You see, with every new people reached, every new church planted where there was no church, every soul gathered, we are just that much closer to seeing Him. The missionary effort paves the way for his return. The missions conference is about what God is doing now to prepare for that day.

As much as I cherish his first coming, my greater desire is for his second coming. On that day my greatest longing will be fulfilled, for I will see Him. THAT is the reason I prefer the missions conference to Christmas.