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February 21, 2012May 31, 2012

It’s a lot like life

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So I get the “Last Word” this week. The Last Word is the section at the end of the newsletter that links to this week’s column or blog. That means I have just a few sentences to catch your attention and motivate you to come back tomorrow and read the rest of what I wrote.

Come to think of it, the “Last Word” is a lot like life, and what we encounter every day in our attempts to be a witness to our faith. Just like I only have a few sentences to catch your attention here, I frequently have a short window to catch the attention of others, too. Because of the books I read, people are frequently curious. They may comment at times when there’s not much time for an extended conversation so I’m learning to have a short comment about what I’m reading that invites conversation. Or if the timing isn’t there for a conversation, at least I can get a bug in their head about what I believe, and why it should interest them.

1 Peter 3:15 says we should always be ready to give a reason for the hope that lies within us. On top of that, Jesus says in Matt. 5:13 that we are the salt of the earth. One of the characteristics of salt is that it stings when rubbed into wound; I’m pretty sure that’s not what Jesus is driving at here. He probably meant it as a metaphor for a preservative and a seasoning agent. So not only should we be ready to give a reason for the hope within us, but it should be “salty” (i.e., interesting). Have you ever considered coming up with a brief testimony, an answer that makes people want to come back and know more?

When I read books like the one I just finished reading (one of the New Atheist’s diatribes against God), it stands out all the more clearly the hope we have in Christ. I invite you to come up with a brief and interesting personal testimony that you’re ready to give at all times. It not only makes your life easier, but you’re doing your neighbor a huge favor. Make it compelling, because it is. So did I catch your attention? If you actually read this far, I invite you to stand up and shout, “I believe in Bigfoot, UFO’s, and the reincarnation of Elvis Presley!” But you might want to have a brief and salty explanation of why you did that, too.

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February 8, 2012May 31, 2012

Running for the prize

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by Tom Chase

“Run in such a way to get the prize,” Paul’s admonition to the church (1 Corinthians 9:19-27) kept going though my mind. The day of the AWANA skate night was drawing nearer. You see, one activity that happens during the evening is the races. They split the guys and the girls and then by various ages competing to see who can make one lap the fastest. I decided to skate that night in part because of the race. Here was my chance to win the prize. Don’t misunderstand me, I had no delusional ideas about wining the race – I am not a great skater. In fact, I had chosen not to skate the previous year for my own safety and perhaps the safety of others. But this year was different. I wanted to win the prize so I chose to skate and I entered the race. As it turned out, I won the prize for which I was racing! How is that possible?

The prize for which I risked body and limb was a free soda from the concession stand. They give a coupon to all the race participants. So I entered and I won! Shortly after the race, I was enjoying the spoils of my labors with a smile on my face.

There is a parallel to this in my spiritual life. One that I am finding challenging.

We as believers find ourselves in a race in which the prize we are seeking (or at least should be) is not always the same as the participants around us.

So what then is to be our goal, the prize we are seeking? It is more than salvation. It is far more than that. We grow in relationship with the creator God through Christ. Paul’s prayer for us, in Philippians 1:9, as Pastor Martin shared is, “…that our love [for God] may abound more and more …” It is in the context of this relationship that we are compelled further. God has given each of us, varying interests, gifts and abilities, and more recently called “affinities,” in order to make Christ known. It is in these, that sharing Christ should be most natural.

For me, sharing Christ has not become natural enough. Sharing Christ, the good news, needs to really be my affinity, my desire, and my passion. If that is my main pursuit, then my interests, gifts and abilities become aids to that end. This is a good place to begin. However, Paul not only shares Christ through areas of his own interests but takes it even further, “I have become all things to all men, so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share in its blessings” (1 Cor. 9:22-23). Wherever we are that’s where we should start.

Lord, use our voices. Lord, use our hands. Lord, use our lives: They are yours, We are an offering …

Then we too may share in the blessings of the gospel. What a prize to hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

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January 26, 2012May 31, 2012

Things I think

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by Dan Amos

If you choose to read this, you will get a glimpse in to the odd ways my mind works. I doubt you’ll find anything profound, but when things happen in my life, I tend to relate them to something else. Often I find myself learning a lesson of application of the things I’ve learned over the years about what God has revealed to us. The little vignettes of my life become object lessons that I ought to apply.

I recently returned to getting up and getting ready to leave for the day before everyone else in the house gets up. After I get dressed, I stop all movement, control my breathing and whisper “bye.” This is so I can be sure I don’t drown out my whisper with rustling, but even more to hear the faint reply if there is one. I was told on Monday to not bother with the whisper, just kiss her and she’ll go back to sleep. But, doesn’t that sound like what we have to do to hear God talking to us? All the noise and busyness of life makes it difficult to distinguish His voice when he is trying to communicate His love for us.

My new job was advertised needing knowledge of a database that I was sure I was one of the best in the company with. When I started, I found out there were parts of it I didn’t know existed. I am learning to use that part of it, but I had no idea it was even there. It reminded me of Paul’s lament that the more mature he became in his faith, the more he considered himself the greatest of sinners. That thought has never made more sense to me than now.

Last Saturday, Mark McCullough and I were winning at Hand and Foot over Fran and Barb. (There you go Mark, it’s on the Internet now, so it must be true!) I was laughing and joking and Barb commented that she could see the stress of the last year was not evident that night to which I quipped I didn’t realize I internalized so much! But, this was an eye-opening statement for me and it really hit home the next morning listening to Keith Ferrin speaking on Philippians. If I was filled with so much stress over our predicament, was I really conducting myself in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ?

Lastly, there were a number of young and young-ish (!) men walking around the icy parking lot Sunday morning. We were trying to meet people as they got out of their cars and show them the paths we knew from our experience would get them into the church safely. In some instances we would say, “Follow me, walk in my footsteps because it is safe.” Again, we heard the same message from Paul in Philippians who told them he knew the way to Christ and he was leading them surely to His safety. Just like in response to the Gospel, some in the parking lot listened, some did not, and some insisted on following their own path, dangerously skirting risky areas.

So those are a few snapshots in to my thought processes. Maybe God teaches you in similar ways. If you have kids and ever disciplined them and heard the words coming out of your mouth sounding exactly like what God would be telling you, then you know what I’m talking about.

Oh, and about the kiss … when you know the right thing to do because you’ve already been told, quit asking if you should do it. Just do it.

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January 13, 2012May 31, 2012

Searching for heroes

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by Jeff Foerster

What are you searching for these days? Some seek the meaning of life, while others hunt for a lost set of keys. Internet searches, job searches, searching for a missing person, a mate, or lost hikers. Others search for fulfillment, happiness, peace, even a quiet place. Many search for the perfect gift, Waldo, Bigfoot, or proof of UFOs.

I recently finished a reading of the book of Genesis. While my eyes danced over the words, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, I searched for a noteworthy character, one I could maybe even call a hero. I read through creation and the fall of man in Adam and Eve and decided to move on. They had kids, and murder was invented. No lingering there.

Fast forward to Noah. Now there’s a cat with some guts, building a dry-docked wooden super-tanker by faith that God would send “rain,” whatever that was, to flood the earth. But even Noah, a great man of faith, is recorded as getting so drunk he passed out naked (Genesis 9). Man, why did that have to be in there?

Then came the tower of Babel and Sodom and Gomorrah.

Moving on I found Abraham. I know that Abraham is lauded a man of faith, yet I’ve had some trouble with the fact he made a concubine of his wife’s maid Hagar. How about Isaac and Rebekah, or Jacob, or Joseph. I searched but could not find someone with the clean record I sought.

Now, you may be shouting “Jesus!” at your screen right now, and I agree. He is the only one unblemished by sin and bad decisions. This leads me to where I find encouragement: in the perpetual sin of man. Well, almost. You see, I am in good company with these folks; I sin. If the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth works in, amongst and through these then maybe He has something stored up for me, another sinner, even yet. That is a very encouraging thought, indeed, and something well worth finding.

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January 8, 2012May 31, 2012

On the Gospel

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by Brian Sharpe

New Years always brings about great time for reflection. Stan preached on a passage last Sunday where we could reflect on the message that Paul brought to the Corinthians. This message was described as a message “of first importance.” Paul brought the people of Corinth back to the Gospel, helping them remember the message of the Gospel. What I would ask you to reflect on is: who brought the Gospel to you?

We can read biographies or autobiographies of great missionaries like Hudson Taylor or Jim Elliot, but what we fail to remember is that we had missionaries bringing Jesus to us. Missionaries are people who are sent with a message to share. God has made us all missionaries. We need to be on mission sharing the message we were given. This message may have been brought to by your parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles. It may have been friends or a pastor. It doesn’t matter who it was, it just matters that the message of the Gospel was brought to you. It was given as a gift from God to you.

Is the message that was brought by Paul to Corinth … the message that was brought to you by the missionary who taught it to you … as important to you as it should be? Is it a message that you live by and share or just a message that has helped and changed you? It is important to recognize that God built his church by word of mouth. He did not build it through large programs. He built it by his people loving him so much that all they could do is share him with everyone they knew. This is what we want to be about at Elim. We want to be a body that is so in love with Jesus that all we can do is by word and deed share Jesus with everyone in our sphere of influence.

This leads me to a couple of closing questions:

Who shared Jesus with you … and what would your life look like if they had kept their mouth shut?
How did they share Jesus with you?
When was the last time you shared the Gospel with someone with your words?
Who is in your sphere of influence that you can share Jesus with?
What is stopping you?

Answer these questions and share your answers with someone. Elim is here to help people know God, grow together in Christ and go and serve South Hill and beyond. Join us on this Gospel journey and share Jesus with everyone you know!

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January 5, 2012May 31, 2012

Resolved

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by Stan Peterson

Along with the New Year comes a long line of resolutions that sound sooooo good and look so good on paper but often times these resolutions fall flat as we enter into the second month of the year. Why? because we are lazy, and we want results NOW! When we fail to see the desired outcome immediately we can often grow weary and impatient in doing that which is good for us and others (Gal. 6:9).

We run around and spend countless hours and money, both precious resources, upon that which is for a physical profit (1 Tim. 4:8) forsaking that which is eternal and of first importance (the Gospel:1 Cor. 15.3). The end result is having our landfills (the Earth) filled with Suzanne Sommer’s contraptions and Richard Simmon’s sweating to the oldies. The extra pound we gain never gets burned off and we carry it around until next year and the next pound. The crazy cycle repeats itself.

As the Church we want to share the Gospel, we even talk a good talk, but bottom line when the budget is looked at, and the church calendar is looked at, what comes to be our first importance? Let’s GET OFF this crazy cycle! But how do we become a people that are resolved to see God glorified in the gospel? This is a work of God, we must first receive the Gospel, live the Gospel and preach the Gospel. The Gospel is not something to be grasped but it grasps us, shapes us, and inspires us on to good works (sharing the gospel). I ask this year that we would be a body that is resolved to see God glorified in the Gospel. Please pray that we would be a people continually receiving, living and preaching the Gospel.

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