POLITICS!!!!!

Well, at the request of MP (notice the blame shift!) I suppose it's time to weigh in on current issues.

I'll skip the economics since it changes daily and who really knows whether things are as bad as we're being told or not. Ever heard the phrase "It's the economy, stupid"? Well, it ANNOYS me!! I have never and hope to never vote based on economic issues and quite frankly cannot believe a believer would ever do so. The Scripture teaches that the Father takes care of our physical needs so why would I ask or vote in such a way to empower the government to do so? However, the race for the Presidency has elements that have concerned me for years and that seem especially poignant this year.

This primary season was interesting to watch. For the first time in history, the Democrats began talking about Faith. We saw arguments over how much ones Faith should influence them in decisions made while holding office. We saw arguments over whether the Republicans had duped the Religious Right into voting with them based solely on morality and family issues. There were even "church leaders" debating as to whether global warming, poverty, and AIDS were moral issues on par with abortion and the sanctity of marriage. It was a great time!

Skip ahead ...... both parties choose a candidate. Arguments change to those of experience and qualifications. Liberal or Conservative. Who's the better bridge builder to the other party. (Notice anything missing?) Then each candidate picks a VP candidate designed to bolster areas where they've been considered weak. Obama picks a foreign policy guy with years of experience (so much for "Change in Washington) and McCain picks a no-name governor from Alaska who appeals strongly to the Religious Right (so much for reaching across the aisle).

Now, let me pause a moment to point out that I have not yet endorsed either candidate as I believe both are attempting to appeal to the widest number of voters in order to win the election and may not be telling us the whole truth of their intentions.

MORTAGE MARKET CRASH ------- STOCK MARKET CRASH ------- UHH OHH!!!!

Ummmm ..... what happened to those issues of morality and Faith? When was the last time we saw the Republican candidate point out that Obama signed and fully supports full access to abortion (including partial birth) on demand and funded by the government (watch carefully as he unveils his health care plan). When was the last time you saw McCain appeal to the concerns of the "values voters" and speak about his pro-life stance or his view on marriage? The VP debate brought about the topic of homosexual marriage or civil unions but it was a passing question and largely overshadowed by economic and wartime issues.

We must support individuals who have a basic understanding of right and wrong. It's that simple. If a man or woman does not understand that the "lawful" taking of innocent life is an abomination before God, how can he possibly appeal to that same God for guidance on other issues as he leads this nation? The Word speaks of a man who builds an idol from wood. Some of the same tree he then uses for firewood, some to build a shelter. Aren't we also creating a God of our own making when we pick and choose which areas He might have an opinion on? What sort of fickle Faith is it to pray for financial success or strength and victory in war while we refuse to stand on a basic premise such as protection of the innocent?

A former pastor of mine used to say that it doesn't matter who is in the White House but the important thing is who is in God's house. I'd have to agree. But, I cannot vote to place someone in the White House who obviously failed to gain any spiritual understanding while sitting in God's house! I don't care about the Republican or Democratic platform. I suppose you might call me a single issue voter (though the Second Amendment and other Constitutional issues get me going as well).

While we may not have ever been "God's people", as a nation, there was a time when we honored Him and His role in shaping our existence. When visiting the poll on November 4th, do not forget that economic hard times come and go. Famines and pestilence have and always will plague nations. But, we who are believers have a duty to place our honor of God in proper perspective to our need for financial comfort.

Here's my point: Our next president will pick at a minimum, two Supreme Court justices. The values and beliefs of these individuals will direct the course of our laws and their interpretations for the next generation. Whether they will interpret the Constitution as a "living document", subject to change depending on our changing moral point-of-view or see it through the eyes of our Founders will direct their decisions.

Now, I officially announce my endorsement of Mike Huckabee for President of the United States!! But .... since he won't appear on the ballot, I'll take what I can get in the pro-life arena.

The Great Commission - GO!!!

Matthew 28:19: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Mark 16:15: And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Ever been to an old fashioned tent meeting or any week long revival meetings? They are normally evangelistic in nature (all for that) and are somewhat pep rallyish in nature (not so much for that). They seem to serve as a way to get the body of locals to attend a little extra church, meet a new speaker (it seems that the churches normal shepherd rarely leads these meetings), and invite the unchurched to attend them. I think something is missing. I think that the point is being missed altogether.

GO.

GO OUT.

Move along, get going, leave the area, make tracks. According to Vines Expository Dictionary, it marks the end of a conversation, such as, "you go on your way, we're done here."
Go. It is a very crucial part of evangelism and the part no one seems to be able to get past. We all seem to have a grasp on the fact that we need to spread the Gospel, or at least it appears that we do. We give to missions, we cry when someone confesses Christ, we might even leave a tract when we finish our meal (please leave a decent tip when you do). So we get that we should be sharing the Gospel. We often seem to think that it is the pastor's job to be doing it though. So, that means that we try and get the world to come in to our arena. We invite them to church, try to get them to rallies, tune our radios to Christian radios stations at work, etc. But we don't actually GO!

I once offended a guy (no, really) by saying that Christian music wasn't meant for him. It was meant for Christians. I think that church is the same. My church is meant for Christians. It is meant for Christians to come to for nourishment, for guidance, for accountability. It is a place that Christians should be gathering together in order to GO out. It seems fairly simple to me.

The point of this post is that we should be going out and witnessing. Not waiting for the world to join us on Sunday mornings. Will they come? Sometimes, yes. Should we be waiting for that event? Absolutely not!

So what are you waiting for? Find yourself a sinner and experiment on him!!

Heeeeeee's Baaaaaaaaack!!

Just so everyone know's, PM is back from Nepal! He will be bringing pictures and news (hopefully several posts worth) from the mission field. He is also going to bring our first annual HAPPY REFORMATION DAY post.

SO STAY TUNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MP

The Great Commission - The Authority of Jesus

Matthew 28:18 "And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.' "


Anytime I have ever heard someone speak of the Great Commission, the focus has always been on Matthew 28:19-20, the "go and make" portions of the passage. Without a doubt, the command to go and make are very important, as how are to know what we are to do if we aren't told? They are our marching orders, if you will. However, I cannot remember having heard anyone give so much as a passing comment on verse 18. Jesus' authority. Who is giving these instructions? Jesus is. Who is sending us to go and make? Jesus is. He is the Lord, the Master, the Creator of the universe. He has the authority to give these commands, to make the demand that we his followers obey.


Authority, by definition, is the right to hold sway in a given relationship. To be in charge would be a simple way to put it. A father over his children, a general over his soldiers, a manager over his employees, etc. In Matthew 28:18, the word authority is also translated power, which invokes the imagery of might. The person at the top. THE MAN!

One example we see of this in Scripture is in Matthew 8:8-9, "But the centurion replied, 'Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it.' " While the main focus of this passage is the great faith of the centurion, his grasp of the authority of Jesus is also remarkable. He knew that he was unworthy to have someone as powerful as Jesus in his home and that a mighty word from the Lord was all that was needed.


I have been somewhat puzzled by some of the commentaries on this particular verse that seem to say that NOW Jesus has this authority to send us. From what I have been able to find in the Gospels, Jesus had always had authority. He had the authority over the weather, over elemental properties, over sickness and demons, in His teachings, over death, even over His own death. So, while the resurrection of the Savior certainly paid our price for sin, securing our salvation through Him, how does it increase or finalize His authority? Does His resurrection simply prove His authority over sin and death, therefore being a very visible demonstration of His supremacy?


Two things are clear to me from this passage. First, the scope of Jesus' authority. He makes it plain that He is Master of all. Where is there that doesn't encompass heaven or earth? He has authority over both and all that they contain. He is Lord of the spiritual realm as well as the physical realm. He has the right to command all to be saved (Acts 17:30) and to demand that we glorify Him in whatever we do (1 Cor.10:31).


The second is that Jesus not only has the authority to send us to do His work, He also has the authority to command all who hear our message to obey it (again, see Acts 17:30). If they reject the message we bring, they are rejecting Jesus. To reject Him is to reject God (Luke 10:16). To reject Jesus is to remain under the wrath of God (John 3:36)


The blessing in this verse is that we are acting in obedience to our Lord and Savior when we "go and make," when we share the Gospel. There was no question in the Apostle Peter's mind when he said, "And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead." (Acts 10:42) It is a command and it is to be obeyed. There is no other option for us as believers. We are to spread the Gospel!!

---MP

The Great Commission - Introduction

Missions have been on my mind a lot lately, from things that have been going on at church to PM going to Nepal, to things that I have been reading. As a result, I have been spending some time studying the Great Commission and personal evangelism in general. I have been trying to tie the passages that deal with the Commission, or are the final commands of Jesus in the Gospels, together to make it clear what we are to be doing. We have been reading What Jesus Demands of the World, by John Piper, in our men's group at church and on the cover it quotes the beginning of the Great Commission as found in Matthew 28:19, "All authority in heaven and on earth are given to me." Since the point of the book are demands that Jesus makes on the world, starting with salvation and going into obedient Christian living, it has made me want to take an even closer look at the Great Commission itself.

There are four specific instances in Scripture where the Great Commission is given, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark16:15, Luke 24:46-48, and Acts 1:8. I am also going to include a passage from John, but only because of how it pertains on a personal level to us. To summarize all of them, we are to go into all of the world, sharing the gospel, telling of the things that we have seen and heard, baptizing them in the name of God, teaching everyone the things that we have been commanded by the Lord. I want to look at each passage individually, briefly, while focusing mainly on Matthew's version. I'll try to get it done over the next couple of weeks, as I need to get it of my head and on to paper, or at least into cyberspace!! I hope to make it as clear as possible and that it will be an encouragement to all who read it!

MP

Godspeed

PM is leaving for the country of Nepal in the morning. His family will be dropping him off for a lengthy flight that will take him around the world. Once there, he will be helping to encourage and lead native pastors, as they serve God and shepherd their flocks.
Let's back him up in prayer, praying that 1) God would be glorified, 2) PM would be spirit-filled as he teaches from God's Word, and 3) the Gospel would spread throughout the region as a result.

I would challenge everyone to fast for one meal this week and spend it in prayer for this missionary effort. I will personally be doing this Thursday night. You plan yours however you want!!

Godspeed, my brother!

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

MP

The Bed was Already Made

2 Corinthians 2:16

“to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?”

He had been in hospice care for months, his liver destroyed, his life slipping from him. I saw him once with many people around, stopped by once and was told he was resting, visited and prayed with him twice when he was in such pain that, through the fog of medication, I do not know if he could understand much of what was happening. In prayer with him, I preached the gospel twice (with his wife in the room) both at the hospital and at his home. But I had been praying for a conscious moment for him, to look in his eyes and share Jesus.

Saturday night I rode the elevator up to the fourth floor and walked into a still and dark room. The bed was made, and he was gone. I found out later that he had died the day before.

I helped the widow find the phone number of the pastor that the family wanted to conduct the funeral, formally the pastor of the little church I serve now.

At the visitation, all I could do way pray that they were weeping for the right reasons, and make sure they knew I was really there if they needed me.

I could spend years listing things that I should have done differently in trying to reach him and the family. But nothing prepared me for that dark hospital room, and no one called me to let me know he was gone. They were understandably busy.

PM

Tract Review - Million Dollar Bill HALLOWEEN

Just wanted to show everyone the Halloween Version of the Million Dollar Bill tract. Everything is the same about it except the picture, obviously!!
We have decided to pre-bag our candy this year and put the tracts in with the candy. No matter what your views on trick-or-treat are (and that isn't the point of this post, so save it), there is nothing better than having the world go door to door for you to evangelize!! We are going to put in this version of the Million Dollar Bill, a pressed penny, and for the adults, John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life tracts. I will do a review on the DWYL tracts later, but they are also excellent for handing out. They are based on Piper's book by the same title, which I highly recommend. If you do purchase it, I suggest you get it with the dvd, as it is only a few extra dollars and well worth it!! The video is about 45 minutes long and great for any type of small group or just for your own personal viewing.

Click on the tracts to see the whole text and purchase some today!!

MP

Tract Review - Wallet

This is a tract that I like to drop in parking lots at stores and at the truck stop. At first glance, people will see the $50 sticking out and realize that they have picked up something different! When you open it, you still don't get the message, you are greeted with pictures of credit cards and other "wallet" type things. Then, as you open it again, there are a series of multiple choice questions, almost in an ethics type layout. Then, as always with any Living Waters tract, the Ten Commandments are used to show the sins and to bring conviction.

Because I don't stick around and watch tracts that I "plant," I don't know if these are picked up by cleaning personnel and thrown away or if my intended victims actually pick them up and read them. So, I can't factor any type of "success" to them, other than the fact that the gospel is presented and that God's Word is going out and will "not return to him empty." (Isaiah 55:11)

Click on the tract to see the whole text and purchase some today!!

MP

Psalm 119:169-176

169 Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word!
170 Let my plea come before you; deliver me according to your word.
171 My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes.
172 My tongue will sing of your word, for all your commandments are right.
173 Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me.
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.

Word of God speak. . .