Pastor Goforth

A Quick Word About Abundance

October 14th, 2016

I was chatting with someone about the idea in John 10:10 of abundance today

The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you might have life to the full (abundantly)– John 10:10 (NIV84)

Abundance … what does that really mean? The NIV says “to the full” … the problem for us is that we have our definitions and experiential baggage for what these Biblical Words mean and it can be hard to get to what Christ is saying. It is like the Biblical idea of “hope”. Hope is not wishful thinking, it is a certainty based on the person, promises, and actions of Jesus Christ. So I have to see the word differently. So then this word perissos translated “abundant” or “to the full”. We think, prosperity or perfection, or freedom from troubles but of course that isn’t what is meant and it isn’t what we always experience. Put in context, Jesus is talking about sheep and predators. He says there are thieves and robbers, hired hands that don’t really care, and wolves who want to devour. And in all of that the thief STILL comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but he gives us zoe (life) and have it perissos (abundantly). When I look that definition up I find it to me extraordinary, exceptional, superfluous, unnecessary, special advantage. And I see that regardless of the fact that there are still thieves, robbers, wolves, unconcerned caregivers, in the midst of that we live something that is not necessary, not required, yet exceptional, extraordinary LIFE. The most extraordinary thing is that we LIVE through it, we live IN it, we live in spite of those attacks. When others are destroyed by the attacks, we LIVE and THAT is Extraordinary.

So I can be FULL of Hope, because I know that God is for me, with me, and has taken my place in the worst consequence of my sin, death. So this is why Jesus came. He came to those of us already sentenced to death, and gave us something unnecessary for him, exceptional, extraordinary, to our special advantage, LIFE, REAL Life. Why because we are sheep and he is a GOOD Shepherd.

Oh man, let me stop and shout a little …
Greatness and The Kingdom

September 19th, 2016

Luke 22:28 You are those who stood by me in my trials …

Measuring greatness seems to be a major part of the human psyche. Our standards may vary, but we all do it. We play “King of the Hil” as children. We play “Red Rover”, trying to defeat, breakthrough or be subdued. We play “Monopoly”, you name it. In sports, the conversation is often about who is the “G.O.A.T.” If you don’t know that acronym, it means the “Greatest Of All Time”. Is it Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods in golf? It is Michael Jordan or Lebron James, or someone else in basketball? Who was the greatest president, Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, or Reagan?

This discourse by Jesus follows yet another “dispute” among the disciples over which of them (v24) was considered to be the greatest. So, a dispute, that is contentious strife, arose over who had the reputation of being the greatest. They weren’t arguing over who WAS the greatest, but who was CONSIDERED the greatest.

Jesus doesn’t weigh in on the argument. He just resets the standard for consideration.

v25 – Gentile kings lord it over them … It means to dominate. Their greatness is forced through power.

v26 – But you are not to be like that … He is changing the standard, shifting their gaze. … Instead … The word means “rather, on the contrary, but, yet, certainly, by contrast.” … the greatest … the word is MEGAS – “great, large, important, full-grown, adult, deep, strong.” … among you, should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table, or the one who serves? … (then he answers with their true thoughts) …Is it not the one who is at the table? But … Oh we need to pay attention when God says “But”.

Here comes the New Standard … This is like the “Sermon on the Mount”, when Jesus says You have heard it said … but I say … So here he says v27 … But I am among you as one who serves … Jesus says “I am one who –diakoneo-” It means “serves, waits on, helps, acts as an agent, to wait at the table.”

There is the new standard for greatness … then he continues

v28 YOU are those who have STOOD BY ME in my trials … “stood by me” is –diameno- “asasociate, to continue, to endure, abide with”. If HE came as a “waiter”, then we are just “bus boys” and “dishwashers”. And we are in the worst possible places of service. We are not ser ving in the most beautiful palace with a fancy uniform and great pay. No, He and We serve in our position through TRIALS –peirasmos- “process of testing, fiery ordeal”. We are serving in often the worst of times, the worst of trials, undervalued, underappreciated, misunderstood, attacked, maligned, and mistreated.

But Fear not , fret not. Do not desire greatness or reputation, gratitude or consideration, because Jesus says, … I CONFER on you … -diatithemi- “decree, ordain, arrange, to establish a covenant”. It is Jesus saying “don’t worry about consideration here because I have a covenant with you, I have made arrangements for a kingdom.” We want a reputation, a position, and he says “I have a kingdom for you.” We always receive from him MORE than we can imagine.

v29 … Just as my Father conferred one on me …

When you stand with Christ, you get what he gets. As his “table cleaners” and “dishwashers”, when he is exalted, we are exalted. … Just As … -Kathos- “to the degree that, inasmuch as, just as, when”. When, as, to the level of, his exaltation, will be our exaltation.

v30 – … So that … your greatness will be not here but there … lift your eyes … set your affection on what is to come. …you may eat and drink at MY table, in MY Kingdom and sit on thrones … If we want greatness HERE, it will be fleeting and will ultimately be destroyed and blown as dust away. But his kingdom is FOREVER. What we eat and drink at HIS TABLE will truly satisfy us eternally. What we receive here is often hollow and empty as sugar to the body. But what he has for us is filling and nourishes our souls.

So then in context Jesus tells Peter that satan wants to sift him …

Oh the temptation to seek Greatness

But know this, as he says to Peter … Jesus

1) Has defeated our tormentor

2) Is aware of our struggles

3) is Praying for us

4) Has a ministry for us on the other side of our trials

Lord, Let me be a dishwasher behind Christ and one day I will take my seat at your table. Until then, hand me another plate. I will stand with you in any trial.
Happy 100th Birthday Helen Patterson!

September 11th, 2016

Today in Shawnee, Oklahoma, family will gather to celebrate a life. Sadly, from my office this morning in Germany, I will not be able to attend. But I will be doing what I was raised to do, preach God’s Word. My Grandmother is my last Grandparent on this earth, though the other three just have a different address, one in a Heavenly Place.

My mother’s parents committed themselves to God. They committed to raising a family of 8 children. They committed to preaching the gospel and ministering to Native Americans, mostly in Oklahoma, and she still attends a church primarily focused on Native Americans. She always showed love and a smile to any in need. She passed along a love for music as well to us all.

I am grateful to she and my Grandfather for their 72 years of marriage and the children, including my mother, that they raised.

100 Years

Seems like a long time, but I don’t guess it really is. In America 200 years is a long time, but where I live in Germany, it isn’t really.

But 100 years is a longtime to live on this earth. I was reading today about life 100 years ago. It is hard to imagine the things you seen, lived through, and experienced. From the first Boeing planes built in 1916, to the defeat of Germany twice, the rise and fall of Communism, computers, cell phones, mimiograph to copiers, to your own iPad. Wow. I read that the life expectancy for men in 1916 was only 48 years. I am almost 52. For women it was 54, and here you are 100. Well, you are an extraordinary woman. Now, here I am living in that country of Germany, now our ally. Who knows what the next 48 years will be like as I stretch for my 100th birthday. I know you don’t get there without a plan. Grandpa didn’t get there on this earth, but he certainly got there. I wonder if he preached his planned sermon that day. I plan to play golf in the morning and sing and preach in the evening on my 100th birthday.

Today, I will do the most important thing I do, I will preach about Truth in two services here in Germany, to representatives of the greatest earthly force for the cause of Freedom. Wherever freedom is provided, the gospel goes in behind it. So, pray for our heroes today. On a day that has become known for a tragedy in 2001, we celebrate a life of triumph, love, and service.

Truly you were a woman of God, a wife of Character, a mother of commitment, a grandmother with grandeur, a great grandmother who lights the way, and truly a great, great, grandmother.

Heaven is certainly to come, and 100 years there will be a drop in a bucket. We sing, “when we’ve been there 10,000 years bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing his praise than when we’ve first begun.” Oh it is that understanding and firm belief in truth, that has shaped your life, and you have passed along to us. It is that confidence that has been the urgency, certainty, and security of our lives. And so it ever will be. I don’t know how many days, months, or years on this earth the Lord has for you, the reality is that those days are shorter than what you have already experienced. The days you have are shortening like the hours and minutes of a reddening western sky in evening. Oh but an approaching dusk only means that a dawn is just a few hours away. And so a dawn is coming for all of us that will find the Lord Jesus to be the sun that lights our eternity. And truly “what a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see.”

But for this day, we are grateful and for that day we are hopeful.

Thank you for being faithful to the Lord and always convinced of Truth and committed to sharing it.

Thank you for knowing his love and sharing it with everyone who would receive your gift of love in hopes that they would know a greater love.

On this day and every day you stand on that solid rock. As you stand you have provided a foundation by which we all rise to the skies.

Thank you

Your grateful grandson, father to two of your great grandsons, and grandfather to your first great great granddaughter.
Jimmy

Jim

Pastor Jim

Pastor Goforth

However I am known I am ever your proud and grateful grandson
Did I Not Tell You

August 29th, 2016

John 11:30 “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

“If you believed” certainly Jesus is talking about faith, the word Pisteuo means to believe to be true, to be convinced. But I don’t believe that it is simple faith, or even committed faith. That is not the key to getting a God to whatever you want. Faith is based on many factors, not the least of which is the plan, purpose, and character of God. You can believe all you want, but if God is not purposed to do it, if it isn’t in his nature, he isn’t going to do it. You believe all you want but it isn’t going to happen.

Then also, faith has to be combined with action. If I believe God for rain, then I better bring an umbrella. If I am a farmer and I am believing God is sending rain, then I need to get busy planting. What good is the rain if you aren’t going to plant?

So Jesus says in v15 that the purpose behind the death of Lazarus was “so that you may believe”. In this tragedy God was at work.

So then Martha is with Jesus questioning him about the death and Jesus says “your brother will rise again”v23 then that he is the Resurrection and life. And then he asks “Do you believe this?” And Martha has an interesting answer. She says “yes Lord, I believe you are the Christ …” And I sort of hear Jesus saying “that’s not what I asked you. I asked you if you thought I could change your circumstance.”

So through the mourning and the questioning, he ends up at the tomb, with Mary and Martha and he says “take away the stone” … ” But Lord … There is a bad odor … It has been four days.”

Can I ask you, what has God told you to do? Did you do it, or did you have a list for God about why you couldn’t, or shouldn’t, why it wouldn’t work? I seem to remember a God saying “who has counciled me? Who was there when I laid out the Heavens?” It is sort of like giving Steph Curry tips on shooting a basketball or a lesson on physics to Einstein. I heard that once the King told Mozart that his music “had. Too many notes.” To which Mozart replied “how many notes is the right amount?”

Jesus says “roll the stone away” and she says “but Lord” … And so then v40 “Did I not tell you …” Listen, faith is not blind trust. It is about accepting and acting on Divine Revelation. God reveals, he instructs, and that revelation is an invitation. The equation is this

Revelation = Invitation to join him

Invitation = Expectation to respond in faith

Expectation = Provision by God of what we need

Provision = Subtraction of Excuses

Jesus didn’t ask Mary or Martha to raise Lazarus, he just asked them to believe him enough to show up and watch him work. We often miss the glory of God, not because it isn’t there, or isn’t available, but because we don’t believe and show up.

v41 “So they too the stone away”. They did the one thing he asked, an act of faith in action, obedience. And then I love the next two words, “Then Jesus” …

“Then Jesus” … MAN THAT’S THE STUFF RIGHT THERE!!

If I will believe God and show up, and act in faith, then a Jesus will take care of the “Jesus stuff”. He is the miracle worker. The Holy Spirit is the power of God. Ephesians 1:19-20 says “his incomparably great power (is) for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead …”

His is the Power

His is the Glory

We simply must listen, believe, and show up acting in obedience … Jesus will take care of the God stuff

Hallelujah Thine the glory

Hallelujah Amen

Hallelujah Thine the glory

Revive us again (W.P. Mackay-1863)
Be Born In Me Today

August 16th, 2016

You Must BE Born Again

John 3:7 do not be surprised when I say, You MUST BE Born Again

We know that. It is foundational to our faith. Being born again, doctrinally and positionally, is an event, a historical, even historic moment in the life of every believer. It is a once in a lifetime event, once for all, and yet Jesus says … if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself take up his cross daily and follow me.

There must be an every day “birth” that takes place, because every day I am potentially given to thinking worldly thoughts, feeling fleshly things. Those things hep me relate to the world, but those things are in danger of separating my focus and my ministry, even the mundane things, from the new life. Christ Jesus says to Nicodemus, “flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” (V6) What IS the flesh? It is human, frail, deceitful, confused, it is dying, it is susceptible to sin, and it will, when left unchecked, give birth to the same things. So we have to daily, moment by moment, surrender to our born again spirit to let it be free to manifest itself in our lives. Being filled with the Spirit is allowing the Holy Spirit to be Himself in us.

V8 the wind blows wherever it pleases, you hear the sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from, or where it is going … so it is with everyone born of the Spirit.

I cannot create the move of the Holy Spirit. I cannot summon it. I simply can throw up my sail and ride surrendered to the wind of the Spirit. Or, I can leave my sail down and flounder in the waves, or paddle under my own power. These are heavenly things Jesus tells Nicodemus. Don’t try to control it or understand it with fleshly power or reasoning. Spread out your flesh like a sail and let the Spirit be free to be Himself in you.

V13 says we have never been to Heaven so we can’t expect to comprehend it or bring it down, only Jesus, the One who came from Heaven can work it in us. The Spirit is Christ in us, and that is the hope of God’s glorious reputation being manifest in us.

V15 that everyone who believes in him may HAVE eternal life

Yes, this is speaking of salvation and eternal position. But also, in the day to day, it is only as we allow our new birth to be born in our thinking, doing, and living will eternal life be manifest in our mundane life.

You and I … We … must BE born again.

Could we pray today “Eternal Christ, Lord and Savior, the One who was born in me when I heard, believed, and received; the One who has given me Spirit and Life; be born in my living, fresh and new today. Be born in my thinking. Be born in my concerns. Be born in my passions. May I BE born again. May I again be reborn this moment. Amen”
The Persecuted Saint

August 2nd, 2016
I don’t usually post my weekly sermon manuscript here, though it is posted weekly on our website along with the video. I felt that perhaps this week’s sermon in our “Gospel of John” series might be timely and encourage someone who ends up randomly finding it in the blogesphere. So … here it is

That You May Believe – John #47 –

The Persecuted Saint – John 15:18-25

Growing up, we would hear stories of the persecuted church in communist countries. I read and was inspired by such stories, but they were far away in those oppressed countries, or in isolated regions where the gospel had never been proclaimed.

The Persecuted Church is a reality as much today as ever. Whether in the subtlety of a politically correct work environment; which defends the “right to believe” for the unbeliever or certain lifestyles, while squelching the “right to believe” of the Christian. Often it is an overt attack on life, liberty, and the pursuit of Christ by the atheist, the terrorist, the radical, and so the Church remains under attack.

More Christians have died for their faith in the last 100 years than 1900 years before. According to www.persecution.org, 384 Christians have been killed already in 2016 in Nigeria, more than all of 2015. The same website reports that 100,000 Christians have fled Iraq alone. Father Jacque Hamel was murdered in his church in Normandy this week. I was reading last week of nearly 2000 crosses removed from churches all over China. There is no place on the earth that is immune from the potential of persecution, because evil, like the sin which causes it, is like leaven that permeates an entire loaf of bread. But there is a geographical center if you will. 2/3^rd of the world’s population lives in 1/3^rd of the land mass, between 10`N and 40`N latitude. It is called the “1040 window”. It is the poorest, hungriest, most unchurched, and most hostile region to Christianity worldwide. And then, I remember the words of Jesus, “if you only knew today what would bring you peace”. Jesus IS the answer today for those bent on wiping away all mention of his name.

According to www.opendoorsusa.org, 322 Christians are killed every month, 214 churches and Christian properties are destroyed, and 772 acts of violence are committed against Christians.

The Pew Research Center says 75% of the world’s population lives in areas with severe religious restrictions. The U.S. State Department says that in more than 60 countries, Christians are persecuted by government or neighbors because they believe in Jesus Christ.

And the words of Jesus ring out across 2000 years, his words to his disciples the night before his death, “If the world hates you …”. In the next chapter he will say, “… in this world you will have trouble …”

READ 15:18-25

Persecution is the norm for those who follow Christ. I don’t know what you have experienced. Perhaps the ceiling at work seems to be shrinking. Perhaps the atmospheres around you is one of harassment for your faith. We may never know that we consider terrible persecution. Or, perhaps the terrorist’s hatred, even a jail cell, or funeral for your faith. Yet, no matter how it comes, it will come. So, how do we live in a world of persecution?

There are 3 realities Jesus gives … 3 things to “keep in mind”
1. You Do Not Belong To This World
If the world hates you … keep in mind …

You

A. Do Not Belong

– to this World

Our concerns are often over acceptance, adoration, love from those around us. And Jesus says “they don’t love you because you are not of, do not belong, to them.”

“not belong” “are not of” – it is a variation of eimi = “to have existence, to have an inheritance in”

Your existence is not in this world. This is not the place of your citizenship. You do not have your inheritance in this place. If we do not experience hatred, persecution, are we of the world? A.T. Robertson asks “has the world become more Christian, or the Christian more worldly?”

You do not BELONG to this world. Hebrews 11:9 says that Abraham lived in the Promised Land “in tents” v10 “for he was looking forward to the city … whose architect and builder is God”. V8 says that he was called “to a place he would LATER receive as an inheritance”. Abraham was living looking forward. Listen folks … this world IS part of your inheritance in Christ, but NOT now, a New Heaven and a New Earth … live like a resident looking forward.

You don’t belong to this world nor …

– To Your Persecutor

the terrorist, the harasser, the racist, the hatemonger is NOT your master. You do not belong to them. They can only do what God allows. Remember Job’s story. satan tormented and tested him, but he was only allowed to do what God permitted.

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV84)

¹³ No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Every temptation is Common, God will provide a way, because God is Faithful. He is in charge. He allows what he decides is best and you are able to handle through him.

B. You Belong

– To Christ

He made you, he chose you, he bought you. You are his creation. You are his choice. You are his costly treasured possession. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. He told them, “you did not choose me, but I have chosen you”. You are a pearl of great price that Christ gave all he had to purchase. You belong to Christ and …

– To Heaven

Philippians 3:20–21 (NIV84)

²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

The tormentor can have anything of this world because it doesn’t belong to me. Everything of this world will be burned up and recreated. Nothing in this world is worth the effort of your grip. Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13, God is the One to whom we belong and the One to whom all tormentors must bow. So then, 1 Corinthians 10:14 says “therefore … flee idolatry”. When we bow to our persecutor … to our suffering … through fear, decision-making, acquiescence to their will … then we are turning our persecutor into an idol, a god in our lives to be worshiped.

But we do not belong to this earth, nor to our persecutor. We belong to Heaven, to Christ, but we have temporarily been transplanted in this world, in this place in the world. So, we are but branches of the True Vine of Heaven, for now, planted on earth. We are here so that the earth might “taste test” Heaven and say “we have never tasted anything like this.”

Keep in mind that you belong to Christ and
1. They Will Persecute You
“If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also …”

Dioko = persecute, pursue, chase, strive for

The question here is not “IF” but “WHEN”. The only “if” is “if they persecuted me” and just hours later Christ was being arrested, falsely accused, beaten, and crucified. “if they persecute …”. The YLT says “if they DID Persecute”. Did they? Yes. Then, “they WILL persecute”, future indicative … that is, this is a coming reality, they WILL persecute you

A. Because Of My Name

“they will treat you this way”

Poieo = to do, practice, perform, These are not accidents but actions with intent.

Dia = because of, through, on account of

My onoma = name, person, reputation, title, authority

Jesus speaking about the evil times to come says

Luke 21:12 (NIV84)

¹² “But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name.

“on account” – heneka = the marker of a participant constituting the event

Yes, as a Christian, you have a target on your back. It is the name, the person, Jesus, and his title as Lord, his reputation as the Darling of Heaven. That is what satan wanted and he hates all who have the name of Christ.

You will be persecuted intentionally because you claim Christ, or unintentionally because of the stand you take, and the values you have which are contrary to the values of this world. It is because Christ is in you.

2 Corinthians 2:14–16 (NIV84)

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. ¹⁵ For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?

When you have Christ leading, affecting your decisions and actions, to those from this world, apart from Christ, opposed to Christ, they will hate what you do like a pungent odor that fills a room.

Jesus says “they have no excuse for their sin”. Don’t buy into the argument “they didn’t know”. Romans 1 and 2 say that creation and conscience testify to the truth and all men, deep down, know, they know they truth, they have heard in a witness, seen it in a sunrise, heard it in the first cry of a newborn.

Jesus says “if they hate you …”

B. They Hated Me First

Psalm 2:1-2 asks “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather against The Lord, and against his Anointed One.”

The hatred of God and his people is as old as time as we know it.

satan wanted to overthrow God’s loving rule and reign. He deceived 1/3^rd of the Angels to follow him, and they were banished from Heaven.

God created this earth and a beautiful garden, and placed his image, Adam and Eve, there. satan deceived and the result was death where God created life.

God claimed a people for Himself through which would come salvation and break sin’s hold. God took them to Egypt to deliver from famine. satan took the blessing of the people and the hatred of God’s people turned from blessing into slavery.

God set them free, led them to the Land of Promise but satan convinced them that they couldn’t succeed and they wandered for 40 years.

Haman tried to get the Persian King, Xerxes, to annihilate God’s people in exile, but God had positioned Esther to save his people.

Pharaoh, Antiochus, Herod the Great, Titus, Nero, The Ottomon Empire, Hitler, and today ISIS/ISIL and so many others have all tried to stop the plans of God through his people. They have attacked his name, his authority, his reputation, his title. Chosen People Ministries point out that perhaps one of the greatest deceptions of satan was when he has used Christians to persecute Israel, sealing for many, their hearts from seeing Jesus as Messiah.

satan hates God. satan attacked Jesus from the moment of his birth. He dogged him thoughout his life. He tried to kill him as a baby. He encouraged a suicide attempt in his great temptation. He attempted to discourage, defeat, and destroy, that is always his way.

So Jesus says … if the world hates you, keep in mind, it hated me first”

Then 70 years later, John has experienced it firsthand. All of his fellow disciples died for their faith. He had been imprisoned for his faith. And he said, in 1 John 3:13, “do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.”

That use of miseo = to hate, to detest is in the indicative tense meaning it is a real state of being. It is not something that is possible, it is just the way it is. “The world hates me”, Jesus says, “that’s just the way it is, so they hate you as well because I am in you, and you are in me, and I am in the Father.”

– Expect Nothing Better

– Desire Nothing Different

Paul says “I want to know Christ … fellowshipping in his suffering.” We can’t know the power of the resurrection without fellowship of suffering and conforming to his death.

We don’t really know life if we don’t know the Valley of the Shadow of Death. We don’t know what it is to be well, if we have not been sick. We cannot know the victory of overcoming, if we don’t know the struggles.

So, finally, what of the Oppressor, the Tormentor, Persecutor? What do we need to keep in mind?
1. They Do Not Know God
“They do not know the One who sent me”

The Persecutor does not know God. And we don’t say this as an indictment but mournfully, they do not know God.

– Not in salvation

– Not in a Relationship Walking with Him

A. Understand Their Station

It wasn’t that they hadn’t seen, heard, but they refused to know him instinctively, intuitively, they didn’t know God within. They knew about God, but if God walked into the room, they wouldn’t perceive it. So Jesus did and they didn’t know him as God.

Those who persecute you, do not know him in truth, or they have left the experiential knowledge of him, as he is never leading them in this torment, though he allows it.

Yet in all of this, we need to remember that …

– Jesus died for them

The context in 1 John 3:13 and the hatred of the world for us … is that we should LOVE. It is the evidence that we are alive in Christ, that we have LOVE for those who do not know him. So v16 says “this is how we know what love is, Jesus laid down his life for us …

– They don’t KNOW God, so they NEED God

Understanding that; then comes the hard part for some

B. Pray For Their Salvation

The response, of one bought by Christ, in the face of persecution, is to LOVE; and Love defends, but also prays for the deliverance, and salvation of the persecutor. Yes as a society, we have a duty and a right to protect the persecuted, to defend them. But as individuals we should show love and grace.

So, let me try and bring this to a close.

At www.opendoorsusa.org, there are resources on how to connect to those in persecution. They also give a list for “Standing Strong in the Storms”

a “Theology of Persecution”

… Let me give you their list

ii. Build Yourself a Cell

Psalm 46:10 (NIV84)

¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

A Chinese Church Leader after 23 years in prison said this to Christians who have not been persecuted

“I was pushed into a cell … you have to put yourself into one. You have not time to know God. You need to do for yourself, what persecution did for me. Simplify yourself and know God”

ii. God Keeps Secrets

Isaiah 55:8–9 (NIV84)

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. ⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

You may never know what God is doing, but our labor is not in vain in the Lord

1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV84)

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

iii. Weakness is a Direct Path to God’s Power

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 (NIV84)

⁹ … my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

An Egyptian Christian Persecuted for his Conversion said “in great suffering you discover a different Jesus than you do in normal life. Pain and suffering bring up to the surface all the weak points of your personality. In my weakest state, I had an incredible realization that Jesus loved me even right then.”

iv. Overcoming Is Better Than Deliverance

Romans 12:21 (NIV84)

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Opendoorsusa says “persecuted Christians all over the world never ask us to pray that it would end, but that they would be strong through it”

v. Extreme Hurt Requires Extreme Forgiveness

Luke 23:34 (NIV84)

³⁴ Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” …

A Christian Iranian widow said “I only had hatred in my heart for my enemies who had murdered my husband. But one day a miracle happened, God taught me how I could love my enemies. I had been praying for this, even though on the deepest level, I didn’t want it to happen. Gradually through a process of ups and downs, God answered that prayer”

Love is the most Christ-like response to hatred and persecution

vi. Prayer Is the Ultimate Fellowship With Persecuted Christians

Hebrews 13:3 (NIV84)

³ Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

1 Corinthians 12:26 (NIV84)

²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Every part of the body hurts when any part of the body hurts

How do we pray for the persecuted?

www.cru.com gives us some ways to pray for persecuted Christians

– Pray they would know the Hope God Gives – Ephesians 1:18

– Pray the Holy Spirit strengthen them – Ephesians 3:16

– Pray they would know how much God Loves them – Ephesians 3:17

– Pray for them to know how to share the Gospel – Ephesians 6:19

– Pray for them to fearlessly tell others about Jesus – Ephesians 6:20

– Pray for access to the Bible

– Pray for Courage to Remain

– Pray for support and family for those rejected

– Pray for God’s advocacy for women and children

– Pray for jobs and a safe place to live

Conclusion

Surviving and Thriving In Persecution …

… Is about Dying Before The Threat of Death before Persecution

Jesus survived the cross because he was slain from the foundation of the earth. He continued because his eyes were on the finish. He died in the garden. He died to self, “not my will but yours be done”

… Is about Lifting our Gaze

Psalm 121 (NIV84)

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from? ² My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. ³ He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; ⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. ⁵ The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; ⁶ the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. ⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; ⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

I must Fix My Eyes on Jesus

– Consider what he has DONE for you

– Consider the depth of his LOVE

– Consider the level of his SACRIFICE

Pray for those facing Persecution

Pray with Compassion for your Tormentor

When my eyes are on Jesus, my eyes are off suffering

When my heart is praying for others in persecution, I am not hurt by my trials

When I am praying for the perpetrator of my persecution, I will have the right perspective on what is the greatest priority, and away from my pain.
When Jesus Says Go … he fills the void

August 1st, 2016

When Jesus says “go” he will take care of those you leave behind.

Matthew 11:1 “After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.”

The KJV says that he “departed … to teach and preach in THEIR CITIES”

Chapter 10 is Jesus’ instructions to the disciples before sending them out on his mission. 10:5 “these twelve Jesus sent out …”

My bride and I serve far from home. We are called to a place thousands of miles, an ocean and continents away from our parents, children, grandchildren, not to mention friends and extended family. We serve a people here who live their lives separated from their friends and family to protect the freedom of others. But what about those we have left behind? Who will take care of them? Who will teach them? And I hear the soft reply of my Savior, “I will my child, trust me, serve me, and let me serve you.”

It is such a beautiful and immediate thing when Jesus sends them out and immediately fills the void of their presence with his teaching. Mark 10:29-31 “I tell you the truth … no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields FOR ME and THE GOSPEL 30 will fails to receive a hundred times as much in this present age … and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” Never did those words mean so much as when God called us to Germany in January of 2012.

Interesting that we sometimes read and think “where is my increase?” My first thought this morning is that the increase is directly connected to what we left behind. I didn’t have money when I left, so I’m probably not going to have money here either. We left family and friends and have 100-fold increase here. We left a ministry and we have an increase of 100-fold here. We dearly miss our sons, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, and yet, we have become “surrogate parents and grandparents” to hundreds that come through this place every year. We say “hello” and “goodbye” to so many in this ministry but that just is about increase over what we have left behind.

So then, as the Lord has sent us here … he continues to go to the places we have left behind and he fills the void with Himself. Yes, we are sacrificing for his call, but so are those we left behind. Their sacrifice of our presence is just as real. Still we have a loving Savior who goes to our cities and fills the void to overflowing. So we are not so sad when we see them doing well without us. That is just evidence of the blessing of the Savior, filling the little loss with the overflowing of his presence.

What a good good Savior.
Who Are You Lord?

July 25th, 2016

Acts 9:5 “Who are you Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Paul is about his business. He is fervant, religious, pious, a man on a mission from God, he thinks. He is defending God’s honor, he thinks, persecuting Christians on the road to Damascus. Have you ever met Jesus on the “Road to Damascus”?

“Who are you Lord?” “I am Jesus.”

Hagar was running from Sarah’s anger. She met The Angel of the Lord, Jesus, and called him, “the God who sees me”. “Wow, God knows my name, I never thought I was that important.” Jacob was on the run from Esau’s anger. He had a dream and saw God’s servants doing his work throughout the earth. He woke and said “surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” Samson’s parents met a stranger with good news, birth news, but then he ascended to Heaven in the fire of their offering and they thought, “oh no, that was God, and we are going to die. Wait, no, he wouldn’t reveal himself to us just to kill us.”

So, here is Paul, pious, busy, on mission, and Jesus knocks him down and he says, “Who are you Lord?”

What are you facing that has you asking, “what is going on here?”. Have you FIRST looked into the face of God and said, “Lord is this you?” While I don’t believe that every trouble is God’s hand, nor that it is always discipline, the result of sin. I DO, however, believe that the first thing we need to do is look for God in the midst of it. “Lord, are you saying something … are you causing or allowing this? Where are you in all of this?”

As tragedy seems on every headline right now, how much would have been avoided if everyone involved would ask, “Who are you Lord? Where are you Lord? What are you doing Lord?”

When injustice rears its head, there is a time, and a way to act, but that time and way is always just. It is never vengeance, or retribution. “‘Vengeance is MINE’, says the Lord”. Why does it belong exclusively to God? He is the only one JUST enough, WISE enough, and LOVE enough to exact vengeance that is RIGHT. The terrorist isn’t asking “who are you Lord?” He is saying “I am lord.” the vengeance seeker, shrouded in a false understanding of justice isn’t asking “who are you Lord?” They are believing that they have God’s wisdom, and all the while stirring the pot that will not heal festering wounds, and will not bring justice but only cause more pain.

Hagar, Jacob, Samson’s parents, and Paul found out what Jesus knew in the garden and experienced on the cross, “your will and not mine be done.” That’s why on the cross, under an unjustice sentence, he could say, “Father, forgive them …” Sometimes pain brings healing. Sometimes death brings life. Sometimes injustice brings justice. Sometimes failure brings triumph. If we can look up and see the face of Christ, realize that he is here, he is on the throne, and hear him say, “I will tell you what to do, I am in this”, then we can get through it and trust him.

So often, we are busy fighting for “right” only to find that God is at work, and he will always bring RIGHT. Could it be the thing you are fighting the hardest right now, is God at work, you just don’t know it?

Look up and ask

Listen and live
I Want to KNOW

July 12th, 2016

Philippians 3:10 says I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (NIV84)

I want to know … ginosko = to know, learn, be familiar with, understand, find out

Do we really? Oh we want Jesus to give us peace, to satisfy our desires, but do we really want to know him. Often, I think not.

The word carries with it an intimacy. “I want to know and be intimate with God.” It is like Abraham was so intimate, such a friend of God, that when God was going to destroy Sodom, he said “should I hide this from Abraham?” Where does this intimacy come from? David knew it. It comes from walking with the Shepherd, day in, day out, through the seasons of the year. Psalm 23 says “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” Why? It is because this is a picture of a year in the cycle of sheep and the Shepherd. Green pastures, quiet waters, paths of righteousness, are all in the Spring, in home pastures. But then he goes through dark valleys, with deathly predators all around, yet without fear because he has been there before with his Shepherd. Correction and Protection, both, are seen as the Shepherd’s comfort along the paths to the summer highlands. He is not worried because they are headed to the tablelands where he knows the Shepherd has already been and prepared for him a beautiful summer place. Yes, he stays with the Lord with enemies all around, and with the attack of the pests of late summer. He finds the Lord anoints his head, and fills his cup till it runs over. Then, he continues with the Lord back home to dwell for the winter. Notice then that goodness and mercy FOLLOW him. They do not come TO him, they follow him. So then, goodness and mercy SURELY belong to the sheep of the Shepherd’s flock but those things follow us as we follow HIM.

We often don’t know him because we won’t stay with him through it all.

So, back to Paul in Philippians 3:10. We are so driven by desires that we adjust his scripture to fit our selfish desires. We take thoughts in scripture out of context. We want what we want more than we want Christ. But Paul leads in with v8 I consider everything else a LOSS compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing him. Paul says he counts these things as rubbish the worst of garbage, a waste … because if he treasures those things, he will not treasure and gain knowledge of Christ. But as I turn my selfish treasure into trash, I find v9 that what remains is a righteousness that is not mine, but only exists by faith in Christ.

So, I want the intimate experience of Christ which comes as I follow him. Denying self, taking up the cross, then I can know the power of the resurrection v10. Oh, we want resurrection power, but we don’t want to be crucified with Christ, and then find we live, not us but Christ in us. If we want to know him intimately, we must be willing to suffer for and with him, and become like him, not my will but thine be done, Lord. In dying to self, in walking through suffering, persecution, struggles, and strife, the cross firmly across our shoulders, then we know him in resurrection power.

Do you really want to know Christ?

Take his hand, yes, you will lie in green pastures, and drink from still waters. But you will also go through shadows and valleys, know the hot breath of enemies, and yes he will correct and protect. But the tablelands are ours, and as we look behind, we find goodness and mercy follow as we follow him, and his home is our dwelling place forevermore. THEN we will really know Christ.

O. Chambers says “The spiritual saint … sees everything he is dumped down in as the means of securing knowledge of Jesus Christ” and “The Holy Spirit is determined that we shall realize Jesus Christ in every domain of life, and he will bring as back to the same point again and again until we do (My Utmost for His Highest – July 11)
Some Thoughts on the Deceiver

June 15th, 2016
Mt Vesuvius

There is nothing behind this, but just some thoughts I had about our adversary, the deceiver, the accuser, the serpent.

John 8:43-44 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the Father of lies.”

Notice that it is not that our adversary didn’t know what truth was. He was created in truth, created in light, but he did not hold to the truth. He rejected truth, he renounced light and embraced darkness. No this isn’t a StarWars movie, this is supernatural history. The serpent emptied himself of light and truth.

His desire – John 10:10 tells us what it is, to steal, kill, and destroy.

From the beginning – Adam and Eve sinned on their own, but our enemy was instigator, thus resulting in their death.

No truth in him – “truth” spoken by the devil is always for the purpose of deception, so it is a lie. “Truth” when it is designed to deceive is a Lie. Wrestle with that for a minute. Slander is truth told to mislead about someone, and so thus the truth becomes a lie. That’s what he does.

Jesus does say that he lies, he says that he is a LIAR. He lies all the time. The way you can tell if satan is lying, is that his lips are moving. When he isn’t talking, he is planning a lie. He is the Father of lies – that is he is the Pater – father, originator of Lies. So every lie finds its progeny in him and also finds his pleasure.

So, just a couple of thoughts about what to do with deception vs truth, a couple of questions
1. Ask: What are the lies here? a) what is their purpose? Fear? Discouragement? Destruction? b) what is their result?
2. Ask: What is the Truth? a) what is the purpose? helps us find if “truth” might be a lie. b) reject the place of “truth” that is designed to deceive, divide, or destroy. Jesus said I came that you might have life. Discipline can be for the purpose of life. Truth sometimes is in the form of disciple and correction and that is good. But if this is for the purpose of the above desires of the Liar, then reject their place. c) Embrace truth designed to correct and respond with positive action. d) Embrace truth that encourages and that eliminates fear.
So, not a bottled up finish … but just some thoughts, if deception is your foe, think on these things

Selah …