Thoughts From 1John 1 - Part 1

  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we saw it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you may have fellowship with us; and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing this that our joy may be complete. 1 John 1:1-4

          I once memorized the whole book of 1John, so I guess I never blogged on it because I figured what's left to know? Haha. As I read the first 4 verses, the first thing I notice, which I never noticed before, he doesn't say "I", he says "we" or "our" 13 times. Who is he with or including in his letter? By now he has outlived all the apostles and Mary, so it appears that he is writing on behalf of all those eyewitnesses like him who knew Jesus personally probably 50 years after Jesus' death. He's saying," this teaching doesn't come from me but from Jesus who not only I heard, touched, saw, lived with for 3 years but others did, too. There was Peter who was crucified upside down for preaching about the resurrected Jesus, who is no longer with us. Herod killed my brother John in Jerusalem by beheading him, but God avenged him as Herod died of worms eating him from the inside out. Andrew, Peter's brother, was crucified on an X shaped cross in Greece, Philip was crucified in Hierapolis and Simon the zealot sawn in half for testifying about Jesus. Matthias and James were stoned, Thomas was speared in India, Thaddeus killed by an axe, Matthew killed by a sword in Ethiopia and Bartholomew flayed alive all because they wouldn't deny that Jesus was God come in the flesh who died for our sins and rose from the dead. If it wasn't true at least one of them would have recanted but it was and I alone am left to boldly speak about Him." 

       I know I just put words in John's mouth, but he must be thinking, I must be alive for a purpose so I'm going to get this message out as long as I have breath left. Therefore, the epistles of John take on extreme importance to us as a summary of what he thought Jesus would want us to know from His closest friend speaking on behalf of all His other friends who are no longer with us.

       The first thing he wants us to know is He is life. He previously recounted in his gospel that Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life". He wasn't just alive on Earth, but He was alive in Heaven with the Father and sent down here as a human so we could get a glimpse of God without disintegrating. Not only was He alive here and previously in Heaven, but as God he is the source of life. The Achilles heel of evolution and secular biology is "how did life begin?" Since every effect has a cause, in order to have life there must be an uncaused cause that started it. That being would have to be eternal, thus God is life. He never had a beginning. He just is and even once, for which they took up stones to kill Him, said "I am." That's the cosmological argument for the existence of God and 2000 years ago, John is giving it and saying this person, Jesus, who we all lived with was and is that God.

       Christianity and the Bible is to be believed because it was given to us by eyewitnesses recorded by themselves, circulated in their lifetime and we have the manuscripts, in some cases, the first copy. These eyewitnesses died for their faith in brutal ways because they knew it was true. It gives eternal life to those who believe it, along with fellowship with God and fellow believers here on Earth and a joy to life that one can't experience without knowing Him. Are you in?

Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 7

 Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.21 Now that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tych′icus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. 22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts.23 Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love undying.  Eph. 6:18-24

         So, I've been studying Ephesians for two months now, and I had no idea from any of the previous passages that he was in jail. He just never brought it up. I would have made mention in Chapter 1 verse 1 of the lack of food, coldness, lack of light, shortage of writing supplies, aches and pains from sitting and sleeping on a hard floor and asked for prayer especially for deliverance. What does he ask for? Pray that he would proclaim the gospel without fear. What is his concern? That the readers would be encouraged when they hear from him.

       I've been watching Young Sherlock recently and in episode one he finds himself in jail for contempt of court. When his influential brother gets him out, they discuss jail and why it didn't bother him. He states that only his body was in prison, but his mind wasn't. It seems to me that Paul has mastered this skill. As we will see in the next book he will say he has learned the secret to be content in all circumstances and this is it - to mentally be living in the Kingdom of God even though your body isn't. 

       As he finishes up on how to defeat the devil in spiritual warfare, he reminds us to pray constantly. Talking with God, who is in the spiritual realm, helps us get in the mindset that our battle is not against flesh and blood but powers and principalities. Praying without ceasing helps us to separate mind from body and live with a kingdom of God mindset. Talking with God is the key to overcoming and not succumbing and without it you can put on all the spiritual warfare garb you want but you will just be like Bill and Ted playing in suits of armor. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure-"Heavy Metal"

     Are you overwhelmed by life, stress, pain, temptations, bills, relationships? What kingdom are you living in? How's your devotional life? Are you practicing the presence of God throughout the day? If not then Satan is winning and has sidelined you. We need people in the battlefield not in the playground as A.W.Tozer would say. Today is the day to start.

Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 6

 besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Eph. 6:16,17

       This group of verses that I have been meditating on deals with our battle in this world is not with unbelievers but rather the power behind them. In Edge of Tomorrow, my favorite Tom Cruise movie, the world was battling drone aliens and losing badly, but thanks to the blood of an alpha being spilled on him as he was dying, the day kept being reset allowing Tom Cruise to become a better fighter and leading him eventually to the Omega alien, the controlling force behind the drones and alphas. His ultimate battle was against the Omega rather than all the others. The same principle was seen in Matrix 3 where if Neo defeated Agent Smith all the other robots would stop their invasion and also in Game of Thrones where if the Night King was defeated, all the white walkers would stop. You see, Hollywood understands this principle that there is an ultimate evil controlling force in this world and it is Satan and our fight is with him rather than people.

      Satan has several plans of attack. We saw previously that if he can get us to be quiet either by isolation or fear of being different, he has neutralized us and he can move on to other targets. If he can destroy us by ruining our righteousness or testimony by succumbing to his temptations to sin, we will become ineffective and our light goes out. If he gets us to believe we have our truth and they have theirs and lets just get along, he has wiped us out.

     In this passage, Satan wants us to lose our faith - to doubt our salvation. If he can do that we won't pray, we won't value the Word of God, we won't witness - in all, we won't be a problem for him. Do you have doubts about the truth of Christianity? Lately it seems teachers are encouraging us saying, "It's OK to doubt. Everyone doubts. Look at Jesus in Gethsemane. Look at Gideon's fleece. Look at the disciples going back to fishing and cowering in a room not believing the women's testimony. Look at the prayer meeting for Peter's release from prison. It's normal to doubt." I'd rather hear preachers quoting Jesus saying to Thomas, "Stop doubting and start believing!", and then addressing these doubts to melt doubts into shields. One original quote I have (to quote myself, ha-ha) "I'm 99% sure that the gospel and Bible are true but I'm 100% sure that the devil put that 1% of doubt in my mind." There is tons of internet content available to help you doubt your doubts from Mike Winger and the Bible Thinker to Cliff Knechtle and his son doing apologetics answering kids on college campuses shoot the same flaming arrows of the devil at them.

      Lastly, how well do you know your Bible? Did you know that Satan can destroy you with God's word? He succeeded with Eve and he failed with Jesus. With Eve he said, "Did God really say?" and he distorted God's words and she bit. With Jesus, he misquoted a Psalm and Jesus didn't fall for it. God's word has power to fight Satan. In the aforementioned Game of Thrones the Night King couldn't be hurt by anything except dragon glass. Everything else was ineffective. In the same way, the Bible is the only weapon that works. It's amazing how little we know it. Satan loves that and even tries to get us to lessen its value by doubting Genesis, authorship, translation errors, relevance of Old Testament, Paul expressing opinions vs. inspiration, etc. I even wonder if 90% of the body coming to Church without a physical Bible but having the App on their electronic device is devaluing the Bible. Am I just showing my age? Maybe - maybe not.

      Are you a force to be reckoned with or are you on the bench sidelined? We need warriors. pick up your Bible and let's go!

Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 5

 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; Eph.6:14,15

         A lot of seminars, youth conferences, even kid's figurines made by Christian companies trying to make a buck have dealt with the armor of God. I've always thought that they were making a whole lot of adieux about what was meant to be just an added and word picture emphasis to the previous passage about our battle is with the devil so be ready. As I look again at it, maybe there is more to it than that.

         First of all, we see that if you don't interact with people, if you don't put shoes on and go, you probably won't get attacked a lot. A spectator at a football game doesn't need equipment on. If you only hang out with Christians and don't interact with the world you are not in the game and the devil doesn't need to waste his time on you. If, however, you are interacting with unbelievers at work, on social media, in relationships, you need to put on some armor. Did you see that when you step out with those shoes the reason is to share the gospel. Do your coworkers and friends know you are a Christian. I'm always amazed by going to someone's Facebook profile (yes stalking them) who is supposed to be a Christian and finding nothing that would give me a hint that they are a believer. Are we building bridges in relationships keeping in mind our goal is to win them to Christ, or are we just playing undercover Christian in order to fit in?

          Secondly did you see that it is called the gospel of peace? At first I thought, well that means we don't need to rile people up but share in such a way that it's peaceful. That's not entirely true. Jesus said He came to bring division and a sword that cuts through even families. Currently I've shared with a lot of people in Memphis at the University Medical Center, but it's frankly been in a way that is peaceful and maybe not effective? It's like, "Here is what I believe", and comes across maybe as you do you and I'll do me and non-confrontational. It's not coming across as mine is true and yours is a lie which would definitely not bring peace. I'm not sure it is even making them question their beliefs. I'm praying that God would guide me through this. Maybe the "gospel of peace" means recognizing that no unbelievers are truly at peace but have restless souls as they struggle with meaning, purpose, mortality, anxiety, worth, insecurity, failure and all other issues that a relationship with Jesus would cure. Is it possible that we need to share the gospel as my Church would say "helping people find Christ at their point of need" which for everyone is the lack of peace. Maybe lead out, "Do you have peace in your life?" I don't know - maybe try it.

         Third, it's important to be righteous. We live in a time where so much garbage is coming out about Christians in the public eye. It's like when Jesus said, "You are the salt of the Earth. If the salt loses its saltiness, it's good for nothing but being trampled on as it's spread on the road." If you have obvious sins in your life, sharing the gospel may actually hurt the cause. Live a life that doesn't negate the gospel. Live a life where people see a difference and that it does make an effect, at least on you.

         Lastly, as I alluded to earlier, don't apologize - you have the truth. Be assured of that, know the truth, and share it as truth. Be prepared to share why it's true when people question it. Read some apologetics. Can you answer, "Why should I believe the Bible is true?", With all the religions in the world, why do you think yours is true?" We have the truth, lets put those gospel shoes on and get out there and live it and share it as something that will bring peace to a troubled soul.

Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 4

 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.   Eph 6:10-13

        Is it possible to hate the Cubs without hating its players? I mean, any given year any player on the Cubs could be traded to my team and then I'd love him. It's not like they are Cubs; they are just playing for the Cubs. (unless it's Ernie Banks but who in their right mind hates him). Paul would say in the same way, don't hate the players on the devil's team, it's not like they are devils. Hate the devil. I mean, Lord willing, all those on the devil's team would come play for our team. (unless it's the Antichrist and who doesn't hate him)

       Therefore, remember when you get angry at the next person who responds to your post as if Satan himself wrote it, he probably did just use that person. Don't get mad at that person. Get mad at Satan or his demons that are putting thoughts into their mind. Pray for that person and try to get them playing for your team. Respond as Christ would with love and care. Ask if they want to meet over coffee and discuss it. Maybe respond with a Bible verse to show them where you are coming from. Satan hates scripture - look at Jesus' responses when He dealt with Satan.

      I had one episode in my life when I was fully aware of demonic presence. I was open air sharing the gospel in Honduras before we gave out jars of peanut butter to literally starving people and a lady with a low voice and angry face came up to me and said, "I hate Jesus" in English!  That was the only English I heard in those 2 weeks in that impoverished, rural, uneducated part of the country. I guess demons are multilingual! I've heard missionaries tell many more dramatic stories, but it doesn't have to be overt to realize that Satan is alive and active in our present world. The Lord's prayer even instructs us to pray for deliverance from his wily temptation and Paul here is in agreement. Be aware. It will help you identify and resist and help you to hate the team, not the player.

Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 3

  knowing that whatever good any one does, he will receive the same again from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. 9 Masters, do the same to them, and forbear threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

 Obviously, I don't have any slaves in my household, but there are people under me in regard to positions of authority and I am under people in the same way. What does Paul tell us about both of these stations in life? Previously I looked at those under authority and how we should respond in that place in life and now we will look at some principles on our responsibilities when we are the ones in authority.

       It's theoretically possible to never be in a position of authority but highly unlikely. If that happens get a dog. I would say a cat but I'm pretty sure they are in charge, but if you have a child, if you are in charge of people at work, if you are a husband then God has put you in a place of authority. How should we respond. First of all, our goal should be to bring good to them and God in return will bring good back to us. Our employees, for example, should flourish financially and improve their skill sets to the point where another employer would snatch them up in a heartbeat not back at ground level but as a skilled worker. If that takes extra training classes at our expense, their skill and appreciation will reward us in the long run. If they quit and go elsewhere for a better job with more flourishing, we shouldn't be upset but glad for them and proud that we did our job as a person in authority.

     Verse 9, I must say, is a bit perplexing when it comes to not threatening those under your authority. I must say that I have threatened my children with spankings or restrictions if they continued misbehaving and I'm not sure there was any other option. I have threatened my employees with firing if certain behaviors persisted and even followed through. I'm not sure that I had another choice. What could this mean? I think the hint may be in the word "forbear" before it. To me that means last resort. Bear with or be longsuffering with people. Do your best to solve it other ways. With kids misbehaving, say fighting with their siblings, try changing the environment that's leading to it before lashing out. In other words we shouldn't be known as a mean teacher, a grouchy parent, a boss that everyone is afraid of. That doesn't reflect who Jesus is.

        The underlying principle is that we are all equal in Christ and frankly, not even in Christ. We are equal on the basis of being human beings created by God. Paul said, consider others in humility as more important than you. If we are in a position of authority and don't follow the above principles, we are more concerned about ourselves than others. If we pay minimally, if we want to keep our employees thinking they are dependent on us for their survival, if we want to keep watching our television show without the noise of our kids fighting, if we just want our students to behave and not bother us, we are focusing on ourselves and being unloving, prideful and selfish. We've all known parents (not necessarily our own), teachers, bosses like that. Let's in Christ, rise above that.

Thoughts From Ephesians 6 - Part 2

 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ; 6 not in the way of eye-service, as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, 7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to men,  Eph.6:5-7

          Obviously, I don't have any slaves in my household, but there are people under me in regard to positions of authority and I am under people in the same way. What does Paul tell us about both of these stations in life?

       First of all if you are under someone's authority as a child, student, or employee for example there are several principles to follow. First, remember that God sees everything. You might think you are getting away with stealing, cheating, slacking when the boss isn't looking but God is. It's easy to justify all those behaviors and believe me I have. You think, they are treating me unfairly, they don't pay me enough, everyone else is doing it, they are making so much money off me etc. but remember - you operate on a higher standard than everyone else and there is an authority above that authority that you answer to and He sees everything.

        Another principle that's like the first is that in everything we do, we are serving Christ, so if we are working a job, we are supposed to pretend our boss is Jesus. What would Jesus require of us - our best. Just as I respect, honor, revere, fear God, so I should project that onto my authorities and treat them the same way. Just as I live to hear "well done my good and faithful servant. You've been faithful in the little things let me put you in charge of more...", so also, we should long for and strive for that praise from our authorities. We may not get it, but we know we will receive it someday if not in this life but the life to come. Also, we look to expand God's kingdom here on Earth and likewise we should be such good and effective "underlings" that our authority's kingdom flourishes. If our boss is making so much money off of us - isn't that a good thing? If our teachers are getting bonuses because of our success in the classroom - isn't that what we want?

        This passage says we should be serving out of good will. This is how we serve the Lord, right? We serve Him out of love not because we have to. In the same way, serving our authorities should be not because "I got to" but rather "I get to". If you went to work or school today with that attitude you would blow everyone away. Everyone around you would flourish and it could even become contagious. Why not try it!