Which Came First

We sometimes hear the old question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" If you belive the Bible, the answer is easy and the question is silly. God created chickens and gave them the ability to reproduce through eggs.

I woke up today thinking about "which came first for a Christian," baptism in water or Holy Spirit? Actually, there is a process, but many who think they are born again Chrisitans were either "still born" or lack the fullness of the Spirit that produces overcoming strength, maturity to "be fruitful and multiply," and a Christian life-style described as "the fruit of the Spirit" in Galatians 5.

Still born "christians" have attempted to become Christians (or be produced) without the work of the Creator. Jesus says we cannot even come to Him unless the Father draws us (John 6:44), which is the work of the Holy Spirit. He does it through conviction of sin (John 16:8). Unfortunately, many have "accepted Christ as their personal Savior" because someone scared them enough or simply told them it was the right thing to do. Both of these are example of "works" (of men) and not the gift of God by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) [conviction of Holy Spirit].

When Peter preached in Acts 2, the people were convicted and asked what to do. He said, "Repent, .... be baptized .... and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." This gift is the Helper who will teach us, remind us, guide us into truth (that will set us free), speak to us and glorify Christ (John 14:16-17, 26; 16:7-14). Without this Gift one remains immature (weak), impotent (fruitless) and deformed (lacking the "fruit of the Spirit").

Many people are told that the Holy Spirit is only part of the birth process, not the process that matures one into being able to walk in the "fruit of the Spirit" and be prolific producers of more disciples. These people have experienced the cleansing water of baptism, but not the maturing gift of Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit came first to convict and last to mature. He is part of the whole process and works until we go home to be with the Lord.

An Ineffective Witness

Yesterday I preached a sermon that stirred a lot of things in me. It was titled "An Ineffective Witness" and was based on Acts 9 after Saul/Paul had been filled with Holy Spirit and begun preaching Jesus as the Christ. In other places in Acts when Jesus was preached, signs and wonders happened and it was recored that the Lord added to the Church. But not so with Paul at this time in his walk with the Lord. He simply confounded the Jews. When he made it to Jerusalem, the Apostles didn't even think he was a disciple. Ah....therein lies the problem.

Becoming a disciple is a process that takes time and daily effort. In fact, until Barnabas stepped in and took the role of a disciple maker, Paul probably would have remained pretty immature in his discipleship a lot longer. In Galatians he tells us it was more than a decade anyway.

How seriously do we take Jesus commission to "make disciples.....teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you?"

While I think I take disciple making pretty seriously, I don't have a plan to follow. It is not a rigid plan with check marks that we need, but we certainly need to define process and know when we are making progress. I'm meeting today to talk with our Eldership about our lack of a process for disciple making. It could be a revolutionary change in the church and turn us from being pretty ineffective to a powerful force for the Lord in our territory.

Give 'em a hand

"Give em' a hand" is what I declared to the congregation last Sunday morning. My text was in Acts 3 where Peter and John encountered the lame man on the way to daily prayer in the Temple. He was healed when they extended a hand to him, not just when they spoke the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. They had done much more than giving healing to a man lame from birth. They gave him the Name, they gave him a hand, and they gave him the Gospel.

They were doing evangelism. On Monday I had the opportunity to practice what I preached, when I encountered a young man to whom I had ministered in the past. He had a question for me about truly letting go of the past. After talking a while I asked him if I could pray, and then took him by the hand. Something took place, as we stood in the entrance to WalMart, hand-in-hand, praying. He asked if he could come back to church and get back on track with his Christian walk. Of course, I encouraged him to worship with us and truly walk with the Lord. It was part of the process of evangelism.

I believe we are in a day when the Lord is reaching a hand out through His people. It is not a hand out, just a hand. Too often we are quick to give a "hand out" of money, advise, opinion, even "preaching," when God may be wanting to touch people without a word. As hard as it is, I try to listen to Him before I act or speak.

90 to Nothin'

I just read a post on Facebook in which a young man was bemoaning the coming a new year. Hopelessly he declared, "Each year is worse than the one before." Then he said defiantly, "Come on 2010."

Wow, what an empty sounding attitude. That was contrasted for me the other day when a friend told me about his father being diagnosed with cancer at age 64, but living into his nineties without treatments or surgery. The key was an attitude that said he was going to make the most of every day and live as healthy as possible. He chose to be happy and healthy and depend on God to sustain him.

Unfortunately, the young man said he had made a new friend in Jack Daniels and that would get him into the new year. This is a Christian young man who has forgotten that his hope is in Christ, not anything of this world. That is why Scripture exhorts us to "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author AND finisher of our faith." With that Scripture I have great hope to be like the 90 year old father and not the young man headed for an early grave.

Gift Giving

One of the reasons we celebrate Christmas is to be reminded of the great Gift the Father gave us in His Son. As I prepare for Christmas this year, I'm focusing on another Gift given to us.

Jesus prepares us for this gift in John 16:7 and Luke records the delivery in Acts 2:1-4. Take a minute and read these verses of Scripture for yourself. What an incredible gift they received that day. It was truly "Christmas" in Jerusalem.

The truth is that the same Gift is given to us. How sad, when we refuse delivery of the Gift or simply tuck it away in a dark corner.

Prosperity of the Wicked

Psalm 73 is one of many Psalms in which the apparent prosperity of the "wicked" is addressed. In verse 3 the author even confesses that he was envious of the wicked who are boastful and prosperous. It is not the prosperity that makes one wicked. It is the lack of character.

Verse 6 speaks of their pride and violence. Their arrogance causes them to speak wickedly and even set their mouth against heaven and earth in verses 8 & 9. Most highly successful people are cold hearted and focused only on their own goals. Jeremiah saw this when he said to God, "You are in their mouth, but far from their mind" [literally, secret place of the heart - their soul] (Jer. 12:2).

This was a mystery to Asaph, author of Psalm 73, until he entered the sanctuary of God, His intimate presence. Then it was like the blinders fell off and he saw that instead of being at peace and ease the wicked are on a slippery slope to destruction and filled with terrors (vv. 18-19). By contrast he says in verse 26, "My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." He grieved over the wicked and his own ignorance, but quickly turned to the joy and peace of worshipping God.

When the Church is THE Church

I always turn to the end of the 2nd chapter of Acts to get a picture of what the Biblical Church ought to be doing. As Peter testified and encouraged people to be saved from the perverse generation in which they lived, thousands believed in Christ, were baptized and were added to the body of believers (verses 40-41).

The Holy Spirit was given for us to be empowered to be witnesses of Him [testify] (Acts 1:8). If we used this power correctly, thousands would turn to Him as "both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). This resulted in "signs and wonders" through the gifts of the Spirit (v. 43), but the purpose of the spirit was empowerment to be a witness. It was not to bring people to church, but to bring them to Jesus. Then the Church went to work.

As the Church gathered, they learned the Apostles teaching [discipleship], had fellowship [true sharing/"bonding"], ate together, prayed, met each others financial needs, and praised God [worship] (verses 42-47). I find the hardest part being in the financial area. It is hard to give away something that is so hard to get and so necessary for ourselves and family - especially in difficult economic times. I heard about it happening at Church of LIFE this last Sunday, as people gave after the offering to meet the needs of a young family.

It was "the Church of LIFE being THE Church."