Have you ever taken a big trip somewhere?  It usually a lot of fun to get out on the open road (or skies or seas–whatever the case may be) and travel to someplace new and different, and enjoy the sights and experiences.  But what if you were forced to go on a long trip that you didn’t want to go on?  That happened to Paul.  He went on plenty of trips that he wanted to take because he liked being a missionary.  But there was one pretty disastrous trip that he didn’t have a choice about.  And you know what?  In spite of all the difficulties and his life being endangered a number of times, he seemed to make a pretty adventurous trip out of the ordeal.

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN – A Strong and Healthy Body

A virus can actually use your own cells to reproduce.  It will infiltrate the cellular structure in your body, reproduce inside a cell, and then destroy the cell as it releases itself after multiplying.  So it not only grows in number, but it wreaks havoc with your cells to do so.

The same thing can happen in the church.  Wicked people can move in, start causing division and wreck a church.  So it’s wise to be very careful about how people in your church deal with things like disagreements, gossip, etc.

After all we are supposed to be one body.  And we don’t want our body weakened because people weaseled their way into church and started causing problems.

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CHAPTER FIVE – Do You Want The Good News or The Bad News First?

Have you ever notice how things can completely change depending on your perspective?  For example, imagine that you’re asleep–a nice comfortable sleep filled with sweet dreams and somebody slaps you in the face so that you wake up to a very sore cheek.  How do you feel about that person?

Ok, now say the same scenario happens, but once you’re awake the person who hit you explains that the building you’re in is on fire, and you need to get out before you’re trapped inside.  Now how do you feel about that person?

The Bible can bring about different reactions from different people.  For example.  If you don’t love God, and your life demonstrates a disregard for how he has told us to live, much of the Bible is going to sound pretty harsh–and even frightening.  But if you’ve been saved by God, and your life shows it through living the way he tells us to, then you’re going to read the same Bible with a lot of thanks and joyfulness.

So what do you get out of it–good news or bad news?

PS. I don’t know what happened, but this one has terrible sound quality too.  The others are better.

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Paul said, in 1st Corinthians, that if Christ has not risen from the dead that our faith is pointless.  What use is it to believe in a man who said he would rise from the dead who never rose from the dead?  So all of Christianity is hinged on the fact of Christ’s resurrection.  And if Jesus did not really live, die, and then live again, then it makes no sense to put our faith in anything else about Jesus.

In the same way, if you can’t accept part of the Bible, then what’s the point of accepting any of the Bible?  There are plenty of things in the Bible that people have a hard time accepting–Jonah and the fish, Noah’s flood, the creation of the universe in 6 days, etc.  But if you can’t take those things at face value, how can you put faith in other parts?

Jesus taught from Genesis.  So if you believe Jesus, then you need to take the whole Bible seriously.

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Are you making opportunities to obey the Spirit and teach the world about who God is?  It’s kind of a big deal if you think about it.  If you’ve been saved by God, that means you were rescued from death–plucked from the fiery pit of Hell and turned from a wicked and sinful monster into a saint.  But Jesus didn’t sacrifice himself to turn you into a decoration (like the statues you see of dead people).  He gave his life so that you could have life, and then he said it’s your turn now!  Go into all the world and save some people!  Don’t waste the precious gift you’ve been given…spread it around.  There’s more than enough to go around.  God doesn’t want anybody to die without him.  If you’ve found God’s grace don’t hide it, divide it!

If you haven’t been saved, that means you’re still dead in your sins.  And you probably already know exactly what I’m talking about.  Your own conscience is probably telling you exactly what it is that is keeping you apart from a relationship with your Creator.  Today is the day of salvation.  Make the choice to leave your sins in the past and to start living for God, and you will find a life more amazing than anything you’ve ever known.  It’s not always easy.  In fact, Jesus guarantees that you’ll face persecution if you live life his way.  But it is so worth it!  To actually live in relationship to God and know his presence in your life outweighs all the troubles you could ever face.  And we haven’t even gotten to Heaven yet.  That’s the icing on the cake of a real relationship with Jesus!  Make the decision to find forgiveness and turn your life around and live by the awesome power of the Holy Spirit.  You won’t be disappointed!

PS. Thank you to NASA for a great title. 🙂

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Sometimes people talk about God’s grace as if it’s something they can manipulate.  They think saying a prayer will force God to forgive them for whatever they do.  But no words can convince God to forgive an unrepentant person.  We don’t choose God and close a deal on a ticket to Heaven.  God also has to choose us.  If it weren’t for God’s grace we wouldn’t even be given the opportunity to seek his face.  And only those who truly repent  will be accepted by God.  It’s not about just being sorry or feeling bad or having an emotional experience.  It’s a practical change of mind that results in a practical change of behavior through the power and grace of God.  We aren’t forgiven of our past to get us a free trip to Heaven.  God grants forgiveness so that we can live new and holy lives that please God.  We are saved so that we can do good works and be righteous people.  It’s not some ethereal spiritual condition.  It’s a real way of life.

But some people think they can earn God’s grace, and that once they do they are better than everybody else.  In fact, some people think once they pray a particular prayer that they can use God’s grace like it’s a limitless get-out-of-Hell-free card and go on living a life full of sin and get away with it.  But the true Christian, who actually loves God, is not only changed by God’s grace, but in God’s grace they also choose to live a life of obedience to God.  We don’t change into different people when we die.  We simply change forms.  And if your heart is still enslaved by sin on Judgment Day you will be cast out.  But if your heart is pure, you will continue on the path you have already found in Christ.

Whadaya think of that?

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So there are plenty of examples of bad churches in this world. We’ve all seen people who give God a bad name. They either teach things that are completely unbiblical or they lead people astray just for money or they are complete hypocrites teaching one thing and living another. It makes me so sad every time I hear of a pastor who got caught stealing from his church or sleeping around or doing drugs or anything like that because they are supposed to be the leaders of the church. But the pastor isn’t the only one who should be a good example. The church (the whole church) is supposed to be holy. That means Christians aren’t supposed to live like the rest of the world. They are supposed to have pure hearts and live righteous lives. By the power of God, they are supposed to be obeying his commandments–all of them. That’s what Jesus said proves who loves him…”Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me” (John 14)

So what makes a good church is when the people who are members are living just like Jesus did. If you are a Christian, I challenge you to live like it. Read what Jesus tells you to do, and if you love him, obey him. If you aren’t a Christian, I challenge you to challenge your Christian friends to put up or shut up. If they don’t live out what they teach, point out their hypocrisy. If they do live out what they teach, then listen to them. They know what it means to have new life (to be “born again”) in Christ.

The reason I did this talk was because we welcomed a new member to our church that day, and I just thought it was a nice chance to talk about what it means to be part of a church.

Enjoy!

PS. I gave this talk when it was snowing outside, and it totally reminded me of a Bible verse about snow. You know how clean and sparkly everything looks after a fresh snowfall. The Bible says no matter how gross and nasty our past looks, God can make our heart look as clean and pure as newly fallen snow. We have to choose to stop living with evil in our lives and start obeying God, but when we do, God says you get a fresh start. Isn’t that cool?! Check it out in Isaiah chapter 1.

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Have you ever tried to switch the kind of milk you drink?  Like from 2% to skim.  I used to be a pure 2% milk drinker.  That’s what I grew up on, and the skim stuff was just way to watery.  I would never drink skim.  Or maybe you switched from drinking regular cola to diet.  It’s weird getting used to the different flavors or textures.  I did end up switching to skim milk because I figured I didn’t need that extra pat of butter in every cup.  I also tried switching to diet cola for awhile, but my body didn’t like that at all.  The Aspartame did nasty things in my digestive tract.  I don’t know if it was the aspartic acid or the phenylalanine or what, but after feeling sick every time I drank diet cola I did some research and found that Aspartame can have nasty effects on your bod.  I guess that’s why all the products that contain it have to have a warning label now.

Anyway, the point is that making any kind of change to your diet or routine can be difficult to get used to at first.  But there are some things that are well worth making a change for—like the benefits of regular exercise…and even talking about religious stuff.  Have you ever felt like you ought to change something?

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