It is impossible for those that fall away to be renewed to repentance. What does that mean?

    Hebrews 5-6 is about the need of these Hebrew, Jewish, believers to mature in their faith. The scripture here that gets the most attention is the one that says “if you fall away it is impossible to be renewed again to repentance”.

    These Hebrews, who were used to having to go make another sacrifice each time they sinned, had fallen into that trap in their Christian faith. They were going back and trying to get saved every time they sinned. The book will tell them and us many times that what Jesus did on the cross he did one time, for all time, and it was sufficient to cover the sins of all humanity that will come to him in faith.

    It is impossible to be renewed again to repentance because in terms of salvation it is a onetime event. By trying to do it over again you say that what Jesus did for you is not sufficient and that he must be crucified again for you, which puts him to an open shame. If your decision to accept Christ was a genuine one, you do not need to do it again if you fall away (Backslide), in fact it is impossible, you simply need to come back to him with concern over your relationship being broken and mend it.

    It is no longer necessary to strike the rock (what happened to Jesus when he died on the cross for us), now we only need to speak to the rock (because now Jesus sits at the right hand to make intercession for us. To say that you need to get saved again if you sin deeply enough to lose your salvation (Which by the way, who decides what is a deep or serious enough sin), is like saying that you and your spouse have to remarry every time you have a serious disagreement or do something to hurt one another.

    Jesus is not going to resave you, because what he did the first time is sufficient to cover all your sins, if you genuinely put your faith in him. Let’s move on from these elementary things and move into perfection in our understanding of our Lord’s sacrifice.

When I am weak, He is strong

2 Corinthians 12

1. Paul’s thorn in the flesh (1-10)

  a. It was a messenger of Satan - The devil troubles us

  b. It had a positive purpose, which was to keep him from pride- The negatives in our lives often have positive purposes.

  c. He ask God specifically to take it away and God said no - We should not think that God is always going to take away our health problem or negative situation. Sometimes he will say no because he has a purpose.

  d. Instead of healing God offered him grace - What a joy to know that God's grace is sufficient for any need we have.

  e. He found the ability to have joy and even pleasure in difficulties, because in his weakness was when God's strength shined - We should develop this same attitude.

2. His willingness to sacrifice for them (11-19)

  a. He was willing to sacrifice for their well being.

  b. We need this spirit as we minister to people.

3. His desire for a visit without contention (20-21)

2 Corinthians 13

1. Though he wants no contention he will stand up to those who are not doing right (1-10)

2. Closing words (11-14)

Would you miss it?

If I did not write this blog, would you miss it? If so send me a message and let me know.

2 Corinthians 10

1. Appropriate weapons of warfare (1-6)

    Our weapons are not fleshly or carnal, not of this world or our own strength, but they are mighty in God. These Godly weapons pull down strong holds, they cast down ungodly arguments and anything that exalts itself above God, forcing them to obey God.

2. Further defense of ministry (7-18)

2 Corinthians 11

1. Paul’s concern about them being misguided by false ministers (1-4, 12-15)

    False teachers have always been around. Funny thing is that they are sometimes hard to spot because they disguise themselves as the good guys, just like the devil does. There are only two really sound test of whether some one is a true or false teacher.

    1. Most importantly, how does what they teach line up with the word of God. Be ware of teachers who teach for an hour and have 5 minutes worth of scripture. Be ware of a teacher who jumps from scripture to scripture and uses bits and pieces to make their points. The true teacher will be able to take the word of God, leave it in it's context, and teach you what it is saying. By the way this is another critical reason for you to be on the journey. You must be in God's word faithfully. If you are saturating yourself with the word you will be able to spot a false teacher, but if you are just playing around with God's word, they will deceive you.

    2. Watch their life. None of us are perfect, but usually the false teacher will begin to display consistent tendencies that obviously do not line up with God's word.

2. His commitment to not take money from them (5-11)

3. Further defense (16-33)

Are you choosing form the list or completing the list?

2 Corinthians 8

1. The example of the Macedonians (1-5)

    When we see scriptures such as these that hold sacrificial giving up to such a high regard, we often quickly say, "but sacrificial giving is about more than our money". While that statement is very true, the specific context here is money. God does expect us to be sacrificial in our financial giving. We usually run to the statement to soften the impact on the financial end.

    You have probably heard teaching that we are to give God our time, talent, and treasure. That is good teaching, and I have used it many times myself. However, we can not afford to view it as a list to choose from, but a list to complete. In other words, some would say, "Well, I give of my time or talent", as an excuse not to give financially. God is not saying, "oh yea, I think that much time will make up for what you did not give in finances. He is saying way to go, but let's complete the list, let's be well rounded, let's give of all".

    They gave out of their deep poverty. A very short look at the world around us will help us see that none of us are living in deep poverty. Are we giving sacrificially? God never measures our giving by the amount, but he always measures it by our sacrifice. God is not so much interested in how much you give him as he is how much you keep for yourself. The amount we keep for ourselves tells him how much we have sacrificed.

2. Encouragement for them to follow through in their giving (6-24)

    Jesus is the supreme example of sacrificial giving (9). We should follow that example in all of our giving.

2 Corinthians 9

1. Accountability (1-4)

    Paul was sending someone to check up on them, so that after all the things he had said about what they attended to do in this offering, he did not end up embarrassed and embarrassing them. Accountability is a good thing and if we have agreed to do something we should expect to be held accountable. We should not be offended that someone would check up on us or ask us about our progress in something we have agreed to do, we should find joy in the opportunity to share our progress and be thankful for the motivation accountability brings.

2. A heart of generous giving (5-8)

3. God’s ability to supply (9-11)

    When we give anything for God's Kingdom we must be trusting him to supply and multiply.

4. It’s about more than giving and receiving (12-15)

Separation or Isolation

2 Corinthians 6

1. The example of Paul (1-13)

2. The need for separation (14-18)

 

    These passages call for separation, but not isolation. Separation has nothing to do with your distance from worldly individuals. We would find our Lord right in the middle of harlots and common thieves and yet he was totally separated. Separation will gain you the respect of the lost, where isolation will keep you from ever influencing the lost. If you are separated you will stand out in a crowd, if you are isolated you will never be noticed by the crowd.

    I realize that most of us have not ran off and started our own commune, but in a way our churches have become our commune. We spend hours per week there and then we fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ, all of which is not bad in and of its self, but when do we spend time with lost people and seek to affect them? Be separated in deed. I am sure Jesus stuck out like a sore thumb in those crowds. But don't chose isolation, because the lost world is counting on you.

2 Corinthians 7

1. Rejoicing in their relationship (1-7)

2. Godly sorrow (8-16)

Godly sorrow=repentance=salvation

Worldly sorrow=death

"This Ministry"

2 Corinthians 4

1. This Ministry (1-7)

    This ministry, which Paul will be more specific about in chapter 5, is not accomplished by our own craftiness but through the truth(2). We are simple earthen vessels, no flash, no shine, no glimmer. It is the power of God and not us that makes conducts this ministry (7).

2. The Challenges (8-15)

    The challenges are many and some are severe. If you are looking for the easy road this is definitely not it. This is the narrow path. Yet, no matter how difficult it gets it is never to the breaking point. God always shows up and helps us in our time of need. What we do we do for him and for the sake of others.

3. These things are a light affliction compared to the reward (16-18)

    All tough there is suffering and difficulty, it is nothing compared to what God has in store for us. This hope, this steadfast assurance is a powerful motivator in this ministry.

2 Corinthians 5

1. Longing to be with the Lord, we strive here to please him (1-9)

    A life Goal; to be well pleasing to the Lord. That is something worth living for. While we long for the day that we will be with him and freed from all the trapping of the world, being confident that that day will come, because we walk by faith, we must press on in this ministry.

2. The motivation of the judgment (10-16)

    We said earlier that our hope of a brighter future with Jesus should motivate us to serve him. Another future event that should motivate us is the Judgment Seat of Christ (10). This is where all saved people will be judged according to their works, whether that be good or bad (the unsaved will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment). I think the fact that some day we will stand before him and give an answer for the way we have lived should push us to faithful service.

    Even though it is sobering to think about standing before him in judgment, the truth is that fear is not a powerful enough motivator for proper service. Only love will push us to do what he ask. Basking in his love for us and proving our love for him through service (14). Because he died for us we should no longer live to ourselves (15).

3. The Ministry of reconciliation (17-21)

    Here we get to the details of "this ministry". This ministry is a ministry of reconciliation. Here are the highlights.

1. It is about people who have been made new (17) helping other be made new.

2. God took the first step by coming in the person of Jesus Christ, but now we must step out and preform this ministry (18).

3. The ministry of reconciliation is carried out through the word of reconciliation. We call it the gospel. It is the only path through which people can be reconciled to God (19).

4. We have been placed in the lofty position of being God's ambassadors. We are pleading to the lost world on his behalf (20).

5. The message is simple. Jesus became sin for us, so we could become righteousness in him (21).

    It is not that Jesus committed sin, so we could do righteous acts. He was made sin, so we could become the righteousness of God. He was made to be something he could never do, so we could become something we could never do on our own. It was an act of creation. Jesus embraced the ugliness so you and I could be overwhelmed by the beauty.

    So believe it or not, you actually are not trying to help people get to heaven or to avoid hell. That is a wonderful benefit of this ministry. But what we are doing is helping people find reconciliation with God. That is our ministry.

We are God's air freshener

2 Corinthians 2

1. Paul desires to come and have a joyful visit and not one of confrontation (1-4)

2. Time to forgive the disciplined man of 1 Corinthians 5 (5-11)

3. God's air fresheners (12-17)

    We are God's air freshener. But you know how one person might walk in and smell a scent and say, "Wow that is wonderful", but another person can smell the same thing and say, "That stinks". It is the same way with our air freshening for God. The saved say, "That is sweet, it smells like life, real life" and the lost say, "get that stinking thing away from me, it smells like death", even though our words and manner of life are putting off the same aroma. Keep freshening the air. Some people like it and get saved.

    Given our responsibility to be God's air freshener, Paul ask a great question in verse 16. Who is sufficient for these things. It is a grave responsibility. The answer is in Chapter 3 verses 4-6.

2 Corinthians 3

1. Rather than letters of commendation he had relationship with the Corinthians and the power of the Spirit of God (1-6)

2.Their relationship was better and more direct than that of Moses and the Children of Israel, because the veil had been removed through Jesus. (7-18)

The purpose of suffering

1 Corinthians 16

1. Benevolent offering for believers in Jerusalem (1-4)

2. Logistics (5-12)

    Do we recognize the open doors of God when they come our way (9)? When we do see them are we willing to boldly walk through them or do the adversaries scare us off?

3. Closing instructions and greetings (13-23)

2 Corinthians 1

1. Opening greetings (1-3)

2. The reality and purpose of suffering and tribulation (4-11)

    To answer the question, "why is there suffering", can be as simple as saying because of sin. If sin had not entered into the world then neither would have suffering. Yet now suffering is here and these verse reveal that God has purpose.
    1. By going through suffering and experiencing God's comfort, we are then able to comfort others.
    2. We are to view the way we go through suffering as a opportunity to be an example to others.
    3. It gives us a chance to see how much we really rely on God.
    4. It gives us a chance to pray for one another.
    Of course we would all choose just to skip suffering, but obviously these are the times that we learn the most and are given the opportunity to grow.

3.Strained relationship, Paul working for their joy not to have dominion (12-24)

    When it is all said and done if we have dominion over someone's faith we have not made a disciples. A disciple stands in their own faith, we are simply working for their joy.

What does it mean to be baptized for the dead? Should we be doing this?

1 Corinthians 15

1. The Gospel (1-4)

    The gospel is the good news that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again in triumph for us and that through faith we can have all the blessings this brings, chiefly the forgiveness of our sins.

2. The resurrection of Christ (5-11)

    Few events have more eye witnesses than the resurrection of Christ. It's reality is undeniable though many still try.

3. The resurrection of believers (12-53)

    The good news is that not only did Jesus resurrect from the dead, but he has promised to do the same for us.
    If Christ has not risen...
        1. Our faith is meaningless
        2. Our message is meaningless
        3. We are not and can not be saved
    If people who have placed their faith in Christ do not rise...
        1. Our loved ones who have passed will never be seen again.
        2. We are a pitiful people, because that means this life is it (what a rip off)
    I can not wait to get that new body!
    He mentioned the baptism for the dead in verse 29, what is that talking about? I am going to give you two explanations to think about.
        1. Perhaps this was a pagan custom that was practiced in that day. It is a pagan custom practiced today, specifically in the Mormon religion. They believe that if they are baptized as a proxy for their dead relatives they can save them from the condemnation of hell. Seemingly this pagan practice existed in the first century as well.
            Some would wonder if this was something that the Corinthians were practicing and then the next logical question would be, is this something we should practice. I do not know if the Corinthians were doing this or if it was just something that was going on around them in their culture. But Paul's mention of it does not make it an acceptable practice for us today. This is the only place it is mentioned in Scripture. It was not taught by Jesus, and it was not practiced in the book of Acts by the early churches. It is only mentioned here in a book that is full of rebuke for a church who had gone astray in many areas.
            Paul's argument is that if there is no resurrection then why would someone get baptized for the dead, in hopes they would resurrect. Perhaps he is saying, even though it is not scriptural, why do you practice this and then try to say there is no resurrection, pointing out their inconsistency. More likely, he is pointing out that it was going on around them and basically saying even the pagans believe there is a resurrection, because they get baptized for the dead. Notice he did say they and not we in the verse.
        2. He is saying this about Jesus. In other word's if Christ is not risen then why are people getting baptized for a dead man. If there is no resurrection, just like preaching, and our faith are in vain, so is baptism. If they don't believe in the resurrection they are getting baptized for a dead man, and the very picture that baptism is designed to paint is meaningless. Baptism would need to be preformed by standing in the water, and going under the water, but then never coming up, if there is not a resurrection.
    Now, I will let you choose which one you think is right, because the end result is the same.
        1. This is not a practice that we are being encouraged to do in our churches.
        2. The resurrection is real.

4. The victory of the resurrection (54-58)

    Through the resurrection we have victory. The ultimate victory, but also victory in this life, because his resurrection gives us purpose in life. Life is worth the living just because he lives.

What is the perfect thing and has it come?

1 Corinthians 13

    In chapter 12 he ended by saying I show you a more excellent way. It only stands to reason that the content of chapter 13 is that way. Love is a vital part of the better way, along with the coming of the perfect thing. We are told powerfully what love is not and what it is. We are told all the negatives that it avoids and all the positives that it embraces. Then we are given a time line on Spiritual Gifts. There is a point at which they will end.

1. The superiority of love (1-8a, 13)

2. The ending of the spiritual gifts (8-12)

    The announcement is made in verse 8 that love never fails, but prophecies will fail, tongues will cease, and knowledge (word of knowledge) will vanish away. So at the time of Paul's writing there was a future time coming when these things would not be operating anymore.
    We are told the reason for this transition in verse 9. At the time of Paul's writing they only had partial knowledge and the rest was given to them through prophecy. It is difficult to imagine a time when the word of God was not completed, but these people were living in that time. They only had the Old Testament.
    We are told the event that will cause the transition in verse 10. When that which is perfect is come then that which is in part (their knowledge made up by prophecy) would pass away. So what is this perfect thing and when will it come?
    When we think of perfection we tend to think of flawlessness or no error, so let's start there. I only know of two things that are flawless. One is God's word. It is said to be perfect in scripture (Psalms 19:7, James 1:25). Of course, Jesus is perfect in the sense of having no error as well. These are the two common things thought of in trying to understand this scripture and the timing of the transition.
Spiritual gifts which were designed to be a bridge until the perfect things come would either last until the Bible was completed or until Jesus came.
    The word perfect here from the Greek is teleios. The true meaning of this word is beyond flawlessness it really means completion. I certainly believe that that perfect thing is the Bible and that once it was completed the partial things (Prophecy, tongues, etc.) passed away. Even a study of history is very interesting. You can review church history and see that these things vanished. As more of the Bible was completed they are mentioned less and less. During the 2nd century they disappear and are not seen again until the late 1800's. Do we really believe that something so vital to the function of the church just went dormant for 1700 years? I don't. I believe it served its purpose until the completion of the Bible and then it ceased or vanished.
    In verses 11-12, Paul gives us two examples of the transition. Before the word was completed it was like our childhood and we needed many helps and crutches, but when we came to maturity, we put those things away. Before the completed word it was like we were looking in a mirror that was dirty and we could not see clearly, but once the word was completed it was very clear, as if the mirror had been cleaned and we are seeing face to face. With the completed word of God we are able to know just as we are known (Hebrews 4:12).

1 Corinthians 14

1. The superiority of prophecy over tongues and warnings about the misuse of tongues (1-40)

    Obviously the Corinthians had misused the gift of tongues and perhaps other gifts that were available to them in the first century. Sad thing is, as you read this chapter you discover that practically every group who still claims to have these gifts is still violating the rules that are established here about their use.

Should a woman were pants? The answer is not always as easy as it may seem.

1 Corinthians 11

A tradition that teaches a truth about authority (1-16)

    The real point of these first 16 verses is that of God's authority structure in the church and the home. Now I realize that it is not popular in some circles, but this passage and several others make it clear that God works through male leadership. Some may not like that, but if so they have to take it up with God not me.
    This certainly does not mean that the women or wife is to be subservient and if you carefully study how God says the man is to treat his wife you would never come to that conclusion. The whole point of the head covering was that in that time it was a sign of the woman's submission to authority, both her husband's and God's.
    Was it a sin then or now for a women to pray without her head covered? No, verse 16 makes that clear. But again the point is about respecting authority. No one in our society would say, "Look, she is praying with her head uncovered. She has no respect for her husband". But they would have in their society.
    I remember the first time I went to Kenya and taught there, during one of our breaks the pastors from Uganda asked me if it was wrong for women to wear pants. I started explaining that what the Bible taught was modesty and whether it was pants or a dress that is what we should all be concerned about is modest dress. They then told me that in their area it was commonly believed that a women that wore pants was a prostitute. I told them that in that case I would teach the women not to wear pants, but not because the Bible says not too, but for testimony sake.
    This is a similar situation. Don't get so caught up in the head covering that you miss the point. We all need to understand God's authority structure and follow it in obedience to him.

The Lord's Supper or communion (17-33)

    Some people do not like the word communion. I think it is because they are afraid we will be related to some other religious groups that we know violates many scriptural principles. However,
1 Corinthians gives us more information about this than any other book of the Bible and it is called by various names in the book. In 1 Corinthians 5:8 it is called The Feast. In 1 Corinthians 10:15-22 it is called Communion and the Lord's Table. Here, in 1 Corinthians 11:20 it is called The Lord's Supper.
    No matter what name you give it, the Corinthians had it all messed up and as a result were being chastened by God. Communion is not something to be light hearted about, but we should carefully seek to follow the Lord's example as we observe the remembrance of what he did for us in his death.

1. Their failure to properly observe the Supper (17-22)

2. The way Jesus observed the Supper (23-26)

3. The dangers of doing it improperly (27-33)

1 Corinthians 12

1. The spiritual gifts (1-11)

    Spiritual gifts are a hot topic. Tomorrow I will have more to say about their role in our present day church life and service for the Lord. As I study God's word I see several gifts that God gives to people and not all are named here. There is also a list in Romans 12:6-8. Looking at these two list there seems to be some differences.

1 Corinthians 12                                                             Romans 12

Spirits Gifts                                                                       Grace Gifts
Miraculous Gifts                                                               Ministry Gifts
Temporary Gifts                                                                Permanent Gifts

    We will look at this a bit more tomorrow.

2. The concept of body (12-31)

    No concept could be of greater importance for the church member. You are an intricate part of something bigger than you can be by yourself. Your part is needed and important, but it is not the only part. Without your part the body is hindered, but it can survive and go on without it, if the need be. WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST! What an honor and what a responsibility.

The day I was disqualified

1 Corinthians 9

1. A minister is allowed and worthy to be paid for his labor, but should not be doing it for pay. In other words the attitude of those being ministered to should be, let's do everything possible to take care of this man. The attitude of the minister should be, it does not matter if I get paid or not because this is what God called me to do. (1-18)

2. We need to find out what makes people tick and attempt to win them from that angel. (19-23)

3. We run to win, not to be disqualified (24-27)

    I remember when I was in middle school I ran track. Usually I ran the 400 meters, but on this day I ran the 1600. We were in a meet against a team that was not very good at all and our coach thought it would be good to switch everyone around and have us do things we did not normally do.
    That was probably great for the guys that ran long distances to get to run short ones, but now I was going to have to run a race 4 times the length I normally ran. I was a bit disappointed but determined to do my best. With a few tips from the guy that normally ran the race, I toed the line and waited for the gun to fire.
    Because the other team was not very good it wasn't ridiculous to think I could possibly win. I was sure going to run to win. I planned on crossing the finish line first. The normal miler pointed out the other teams best runner and said, Try to stay with him and maybe you will have enough at the end.
    The first 400 I did really well. In the second 400 he pulled away from me and I started to think I was in trouble. In the third 400 I made up ground and had restored hope that I could do it. In the final 400 I passed him on the back stretch and prayed I had enough left to pull it off. As we were coming down the home stretch he was catching me and I literally dove at the tape trying to win.
    My team mates gathered around and we celebrated. I had crossed the finish line first. The celebration was short lived as the officials came to tell me I had been disqualified. On the back stretch, when I passed my opponent, I came back in to soon. We did not make contact but he had to pull up to keep us from tangling feet as I passed. By rule, I was disqualified.
    What did it mean to be disqualified? It meant that someone else won. I did not even get to have second or third, even though all the other runners did not figure in to the incident. No I was out of the running for any place in the race at all. It meant that all my hard work pushing myself through painful stretches of the race were for nothing.
    Paul did not want this to happen to him in the race for men's souls. He used great discipline in being a soul winner. He made tremendous sacrifice to share the gospel. He wasn't jogging he was sprinting. He wasn't shadow boxing, he was in the ring with a very real opponent.
    Some here would try to tell us that Paul was saying he did not want to have preached to so many and then end up losing his salvation if he did not run well, but we have way to much scripture that clearly teaches us that salvation is not received or maintained by works.
    So what is he talking about being disqualified from? Receiving the crown! (25) He wanted to build out of gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). The day I was disqualified I got no ribbon for the race I had run, I do not want that to happen when I stand before God. I am looking for the incorruptible crown.

Sex, Marriage, Singleness

Sex, Marriage, Singleness I Corinthians 7

    This chapter contains some difficult concepts. But they are not difficult because they are to hard to do, or they simply don't make any sense, they are difficult because we have allowed the world and the TV to tell us how all this is supposed to work instead of God.

1. Avoid physical contact before marriage or outside of marriage (1)
2. The only acceptable sexual arrangement is a husband and wife committed to each other (2)
3. Husbands and wives should freely give themselves to one another sexually to satisfy each others needs and to avoid temptation to satisfy those needs elsewhere. (3-5)
4. Being single is a viable option if you have enough self control to avoid the sexual temptation, so you can give more attention to God's work (6-9, 25-35)
5. Separation may be necessary at times, but divorce should be avoided (10-24)
6. The challenge of a father giving his daughter in marriage (36-38)
7. Widows have the option to marry or remain single (39-40)

    Much could be said about each one of these topics. Let's not be guilty of saying, "Well, that won't work in America", or "We live in a different age". Each one of this principles will work in our society and our time. God's Word knows no boundaries of culture or era.
    Also, let's be careful about how we treat single people. Because of a fixation on being in relationships, we have made it weird to be single. We play match maker and try to push people into relationships. We ask young children if they have a boy friend or girl friend yet. We whisper behind the back of a single adult and ask if they are homosexual or not. Paul said that singleness is a perfectly legitimate choice. In fact, he said the single person in many ways puts themselves in a better position to serve God. Let's stop trying to fix single people, because they are not broken.

Church Discipline

1 Corinthians 5

    Church discipline is a difficult and yet needed Biblical practice. It is not that we are all to be the church police and spy on one another until we find cause to bring someone before the church, but on the other hand if there is no accountability among us then in the long run sin will ruin what the church is all about.
    A careful reading of this chapter will reveal some vital truths about church discipline.
1. It is always practiced out of love and not vengeance.
2. The purpose is the good of the offending person (that they might be restored to close fellowship with God and his church) and the good of the church (to protect it from an anything goes mentality.
3. It is only practiced in cases of open and unrepentant sin. We are all sinner, but when you are doing something openly, publically, with the attitude it is my life and I'll do what I want, then you have crossed the line as a church member.
4. To fail to practice discipline is a display of pride and lack of care for the church overall.
5. We only have this privilege with people we are in a church relationship with.

1 Corinthians 6

    We are not to take our brother, particularly our fellow church member to court. Such matters are to be settled with in the church. We should trust our fellow church members to help us work through such disagreements. Ultimately even if things don't work out the way we want we should be willing to suffer being wronged before we would make our savior and his kingdom look bad by parading our problems in front of the world.
    The reality that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit should be strong motivation to avoid all types of sin and especially sexual sin. He is living in us, we should not drag him into these terrible situations.

The Three Little Pigs and the Bad News Bears

1 Corinthians 3

We are more than mere men (3)

    This really srtuck me. God expects us to be more than mere men and why shouldn't he? With the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we should be very different, quit unusual in fact, when compared to mere men. What comes natural is not good enough. We need what comes supernaturally.

Division and Carnality go hand in hand (3-4)

Gardening with God (6-8)

    I love gardening with God. There are so many applications to make here, but one really stood out to me. I am not responsible for results. I must faithfully plant and water, but God gives increase. Once I put that seed in the ground, I can not see what is going on with it under the ground. Even once it springs forth, I can not be certain how much fruit it will bear or even if it will survive until harvest without withering away. I must simply do all I can to provide an atmosphere for germination, sprouting, and growth; the rest is between God and the individuals.

Building like the three little pigs (9-15)

    As I read this section it did make me think of the three little pigs, but instead of straw, sticks, and bricks, we have wood, hay, stubble, gold, silver, and precious stones; and instead of a big bad wolf, we have the fact that we will face God's judgment someday. But the moral is basically the same. The material you and I build out of will determine how our house stands in the end. Hey this sounds like a good children's Sunday School lesson.
    I don't know about you, but when I stand before God in judgment I do not want my life's work to go up in flames. I am aiming for a well done.

1 Corinthians 4

Faithfulness (1-2)

    I have always said that there are two kind of people God can not use, lazy and unfaithful. On the other hand a person that is willing to work hard and remain faithful will be amazed at what God can do through them.
    Years ago the church I pastored started a softball team. We were terrible, but we all had a lot of fun and a lot of people from the church came to cheer for us. We were their loveable losers. However, we did win two games that season. There were two times that the other team did not have enough players to show up. We one by forfeit. It was the Bad News Bears reward for faithfulness.

Imitate me (16)

    This is actually pretty incredible. In the midst of this passionate plea for them to grow up and exercise faithfulness. As he reminds them they are the temple of the Holy Spirit, he says imitate me. We know Paul was a man and struggled with sin like the rest of us, but to be able to say to a group of people "Act like me" implying that by doing so they will please God, wow, what a responsibility.
    Later he says "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1). Oh that I would imitate Christ so well that others could please him by imitating me.

Are we going to live in Division or walk in the illumination of the Holy Spirit?

    Have you ever been in a church were there was division? I can't think of many things more miserable than that. I mean God never intended for those tensions and ill feelings to exist in his body. God's ideal is that we would be of one heart and one mind, in unity. How sweet it is when we live in that unity (Psalm 133:1) and how displeased God is with those that would hinder that unity (Proverbs 6:16-19).

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity!

 

¹⁶ These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
¹⁷ A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

    Here in 1 Corinthians 1, Paul address the problem of division that existed among this church. He pleaded with them to speak the same thing and be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment (1:10). There is a lot of instruction in the scriptures as to how to handle divisions, but it starts with a deliberate decision that it is not right and we are going to do what ever is needed (with in the bonds of scripture) to be in unity.

    Paul spends the rest of chapters 1 and 2 talking about the wisdom of this world verses the wisdom of God. To overcome division or any other thing in our life that runs contrary to the Lord, we must have his wisdom. This kind of deep wisdom is only found in the Holy Spirit and his work of illumination in our life.

Press on for the Prize

Philippians 3

Paul reminds us that all the things we may have amassed in life, all the things that may seem precious and give us regard in the eyes of men are nothing compared to truly knowing Christ. Knowing him not just in salvation, but also in deep fellowship. So that pursuit caused Paul to press on and so should we. There is always room for growth in our relationship with Jesus, never become satisfied but always be content.

Philippians 4

This chapter is full of short burst of practical advice as he closes out the letter.

1. Continually rejoice (4)
2. Be known for gentleness (5)
3. Replace worry with prayer (6-7)
4. Guard your thought life (8)
5. Imitate those who are faithfully serving God (9)
6. Be content (11-12)
7. Trust in the strength of Christ (13)
8. Support Missionaries (15-18)
9. Trust God to supply your needs (19)

The right mind set, and a spiritual work out. Philippians 2

You must be out of your mind! No really, you have to be. (Philippians 2:1-11)

    I have noticed already as we have Journeyed in God's word the past month and a half it has had a lot to say about the state of our mind. It seems to me that the responsibility of the state of our mind is placed squarely on our shoulders. Be likeminded (2), operate in lowliness (humility) of mind (3), and let (allow) the mind of Christ to be in you (5).
    What is the mind of Christ?
1. One of humility (5-8). He is God, but he lowered himself by taking on the form of men and becoming a servant.
2. One of obedience (8). He simply did what had to be done. It did not matter what everyone else thought he was committed to the divine plan.
3. One that leads to ultimate victory (9-11). God has promised us the same thing if we live in the mind of Christ (Luke 14:10-11).

¹⁰ But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. ¹¹ For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

So you have got to be out of your mind. What comes to us naturally will fail us. We need what comes supernaturally through the mind of Christ.

A Spiritual work out (Philippians 2:12-16)

    Notice in verse 12 that Paul did not say work for your own salvation. He said work out your own salvation. God has and is doing the work in us (Philippians 1:6, 2:13). It is our responsibility to let it come out of us. How do we do this?
1. Stop gripping and complaining (14)
2. Work toward becoming blameless and harmless, which will cause us to stand out (15).
3. Have a firm grasp on God's word (16). This can only come through faithful study of the Word. Not what your preacher or the latest author says about the Word, but you and God alone in the Word.

God won't quit on you, what is your attitude about life? Philippians 1

God finishes what he starts (Philippians 1:6)

    God begun a good work in us the day we received Jesus Christ as our savior. He has every intention on finishing that work. The finish line is the Day of Jesus Christ. We will all come to that day through our natural deaths or his personal coming and in that day we will be like him because we will see him as he is (I John 3:2). This will be the time that we will be completely brought into the image of Jesus, which God has predestined for all the saved (Romans 8:29).

 

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

 

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

 

 

Anytime the Gospel is being preached it is a good thing (Philippians 1:12-18)

 

    At times we may look at what others believe and practice, or even look at their motives for what they are doing and we simply can't agree with them. Paul did not agree with those that were preaching the gospel for the express purpose of making things harder on him and not a pure heart of wanting others to be saved and yet he was rejoicing that the gospel was being preached even under those circumstances. The gospel is powerful even when men's motives are perverted (Romans 1:16).

 

Misquote or partial quote (Philippians 1:21)

 

    Many times people just say "to live is Christ and to die is gain", but that really leaves out an important part of the verse. The first three words of the verse, "for to me", indicates that it is our attitude about life and death that make the difference. Do we have the attitude that life is about Jesus and if we are alive it is going to be for him or do we make it about other things? So just because your alive doesn't mean it is about Jesus unless you have the proper attitude. When we take the attitude our life is for Jesus then there is labor and labor bears fruit (1:22).

 

 

 

 



The crucifixion and resurrection

Jesus before Pilate (Mark 15:1-15)

Jesus is crucified (Mark 15:16-37)

    Much could be said about the events in these verses, but I just want you to read them and think to yourself, he did it for me. I remember the words of an old song I used to sing.

               I'm the one to blame.
               I caused all his pain.
               He gave himself
               The day he wore my crown.

    Even if you have already read it, read it again and think, he did it for me.

The events following his death (Mark 15:38-47)

    The veil was the dividing wall between God's holiness and the sinfulness of man. Only the high priest could go past the veil, and that only once a year on the Day of Atonement. The veil being torn from top to bottom (That is by God in verse 38), was the announcement that God's presence and holiness can be entered by anyone who is willing to come through the death of Jesus Christ.
    The centurion's announcement that Jesus truly was the Son of God (39), shows us the powerful witness the crucifixion was to anyone who had an open heart and it still is today.
    The burial (40-47) must have seemed so final. If only they could have realized that the most important event in the history of mankind was only three days away.

The resurrection (Mark 16:1-14)

    We see the doubt of the disciples and wonder how they could not have understood after he told them clearly so many times about these events. How could they have doubted after they saw so much of his power and miracles, and yet they did. It makes me wonder how we can so easily accept the reality that the event of the resurrection actually took place, but then doubt the power that it brings to us. Once they understood that he really had risen they were changed individuals and walked in his amazing power.

The Great Commission (Mark 16:15)

    Like most of what Mark wrote about, his rendering of the commission is very short and concise, and yet it tells us exactly what we need to do. It is my goal to get the gospel to every individual in our city and to lock arms with missionaries to achieve the same goal around the world.

Closing words (Mark 16:16-20)

A streaker in the Bible? Yes, indeed!

The woman anoints Jesus' head with oil (Mark 14:1-9)

Judas commits to betrayal (Mark 14:10-11)

Jesus and disciples observe Passover and the Lord's Supper (Mark 14:12-26)

The Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:27-42)

Jesus arrested (Mark 14:43-50)

The Streak (Mark 14:51-52)

    We have no way of knowing who this is, but here is an interesting thought. We know that the upper room scene most likely took place at the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12).
So the possibility of John Mark being in the house and even overhearing the events of that night are pretty good. Since the book of Mark is written by John Mark and he is the only one to share this event, it could have been him. Maybe as a young man late at night (bed time), over hearing events, he threw a linen cloth around himself and followed them out to the garden out of curiosity.
    Once again, we can not know for sure and it is not really important, but sometimes my brain likes to chase things a little.

The trial of Jesus (Mark 14:53-65)

Prophecy of Peter's denial fulfilled (Mark 14:66-72)

The word for the End Times. Really, it is one word!

Signs of the End (Mark 13:1-37)

    These and other scriptures give us many details about the end times and the signs of those times. These scriptures and details are just as important to study and take into our hearts as any other passages. Some in there zeal to take basic signs God has given us and make them specific have added details that they can not know for sure and this is a mistake.
    The key thing to understand is that it is coming and Jesus gave us the big take away to all this information in the last word of this chapter. In fact, it seems like he almost shouted it. Watch! To watch means to be awake and alert. The idea is of a worker who thought the boss was going to be gone a long time and thought he would take a nap, but the boss came and found him sleeping. We do not want Jesus to come and find us sleeping, but awake, alert, and busy for him. Watch!

So you think you can trip Jesus up?

The Triumphal Entry (Mark 11:1-10)

Cursing of the Fig Tree and lesson on prayer (Mark 11:11-14, 20-26)

    Some have felt that because the cleansing of the temple is right in the middle of what happens with the fig tree that it is a symbol of the Jews and their worship, which had become unfruitful and indeed perverted. They had made their worship, which was designed to bring them closer to God and be a witness to the Gentiles, to become about money and prestige.
    The lesson that follows about prayer drives home to main points.
1. Prayers must be driven by faith.
  a. A general faith, that we serve a good God and he is interested in the things we are praying about.
  b. A specific faith, it is a faith based on his word (Romans 10:17). This is faith that God has a will and we can know that will through his word and the work of the Holy Spirit. When we pray for these things we automatically get them (1 John 5:14-15).
2. An unforgiving spirit stands as a road block to our prayers. Any problems between you and others must be forgiven on your part or your prayers will be hindered.

Cleansing the Temple (Mark 11:15-19)

Question of Authority (Mark 11:27-33)

Parable of the Vineyard (Mark 12:1-12)

    They knew he spoke this against them. Pretty obvious isn't it. This parable relates the way the Jews treated God's prophets down through the ages and ultimately how they treated his Son.

Questions to trick Jesus (Mark 12:13-27)

The Great Command (Mark 12:28-34)

    This is the reason that at Journey we are striving to LOVE GOD SUPREMLY and SERVE OTHERS SACRIFICIALLY.

Jesus has a question (12:35-37)

Warning about Scribes (12:38-40)

The Widow's mite (12:41-44)

    Remember God never judges your offering by the amount you give. He always judges it by the amount you keep for yourself.

Mark 10

Mark 10

Divorce (1-12)

    Many things can and should be said about this subject from the Bible, but today let's leave it at the fact that divorce was never God's plan.

Receiving Children (13-16)

    The disciples had a lesson on this in chapter 9:36-37 and here they blew it. I sometimes need the lesson repeated myself.

The rich young ruler and the lesson that followed (17-31)

    The problem with this young man was that he wanted eternal life on the basis of goodness and not grace. When Jesus reminded him of the commandments, he should have said, "U oh, I have broken those", instead he claimed his goodness.
    Jesus' challenge to sell what he had and follow him pointed out that the real problem was a trust issue. He trusted his riches and his perception of goodness more than he was willing to trust Jesus (24). You see he came to Jesus for a pat on the back and not a dose of the truth. He expected Jesus to say, "Are you kidding me, you are the poster boy for eternal life receivers." Instead he got challenged that he was just the same as all sinners.

Jesus' death and resurrection (32-34)

    If you have been paying attention Jesus is repeatedly telling them about these coming event to prepare them.

The pursuit of greatness (35-45)

    Jesus makes it clear once again that greatness in his kingdom comes through service, he being the chief example (45).

Blind Bart (46-52)

    When you know you need Jesus, don't let anyone tell you to shut up.

Who's side are you on?

    These chapters in Mark are so jam packed it is difficult to know what to share in the blog, without it turning into a book.

Chapter 9

The Transfiguration (1-10)
Question about Elijah (11-13)
Jesus casting out a demon that the disciples couldn't (14-29)
Jesus' death and resurrection (30-32)
Servitude (33-35)
Receiving Children (36-37)
How Christians are treated by others (41-42)
Nothing is worth going to hell over (43-48)
Fire and Salt (49-50)

    I could write many words on any one of these subjects, but the one that stood out to me in Chapter 9 was verses 38-40. These verses have always helped me keep a proper balance in my approach to other Christian groups. If they are not against us, they are on our side.
    Now let me quickly say that Jesus did not say that the truth doesn't matter and we should just lay down all our doctrinal differences and all be one. We have so many other scriptures that teach us that we are to stand for truth, that we know that is not what Jesus had in mind.
    However, what does it mean to stand for the truth. That you isolate yourself of in a little corner of the world and hold the fort till Jesus comes. That you rebuke those who claim the same Jesus (there are religious groups that don't have the same Jesus we do) and forbid them from doing anything for God?
    You see there are going to be a whole lot of people in heaven that were led to salvation by someone with whom we might have several scriptural differences. I would say that there are going to be some men and women that will be greatly rewarded for their faithful service to the Lord, with whom we would not have been completely comfortable going to their church.
    So should we just line up and act like our differences do not exist? No way! But if we are viewing these people as being on the opposing team, we are making a mistake. You see there is a world full of people that don't care what your church, or any other church for that matter, believes, and they are not going to care until someone reaches them with the message of salvation.

The Kingdom is going to the Dogs

Holding tradition above God's Word (Mark 7:1-13)

    Once again we catch the Pharisees in their groove of trying to make others live by their rules that have nothing to do with the Bible. This is called legalism and God does not want us to be legalist. Jesus warned the disciples about this in the next chapter, although they did not completely understand what he was talking about (Mark 8:11-21). We see that they were fault finders (7:2), and that they were holding what they thought above what God's word said.
    We must avoid being fault finders, and when it is necessary to point out a fault or wrong (Sometimes it is) we must do so by God's Word and not our own preferences.

Evil proceeds from the heart (Mark 7:14-23)

    Here Jesus touches on a very important concept. All evil proceeds from within, from the heart or soul of man. Man is triune (Spirit, Soul, and Body). The Soul is the mind, will, and emotion of man. It is the part of us that thinks, feels, and decides. This is the place from which all sin comes. That is we have never committed a sin that we did not first think about and decide to do it. The key way to avoid sin is to catch it in the thought processes and kill it there.
    We are told to renew our mind (Romans 12:2), not be double minded (James 1:8), and be of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). If you follow God's patterns to train your mind, you can avoid sin.

1. Hide God's Word in your heart (Psalm 119:11)
2. When tempted, use God's word as your weapon against Satan (Matthew 4:1-11, Ephesians 6:17, James 4:7)
3. By catching sin in our thought processes we can force it to obey Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:1-6)
4. Repeat the process over and over again. Because you can win the battle of temptation, but the war is not over until Jesus returns and Satan will attack again (Luke 4:13)

Being called a dog (Mark 7:24-30)

    What would you do if someone called you a dog? It depends on who you believed that person to be. If it is just the average Joe, you are probably just going to turn your back on that or worse. However, if you believe that person to be God or God's representative, then you are probably going to take it and even embrace it. After all, if God says you are a dog then you are a dog.
    We don't use the term dog. We use the Biblical term SINNER. It is just as offensive as calling people dogs, maybe more. Yet you can not witness to someone without calling them a sinner (although some have tried, by making their witness all about heaven verses hell).  Now you can soften the blow by including yourself as a sinner when you accuse them, but you must make the accusation. Study the Rich Young Ruler and see if you conclude as I do that his biggest problem was that he did not see himself as a sinner (Luke18:18-23). If people aren't ready to come to grips with their sin, then they are not ready for Jesus.

Many Miracles

Deaf mute healed (Mark 7:31-37)
Feeding 4000 (Mark 8:1-10)
Blind Healed (Mark 8:22-26)

The question of who Jesus is (Mark 8:27-30)

    Everything rest on this question. First, who you say Jesus is really determines your future. If you get the right answer you will end up in heaven. If you get the wrong answer you will end up in hell. By the way, God does  not want you to be confused. He made the answer crystal clear in the Bible. There were many incorrect answers, but Peter's was right. It was the one based on what God said. Jesus is the Christ.
    Christ is a title of Jesus. It means the anointed one. He was anointed to come and die a cruel death for our sins. He was anointed to rise from the dead, proving he has power over death and the sin that causes death. He is anointed to come again in the future as Lord and King. Is that your Jesus? If not, you are in trouble.
    It is also critical that the church get the identity of Jesus right. In Matthew we are given a little more detail about this conversation. Jesus told Peter that he would build his church upon the rock (sure foundation) of that revelation of who he is (Matthew 16:16-18). The church is built on the fact that Jesus is the Christ. If we want to join Jesus in building his church the key is to build it upon the revelation of who Jesus is.

Peter rebuked for thinking he knew more than Jesus (Mark 8:31-33)

The cost of discipleship (Mark 8:34-38)

    It is  a sacrifice to follow Jesus, but the pay off is out of this world, literally.

Walking Jesus

    Can you imagine what it would have been like to have actually been there with Jesus while he was here on the earth? Wouldn't that have been exciting? Do you ever wish you could have been there? Soak in these events in Today's Journey.

Demons cast out of the man from Gadarene (5:1-20)
Jairus' daughter raised from the dead (5:21-24, 35-43)
Woman with flow of blood healed (5:25-34)
Rejection in his home town (6:1-6)
12 sent out on short term mission (6:7-13, 30-31)
Herod believes Jesus is John the Baptist raised from the dead. Explanation of John the Baptist death (6:14-29)
Feeding of the 5000 (6:32-44)
Walking on water (6:45-56)

    It would have been awesome to be there, but then again it is awesome to be here. We get to walk with Jesus during his life here on earth through the pages of scripture and we get to walk with him now through the power and person of the Holy Spirit.

Dealing with critics and growing God's kingdom

Jesus dealing with his critics (Mark 3)

    Throughout his ministry Jesus had to deal with critics. This is what people do when they do not understand something or do not like it, they criticize.
    In this case we are told that they "watched him closely...so that they might accuse him" (2). I have met some people like that in my day. Ones who feel they are the Christian hall monitor. They are constantly keeping a watchful eye, so that they might accuse. The problem is that the accusations seldom have any thing to do with scripture and are based on personal opinion and preferences. Just as was the case with these religious people of Jesus' day. Oh Lord, help us be religious about the right things. We have enough problems of our own without running around watching other to accuse them.  
    Another sad thing is that when we get involved in this accusing it accomplishes nothing but to stroke our own ego. If we were really a concerned Christian, we would go to the person alone to talk to them and base our observations only on God's word. Instead people often talk to the whole world about the other person without ever approaching them.
    This grieved Jesus because it displayed the hardness of their heart (5). Isn't it interesting how right and wrong always get back to the condition of our heart. Oh God keep us from having hard hearts and make ours soft and pliable in your hands.
    They were plotting to destroy him (6). Can you imagine? And yet in so called Christian circles this happens. No wonder the world sometimes struggles to see in us anything attractive. God help it not to be so among our church.

Parables (Mark 4)

    So many things could be said about these specific parables found in this chapter but I want to make a very simple observation. These are parables about God's kingdom and they teach that God's kingdom is designed to grow. With that in mind what are we doing to help God's kingdom grow?

When Satan tries to convince you that you have messed up too bad to be used of God, remind him of John Mark

Brief note on chapters 1-2
    As we read the first couple of chapters of Mark we notice that he is very concise and straight to the point. There is not a lot of added details, just the main points of each incident. We see John the Baptist, Jesus baptism, many miracles and he already starts to tangle with the Pharisees.

A lesson from the Author's life
    Mark was written by John Mark. We met him in the book of Acts and were left with a less than favorable impression as he left Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey and later Paul and Barnabas went separate ways as they could not agree on whether to take John Mark with them or not. The point is though that he later became profitable (2 Timothy 4:11, ...Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry.), in fact so profitable that God used him to write a portion of scripture. Perhaps you have made some bad decisions in the past that made you or other people think you were not useful in the ministry, but you can redeem yourself and be used of God, if you are willing to do the right things now.
   

You have fallen from Grace

Law is Bondage (Galatians 4)

    Paul continues to impress upon the Galatian believers that they are making a big mistake by trying to add the law into their salvation experience, just like we would be making a big mistake to add any rule system into our salvation. To choose rules over relationship is bondage and not freedom.

Falling from Grace (Galatians 5:1-13)

    I remember growing up that "Falling from Grace" was a big catch phrase with those who believed you could lose your salvation. They would say, "See, the Bible says it is possible to fall from grace". (Galatians 5:4) I believe completely that you can fall from grace, but what does that mean? Well, verse four makes it very clear. Those who attempt to be justified by the law have fallen from grace. You see, we have clearly read in Romans and here in Galatians as well as in Old Testament passages that have been quoted that we are justified by faith. So to seek justification through the law or any set of rules is to fall from grace. In other words, grace stands as the supreme, indeed the only, way of salvation and to try to be saved, or justified, by the law or rules is to fall from grace to something inferior.
    So the verse that actually contains the catch phrase for those that believe you can lose your salvation, teaches the exact opposite. It teaches that you are safe and free in grace, but you fall into bondage and insecurity when you try to make it by keeping rules.

The importance of the Holy Spirit's work in our life (Galatians 5:14-26)

Restoring those who have been overtaken in a fault (Galatians 6:1-2)

Keeping ourselves straight by doing right (Galatians 6:3-10)

Closing Remarks (Galatians 6:11-18)

Being baptized into Christ

Paul's stand against the law for righteousness. (Galatians 2)

    He uses his personal experience to relate the truth. This is often an effective tool.
    He relates to us that the Christian life is one of sacrifice. (20) We are to be crucified with Christ. This is the same principle that was related to us in Romans 12:1. It is no longer us, but it is Jesus in us and through us.

The true Seed of Abraham (Galatians 3)

    Once again we are clearly told that the Law (the Jewish law, but any set of good works for righteousness would apply) was not for the purpose of saving people, but it was designed to help us see our need for Jesus (19, 22, 24). Christ is the Seed of Abraham. Notice that it is capitalized in verse 19. Through Christ we become the seed of Abraham (small s in verse 29) and we become heirs to the promise. What promise? All those that go with our salvation (forgiveness, freedom for condemnation, eternal life, and on and on).
    What is meant in verse 27 about us being "baptized into Christ"? It could get quite lengthy to fully explain, but the point I want to make is that it is not baptism in water. We can be guilty of thinking a scripture is talking about baptism every time we see water, but that is not the case. We can also be guilty of thinking the scriptures are talking about water baptism every time we see the word baptism, but that is not true either. The word baptism is a transliteration instead of a translation. The Greek word baptizo has been turned into the English baptism, but the word itself means immersion. So when we are baptized in water, we are immersed showing the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The scriptures also speak of baptism in the Holy Spirit (immersion in the Spirit), which is a special empowering that God has given to his church. Here we see baptisms into Jesus, immersion into Christ, which is speaking of our salvation experience. When we got saved we were immersed in Christ.
   

Greet good friends, deal with division, don't prevert the Gospel

Greetings to Precious people Romans 16:1-16

    Paul spends a little time here at the end of the book greeting those who were important to him for one reason or another in the ministry and work of the Lord. Some we know from our study of the book of Acts, while others we have never met in Scriptures and some are only mentioned here. In verse 13 he mentions Rufus. Is this the same Rufus that is mentioned in Mark 15:21 (Son of Simon, who carried Jesus cross)? We have no way of knowing, but it is possible. Then again Rufus may have been like Bob in our time (could be a blue million of them).
    To those mentioned, the specific call of their name was important, but to us it is simply to realize that recognizing people does matter. People who have played a specific role in your life deserve to have their name called. Don't forget to express thankfulness all the time to those around you, and at times give recognition (public recognition) to those that have had an impact. It is good for us to remember we did not do it alone and for those who helped to receive the exhortation of being recognized for their efforts. Of course when it is all said and done God gets the glory and Paul recognized this in the final verse of the book.

Dealing with division Romans 16:17-18

    Right on the heals of the thankfulness and greeting to all those he held precious he gives a warning about those who cause division. This is one of the things that God hates.
 Proverbs 6:16-19
¹⁶ These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
¹⁷ A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
     It is no patty cake warning either. Those who cause division are to be noted and avoided. Many a church and church leader (including me) have been stung and deeply hurt because they did not properly deal with people that caused division. The Greek word for note is skopeō and it is where we get our word scope from, like a scope on a rifle or a telescope. So, we are to get those that cause division in our sights.
    Then we are to avoid them. The Greek word here is ekklinō and it means to turn from or shun. We are to avoid them, but the mistake that has been made is that people have ignored them. That is, we just try to pretend they are not there and mean while they keep on causing division. So what kind of procedure should we follow.

1. Make sure they are really a trouble maker and not just deceived. This basically involves communication.

Matthew 18:15-17,
¹⁵ “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ ¹⁷ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.
Titus 3:10,
Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition.

2. Take Action. First there is communication, but if that does no good the church should take action. You don't just sit around and let e trouble maker keep causing damage.
1 Corinthians 5:6-7, 11-13
⁶ Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? ⁷ Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, ... ¹¹ But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. ¹² For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? ¹³ But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”    Some would argue that we should love this person and not avoid them, but the reality is that avoiding them is loving them. Follow the scriptures on this and it will work. We can not allow several lives to be destroyed because of one persons passion to cause division.

Don't turn to another gospel Galatians 1

    Paul here warns the Galatians who were being deceived into adopting a form of works salvation, that they should not turn to another gospel. He even said that any other gospel than the one they had already been taught was not really a gospel at all (6-7). Simply put, salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross and through his resurrection. Add or take away anything and you have perverted the gospel. Let's just let it shine in all its glory. Undeserved forgiveness is available in Jesus apart from works, but simply through faith. 

We are arguing over things that aren't even in the Bible. No wonder the world wants nothing to do with us.

    Romans 14-15 are largely concerning the idea of not being a stumbling block to others, particularly those who are weak in the faith. Often God's people are so determined to be right, there is no room for anyone else to be wrong. Many supposedly mature Christians feel that it is their duty to point out anything wrong with any body.  
    Many times the problem is that what is "wrong" is anything that is different from the way I do it. In other words, it is based on preferences and not on the true standard. We do remember the true standard, right? It is the Bible. The only right I have to say you are wrong is if I can open the Bible and show it to you in the scriptures.
    The Jews and Gentiles were going back and forth over food, holy days, and other things in the Jewish Law. These things were not commanded under the New Covenant, although they were not forbidden under the new covenant. So it was preference. If you thought you should not eat something, then don't eat it. If you think it is OK then go for it. But the balance is that we would not want to purposely be a stumbling block to others.
    We often try to make something RIGHT or WRONG when it is actually just DIFFERENT. I could right volumes about this, but here is the verse that jumped of the pages at me. Romans 14:20, Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. Here is the question, "What is so important to us that we are willing to destroy the work of God over it?"

Skin color
Music style
Your favorite NASCAR driver
Carpet Color
Bible Versions
Which Way the toilet paper should hang
Not letting someone new do the job at church you have done for 100 years

    It is OK to have your preference and do things according to your preferences, but it is not OK to condemn or ridicule the person that is not doing it like that. It is not even OK to say they are wrong unless you have scripture to support your position.

Sacrificially, it is the right way to live.

The Jew's rejection of Jesus, good news for the Gentiles (Romans 11)

    In Romans 11, Paul is explaining why the Jews rejection of Christ is so important. He clearly says that their rejection opened the door of salvation to the Gentiles and that the belief of the Gentiles will eventually cause  the Jews to see what they are missing and bring about salvation for them. It is all based on belief (11:20, 23), just like everyone's salvation has always been.

Sacrificial Living (Romans 12-13)

    The first 11 chapters of Romans were predominantly about salvation. Now Paul turns his attention in the rest of the book to sanctified living. He describes it in the famous verses of Romans 12:1-2, as sacrificial living that refuses to conform to the world, but allows God to do the work of transformation in us.
    Then he goes on to describe the kind of things that we should do to display this transformation.
1. Use our gifts for the Lord (12:3-8)
2. Overcoming evil with good (12:9-21)
3. Having reverence for Governmental authorities (13:1-8)
4. Fulfilling the law through love for our fellow man (13:9-10)
5. Realizing time is short and immersing ourselves in the things of God (13:11-14)

The passing of a loved one.

    On July 15th we lost our dear sweet Juanita. She first came into our life when I was planting the church in Columbus Indiana. I will never forget her coming in with 4 of her grandchildren, she was soon saved and God radically changed her life. She was also to take a deeper step into our lives, when her and my father married a few years after my mother passed away. She always showered us with love and we were blessed to have her in our family for several years.
    I spent the better part of four days with dad at the hospital as she was slipping away. I have spent these kind of moments with many families and it is never easy. Although the hours were long and the emotions of various family members, coming from various spiritual levels was challenging, of course God was with us. There were a few things that were of particular comfort to me.

1. Physical Family-family members both close by and from out of state came and allowed their presents to be a meaningful comfort to us.
2. Spiritual Family-many who God has connected us to through our years of church work came and surrounded us and it was so meaningful.
3. Church Family-The people of Dad and Juanita's church were there  for them in a big way.
4. Expressions of our faith.
    1. The first morning that we realized she was not going to make it several of us gathered around her bed and sang for a long period of time. Though I like all kinds of Christian music, we now sing mostly newer songs in our worship services. I must admit as we surrounded her and sang, no books, just our memories, people spontaneously leading out and the rest following, those hymns and old country gospel songs really ministered comfort and healing to my soul.
    2. A Sunday afternoon worship service. Dad arranged for us to gather in her room for worship on the 14th. People from his church and various other churches came, and family members (some who are lost), observed as we worshiped the Lord together. Though we were not of like faith and order, we did have the truth of salvation in common and that is what mattered in that moment. It was awesome.
    3. A funeral that was a celebration. If you have never been to a Bourland funeral (I mean from the Don Bourland line, there have only been two so far), then you have missed an experience. It is like one of the most upbeat and exciting church services you could ever attend. It is quite the opposite of most funerals. There is congregational singing with shouting and expressions of joy, there is preaching that elevates the place that the passing loved one has achieved through their faith in Christ, and there is a clear warning that the only way to be prepared for the day of your funeral is to receive Jesus as you savior. I have given clear instruction to my children that my funeral is to be the biggest celebration yet.

    We are going to miss her dearly, especially dad, but the knowledge of our reunion keeps us encouraged and pressing on in our service for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.