Purveyors of Discord or Harmony?
It’s the last of my weekend trips for a while. Father, I would ask that you would give me the strength – physically and mentally – to see this day to its completion. Keep us safe through our journey home. Amen.
1 Corinthians 1:10-17 (<<click here to read the passage)
Honestly, if the Apostle Paul saw where the church is today, he would be appalled! (No pun intended!) At the point when this passage was written (a short 20 years or so after Jesus’ time here on earth), there were already divisions in the church. He exclaimed in verse 12,
Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.” NLT
Today, it would be impossible to calculate the number of denominations, not to mention the vast number of non-denominational churches throughout the world.
In verse 10 Paul states,
I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.
Where we started compared with where we are today, it sounds more like dissonance and less like harmony. We speak of striving for ecumenical unity, i.e. unity among the world’s Christian Churches, but that really seems to be a stretch. I grew up and have been ordained in one denomination. I worked at another one during college, and have served in a third one for the last 20+ years. Yes, the core of them all is pretty much the same, and yes, people like Billy Graham in past years did a wonderful job of bringing brothers and sisters in Christ together, but behind closed doors (with closed minds…) we still think that we are more right than others and that “they” are definitely more wrong.
There’s an old joke about new residents of Heaven coming upon a high and wide brick wall. When St. Peter is questioned about it, he explains, “Oh, the (insert denomination) are there. They think they’re the only ones here!” It may bring a smile to our faces but there is nothing true about it.
There’s an old African-American Spiritual that rings so true. It is entitled, “In That Great Getting’ Up Mornin’”. Here are a few of the lyrics as sung by the great Mahalia Jackson.
They be comin’ from every nation
(Fare ye well, fare ye well)…
On their way to the great carnation
(Fare ye well, fare ye well)…
Dressed in a robe so white as snow
(Fare ye well, fare ye well)…
Singin’, “Oh, I been redeemed”
(Fare ye well, fare ye well)…
In that great gettin’ up mornin’
(Fare ye well, fare ye well)
Harmony is called for – this is by no means the only passage of Scripture that speaks of harmony! – and harmony there will be! In that great getting’ up mornin’ Jesus will unify us all and dissonance will cease to exist! Amen!
Sept 23rd, 2023, Sat, 4:41 pm
Integral Parts of the Whole
It seems like several things are happening simultaneously, Father, but Your hand is in it, so things are coming together well. Thank You for Your intervention.
1 Corinthians 1:4-9 (<<click here to read the passage)
I don’t remember exactly but I’m pretty sure that I got my first Lego set when I was around 8 or 9 years old. At that point, the early 1970s, Legos were one of the most loved and best-selling toys among US children. When it was all said and done, I had a pretty nice collection of them.
Twenty-five or so years later, Massey developed a love for them, starting with my collection. It was – and for that matter still is – a go-to gift for him. Modern Lego sets are a bit more refined than what I started out with – basic bricks and wheels and other simple components. Now they are very elaborate collections, some containing thousands of pieces.
The NASA Space Shuttle Discovery replica pictured above? It is a 2,354-piece project. That’s a lot of pieces! And if one happens to go missing, it’s not complete. You don’t even see many of the pieces, but they are all an integral part of the whole.
If you haven’t already done so, please take a moment and read through the six verses of today’s passage. When you do, think of the “gifts” mentioned as parts of the whole…
We are all integral parts of the whole. We all have God-given gifts – absolutely no one is excluded from the Holy Spirit’s distribution. We may not acknowledge our gift, we may not even know that it exists. If that is the case, it is more than likely we just don’t understand it in that context.
For example, maybe you have the gift of mercy: This is the defining trait of a person with great sensitivity for those who are suffering. It manifests itself in offering compassion and encouragement, and in a love for giving practical help to someone in need.
Don’t we all know compassionate people who have this innate desire to bring others comfort?
That’s just one “gift” from the Bible that Tyndale House Publishers compiled into A Quick List of Biblical Spiritual Gifts: Which Gifts Exist and What They Mean. (Click on this title to read through them.)
Each one of us factors into the whole. We are a part that completes the whole – the body of Christ.
I love the statement the Apostle Paul makes at the end of this passage!
God is faithful [He is reliable, trustworthy and ever true to His promise—He can be depended on], and through Him you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. v9 AMP
God is faithful. He will not give up on us – for truly each of us is an integral part of the whole…His body – the Church! Amen and amen!
Sept 19th, 2023, Tues, 5:54 pm
Elusive Peace
I need this time together, Father. Speak to my weary soul. Use this brain of mine to communicate Your word to a world in search of it, whether they realize it or not. Amen.
1 Corinthians 1:3 (<<click here to read the passage)
Peace. We are all in search of it. But on many fronts, it is elusive. We think we find it, and “poof” it vanishes before our very eyes. World peace? Many pursue it with a vengeance but, I for one, don’t think we, in and of ourselves, will ever accomplish it. When we get right down to brass tacks, we cannot ever truly find (or at least hang on to) peace because humanity is incapable of achieving it.
I think when we really get down to it, sin is a peace breaker. As long as sin is influencing our lives, peace cannot last. Outside forces, as well as, inside struggles make it impossible to maintain it. My Life Application Bible states, “In a world of noise, confusion, and relentless pressures, people long for peace.” We have an insatiable hunger for it, but unfortunately many give up the search, thinking it impossible to find…
But there is hope. It is not impossible to find. We just must be willing to see beyond ourselves. In today’s verse, the Apostle Paul says,
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. NLT
Grace is God’s free gift of salvation given to us in Christ.
Paul proclaimed in Romans 5:1,
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. NLT
Once that connection is made – renouncing our sin and entering into that relationship with Christ – and note I said nothing about joining a church or some “religious” organization – once we have wholeheartedly entered into that relationship with Christ, then He graciously gives to us what He has…peace.
Jesus said in John 14:27,
Peace I leave with you; My [perfect] peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. [Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.] AMP
There is our answer as plain as day! So, why do we hesitate? Personally, I’ve experienced that peace in the past and still somehow end up outside the peace Christ extended to me. The problem again is sin… Letting down our guard, instead of diligently clinging to our Savior, allows sin to breach our defenses, and “poof”, peace vanishes before our eyes.
Christ has done everything possible to bring us His peace. We cannot earn that salvation that brings peace, but may we follow the words of Paul as found in Philippians 2:12b-13,
…continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ]. For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure. AMP
Amen.
Sept 18th, 2023, Mon, 7:42 pm
Dewey Spider Webs
Father, I am grateful for Your presence and care throughout another busy weekend. There was a lot to do, and we made it through with nary a scratch. All praise to my loving Heavenly Father!
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Something that I have seen multiple times this year on my morning routes on those heavy dew mornings is lots of spider webs. They are gloriously laden with droplets of dew reflecting the light of the early morning sun. Along fence rows, or in overgrown fields and brush along the sides of roads I see them. Not just one…or two…but literally hundreds of them!
They are beautiful…but thinking about it a bit, it’s pretty creepy. Spider webs don’t just magically appear out of thin air and the name of them gives a very obvious clue as to their origin…spiders! Hundreds of webs correlate with hundreds of spiders! I would dare say that we don’t think about that too much when we walk across open fields or through a bit of brush for the most part – unless we happen to catch one across our face.
I’m not going to say I would enjoy a spider crawling on my arm or over my cheek. But I’m not one to freak out every time I see one. (My sister-in-law, God love her, is one of those kinds of people – even a picture of a spider gives her the willies!) This summer weeding around our flower beds I saw plenty of them, but it didn’t stop me from working. If I saw one in the area, I would shush it away, having no desire to hurt it or squish it picking up the debris I accumulated.
In our daily lives, temptation abounds. It quite often is not obvious, and we don’t always see it until it smacks us in the face…but it is there. It may lightly brush through our semi-conscious mind. Often it is hardly noticed, and we continue on our way, but other times it quickly grabs our attention. It then becomes a matter of choice. Do we examine it more closely? Do we dwell on it fascinated by its allure? Or like most often with spiderwebs, do we scramble as quickly as possible to get it off and move quickly to distance ourselves from it?
I don’t know of anyone who would even pause for a second to consider leaving a spiderweb on their face…but unfortunately do it all the time with temptation.
In reality, a spiderweb is just a nuisance. (I have never had a spider cling to its creation that is now stuck to my face!) Temptation, on the other hand, has a far greater possibility of leading us into sin. And that can develop into a life-or-death situation – at least spiritually.
Dew-laden spiderwebs may be beautiful in God’s great green earth, but we don’t see them as an invitation to run through them. Temptations may be overwhelmingly enticing but let’s not embrace them either.
In Matthew 26 we are told of Jesus’ trials in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is about to enter His most trying times leading into His suffering and death. He asks His disciples to pray with Him and finds them sleeping. He says these words.
“Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” v41
Lord Jesus, may we follow Your words of guidance. Amen.
Sept 17th, 2023, Sun, 8:43 pm
May the Welcome Stick!
What a day! What a week! What a month so far! Father, my schedule has been full, to say the least, but You have surely been in the midst of it all. I have not been entirely overwhelmed but I am weary. Father, use me in it all despite myself. Amen.
1 Corinthians 1:1-2 (<<click here to read the passage)
I would think that at some point, and probably many points, in our lives we’ve been invited to be a part of something that maybe we’ve never experienced before, and other times it was something not totally new to our experience but in a different setting with different people.
When I was a freshman at Mt. Vernon Nazarene College, I saw an invitation to take part in a play – The Great Physician. It was a story built around the Biblical character of Luke, a physician by trade, who wrote the Gospel that bears his name and the Book of Acts.
The high school I attended from 10th-12th Grades didn’t do those kinds of things at the time, so this was new territory for me. I had a very small supporting role, but I must say it was a lot of fun. I played a slave owner, and my only line was “Stop! Or I’ll have you boiled in oil!” One thing that sticks out in my mind was they colored my brown beard with black mascara!
New friends and new experiences for a very naïve, wet-behind-the-ears young man, but I was welcomed into the “established” family of the theater. (The college at that time didn’t have a performance hall so we used Mt. Vernon’s Memorial Theater – a post-World War I venue.) What an experience! I’ve never done anything like it since, but it was wonderfully fulfilling.
I didn’t stop participating because I was not welcomed, but simply because my life went in different directions after that.
Later, after Karen and I got married and moved back to relatively close proximity to Mt. Vernon, we began searching for a church to attend. We visited a couple, and the initial visits proved unfruitful. They were good, solid, impacting churches with good pastors doing good things. But despite those things, the welcome didn’t stick. We soon visited another church and it fit us perfectly – so much so that we were an active part for 10 years, 5 of which I served on staff as their Pastor to Families with Children. It was a wonderful interaction with wonderful people, many of whom are wonderful friends, now 20-plus years down the road. They extended an open invitation – we accepted and were rewarded!
As the Corinthians were, so are we called by God to be his own holy people. Everyone has an open invitation from God Himself to be his holy people. All are welcome, none are rejected who come wholeheartedly before Him. We are made…holy by means of Christ Jesus. The Amplified Bible states that we are sanctified (set apart, made holy) in Christ Jesus.
I sure pray that you have accepted his invitation! It’s not complicated, just acknowledge your wrongdoings and accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation. Truly the rewards are out of this world fantastic! Eternity is before us but the earthly benefits of being a part of this family are incredible as well! I pray His welcome sticks!
Sept 13th, 2023, Wed, 8:17 pm