For your reading enjoyment.

7 Universal Competencies for Success in Any Role

Gallup reviewed three decades of research and generated its simplest and most comprehensive list of competencies required to achieve excellence for all employees in any organization.

How Does the Gospel Speak to Self-Hate?

Great ep of ask pasar John.

5 Insights for Interpreting the Deaths of Ananias and Sapphira

The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 is difficult. It strikes many readers as harsh, a return to Old Testament retribution. “Why this swift act of judgment? Why no opportunity of for repentance and restoration?”

How You Live Shows What You Believe

Now you might ask, “So, am I going to be judged by my heart motivations? Will those determine whether I get into heaven?”

As I was continuing my daily reading today some things popped out to me, info I already knew but thought it was interesting. It concerns with eating, marrying and profiling. Things we are all a part of in some form or another, unfortunately some take it to extremes, which causes havoc in society.

Eating

I was reading Genesis 9 this morning and came to verse 3,

Every moving thing that lives shall be  food for you. And as I gave you the green  plants,I give you everything. 4 But you  shall not eat flesh with its life, that is,its  blood.

What God was telling Noah and his family is hey eat up, every living thing that moves is food for you. Just like I gave you the vegetation (which some of us enjoy to ignore this part) I give you the animal kingdom. But notice the restriction, make sure you do not eat its life, which is the blood.

As we will notice later in Exodus and on, God made other dietary restrictions when it came to food. But for right now the Lord says to Noah and his fam to add meat to their diet.

As I read this I find it interesting that God had to tell them this, as I read I began thinking, were they not eating meat prior to the flood, and if not why not?

The conclusion I could think, in the few minutes that i thought about it, was back in the Garden of Eden God told Adam and Eve they were given the vegetation for food. Can you imagine after about 2000 years the descendants of Adam were still vegetarian, I am sure there was some meat eating going on some where, but for the most part they were veggie/fruit eaters.

You know what this gets me thinking about, the power of discipleship? From Adam to Noah it was passed down to prep veggies and fruit trays for your meals, and it took a word of God to add meat to their diet.

What are you passing down to your family, that in 2000 years they will still be doing with their family. It is a frightening thought, I challenge you take a snap shot of a 24 hour day period and write it down, then think what am i modeling to my kids about what is important in life? What am I teaching is important in regards to how and what I communicate with them? In 2000 years what do I want my family to be doing? How do I want them to be living?

Marrying

I recently read a twitter feed on how a pastor thought interracial marriage was a sin. I will not post here mainly because no one needs to read that garbage.

But as I was reading in my reading today in Ezra 9, it has to do with interracial marriages. Unfortunately people have latched on to these passages to promote that interracial marriage is wrong and sinful. Peeps have used these passages to promote their own racial agendas instead of asking, what is the text actually saying.

Ezra 9:1–2, 10-12

[1] After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. [2] For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost…[10] “And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments, [11] which you commanded by your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land that you are entering, to take possession of it, is a land impure with the impurity of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations that have filled it from end to end with their uncleanness. [12] Therefore do not give your daughters to their sons, neither take their daughters for your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever.’ (ESV)

A closer examination of the text and the Old Testament as whole and we will discover that God is not a racist, Ezra wasn’t a racist. The command of God and the prayer of Ezra had nothing to do with racism, and everything to do about the faithlessness of Israel and the holiness of God’s people.

God’s command to the nation of Israel had nothing to do with racism and everything to do with preserving and protecting God’s people from adopting the religious practices of those around them. God knew the hearts of his people would be attracted to the idolatry of the culture that surrounds them. Nothing changes, the idolatry of our culture is what distracts us from being faithful to Christ also.

If interracial marriage is a sin, unholy and an abomination from God then we have some problems. As we examine the genealogy of Christ we will discover 4 women who were great grandmothers of Jesus who were Gentiles, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba. We serve a Savior who is multi ethnic. This fact alone should destroy any arguments promoting racism and arguments for interracial marriage being a sin.

Profiling

Unfortunately, we all have experienced this in some form or another. I have been stereo typed, and profiled as a Hispanic male growing up. But I do not want to talk about racial profiling right now, I want to talk about a different type of profiling, that we as the church can do at times. Can we call it religious profiling or Pharisaical profiling?

My other readings today were in Matthew 9 and Acts 9 were I read about Jesus calling Matthew the tax collector and Saul who was looked up to in his culture but attacking the church.

In Matthew’s case we read,

Matthew 9:9–13

[9] As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

[10] And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. [11] And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [12] But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [13] Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (ESV)

Acts 9:10–19

[10] Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” [11] And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, [12] and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” [13] But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. [14] And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” [15] But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. [16] For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” [17] So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” [18] And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; [19] and taking food, he was strengthened.

In Matthew’s case, he was profiled as not good enough because he was a tax collector, an extortioner of money from his own people. Just think of how you feel about the IRS and multiply it by 10, 100 or 1000 times, this is what his culture thought of Matthew. In the eyes of the people around him Matthew wasn’t worthy of the Gospel of Jesus.

Fast forward to Saul, he is on the other side of the Jewish spectrum, the best heritage, a top notch Pharisee, persecuting the church. But yet at the same time, he was not consider a prime target to share the Gospel with either. So much so that it was Jesus himself who came and shared the Gospel with him.

We have two people Matthew and Saul who were profiled against as being unfit/unworthy for the Gospel. To the point when Jesus told Ananias to go talk with Saul, he is like I know this guy, are you sure you want me to do this?

Who do we not share the Gospel with because we deem them unfit/unworthy? If we do have that perspective that there are some who are unfit/unworthy of the Gospel, is there something wrong with our hearts? Is that a Gospel attitude to have?

Just some thoughts

Soli Deo Gloria

Josh

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For your reading pleasure…

Is the Ancient Conflict Between Paganism and Christianity Resurfacing?

Pagans and Christians in the City picks up on a prediction made by T. S. Eliot in The Idea of a Christian Society—that “the future of Western societies would be determined by a contest between Christianity and a rival that Eliot described as ‘modern paganism’” (8). What did Eliot mean? What is modern paganism? How does it differ from ancient paganism? How do these visions differ from Christianity?

Marriage in an iWorld: Restoring God’s Design for Marriage

A recent Pew Research study showed that while most Millennials want a loving, lasting relationship like pictured in the movies, only 26 percent—a number less than any other group in known history—are pursuing it through marriage. In the last 60 years, our culture has moved from divorce being extremely rare to now a common practice. This uncertainty of lasting marriages leads to cohabitation as the norm to “test” the relationship—like testing out a used car. Even that has changed: Millennials ages 18 to 32 have abandoned both.

What happened? Why have younger people become so afraid of marriage?

Church – the friendliest place on earth?

Visitors to church will put up with a lot. Unreliable PowerPoint. Uncomfortable seats. Long sermons. Instant coffee. But few visitors will tolerate cold fellowship.

More Than Half of Churchgoers Haven’t Told Anyone About Jesus in the Past 6 Months

Some interesting stats.

 

Life can get busy. Probably the biggest understatement ever. There is the daily hustle of work, shuffling kids off to school, cooking, cleaning serving your community, your church and we can go on and on. Makes me tired just writing and thinking about it. Some of us enjoy being busy, busy, busy. Yet others have no issue with rest, probably enjoy it too much.

What we find in Jesus is balance. In Mark 6 we read of Jesus sending out the 12 disciples to work. There job is to spread the good news of the kingdom of God. These 12 disciples went out two by two, teaching and casting out demons, healing the sick and loving on people. These guys were so excited about their work that they came back and reported everything to Jesus,

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. (Mk 6:30)

I am sure Jesus rejoiced in their successes, but what we learn from Christ next is crucial to life, Jesus doesn’t say good job, lets go out and do some more. He doesn’t say well done, but you’re not finished yet. What we need to recognize here is what I like to call Fact #1.

 Fact #1: In this world the work will never be done

There will always be something to do. Something to improve. Something to accomplish. The task sheet will always be filled with new tasks everyday.

But what we learn from Jesus is what I like to call Fact #2

Fact #2: After a time of ministry/work Jesus says rest anyway

And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. (Mk 6:31)

We see in the text, the disciples were busy. They were in the hustle of life doing kingdom work. People were coming and going and they had no time to even enjoy a meal. Now that is busy. So when they return and Jesus hears their stories of what happened, the next lesson he teaches them is on rest.

Jesus provides for them three criteria on rest.

1. Remove yourself from the work. “Come away” was the words he used. Remove yourself from the environment and the temptation to keep on working. Put the work down and go somewhere else. Notice the language he uses “a desolate place” somewhere where you are able to rest and not burden yourself with more work.
2. Bring companions with you. Jesus says “by yourselves” he wasn’t talking alone because he was talking to the 12 disciples. So all them went together to rest.
3. Rest.

What does this mean for us?

1.  Work is important it is the invention of God. God created humanity in a garden and provided him with a job to do. As Christians we should value the importance of work, whether it is in the arena of secular or the church, we should value work. There should be no such thing as a lazy Christian. There is no room for laziness in the Kingdom of God.

2. The same is true on the flip side, being a workaholic is a sin, even if it is ministry. You are not God, you do not hold the world, the church or even your workplace in your hands. There are times when we need to temporarily get away from what is required of us, let go of our grip on work  and rest.

3. Rest is best with solitude and companionship. Last week my wife and I went out for our 24th anniversary, it was just me and her. A Time of solitude, companionship and rest. It was needed and restful. Companionship can mean many things, he can be you and your wife, you and fellow believers, going to a conference of like minded people. But companionship can also mean you spending time with the Lord in the Word, or you spending time with John Piper (or your favorite author) through one of his books.

4. In this world rest is not permanent. Rest does not equal retirement. Notice Jesus told his disciples to come “rest a while”. Meaning they would be required at some point to get up and go back to work.

5. While you are resting be ready for ministry. Don’t exclude divine appointments while you are resting. What we find in the rest of Mark is over 5000 people waiting for Jesus on the shore. Jesus and the 12 disciples set out to rest and rest they did, but the duration of their rest was cut short by the crowd that followed Christ to the shore. Jesus begins teaching them but after this time of teaching he fed them by creating bread and fish, already prepared to eat, from a boy’s 1st century lunchable. Amazing!

Until Next Time

Soli Deo Gloria

Hope you are having a great week.

I Am the Daughter of a Pedophile

Like most children, they had remained silent because they loved him and didn’t want him to get in trouble. The truth was becoming clear. This supposed man of God, this loving father, this doting grandfather had played us all. The shock and disbelief turned to anguish and despair as the magnitude of the situation began to set in. The father I thought I’d had all my forty years of life was a lie. I was the daughter of a pedophile.

Are We Really in Danger of Making an Idol of the Family?

The idolatry of the family can be a real problem, either from the church that ignores singles and gears everything toward married couples with children, or from the individual whose practical commitments underscore the unfortunate reality that blood is usually thicker than theology.

FOUR KEY ATTITUDES THAT ARE KILLING CHURCH ATTENDANCE

These reasons are sound. But behind many of these reasons are attitudinal issues. These attitudinal issues are really the sources of the problem. And there are four attitudes in particular that have a devastating effect on church attendance.

God Is Bigger Than Your Problems

When the promises of God seem powerless to quiet our fears, soothe our grief, lift our worries, or motivate our obedience, we need to do more than simply hear his promises again. We need to behold the God who gives them.

When a Gay Activist Comes to Jesus

One of the most irreconcilable clashes in modern society is the conflict between Christianity and LGBT rights. At best, the two sides misunderstand each other. At worst, each fears that the ascendency of one means the zero-sum defeat of the other.

Drove into work this morning and we had snow flurries in Little Rock, all those on the east coast and northern part of the states can roll their eyes now. With that being said here are your links for the day.

Disordered Anger Comes from Disordered Loves

We have an angry society, don’t we? If you doubt it, just turn on the talk shows at night—any of them. Folks on MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News are equally indignant and losing their minds over, well, <insert topic here>. The issues change by the day, but the anger doesn’t. People seem queued up and ready to be angry—in the classroom, at work, on Twitter, and (as always) on the freeway. Paul’s words in Ephesians seem timelier than ever:

How Do I Pray for Healing and Honor God’s ‘No’?

“Pastor John, how much confidence should we voice in petitioning God for physical healing? It somehow feels wrong or cheap to pray, ‘God, heal this person — but if you don’t that’s okay; your will be done.’ I feel less genuine in my asking God to move on someone’s behalf when I’m constantly also acknowledging to myself that he might not, and I must acknowledge it. Could you give an example of how to rightly pray in confidence and with authority on someone’s behalf for healing while remaining in full submission to the mystery of God’s will?”

What Are the “High Places” in the Old Testament, and How Does That Apply to Us Today?

The “high places” is a shorthand term for places of pagan worship, usually (though not always) on hills or mountains to bring them closer to their false gods. They were centers of idolatry. The greatest time of compromise for God’s people in the Old Testament, the Israelites, was when in addition to worshiping Yahweh, the only true God, they worshipped false gods too.

It’s Time to Put Up or Shut Up About Discipleship

Pastors, if we don’t personally practice discipleship outside of our pulpits, then we’re working against our own mission statements. People will pay more attention to our example than our pithy sermon outlines or mission statements. Although most pastors aren’t in a discipleship group of any kind, for various lame reasons, you can and should change that.

 

 

 

When Conservatism Isn’t Enough

But the path we take if we hope to arrive at this destination can’t be the same well-worn paths of our predecessors. It’s as if the path they took has been ravished by a horrific storm. The sociological, political, and cultural realties of our day have pushed trees over the path—they’ve marred our ability to walk the same way. And, they make it futile to try to walk that path anyway. Of course, we could climb over broken limbs and under hanging branches, but the journey would be slow, cumbersome, and unhelpful. Better to create a new path to the same, inalterable destination.

Are Those in Hell Aware of God’s Presence?

Do You Work When You Should Rest?

The gospel is an ingenious work of salvific engineering. The Engineer knew what he was doing. The gospel turns out to be good news to us in precisely the ways we need most. If we trust it, the gospel simultaneously frees us from the despair of trying to save ourselves through our own effort, while also working to free us from the despair of slavery to our remaining sin.
However, the best news for our souls often doesn’t feel like good news to our flesh.

A Cultural Icon Passes

Stan Lee has impacted the lives of several generations, through the creation of stories, it is amazing to see people react to his passing.

What Expressive Individualism Does to Sin

To resist the expressive individualism of our day does not mean that we deny the beneficial aspects that come from these and other relationships. What we are to resist is the reframing of relationships around self-fulfillment as the goal. Once we recast our relationships in the light of expressive individualism, something changes in our interactions, our goals, and our orientation toward one another. The self takes center stage.