Category Archives: Church Life and Practice

Matthew 3:1-12

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If we were to go into downtown Lima and conduct one of our now famous hypothetical “man-on-the-street interviews,” asking the question, “What makes a person great?”  What do you suppose would be the most common responses?

What makes a person great in the world’s eyes is the question.  I think we would hear something along the lines of these responses:

Having famous parents or being born into a famous family (Kennedy, Rockefeller, Forbes, etc).

Having wealth – Gates, Warren Buffett, Sam Walton’s heirs, Oprah

Academic degrees, Nobel Peace Prizes

Your profession – politician, doctor, lawyer

Outstanding athletic ability

Artistic ability – music, art, poetry

I think it is obvious that the world does judge greatness for the most part by these types of standards.

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Be Offensive In Love (Part 1)

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Thus says the Lord of hosts,“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord. “They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’; And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, They say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’ Jeremiah 23:16-17

Are you a watcher?  I mean do you pay attention to the times we live in? Are you aware of the shift in what is considered to be polite and impolite conversation culturally speaking?  Let me zero in specifically on evangelism.  Have you noticed the huge shift in the methods of presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

I believe that many of the new approaches to evangelism are not well thought out and lack clear biblical support.  The reason so many of these new emergent and hipster strategies are gaining a foothold in churches is because too many Christians have succumbed to new definitions of old words. Our society has determined that new definitions are needed in order to rationalize ungodly behavior.  A case in point is the word tolerance.

In America tolerance once meant that everyone had a right to express their viewpoint and everyone had a right to disagree with a viewpoint.  Today tolerance means that everyone has a right to express a viewpoint as long as it is a socially acceptable viewpoint.  In other words, if you hold a viewpoint that is contrary to what the society at large believes, you are not free to express yourself.  If you are brave enough to try then you will be met with a very hostile “shout down” by the more enlightened people in our midst.

This has clear implications for telling other people about Jesus Christ. It has become increasingly impolite and in fact culturally incorrect to speak about anyone “needing” Jesus.  The Christian faith is being systematically muted by self-appointed “elites” and apparently many Christians are ok with this development.

I will be addressing this development in a five-part series of thoughts entitled, “Be Offensive In Love.”  Stay tuned for Part 2.

 

God bless you today friends.

Mike’s Mix For January 23, 2015

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Here are some of the many sites I visited this week and the articles I read.  What have you been reading lately?  Share that in the “Leave a Comment” section above.

Dan Doriani serves Covenant Seminary as Professor of Theology. He writes “How Preachers Read the Bible For Themselves” posted on The Gospel Coalition.

Mike Leake posts something similar to my “Mike’s Mix” on his blog Borrowed Light entitled Today in Blogworld.

Facts & Trends addresses some strategies to minister to college age adults in “8 Ways to Keep College Students in Your Church.”

Chad Hall posts “4 Kinds of Fake Faith” on the Transformed blog. A good reminder to evaluate ourselves constantly in light of the Scriptures.

I recently completed a five-part series about the necessity of men praying for their wives as a part of my Transforming Moments spots for radio, so this article by Logan Merrick caught my eye – “Men Do We Really Love Our Wives?”

Enjoy your weekend friends!

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5 NASB

*As always, references in my blog do not constitute full and unqualified endorsement of everything you might find on another blog site. Be Bereans folks. Acts 17:11

 

Men – Pray For Your Wives (Part 5)

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In this series of posts we have discussed the need we have as men to pray for our wives. If you’ve been with us for the first four parts in this series, you’ve learned that the biggest reason we need to pray for our wives is so we might be changed. No doubt this reasoning has taken many of you by surprise.

Men we pray for our wives so that God will fundamentally change us; so that we will have hearts in-tune with God’s heart for our wives. It is easy to develop tunnel-vision so that all we see are our perspectives, our struggles, and our needs in the marriage. We want God to incline our heart to our wife; to enable us to show compassion always, to demonstrate a respectful attitude without a hint of condescension.

Today I discuss the last two reasons we pray for our wives. The first is because she needs it. Men, here’s a newsflash – our wives are sinners too. Ok, we don’t need a headline to know that right? But in the midst of all this talk about praying for our wives so that we will be changed, lies this nugget of truth – our beloved, the one we are called to honor, esteem, and celebrate as God’s gift to us, is herself a sinner in need of forgiveness and grace. Pray God will grant her that each day.

Then secondly, we must pray for our wives because this is the primary weapon of our warfare on her behalf. Life is a spiritual struggle. The stresses we face as men are equally present in our wives’ lives. Today many wives work outside the home, juggling career with responsibilities to children, family, home, church, and community. Where will her support come from if not from us?

Men, when you read the Apostle Paul’s exhortation in Ephesians to take up your spiritual armor every day in order to stand firm against the schemes of the devil, do you read this challenge in the context of your marriage? Do you understand that one very effective strategy of our enemy has been to undermine the marriage relationship?

When husbands do not pray for their wives there is left a gaping hole in the battlements. Neglected prayer leaves a powerful weapon lying on the spiritual battlefield that we must occupy.

Men, love your wives as Christ loved the Church. This includes praying for her so that you will become all she needs you to be in Christ.

Be the transformation you want to see. God bless you today as you seek Him.

Men – Pray For Your Wives (Part 4)

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I’ve been speaking primarily to men in this series. The topic has been praying for our wives so that we will be changed. I know many of you men are of the attitude that you pray for your wives so that God will change her. My point in this series is that God is going to change you in order to change her.

So far we’ve discussed the fact that praying for your wife will result in you evaluating your relationship with her, your responses to her, and the type of love you show her. Guys, this is “gut check” time. Will you be honest with yourself? Will you listen as well as hear when God answers you concerning your prayers for your wife?

This process will yield the sweet fruit of confession and repentance toward God and if necessary, to your wife. Men, you have a high calling as spiritual leader in your marriage. This leadership position can only be powered by the Holy Spirit who will enable you to love her sacrificially.

You will see a definite change in your heart attitude toward your wife. You will cherish, treasure, and celebrate her as God’s gift to you. You will see her as God’s appointed helper to walk alongside of you. She is your biggest supporter. She is worthy of celebrating and praising with a thankful heart.

This in turn changes your behavior. Men, the way we show that we treasure something is to spend time engaged. Schedules can be cruel task masters that will ransack a fruitful marriage. Make sure your priorities are right which means that time with your wife is near the top of your list.

This transformation will change the way you pray for your wife. It will no longer be “God change her because I can’t take much more,” and will instead become, “God change me so that I don’t take my wife for granted, so that I’m not bitter, so that I’m not hateful.” Your prayer life for your wife lays the foundation for a marriage God designed it to be.

Men, praying for our wives is a powerful and much-needed discipline. But I will boldly tell you that we need to pray for her as much, if not more than she needs us to pray for her. God change us so that we might be the men our wives need.

Grasping these truths will create a transformed heart. The next post will be the final in this series, “Men –Pray For Your Wives Part 5.”

Friends, I welcome your comments.