24

Jump Start # 3620

Posted on July 24, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3620

Proverbs 31:10-11 “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.”

My general routine when I’m grabbing a bite for lunch is to listen to the Dave Ramsey Program about finances. I’ve listened to him for years and have found his sound advice and tips work well. The other day Dave was talking about pre-marriage counseling. He listed four areas that a couple must agree upon. He said the statistics show a greater than 90% probability of a successful marriage, if both parties enter the relationship in agreement on these four areas.

Interestingly, I have taught these four areas many times to young couples wanting to get married. Here they are:

First, financial. One of the leading causes for stress in marriage and divorce is finances. Understanding debt. Working a budget. Being on the same page about giving. Ramsay even recommends a trial monthly budget before the couple gets married. List what comes in and what is going out. See if they can live on a pretend, imaginary budget. Impulsive spending kills the budget, which wrecks future goals. What debt is coming into the marriage? How long will it take to pay that off?

Serious conversations. Putting real numbers on paper. This reveals attitudes about money.

Second, children. How many? How are they going to be raised? Attitudes about discipline, schooling, allowances will tell where each of you are on these subjects. Both bring in a background of how each was raised. Sometimes those are very different approaches and philosophies.

Serous conversations need to take place.

Third, in-laws. How much will family be involved in your family? How will you do holidays? Are you going to be able to tell family “no,” when they want you to drop what you are doing and come over? As parents age, who will take care of them and how?

Serious conversations need to take place.

Fourth, Ramsey included religion. I’d put this number one on my list. Being on the same page with each other and God is so important. How often are you going to attend services? Are you going to have people over to your home? How much will you contribute? Is that an item in the budget? Will we have devotions at home with the children? If it comes between your mate and God, you must side with God. As much as you love your spouse, they did not die for your sins. They cannot redeem you.

Serious conversations need to take place. Can this person help me get to Heaven? Will this person make me stronger in my faith?

Not being on the same page with each other on all of these items is MAJOR. It ought to be a deal breaker. Not eye to eye before the wedding will only come to the surface after months of marriage. What I see much too often is a young man saying, “She’s cute.” And, a girl saying, “He makes me laugh.” So, they get married. Not in agreement about money, kids, in-laws and religion. And, after countless arguments, pretty doesn’t look so pretty anymore. And, the laughter has turned into shouting and name calling. A divorce takes place and they each run to the next relationship, no lessons learned and none the better for the disaster they just created.

The excellent wife, from our passage today, does her husband good and not evil. There is a trust between them. There is a goodness built around the Lord. Proverbs 31 isn’t describing a grandmother at her funeral. It’s the advice of a mom to her son. This is the type of person you need to be looking for. Young, full of life and abounding in character.

Moms and dads need to start putting these thoughts into their children’s head before the dating season begins. And, it’s not a matter of finding the right person. One lady, who had flown through three marriages, told me, “I just pick duds.” There is a need to put something worthwhile on the plate as well. Teach our children to be people of service, faith and character.

Our teen classes and devotionals need to work on these four areas in detail. Have discussions about this. Serious conversations are the starting point.

An excellent wife who can find? The text doesn’t say, “It is impossible to find.” No. Maybe we need to be asking the right questions and holding serious conversations BEFORE we pop the BIG question.

Maybe you can help by sharing this with someone who is dating.

Roger

23

Jump Start # 3619

Posted on July 23, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3619

John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me.”

One of the special things that our congregation provides is daily features on social platforms. This blog, Jump Starts, is released Monday thru Friday. In addition, there are three podcasts, “Heaven Bound,” that are broadcast every week. And, another daily footprint we have on social media are our “Quick Quotes.” These are short, pithy statements intended to make us think and help us with our focus. All of these items can be found on our website, as well as other social media outlets.

Recently, one of our Quick Quotes said, “A good leader was once a good follower.” I want to give some thought to that statement.

First, a good leader understands what it is like to follow. Understanding that will help him in his leadership. No one wants to be screamed at. Demands and threats, may bring results, but they also bring resentment. Leaders come in all sizes and they are found throughout life. The work place could be made better if leaders had the heart of a follower. Position and power destroy many leaders.

Two important aspects for us to consider is both the home and the church. Sometimes parents forget what it is like being a child. Kids make mistakes. They’ll spill the milk, forget what you told them, and don’t think very deeply. Wanting a child to reason and behave like an adult is unfair and unfortunate, because it won’t work. Can you remember being a child? I remember practicing bowling in our house with my brothers, the bowling ball knocked over a table, a lamb and nearly went through a picture window. Hitting a foul ball in the back yard, and the baseball broke a basement window. You have to understand, we lived next to a school yard. We had a big field to play ball in. No, we’d play next to the house in our backyard. Learning grownup principles such as saving money, telling the truth, being responsible and thinking beyond yourself takes time and patience. Parents, remember? You were once a child.

But this is also true within the church. There are mature Christians and those who are learning. We can forget about the silly questions we asked in a Bible class just to get attention and make others laugh. Coming in at the last second, when others were waiting for us, unsure whether we’d make it time for us to do what we were supposed to do that day. Patience and growth helped us mature.

A good leader understands what it is like to follow.

Second, a good leader continues to follow. This is where our Quick Quote breaks down. It seems to imply that a good leader once followed, but now he doesn’t. Not sure I buy into that. A good leader is always learning, growing and by that he is following. As a disciple, we never stop following.

This brings a thought that many elders or shepherds forget and it is something that is missing from the good shepherd concepts of John 10. In John, Jesus brings the shepherd/sheep idea to what He was doing with His disciples. Jesus was the good shepherd. Jesus knows the sheep. He calls them by name. He goes before them. The sheep listen to His voice. The sheep follow. We can see this picture in our minds of a shepherd and the sheep. But, the one mistake in this analogy is that a shepherd is a human and the sheep are animals. The human was always a human and the sheep are always animals. In the kingdom of Christ, those that shepherd God’s flock not only once were sheep, they are still sheep. They now wear two hats. The hat of the sheep and the hat of the shepherd.

As the sheep need protection, guidance and help, so does God’s shepherds today. They need this because they are still sheep. The eldership oversees the individual shepherd. The eldership guides the individual shepherd. And, the individual shepherd must be subject to the eldership. He cannot act independent of them, because he is a shepherd. There can not be two sets of rules, one for the sheep and another for the leaders.

There are so many powerful books in the business world about connecting, leading, confrontations, communication, influence, that today’s shepherds need to go through and consider. This is not an attempt to run the church like a business, not at all. But, there are many parallels about dealing with people that would help the shepherd in the kingdom today. Growing, learning and doing better, must be within the heart of a shepherd.

Third, those that lead with kindness and compassion, develop wonderful relationships with those they are guiding. Neglect, abuse and dysfunction, be it in the home or the church, cripples relationships and stunts the growth that could have taken place.

A good leader remembers that he is a follower.

Roger

22

Jump Start # 3618

Posted on July 22, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3618

Ecclesiastes 3:6 “A time to search and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away.”

It started on a Saturday morning in my garage. I decided it was time to do a massive deep cleaning. Everything was pulled out. Lots of stuff was tossed away. Cabinets, tool bench drawers and even the containers that kept extra screws, nails and stuff like that was gone through. It took hours. Dusted. Swept. And a load to take way, the purging was long time in coming. It was needed. Monday, I came into the office, and decided to start purging my file cabinets. I have a lot of file cabinets.

I had newspaper articles and bulletin articles about people who are no longer alive, such as Jimmy Swaggart, Pat Robertson and Robert Schuller. There were religious groups, such as the Branch Davidians, Faith Assembly, the Moonies that are no longer part of the religious landscape today. Decades ago, when I first started preaching, I’d cut out newspaper and magazine articles about any and all things religious. I had stuff on every dog in town. My garage purging made me realize that there is a bunch of stuff that I was holding on to that has no relevance and no interest today. In the words of Solomon and our passage today, “time to throw away.”

I need to do the same with my books, but not today. Younger generations are minimalist. It seems the older generation are the ones that hold on to things. And, when you add some sentimental factors to all of this, it’s hard for some to throw away. And, much too often, after a funeral, it is another generation that has to go through the mountains of saved papers, files and things. Those items do not hold the sentimental factor to a younger generation. They don’t have the room, the desire, or the need to hold on stuff from parents and grandparents. So, we do our kids a favor by purging now.

Some thoughts on all of this:

First, your life is not defined by stuff. Jesus said, “not even when on has an abundance does his life consist of possessions” (Lk 12:15). We tend to forget that. We like our collections that we have collected. But, that’s not who we are. We belong to Christ. Poor Lazarus, laying at the rich man’s gate, didn’t have much. He seemed to die alone and without any comfort. But the Lord knew him. The Lord took him home eternally. Much like the Pharisees, who got caught up in tithing the small seeds and forgetting character and principle, we can do the same. It’s just stuff. If you have enjoyed it, be thankful and rejoice. But, do not expect others to have your passion nor interest in those things. Likely, they won’t.

Second, as time moves on, and technology changes, things become outdated and no longer needed. I’m a book guy. I have a lot of books. A lot. But, younger preachers have the same number of books, but theirs are all electronic. They carry their entire library with them on a computer. They can search things faster because of search engines built into the electronic programs. There is no longer a need to hold on to old encyclopedias that are outdated. One can’t give them away. No one really wants them these days. Times have changed. There are better ways of getting information. When that catches up to us, it’s time to purge and pitch.

I expect there are many church buildings that could use a good ole’ fashioned deep cleaning and purging. Old class books, outlines, hymn books, just gathering dust in a junk room that few even know what’s in there and no one has the intention of using them again. It’s time to purge and pitch.

Third, but most importantly, it’s time to purge from our minds and hearts, the hurts, mistakes and failures that we have been saving. Don’t hold on to the mean things that others have said about you. Don’t hold on to the disappointments when others failed you. Purge your heart. Get rid of the things that clutter, and do no add value to your character. Some can remember, word for word, mean things that someone said to them decades ago. They have neither forgotten or forgiven such things. Why hold on to those pains? There is a time to throw away.

But in running through the storeroom of our hearts, we’ll find the precious memories of family and friends. We’ll remember the good deeds that others have done for us. We’ll realize that we have been blessed by God and through others. I wonder if our hearts become heavy because we are keeping too many things in there that we shouldn’t hold on to. A good and thorough cleaning of our hearts and minds can do wonders to our fellowship and our walk with the Lord.

There is a time…a time to keep and a time to throw away. Knowing what time it is, makes all the difference.

Roger

19

Jump Start # 3617

Posted on July 19, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3617

1 Thessalonians 5:8 ”But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

A word that we don’t hear much these days is being “sober.” Most times that word brings up the idea of alcohol and drunkenness. A sober person is one who is not intoxicated. And, with that, we put that word on the shelf of our minds and it stays there. But, throughout the N.T., as in our verse today, the word sober is used not in connection with drinking but with alertness, attentiveness and seriousness.

One of the qualities of a shepherd is that he be sober. Both Peter and Paul use this word to describe the character of a disciple of Christ. He is sober. He is clear headed. He is serious about going to Heaven. He is, as the Lord told us, watching, careful, alert to the things around him.

And, that quality flies in the opposite direction that our culture goes. Don’t be so serious, people say. Chill out. Take a chill pill. And, laughter, laughter, laughter is flavor of the month. Funny shows on TV. Funny videos on YouTube. Jokes. Pranks. Just laughing your way through life. There is little room for soberness. I’ve noticed even in funerals these days, many no longer cry. They want funny stories.

As disciples, we must take soberness off the shelf and add it to our lives. This does not mean we walk about with a sour look upon our faces. It doesn’t mean we dismiss happiness and laughter. But, it shouldn’t be one or the other—laughter or seriousness. We’ve got the laughter part down pretty good. What we need are some serious thoughts. Serious conversations. We need some soberness in our lives.

Here’s why:

First, Satan would have us to believe that none of these things really matter. Don’t get so serious about faith. It’ll all be ok in the end. By doing this, he shifts the most important things to the back burner. Having fun on the weekend is more important, Satan will tell you, than worship. You can worship anytime, he has you believing. Doing what you feel like doing is much more important than serving others. That’s Satan’s message.

Go to church, but find preachers that make you feel good. Preachers who act like stand up comedians are much better than hearing old fashioned doctrine. That’s what Satan wants.

Second, Satan loves distracting you. There is so much to do and thinking about your soul, righteousness and fellowship can always wait. The ballgame is on TV. Your friends want you to go golfing. The kids want to see a movie. Run. Run. Run. And, at the end of the day, you are too tired to read the Bible and not in the mood to pray. Do it in the morning, your mind tells you. But, in the morning, there is so much to do. And, soberness and seriousness about our walk with the Lord gets kicked down the road once more.

Who wants to talk about their soul, temptation and how to grow in Christ, when we can talk about the Dodgers? What does this verse mean or who did the Dodgers buy this week? About the only subject we get serious and sober is talking about whether or not the President will stay in for the election.

Distractions—they can sure take our eyes off the road. This is why we have signs about deer crossing and falling rocks. Pay attention when you drive, is what we tell new drivers. Keep both hands on the wheel. Turn the music off. Focus. Yet, when it comes to our spiritual walk, we need someone telling us the same things.

Third, it’s those who have paid attention to their souls and walk that seem to be so confident, sure and focused. Their lives seem to be all together and our lives look like puzzle pieces in a box. Why is it that way? They have learned when and how to be serious. They have learned to be sober about their walk with the Lord. They have see through the fog that Satan covers our eyes with.

We are of the day—don’t forget that.

Roger

18

Jump Start # 3616

Posted on July 18, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3616

Ephesians 4:12 “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”

Lately, there has been a variety of workers down at the church building. Some days, it has just been busy. A guy showed up to do the annual inspection on the fire extinguishers. He said we had five in the building. I had to help him find them. There has been a leak in the roof and teams of workers have been attacking that. One of our cameras hasn’t been working and tech crews were out running wires and fixing those things. These people all came from different companies and they each had specific things they were doing. The roofers were not interested in the cameras and the tech team didn’t have the know-how to fix the roof. But one thing they all had in common was trucks filled with the tools and supplies they needed to do the job.

And, that leads us to the front part of our verse today. “Equipping the saints,” or perfecting them, as the King James states. The word for equipping means  to make fully ready, prepare or complete. In one ancient writing, it was used to load the boat. I like that concept, “load the boat.”

If one was going on a fishing trip, the boat would be loaded with fishing poles, tackle, nets and things to hold fish in. The boat would be prepared for that. If one was sailing across the seas to deliver grain and merchandise, then crates and barrels would fill the boat. If the boat was carrying passengers, then food and comfort would be the main preparations. I’ve been on paddle wheelers, river boats and ocean cruises. The vessels were prepared for their destination. The boats had been loaded.

Our verse is not about boats, but people, and not just any people. The people of God, or saints, is the focus of our passage. They have been equipped, completed, loaded with the necessary tools to serve. The purpose was to get the saints ready for the work of service. Duty calls. Love demands. People need us. It’s all hands on deck. But, before we can fully and completely do our job of helping others, we need to ‘load the boat.’

Some thoughts for us:

First, God has supplied the supplies. We are not left to wonder what ought to be put on the boat. The previous verse says, “He gave..”  The “He” is God. God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. That’s the supplies. That’s what goes on the boat. Those are the very things that will equip us. This is God’s supply chain.

That list is interesting. Each are different, but each are similar. Evangelists are not apostles. Prophets are not apostles. Evangelists and pastors have different roles. But, one thing they all have in common is teaching God’s word. That’s what the apostles did. That’s what prophets did. That’s the work of evangelists. That’s what pastors and teachers do. No counselors. No baby sitters. No fitness instructors. No growth management experts. Just those five that are listed. That’s all that is needed. That’s all that is necessary. That’s what will ready the saints to do their work. That’s what will load the boat for us.

God didn’t leave it up to us to figure out what we most needed. God knew. God provided. Nothing else is necessary.

Second, the platform upon which these supplies are going to be loaded on to our boat, is a willing and open heart that will be taught God’s word. The saints are to be equipped. How God wants this done is by the teaching of His word. In that word, we see David shepherding the people of God. In that word, we find our Lord, compassionately helping others. In that word, we see the selfless sacrifices of Paul. In that word, we learn humility, love and putting others first. Motivated by the word. Challenged by the word. Taught by the word. Led by the word.

Sermons empty of God’s word will not equip us. Our boats will be empty. Classes that spend more time in speculation and opinions, that seeing what God says, won’t help us do the work that needs to be done. God is counting on us to be His eyes, fingers and feet. But, we won’t go unless we are ready. Load the boat!

Third, through the service of the saints, the church is built up. We encourage one another. We lift our spirits. We support and help each other. This is why saints go out of their way for others. This is why the second mile and even the third mile is walked with others. This is why we sit in the surgery waiting room with others. This is why we go to the funeral. This is why we stick around after services. Our boats are loaded. We are well supplied. We have a good word to share. We have a smile to extend. We have a heart that is open for others.

And, we’ve gotten that way because we have been supplied by God. We are ready to do the job that is before us. We stand upon the Scriptures and we now face the task of encouraging others. Building up, making stronger, encouraging others is what we are about. We do that in worship. We do that privately by our conversations, sharing and love for one another.

It really isn’t hard to do this. Like a work truck, we are stocked with the tools necessary to do this job. There is a reciprocal effect through the N.T. We have been taught, so we teach others. We have been blessed, so we bless others. We have been forgiven, so we forgive others. We have been shown the light, so we show others the light.

These things do not stop with us. They pass through us to others. Building up one another is just one way we continue the reciprocal cycle.

Load the boats…

Roger