16

Jump Start # 1603

Posted on May 16, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1603

Job 42:7 “It came about after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, ‘My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.”

  I’m reading a new book about Job, “How to read Job.”  So far, I like it. It’s made me think of our passage today, found in the final chapter of Job. It has been a long journey for Job. It’s easy to think that what took place happened in just one week. The book ends with ten more children being born. That takes time. This journey with his friends has been as painful as the suffering Job endured. His friends have accused. They have pointed fingers. They have demanded that Job repent. Like a criminal on trial, Job has been prosecuted heavily by these friends who came to comfort. The words of the friends fall short. They don’t add up. There is nothing in Job’s life to warrant the suffering he has endured. He is not being punished. It is in this atmosphere that Job’s friends thought that they had a corner market on understanding God. They spoke confidently about God. They knew God. They were so wrong.

 

Now, as the book ends, God blesses Job but He is angry with these three friends. They have not spoken accurately about God. They were wrong about God. They made God to appear mean and hateful. They had a God who did not have any room for mercy.

 

All of this reminds us of some simple truths:

 

First, some can speak so confidently about God but be wrong. This can come from family. This can come from friends, as in Job’s case. This can even come from the pulpit. Current thought from books today is that God is still speaking directly to people. Current thought today is that God ignores His own words and closes His eyes to the very things He once condemned. How certain some are about the god that they have created. This should be but one more reason to “search the Scriptures daily to see whether those things are true.” Just because someone says it loudly doesn’t make it so. Just because it’s published in a book, doesn’t mean that it is so. Sometimes the worst information about God comes from those who sit in pews on Sundays.

 

Job never bought into what his friends were saying. That irritated them. We must do the same. God will not go against His own revealed word.

 

Second, we can confidently know God, and be right. We can know Him through the Scriptures. This is how God introduces Himself to us. We understand His will. We understand what pleases Him. We understand what is wrong. We understand what is right. Guessing isn’t the right way to go. Just hoping for the best doesn’t work. You know God by spending time in the Scriptures. The Bible is His book. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth…” It is possible to know.

 

Third, our knowledge of God shapes us. If we feel that God is distant and doesn’t want anything to do with us, then that’s the way we will be towards Him. If we feel that God is out to get us, why try? If we feel that God loves us and wants us to be with Him, then we will come to Him with an honest and open heart.

 

Fourth, misrepresenting God has grave consequences. It not only affects our own faith, but now it will affect those that we influence. Consider a home in which the dad has a wrong understanding of God. That thinking will affect his children. They will grow up never knowing the true God. Every problem becomes God’s fault. The family will be raised but not upon the Bible. More wrong thinking prevails as these kids grow up and have their own families. Think about the person who went off to seminary school and has drunk deeply into liberal theology. He’s not sure if God is male or female. He’s not sure the Bible is even from God. His wacko thinking has twisted the image of God into something that no one understands. On a Sunday, this pitiful person tries to lead a congregation into worshipping God, something he no longer understands and on many days even believes in. The church becomes a social function for the community doing good deeds and not having much spiritual connection to God. The professors at the seminary are so smug in their theology that they have outgrown God. They know more than even God does. Every semester more and more minds are twisted and faith shattered by their rambling liberal theology.

 

God was angry with Job’s friends. They did not speak right about God. I expect God is angry with those today who do the same.

 

Fifth, the responsibility of knowing God falls upon each of us individually. God has given evidence of His creative hand throughout nature. The world shows us that things just do not happen. There are cause and affects. There is design. There is order. There is beauty. All of this points to God. Nature does not tell us what God’s name is. Nature does not tell us what God expects from us. Nature does not give us God’s will. The Bible does. This is why hours need to be spent pouring over Scriptures. Read it not like the Sunday newspaper, but slowly and carefully. Take notes. Look at words. Think. Chew on things a while. You can know. You can know certainly.

 

Not only can you know God, but you can know if you are walking with Him or not. You can know if you are forgiven or not. You can know if you are headed to Heaven or not. John said, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 Jn 5:13). You can know. You can know for certain. No guessing. No hoping. No crossing fingers.

 

Job’s friends sure talked a lot. They thought they had God figured out. They were so wrong. God asked Job to pray for his friends.

 

Wrong about God. This may be one of the greatest delusions of all. Convinced that one is forgiven when he is not. Convinced that one is saved when he is not. Convinced that one is pleasing God when he is not. Convinced that one knows God, when he doesn’t. It makes us think of the words of Jesus, “I never knew you, depart from Me…”

 

It might be good for some to go back and have a basic study of God. If we misunderstand God we are likely to misunderstand everything about God. Start at the beginning, the real beginning. “In the beginning, God…”

 

Roger

 

13

Jump Start # 1602

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1602

John 14:3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

  Our verse today reflects promise and hope. Something good was to come. These words follow the Lord’s sad prediction that Peter was going to deny Him three times. That must have been devastating to the whole group, but especially crushing to Peter. It’s one thing to think in a moment of weakness and fear a person might slip and deny the Lord, once, maybe. But three times? Unbelievable.

 

Following those sad words the Lord says, “Do not let your heart be troubled, believe”. Believe in God. Believe in Me.

 

There are three “I wills” that are built within our verse today.

 

I will come again. I’m leaving, but I’m coming again. This is a promise. This assures all of us that the Lord isn’t defeated at the cross, nor has He forgotten and left us on our own. He’s coming back.

 

I will receive you to Myself. The Lord isn’t finished with us. After a denial, one might think that Jesus was ready to toss us out and be through with us. If this was a job, we’d expect to get fired. If this were a sports team, we’d expect to be cut and released. If this were Facebook, here would come the “defriend” button. Not Jesus. I’m coming for you. I will receive you to Myself.

 

I will allow you to be where I am. Where’s that? Where was He going? Heaven. He’s coming back and taking us there. Jesus is allowing us to be with Him. I will. Not, I might. Not, I hope to. Not, I could, but I have to think about it. He already had. He already knew. I will. I will come.

 

One thing about the promises of God, He keeps them. You can count on them. Take those to the bank because they are going to happen. It’s just a matter of when.

 

I will—that’s God’s promise to us. Here we are, fumbling along, often not as strong as we ought to be. Sometimes we let other things get in the way of God. We forget to pray. We are too busy to read the Bible. We sometimes stay home when we ought to be at services worshipping. We’d think that God couldn’t make that promise until He did some quality inspections. You’d think that His promise would be based upon our record of goodness. But you don’t read that here. You don’t find Jesus saying, I will come and get you, if you never, ever deny Me again. I will come and get you if you can go a month without messing up. I will come and get you, only if you promise to be loyal to Me. He didn’t place those conditions. We would.

 

I will come. I will receive you. I will allow you to be where I am. I will.

 

Now, have you ever thought about what you will do for Jesus? Like a marriage, if the bride is the only one that is promising and saying “I do,” the relationship will fail. The groom must promise. The groom must “I do,” as well. That makes a relationship. That builds hope and trust.

 

Jesus promised. I will. What will you do?  Here is a list. It’s a start. It shows what we ought to be doing. It illustrates our love and commitment to the Lord.

 

  • I will love you always, Lord.
  • I will support your kingdom, Lord.
  • I will not be embarrassed to be named one of yours, Lord.
  • I will worship you with all my heart, Lord.
  • I will walk with compassion and generosity, Lord.
  • I will tell my friends about you, Lord.
  • I will hold on to you, Lord, until you call me home.

 

I will. I will is more than a promise, it’s a dedication and a commitment. The Lord was committed to His people. The Lord invested in His people. The Lord loved and wanted His people. Our “I wills” are more than a promise. They, too, are dedication and a commitment. They will shape our choices and define our life. Everything will be shaped by our “I wills.” How we see things. How we respond to things. How we think. What we say. What we do. All of this is flavored and shaped by our “I wills.”

 

Jesus promised. Have you?

 

Roger

 

12

Jump Start # 1601

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1601

Titus 3:1-2 “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.”

 

Preaching isn’t always teaching new truths, in fact, there isn’t anything really new. The old, old story must be told over and over. In doing this, some lessons, some truths must be repeated to the same people. Sure, we’ve heard this before, but we need to hear it again. This is the idea behind our verse today. Remind them.  Peter uses the same thought in his epistles.

 

We need reminders because we forget. Living in a world that is disobedient to God we can get caught up in that spirit and forget that we are to be different. We are to be submissive, obedient and gentle.

 

We need reminders because life can get ugly and we often feel like fighting back. We can only take so much and when we have reached that limit, we so easily can forget all that we are. Remind them.

 

We need reminders because walking with Christ is a choice. These actions, submissive, obedience, gentleness are all choices that we must make. The natural thing to do is often not the direction of Christ. So we must always be thinking. We must always understand the choices. Remind them.

 

The Common English Bible words our passage as: “They shouldn’t speak disrespectfully about anyone, but they should be peaceable, kind, and show complete courtesy toward everyone.”

 

Paul is teaching what Christ lived. Jesus wasn’t disrespectful to anyone. Samaritans? No. Lepers? No. Tax collectors? No. Gentiles? No. Jewish leaders? No. Respectful. Not misquoting them. Not putting words in their mouths. Not taking things out of context to make them look bad. Not lumping them all together. Not ridiculing them. Jesus wouldn’t make it in the political arena today. Mud slinging has become normal. Trash talking, mean spirited, misquoting and making the opponent look bad is the means to win votes and elections. As elections draw near, the commercials become more numerous and more offensive. The public tires of them. Once the elections are over the politicians are not heard of again until the next round of elections.

 

We do well to follow the steps of Jesus. These verses can easily be summed up by the golden rule. Treat others as you would want to be treated. That would manifest our verse today. Malign no one. Peaceable. Gentle. Considerate. These choices and characteristics build bridges of communication with others. It’s the rude, harsh, “my-way or the highway” attitude that shuts doors and leaves a person feeling like they have been pressured or bullied into something that they did not want to be.

 

I expect most of us do pretty good with these. It’s hard not to if you are learning from Jesus. Our troubles usually are found when we disagree with someone. When a conversation becomes controversial then our tone gets louder. Our speech is faster. Our words are not gentle, they become rough. We have less patience and less consideration for the other person.

 

Consideration for all people does not mean look the other way. It is not the New Testament’s version of tolerance. It’s not those at all. It’s understanding where a person is coming from. Not everyone sees truth as quickly as you did. Not everyone understands. Some have decades of error that they must work through. Some have been told things that can not be supported Biblically. That’s a journey they must work through to discover the truth of God’s will.

 

Here’s one tough one for many folks. In the New Testament, the church sang. There are 9 verses in the New Testament that shows the early church singing. Simple truth. Many understand this. For many, this is normal. This is the way they grew up. But for tons of others, they have never even thought about this. They grew up with churches using organs and today the church has a full band. The music is lovely, exciting and a huge part of the worship experience. Some places have full time music directors whose job is to keep the music lively and cutting edge. To tell these folks that the church never used instruments in the N.T. is so radical, foreign and odd, most can’t believe that you’d even bring up that subject. It praises God, doesn’t it. That’s how many see it. Why fuss about something so insignificant as this? Don’t you have anything better to do?

 

But it is a matter of worshipping the N.T. way. If one is to follow God’s will, they must follow it. God never told the church to make music, He said sing. We understand the difference between band class and choir class. A student that shows up with a trumpet at choir class is laughed at. But the guy who goes to band class without an instrument is also laughed at. Band and choir are two different classes. One plays and the other sings. We get that. We know that. In the N.T. the church sang. But how about all those Psalms, like 150, that names specific instruments and it says to praise God with those instruments? Right. It certainly does. That’s not the church. Back in the Psalms they were still sacrificing animals, waiting for the Messiah, and traveling to Jerusalem three times a year. Different law. They worshipped on the Sabbath, not Sunday. To be like that early church, to imitate the churches of Judea as the Thessalonians did, a congregation will drop the instruments. History agrees with the N.T. The use of instruments in worship did not become a part of the church until hundreds of years later.

 

All of this is to remind ourselves what Paul told Titus to remind his people to be considerate of others. Learning truths takes time. Don’t be ugly with those who do not get it. Teach. Show. Illustrate.

 

Some will say, “there is no passage that says you can’t.” Right. God doesn’t have to say “Thou shalt not, for something to condemned.” He tells us what He wants. You will not find a passage that says, “Thou shalt not have soft drinks for the Lord’s Supper.” It’s not there. What is there, is what Jesus used. Following Jesus will lead us to doing what He did. God doesn’t have to name every beverage in the world for it to be condemned. He states what He wants. We understand this in life. We go to get our oil changed in the car and it’s understood that is what we want done. If the guy, on his own, decided to change our headlights, wiper blades, change the transmission fluid and presents a bill of over $400, we’d flip. We’d declare “I never asked you to do those things.” He’d say, “You didn’t tell me not to.” Oh, we’d have issues then and there. We get this in life. It works the same with God. The Lord never said “make music.” The church was told to sing. They did. Is it wrong to include instruments with our singing? Is it wrong to add things to what God says? Where do you stop? Who decides? Is it wrong for the guy to add things done to our car when we want an oil change? Cain worshipped different than what God wanted. Was God happy with him? Aaron’s sons, used a different fire for the sacrifice. Was God happy? They died because of that. Remember in Revelation, we are told not to add to nor take away. It’s a fact the early church sang. Now, can I be content with that, or must I start adding and changing that.

 

This is just one simple illustration. What music did the church have in the First Century? The answer is singing hymns to God. Anything different than that is not what was done in the original church. Now, given that fact, what am I to do with that? Fuss? Argue? Be submissive and obedient? Ignore the facts? Do what I want? Do what everyone else wants? Do what God wants?

 

Be considerate is kindness in action. It’s not tolerating things that are wrong but neither is it busting a guy over the head with the Bible. Show. Teach. Illustrate. Prove. Let the Bible work on a heart. Let a person see the pattern of God in the Bible.

 

Be considerate…great words for us to live by.

 

Roger

 

11

Jump Start # 1600

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1600

Titus 3:3 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.”

  Today marks another huge milestone for our Jump Starts. We have reached number 1600, which means there has been 1600 Jump Starts or articles. Unbelievable. This little journey started six years ago as a way to try to encourage the congregation I worship with. It has now exploded world wide. Our readership is at an all time high with just about 1250 subscribers and who knows how many others that are getting them from friends. We just published our 16th Jump Start book on preachers and preaching. I run into readers all the time now. It is remarkable how God has used something so simple to help touch the hearts of so many people. I have people now telling me, “You can never stop writing Jump Starts.” That’s encouraging, but we know someday this train ride will end. My dear friend Jim, who is now on the other side of life, would be calling me today if he was still with us. He’d ask me if there was still anything in the well to draw from. I’ll miss his call today.

 

Thank you for reading these. Thank you for sharing these with others. Thank you for the kind emails. I save every one. I have a folder full of them. Thank you, Lord, for using this simple morning exercise to encourage others.

 

Our verse today reminds us of the good that comes from God’s word. Sometimes we forget where we came from. Sometimes we are embarrassed of what we used to be like. God has changed us through His gospel. It’s not that we are simply going to church on Sundays, we are different. There has been a rewiring in our thinking and on the insides. Our natures have changed.

 

This is thought that is being discounted by progressives today. They want a person to embrace what they are and to believe that they cannot change. Instead of changing, they want everyone else to accept them as they are. Some in this camp, go so far as believing that a person is incapable of changing. So we have men dressing like women. We have foul mouths. We have hatred, prejudice and anger. That’s just the way we are, doesn’t cut it and this verse disproves it.

 

Look at this verse. It begins with, “for we also once were…” The “we also,” included the writer, Paul. The list includes foolish, disobedient, enslaved to various lusts, hating others. They weren’t nice people. We wouldn’t want them as neighbors. If you were “in” with them, it was great. But if you weren’t “in” then you were really “out.” They wouldn’t have anything to do with you. Hating others and enslaved to various lusts are two destructive behaviors and attitudes that separate and hurt others. We were. They are not now. Once, but changed.

 

The next verse begins, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and the love for mankind appeared…” They were saved. They were changed. They no longer thought that way. They learned not to hate others. They walked away from the lusts that enslaved them. They changed. God was patient with them and forgave them.

 

This one powerful verse reminds us of two central truths in the Bible.

 

First, we all have a past. We all have a story. We all have hurt others. We all have done wrong. We all are sinners. Some Christians seem to forget this. They act as if they have always been saints. Not true. They act as if they never crossed the line with God. They did. Maybe remembering where we came from would allow us to help others and make us stop pointing our fingers so much. The church has had a long history of judging others. There is a place for judging. God does not condemn all judging. But too often it is done to put others down and to make ourselves stand taller. “For we also once were…” Did you forget?

 

Second, we changed. It wasn’t on our own that we changed. It was through the kindness of God. This change wasn’t easy. Look again at some of these words. We were “deceived.” We thought we were right, but we weren’t. That’s hard to deal with. The light bulb comes on in your head and you realize that what you thought was right, wasn’t. You realize that you believed a lie. You were misled. You were deceived.

 

Paul also states, “spending our life in malice and envy.” This wasn’t a one time slip into wrong. They were spending their lives there. This was their life. Hatred raced through their veins. They hated Christ. They hated Christians. They hated the Gospel. But they changed. They no longer hated. They learned the truth. They obeyed the truth. They loved the truth.

 

Even after they changed, all these years later, Paul never forgot. He was forgiven, but there were scars. These scars allowed him to help others. It allowed him to understand others. One perception that outsiders have of Christians is that we are all perfect. We never make a mistake. We have always been perfect. Wrong. We stood exactly where this verse is. Each of us has a “for we also once were…” It may help others for you to tell them your story. How did you leave hatred and become kind, generous and loving? How did you get away from those lusts that you were enslaved to? Was it hard? Was it smooth? Did you stumble? This is not a “I’m better than you are,” situation. It’s a “I’ve been where you are. I know what it’s like. I’m a follower of Christ today. He changed my life.”

 

Financial expert Dave Ramsey does this everyday on the radio. He tells listeners that he was broke. He made big mistakes. He learned. He shares his financial story with all who will listen. You have your own story. It’s not financial, it’s spiritual. It may have been a moral mess. It may have been years spent in hatred and prejudice. It may have been foolishly following others. It may have been how deceived you were in false religions. But through the kindness of God, you changed. You are not like that today.

 

A person can change. There is hope. Instead of accepting sin, and believing that’s just the way I am, a person can become obedient to Christ and leave the wilderness of selfishness and deception.

 

Amazing Grace…I once was lost, but now I’m found. That’s the Gospel message. That’s your story. That’s my story. It’s not about us. It’s about the amazing God who loves us and never gave up on us. Where would we be today had it not been for the kindness of God? How many marriages would we have destroyed by now? How many years left on our prison sentence? How addicted would we be to some substance? Would we even be alive, had God not saved us? It takes effort on your part. It takes an honest and good heart. It takes a willingness to come back home as the prodigal did. He got up and he came. The father didn’t come out to the pig pen. We must get up and head home.

 

I once was, but now I’m not. People change. Allow that to happen. Don’t pour concrete around the past. Don’t give up on people. God didn’t. He took a hateful man and through change, allowed him to become an apostle.

 

God is good. He treats us better than we deserve.

 

Roger

 

10

Jump Start # 1599

Posted on May 10, 2016 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1599

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

  Our verse is very fitting for our times. Morally conservative people are stunned at how vulgar, loose and immoral our country seems to be sinking. It’s happening very rapidly. Booze flows on college campuses. Men who claim they are women are wanting to use the wrong bathrooms. People flaunting their sinful ways and are proud to be what God condemns. Companies are pressured to cave in to the loud demands of a few who want the abnormal  to be considered normal. Things are all mixed up these days.

 

But we find a verse, like our passage from Corinthians, that reminds us “there is nothing new under the sun.” It must have been hard for Paul to go to Corinth. Today, the word “Corinthian” bring images of expensive leather furniture or leather seats in cars. But long ago, in Paul’s day, the mention of “Corinthian” brought the images of a moral sewer. The city was drunk on lust and immorality. Everything was allowable. There were no limits. There were no moral compasses. God wasn’t on the radar. Then Paul came to the city. He preached the resurrected Christ. Some listened. Some actually believed. The make up of that young church wasn’t former boy scouts or future superstars. Paul tells us. They were fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunks, revilers, and swindlers. It is from this rotten bunch that were washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of Jesus. These folks who lived without rules became Christians. They lived for Christ. They were saved by the power of God.

 

To those who are perishing, as our verse tells us, the mention of Jesus and the cross is foolishness. They’ll laugh. They’ll ridicule. They’ll mock. They will feel that they are so much more superior than those who follow the words of a “dead man.” And off they dance in their sinful ways, sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss of wrong. They, like Isaiah’s nation, call good evil and evil good. Their heroes are those that do wrong.

 

Our passage reminds us of a few truths.

 

First, our times are not that unique. Yes, for us, things seem outrageous and wrong. But history has seen this before. This ole’ world keeps on going long past the Corinthians. And what was preached in that dark city is still being preached today. That which saved lives long ago is still saving lives today. The Corinthians are gone. Their immoral ways are gone. But the Gospel lives on.

 

Second, the worst people can change. When we look at that list from the sixth chapter of Corinthians, we would shudder to believe that there is any hope in any of them changing. But they did. They changed without professional counselors. They changed without “exit groups.” They changed without AA meetings. Dishonest people became honest. Immoral people became moral. Gay people became straight. They were brought under control by the gospel of Christ. Have we given up on the saving and changing power of Christ? Have we diluted and weakened it’s power where today, if we met a drunk, we’d have to use AA to change him? Paul didn’t. Don’t prejudge people. Don’t prequalify people. Don’t decide for God who will make a good Christian and who will not. Preach to all. Tell all. Invite all. The worst possible person just might be the one who responds to the saving message of Christ.

 

Third, the world is going a different direction than we are. What we are holding to is considered foolishness to the world. Worshipping God is a joke to most folks. We must not try to fit the square peg into the round hole. The modern church has tried that and they are losing. They are trying to make the Gospel attractive to a people who want nothing to do with God. So using food and entertainment, they try to reach the masses by softening the message, and making sinful choices somewhat acceptable. It’s backfiring. The mega churches are losing their touch. The message doesn’t change the people. The message isn’t helping them. There is no call for righteous living. There is no urgency to be like Christ. The modern church has conformed to the world and it’s members are a mess and confused. Water and oil do not mix and neither does sinful living and the pure Gospel of Christ. Either a person will stop their wrong choices, or they will ignore the message. Ignoring the message is what is happening. We must reach the lost, but not by convincing them that we are not so different. We are different. We have stopped moving the direction the world is going. We are moving upstream in a downstream world. We no longer need popularity to feel good about ourselves. We no longer have to listen and do what everyone else is doing. Who kisses who in Hollywood doesn’t mean anything to us anymore. We are following Christ. Our lives are better. We live with a purpose. We have changed our thinking. We are trying to please the Lord in all that we do. Most don’t understand this. Most don’t care to understand. But we do. We have been where the world is. We don’t want that ever again.

 

Don’t give up Christian. Don’t let what is going on in the world consume you. It might do us all some good if we just turned off the news. It might be good if we didn’t read all the posts on Facebook. Reach out and hold to God’s unchanging hand.

 

In the bottom of the darkest pit, Corinth, there were folks who climbed out and became followers of Jesus. Don’t give up. It’s not time to throw in the towel. Keep shinning your light. Keep in step with the Savior.

 

Roger