10

Jump Start # 2547

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2547

Psalms 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.”

Word came last week of a sweet family of the Lord that was killed by a crushing tornado in Cookeville, TN. The young father, mother and little boy all lost their lives. But they really didn’t. Their lives weren’t lost. They were with the Lord and they continue to be with the Lord. They went through the door of death and they live on, never to face another storm in their lives. The outpouring of love and support for their families has been remarkable. People stepped up. People did well. Hearts were touched and hearts were broken by this tragedy.

I want to share a few thoughts about this:

First, none of us, even the people of God, are isolated from the suffering of this world. The people of God have been victims of crime. They have been killed in car accidents. They have died young. They have suffered from illness and disease. Don’t be thinking, because I am a Christian that God will keep bad from happening to me. With those thoughts, your faith will take a hit when you hear of brethren being killed by storms and disasters. You will conclude that some were not living right. You will face a huge challenge when you encounter personal tragedies in your own life. It is appointed for us to die, that includes the people of God. We remember the three Jewish men in Daniel 3 that refused to bow to Babylon’s idol. Not only were they threatened with a fiery furnace, but they were actually put in one. Pages later, and decades later, Daniel faced the threat of a lion’s den. He Daniel spent a night with the lions. Unless the Lord comes, you and I will not get out of here alive. How and when we go through that door of death is up to the Lord.

Second, as sad and as tragic as this specific story is, what a wonderful thought to go together as a family to be with the Lord. It is sad that this couple was so young. But what a blessing that their little child never had to be alone and with his mom and dad they crossed through the doorway of death to be in the presence of the Lord. There is something special about that which only the people of God truly can appreciate. Together in life. Together in death. Together with the Lord.

Third, the brevity of life is clearly seen in this tragic story. So quickly, so unexpectedly, our lives can end. We go to bed at night, with dreams of tomorrow and plans for the future, but before the sun rises, we may be called through that door of death. What a contrast there is between birth and death. It takes nine months for a baby to be developed within the womb. There are many signs that things are progressing. The process of birth can take hours, for some, more than a day. But with death, life can end in a second, often without any warning. It’s not like the movies, with music playing in the background and a long, tearful goodbye. In a flash, in an instant, life can end. We know this from reports from the battleground. We know this from what happens in car accidents.

Fourth, the true measurement of life is not in the number of years, but in how one lives those years. For the precious family in Cookeville, they were active in teaching Bible classes and inviting others to services. They were kind, sweet and godly. They were young but they left great impressions upon the hearts of others. They used their opportunities well. They were serious about their faith. And, for some of us, all we do is get older. And, as we get older, some get worse, not better. They become mean and bitter. They become a grouch. They are against everything. Many years are given but not much done with those years.

We see that Biblically. Methuselah lived to be the oldest person recorded in the Bible. He had 969 years. He was the father of Lamech and the grandfather of Noah. And, that’s about it for ole’ Methuselah. He was old. Did he do any good? Did he help any on their journey? Did he lead any to the Lord? Did he stand for what was right? We don’t know the answer to those questions. Many have thought that Methuselah died the same year as the flood. Did he? Did he die in the flood?

America has a new idol. That idol is our obsession with health. Live as long as you can here, seems to be what so many are bowing down to. Obsessed with working out. Obsessed with pure foods. Obsessed with medicine. Keep grandma alive, by pumping all kinds of medicines in her so she can continue to sit in her wheelchair staring at a TV all day long. With this obsession, comes an increased fear of dying. Do everything possible to avoid it. It doesn’t matter what life looks like, it has to be better than dying. That’s the thoughts today. It’s based upon secular thinking that can’t see past the door of death. It sees no value in death.

Then we come to our verse today. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones. Precious. That’s not a word many would use with death. What a loss, some would say. How tragic. How wrong. How unfair. But from Heaven’s side of things, it’s precious.

Now, death is not precious for everyone. It is to God’s godly ones. That’s the difference. It means that they have finished what God wanted. It means that they have kept the faith. It means that they will be with the Lord forever. Tears at a funeral are understandable. Even our Lord cried. He cried knowing what He was about to do. But we do not grieve as those who have no hope. With our tears is a hope. A great hope. A hope that is absolute. A hope that the godly ones are with the Lord. Never again to suffer. Never again to be tempted. Never again to fear. They are in the best place, the place where all godly ones long to be.

Our prayers, thoughts and love extend to the precious family of Josh, Erin and little Sawyer Kimberlin. Precious is their lives, and precious is their death. They are home, safely home. Safe in the arms of Jesus, what a wonderful place to be.

May we all long to be there.

Roger

09

Jump Start # 2546

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2546

Acts 15:41 “And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.”

In our verse today, Luke is tracing the steps of Paul and Barnabas. They had been on a long journey preaching the Gospel. Great things have taken place. Now, they wanted to go back and see how things were. It is in this atmosphere, that our verse today is found. Paul was strengthening the churches.

Boy, that’s needed these days. The opposite of a strong church, is a weak church. And, a weak church, like weak coffee, just doesn’t set well with most of us. In a weak church there are more things that seem to be wrong than there are right. A weak church is like sitting in a boat with multiple holes in it. Where do you begin? There are too many things that need fixing. And, do you know how a church becomes weak? It’s weak because the members are weak. You can’t have a weak church and strong members. The church is a reflection of the members. A weak church means the members are weak.

Paul was strengthening the churches. I don’t think that is something only an apostle can do. We all can be part of helping a congregation get stronger. Now, just how is that done?

First, there has to be a desire aspect. You can’t move people that do not want to move. Yagottawanna, is not an Indian term. It means, You—got-to-want-to, or Yagottawanna. And, when there is no Yagottawanna, then folks are content to drift, sit and even die spiritually. Be diligent, as the Bible tells us to be, involves an inner drive and an inner goal. Saving money isn’t all that hard, if a person wants to. Get a person who is tired of being broke and living paycheck to paycheck, step back and watch him go. He’ll cut expenses. He’ll follow a budget like it’s the Bible. He is intent and he’ll save money. As long as folks are happy doing nothing spiritually, and going no where spiritually, there isn’t much strengthening that is going to take place.

How do you create that desire? How do you get people to want to? You paint a picture of what life could be like. You show that broke guy what it would be like to go on vacation and to have it paid for before you leave. You show that person who is overweight how much better they would feel if they lost a few pounds. And, you show that child of God who powerful it is to walk with joy and confidence, knowing that the Lord loves you and wants you to be with Him. You show what a difference being strong makes in your family. You show how being strong reaches others and helps them out.

Second, Biblical strength comes from being together with our Bibles open. It takes both. We can be together at a ballgame and have the time of our lives. Our friendships will grow closer but ballgames cannot strengthen us spiritually. There is only one way and that is opening the Bible and learning. Teaching each other. Having challenging classes. Learning to lower the nets and look deeper into the message of God. Grabbing amazing applications and sharing insights with each other is how we grow, develop and become stronger.

Third, worship must be included in all of this. There is one common place where you will find strong Christians, and that is at worship. They love to honor God. They love to sing with others. They love the teaching of God’s word. You want to be stronger in the Lord, then get down to the church house. Not, now and again, but all the time. Put it first on your list. It comes before fun and games. It comes before self. You go because of all the wonderful things connected with it. Paul strengthened the churches. Something is implied there. Paul taught and they heard. They were there. Can’t be strengthened when I’m not there. Sometimes I wonder if we have just too much going on in our lives. We take on more and more, and we become stretched like that rubber band. It’s no wonder that some of us snap. With all of these obligations, activities, there remains so little time to get together and to be strengthened.

Fourth, there is also implied within our passage the idea that one can become stronger. You cannot strengthen something that cannot be strengthened, if that makes any sense. Weak can become strong. Indifferent can become compassionate. Not caring can care. Selfish can become a servant. We can become stronger in the Lord. The best among us can even become stronger in the Lord.

It has always impressed me that in 2 Timothy 4, as Paul awaits yet another trial and appearance before Caesar, that he asks Timothy to bring things. Bring his coat. Bring some paper. And, bring books. Paul wanted to read. I’d love to know what those books were. I doubt they were how to saw through prison bars and escape. If anything, they were things to help strengthen him. Alone in a prison, facing the end of the journey, Paul wanted books. Books that can encourage. Books that can build hope. Books that remind. Books that can strengthen.

Strengthening churches—wish everyone had that spirit. Can you imagine what things would look like if everyone caught that dream? Do your part. Do it well. Do it often.

Strengthen others…and as you do, you’ll find out that it also strengthens you.

Roger

06

Jump Start # 2545

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2545

Luke 5:20 “And seeing their faith, He said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven you.’”

Our verse today is the incredible words that Jesus spoke to a crippled man. It is a wonderful story. We ought to see ourselves in this story. There are many places that we fit in this story.

Jesus is teaching in a house. It’s packed. Standing room only is the expression we use today. Four friends, heroes of this story, bring a crippled man to Jesus. The Lord has healed. Word has spread about this compassionate Teacher who does what no one else can. So, they carry their crippled man to Jesus. They have hopes and faith that if the Lord would see their friend, then Jesus would heal him.

They get to the house but they can’t get in. No one is making any space for them. That doesn’t stop these four friends. Most of us would have gone home. We would have said, “We tried, but we couldn’t get close.” “Next time, we’ll leave earlier.” Not these guys. They came this far and they were not going home. Not, yet. They wanted Jesus to see their friend.

We are not told, who came up with the idea, but since they couldn’t go through the door, they decided to go through the roof. Up to the top they carry this crippled man. Pulling apart the roof, I can see three or four faces looking through the opening they made. Dust, debris would have fallen on the listeners below. It would take a large opening to put a man on a cot through. They worked and worked. They lowered the crippled man down. About this time, most folks probably are not looking at Jesus. They are looking at what is taking place right before them. These guys had the nerve to tear up someone’s roof, interrupt Jesus, and put their friend in front of everyone else.

And, it is here that our verse for today is found. Seeing their faith. They weren’t sitting in a church building. They weren’t passing out tracts. They weren’t standing before an image refusing to bow down. None of those things. They were lowering a friend through a roof in front of Jesus. And, that, the Bible says is faith. A faith that didn’t give up. A faith that believed the Lord could heal. A faith that overcame obstacles. Faith, if it is any good at all, needs to be seen.

In our verse, there is something remarkable that follows. The first thing Jesus says is, “your sins are forgiven.” He says that before He heals the crippled. And, from that, consider some thoughts.

First, healing of the soul is much more important than healing of the body. Had Jesus only healed the crippled man’s legs, he would have gone home still crippled. He would have been crippled in his heart. Had he lived another forty years and died, he could have told others about what Jesus did to his legs, but with a crippled heart, he would have never been with the Lord on the other side. Healing the soul is much more important than the body.

We often get that backwards. How many times do we pray for a co-worker’s mom who has cancer. Good brethren, who do not know the co-worker, let alone, his mom, pray. And, if the Lord grants her more years, very little is ever said again. We got what we wanted, a healed body. But what if that co-worker’s mom lives on and on and dies without knowing Jesus? Wouldn’t it be better to pray that her eyes be opened to the God of Heaven and earth, so that, even if she passes through the door of death, her sins would be forgiven if she faithfully walked with the Lord.

Jesus understood the most important thing. It’s not a long life here. It’s the salvation of our souls. Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost. He didn’t come to only fix crippled legs. A long life without Jesus is really no life at all.

Second, even though Jesus recognized faith being demonstrated here, sins needed to be forgiven. Only God can forgive sins. That is the discussion immediately following this. How can Jesus forgive sins? He’s not God is He? Jesus asks, which is easier to say, ‘You have been forgiven,’ or, ‘rise up and walk.’ You and I can do neither one. Rising up and walking is much easier, even for Jesus. Forgiveness of sins implies a cross and a death necessary to pay for those sins. It is easier to say walk.

Third, as the crippled man, now no longer crippled, worked his way through that crowded house, carrying his stretcher, you can imagine the joy and excitement when he locked eyes with his friends coming down from the rooftop. It was mission accomplished. It was great happiness and joy. The Lord brings that to us. Jesus could have scolded these people for interrupting Him. He could have said, ‘You must wait your turn and it’s not your turn.’ But, He didn’t. Jesus allowed interruptions. He was never too busy to be bothered. Helping others, especially spiritually, is what the Lord was all about.

Fourth, as these friends left that day, I wonder if there was someone in the audience who had a crippled child or a crippled parent at home. How they may have wished to have brought them that day. They didn’t have the courage. They didn’t think about it. And, to see what good was done, and how so many in that audience would have had people in their lives that they wished could have been healed by Jesus.

And, to us, we must wonder, how many times do we hear a sermon and think, ‘I wish I had brought my friend to hear this.’ How many lack the courage to ask. How many are afraid that it’s too much of a bother. And, there we see lives being changed and we think, and we know, there are others we wish were there.

The Bible never follows these lives that were changed. I would love to have seen these friends all together that evening. The tears. The joy. The faith. The love. What became of that crippled man? What became of his friends? They had a brief intersection with Jesus and from that their lives were changed, likely for eternity.

And, isn’t that our story? And, we find ourselves on that cot, crippled with worry, problems and fear. Friends urge us on to Jesus. Or, we are one carrying that cot with a friend on it. We don’t know what to do. The problems are greater than we are. But we know Jesus. He can do all things. Let’s take them to Jesus.

Without these four friends, the crippled man would never had been healed. Without Jesus, the crippled man would never had been healed. When those two came together, great things happened.

It still does today, through hope, forgiveness and second chances.

Roger

05

Jump Start # 2544

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2544

Genesis 29:25 “So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, ‘What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachael that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?’”

This is a story that seems so hard for us to understand in our American culture. Jacob worked for seven years in order to marry Laban’s daughter. That alone would be a deal breaker for many young men today. Then, Laban pulls a fast one and marries off his older daughter, Leah. There are loads of questions that are hard for us to understand.

How is it that Jacob did not know until the next morning? Very possibly, Leah was covered, as many are today in the Middle East. Their entire head was covered and one could not visibly tell. You’d think by the sound of the voice, he would know. But he didn’t. He didn’t know until morning. He didn’t know until it was too late.

But what Jacob shows us is that he was not the last to marry the wrong person. People tell me this. “I married the wrong person,” or, “I guess I’m not good at picking good ones.” There are some things to consider about this.

First, the dating process is intended to lead to marriage. Here in dating, a person sees what the other person is like. You are showing character, behavior, attitude and what is important to you. Dating is much more than holding hands and kissing. If that is the extent of dating, then waking up with the wrong person will probably be in your future. Think about this for a moment:
How does the person talk about his or her parents? Are they respectful? Are they appreciative?
How does the person drive? If they are disobeying the laws, taking risks, especially with you in the car, it shows that they do not value your life very much.
How are they with finances? Are they responsible? Do they pay their bills on time? Are they cheap when it comes to giving tips at restaurants? Do they give on Sunday?
How do they treat people when things do not go well? Do they explode in anger? Are they an embarrassment? Are you always having to apologize for them?
Do they listen to you? Do they ever do what you want to do? Are they always talking about themselves?
Where are they with the Lord? Do they even care about the Lord? Does spiritual conversations make them uneasy and uncomfortable? Are they always coming up with a reason not to attend worship? Do they try to get you not to go as much as you do? Do they drink? Are they trying to push you into a sexual relationship? Are they always just talking about your body and your looks?
Can this person get you to Heaven? Do they even care about Heaven? Do they know how to get there? Can you pray together? Can you talk about the Scriptures together? If not, why are you still dating this person?

Character. Heart. Spirituality. That’s what matters. Good looks fade with time. Making you laugh will end. If there is nothing on the inside, you will soon find out that you married the wrong person. And, when that happens, what a long, miserable and painful life you will have. The fights, the battles, the stress, will become almost more than you can handle.

Second, people change in a relationship. It took me a long time to understand this. I’ve had people tell me that who they married is not the same person anymore. I doubted that. I thought they just didn’t date long enough. But I found out that I was wrong about that. People do change. We all change. I’m not the same person that I was nearly forty years ago when I got married. I’m glad I’m not that person any more. Some change for the better. Through the years the love, care and consideration has grown deeper and richer. Sadly, others have changed for the worst. Bitterness, selfishness and indifference have taken over. Rather than the marriage getting better and better, it’s become worse and worse. The person of today is not the person that you married. Seeing that person today, you’d probably pass on marrying them.

Life has a way of changing us. Tragedies, disappointments, heartache can certainly make a person turn sour. Wealth, climbing that corporate ladder can also change a person. Their values can change. Power, success and money can make a person forget about that is really important in life. But, walking with the Lord can also change us. Decades of worship, Bible study, prayer can smooth out our rough edges. It can put a heart of compassion in someone who never had that before. It can turn us into a servant. And, looking back, a person has gotten better and better as the years have rolled by. How one faces tragedies, death and heartache is so different when they are walking with the Lord.

We do change through the years. As a disciple of Jesus, we ought to be changing.

Third, what if, like Jacob, I realize that I married the wrong person? There are two answers. One is right and the other is wrong. The world would tell you to dump the wrong person and go find the right person. The world would tell you that you have a right to be happy and you can’t be happy as long as you are married to the wrong person. This is why divorce still soars. People are looking and looking for that right person, never realizing that they need to be the right person. So, often, baggage from one relationship is carried into the next, and then the next. And, that baggage belongs to us. Our attitudes. Our expectations. Drop the drama. Quit being a princess. Look in the mirror and see if there are some things that you need to work on. Be careful that you don’t listen to the world. It has the wrong answer.

The right answer is always the Lord. Before our happiness, comes our holiness. God allows divorce for only one reason, and that reason involved sin. Marrying the wrong person isn’t that reason. What is a person supposed to do? Keep manifesting the qualities that God expects from you. You don’t get a pass because you married the wrong person. Forgiveness, grace and love must be the banner under which you travel. You may need to get counseling. You may need more patience than Job. The thousands of tears that you shed are seen by the Lord. Pray and pray hard. Most of us in our vows said, “for better or worse,” and as young people standing before the preacher, we had no idea of what “worse” looked like. It can be ugly. It can be hard. It can last a long time. It can make us consider options that are not good nor Biblical. But we made a promise. Our mate may not keep their promise, but we will keep ours. Our word and our heart is the most sacred thing we can give to anyone. You promised, so keep that promise.

The hardships in marriage hurt many people. They are seen by many people. They dent our influence. They can hurt the good that we are trying to do. We must believe, as the Scriptures teach, “greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.” With the Lord as your help, you can do what seems impossible.

When you are having trouble, don’t isolate and withdraw. Surround yourself with godly people who love, support and will help you. God is good. Don’t give up on God. He is still there.

Jacob married the wrong person…sure something to think about.

Roger

04

Jump Start # 2543

Posted on March 4, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2543

2 Kings 5:11 “But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.’

Oh, Naaman. He is the subject of so many sermons. The mighty commander got a disease that he could not conquer. In the words of Humpty Dumpty, “all the king’s men and all the king’s horses” could not save Naaman. He was a doomed man. Word came, via a foreign servant girl about a prophet who could cure. Most know the story. The prophet didn’t actually come. A messenger told the commander to dip in the Jordan River seven times. Not the words he was expecting. Not the presentation he was hoping for.

This is where our verse comes in. Mad, Naaman goes away. “Behold, I thought,” he proclaimed. The prophet didn’t come. He didn’t waves his hands. He didn’t call on the name of his God. This was nothing like he thought it would be. Naaman had it in his mind how this ought to be. It wasn’t turning out that way. This couldn’t be right.

I want to journey down the road with Naaman’s expression, “Behold, I thought.” Assumptions. What we think things are or what we think things should be. Boy, I did a big one the other day. Did it in our Jump Starts. I have been cooking it hard lately, long hours. On the road a lot. Knowing what’s coming, I’ve tried to write ahead in our Jump Starts so I won’t have to skip any. And, this is where I fumbled. I assumed. I did a “behold I thought.”

Friday, I was writing about Hezekiah and God granting fifteen more years to his life. I wrote. It looked pretty good. And, I sent it out. Later, I gave it another look over. There it was. A major assumption that just wasn’t so. I had said that Hezekiah got a disease in his feet and died. That was the wrong king. It was Asa who had the bad feet. Hezekiah showed off the treasures of Judah to the Babylonians and for that God was set to punish the nation. Hezekiah, as far as I know, never had any feet problems. I was on the road and not at a place to do much about it. Then emails came. Nice. Kind. But gentle reminders that I got my kings mixed up. I hate being wrong about Bible things. That bothers me terribly. I doubt anyone would lose their soul because they went through life thinking Hezekiah had bad feet instead of Asa. Just a historical blunder, however, it happened because Mr. Roger didn’t slow down enough to check the facts. The ready “recollection” didn’t work so well that day.

And, all of this takes us to the much larger subject of assumptions. A person can lose their soul because of wrong assumptions. A person can mess things up really bad because they have always heard things a certain way or they have just always assumed it to be true.

Those Bereans come to our mind. They searched the Scriptures daily to see if things they were hearing was so. They looked. They did their homework. They understood the final answer was in the word of God. They didn’t rest upon assumptions. They didn’t just accept things because someone said it. They fact checked it with the word of God.

So, here are some simple take a ways from all of this:

First, your preacher isn’t always right. He tries to be. And, most times, he probably is. But, it’s a easy trap to fall into to assume that he always is. God’s word is always right. Always. So, I want people to bring their Bibles to worship. I want people to be following along as I preach. I want people to follow things because the Bible says so, not because I say it is so.

Second, many shortcuts lead to dead-ends. When teaching someone who doesn’t know the Bible, go over your verses ahead of time. Take the time to be accurate. Look. Study. Consider. When teaching classes, giving an invitation, preaching, your use of passages is more important than your illustrations, powerpoint or even what you say. It’s God and His word that will save someone. Take your time. Be thorough. Get it right.

Third, don’t ever settle or accept the “it’s in the Bible somewhere” concept. Find out where. In Luke four, Jesus opened the book and found the place where it was written. You do the same. Find where it is written. If you do not know, then maybe you should not share that comment. Maybe it’s not in the Bible. Maybe you thought it was in the Bible.

Fourth, when someone corrects you, be kind about it. Be thankful about that. Better to be corrected, than to be wrong. Better to learn and know than to go on with something that isn’t correct. We preachers are not perfect. In fact, we are not the smartest ones in the church building about the Bible. Now, if you know someone made a mistake, be kind about. Don’t blister the person. Don’t destroy him. Sometimes when we preachers are talking fast, our minds and tongues can’t keep up with each other. Things come out sideways and backwards and sometimes upside down. Don’t make it a capital offense. Help the guy out.

Naaman stands opposite of Jesus who said you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Knowing and guessing. Knowing and assuming. Knowing and “beholding I thought.” There is a difference. We can know. We can do better. We must.

Roger