09

Jump Start # 2693

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

Jump Start # 2693

2 John 12 “Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy made be made complete.”

I got something to tell you, that’s the thought behind this verse. But instead of writing, I want to tell you face to face. Some of the great lessons we learn from the Bible are not wrapped in the obvious, but they are tucked in layers of narrative thought. Such is what we find in our verse today.

It is easy as one gets to the end of some of the N.T. letters to just fly through the names, the greetings and the final words. Yet, as in our verse today, those final sentences hold so many wonderful and powerful lessons for us.

Today, let’s consider “face to face.”

First, there is great value in face to face conversations. Ideas can be lost as one writes. Even in phone calls, emails, and the world of instant messages and texting, nothing beats face to face. Face to face, shows that you care enough to come and talk. It’s easy to type out some message, send it and then be done with it. It takes effort, time and a bit of risk to sit down face to face. Face to face is even better than phone calls. When one is face to face, we can see eyes roll in disgust, wrinkled foreheads in confusion, see the body language and pick up on the attitudes through tones, inflections and sighs. You can’t get that on paper. You can’t get that on the text screen of your phone.

Second, face to face allows you the opportunity to explain yourself, clarify things, and hear the other person right there in the context of the conversation. Life is busy. You text me and I may not text you back for a while. You send me an email, and it may be hours later until I get to it. By then, you can get all worked up about my silence when it has been nothing more than a busy day with lots of interruptions. Sometimes what we say is not the way people hear it. A little explaining can defuse the situation and keep things from blowing up. Sometimes questions come up when we are talking with a person. That exchange of question and answers helps us to see where they are coming from.

Third, face to face allows one to earnestly plead what is important. Think about all the face to face conversations in the Bible. The prophet Nathan with King David. The eunuch and Philip. Zacchaeus and Jesus. Moses and Pharaoh. Priscilla and Aquila with Apollos. Hezekiah and Isaiah. Lots and lots of private conversations that God allows us to eavesdrop in on. We see things. We learn things. It shows us how we ought to conduct ourselves.

Consider some great times where face to face works the best:

First, imagine a couple of shepherds going to the home of a member who is falling off the rails. His attendance stinks. His attitude is indifferent. He’s spinning out of control and is in need of discipline. The old method would be to send a cold letter in the mail, telling him he best straighten up in two weeks or he’s withdrawn from. This is how most deal with those situations. But imagine, just imagine, a couple of those shepherds meeting with this man, face to face, in his home and having a conversation about his choices, his commitment, and His Lord. Certainly, it’s a lot harder to do it this way, but the results might be much different if this man saw just how much these shepherds truly cared. Help could be offered. Suggestions made. Hope planted. It could be just the thing to turn this man around and get him walking with the Lord.

Second, imagine a church wanting to hire a new preacher. But before the preacher brings his family and on a Sunday delivers his “tryout” sermon, he meets face to face with the shepherds. Not just for a short meet and greet, but dozens of times. They talk. They find out if they are thinking the same. He sees how the shepherds interact. Ideas are shared. Concerns are expressed. Lots and lots of face to face. And, finally, after all that, he brings his family and “tries out.” What a different experience that would be. What a confident and healthy feeling both sides would have. But as it is, the preacher parade continues. A new preacher and family shows up one Sunday. He preaches. The church meets at a pitch-in. The elders ask the two most important questions, “How much money will it take to get you,” and, “How soon can you start.” From that a phone call is made midweek and the preacher is hired and he walks blindly into the fog of not knowing the leaders, what they expect, nor where they are headed. And, time after time, disaster happens. Within a few months the preacher realizes what a terrible mistake he has made. Within five years he has moved on, and the process continues. More face to face would change that culture and help find the best fit for that congregation.

Third, imagine someone having a disagreement with what was said in a class, having a face to face conversation with the teacher. Instead, what often happens is that someone says things publically and things are made worse than what they really are. Emails and texts fly through the congregation which only build taller barriers. A misunderstanding becomes a major problem and sprinkled with a heavy dose of pride, feelings get hurt and people leave. Those that leave make claims that the teacher never believes. A face to face conversation would have smoothed things out very peaceably.

I have found that some will never say things to your face. But on social media they can be bold, aggressive and even offensive. That’s a bit cowardly. It’s easy to hide behind a email. Face to face brings just you and the person of disagreement. Face to face, however, offers the best opportunity to apologize, forgive and restore fellowship among two.

Finally, in teaching the disciples to pray, Jesus told them to go into the closet and shut the door. Just you and God. Face to face with God. There is no bragging when it’s just you and God. There is no hiding the truth when it’s just you and God. He knows. He already knows. He has always known. Face to face. It’s a time to be honest, humble, and penitent.

I got things to write, but I’d rather tell you face to face. Great thought!

Roger

09

Jump Start # 2692

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

Jump Start # 2692

Mark 4: 41 “And they became very much afraid and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Our verse today ends the fourth chapter of Mark. There was a violent storm on the sea. The disciples did all they could, but it wasn’t enough. They thought they were going down. They truly believed that they were going to die. Scared, they awoke Jesus who had been sleeping. Mark’s account reveals three words Jesus said, “Hush, be still.” Those weren’t magical words. Had the disciples said those same words, the storm would have continued on in intensity. It was Jesus. He is Lord of Heaven and Earth. He has all authority. No, it wasn’t the words, it was the power of God that stilled the sea.

Then our verse. Hearts pounding in fear, the sea settled and the storm over, wet, shaken, they look at Jesus and become even more frightened. No one has ever done what He just did. No one can stop storms, but He did. No one can calm a sea, but He has. Just who is this Jesus? Their minds were swirling with thoughts.

After the storm. I just finished a short little book called “The Post Quarantine Church.” There are about five or six sentences that are good, and the rest, not so hot. It’s written by someone who doesn’t understand the place and purpose of the Biblical church. But what the book does create is the idea and thoughts of what happens after the storm. What happens after the pandemic is over? And, instead of waiting until we are there, it is good to start thinking, planning and envisioning what the post quarantine church will be like.

Here are a few of my thoughts:

First, experts and stats indicate that more people are injured and killed after a storm than during the storm. This is true physically. After a hurricane or tornado, people start cleaning up the debris. Live electrical wires, unsafe walls, exposed nails and things like that cause more harm to lives than the storm does. Taking that thought spiritually, once all the videos stop and the classes resume and the assembling returns, there may be more spiritual causalities than what the separation created. It’s been a long time since folks sat in a Bible classroom and many have gotten use to watching videos when time allowed, there may be some attitudes, emotions and feelings that need adjusting. There is not too much of a team spirit and being a team player when one is separate. Unity, fellowship, tolerance, getting along, subjection may be some themes that once again need to be addressed. Understanding the role of being a member and the value of gathering together are some fundamentals that may have been lost during the storm.

Second, returning to normal may not be the best thing. So many are talking about getting back to the way things were. This is a good time to evaluate how “good” normal was. Did the way we do things truly help people and reach people and move people closer to the Lord? There may be some “new” normal that come out. This is being talked about in the business community. Many are finding that working from home works. The real estate that so many businesses were leasing could be dumped and better productivity comes from the home. Restaurants are looking at better ways of using menus. Everyone touches those menus. Maybe a cleaner, safer way is better. And, for congregations, we’ve had to make many adjustments to navigate through the quarantine period. Rather than passing communion and contribution plates, which everyone touches, maybe a stationary basket for contribution and disposable communion which people pick up on their own is the way to go. Maybe offering video classes will be a permanent part of the future.

The adjustments made during the pandemic may have opened our eyes to better ways of doing things. The old normal may not have been the best way to do things. Often, we do things just because we always have. We have survived a year without Gospel meetings. Could it be that the purpose and the way we do those will now be looked at more carefully?

After a terrible storm has destroyed a home, it is not uncommon for the owners to rebuild. But what is rebuilt is often different, better and stronger than what was standing before the storm. A thought for us as we try to rebuild after the pandemic storm.

Third, the use of videos, livestream, podcasts and blogs has shown for many, many congregations that they have a wider and larger audience than what shows up on Sunday morning. For us, in the height of the quarantine, we had more than a thousand people watching our Sunday services. Even after congregations started returning to assembling, we have a continual steady number in the hundreds who are engaged with what is being sent out. We have received emails and texts worldwide. Once the storm passes, should these things stop? Ought a congregation draw the circle inward or should they continue to spread the message out as far and as wide as possible? I know the answer for us. It’s global. There are many lives being touched that will never assemble in our church building, but what is the focus and point? Build up the size of the Sunday attendance or grow the kingdom worldwide?

After the storm—there is always some cleaning up to be done. There is always some work that needs our attention. But there is also a window of opportunity to make things better than they were before. Now is the time to put some thought into that.

Roger