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Jump Start # 2727

Posted on November 30, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2727

2 Chronicles 25:9 “Amaziah said to the man of God, ‘But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?’ And the man of God answered, ‘The Lord has much more to give you than this.’ Then Amaziah dismissed them, the troops which came to him from Ephraim, to go home; so their anger burned against Judah and they returned home in fierce anger.”

Amaziah was the young king of Judah. He was building an army to go into battle against Edom. He hired 100,000 soldiers from Israel to be part of this army. When the prophet advised against this plan, the king sent the hired soldiers home. They were mad, as our verse today shows. On the way home, these angry soldiers plundered villages belonging to Judah. They killed 3,000 citizens. Amaziah then turns to fight Israel. Judah was defeated, because the king had followed the gods of the Edomites.

Now all of this makes for good Bible history, but there is more to it than that. Amaziah demonstrated poor leadership over and over. He was wishy-washy. Sometimes he listened and other times he didn’t listen. In his defeat by Israel, part of the Jerusalem wall was torn down and the temple and the palace were raided and robbed. We often think this only happened by the Babylonians and later the Romans. But before those occasions, it was Israel who devastated Judah.

And, what we learn from this is the need for powerful leadership. It’s lacking in homes today. In many homes, the kids are as much in charge as the parents. It’s lacking in our government. From top to the bottom, we don’t see good leadership. And, even in the church today, leaders are lacking. Some are too busy to put in the time needed to lead. Others act more like deacons than leaders. Some think leadership is a power trip that allows them to boss others around. And, when good leadership is missing, the people are adrift not knowing what direction they are headed.

Here are some steps that Amaziah forgot.

First, think it out. Ideas seem good in our minds but we need to put some time and thought behind those ideas. We need to consider all the different aspects before we put the plan into action. This is true of the home, the nation and the church. How many, on a whim, decide to move. They are tired of their house and want something better. So they move to a house they like. The drive to work is a lot longer now. The kids are in a new school and they don’t like it. The price of the new place is pushing the budget. Within a year, they are looking to move again. They didn’t think things out.

Second, talk it out. Ideas may seem good to us, but to others, it’s not such a good idea. They remind us of perspectives that we forgot to consider. They remind us of all the costs involved or what impressions may be left with others. Amaziah hired the troops from Israel before he talked to the man of God. He seemed to get the order out of order. He should have consulted with God first and then did the hiring. Talking things out in a marriage and in a church can keep us from making bad mistakes. They can keep us focused where we need to be. They can remind us of what we forgot. They can slow us down and make sure we are careful in what we are doing.

Third, be consistent. Now, this needs to be qualified. If one is on the wrong path, there is no reason to stay on that path until you hit a brick wall. Turn around and get going the right direction. Other than stopping because it’s not working or it’s wrong, one needs to be consistent. Amaziah got 100,000 valiant soldiers extremely angry with him for hiring them and then not using them. It was a waste of their time. And, when leaders are go one way and then back the other way, it leaves the impression that they do not know what they are doing. If the leaders are lost and clueless, having them as leaders isn’t an advantage. After a while people will stop respecting leaders because they fail to lead.

Fourth, lead. That’s what leaders are supposed to do. This is true in the home, the government and the church. Leading is not about doing what the leaders want, but what’s best for the people they are watching over. They must not be swayed because something is easy or it will bring the least about of criticism towards them. Those who are in the role of leadership must have thick skin. They cannot be pressured to change their minds because someone has a loud voice or makes threats to leave. Sticking to your guns is leadership. They must be able to see what others don’t. They are looking both at the big picture and what’s down the road.

Leaders must be examples. Amaziah failed at this. His heart was leaning toward idolatry and his choices hurt the nation. Leaders must be kind. Leaders must be thoughtful. Leaders must have the heart of the people in their minds and as they make every decision. Leaders must know where they are headed. They must know what direction to travel. The good shepherd in Psalms 23 knew where the green pastures and quiet waters were. He was a true leader.

The times we are in are taking us down new roads that none of us have ever traveled. Our nation, homes and congregations are needing leaders to rise up and clam worried hearts and set the course that will get us safely through this storm. The voice of the leader needs to be heard. People need to see that weathered, tough leader, still at the helm, even though the waves are crashing around us, the wind in blowing hard and the rain is descending in buckets. He’s there. He’s not left his post. With God as his help, the leader will get us safely through.

Roger

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Jump Start # 2726

Posted on November 27, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2726

Philippians 4:21 “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you.”

People—we all have them in our lives. We refer to them as family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, brethren in church. Paul had them in his life. They helped Paul in so many ways. They made it possible for Paul to do what He did so well. They were messengers who carried things to and from him. They were reliable, dependable and willing. Paul was sending people here and there and it seems that they always went. They didn’t throw a fit. They didn’t complain about not wanting to go. Travel was rough, even dangerous and life threatening back then. A kingdom started and grew because of the tireless efforts of those people surrounding the apostles.

Coming off of Thanksgiving, we need to be thankful for the quality people in our lives. The church is not pews, lights and thermostats. It’s people. It’s young ones and old ones. It’s new faces and familiar faces. It’s leaders who are ready to answer our questions and hear our concerns. It’s preachers who always seem to know where that certain verse is that we just can’t find in our Bibles. It’s deacons who are running about making sure all the lights light and the heat heats and everything is polished and ready for worship. It’s song leaders who are humming a tune that they are about to open worship with. So many people busy doing things on a Sunday morning so our worship runs smoothly, Biblically and is encouraging.

All of us have had wonderful people in our lives that have brought smiles when we were not smiling. They were there to lift us up when we were down and nearly out. They reminded us. They encouraged us. They showed us. They shared with us. They taught us. They helped bring out the best in us. We are what we are because of others.

First, there was a time in our lives when we really needed the help of others. The new Christian. The new parents. The new shepherd. Someone to show us the ropes. Some to take the time to develop us. Someone to answer our many questions. Someone who believed in us and gave us a chance. We have all been there. Those faces, those names, those wonderful people who loved us so much.

Second, even today we need quality people in our lives. Our questions are not so simplistic today. Our concerns are much deeper today. The pandemic has illustrated how important interaction with others is. It has opened our eyes to what fellowship is. It has made us miss each other and shown how important each of us are.

Third, all around us today there are others who need you. There are those who are right where you were ten or twenty years ago. You hear them asking the same questions you once asked. You see them trying to figure things out in their minds just as you did. And, just like others did for you, you are patient, giving them a chance and are there to help them. You do this because others have done this for you. You do this because this is the right thing to do. You do this because someday you want these people to do the same thing for others.

Ahead of us, besides us, and behind us—just like driving down a highway, so it is with the people in our lives. We are always learning from those who are ahead of us. We are sharing with those beside us and we are helping those who are behind us. That’s fellowship. That’s love. That’s the church.

All around us are people. People that we love. People that Jesus died for. People that we long to be in Heaven eternally with us. Around Thanksgiving, it’s easy to be thankful for things, and we ought to be. We couldn’t live without food, water and shelter. But greater and more eternal than things are people. And, when you are thankful, it makes you honor them, appreciate them, cherish them and do all that you can for them.

Thankful…thankful for YOU.

Roger

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Jump Start # 2725

Posted on November 25, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2725

Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace of Christ, to which you were indeed called in one body, rule in your hearts; and be thankful.”

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. It will certainly look much differently for many folks. Many traditions such as heading to a movie theatre will be altered. Some may even think, “there’s not much to be thankful for in this messed up year that we’ve had.” School at home. Work at home. Worship at home. Masks everywhere you go. And, the virus is spiking all over the country. How can we be thankful?

I know some families that have had funerals this year. Even in that, things were so different. I know some who have loved ones in nursing homes and the only contact has been peering through a window. I know some who have lost jobs this year. I know some congregations that had all kinds of trouble this year, much of it about masks and whether or not someone has the right to enforce wearing them. Sports with no one in the stands. An election that has many wondering if it was right and fair. Be thankful? Really? For what? For this?

Our passage today calls for us to be thankful. Written by an apostle who was in a Roman prison. His prison epistles, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians are filled with thoughts of thankfulness and joy. This was not a miserable person. This was not a person who felt that life cheated him. This was not someone who saw only the bad breaks in life. Be thankful. Be thankful for 2020. Be thankful in the midst of a storm. Be thankful in a pandemic. Be thankful when things are not as you would want them to be. How spoiled we must be if we can only be thankful in the sunshine.

Here is my short list for you to think about:

First, you are still here. Be thankful. Maybe you had Covid-19. You are still here. Maybe things have been inside out for you. You are still here. Maybe it’s been tough turning your house into a school room, an office, and a house of worship. You are still here. A live dog is better than a dead lion, Solomon tells us. Easy to think, ’yeah, I’m still here, but so is the pandemic.’ Lots of problems are still here. Sin is still here. But so is the Lord. You can worship. You can pray. You can do good. God has kept you here for a reason. Be thankful for that.

Second, you are part of the amazing kingdom of God. Nothing, absolutely nothing can destroy this kingdom. God promised that in Daniel. Wars come and go. Kingdoms come and go. Pandemics come and go. But, God’s kingdom remains. And, you are part of that. You are part of something eternal, big and powerful. God loves His kingdom. Sometimes we view the kingdom through the walls of our church building. That’s too limited a view. God’s kingdom is global. There are saints in Norway, Philippines, Africa, America, and Europe. There are so many Christians that no one place could hold all of us. And, great things are being done every day. People are being converted. Lives are changing. The word is being sent out worldwide every day. And, to think, you are a part of all of this. You help make it possible. You are on this amazing team. You are part of something large, eternal and divine.

Third, this storm of 2020 may well be the hands of Satan. We don’t know. But if it is, is this the best he can do? We are still standing. We are still praying. We are still worshipping. Yes, we preachers have had to do more videos than we like, but it’s ok. Yes, we’ve had to make some adjustments about seating and touching, but it’s ok. Satan shook the tree and maybe a few fell, but not you and not me. Looking back, his fastball wasn’t that fast. Plans are being made for next year. We are not hiding in a cave like Elijah was. We are not wringing our hands in despair. Onward we go. The Lord has been with us and will continue to be with us. Faith is not shaken nor destroyed. Hope is not abandoned nor given up. We are marching to Zion.

Fourth, this year has opened our eyes to things that we may have taken for granted such as fellowship, worship, and being together. Sometimes things are not fully realized until they are taken away. Then we see how wonderful they were. We’ve learned that worship services is much, much more than just getting information from the pulpit. Hearing babies cry, seeing older folks coming in, the teens, the young couples, the shepherds, the busy deacons—that’s what we are. It’s not a building. It’s not pews. It’s us. Family, whether physical or spiritual is important. Bless be the tie that binds our hearts together. Worship comes from our hearts and it’s not locked in a building. Everywhere and everyday our hearts are lifting Heavenward. God is good. God hasn’t forgotten us. God loves us.

Finally, we’ve learned how to adjust. Making changes is hard for some. But storms can force a person to do what he doesn’t want to do. We have found innovative ways to connect, teach, and build lives for Jesus. We’ve seen that there is more than just one way to teach a class. We’ve see that connections and communications can take place even when we are not together. We’ve found ways to encourage, help and lift hearts other than through hugs. We’ve had to put on our thinking caps. We’ve had to try some things that we have never done before. And, through this we’ve found ways that are working better than before.

Thankful…this year? In all of this? Absolutely! Positively! God has been good to us.

Roger

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Jump Start # 2724

Posted on November 24, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump start # 2724

Luke 4:13 “And so when the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.”

Our verse today is how Luke concludes the temptation of Jesus. The devil had finished, but he really wasn’t finished. There would be more attacks. He would use people. He would use questions that tried to put Jesus in a corner. The devil pushed and pushed but he never could make Jesus fall down. He left, but he was coming back.

And, that’s a lesson for us. So many are looking forward to the day when things will be normal and the world will be free of Covid-19. But that won’t happen. This virus isn’t like a weed in your yard that you spray and then it dies and it dies for good. We have a vaccine for the flu, but every year there is a flu season. The flu never goes away for good. So what this tells us is that rather than looking forward to a time when we can reset things as they once were, we now have to look at how to manage things in a covid world. Some things that we do not like leave, but they always seem to come back. Leaders of God’s people may have to make some permanent changes and adjustments to how we sit, serve and do things. I expect Adam wished he could go back to the days of Eden. But that wasn’t going to happen. The new world he lived in had things that weren’t in Eden, such as struggles, pain and death. Those were going to remain. Adam, and the rest of us, have to deal with those things.

Some thoughts for us:

First, the book of James is true that if we resist, the devil will flee. We see that in Jesus’ temptation. The devil left. But, he’d be back. And, that’s true when we resist. He never leaves for good. It’s going to be a constant battle until we leave this planet and then we will be finished with the devil once and for all.

Second, the devil has more than one trick up his sleeve. He’ll try one thing for a while. It if works, he’ll stay at it. More intense. But, if we resist, he’ll return with another trick up his sleeve. He’ll push all of your buttons until he finds the right one. It’s always a battle. We must keep our eyes open and keep close to the Lord.

Third, the adjustments we must make to deal with the world we live in often are not what we want and they are not easy. Little ones will grow up with a view of things much differently than we older ones. But it’s always been that way. There was a time, long ago, when people never locked the front doors of their homes. They went to stores and left the car key in the ignition. We’d never do that today. It’s just not safe. The world has changed and we’ve had to make adjustments. I’ve talked to many in different congregations and there seems to be a new and better way of collecting money than passing the plate down the rows. A lot of fingers touch those plates. Others are thinking about using the prepackaged Lord’s Supper as a permanent way of observing the Lord’s Supper. Less touch by others the better. This will make a shift in the number of men needed in scheduling. This will require more behind the scenes in getting it all set up. Adjustments. Making things safer, more efficient, and more healthy.

Fourth, some do not do well with changes. This is seen when a congregation moves to a new location. Some fight and drag their feet and never do like the new place. This is seen when a congregation changes preachers. Some just never warm up to the new guy. Some are always comparing the new one with what the old one did. And, when we don’t do well with changes, we resist unity and connecting as God wants us to. Some, decades later, continue to talk about how things used to be. And, we wonder if we will do the same with conversations about covid? Will we continue to talk about how we used to have worship and how we used to do things? Some things may never go back to the way they once were.

Finally, one of the great lessons we learn from Jesus is that He continued to faithfully serve His Father. Tempted or not. Pressured or not. People following Him or not. Easy or not. And, that’s the lesson for us. How we do things is not nearly as important as what we are doing. We will continue to bow before the Lord, honor Him and walk closely with Him. The pre-covid and post-covid way of worshipping may have some differences, but worship will remain the same. Worship comes from our insides. Worship is built upon hearts that love the Lord.

Satan left for awhile. He was coming back. He always does. But one day, as we say goodbye to this world, we will say good riddance once and for all to that ole’ Devil. He’ll be out of our minds, out of our way and out of the world we will be living in.

Roger

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Jump Start # 2723

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2723

Genesis 13:9 “Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.”

Our verse today is part of the conversation that Abraham had with Lot. They were traveling together and the land could not sustain all their flocks. The herdsmen of both men were not getting along. Trouble was about to explode on many fronts. And, here, Abraham speaks. Two wonderful and connecting qualities are demonstrated by Abraham. He shows leadership and he illustrates a generous heart that is unselfish. You put those two qualities within a person and great things will happen.

What is interesting about all of this is that in just about every way we can think, Abraham should have told Lot which direction to take his flocks. Abraham was older than Lot. Yet, that doesn’t enter the picture. Abraham was the one that God had chosen, not Lot. Abraham was on a divine mission, not Lot. Abraham had obeyed the Lord by leaving Ur. Lot was just tagging along. Rather than commanding, ordering or simply telling Lot, this is what is going to happen, he gave Lot the first choice. You pick which direction. If you move left, I’ll move right. If you move right, I’ll move left. Lot chose the plains near Sodom. They were good pastures.

Many lessons can be pulled from this wonderful story. As we head into the holiday season, let’s give some thought to generosity. The heart of a generous person. That’s Abraham. He didn’t save the best for himself.

One of the qualities of generosity is to view giving as a blessing rather than a duty. Some will ask before they give, “What’s in it for me?” What if the reply was “nothing.” Up to this point in Genesis, Abraham had been taking care of Lot. Later, after the disaster at Sodom, it would be Abraham that rescued Lot through the hands of the Lord. Lot doesn’t seem to have done much for Abraham. The generous heart doesn’t think about that. The generous heart wants to lift the load that is weighing someone down.

The heart of the generous person is willing to go the second mile. He does this even when he is tired from walking the first mile. The generous person ignores the mile markers. He is happy to make others happy.

The heart of the generous person understands that God has been extremely generous to him. He is in a small way only doing what God has already done to him. He didn’t deserve the blessings from Heaven. He is thankful, grateful and now passing on the same to others. The stingy person wants to horde all the blessings and keep everything for himself.

The heart of the generous person is kind. You see that in the flow of Abraham’s words. Rather than telling Lot, he allowed Lot to choose first. Much too often our image of leading comes from what we see in the military. Orders, commands, and not allowing much conversation in return is how most remember their days in the armed forces. You were told. You didn’t have many choices. Abraham didn’t lead that way. And, maybe in our homes and in our congregations we’ve given too many commands and not allowed people to make choices. Leadership ought to lift one up and not make on feel imprisoned or suppressed.

One of the outcomes of leadership is developing people, whether our family or our church, to get to the point where they can lead themselves. We want them to think things through and to make choices that are Biblical and right. In a family this is part of the maturing process that leads to one leaving father and mother and standing on their own. There are many grown up kids who are not grown up on the inside. They continue to make poor decisions and they continue to rely heavily upon the parents to bail them out of trouble. One wonders what will happen when the parents are no longer around.

Generosity is much more than giving something to someone. It’s a spirit and an attitude. It’s wanting others to succeed. Generosity is not about giving things as much as it is investing in people. Generosity is sitting down and showing someone the ropes that you have learned. Generosity is making things easier for those who follow. Generosity is about believing in others.

And, when you put this generous spirit in the heart of a leader, great things will happen. Each person and their story becomes important to the leader. Every journey becomes important to the leader. And, once a good heart has tasted the generosity from others, he too, wants to help where he can. We use the expression “paying forward.” That’s nice when at the drive through of a coffee shop, but you are being nice to a stranger that likely you’ll never see again.

Imagine this Genesis story if Abraham did not have the generous spirit. What if Abraham simply told Lot to move the opposite way of Sodom. Abraham was the one on the mission, so he would take the best for himself. He earned it. He deserved it. He was older and that’s just the way it works. But, Lot, sitting the opposite side, would be thinking how selfish Abraham was. That would be enough for their relationship to start pulling apart. And, had the roles changed, would Lot have come to Abraham’s rescue if he was in Sodom? One wonders.

Generous leadership. Giving of time. Giving of self. Open. Transparent. Developing. Mentoring. Growing. Encouraging. Building. It works in the home and it works in the congregation.

What a simple way of demonstrating it, you choose. You go first. Leaders are just like that.

Roger