09

Jump Start # 2916

Posted on September 9, 2021 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2916

Acts 8:12 “But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.”

The other day I was going through some ledgers where I keep record of sermons that I have preached. Each week I record the title, the date and the place. Many preachers write those things on the back of the sermon itself. Not me. I keep my info in ledgers. I was looking at the year 1998, some twenty-three years ago. I was on a journey looking for something specific. But in flipping through the pages of that ledger it made me think about all those sermons. Lots of sermons. Lots of sermons since 1998. And, of course, two questions popped in my mind. I wonder if anyone remembers any of those sermons. Then, I wonder if anyone was helped by those sermons. A lot of time when into thinking, researching and writing those sermons. Most were preached just one time and that was it. They won’t be preached again. I have them and probably need to toss them in a large fire someday. But it’s hard to part with them. They were more than just work, they were part of me.

Our verse tells us about Philip. He was in Samaria. He was preaching up a storm. He was preaching about the kingdom of God. There was good news about the kingdom. It was possible for even Samaritans to belong to that kingdom.

What we have are the three key and necessary aspects that lead to salvation. A message was preached. That was Philip’s job. Bring the book, is what preachers must do. Don’t preach yourself. Don’t promote yourself. Don’t take the focus off of the cross. Second, people listened. The greatest message does little good if no one can hear it. The people had a heart to listen and to believe. When the message and an open heart intersect, great things will happen. And, that leads to the third aspect, salvation. Only God can bring salvation. Philip can preach about it. The Samaritans can believe in it. But, only God can save. The bridge from God to us, that we must travel, is the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Preach it. Listen to it. Do what it says. Obey it. Then, you will find God meeting you with His saving grace. Take the gospel out, and you’ll not find God. Remove the listening ear and the believing heart and you won’t find God.

Now, why is all of this important? Modern thinking has moved away from preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh, they preach, but it’s not the Gospel. They preach a message of laughter, good times, gathering, connecting, making friends, but what is left out is the need to change. What is left out is the message that we are sinners and that we need Jesus Christ. What is left out is Bible doctrine, obedience, and believing God as He as revealed Himself. Salvation has switched from obedience in Christ, to feeling good about yourself and life. I’m certain the rich farmer in Jesus’ parable in Luke felt good about himself. His life was all mapped out. He forgot one detail, God. He never thanked God. He never included God. He never obeyed God. And, when his soul was called that very night, he was cast into eternity unprepared. He was successful here but a failure there. He had everything taken care of here, but he had nothing taken care of there.

God cannot meet us with His saving grace if we no longer preach the good news of His message. God cannot redeem us and forgive us if we are believing things that are made up and not based upon His word. We may feel good. We may have a blast. We may have everything planned just so. But, what we have failed to see is that we are not saved. We do not have the saving grace of Christ because we have not heard the Gospel message and we have not believed and obeyed that message.

Every generation has had preachers. Sermons have filled the air on Sundays. Time passes. Those preachers move to the other side of life. The sermons are put in a box and later tossed. Was any good done? What is the measure of success?

At the back of my property I have some tall, tall trees. Oaks. Beech. Hickory. Tall and straight those trees stand. They were standing there before my house was built. They were standing there before the roads were put in my neighborhood. They were standing there before the internet wires were put in the ground. They were there for a long, long time. Seasons of rain and sunshine have allowed those trees to grow so tall. And, those mighty trees have been nourished not by just one spring rain, but generations of rain. It wasn’t one sunny day that made them stand tall, it was years of sunshine. And, so it is with sermons. Likely, not one sermon provided all that you needed. But like the rain and sun, it was right for the moment. And, today you stand so tall because of years and years of sermons, articles, classes and personal study. You have fed you soul and protected it and your soul has grown. It has grown strong. It has grown tall. And, like the trees in my yard, your soul has become a blessing to others. How did you get that way? Years and years of goodness flowing into your heart. The right choices. The proper spiritual diet.

Sermons…they have a place. They are always needed.

Roger

08

Jump Start # 2915

Posted on September 8, 2021 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2915

Psalms 103:2 “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits.”

Our verse today is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, from a technical sense, it is the middle verse in the King James Bible. There are 15,550 verses before this and 15,550 verses after this. Knowing that is interesting and might get you a few points in a game of trivia. However, knowing that won’t give you a leg up into getting into Heaven. I wonder sometimes if we have filled our heads with all kinds of fascinating tidbits about the Bible, but have failed to have our hearts touched and changed by the Lord.

This leads to the more important and interesting aspect of this verse. This verse is pointed towards the Lord. He wanted to remember all the benefits of God. He wanted to remember how God had been there for Him. He wanted to remember the blessings of the Lord. And, remembering these things would cause his heart to “bless” the Lord. Blessings do not only come from Heaven. They come from our soul as well. To bless the Lord is to praise Him. To bless the Lord is to honor and exalt Him.

Forget none of His benefits. Let’s run through a list of them:

  • The gift of today. That is a blessing from the Lord. Use it well.
  • The gift of health.
  • The honor of being loved by God.
  • The privilege of grace and forgiveness.
  • The promises that God has made.
  • The wonderful fellowship with God’s people.
  • The joy of family and friends.
  • The blessing of living in this country.
  • The treasure of the Bible.
  • The beauty of prayer.
  • The blessing of having godly shepherds watching over us.
  • The delight of worship.
  • The honor of being called a child of God.
  • The beauty of nature.
  • The trust that God places upon us.
  • The enduring nature of God’s kingdom.
  • The powerful way God’s word works on our hearts.
  • The beauty of how we have changed through Jesus Christ.
  • The wonderful way forgiveness works among us.
  • The kindness of the Lord.
  • Prayers answered.
  • Blessings we have not asked for such as rain and sunshine.
  • The patience of God.
  • The joy of singing hymns.
  • The clear example and patterns God has left for us to follow.
  • How God drives out fear, worry and doubt from our hearts.
  • The resurrection of Jesus.
  • What Heaven must be like.

Running through that list ought to put smiles upon our faces and a prayer of gratitude on our lips. God has been good to us. White or black, young or old, male or female, rich or poor—these truths and these blessings belong to us. God has been good to us.

Lists like this remind us. Lists like this takes us to deeper thoughts and longer lists and forgotten blessings. And, from this ought to arise a couple of things.

First, we ought to complain less. Look what the Lord has done for you! Stop looking at the other guy and lift your eyes heavenward. You are blessed. You are cared for. You are loved. Ancient Israel took their eyes off the Lord and started looking back to Egypt. They believed life in Egypt was better. They were the first revisionist of history. Had they forgotten? They were crying to get out of Egypt. Bricks made without straw. Oppressive labor. Slaves. And, they wanted to go back to that?

Second, we ought to worship God more. Not just on Sunday with others, but everyday. We ought to be thankful to the Lord. We ought to be submissive and obedient to the Lord. Our lives need to reflect hearts that love the Lord.

The middle verse—a great reminder of something that we ought never to forget.

Roger

07

Jump Start # 2914

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2914

John 19:16 “So he then handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.”

  The Gospels portray Pilate as weak. He is put in a corner by the Jews and he caves in to their demands. Saving his own neck was much more important than a common Jewish nuisance by the name of Jesus. So, bowing to the cries of the Jews, Pilate hands Jesus over. But this isn’t the last time Pilate hands Jesus over. After the Lord’s death, Joseph, a wealthy secret disciple askes Pilate for the body of Jesus. The text says, “Pilate granted permission.” He handed Jesus over, once again.

Historically, rulers often charged families a price in order to have the corpse returned to them. But, here, possibly out of respect, knowing that Jesus was innocent, or just wanting this thing to go away once and for all, he gives Joseph the body of Jesus. And maybe Joseph was the one to approach Pilate because he had the financial means to pay if Pilate was going to charge. But he didn’t. He handed the Lord over.

Pilate could have released Jesus, but he didn’t. Pilate could have charged Joseph, but he didn’t. And, like Pilate, many today want to just keep handing Jesus over. This is how it works:

  • In many homes, the role of teaching the children God’s way is handed over to the church. Mom and dad are too busy and don’t want to get involved with that. Other times, mom and dad do not know themselves and do not know where to begin teaching their children. So, they pass Jesus on to the church. Let the church do the teaching. The problem with that is that Bible classes are offered twice a week generally. Two hours a week—that’s it. How much tv are the kids getting? How many hours with friends? How much free time with tablets, internet and social media? Jesus has been handed off for someone else to deal with.
  • Within the home, much too often, dads hand Jesus off to mom. Dad is into sports. Dad isn’t interested in Jesus. So prayers, Bible reading, and learning the principles of God fall to mom. The apostle put the responsibility of bringing children up in the nurture of the Lord on dads. And, typically, dads punt that responsibility to moms. “I’m not good at teaching,” he says. Or, “I’ve worked hard and I’m tired.” And, once again, Jesus is handed off.
  • Sometimes elderships hand Jesus off to the preacher. A question arises among the members. A situation comes to the forefront. A problem. A concern. Rather than setting up a time to study the Bible with the people involved, the shepherds hand Jesus off to the preacher. “Preach a sermon on this,” can be more than an idea. It could be a disguise for “do this for us.” Most preachers gladly open the Bible and will meet any challenge. But there are times when leaders must move to the front and lead. A question that is asked to them needs to be answered from them. But, too often, Jesus is handed off.
  • The learning of the Bible can be handed off from the members to the preacher. Rather than everyone studying their Bibles and searching the Scriptures daily, Sunday becomes a period when the preacher shares what he knows and others allow that to be the only way that they learn and grow. Spoon fed works well with little babies. But as one ages, he need to grab that fork for himself and feed himself. Don’t be relying upon others to tell you what to believe. Look. Learn. Grow yourself. But, too often, Jesus is handed off.

We see this, but what can be done about it? How can we stop passing Jesus down the line? How do we stop handing Jesus off?

  • First, learn to read and study your Bible yourself. Find a reading plan. Stick to it. Use it. Grow.
  • Second, step up to your responsibilities. If you are a dad, if you are a parent, then the spiritual well being of the little ones falls to you. If you don’t know what to do or how to do it, ask for help. There are tons of resources that will help you.
  • Shepherds, when asked a question by a member, set up a time and get with that person. Do your homework ahead of time. If you don’t know, seek, ask, find out. If you don’t like to do this or don’t want to do this, then possibly you are in the wrong role. Maybe you’d be better serving as a deacon. Maybe leading people is not your thing. Handling problems, working through situations, those are the tasks that comes with shepherding.

Pilate handed Jesus off, but what he didn’t hand off was his responsibility. The same follows with us. We can kick the can down the road and give someone else the job we are supposed to do. That other person might even do a great job, even better than we could. However, we are still responsible. The obligation falls to us.

Handing Jesus over—whether to do a favor, or as an act of kindness, either way, doesn’t set well, when we are the ones who are supposed to step up to the task before us.

Roger

03

Jump Start # 2913

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2913

Hebrews 10:25 “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.”

NOTE: Monday is a holiday. There will not be a Jump Start that day.

The other day I read a short piece about Gus Nichols, a long ago preacher from generations past. Gus was baptized in 1901. In the article he said that in fifty years as a Christian, he had only missed four Sunday morning worships, and that was because he was ill. He went on to say that he didn’t decide to attend last Sunday, nor the Sunday before. He said that decision was made fifty years ago.

Those thoughts bring us to our verse today. There was a time when preachers talked about attendance. That isn’t done much today. I hope we are just not getting more and more lax about things like this. Assembling with the saints is important and it needs to be stressed to our children and taught to our new converts. Good things happen when we attend. Fellowship, encouragement and instruction are just a few of the upsides to attending. We certainly need those things.

It could be that through the years we just have not talked enough about the value of attending. The covid pandemic has led many to stay in and possibly stay in much longer than they should. One can watch a video but what’s missing is the fellowship and the encouragement. You can’t get that through a screen. You need faces. You need touches. You need smiles. You need deep conversations. You need face to face.

The issue that the Hebrew writer address is more than one missing a few Wednesday nights. Some had quit. They were not assembling at all, period. The layers of trouble that followed the Christians wasn’t worth it. Being a Jew was much easier. Life was good as a Jew. In their twisted thinking, they could still follow God, love Him and be devoted to Him, but under the Jewish way of doing things. Back to the Sabbath. Back to Jerusalem. Back to animals sacrifices. Why not? It worked before. It worked for their parents.

The answer to all of that is the book of Hebrews. Going backwards is just that. Back to a hopeless life. Back to a life without forgiveness. Back to living without a Savior. Back to the law. And everything connected to Jesus was superior.

So the warning from the text is, don’t forsake assembling together. You need to come and worship God. You need it. The church needs you. All of my life I have assembled with saints on Sunday. When a student at a state university, I had to get rides to the church building. For decades and decades, Sunday has always been special. I always know how many days it is to Sunday. But that’s me. Not everyone is like that. Why is it hard for some to assemble on Sunday?

First, they may not have been shown the upside value of worshipping together. Some view assembling for worship as if there is nothing else going on, then we might show up. This doesn’t bother them. They haven’t understood the commitment that comes with being a N.T. Christian. They are still in the mode of receiving things, never realizing that their presence is an encouragement to others.

Second, some are just too tired on Sunday. It’s the only day they have to sleep in, so that’s what they do. They sleep. But a little arranging of the schedule and priorities will change much of that. Get to be early on Saturday and one won’t be so tired on Sunday. The thoughts of Sunday begin as early as Friday and Saturday. As weekend plans are made, they ought to be shaped around worshipping God. Where are we going to worship on Sunday. From that, as family and friends get together over the weekend, one must know when to recognize the time and head to bed. Saturday Night live generally leads to Sunday morning dead. Put some effort into this. Work on this.

Third, get up early on Sunday. Again, this is hard for some. You’ll see some dragging in late to worship, half asleep and the worship period is nearly over before they are with it. God deserves better than that. This may come from not understanding what worship is. It’s not sit and be entertained. It’s not a show to watch. You are there to honor, praise and worship God. What have you brought to do that? You may sit on a pew, but that does not mean that you have worshipped God. You come to give something to God. You need to give Him your best. Thinking about that and preparing for that ahead of time will help you so much as you worship the Lord. Get up early. Get down to the church house early. Get your mind rolling with thoughts about the Lord and His love for you. Read some passages. Say a few prayers.

Fourth, from our verse we learn that habits are established. Our texts tells us that some were in the habit of forsaking. They missed more than they were there. But we can do just the opposite. We can develop the habit of attending. Every Sunday, we are there. Not to be in worship, feels strange and odd. Our heads tell us that something is just not right. These good habits help us. We become closer to the people of God. The hymns, though not inspired, sure encourage, remind and teach us. Those hymns can help us as we sing them to ourselves as we are away from each other. You’ll hear passages in worship that you have not thought about. Those might be the very things you need to answer questions that you have had.

Get up and get going. Sunday is coming. Be thinking about that, today.

See you Sunday!

Roger

02

Jump Start # 2912

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2912

Acts 8:21 “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.”

Lately I have been writing these Jump Starts several days in advance. As I write this one, it comes the day after a deadly suicide bombing in Afghanistan that killed multiple U.S. servicemen. There is a deadline to leave that country. There is a rush to get all our citizens out. This who fiasco has been layered with mistakes and problems.

Our Jump Starts do not travel down the road of politics. That’s a lane I try to stay out of. But what has happened leads to a great spiritual lesson for us. It is first shown to us from our verse today. The apostles came to Samaria. One must wonder if they had been back since that day Jesus led them there. Philip was preaching up a storm in Samaria. Many were listening and changing because of the word of Christ. The apostles came to lay their hands on some of the believers so they could receive the Holy Spirit. Philip could not do that. This Philip was not one of the apostles.

Simon the sorcerer, now a believer saw what the apostles were doing. He wanted what they had. It wasn’t the gift of the Holy Spirit, but the power to give it to others. That would have put Simon in a prominent place. He like prominent places. He offered to buy this power from the apostles. Peter immediately rebuked him and told him that he was in the bond of iniquity and the gall of bitterness. His heart, Peter tells us, was not right with God.

And, this is where our thoughts take us today. What are we to do when we stand beside Simon? What are we to do when we have made a mess of things? This can manifest itself in many ways. It can happen at home where the husband, chasing some get rich quick schemes, totally messes up the family finances. I’ve known some who lost their entire life’s savings by getting into unsafe and risky investments. But, once that has happened, what does a person do? There are times when a person has moved his family across country for what was thought to be a great job and a great opportunity only to find out it wasn’t. Now, what does a person do?

Here are some thoughts:

First, Simon was a new convert. Don’t expect a new convert to understand things. Simon did not know that one cannot buy, purchase, borrow or steal the gifts and power of God. That can’t be done. He thought it could. New converts can say things that are not Biblically accurate. They may not understand how the church operates, the role of shepherds or even what a congregation is to do with the money collected. Peter shut Simon down. There was no discussion taking place. Simon was out of line and Peter was letting him know that. More Bible studies and more teaching is what must follow. A new convert must not be left to their own.

Second, when we have messed things up, it’s time to be honest. This is hard. Pride wants us to save face. Pride leads us to hiding what has happened or pointing the finger to someone else. But recovery from a mistake begins when we are honest. You’ll find more sympathy, support and help when you are honest than when it is discovered and you have been kicking the can down the road or trying to keep it from others. Being truthful may bring a heap of criticism, complaining and harshness directed towards you. You messed up. But being honest will help you from making mistakes like that again.

Third, listen to sound godly advice and do what is right. Peter told Simon to repent. Simon was now broken. He begged Peter to pray for him. So often the mistakes and messes we get ourselves into is because we did things without seeking advice. We thought we knew what was best, but we didn’t. And, now that we have fallen into a deep hole, we need help to get out. This will humble us. This will change us. This will lead us to the right steps. Prayer must be included in this. God must be invited in.

Fourth, some mistakes take only a moment to create, but they can take months, even years to recover from. This is why decisions such as switching jobs, moving out of state, marrying someone, going to a college must be thought out and looked at from several vantage points and perspectives. The glitter of gold can blind us to some real spiritual dangers that we fail to see. This is why talking things out, seeking advice, being transparent is always the best road to travel. Some people live with their mistakes the rest of their lives. A foolish dare leads to a pregnancy, a DUI, an addiction, an arrest. Those things just don’t go away. Simply saying, “I’m sorry,” doesn’t rewind what happened. Consequences follow choices. The wrong choices will lead to the painful consequences of sorrow and misery.

I don’t know how our country is going to get out of this mess in Afghanistan. But, greater than that, how are you going to get out of the mistakes and messes you have made? Jesus is always the door. Jesus is always the answer. Jesus is always the help.

Adam and Eve sure made a mess of things. Satan and the serpent were gone. It took God to come and clean up everything. He sure does love us, even when we have ignored Him and followed a serpent.

Roger