30

Jump Start # 3667

Posted on September 30, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3667

Revelation 3:4 “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy.”

The troubled church at Sardis could well be a reflection of many places today. A history. A name. A reputation. The thought was that they were alive. But, they were not. God declared them to be dead. A lifeless church. Yet, among them and in this lack of life, energy and passion, our verse is found. There were a few, a faithful few, who were alive. Their garments were clean. They were declared worthy.

And, today, the sad report of lifelessness still lingers. Preachers that do as little as possible, sometimes preaching old sermons on Sunday and spending the rest of the week playing. Deacons who are not spiritual and some do not even attend very often. Shepherds who are out of touch with the flock and would rather talk about ballgames than the spiritual wellbeing of the flock. And, members who are so worldly one is shocked to find out that they are supposed to be believers. Yes, after all these years, and after great lessons and warnings such as found in the text, some continue the same practices that lead to spiritual death. However, when one dies physically, you can be sure, that the family wants the preacher to tell everyone that he was a good member and preach him into Heaven.

Lets focus on that “few” in Sardis. The life in the sea of death. There are lessons to be learned.

First, they were not following the crowd. Most were dead. They were not. Whatever took life, these few were making sure that they were adding life. And, in this, we find hope for us. Rather than waiting for a savior to arise to turn the direction of the ship, do what you can to keep yourself close to the Lord and being alive spiritually. Few attend. You attend. Few pray. You pray. Few invite people into their home. You invite. Few encourage the visitors. You encourage. Few engage in Bible study. You engage by participating, taking notes and learning. Few send cards. You send cards.

You are not following what others are doing. You are doing what you know is right, helpful and encouraging.

Second, it is easy for the few to become discouraged and likewise die. Why try, the few  might say. Who cares, the few cry. But you know the Lord does. You know those who have spiritual life do. It’s hard to be life when all around you is death. It’s one thing if the dead were of the world and just didn’t care or know any better. But at Sardis, the dead were supposed to be disciples. They should have known better. They should have done better. It’s easy to complain about the lifeless members who do not seem to care. But in focusing upon that, it is easy to become what you complain about.

In a dead church, your encouragement will come from Scriptures, not those who are lifeless. It will come from other alive members. It will come from the Lord. It will come from disciples from other places. Keeping yourself going is important. One of the best ways of doing that is staying active and busy in the kingdom. If it’s not there, look beyond to other places. So many of our readers are sending these Jump Starts to others. Many have gotten our Jump Start books and have sent them overseas and to folks in prisons. Doing what you can is essential. As long as water moves, it will not become green and stagnate. The same goes for our spirits.

Third, through all of this, the apostle never suggested looking for another place to worship. Leaving the dead can seem very appealing. They don’t care, so why should I care about them, is a place we do not want to go. Keep praying for those who have lost their passion and focus. Keep doing what you have been doing. Stay with the truth and stay with the Lord.

You and your family may have to have special devotions in your home to keep yourself well fed spiritually. There are so many wonderful tools these days. A person can listen or watch a sermon every day of the week. Blogs, podcasts and many, many ways to keep yourself where the Lord wants you to be.

There was a few in Sardis. How easy it is for us to use broad generalities and declare that there is nothing good in Sardis. That’s not accurate. There were those few. I have found in a recent congregation of about a dozen people, some of the kindest, sweetest and dedicated hearts I’ve seen in a long time. Don’t judge a congregation by the size. Don’t judge the whole by the example of a few.

I wonder if the Lord were still sending letters today, if he would consider you and I to be among that faithful few or would He shake His head in disappointment because we died spiritually a long time ago.

The few—God bless them and keep the fires going.

Roger

27

Jump Start # 3666

Posted on September 27, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3666

Hebrews 12:4 “You have not resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin.”

Our passage today is a great reminder of the effort, dedication and commitment we must make to the Lord. Simply put, the writer is saying, “You haven’t tried hard enough.” How easily we give up. Any inconvenience, the least hardship, and many complain and quit.

I was reading about the Arkansas preacher, Joe Blue. He loved the Lord. He loved preaching. He often went without food because he had no money. And, the troubles he endured was amazing. One summer evening as he was preaching, there were those standing outside the meeting house throwing walnut shells at him through the open windows. In another place, still visible to this day, are the burn marks on the wood floor of an old church building, where a fuse was lit and dynamite was in the pulpit, with the attempts of killing Joe Blue. The blasting caps didn’t work and Blue went on preaching.

But our verse isn’t about persecution. It’s not about the Shadrach moments in our lives when we must stand while others are bowing. There are times like that. The whispers, the stares, the ignoring, those things hurt, but onward we march with the Lord.

The direction of our verse is about sin. Resisting sin. Yield not to temptation, as the hymn reminds us. Resisting blood, not in standing for the truth, but in fighting sin. Sometimes we might do a better job of handling hardships and opposition than we do in fighting sin.

Resisting to the shedding of blood in striving against sin. Here’s why:

First, sin will change our character. It’s hard to be strong in the Lord when we carry sin in our hearts. Either the word of God will drive the sin out of your life or the sin will drive the word of God out of your life. The two do not like each other and will not co-exist in the same heart. And, when we allow sin to dwell in us, our character changes. We become weaker in faith. Our walk is inconsistent. Compromises have been made. It will hurt us.

Second, multiple places in our New Testament reminds us that with the Lord, the fight against sin can be won. Be holy, as He is holy, Peter tells us. James says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Also, draw near to God and He will draw near to you. With every temptation, the Corinthians were told, God provides a way of escape. So, the excuse, “I couldn’t help it,” really isn’t true. You can help it. You can resist. You can flee.

Third, your mind and the environment you surround yourself with makes this harder or easier. Have you noticed that it is harder to think bad thoughts when singing praises to God with others in worship? Have you noticed that when you are really focused in a sermon, looking up passages, and thinking deep, it’s hard to sin? But alone at night, watching some worthless movie, the thoughts of wrong come easily. So, you want to resist sin, change your setting.

To the Hebrews that originally got our verse today, the shedding of blood and the resisting sin likely were tied in to the troubles they faced being a Christian. Jesus shed His blood for us. Will we shed our blood for Him? I hiked several miles the other day. Half of it was uphill. And, most of it was walking on tree roots that were sticking out of the ground. The pace was slow. My ole’ feet were tired that night. Two things helped. First, I wasn’t walking alone. My sweet wife was with me. She was always a few paces ahead of me and she’d stop and ask me if I needed a rest or a drink. I’d tell her, “no,” and we’d keep going. The other thing that helped was seeing others coming down the path. Little kids. People older than I was. They’d made it to the top. Several would tell us, “it’s not far,” or, “it’s worth it.” So, we’d keep going. Sometimes we saw some, turn around and go back. That’s what the Hebrews were thinking about doing. That’s what the devil wants you to focus on. But we keep going. And, when we stay with it, we reach our goal.

How hard are you trying? Do you allow the words of someone who is inconsiderate stop you? Do you allow a little gossip to stop you? Do you allow a little trouble to stop you? It’s easy to turn around. But you never see the view and the beauty at the top if you do. And, if you do, all that you have done so far, will be wasted.

How hard are you trying?

Roger

26

Jump Start # 3665

Posted on September 26, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3665

Ecclesiastes 3:1 “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under Heaven.”

Our verse today begins what is commonly called the “seasons of life.” What follows are a series of fourteen couplets, opposites. Birth and death. Finding and giving up as lost. Love and hate. Those are not multiple choices. If they were, we’d pick only the good stuff. Like the vows in a marriage ceremony, “sickness and health, richer or poorer,” those are the things of life.

The key to all of these expressions is “there is a time.” Knowing what time it is, makes all the difference. And, that leads to the important discussion of moving to the next chapter of your life. Our lives are like a book in one sense. And, in another sense, our lives are very different than a book. We have a starting page, “once upon a time,” our story begins. There are chapters when we were young. There are chapters when we were in school. There are chapters about clubs, sports, music in our lives. There are chapters about love. There is the chapter about marriage. And, as the long ago rhythm went, “first came love, then came marriage, then came pushing the baby carriage.” There is a chapter about careers. As we age, more and more chapters are are added to our story. There is a chapter about finding the grace of our Lord and salvation.

As one moves through the chapters of life or the seasons, as Solomon paints it for us, one thinks about the next chapter. Preparing for the next chapter of life is helpful. It keeps you aware of the changes and the adjustments that follow.

A young couple prepares for a baby coming. They may have to find a bigger place to live. As kids get to school age, adjustments are made. The kids start driving, a new chapter and some changes take place. As the kids move out of the house and you are now empty nesters, do you need a big house any longer? Adjustments. As one nears retirement, if the next chapter hasn’t been given a lot of thought or planning, those years could be a lot different than you dreamed.

Some chapters in our story are long. Some are short. There are some chapters that one doesn’t like and can be hard. The death of a child. The death of a mate. The long season with an illness. Those are chapters in the story of our lives.

As I write these words, I’m in a cabin in the mountains of Tennessee. Some of my kids and grandkids are with us. One of the things that brought me here was to think about the next chapter in my life. Things do not continue on as they are forever. Life has a way of keeping that from happening. Age, finances, desire, needs bring about changes whether one wants them or not. What’s the next chapter going to look like? Where is it that I want to end up next?

Age and finances also plays a role in mapping out the next chapter in life. At a certain point in life one realizes that some boats have sailed away and are not coming back. Reality can be a cold look in the mirror but it can also be something that opens new doors that one never thought of before.

Here are some thoughts:

First, no one knows how long the next chapter will be. We plan, but what’s coming may only be a few pages in our story. Plan anyway. There is a coming appointment with God that we will keep.

Second, one must keep the Lord at the forefront of all that we plan. What congregation will I be a part of and will they help me get to Heaven and will I be able to help them get to Heaven? What will I be able to do in the next chapter of my life for the kingdom of God?

Third, however long our book will be, there will be others who read our story. Our friends, our family, many in our fellowship will look at the choices we made and how we colored the story that we call life. Our story should never be just about ourselves. It should never be about what I want to do. Thinking of others, honoring our Lord will shape the choices that we make in life.

One day, our story here will be over. It won’t be the last page of our book, because we will live on and on in eternity. We do not have a “The End,” or, a final page to the book of our lives. Jesus died so we could live. Live here. Live now and live then. Live eternally.

The next chapter in our story…have you thought about yours? Don’t just sit back and let life happen to you, shape it by your faith, your choices and your wisdom.

The next chapter…I’ve been thinking about that.

Roger

25

Jump Start # 3664

Posted on September 25, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3664

2 Timothy 3:6-7 “For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

The apostle is advising and instructing his young friend and preaching collogue, Timothy, about some turbulent times ahead in the Ephesian church. Things were not being done publicly but privately. From house to house, error was spreading. The spiritual cancer was first seen in the lives of weak women. Rather than recognizing error, they were embracing it. But the spiritual disease would not stop there. It would continue to spread, quietly and quickly, until it became obvious to the faithful who would draw a line in the sand with the Lord and put a stop to it. But until that time, the destruction of the storm would cause a lot of havoc.

One of the characteristics found within our verses today is the phrase, “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth.” There are three layers of this that we ought to explore.

First, as the passage states, there are those who are always learning, but that learning doesn’t change them. I think about the volumes of books written about Jesus and His word, yet, so many of those brilliant minds that explained the times, the history, the language, the culture, never fully walked with Jesus themselves. Our Lord said, “you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” Yet, Timothy was warned about those who are always learning, but never getting the truth. Some just never seem to get it. Like wearing colored sun glasses, everything they see is tinted to an idea that they assume is true but has never been proven. Pride and prejudice, not just the name of a book, but a characteristic of hearts that are learning but unchanged by the gospel message.

Lest we only see denominational error here, we must be very careful that we too are not defined as always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth. Sitting in years of Bible classes, yet we continue to gossip. Hearing more sermons than the majority on this planet, yet we can seem to control our anger or remain unwilling to forgive. The ‘always learning, but never able’ may be a image that is reflected when we look into the mirror of life.

Second, there are those who are never learning. They have no interest in learning. They want to be told what to do, and like a mindless robot, they will do things without knowing why. A big segment of our fellowship knows more about the Bible than a vast number of people who stand before an audience on a Sunday morning and preach. It’s hard to learn when first, my heart has no desire to learn. More today, would rather watch a funny video than spend ten minutes reading God’s word. And, then there are those who have just a little bit of interest, and they’ll want someone else to tell them what the Bible says. Spoon feed us, works well for a baby. But one shouldn’t be spoon feeding a teenager. The same is true spiritually.

Open the day with a few passages. Just look at the words. Think about what is being said. “Where do I begin,” is a common thought. Start with Luke. Start with Mark. Start with Psalms. Read and think. Read slowly. Read carefully.

The slick message of the false teachers would not capture a heart that knows the truth. They’d recognize error. They see through the fog of inconsistencies and assumptions and opinions. The way to put an end to error is to know the truth.

Third, there are those who are always learning and always growing closer to the Lord. I saw this first hand on a recent trip. The man who preached on Sunday morning was in his 90s. He spoke from the heart and his message was clear and true. That evening, another man preached. I could see the 90 year old sitting ahead of me. As the other man preached, the 90 year old, had his Bible open, pen in hand, and he was writing and writing throughout the sermon. After all those years, he was taking notes as he listened to someone else preach. He hadn’t gained all knowledge. He might have thought, “I don’t need this stuff.” But he did. He was always learning. And, his kindness and sweet disposition expressed that he had spent a long time with the Lord. His name was Olie and the church was very small. But late in life, he was learning, teaching and showing the rest of us, how to walk with the Lord.

Learning. Some never have and never will. Some learn but do nothing with it. And, then there are some, like ole’ Olie, who never stopped learning and is a fountain of blessing because He knows the Lord so well.

How about you? Are you learning God’s word? Is what you learn, changing your heart? Sure is something to think about.

Roger

24

Jump Start # 3663

Posted on September 24, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3663

Hebrews 9:3 “And behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies.”

As the writer of Hebrews is describing layers in which Jesus is superior to the Old Testament system, he moves into the concept of the tabernacle and the holy place. Our verse identifies an aspect in which most Jews would have read about and maybe even imagined but hardly anyone ever saw it. Only the high priest, and only once a year, was allowed to cross through those curtains into the holy of holies. A few verses later, the point is made that Jesus also entered into the holies, not one made by hands and not one in which animal blood was sprinkled. And, what is interesting about this is that Jesus Himself would have never walked through those curtains in the temple. He was not allowed. He was not of Levi and not a high priest.

I wonder if anyone asked a high priest what the ark looked like and what it was like to walk behind those curtains. I also wonder if a priest felt that he was being pestered by such questions that he may have thought it was none of their business. He may have concluded, if God wanted you to see what was behind the veil, He would not have placed a veil there in the first place. But He has, and you are not allowed to see.

The death of Jesus and the tearing of that Temple curtain, symbolically showed that all people have access to God. One did not have to go through a priest. One did not have to have a priest sprinkle blood on his behalf. Most of us have seen drawing and models of what the tabernacle and temple looked like. We’ve seen depictions made by artist of what the ark in that holy room would look like. But, so few ever got to actually see it.

All of this made me think of many other things that we benefit from but rarely see. The behind the scenes story of how things came together is often not understood nor appreciated.

One would be the many hymns we sing. Song writing, there are actually two aspects of this. One is the lyrics or the words. The other is the tune or melody. A few gifted people can do both. More often, a tune and a poem or some words from others are put together and it becomes a great hymn. Some songs, this is true in the pop, country and even hymn writing, comes quickly and easily. A hymn comes to one’s mind, and the writer jots down on a napkin or piece of paper some notes. Later he works it out on a piano and fine tunes what he has. Once in a long while, the tune comes to the mind and heart of a writer and it’s nearly completed as fast as he can write it down. For most others, it’s a long and tedious process of playing the same line over and over and over until another line makes sense to him.

The tune and the words are worked out. A publisher is found. And, today, we sing those wonderful songs on a Sunday morning and they fill our hearts with great joy. Few understand and few appreciate the long, long process to birth a song. And, for most, especially in the area of hymns, there is very little compensation other than bringing glory to the Lord.

Sermons are like that as well. We gather on a Sunday and the preacher pours his heart out, hoping to match the right words and the right concepts to help us see the Lord. Some sermons need to knock the shine off of our shoes. Some sermons build us up. Some sermons encourage. Some instruct. Some warn. Some sermons take a lot of time to develop. There are words to chase and understand. There is a structure and a flow that must make sense. Then out an outline for the audience and a powerpoint for the audience and there is just a lot to building a sermon. One summed it this way. Start with an earthquake and go up from there. An introduction. Following a text. Illustrations that make sense. A conclusion to bring the audience to a response. Then the delivery. Not a monotone. Not screaming. Knowing when to pause. Eye contact.

I like writing sermons. It’s a challenge. And, every week the preacher is trying to bring his best. In the audience, we come and we listen but few know how many hours, how much research, how much thought went into making that one sermon. And, when the week is over, the preacher starts all over again.

Salvation is like this. Oh, we’ve read the passages about Jesus coming and dying on the cross. But, to know how hard that would be. To truly understand what all He endured. To see how much He loves us. I’m not sure if we will ever fully understand what all went behind bringing us safely home to the Father.

Heaven is like this. We have word pictures from Revelation about a gold street and gates of pearls. It’s described as a land where there are no tears. There is no mourning. There is no pain. That’s almost fantasy for us. We have no postcard pictures from Heaven. No travel agent has a colorful pamphlet on Heaven. Much like the Holy of Holies, we imagine. We have ideas. But none of us have truly seen it. But, we know by faith God will take care of us.

Behind the scenes…great lessons can be learned from that. And, a greater appreciation ought to come from all of that.

Roger