18

Jump Start # 3702

Posted on November 18, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3702

Luke 10:36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”

Our verse today comes from the parable of the good Samaritan. Jesus told this story to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?” This parable answers that. The ones that we would expect to step up and help, a priest and a Levite, ignored this man and went on their way. The most unlikely person, a Samaritan, not only helped out, but he went above and beyond what most would do.

And, nicely layered in the lessons we learn from this teaching, is the fact that sometimes people of the world act more Christian than the Christians do. That is a cold reality that is hard for some to deal with. With all the N.T. teachings and the wonderful example of our Lord, some still walk on the other side of the road when it comes to helping others. And, those closed hearts do more damage to a congregation than just about anything else.

There has been a death. And, very few if any in the congregation show up, bring food or show any kindness. But, co-workers and neighbors of the family shower  the grieving ones with all kinds of compassion.

A baby is born to a family in the congregation. Hardly anything is done. Yet, co-workers, who are not Christians, put together a baby shower.

Time and time again examples like this could be given. The priest and the Levite walked on the other side of the road, ignoring the wounded man. The Samaritan showed more compassion than the religious leaders. This has caused some to leave a congregation. This is all it takes to extinguish a weak faith that was flickering.

What should we learn from this:

First, we must admit that there are times we have failed. There are times I have failed. Too busy. Didn’t know the people very well. Lots of reasons or excuses we could stand upon, but the truth is, we failed. And, when that happens, learn from that. Do better. Apologize.

In a large congregation this is easy to happen. There are so many things going on and it can be too much for one person to do it all.

Second, good and strong communication within a congregation will help meet the needs that come up. Coordinate with others the taking of food. Communicate through texts and phone calls the needs so people know. Sometimes it’s not a closed heart or lack of compassion that has caused needs to go unmet, but some simply didn’t know anything about it. It’s easy these days to set up various forms of mass communication where everyone gets an email, text or phone call. Keeping people informed is important.

Third, we must realize that Christians do not have the corner on kindness and generosity. Many who have no commitment to the Lord are kind and generous. It should not surprise us that people of the world also help others. This should not be viewed as a contest, nor who reached out first. Sometimes a hurting family may mistakenly present it that way. It’s not who has done the most. The goal is to help someone who is hurting.

Finally, there is a level of help that only the Christian can bring. That is the spiritual side of things. The people of the world will talk about babies who died now becoming angels. They’ll talk about the deceased having time now to fish in Heaven. All kinds of ideas that are not founded upon the Scriptures. The help you give comes from God’s word. The Thessalonians were told to “comfort one another with these words,” as Paul addressed the death of Christians. Your knowledge in the word of God will help guide and answer questions. Your faith will encourage. Anyone can bring rolls and chicken soup. But you can bring food for the heart and soul that can make a lasting difference.

Proving to be a neighbor…it’s something that people who know us ought to know.

Roger

15

Jump Start # 3701

Posted on November 15, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3701

Proverbs 19:17 “One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.”

The mid-section of Proverbs, where our verse comes from today, can be viewed as a hodge-podge of unrelated topics put together like grandma’s vegetable soup. One might find anything in there. Wisdom from above is how these ought to be viewed. This is not a couple of old guys sitting on a bench at the local courthouse, just shooting the breeze. These are Heaven’s words.

It’s hard to teach Proverbs, especially, verse by verse. The topics flip back and forth and repeat each other often. I have found it useful to string together by theme the various Proverbial passages. Study wisdom in Proverbs. Study what the book teaches about money. Study the subject of the fool.

Here, in the nineteenth chapter we find this wonderful passage about helping the poor. Be gracious to the poor. The poor man can’t repay you, but the Lord will. Now, the incentive ought not be doing this so we get something good from the Lord. The purpose is to help a poor man. Be gracious to him.

But interestingly, helping the poor man is viewed as lending to the Lord. The CSB words this, “kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord”. Lending to the Lord, can you imagine? If the Lord were to ask us, “Can I borrow this from you?” We’d immediately say, “Certainly, Lord. You can have it.” The kindness and compassion shown to a poor man is viewed as if you were helping the Lord Himself.

That thought is repeated multiple times in the N.T. The story of the good Samaritan is wrapped around this. The judgment section of Matthew 25, where the Lord said, “I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat,” stands upon this principle. Both James and John warn brethren of telling the needy to take care of themselves while doing nothing to help them.

Some thoughts for us:

First, compassion is the key to being gracious and helping the poor. The poor man is unable to improve his situation. The poor man is likely not going to be able to repay you. The poor man cannot do anything for you. And, in a selfish culture, the generosity of a compassionate heart will open more doors than all the preaching about baptism and the one true church.

As this is written, in Proverbs, the church as we know it was not in existence. The “one who is gracious” is not a company, the government, a church, a school, or some organization. It’s me. It’s you. Being gracious costs. Being gracious involves a sacrifice. And, hasn’t the Lord already been gracious to us? The cost of salvation. We were poor, yet, through Jesus we have been made rich.

Second, the opportunities to be gracious to the poor is all around us. Jesus reminded the disciples, “the poor you always have with you.” There will always be ways to help others. We hear things at work. We listen to reports at church about brethren overseas. We see posts on Facebook. Folks struggling because of storms. People who are having a hard time with the price of things today.

The story of the rich man and Lazarus could well be our story. The rich man was in position to do something. He was rich. One poor man can not do much for another poor man. The rich man ate well. He dressed well. He lived in a fine place. The rich man also had opportunity right before him. Lazarus was not on the other side of the planet. Lazarus was not in an unsafe part of town. He was the rich man’s gate. One couldn’t get any closer without being inside. Means and opportunity. The one thing the rich man did not have was a heart.

All about us are opportunities if we will but look. The poor doesn’t always have to be someone lacking food and money. There are those who go an entire day without hearing an encouraging word. You can be gracious. Some just need a person to talk to and listen to. You can be gracious. Some need to know about Jesus, that there is a better way. You can be gracious. So many ways to show kinds and spread sunshine to those who dwell in darkness.

Third, our passage reminds us that the Lord recognizes what you do. The Lord saw that you were gracious to a poor person. Heaven noticed. Like the Lord’s words in the Gospel about giving a cup of cold water to a little one, God noticed. The Lord will repay, our passage says. Don’t expect a check in the mail. Don’t expect a doubling of what you did. The repayment may be the crown in Heaven. The repayment may not be now or even here. That shouldn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.

Helping someone, even if it is just a little thing that gets them through the day, is what we do.

Gracious to a poor man. Can you do that?

Roger

14

Jump Start # 3700

Posted on November 14, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3700

Nehemiah 6:15 “So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.”

This Jump Start hits yet another milestone, number 3700. That is a lot of writing. That is a lot of pages. If we printed these front and back, like a book, it would number 1850 pages. My preaching Bible is only 1749 pages. The first Harry Potter book was 320 pages. The 11th edition of Webster’s Dictionary is 1623 pages. Romeo and Juliet is only 480 pages.

Our verse today shows the mighty achievement of rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem in fifty-two days. That’s amazing. Today, with modern machinery it is unlikely that we could do it in that short of time. In fact, it’d take more than 52 days to get the permits, bids, and paperwork completed to even start the job.

Accomplishments—there’s a lesson or two for us in thinking about that.

First, big accomplishments come about by a series of little achievements. Wars are won that way. Win a battle here, a skirmish there, stay with it, and in time the war is won. Paying off debt is that way. A little extra each month, little by little and before long, the debt is paid. The same is true in getting a college degree. This class. That class. This semester. That semester. One by one, and then you graduate.

Had someone told me years ago to write 3700 pages of a blog I think I would have passed out. No one sets out to do that. Little steps. One by one and staying with it, you accomplish things. Holding that Bible in your hand can be overwhelming. Read a page or a chapter a day. Stay with it. Day after day. And, one day, you’ll flip to Revelation 22, the last page and you will have read the entire Bible, cover to cover.

Second, as with Nehemiah, as with us, there are set back, discouragements and obstacles to overcome. My travel schedule, especially this fall, has put a lot of pressure on getting these written and posted. Nehemiah faced trouble from Sanballat, discouragement from his people, and the enormous task of cleaning up the mess and building again. Such it is in all worthwhile endeavors. You have to stay with it. There are days when you may not feel like getting out in the cold and running. Or, you may not feel like going out on a dark Sunday evening to worship. You push yourself through and keep going. The off ramp always looks inviting. It’s easy to quit. Things come up. Your schedule gets changed. But, with determination you keep going and going.

Third, rejoicing in small victories builds momentum to continue on. As the walls of Jerusalem started getting higher and higher and longer and longer, people could see, this was going to work. This is a good thing. And, those small victories pushes discouragement, pain and troubles to the side. We are doing a good thing and that keeps one going. It has been that way with these Jump Starts. All across the country, people have come up to me and told me that they start their day by reading these. I have a file folder full of letters and emails from you readers. These Jump Starts are being used in prisons. These have made their way across the ocean. Some have used them in classes and for sermons. They have been forwarded to help others who are hurting. This is one of the reasons I keep writing these. I realize they are doing some good.

And, that is the way it is for all of us. Another sermon to preach. Another class to teach. Someone to visit in the hospital. Another card to send. Another family to invite over for dinner. We look back and see that for a moment it did some good. It answered a question. It encouraged a heart. It built someone up. And, you realize that your effort, your time, your work was worth it. And, some day, a soul may come up to you in Heaven and thank you and say, “because of what you did, it helped me to be here.”

What I hear more and more these days are the words, “You can never stop writing.” I appreciate that, but realize one day I will. One day there will be a final Jump Start. One day my work here will be finished.

My hope is that through all of this, it has helped someone to see Jesus. It’s been a journey that I never anticipated taking, but now understand that God has put something special in me and I’m glad that I can use this for His kingdom.

Thank you.

Roger

13

Jump Start # 3699

Posted on November 13, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3699

Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

  The second of the beatitudes, the Lord is showing the nature and heart of kingdom citizens. Blessed is much too often defined as happy. That’s not the best word here. Our English concept of happiness is built around what happens. It’s hard to be happy when you have to run out to your car in a downpour and you get drenched. It’s hard to be happy when you are in a hurry and you can’t find your car keys. Those “moments” do not create happiness. Your favorite team loses, you’re not happy. The boyfriend breaks up with the girlfriend, not a happy moment.

  Our friend Mark Roberts, in his new book, “The Sermon on the Mount for everyone,” states that “blessed” means approved by God. I like that. One can feel blessed while running through a downpour. The rain is just for a moment. Approved of God lasts and endures. Even for a non-coffee drinker like me, Mark’s book is good.

  The beatitudes seem to be connected and in a specific order. One, naturally leads to the next. They begin with ‘poor in spirit.’ Bankrupt. Destitute. This has nothing to do with finances and everything to do with hearts. It’s about sin, God and us. Without God, we’ve got nothing. Even though a guy may have a garage full of cars, a pocket full of money and a belly full of food, he’s broke without God. Only God can help him.

  That flows into our verse today, the second beatitude, ‘Blessed are those who mourn.’ This is not about funerals, even though Solomon reminds us that there is value in going to the house of mourning. This is about sin. This ought to be our reaction to sin. It ought to break our hearts because we have broken God’s heart.

  Now, there is something implied within this beatitude. To miss it, is to miss this beatitude. Before one can mourn because of their sin, they must admit that they have sinned. Pointing fingers at others. Blaming others. Hiding behind excuses, will never create that broken and contrite heart that moves the Lord.

  Following the admission that we have done wrong, ought to be the expression, feelings that doing wrong bothers us. There’s many a person who will admit, “I shouldn’t say this…” but they are not bothered by that. They go ahead and say that. Or, “I know I probably shouldn’t do this,” but they go ahead and do it. And, they do not seem to be bothered by that.

  The mourning comes when we feel bad about what we have done. We have convinced ourselves that as long as no one gets hurt, it’s not so bad. As they say in a pick up game of basketball, ‘no blood, no foul.’ With that thinking, we only feel bad if we get caught or we have hurt someone. And, as long as we no longer feel bad, we will continue on that path of sin.

  Our concept of mourning, surrounds grief, tears, and sorrow. The crying widow. The crying parents. Standing with a long face looking at a grave, wishing things could be different. They won’t be. They can’t be. And, it’s that broken heart that causes one to feel terrible about what he has done to God. He has sinned.

  Our verse actually has two aspects to it. One is for us, and the other is for the Lord.

  First, we are blessed when we mourn. That’s our response to sin. Ashamed. Broken. Guilty. No excuse. No reason to justify it.

  Second, Jesus’ part is the comfort. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Jesus does that. He does that not by telling us, “everybody messes up.” Not by saying, “It’s ok.” It’s not ok. He comforts us by bringing salvation. The answer to the emptiness of a bankrupt spirit and a broken heart, is the salvation of the Lord. God forgives. God uses the broken and fixes them. God allows second chances.

 Notice the comfort follows the mourning. Without the mourning, there would be no comfort. We come to the Lord broken and needy. Rather than scolding us or tossing us out, the Lord opens His arms to take us in.

  Our culture has tried to lessen the seriousness of sin by coming up with words that seem acceptable. God doesn’t do that. We need to call adultery, adultery. We need to call lying, lying. Gossip is gossip. Drunkenness is drunkenness. We must speak plainly. We must speak as God does. Switching words only takes the sting out of sin. We don’t feel so bad. Everything is ok, we are told. We are no longer bothered by what we have done. And, there is no mourning.

  Approved of God are those who mourn. Their sadness over what they have done will lead to better choices, better living and better righteousness. Maybe we’d be a bit better off, if once in a while, we had a good cry over our poor choices and sins in our lives.

  It’s ok to mourn…something good will happen if you follow the Lord.

  Roger

12

Jump Start # 3698

Posted on November 12, 2024 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 3698

Daniel 3:12 “There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the administration of the province of Babylon, namely Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. These men, O king have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods, or worship the golden image which you have set up.”

Like an old movie that we’ve seen a dozen times, this remarkable story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego is something dear to our hearts. Courage. Conviction. Faith. With an element of fear, death and consequences. Remember, this was not placed in our Bibles so we’d have something to talk about in VBS to the kids. This is a real story. This really happened. It is revealed to show the power of faith and the power of our God.

Away from home, in a foreign and hostile land, these Jewish believers made a difference. Remember, they weren’t foreign exchange students visiting Europe. They were taken against their will. They were kidnapped, as the beloved city of Jerusalem was torched. The temple was robbed and the walls around the city crumbled.

One of the first things that take place was that Babylon tried to brainwash and reprogram these Jewish captives. And, right here, we see the textbook way in which Satan tries to change the culture of believers. They were taught the language and literature of Babylon. They were given foods that Babylonians eat. They were given new names. They were forced to worship Babylonian gods.

The names Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego all had connections to Babylonian deities. Blasphemous. Mocking. Insulting. That’s what those names were intended to do.

Within this, we find powerful lessons for us:

First, our culture tries to change us. Rather than conforming to the Word of God, our culture wants to change the message. It’s easier, some think, to change the word than to change yourself.

The first step is in renaming and rebranding. Harsh reality of sin is softened by acceptable words. Curse words are repeated in so many avenues that few are offended by them. Fearful of judging, the voice of the righteous becomes quiet. And, culture has the first step into our hearts and homes.

The second step is to tame us. Everyone was bowing before the statue except these three Jewish men. It can’t be wrong if so many are doing it, becomes the standard. Look how popular this is. Wrong takes on a different shade. Now, it’s “I wouldn’t do it, but I can’t tell someone else that they shouldn’t.” Choice. Rights. Freedom. Mix all those in a bowl and abortion doesn’t seem so bad. Legalizing drugs, not so bad. I wouldn’t do, but if someone else wants to, that’s their choice. Tamed. Tamed and didn’t even see it coming. Tamed and didn’t even know it.

The third step is that our culture claims us. Rename– tame– claim. One-two-three. Christians that live and act no different than the world. Christians that get into the gutter of sin and think nothing about it. Notice how many young Christians are seeing nothing wrong with social drinking. Twisting Scriptures, finding loop holes, these young hearts do not realize that they have been tamed and claimed by our culture today. Giving up on God’s authority. Justifying divorce for any reason. Renamed. Tamed. Claimed.

So, what’s the answer? The answer is found in Daniel.

First, make up your mind that you will not be changed. Daniel refused to eat the king’s food. Away from home and in a foreign land, Daniel could have found a lot of ways to justify it. He didn’t. His mind was made up. When you haven’t made your mind up, culture will do it for you.

Second, stand. That’s what the three Jewish men did when everyone else was bowing down. They made a decision on whose side they were on. If you haven’t decided and if you are uncommitted, culture will claim you. They were noticed. There were consequences. They made a difference. You may be the only one who stands up at work. You may be the only one who stands up in the congregation. You may be the only one who stands up at home. People will talk about you. They will tell others about you. You might get in trouble. But God also notices. And, God sees that you were not changed by the culture around you.

We live in Babylon. This is not our home. We are often forced by pressure to accept, ago along with and even participate in things that just are not right. For the sake of a job, a reputation, or out of fear, we might bow to the pressures of culture. But, those of faith, have made their minds up. Their minds were shaped by the will of God. And, when told to bow, these believers will stand. When told, you’ll get in trouble, they know God will provide.

The Corinthians were told to be steadfast and unmovable. Our times are trying to move you. Hold fast. Dig in. Stand your ground. Don’t give the devil an inch.

Roger