Christmas 2011

Dear Family & Friends,

Life in 2011 was busy with memorable things going on every month. Susan has chronicled most of them in her Christmas letter so I will highlight a few things from my point of view. For me the loss of dad was a hard way to start the year but a gentle reminder that the responsibilities to consistently live Godly and faithful until my final day. His legacy is wrapped up in his love of the Word of God and his faithful commitment to reading it. (Psalm 61:5; 68:19; 119:37)

This year Mike & Jenni relocated to Alabama and settled into a new job, a new home, a new Church family and the challenges of living so far from family. Luke & Kelly purchased their first home, Kelly took a fun job and Luke got a nice promotion before the end of the year. Nathan & Emily likewise purchased their first home, Nathan completed his first year in ministry and they announced that Charlotte is anticipating a little brother in 2012. Aaron married Catie Hankins in June and he completed his first year of ministry in Western Illinois. Caleb and his 4×800 team won state (One of my most emotional moments of 2011) and has completed his first quarter in college. Kristin solidified her love of music and we all enjoyed her stage work acting and singing and if you need a haircut she is really good at it!

The Hoosier Workshoppe finished the year slow because I lost the motor on my table saw (Still hoping the new one arrives before the new year.) However, I completed a large painted kitchen and a number of odd projects including two different beds.  In October Susan, Kristin and I  journeyed to Mike & Jenni’s to work on a covering for their back patio. I am grateful that Aaron came with Catie to assist.  He was a great help.  However, the most fun was my version of a ‘Stand-up Desk’ that replaced my credenza in the office. I really like it! I do more and more study/reading standing up.

This year I have spent Sunday morning expounding Acts and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I settled on three vital long-term questions that speak to the power of God in a man’s life (Personal Integrity; Passionate Pursuit of God through His Word and Private Purity). I have thoroughly enjoyed discipling one on one and spent part of the summer working with interns at the Baptist Mission. The most important addition to ministry at the Bible Chapel has been a Filipino Pastor who has become a new and precious friend. I had great feedback on my AM messages on ‘Spiritual Discernment’, which came from Acts 13. However, there is still much to understand.

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior I would challenge us to take the good news of the angels along with the rest of the message to those who have not yet heard—He lived a sinless life, died for sinners and rose from the dead three days later. This is the good news—announced by angels and left to us to carry to those who have not yet heard.

Glory to God in the Highest!
Mark

The Forest for the Trees

When we stand too close to a tree we cannot see the forest.  In Church life trees are staff meetings; volunteer fairs; recruitment lists for nursery workers and a host of other matters that are important but don’t qualify as the most important thing.  So what is the most important thing(s)?  Recently we installed a new Pastor to lead a burgeoning ministry and I took some time to stand back and observe the forest.  Church life is filled with people, programs and problems that all need to be addressed—but they all fit under three big things; three simple things: Our Commitment; Our Message and Our Challenge.

Our Commitment: Worship God – Psalm 96:1-9

“Every generation of worshippers is faced with the same difficulty—worshipping in a world that is religious but antagonistic to the truth.”  (Allen P. Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory, 509)  We worship the God revealed in Scripture who created us for His glory (Isaiah 43).  Worship is the creature giving proper honor to the Creator.  Christian Worship is responding to God as creator, sustainer, savior & indweller.  As a pastor I am committed to worshipping the one true God of Scripture and leading the people of God in that worship.

Worship – Matthew 4:10 – “Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve“; John 4:23; Philippians 3:3 – Worshipping is Responding.  We worship well by doing three things consistently:

• Making Disciples – Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” – Making disciples begins with evangelism – Coming.
• Maturing Disciples – Matthew 28:19-20 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” – Maturing disciples involves teaching and disciplining; challenging and guiding believers of all ages – Growing
• Ministering Disciples – 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”.  Ministering disciples are not only ambassadors outside of the Church but also within the Body of Christ living out the gospel in all environments.  Matthew 18 describes the importance of caring for others and practicing forgiveness – Relating

Multiplying Worshippers – Psalm 67; 1 Thessalonians 1:9 – “They themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God”. Once a worshipping community becomes a healthy viable group of disciples they naturally want to export what they have to others across the world.  An active mission program is a collective thank you to God for his grace in our lives – Expanding

Our Message: Grace – Ephesians 1

After God assembled the perfect world for his ultimate creation, mankind, he had to make a decision on what to do with the whole sin problem.  He had 3 options: Destroy everything and start over; abandon it to its own self-destruction or redeem it by divine means.  The decision to redeem it was the first revelation of grace (Genesis 3:15).  The Bible not only reveals a gracious God but also unravels the mystery of Grace.  (Genesis 12:1-4; Deuteronomy 7:6-11; Ephesians 3:6; 1 Peter 2:9-10)

Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14 – “To the praise of his glorious grace” – Ephesians 1 presents us with the Godhead’s role in redeeming the fallen race of man.  The Father chose and predestined us to redemption (1:4-5) by the One he loves (1:6); the Son redeemed us through his blood; forgave us of our sins and made known his will to us (1:7-9); and the Holy Spirit marked us with a seal so that we might receive the future inheritance (1:13).  Heaven is nothing less than the full measure of God’s grace.  The words of the hymn “And Can it Be?” declare it well.

And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior’s blood?

Died he for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued?

Amazing love!  How can it be that thou my God shouldst die for me?

No condemnation now I dread; Jesus and all in Him is mine!

Alive in Him, my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine

Bold I approach th’eternal throne and claim the crown, thro’ Chirst, my own.

The hymn “Amazing Love” revels in the love behind God’s grace:

My Lord, what love is this that pays so dearly

That I, the guilty one, may go free?

Amazing love, O what sacrifice, the Son of God giv’n for me

My debt He pays and my death He dies

That I might live, that I might live.

And now this love of Christ shall flow like rivers;

Come wash your guilt away, live again

Our Challenge: Stewardship – Ephesians 2-3

As the recipients of grace we are called to carry the grace of God well.  We are challenged to ‘steward’ grace by being gracious as we enjoy and show the immeasurable riches of God’s grace.  Ephesians 2:7-8 – “Show the immeasurable riches of his grace”.  My salvation by grace humbles me and makes me gracious—God’s grace defeats any attitude of superiority—it levels us all before the cross of Christ.  Ephesians 3:2, 7, 8 – “The stewardship of God’s grace” – We care for the grace of God by how we live and how we relate to those who do not yet know God’s grace.  There are three basic responses to God’s grace: I can elevate myself and be arrogant towards those who can’t get it together; who struggle where I coast; who battle sin and sinful patterns with little victory – judgmental.  I can enjoy the benefits of grace keeping it to myself anticipating my future with Jesus Christ – neutral or I can live thankfully being gracious and sharing grace with everyone that God puts in my path—giving and sharing the love of Christ – gracious.  This final option is the only real option for a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion: Our commitment is to Worship God as the Bible instructs.  Our message is “Grace” and our challenge is to be good stewards of God’s grace by sharing the good news and being gracious towards those who do not yet know God’s grace.

 

Spiritual Discernment – Part 10

When God is not present in culture discernment in the Church is even more important or the Church runs the risk of becoming a reflection of the culture—ten years behind.   The 21^st Century Church has an ever-increasing lack of discernment! How do I know that what I am observing or hearing is true? “Spiritual discernment functions like the church’s immune system, protecting the body from false teaching” (Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, 183-184).

A point of interest in Acts 13-14 (Paul’s First Missionary Journey) is how these men discern their next move.  The need for discernment is no less in the 21^st Century.  The day would come when Paul would write Galatians and confront the most devious kind of syncretism: weaving works into our salvation.  All cults and false religions mess with salvation and it takes spiritual discernment to see it and expose it so that unbelievers can hear the truth (Galatians 1:6-9).

- Developing a Discerning Spirit -

1. Follow the Biblical principles for discerning God’s will.  Commit to the process and resist the temptation to manipulate the circumstances for a desired outcome.  Give the outcome to God and choose to accept it as God’s will.
2. See God in the circumstances of life and live content. Suffering can be a temptation to focus on my self and when I turn inward I lose some of my ability to discern (Acts 14:22).
3. Work at witnessing!  Witnessing will challenge you to understand the good news and learn to communicate it effectively (Acts 13:14-41).  When you witness God works on your discernment – it is his gift to you.
4. Spiritual discernment is vital when a believer is in conflict (Spiritual, relational, mental).  If you anticipate conflict seek prayer partners.  Pray that the deception will be exposed and the deceiver will be revealed.  This will take two things: a commitment to knowing God’s Word and faith that God will protect you from the fiery darts of the devil (Ephesians 6:16; 1 Peter 5:8-9).
5. Conflict has three places of origin: without (world & Satan); within (Church & believers); and my heart (sinful nature).  We battle these in the three work environments of the Church.  I battle that which is without with evangelism; I battle that which is within with discipleship and I battle my conflicted heart with reconciliation/restoration (Titus 2:9-10; James 4:1-10).
6. Live to be used by God (Acts 14:27) and he will give you discernment that betrays your age and experience.
7. My spiritual discernment is directly related to my saturation in and obedience to the Word of God; the more saturation and obedience the greater my discernment.  I need spiritual discernment to know God’s will for my life and it is a wonderful gift to the Body of Christ to be spiritually discerning.

Conclusion: There is no guarantee that when I discern things properly that I will have a wonderful life—However, I can be sure that God will take care of me and continue using me for His glory.  The first missionary journey illustrates this truth.