Today's Devotional Thought

Passage: 1 Corinthians 5
Notes: Accommodation is exactly what the spirit of this day would have us do...and don't we have a lot of leaven leavening the dough of the Church today. Yet, how do we avoid legalism on the other hand? Who has the spiritual wisdom and the guts to correctly lead a congregation so that church discipline heals rather than destroys? How will an entire community have the spiritual discernment to differentiate between a 'wicked person' and the one who is genuinely desiring to follow God, but still battling the fleshly nature (as in progressive sanctification)? How would a pastor even broach this subject in a culture that looks to cultural values ("live and let live") over biblical teaching? Yet, how do we avoid abuse in so fleshly a Church if the church attempts to practice church discipline? On the other hand, in a large and more anonymous church, how many people does it take so that "the Church" is making a decision - or will anonymity shield any but the most obviously wicked person? "Not associate with" - where we're not sure, may we err on the side of love and associate, or will we then just ignore this teaching, not really knowing anyone well enough?

Today's Devotional Thought

Passage: Jeremiah 44
Notes: The Jewish men's decision to flee to Egypt placed them right back in the midst of idolatry, and they ignored or (more likely) supported their wives' worship of the 'Queen of Heaven.' When Jeremiah confronts them, they reject his message with revisionist history ascribing what blessings they had in the past to their former idolatry. -> We are responsible for the environments we place our family in, and for what worship we allow in our households. A culture that teaches 'to everyone his own' should not distract us from our call to live right worship in our homes. Note that while God's message came to the adults first, he vowed to hold every member of their family responsible.

Why I Am Not Giving Up Facebook for Lent

As a minister, I'm in the people/relationships business. It may not be all I do, but it is a major part. Facebook is one of four major communications platforms for me (face-to-face, phone, and e-mail being the others). If I'm going to be salt and light, shutting off communication is not going to be my first step.

Do Not Judge, Lest You be Judged

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned."
Luke 6:37 NASB

Therefore, any judging is wrong and to be deplored. Right?

Then why might Jesus say,

"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
John 7:18 NASB

Why does Paul tell the church in Corinth

"For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present."
1 Corinthians 5:3 NASB

If I am going to be a witness to others with the goal of them becoming part of the family of God, I will have to come to a conclusion whether I believe they are already Christians or not. Otherwise, I'd have to treat Billy Graham and Michael Newdow the same. Equally, if a church is going to practice the biblical mandate of Church discipline, it will be impossible to treat any action we didn't commit ourselves as morally neutral or beneficial.

We should heed what Jesus taught us in Luke 6, in particular what he says about mercy. Yet, building a nugget theology of "any judgment of what things are like at any time is to be deplored" will not make us more, but less obedient to Scripture. It'll merely make us pander to the Zeitgeist.

Discipleship in Community

If we learn from one another, and God speaks to us through other believers, what if the service involved tables and food, and we'd have a short sermon, half an hour of food and conversation at the tables, and then a wrap-up of some sort, maybe even with people reporting back from the tables? It might even make prayer easier.

Love Is Kind

kind

to believe, attitude*, think, speak, and act in a manner that is born out of and moves the other closer to shalom. 1 Corinthians 13:4

Thoughts?

*: I am using attitude as a verb here.

Leadership and Community

We have to strike the right balance between being in touch, and being in control. The irony is, the more in control we are, the more out of touch we become.

A. G. Lafley, CEO of Procter & Gamble

Prayer on Being Made Redundant

The Church of England has published a well-put prayer for those who have been laid off. Hope none of you has occasion to pray it - maybe the only time I'll ever say, "I hope you don't pray (this prayer)."

John 15:8

The point is not that it doesn't matter what fruit you produce.
The point is that unless you produce fruit, nothing else matters.

Children Who are Mighty in Spirit

As I was in prayer today, I brought our children and our friends' children yet again before God, asking Him that they would become His children as soon as possible, and live their lives for His purposes. I am more than ever convinced that nothing could be more important for them. My study of 1 John has confirmed that the difference between succeeding in life is whether or not the Holy Spirit is guiding and enabling us. Without His power, all the best training is useless (= will not be used) because in our own strength we are unable. Then, the following verses struck me:

For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants; and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water.

Isaiah 44:3-4

As I looked up poplars in Merriam-Webster, they pointed out that a defining characteristic of poplars is that they grow up quickly. May that be the case for our children!

What a wonderful promise to claim: "I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring."

Keep Your Mouth Shut

The best time for you to hold your tongue is the time you feel you must say something or bust.

Josh Billings

Lord, have mercy, and help me learn this one.

The Progress of the Lord's Kingdom

When we calmly reflect upon the fact that the progress of our Lord's Kingdom is dependent upon prayer, it is sad to think that we give so little time to the holy exercise. Everything depends upon prayer, and yet we neglect it not only to our own spiritual hurt, but also to the delay and injury of our Lord's cause upon earth.

E. M. Bounds

A Powerful Picture of Community

Photograph by George Steinmetz, National Geographic.

Original Caption: In Guandong Province toulou, the traditional dwellings of the Hakka minority group, curve around each other like the rings of a tree. As the village grew, new homes were built around older ones.

What a powerful image of community!

P.S. I hope I have done justice to copyright laws, if not, please comment.

Outlet Mall Ante Portas

Oklahoma City is getting an outlet mall! The city council approved a mall that is supposed to be twice the size of Gainesville, TX, located at I-40, Council, and Reno. That's Western Heights' school district (also part of Francis Tuttle's CareerTech district). We're talking new jobs for an area that can use them, and possibly new opportunities for Francis Tuttle to serve her stakeholders, too. You can see Francis Tuttle's Reno Campus from the site. For more info, check out the City Council package PDF about it (there's a map as the last page).