What Really Matters

The following survey results highlight the great value in the idea of having seminars that help Christians understand and practically apply Biblical principles to their finances, marriages, education, relationships and businesses. This goal (Biblically based lives and decisions) is a major component of discipleship and shepherding.


-- From AgapePress News --

Despite the fact that most Americans consider themselves to be Christian, very few adults base their moral decisions on the Bible -- and surprisingly few believe that absolute moral truth exists. That's according to the latest survey conducted by The Barna Group. So if people do not base their moral decisions on the Bible, what is the foundation upon which they decide? According to Barna, they use the specific principles or standards they believe in (54 percent), what feels "right or comfortable" (24 percent), whatever makes the most people happy or causes the least conflict (9 percent), or whatever produces the most positive outcomes for themselves (7 percent). And when it comes to absolute moral truth, it is almost a dead heat -- 35 percent contend moral truth is absolute; 32 percent say it is determined by the situation; and 33 percent say they are unsure if moral truth is absolute or relative. Researcher George Barna sees these findings as an indication that Christian leaders need to stay focused on the things that matter, and not on things such as church attendance, funds raised, and facility size -- parameters that are typically used to measure church success. Says Barna: "As long as we measure success on the basis of popularity and efficiency, we will continue to see a nation filled with people who can recite Bible stories, but fail to live according to Bible principles." [Jody Brown]

Letter to Senate Majority Leader Frist

There is a way that seems right to a man,

I sent the following letter to Mr. Frist the Senate Majority Leader. But, I suggest that we especially pray for him through the end of August. Let's pray that God will cause Dr. Frist to become aware of circumstances or information that will help him see this issue from God's perspective. Perhaps the worse thing that could happen would be for the use of stem cells from unborn children to be successful in discovering many ways to heal diseases. Where would the resulting huge demand for such cells come from? Can we imagine God providing more dead children for the healing and comfort of those already living?

but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12)


Dear Mr. Frist,

By endorsing the expansion of fetal/embryonic stem cell research you are endorsing the involuntary death of some for the benefit of others. Even if the research finds success in treating disease with these stem cells, the end result will be the desire for more and more embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cell research shows more actual results and avoids the ethical compromises that you are perhaps unintentionally endorsing. May God give you His perspective.

Sincerely,
Gerald Boyd

Midnight

And the foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ (Matthew 25)

A few years ago, a couple of my sons challenged me to run a marathon that they were also running. The deal was that if I ran the marathon in a certain amount of time then they would try a much healthier diet for a few months. Since I wanted them to enjoy the benefits of a healthy diet, I decided to give it a try. But, soon I discovered that running distances over nine miles caused my knees to hurt too much. Yet, I knew I had to train if I was even going to finish the marathon. So, the training program was modified to run shorter distances of 3-9 miles every other day, but to also extensively cross-train with bicycling and rowing. The goal became one of being able to exercise vigorously for five hours.

We put fuel for physical endurance into our bodies by regular exercise and a healthy diet. In the same way, we build up endurance mentally and spiritually by what we put into our minds and by the good habits of learning and service that we build into our lives.

With five or six miles left to go in the race, strength was almost gone. Fruit and other food was offered and accepted. But, it was too late for me to find the needed strength and speed from food at that point.

Recently, I saw a statistic that said that less then ten percent of Americans read God’s Word daily. This statistic reveals why our culture has sunk to new lows in morality. It also shows why most Christians live lives that are almost indistinguishable from non-Christians. Psalms 1 makes a wonderful promise to the man who delights in and mediates on God’s Word day and night (at least daily). Like a tree that grows by a river, his leaf will not wither even in a great drought.

I had enough strength left to finish the marathon, but not enough to run fast enough to meet my goal time. But, I was grateful to just be able to trot across the finish line. In the same way, we face tremendous challenges in life before we get to the finish line. Some lose their way, faith or family. Yet, ninety percent of Christians are depriving themselves of vital nutrients from God’s Word. We desperately need Truth to fill our mind but the average adult spends 14 hours soaking in lies from the mass media. Jesus said to keep a good supply of oil. But, many of us only have enough for a life that has minimal challenges. The crisis will come. Will we have strength to keep running at midnight, when the darkness seems endless?

Project:
-- Let’s not depend on others for motivation, but let’s each determine, by God’s grace, to daily delight in His Word.
-- Let’s encourage those around us to do the same.

Wise Investing

“…The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into his harvest” – Jesus

Why are there few laborers? Could it be because each of us is too distracted by mowing the pasture, building walls, making money and spending money? The rich young ruler was told that he should sell everything, give the money to the poor and follow Jesus. If he had, he might have been one of Jesus’ closest disciples. He might have had a life that counted for something. As it is, he only became the sad example of the power and fraud of worldly priorities.

The problem with our money and things is that they are “ours”. We talk about giving them to the Lord and being stewards. But, how do we feel when we suffer loss because of an “act of God”. Can we have Job’s attitude and sincerely say, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away”? Sadly, many of us (including me) have missed out on wonderful treasure because of wrong priorities in our view of “our” time and money and how we invest them.

What is the purpose of life? To get educated, get a good job, get married, have children, make lots of money, help your children learn to make lots of money, retire, and die? Many of us and many of our neighbors are caught in this cycle while making minimum investments of eternal value.

For example, many of us could afford to sponsor a fulltime missionary all by ourselves. A native missionary in Asia can be fully supported with a fraction of our income. Many of these missionaries are making hundreds of converts to Christ and starting dozens of churches while they personally live in poverty. They are piling up eternal riches with the tiny bit they have. In contrast, what are we doing with our piles of worldly riches? Maybe we should consider how to invest in their ministry. In addition, many of us could invest at least a little more of our time in ministry in our church and neighborhood. A little wise investing could yield a huge treasure in eternity.

Project:
Ask God for His priorities to become your priorities.

"If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." -- Jesus
--

Embracing Torment

So shall My heavenly Father also do to you… (Matt 18:35)

Recently, the owner of a small Air Conditioning company gave me an estimate on a small job we needed done. The estimate seemed reasonable and he promised to start the job in about 10 days. I was excited about finally getting the work done. But, that was a month ago and we have not a heard a word from him. I’ve tried to call him several times.

We’ve had good experiences with this fellow in the past and he doesn’t seem like the type to just stop talking if he changed his mind. So, intellectually, I tell myself that he must have had something unexpected happen to prevent him from doing the job or calling us. He may have been in an accident, gotten sick or had some other crisis. But, I also have feelings that I try to suppress. For instance, I tend to feel disappointed and a little frustrated. In spite of my intellectual reasons for the problem, I still have emotions that tend to cause me to feel a little resentment that he hasn’t called.

So, assuming he has worse character than I thought -- what should I do? Jesus makes the answer quite clear. If I don’t forgive those who wrong me then God still demands payment for the debt I owe Him. God wants to forgive our debts but He won’t if we will not accept His Spirit and grace to forgive those who have caused us pain or loss. If we won't forgive, Jesus promises us torment. Lord, give us grace to forgive! Let's accept grace rather than holding a grudge and embracing torment.

Project:
Who do you not want to think about?
What or Who causes you to feel frustrated or resentful?

Pray something like this:

Father in heaven, I forgive __his name_ for __the hurt__ and causing me to feel __your specific feelings__. Heal my heart – my thinking and my feelings – so I may love you with all my heart.

“And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.”

“So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

Taxing Our Sons

“What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?” (Matthew 17:25)

If one of our sons or daughters needs to use our house or land, any of us would let our children use it without paying a usage fee beyond the basic costs. So, we might expect them to put gas in the car, clean up beforehand, put up the decorations and clean up afterwards. But, we wouldn’t charge them rent like we would a stranger with whom we have little or no relationship. On the other side of the coin, our children cheerfully do many things for us which we could not afford otherwise.

Decades ago, many churches charged a pew tax to their members. This eliminated a great deal of financial uncertainty for the church leadership. In contrast, we now take a more scriptural approach of depending on God to provide through free-will offerings. If someone and especially a member comes with a special need for counsel, most churches will attempt help with that need in some way without charging for the service. The people involved are freely offering their time or are part of the paid church staff. We depend on God to provide for these resources through free-will offerings. But, when it comes to "things" our attitude is often a little different.

For instance, many times there is a fee to use the church building for certain special functions. This fee is somewhat understandable for strangers but how much of a fee should be charged to members? Even with strangers we should have a generous spirit. When we needed a place for a piano recital, various churches would allow us to use their facility and piano for prices ranging from free, to a small donation, to a fee of hundreds of dollars ("It's our policy. No exceptions.") Of course, we were strangers to these different churches. But, their attitude certainly communicated. The one we ended up using had a staff that communicated generosity and even gratefulness for us being there. Their attitude undoubtedly encourages cheerful donations.

Some churches take advantage of times of grief or celebration to build God's kingdom and some to help with the church budget. Some church fees for weddings are in the same ballpark as commercial facilities that are in the wedding business. Many churches seem to take the attitude of, "How much can we charge?" while others are asking, "How little can we charge?" What is the result? Members of churches will be more likely to use other facilities that offer more services, scenery or economy. In contrast, it seems like churches should have a policy that encourages involvement, cooperation and interaction of the Body in funerals and weddings. Low financial obstacles encourage growth of relationships, participation and body-life in these activities. There probably ought to be a charge to cover unusual costs. But, the question should be “How little can we charge?”

Several years ago, when our baby boy died and we needed a place in Dallas for a Memorial service, Larry James, the preacher at Richardson East Church of Christ let us their auditorium (fee-free) even though we were not members. The loving, generous attitude demonstrated by him and other of the church leaders was a significant factor in our family's perspective toward that church. A church that is actually a family should be doing similar things for one another wherever possible. Leadership attitudes of cheerful generosity, support and love encourage church members to cheerfully give free-offerings of their time, talents and lives. A church of cheerful givers will soon attract the attention of neighbors, co-workers and relatives. In contrast, pew taxes and building usage fees don't attract anybody. Are we taxing our sons?

Project:
Consider:
As sons of the King, are we cheerful givers to the family?
As church leaders, what message are we communicating by our policies?
Let's beg God for His perspective.

The Other Side of the Door

"Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn't he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn't want to lose even one of these simple believers.
"If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him--work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won't listen, tell the church. (Matthew 18)

If we can bring back someone who is wandering away from Christ, not only is that one restored but others who are influenced by him are also drawn back toward the truth. When, in our spirit, we close the door of relationship to someone, we are in some degree also writing off those who are in relationship to that person. The door of relationship is closed when we explicitly refuse to communicate with, think about or feel compassion for some neighbor. The first step in opening that door is to begin to pray for that person. We will be surprised at how many souls are actually on the other side of the door.

Project:
Let’s ask God to reveal any closed door in our relationships.
Let’s ask God for grace to open that door.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15)