Please don’t misunderstand me. The Apostles teach that there are incremental and growing levels of understanding that accompany maturity in Christ.  They compare the early truths of scripture like a drink of milk – we have easy access to them and they are easy to digest.  They go on to say there are issues that we have to chew a bit more, and these stay in our systems longer. These truths and principles give us more strength and fortification in our spiritual lives. Paul refers to this part of learning as meat. 

This past Sunday, we looked at the Church of Thyatira – the tolerant church – in Revelation 2.   The context of their situation plays an important role in applying this chapter to our lives. Two of the issues I didn’t have time to address were the dangers of Jezebel, a self-proclaimed prophetess in Thyatira, and the “Spirit of Jezebel” in the church today.

Jesus refers to her teachings as the “Satan’s so called deep secrets” Revelation 2:24 (NIV).  I don’t believe she was telling her followers these secrets were of Satan. She was parading her ideas as something profound. And we know from the scriptures that her teachings were not of God.  My concern is for the lack of discernment for what was being taught.   Jezebel wasn’t feeding them the meat of God’s word. She was dipping her ladle into a satanic cauldron. Because it tasted different and sounded profound, some Christians bent on finding something new were lapping it up.

People got a taste of this, a taste of that, a new fad, a new teacher, a new approach, a new idea and a feeling of superiority began to creep in. “I have insider information – insights that you don’t have.”  This is where cults and cultist types will even hook believers by saying, “We have something different, something avant-garde, something profound to impart.”

There’s not much deeper to the Christian life than learning to love God with all your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength. It doesn’t get much deeper than seeing increasing levels of love for others swelling in your spirit. It doesn’t get much deeper than sensing stronger levels of the peace of Christ within you in spite of circumstances. Few things are more fulfilling than growing in the likeness of Christ, serving in the area of your gifting, and being engaged in your lifelong purpose and mission. Few things are deeper than experiencing the depth of fellowship and friends discovered in local church.

As I wrap this up, let me summarize four glaring errors in this prophetess’ life – lessons from which we can all learn – found in Revelation 2:

1.  She misused scripture. “By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.”   False teachers use enough scripture to be dangerous, but their teachings are still counterfeit. Weigh what you hear against God’s Truths found in scripture.

2.  She grabbed authority. “You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess.”  This woman wasn’t given authority; she grabbed authority. She called herself a prophetess. Be aware of people who just want to be in charge!

3.  She refused to repent. “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.”  Notice, Christ loved her so much that he gave her time to know and repent of her sin. As I said Sunday, sometimes experiencing a season of life with all going well may be an expression of God’s patience and not God’s blessing.

4.  She demonstrated spiritual elitism. “Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you)”   Spiritual elitism is never part of God’s plan. His message and Christ’s redemption are available to all of us.  His love is not complicated and unreachable.

“The healthiest exercise of the mind of a Christian is to learn to apprehend the truth granted to it in vision… by prayer and determination we have to form the habit of keeping ourselves soaked in the vision God has given.”

The Movie Braveheart documents the life of one of the most focused leaders in the pages of history.  William Wallace was a man determined to bring freedom to his Scottish countrymen.  His Passion and vision was the result of a life story filled with moments of pain and victory.  His triumph call of “freedom” still echoes throughout his homeland.

The apostle Paul was a determined Christ follower.  His vision of taking the gospel to the Gentiles was strewn with obstacles and challenges.  Each of these trials could have derailed him.  But Paul remained focused to the end.  (Phil. 3:12-14)

All serious minded Christians can point to critical moments in which God has taught them important lessons laced with insights.  All of these snapshots in time are a part of God’s shaping of their lives, preparing them for a unique and ultimate contribution.

Let’s talk about you. God has been at work all along, shaping your life so you might have a unique contribution.  What has God called you to do in expanding his Kingdom?

The Charting Your Course workshop on September 17 -18 is designed to help you answer that question with clarity and integrity.   You experience personal renewal as a servant leader and gain clarity of your personal calling. We will walk you through a process of examining your past and clarifying your values, looking for mega themes that point you toward the fulfillment of God’s purpose.

Churches also reach defining moments—moments when they confront the challenges of living out the vision.  These moments are defined by responding in obedience to the call of the God Vision which requires risk and surrender.

God wants to renew His Church.  But personal renewal always precedes corporate renewal.  Please seriously consider registering for the Charting Your Course workshop.

It is amazing to me how much perspective plays a part of our well being.  And sometimes we need to pull away and unplug from the daily routine to find rest.  With intentional rest comes perspective.  If we violate Sabbath rest, something morphs in our soul. We start to get edgy and anxious. 

The psalmist tells us, “It is in vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep” (Psalm 127:2)

A man went on safari in an exotic country, hiring some local guides to manage his procession. Because he arrived late, he was already three days behind schedule, and the original safari had left without him. So he and the hired men sprinted to catch up.

After the first day of running in the jungle heat, the men fell exhausted at the evening campfire. Early the next morning, the visitor blew his whistle: “Come on! Let’s Go! We need to catch that safari!” The men jumped up, strapped on the bags and started running.

Long after the sun had set, they finally stopped, once again falling in sheer exhaustion.  This pace was repeated another day.  On the fourth day, the eager visitor sprung to his feet and exclaimed, “Today we shall surely catch them! Let’s go!”

The hired men, however, just sat around the dying fire, poking the embers with a stick.  “Get moving right now!” urged the man. But the leader of these hired men said, “We are not moving; you have pushed us so hard these first three days we have to wait a whole day… to let our souls catch up.”

Rest allows our soul to catch up.  Composers know the importance of scoring into each piece appropriate rest. Noah Benshea writes, “It’s the space between the notes that makes the music. I am learning the importance of this truth in my life.  I discovered, in my rest, God continues His work. He then invites me to reenter with a humbled soul, hungry again for what He has called me to do.

The pictures reveal the spaces between the notes of my song this past week. Shot my first under par round - 70 on a par 72 course in the mountains.

All that said — I am extremely happy to be home and reenter with a hungry heart for what is ahead.

Thank you to all the staff at First Assembly for keeping things moving forward.

After all this, God tested Abraham. God said, “Abraham!” “Yes?” answered Abraham. “I’m listening.”

One of the paradoxes of life is that testing times are transforming times.  We don’t like them, we may even dread them, and we wish they would go away.  Yet without testing there is no transforming.

I grew up in the Northwest surrounded by mountains. Many times I would sit by the streams and creeks that run down from the mountains. Those sights and sounds are etched in my mind. They are both stunning and inspiring. But take away those rough hewn rocks through which the streams must ripple, rush, and collide and the creeks lose the very character that reveals their beauty.

Testing times are transforming times.  And if we fail them we will remain trapped in the cocoon of mediocrity.

Since we will be tested in life – it is critical that our faith be placed in the proper object.  Perhaps the reason we see such mediocre faith in America today is because of the understanding of God we have.  Sadly today, some people want a God only on their terms.  We want to worship a God who we made rather than serving the God who made us.

The God who made us is more concerned with our responses to difficult circumstances than the circumstances themselves.  He is more concerned with the type of people we become than the possessions we have. 

Real faith is strengthened by test; superficial faith is destroyed by them.  If you want a strong faith, you need to understand that tests and trials are the food of faith.  Many feel that God’s job is to provide power, peace and provision in our lives.  And He has promised all three. But He also promised testing.  If our hearing has been attuned to the Biblical God, it will be in the testing we find God’s provision is sufficient.

We’ve discovered that everyone of them was challenged and tested.  They learned the nature of temptation and perhaps also their own points of personal weakness; they discovered the faithfulness of God and His ability to keep them in the trial.  Of course they were exposed to this reality: There is no other way to know whether or not God keeps His promises than to experience His reliability in the trial, task, and triumph.

This coming Sunday we complete our series on the Classic Characters. Daniel is our last of the classics. He abounds in illustrations of someone who’s life had an effect on the advancement of the kingdom of God because of his faithfulness.  He was taken far away from his comfort (Jerusalem) and situated  in a hard and unromantic place.  There was nothing romantic for Daniel in Babylon; his heart was in Jerusalem. Yet his witness in that hard place had a lasting impact on the lives of others. Even hundreds of years later.

All too frequently we take a different view of our challenges and unpleasant situations. We tend to see them as isolated nightmares, interruptions, and unfortunate circumstances.  God however see them from a different perspective. They are important and connected punctuation marks in the biography of grace He is writing in our lives.

It is not who you are or where you are that ultimately matters in the kingdom of God. It is what you are.  Faithfulness, not reputation or situation is what counts in God’s kingdom.

The central challenge for Christ followers is embodied in Jesus’ commandment from Luke 10:27 (ESV):  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Two questions must be asked and answered by serious minded Christians:
1. How are you following this command?
2. To what degree are you following this command?

I would like to offer a way to asses this in your life. Divide Jesus’ command into two scales.  A” love of God” scale and a “love of neighbor” scale.  Both “love” dimensions can be examined in our lives by asking three questions in each scale:
1. What do I believe? (Do I think like Jesus?)
2. What do I need to do? (Do I act like Jesus?)
3. What do I need to become? (Am I becoming like Jesus?)

Do people see a profile of Jesus Christ when they observe your life? The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 4:19 (MSG)  Do you know how I feel right now, and will feel until Christ’s life becomes visible in your lives? Like a mother in the pain of childbirth.

Here’s the big question.  What specifically does a follower of Christ look like? What are the characteristic or marks that for a profile of Christ in us?

I suggest that the essential focus of the spiritual life boils down to loving God as the first priority and loving others as ourselves.  Having Christ formed in us is primarily about a healthy growing relationship with God and with others.

I appreciate what Tim Keller says. “Gospel shaped people are enabled to form deep community, however, only in deep community can we became Gospel shaped people.”

My friend said to me, “I don’t feel I am ready to be the patriarch of the family.  But I am the only one left – so I guess it’s up to me now.”

The Bible has a lot to say about fathers.  There is no way in which I want to address all of it. I would like to however focus on three verses: 

Proverbs 3:11-13 (NIV) 11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. 13 Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding,

The implications of these verses can help us face up to who we are as dads.  These could be restated in this idea: The good dad is the one who is disciplined and disciplining.  Maybe the word disciplined doesn’t go down so well with some of us because of some harsh experiences.  I understand that, so allow me to unpack it further.  The good dad is the one who is always learning and leading.

There are six insights that undergird this idea:

1. Every father is also a child
The author addresses his words of counsel by saying “my son…” Let us never forget we are children no matter how old we get – you have a heavenly father.

2. As fathers who are children, we need continuing wisdom.
The large context of Proverbs 3 is our need for wisdom.  Is there any quality which gives more dignity to a father than wisdom?

3. Wisdom comes through the discipline of our heavenly father.
God is the source of wisdom. God has given us His word. He instructs us as to what it is to be His person.

4. God warns against two natural responses to His discipline.
We are warned not to resent his challenges, and we are warned not to despise His correction.

5. Only a father who delights in a child takes time to give adequate discipline.
God does not practice abusing his children. God’s discipline is not designed to knock us out. God gives loving instruction – His reproof emerges from a sensitive and deep care. He delights in His children.

6. The only person able to adequately discipline is one who lives responsibility under adequate discipline.
A responsible person must be accountable to someone. The father who knows best is subject to the Father who knows best. 

Fathering is never easy. Dads, you are in my prayers as we approach Father’s Day. Know our Father in heaven delights in us!  Happy Father’s Day!

From the beginning God gave Samson everything he needed to succeed in his God given purpose.  He was to lead and deliver Israel from the Philistines.  Though he did not fulfill that purpose God’s grace overruled his lifetime of regret.

Most of us will never have the opportunity to perform a heroic act at the end of our life, but all of us will leave a legacy.   Samson will always have an asterisk next to his life.  His story has caused me to pause and think about the end of our earthly journeys.

If you came to the end of your earthly journey and had a chance to write words that would be read by your family, friends, and maybe others, what subject would your choose?

As you consider that question, perhaps it will help you to know what three New Testament men chose to write about in their final days.  Peter, Paul, and John shared a common quality; their dependence upon grace. 

Paul wrote in  2 Timothy 4:22 (NIV) The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.
Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:18 (NIV) But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
John wrote in Revelation 22:21 (NIV) The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

I find it incredibly significant that all three of these great Christian leaders close out their lives by bringing attention to God’s grace.

Paul said God’s grace saves you. 
Peter said God’s grace keeps you.
John said God’s grace will take you home.

God’s grace upon Samson fills me with hope.  God transcends human weakness to accomplish his purpose of grace.

Following the service I got in my car to drive back to the church.  While driving back Iwas listening to a CD my son had just given me.  “Overflow” by Tommy Walker.  The song “Find Me Faithful” overwhelmed me to the point I had to pull the car over.  The message of the song speaks for it’s self.  It’s a simple song. The following are the words:  Also take the time and listen to the song on youtube just type in Find Me Faithful Tommy Walker.

Find me faithful, ever faithful

I make this the goal of my life

Through blessings and sorrows

To the end I will follow

I make this the goal of my life

I fix my eyes on the prize

The author of my faith, my life

Help me keep looking straight ahead

And on this long and winding road

I’ve strayed, I’ve traveled on my own

It’s only in surrender I can stay upon this road

That will someday lead me home

Tommy Walker / © 2009 WeMobile Music / CCLI #5614369