For Those With Ears - Entries from December 2011

Today is my birthday…

I do not like birthday’s too much…they make me feel a bit awkward how people feel obligated to congratulate me for surviving another year.

As if I had a huge hand in that?

Thank you LORD for another one! I am super grateful!

Every year of life I’m given is a chance to look back and see how I’ve used the time that the Lord’s given me. It’s because of Jesus that I’m alive; have I made that apparent this year? I wish that it was apparent all the time, but the truth is there is so much time wasted on ourselves.

How many people have I shared Christ with outside of church?

How many people have seen Christ in me by the way I’ve lived my life?

These are big questions! Now don’t feel that I don’t celebrate my birthdays! I just really want to aim bigger this year and as my birthday tends to come hand in hand with the New Year, I try to set some goals.

One of those goals is speaking to at least one person about Christ every month. That’s 12 people. Seems easy right? Let’s make it a challenge then! Surprising how difficult it can really be.

It’s a start small goal so I recommend it to you all.

Use 2012 to grow the Kingdom of God!

When it’s over, it’s over.  Whether it’s the big game, the big production, the big event, or the big sale, when the adrenaline stops pulsing through our veins, there is a let-down.  It came into sharp focus for me on Monday morning because it’s garbage day at my house!  Man, that is a reality check the very next morning after Christmas.  It’s like having an autopsy of your celebration at the curb by 7 a.m.

All the remains laid out in order – what we ate in the composter, what we drank in the blue bin, all the pretty paper mixed in with the last-minute advertising in the grey bin, and “we don’t want to know” in the ominous black bag.  Pretty little bits of paper reminding me of gifts wrapped with care that are already kind of used and old.  Oh, to be sure there are still levels of anticipation about using a tool I got or playing with my ’71 Mustang Boss 351, (not full scale), but the let-down is kicking in like a head-ache.

I guess that is one reason we need to be reminded pretty constantly to look for the blessings and good things.  It is really easy to fall into the negative and focus on the disappointments that inevitably come.  I wonder if that is how the shepherds felt after their big event?  We talked about these guys a week ago Sunday and at our Christmas Eve worship services.  They didn’t have a warm and rosy, picture-book idea about “the nativity.”  They saw it in real smell and time.  When they left, it was still with only promises about the Messiah this baby was proclaimed to be.  If they hadn’t been told by angels they might not have believed it, considering his circumstances.   They were going back to ordinary lives that none of us have experienced or would want.   Yet, “when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.”

I wonder if the older ones had a 30-year perspective coming from their gritty view of life? 

“It’s the Messiah!  When he grows up, then it will get good.  Those Romans will pay one day!  Till then, lets go find them sheep.”

Back to the ordinary, that is no longer ordinary.   Back to work, back to school, back to parenting, back to collecting next week’s garbage.   Back to proclaiming that everything has changed.  The cure for the let-down is realizing the celebration is just part of a bigger picture.  What is important is that God has entered our world – my world – and it is time to make it known.  How are you going to do that in the coming days?

An expectant hush . . . A frantic rush.

Completely opposite concepts and yet both are true right now as we get ready for our two Christmas Eve worship nights (December 23 and 24 at 7 p.m.).  We are all very pumped about them!  There is a whole new look to the worship centre.  All the invitations we printed are “out there” somewhere.  We have heard the stories about invitations extended and received or perhaps rejected.  Expectations are high!  We are moving and shaking and . . . we are waiting.

Waiting to see who will show up.  Waiting for their response.  Waiting to see if there will be a response.  I personally have no doubt that we will be blessed and God will use these nights.  But I want to point out that these nights are just one point in a conversation that has been started.  As one person pointed out, “Now my neighbour knows I go to Harvest and they are welcome there.”

An invitation is a game-changer!  It redraws the lines of communication.  It opens up a new topic of conversation; or re-opens it.  It’s an opportunity to identify with Jesus and – lets. be. clear. – it changes the expectations others may have of you. 

Actually, it's more than an opportunity; it’s a responsibility.  Not a legalistic, “you better invite someone or you’re a loser” kind of mentality, but a “Jesus alone, is the Saviour I have and the Saviour you need” passionate conviction.   

Don’t pull back now!  Press forward in prayer and encourage others to join us.  Be bold . . . and wait patiently.  Then be bold to continue the conversation.  Because even an invitation refused has opened up the conversation. 

Surprisingly enough I am finding out that I actually have lots of desires for things both tangible and intangible.  I don’t really expect them for Christmas but I do have some kind of expectation that eventually they will show up. 

Not surprisingly, I find those desires showing up in, of all places, my prayers.  I want . . .   I need . . .   Please bring . . .  Of course, many of these things are good things, not really even selfish or for myself.  Maybe even things like peace, or salvation for someone, or – okay, this is a little selfish – for God to work in that person’s heart so they’ll stop bugging me so much!

What I am finding is that I actually have desires masquerading as prayers.  I need to ask myself:  “Where does this desire come from?”  Sometimes it comes from the wrong place.  Instead of rising out of my identity in Christ as a desire for his will, they rise out of my flesh and a desire to achieve some spiritual standing or posture.  (Okay, sometimes they are just nothing more than rank selfishness.  James 4:3)  Temptation’s hook is so set in my flesh that I am asking God to meet my expectations instead of seeking his will.  Just a while ago I read a tweet quoting a man named Thrasher that said, “God’s will is exactly what you would desire if you knew all the facts.” 

Is God’s will what I desire?  Even without all the facts, God’s will is what I will choose if I understand my identity in Christ.  Desire for relationship with him and opportunities to love and serve him will be my requests.  The cool thing is that God has already met that desire with the first Christmas gift.  Immanuel – God with us.  He really is what I need this Christmas.  Maybe instead of reducing my expectations, I need to raise them.  Its not like he isn’t sufficient!

Roger

Everyone wants something better than what they have. “New and improved” is such a catchy little slogan because everything in our lives is old and not-so-good anymore. The pace of change is such that the moment you drive your new car off of the lot or bring home that new computer, something better than what you have is already in the works.

They’re not wrong, these ad people…these marketers…these producers of consumer goods. They are communicating some pretty remarkable theology actually. Though I’m certain they don’t realize it, their hamartiology is almost perfect!

Hamartiology is the study of sin, and it is the reason that things can be better than they are. Nothing is as it should be. Nothing. After the creation, God said that everything was “good”…after the creation of the man and woman he said it was “very good”. That is to say, it was good in the sense of perfect and without sin. That all changed and since then we have been doing all we can to make things better.

We can’t, of course, make things better. For every better thing we make, we create a subsequent problem…an impact. Things are better in one way (we can get around more easily), but we create another problem: environmental impact or people dying in car accidents and plane crashes. One drug solves a given ailment but creates four side effects, or we find out much later it actually kills us. We develop a resistance. Penicillin helped in the healing of many until the bugs we were battling morphed in response…they got “better” and we had to get better again too. It is “better” we deemed to have free and open trade and to create a global economy. It is that interconnectedness that is now dragging down the whole world because Italy and Greece can’t get their act together. And so European leaders get together to find a system that is…better.

Back to the matter of hamartiology. Because of sin, nothing is really getting better. In fact, as human beings, we are not even keeping up with the pace of degradation in the world. While we continue to be image-bearers of the Creator, our image is so tainted by sin, so marred by the fall, that we would be barely recognizable beside the first man who was as close to “better” as we have ever gotten as humans.

And all that to say, everything can be better than it is. The preacher who gave us the sermon that is the Book of Hebrews said to his hearers, “In your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.”

We will look at those things as we open Hebrews 6:1-12 together on Sunday. After last week’s message challenging us to be mature and to savour the deeper things of God, we have an opportunity to dig in to some real meat here. This is one of the most controversial and talked-about passages in the Bible. Come prepared to receive a solid meal. This isn’t milk.

So, read the passage. Study it out for yourself. Pray it and be prepared to share what you are learning and what God is doing in your life through this teaching series with others. (Like how I just reviewed part of last week’s message right there?)

Sunday’s worship is going to be passionate, so listen to the songs ahead of time and come ready to sing and praise our God. I’m so excited about our youth choir singing “All the Poor and Powerless” just before I get up to preach. And, this is cool, we have someone doing announcements this week who has never done it before!  

And a few other reminders:

-       You all received a letter from the elders some weeks ago about end-of-year giving. Please take some time to carefully consider your response to that and give generously and cheerfully to the work God has entrusted to us here at Harvest;

-       We will be in Clearview Township for prayer on Sunday evening at the home of the Shaws (Nottawa); join us as we continue to seek the Lord for his will in establishing a campus of Harvest Bible Chapel in the Collingwood-Wasaga Beach area;

-       Be sure to invite your friends, family, neighbours, co-workers, and even strangers that God puts in your path to our Christmas Worship on December 23 and 24. Invitation cards are available from the ushers on Sunday.

I believe God is going to move us toward better things on Sunday.

See you then,

What food is to our bodies, Scripture is to our souls.  So let me say up front – just eat!  Start by getting some of it in your mouth and chewing.  Here are some basics to help you get started.  

Ask some questions.  Like:

1.     What stands out to me?  Is there something that catches my attention?  Why?

2.     Is there an example for me to follow?  Should I be like this?

3.     Is there a warning to pay attention to?  What do I need to watch out for?

4.     Is there an action to take?  What do I need to do?

5.     Is there a promise to claim?  What can I hold on to?

6.     Is there a sin for me to confess?  What do I need to forsake?

One problem with describing Bible study is that it covers a lot of ground!  There are a great variety of methods and levels.  Each of us has a different ability to engage.  After you have read the Bible yourself and asked and answered some of the questions above for yourself, you may want to find out more or check your understanding.  Here are some resources to help you dig deeper:

How To Read The Bible Book By Book is like a tour guide for the Bible.

Grasping God’s Word (and the companion workbook),  is “a hands on approach to reading, interpreting and applying the Bible.” 

Of course, there are a multitude of resources online.  These range from commentaries, to study aids like concordances and encyclopedias and much more, like at this site, Bible Study Tools. Here is further reading on Bible study methods from R. A. Torrey.

A basic part of Bible study is not just grasping the big outlines but getting a firm hold on the details.  One of the best ways of doing so is to keep re-reading passages and marking your Bible with words and phrases that repeat or are related, noting themes and the author’s lines of thought.  I often talk on Sunday mornings about doing that myself and sometimes ask you to do it right there.  Memorizing key passages like we are doing in the Hebrews Memory Project helps keep them in mind.  As we become familiar with various passages we can see how they relate to each other in the bigger picture.

No one can eat for you.  You must learn to feed yourself!  Sharing our Sunday meal and becoming disciples by helping each other apply it is an important part of sharing Christ together.  God is using that to grow us as a body.  Eating on your own is also important as each part grows and supplies strength to the body.  So dig in!

Todd

I remember a while ago, Todd just mentioned burgers in a message and lots of people went out after the service to get one.  If that is the power of suggestion I can’t imagine how many went out for prime rib yesterday!  Mark Rotolo presented a tantalizing aroma all through the services.  He has a great servant’s heart and lots of skill!  He made a dinner for one of the small groups a while ago.  If you need an excuse to join a small group … well, just saying!

In Hebrews 5, the author is making the point that many believers who should be able to handle more advanced teaching from the Word ("eating meat") were instead satisfied to continue on with only the very basics of the faith ("drinking milk").  We don't want to be looking for milk, but rather we want to be eager to dig in to the meat of the Word.  Although some people try to avoid being used as sermon illustrations, I'm guessing that Dale Chapman and Chris Harrison weren't complaining at all about being the diners in yesterday's illustration!

 

I hope none of us misses the point of the illustration.  God wants us to dig into his Word and really feed on it.  In 1 John 2:14 he says, “I write unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”  What a great picture of what God’s Word brings; strength and victory.  I want more of that so I’m looking forward to the next few blogs where Pastor Todd promised some practical help.

In the meantime I’m going to review that new song Jordan and Miranda taught us.  Wow!  You can listen to it below and if you missed the message you can get it, sans aroma, right here.

I came across this e-devotional that I thought you might find helpful.  Without prayer nothing else matters, so Daniel Henderson reminds us to be “careful, prayerful, thoughtful and peaceful" in this devotional which you can read here. 

Speaking of prayer we all need to continue to pray for God’s direction about a Clearview campus.  Mark your calendar to join in praying next Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. at Tim and Roxie Shaw’s.  It’s open to everyone and it isn’t so much pausing in our busy schedules to make time for this as it is intentionally getting together to do some work in the kingdom.  for more info.

During the announcements, Mike told us about what a great job Harvest did in supporting the gift baskets for the orphanages in Haiti and Nigeria.  All of the kids will get Christmas baskets and there's money left over to go toward other important projects in those countries.

And Mike was also talking about the Christmas Eve services that we're all looking forward to on December 23 and 24 (both at 7 p.m.).  Invitations are available so make sure you pick up a handful next Sunday to use to invite others to join us for these great worship services.  You can also point people to this page of the website for all the info.

Going to get some prime rib!  #hungry #Jesussatisfies

Peace,

Eutychus