CHRISTians have two significant differences…

you might ask, does following CHRIST exempt you from temptation?  the answer is no.  of course not.  in fact you’re probably going to be more tempted once you become a believer because you’ve got a big bull’s eye on you and satan hates your guts.  he wants to take you down.

of course you’re going to be tempted.  so if you ever hear some CHRISTian say, “i just thank GOD i haven’t been tempted in twenty-five years.”  it’s just not true.  you’re going to be tempted the rest of your life. 

followers of CHRIST – that’s you and me – we have the exact same problems, same hurts, same fears, same difficulties, same sins, same failures as everybody else in the world.  we just have two significant differences.  one, we realize that because JESUS CHRIST died on the cross for my sins and i can come to HIM and HE will forgive me of any sin that i have done.  so salvation and GOD’s grace in my life means i’ve been forgiven.  that’s a big advantage.  a big advantage!  i have been forgiven.

the second thing i have is, i’ve got a church family.  in a church family i can find other people who say, we’re with you.  we’re going to hang in there with you.  we’re going to be with you.  the church is not a hotel for saints where they dress up for dress parade.  it’s a hospital for sinners.  people who say i want to grow.  GOD says that’s the kind of people i want.

now the most common temptations without a doubt are sexual temptations.  why?  i don’t know if you’ve figured this out or not but everybody is either a man or a woman.  so as a result sexual temptations are the most common temptations. 

not everybody is tempted to do drugs, smoke weed, not everybody is tempted to go get drunk and drive drunk.  but everybody is either a man or a woman.  and satan tries to get those drives and those desires – good GODly drives –perverted, misused or abused.  yet it is the one area of temptation that people least like to talk about. 

i love that line that says you’ve never gone too far for GOD’s grace.

just a thought from the front porch…

what to do when you are really sick?...

so what does james say to do when you are sick?

james 5. 14 (niv), is any one of you sick?  he should call the elders of the church to pray over him, and anoint him with oil in the name of the LORD.

you should call the elders of the church.  i peter 5, acts 20, titus 2 tells of the structure of the church.  james says you call the SPIRITual leaders of your church to pray for you.  these guys aren’t professional healers who go around holding healing meetings.  an example of that in scripture is JESUS.  if anybody had the right to hold mass meetings, HE could have.  in the new testament, healing was a private matter. 

i find it strange that people who claim to have the gift of healing always insist that the sick people come to them, rather than them going to the sick. 

and it says he should call the elders.  who’s doing the calling?  the sick person.  james is talking about a house call. if you’re so sick you can’t get out of bed, you call the spiritual leaders to come to your house and you ask them to pray for you. 

this implies support for belonging to a local church.  every CHRISTian needs to identify himself with a particular body of believers.  why?  one good reason is that when you get sick, you know who to call on.  in the new testament there was no such thing as a free-floating CHRISTian who would just float around, listen to CHRISTian radio and tv, bounce around from this church to that church.  there was no such thing in the new testament.  every person was a member of a specific local church.  because it says you are the body and each of you are members of it.  the value of it is when you’re in need there is somebody there to care for you. 

the sick person takes the initiative.  if you don’t call the elders of the church, how will they know about it?  the word “sick” is talking about a life-threatening illness. 

just a thought from the front porch…

there is no distinction…

so what is GOD saying here in james?  HE is saying, the church that accepts, appreciates and affirms people is the church that GOD blesses.  absolutely nothing can stop the church that is filled with love.  nothing, but it doesn’t happen accidentally.  it requires an all out effort by all.

i believe that GOD is just waiting for a church that will love people unconditionally.  HE can use that kind of church to spark a spiritual awakening that all of the forces of hell can’t stop.  nothing can stop a loving church.

it was said of the nt church, “see how they love one another.  by this shall all men know that you are my disciples that you love each other.”  you accept, affirm, appreciate.  JESUS breaks down all of the barriers and the ground is level at the cross.  we are all equal in GOD’s eyes.  GOD wants you to know HIM.

galatians 3.26-27 (niv), for now we are all children of GOD through faith in JESUS CHRIST.  we are no longer jews or greek or slave or free men or even men or women.  there is no distinction in the body of CHRIST.  we are CHRISTians.  we are one in CHRIST JESUS.

just a thought from the front porch…

it clarifies things in my life…

when i’m going through a tough time, how do i know the cause of it?  you must pray about it, talk to GOD. 

psalm 73.16-17 (tev), i tried to think this problem through but it was too difficult for me until i went into your temple. 

when you worship, GOD uses getting together with other believers to help you clarify things that are going on in your life.  that's why i hate to miss church.  even when margaret and i go on vacation, we go to church and GOD always speaks to us.  

listen, i don’t go to church out of guilt, habit, because somebody forces me to, because of a ritual.  i go to find out if GOD has anything to say to me.  almost every one of the major decisions in my life, many of the major turning points, happen when i was in a church service.  before i went that day i had no idea what was going to happen.  but because i went, i heard something from the bible and it made a change in me, a major decision. 

i don’t know when those are going to happen so i go to church whenever i can.  what if GOD had that speaker or that message just for me, what if i didn’t show up?  so, on the possibility that HE might want to speak to me any particular week, i show up. 

i am going to be in church this weekend at least once and i am excited about and anticipating what GOD is going to share with me about what is happening in my life.  GOD has given brian moll the teaching pastor at forefront church in new york city a general word for all of us who are there to hear but in it GOD has a specific word for me personally to hear and i will be there to hear it.  i don’t want to miss it.

psalm 73.16-17 (tev), i tried to think this problem through but it was too difficult for me until i went into your temple. 

just a thought from the front porch…

I guarantee to meet your needs…

isaiah 50.8 (ncv) says, if you feed the hungry and take care of the needs of those who are troubled, then your light will shine in the dark and the LORD will always lead you and HE’ll satisfy your needs in dry land. and you’ll be like a spring that never runs dry.

listen, when you assume responsibility for the needs of hurting people around you,” GOD says, “I guarantee to meet your needs.” what a deal! GOD says, “when you take on the needs of other people around you, I guarantee that your needs will be met by me, GOD.” you can’t beat that. HE says, “I'll lead you, I'll bless you, I'll take care of your needs.”

proverbs 11:17 (nlt), your own soul is nourished when you are kind. GOD has promised many, many great benefits for kindness.

galatians 6.10 (ncv), says, whenever we have the opportunity [and, by the way, you’ve got it right now] to help anyone, we should do it. but we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers. who’s the family of believers? it’s your church family. the bible says be kind to everybody but give special attention to the family of believers who need your help.

who needs your kindness this week? susan kidd wrote this: “it happened years ago on one of those raw december days that make people wish they’d done their CHRISTmas shopping in july. snowflake winds whipped through the street, and hunched on a sidewalk bench sat an unshaven man. he wore a threadbare jacket and shoes with no socks. he’d folded a paper bag around his neck to keep out the biting wind. a shopper paused, saddened by the man. ‘such a pity,’ she thought. but there was really nothing she could do. while the shopper lingered there, a little girl, maybe 11 or 12, walked by and spotted the frostbitten figure on the bench. wrapped around the girl’s neck was a bright woolen scarf. she stopped beside the old man, unwrapped the wool scarf and draped it tenderly around his neck and walked away. the man rubbed the warm wool. then the shopper crept away, wishing that she had been the one to give the scarf. i was that shopper. and GOD taught me something that day. wherever i am, whatever i possess there is always something that i can give – a touch, a smile, a prayer, a kind word, even a scarf.”

will you grow in kindness?

just a thought from the front porch…

you'll never become a great lover by yourself...

5. get support from other loving people.

this is so important. you’ll never become a great lover by yourself in your room and reading a book. you only learn it in connection to others, in the context of community, in the environment of relationships. you’ve got to get with people if you’re going to learn to be a great loving person. that’s one of the reasons why a small group is so good. it’s put you in a group who are not part of your family, who are totally different from you, and you have to learn to get close to them. that’s how you learn to love. that’s how you develop skills. you never learn it just sitting back and listening. you learn it in relationship to other people.

think about this: GOD gave you a church to go to. GOD put you in a church because HE wants you to study love. that’s why you go. but if you don’t get on board with this, you’re going to miss the very reason GOD made the church.

we’ve got a lot to learn together, but fortunately we have a model. ephesians 5.2 (mes) says, keep company with GOD and learn a life of love. observe how CHRIST loved us. HIS love was not cautious but extravagant. HE didn’t love in order to get something back but to give everything of HIMself to us. love like that.

you say, “impossible. there’s no way that i can love like JESUS CHRIST.” you’re right. there is no way that you could possibly love like JESUS CHRIST and love as much as HE loves you on your own power. that’s why you need JESUS CHRIST in your life. that’s why you need HIM inside of you and the first step is to say, “JESUS CHRIST, put your love in me. come inside me. i open my heart to YOU.” in the days ahead, i'm going to teach you how to let GOD love other people through you rather than you just trying to do it on your own power. how do you let GOD put HIS love through you?

1 corinthians 13:13 (ph), in this life we have three lasting qualities: faith, hope and love. but the greatest of these is love. why is love the greatest? because it’s going to last forever.

when you get to heaven, you’re not going to need faith, because you’re going to be in the presence of GOD. you won’t need faith in heaven. when you get to heaven, you’re not going to need hope. you’re not going to need hope because all your needs will be met. you won’t need hope or faith. but when you get to heaven, heaven is filled with love because GOD is love. the bible doesn’t say GOD is faith. the bible doesn’t say GOD is hope. the bible says GOD is love. and love is going to go on for the rest of eternity.

just a thought here on the front porch…