Words from the Pastor’s Desk

Well actually it's impossible. It's completely impossible apart from the work of God in our hearts. And exactly what does that work look like that enables us to imitate God? Well it really starts with the regenerating work of the Spirit. It's impossible for us (in terms of who we are by nature) to be able to imitate God, because instead, as Jesus said, by nature, our father is Satan, and we imitate him. And so we have to be changed, radically changed at the heart level. And that's what regeneration is; it's God making us new, giving us, in the words of the prophet Ezekiel, a new heart.Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.Ezekiel 36:26And so that has to happen first before we can ever think about being imitators of God. But in addition to that there also has to be the empowering and enabling of Jesus Christ our Lord. In talking about the fruit that we can demonstrate as His followers He says in John 15 apart from me, you can do nothing."I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."- John 15:5So there there's no way that we can demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit - and in reality that's being an imitator of God - apart from the enablement of Jesus Christ himself personally. We are in Him and we receive power from Him as if we were attached by some sort of a divine umbilical cord; so that also has to be there. But very practically before we can be imitators of God, there has to be the work of the Word. We have to understand from the Word itself what it looks like to be imitators of God. And apart from that, it's not that we can imitate God in every way - we can't be omnipresent - what Paul is talking about is imitating God in our moral characters. For example, we're commanded to forgive like God forgives. Peter says we're to be holy like God is holy....but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."- 1 Peter 1:15-16So in the moral attributes of God we can imitate God. And specifically in Ephesians 5. Paul says we're to be imitators of God and walk in love.Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.- Ephesians 5:1-2In other words were to imitate God, by loving like God loves. And the way to do that is really explained in the verses that preceded the end of Ephesians 4 where we're told again and again what loving other people looks like. That's what it means to imitate God

Intimate knowledge of Jesus and the Gospel is no guarantee of faith and salvation; in fact, familiarity can be an enemy.

The teaching of Jesus Christ produces very different responses from different people.The religious leaders and people of Nazareth were amazed at Jesus teaching, His wisdom, and His power, but they simply couldn't reconcile those things to what they knew of Him from His childhood and His youth, His occupation, and His family.They could not believe that He was anything more than a carpenter. Their hearts became like stone to the truth He taught.No guaranteeIntimate knowledge of Jesus and the Gospel is no guarantee of faith and salvation; in fact, familiarity can be an enemy. You can go to church and sit in thousands of services. You can hear thousands of Sunday School classes. You can learn hundreds of songs. You can memorize hundreds of verses. But when there is familiarity without faith, Jesus becomes common and ordinary. Pedestrian.A warningHere is a warning if you grew up in Christian home.You can hear about Christ week after week, and grow too familiar with Christ. There's no sense of fear, no sense of wonder, and no sense of urgency. Instead, there is only complacency. That's a dangerous place to be.Jesus is not ordinary. He's not common. He is extraordinary. The Gospel record makes it clear that He is incomparable. He is all-powerful, He is God's unique Son, He alone has the truth, and only He can rescue you from your sin. He's the only thing worth living for, the only way to God, the only truth, and the only source of life.I plead with you. Don't let your familiarity with Jesus remove either the wonder of who He is from your heart, or cause you not to fear Him with the fear He deserves.This story reminds us that if Jesus faced unbelief during His lifetime, so will we as we present the Gospel today. The people who grew up with Jesus Christ didn't believe. Don't expect anything else. Jesus said if they hated Him, they'll hate you. Expect that, and be surprised when they don't.Don't ever lose hopeBut also be encouraged by this story. There is hope for everybody you know. It's hard to be more familiar than growing up with Jesus in the same family. And yet, two of Jesus' brothers ended up writing letters that are in our New Testament. The first is James, the leader of the Jerusalem church. The other is Judas, who wrote the NT letter "Jude." Jude begins, "Jude, a slave of Jesus Messiah, and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ."Don't ever lose hope for those in your life who, like those in Jesus' life, reject everything you stand for: reject Him, reject you, and reject the Truth.Don't ever lose hope, because there's power in the Gospel and in God's sovereign grace.

One of the greatest dangers to our souls is the deadly danger of familiarity, that is, becoming overly familiar with spiritual things, even with Christ Himself.

Familiarity had bred contemptOne of the greatest dangers to our souls is the deadly danger of familiarity, that is, becoming overly familiar with spiritual things, even with Christ Himself.Tragically, the worst example has to be the people Jesus grew up with, the people in His own hometown of Nazareth who simply didn't see this great danger. Their hearts were hard toward Christ and His gospel, and the cause was their familiarity with Him. It their case, familiarity had bred contempt.In Mark 6: 1-6, Jesus returns for a second time to his hometown of Nazareth. To Jesus' first visit a year before, they had responded with violence and uncontrollable rage. They tried to kill Him.But in His second visit to Nazareth a year later, they responded with cool indifference and personal insult. That's the anatomy of unbelief. The unbelief that comes with familiarity.Jesus' response to indifference and unbeliefHow did Christ respond to their indifference and unbelief? He explained their response with a proverb. He said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.'" He unequivocally claimed to be a prophet. And He said, "This is how the prophets have been treated." The closer you got to Christ, the more purely His righteous character shined. He refused intentionally to do miracles where there was unbelief. "He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them (v5)." In Matthew's account, Matthew makes it very clear that the issue was not a lack of power but an intentional choice. Matthew 13:58 says, "And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief." It was Jesus' choice. He was personally amazed at their unbelief. "He was amazed at their unbelief (v6)." In Mark's Gospel, he often uses the word "wondered" of the crowd's response to Jesus several times. But only two times in all the Gospels are we told that Jesus was "amazed." Jesus responded by leaving Nazareth for good. He left His hometown for the last time we know of in His earthly ministry. It's a solemn reminder that God doesn't always strive with man. God gave Nazareth 28 years of His Son from two years old to thirty, and twice more during His earthly ministry. Then He left and never returned.Now is the acceptable timeIf you're not in Christ, don't assume you will ever get another opportunity. Don't say "tomorrow." Now is the acceptable time. Paul tells the Corinthians, "Behold, now is the day of salvation."Don't harden your heart against the truth of who Christ is.

Desperate people are willing to do desperate things. In Mark 5:21-43, we meet two desperate people with nothing in common, except their desire to get to Christ.

Desperate people are willing to do desperate things. In Mark 5:21-43, we meet two desperate people with nothing in common, except their desire to get to Christ.An Influential LeaderJairus was the highest-ranking religious leader in Jesus' hometown of Capernaum. His 12-year old daughter was dying. He risked his reputation by approaching Jesus for help, because he believed Jesus could heal her. And Jesus agreed to go with him. Together they headed for Jairus' home. Jairus was trying desperately to get Jesus to his daughter, but the crowd was slowing their progress.And there is a woman in the crowd who has a different plan...and the delay resulted in the death of Jairus' daughter, because God had a different plan. He was about to make a point about who Jesus is and Jesus' power over incurable disease...and over death. The second desperate person was simply...An Anonymous WomanHer situation was truly tragic. She had suffered long with a chronic disease that had slowly, methodically, and terribly brought her to the end of herself. She had no options, no hope. Then she heard about Jesus.She pushed her way through the crowd and touched his outer garment tassel. That very moment, the uterine bleeding that had plagued her for twelve long years and had made her ceremonially unclean - stopped! It left her body like it had never been a reality. And she was somehow aware that she had been healed.But more happened to this woman than physical healing. She experienced spiritual salvation as well. Notice Jesus says, "Your faith has made you well" (34)After this divine interruption, Jesus finally arrived at Jairus' home, only to hear that Jairus' little daughter had already died.But this humanly tragic circumstance provides a wonderful opportunity for the Father to powerfully prove who Jesus is when Jesus raises her from the dead!Spiritual LessonsTragedy often brings a person to Jesus. Perhaps your story is like that of Jairus. You had some knowledge of Christ, but no real relationship with Him. You'd never really become His follower, His disciple. But that knowledge that you had all crystallized in a moment, when God by His providence brought you into the middle of a crisis you could not handle. And the only thing you could do was look up.Maybe you were like the woman. Your life was a slow descent to the bottom, where all you could do at the end was look up and cry out for hope, and in that state of desperation, somebody told you about Christ, and the work of the Spirit of God in your heart caused you to respond.Jairus risked everything: his position, power, and influence, possibly even his wealth. The same was true for the woman. The woman risked public disclosure of her condition, which in 1st century culture would have brought public disgrace and humiliation.Both were putting all confidence in Christ alone as the only One able to help them. That is saving faith.God may be taking you through extreme difficulty right now. Perhaps He intends to use those circumstances to bring you to the end of yourself, to the end of your own resources, and to prepare your heart to draw you to Himself.If you will recognize your need, be willing to deny yourself, and to give up everything else and put your confidence in Christ alone as your only hope, He will receive you, just as He did these two very desperate people.

Most of us really don't know what it's like to truly be without hope. In Mark 5:21-43, we meet two desperate people looking for hope. One has a dying body; the other, a dying 12-year-old daughter. Their hope has a name: Jesus of Nazareth.

Two remarkable accountsTwo remarkable accounts in Mark's gospel display the faith of these two desperate people. But they aren't the point of the story. The real center of these two accounts is Jesus. Their stories display Him as the sovereign Lord of life, and the Destroyer of death.We learn that Jesus is sovereign over all disease in the healing of an anonymous woman who came up behind Jesus and touched his garment. She had genuine faith in Christ. It was not His robe that made her well - it was Christ Himself. That day, Jesus rescued a woman from her physical scourge, and from her sin.Jesus also did the same for Jairus, a wealthy, powerful leader. Christ's delay in pausing to heal the dying anonymous woman proved deadly for Jairus' daughter (Mark 5:21-43). But it was God's plan. This is a statement about the Person of Jesus. It is a revelation, an unveiling of Who He is. He is Lord. He is Yahweh.Hopeless apart from Jesus ChristBoth Jairus and this anonymous woman had seen or heard about Jesus' teaching and miracles. And through very different and very difficult circumstances, God had brought both to the end of themselves. They were hopeless apart from Jesus Christ.What they learned about Jesus and experienced in their circumstances brought them to a spiritual crossroads. They could either come to Jesus and put their whole confidence, their lives, their eternities in His hands, or they could keep trying to work it out themselves.But God had prepared their hearts just as Jesus had explained in a parable the day before. God had prepared the soil of their hearts to receive the truth of who Jesus was and both had responded in faith.It was flawed faith to be sure, but it was genuine faith in Christ.God's point in difficult circumstances may be to bring you to the end of yourself, to a place where you are absolutely hopeless and where your only hope is to look up. Your only option is to run as these two did to Jesus and to fall at His feet as a beggar.As was true for them, your only hope for spiritual rescue is Jesus alone.If you'll run to Jesus, He will receive you, just as He received these two desperate people.

Where do expressions of attitude begin? In your heart. The words you choose, the tone you use, your body language - all reveal what you're thinking in your heart. In Ephesians 4:31-32, the Apostle Paul confronts our attitudes and how we express them.

Wrong expressionsBitterness is a hardness of the soul that eventually expresses itself outwardly in demeanor, appearance, words, and tone. Bitterness is a particular temptation in the relationship of marriage. You know more about that person than any other...and they know more about you. They've seen more of your sin than any one else has seen.Wrath describes the sin of those who explodes in an outburst of anger. When something doesn't go their way, there is an outburst. Do you frequently blow up in anger in your relationships? Understand this - Every time you explode in anger, you sin against God.Sinful anger. This word doesn't describe an explosion, but a slow, simmering burn. Some people blow up when they get angry. Others clam up. They allow the anger to live in their hearts, to seethe inside their souls. We all struggle with anger. But we have to deal with it quickly. Paul admonishes us not to let a day end without dealing with the source of the anger and resolving the conflict. And seek God's forgiveness and the forgiveness of the person against whom you've sinned.Right expressionsWhat are the right attitudes we should put on?Kindness. To be kind is to show a sweet and generous disposition. It's a heart that doesn't delight in hurting others, but in helping them and doing them good. Kindness is ultimately an expression of love.Tenderhearted. Have you seen a mother holding her newborn child? She's tenderhearted toward her child; compassionate, sympathetic. Is that how you treat the people in your life?Forgiveness. How did God forgive you? Freely, with no strings attached. When you expressed repentance toward God, He was eager to forgive you. Is that how you respond to the people who've sinned against you? Forgive as God has forgiven you.If you don't know Christ, remember: God has been incredibly kind to you. His kindness is intended to drive you to Him in repentance and faith (Romans 2:4). Ephesians 2:7 tells us that God is kind and will shower us who know Him with kindness forever. He loves to do good to those who deserve evil. He's quick to forgive where there's real repentance. He's slow to anger and abounding in unfailing love.God doesn't hold a grudge. He's easy to be entreated. He has compassion on us as a father does on his children. He remembers that we're just dust.We are to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving because our new Father is like that. And we are to walk in His footsteps."Be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love."

If you're a Christian, one way to walk in your Father's footsteps is in your communication with others. We should imitate the way our Father communicates in our marriages, in our families, in our church, and in every human relationship.

If you're a Christian, one way to walk in your Father's footsteps is in your communication with others. We should imitate the way our Father communicates in our marriages, in our families, in our church, and in every human relationship.List of principlesIn Ephesians 4:29, Paul provides several principles that will revolutionize how we communicate with others.First, we must control our mouths constantly. He says, "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth." Christians, we can and must control our communication. It's simple obedience. The ultimate problem of course isn't with our mouths; it's with our hearts. That's where our unwholesome words come from.A second principle is that we must choose our words carefully. Words are tools that we use all the time to express what's in our minds and they have amazing power. We still feel the wounds left by the careless words of others - in some cases, all the way back to our childhood. Edifying words can be encouraging or discouraging, winsome, or a warning, friendly or firm, but they are always designed to one end: to help. Edifying words are aimed at the problem, not at the person, and are to be appropriate to the person's need and circumstances.A third principle in this verse is that we must change our minds about the reason for speaking at all. Most people - I include myself here - use words for all the wrong reasons. Our words don't exist just for us and our needs. Our words exist for others. God didn't primarily give us the gift of language and words so that we can express ourselves. He gave us these gifts so we can love others through them. God gave us communication to give grace to those who hear.Words matterIn Matthew 12: 34-37, Jesus says that words are such an accurate reflection of the heart, of the contents of the heart, that how you speak, what you say, and the words you choose, will be marshaled as evidence when you stand before God. Your words will either justify your claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ and to be His disciple, or they will condemn you as one who never was truly changed.Words are serious because they simply reveal what's on the inside. If others could look at the flow of a week, not just what we say on Sunday, not just what we say at the church, but they could examine our words over the period of time, we could know what's in our hearts because they just flow out from the heart.Jesus says if we are not really followers, if we claim to be but we're not, every word we have spoken will be marshaled as evidence against us on the day we stand before Christ and our very words will condemn us to eternal hell.That makes communication a very serious matter.

Justin Martyr, who lived shortly after the Apostle John's death, wrote this: "When Jesus was among men, He made plows and yokes and other farm implements." If it was not beneath the Son of God to work as a craftsman, then surely it is beneath none of His disciples. He has imparted to hard work both dignity and nobility.

Work is a noble enterprise - and an essential part of the life of every Christian. The Best ExampleYou likely know people who are good examples of hard work. But the best example of what it means to work hard is our Lord Jesus Himself.He worked hard in a trade. He was a carpenter, a working man who earned His living, as others of his contemporaries, by manual labor. Justin Martyr, who lived shortly after the Apostle John's death, wrote this:"When Jesus was among men, He made plows and yokes and other farm implements."If it was not beneath the Son of God to work as a craftsman, then surely it is beneath none of His disciples. He has imparted to hard work both dignity and nobility.Right GoalsHere are the right goals to keep in mind as you work:Use the gifts God has given you to benefit others. If your job is not encouraging other people to sin, and I hope that isn't true, then it is serving a beneficial purpose for other human beings. You need to see your job as part of God's goodness - as part of His common grace - to His creatures to make their lives better and to serve as a reminder of His goodness.Another legitimate goal of work is to care for your own needs - and well as your own enjoyment. Scripture says our earnings can be used for our enjoyment, because God has richly supplied us with all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17).Work to provide for your dependents. Not only are we to use the gifts God has given us for the benefit of ourselves and others, but also to provide for our dependents as well - those who look to us, under our own household (1 Timothy 5:8).Work to give to others in need. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:28 said that a Christian "must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need." You and I are to work hard to the point of exhaustion, so that we can share with those who lack what is necessary.Our work also serves to advance Christ's kingdom through the church. Scripture teaches us to use the resources we have here to advance His kingdom, because that's an investment in eternity.Ultimate Goal of Daily WorkFinally, the ultimate goal of your daily work is to promote God's glory! Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve (Colossians 3:24).Is Christ pleased with how you do your job? Wherever you work, do it to the glory of Christ.Scripture calls you to walk in your Father's footsteps by walking in love. If you want to be like your Father, love people by working hard not to take from them, but to give to them. Work hard to the point of exhaustion - not just for yourself or your family, but for the benefit of others.Work so you can be generous with others, in the same way God has been generous with you.

What does the Bible have to say about personal property and private ownership?

What does the Bible have to say about personal property and private ownership?God Owns EverythingGod owns everything that exists. If God took all of what you call your own away, how would you respond? Job understood that everything he had belonged to God. And when God chose to take it, Job didn't grow angry with God. Instead, he responded, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." God owns everything.God Delegates His AuthorityAlthough God made everything, and by right it belongs to Him, He chose to delegate the right of authority over everything that exists here on earth to mankind. After God made Adam and Eve, Genesis 1:28 says, "God blessed them; and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" Even after the worldwide Flood, God continued to delegate this authority to mankind. (Genesis 9:1-8)Private Ownership is a God-Given PrincipleGod not only gave mankind generally the authority to subdue and rule over the earth, but He also established the principle of private ownership, so that individuals would own certain things.Some Christians espouse a kind of Christian socialism or communism. They quote the command in Mark 10: "Go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, you'll have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me." Some believe that universally applies to all Christians. But that is not what the Bible teaches. As early as Genesis 15 when God tells Abraham that he and his descendants will own and possess a piece of property.All Scripture underscores the principle of private ownership. Ironically, even the passages many use to defend Christian socialism (Acts 4:32 ff) establishes this: "While your (land) remained unsold, did it not remain your own?"You Shall Not StealThe reason it's wrong to take something from someone else is because in the eyes of God it actually belongs to that other person. The principle of private ownership of land and possessions is affirmed in the Old Testament under the theocracy, and reaffirmed in the New Testament for the followers of Jesus Christ.You Are a StewardDuring your life here, God has made you a steward - He has allowed you ownership of what really belongs to Him.God has distributed material wealth according to His own sovereign purposes and He demands that we respect and care for the property of others and be wise stewards of our own.Do you understand that all of those things belong to you only in the sense that you are a vassal to a feudal lord? How are you doing with your stewardship - are you using it wisely, in the way the Lord would want you to use as He directed?