A Prayer Testimony

When I was in Brazil earlier this year I met a young married woman, a friend of a friend. Her husband, son of a church leader, had abandoned her to live in the world. God gave me compassion for her, and along with many others joined in prayer for the situation. Continued to pray after my return to the US. Last Sunday received a text from our mutual friend that the husband had returned, repented before the whole church and they were reconciled and together again I am joyful for them and also very thankful to God for this encouragement to pray. Sometimes we can pray about a situation many times over months, years and even decades and not receive what we hope for. It is a blessing when God responds in a discernible way.

Charlie Kirk

I didn't know Charlie Kirk or follow him but I acknowledge his influence and his marryrdom as a brother in the Lord Jesus. As a young man of barely 21, I was a passenger in an accident that killed three people, a promising young Christian musician, a brother six years older than me who was the first to trust me, or Jesus in me, with any significant responsibility and his three year old son. As I tried to process this another brother taught me God's sovereignty. He said that God didn't want these three to have to wait any longer to see Him face to face, know His love directly and live with Him for all eternity. "The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is exalted among the sons of men." Psalm 12:8 "All those who livd godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12 "The blood pf the martyrs is the seed of the church." Tertullian, an early church father.

1 Peter 2:18-25

Last night the Bible study group completed 1,Peter 2 working through verses 18 to 25. There were nine of us. This passage instructs how we should respond to suffering by following the example of Jesus. He did not retaliate in any way while He was condemned, tortured and crucified. Our normal response is to defend or justify ourselves,at the slightest provocation but this is not the way of Jesus. We also looked at the reality that Jesus' suffering was not only physical as intense as that was but also emotional as his closest followers forsook him and fled. More agonizing was the separation of perfect fellowship between the Father and Himself as He bore the wrath of God for our sins. 'Ny God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" quoting from Psalm 22.1

Coaching

A friend of mine is a soccer coach working with a high school team. This morning he explained how the team had done in their last game. He didn't say if they won or lost or the final score. Instead he mentioned thirteen straight passes at the onset and thirty-one shots on goal to the opponents six. He emphasized playing. What are the objectives of a good coach, winning at all costs or helping each player, with their different skills and experience, to be the best player they can be, and to work together as a team? Might the Church in America learn something here? Too often the pastor tries valiantly to do everything and gets burned out, or goes to the other extreme and thinks he is the only one that can do anything because of his specialized training. "Equip the saints for the work of ministry" (Ephesians 4:12) sounds like coaching to me.

Movies

Currently I am working at a Christian conference and retreat center with half a dozen other men almost all of whom have been believers for decades. Most of us are introverts. We receive a great fringe benefit of meals during the week. As we wait for these to be prepared most guys are looking at their cell phones. Yesterday we had the most animated, enthusiastic conversation that I have experienced in the over 3 months that I have worked here. The subject? Movies. Particularly Arnold Schwarzenegger films. There was general expressive communication by most indicating how many movies they had seen and the large amount of details they remembered. This morning a question came to me. What could God do in and through us if we had the same knowledge and enthusiasm about His Word?

Good?

At the very end of the Wednesday night Bible study a question was raised on whether someone who doesn't believe in God could love Him. This reflects our cultural conditioning in secular humanism which claims that people are inherently good, and that their environment or circumstances causes them to act otherwise. In fact, the most common response I receive from people to whom I am presenting the gospel is "I'm good." This is a totally anti Biblical position. Psalm 51:4 indicates that we are born in sin. In Mark 10,a man refers to Jesus as "good teacher." Jesus responds in verse 18, "Why do you call Me good? There is none good except God." In Romans 3 beginning with verse 10, Paul quotes from Psalm 14:1-3. "There is none good, no not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God. They have all turned aside..." Only the righteousness of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30) working through the Holy Spirit can make anyone good. Thank God for His grace and mercy!

1 Peter 2:10-17

Last night as we continued in 1 Peter 2 we looked at the following. V.10 the connection between becoming God's people and,His mercy. V.11 What is our soul against which fleshly lusts war? V.12 the importance of what we do as a witness to those who don't know Christ V.13 One of several verses and passages that enjoin obedience to human authority cf. Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1 V.14 ditto V.15 returns to the theme of verse 12 V.16 In Christ we are free to become His servants. V.17. The importance of honoring others, a theme cited almost two hundred times in the Bible.