Archive for February, 2010

So I know that this is probably not proper in writing but I am going to start out by asking you a question.  Do the people around you and the people that know you well want to go to church because of you? Does your attitude, actions, re-actions, and habits draw people to church?  Or do they leave them with the thought “if that is where he/she goes to church I am not going there!”

Take a second and think back to high school or college during science class when the teacher or professor began to explain the litmus test. If you remember the litmus test is used by scientists to indicate whether a chemical is an acid or a base. So it is the means in which we can determine based upon criteria the makeup or the designation of a substance.

In society we have used this expression of the “litmus test” to explain many things that test circumstances or situations in our lives.  And in the same way we have a litmus test for our walk with Christ.  We have the Bible and the examples that are laid out for us to understand through its teachings.

And so we should look at the examples and then compare them to our own lives and grow and adjust according to the reflection.  For example, let us look at the first people to actually be called Christians.  They were gentiles (anyone who is not of Jewish decent) who were told about Christ and what He did and believed that He was the Messiah.

Now unfortunately over time, the word “Christian” has lost a great deal of its significance and is often used of someone who is religious or has high moral values but who may or may not be a true follower of Jesus Christ.  Many people who do not believe and trust in Jesus Christ consider themselves Christians simply because they go to church or they live in a “Christian” nation.  But going to church, serving those less fortunate than you, or being a good person does not make you a Christian. Going to church does not make you a Christian anymore than going to a garage makes you an automobile. Being a member of a church, attending services regularly, and giving to the work of the church does not make you a Christian.

The Bible teaches that the good works we do cannot make us acceptable to God. Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” So, a Christian is someone who has been born again by God (John 3:3; John 3:7; 1 Peter 1:23) and has put faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that it is “by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

A true Christian is a person who has put faith and trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ, including His death on the cross as payment for sins and His resurrection on the third day. John 1:12 tells us, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” The mark of a true Christian is love for others and obedience to God’s Word (1 John 2:4, 10). A true Christian is indeed a child of God, a part of God’s true family, and one who has been given new life in Jesus Christ.

And it is in this new life that we as humans begin to mess it up.  We begin to make Christianity about us and not about Christ.  We make it about our religious acts and about the people who are behind the pulpit instead of about the God that humbly gave himself as a sacrifice for us.  And to make it worse we don’t do as the people from Antioch did and example our faith, we walk around with bad attitudes and we judge other people’s sin without being concerned about our own.   We assume that God got a good deal when He got us in His church instead of understanding that we are the ones that messed up the church.

So, let us go back to the idea of the litmus test.  As we take the scriptures and we apply them to our lives we must examine whether or not our actions, behaviors, and our speech reflects the fact that we do have a new life in Christ.  Would the people around you use your life as a litmus test for being a true follower of Christ?  When they see you at the grocery store shopping do they see Christ?  When they see you at the basketball game cheering do they see Christ?  When they see you at church is it different than when they see you out on Broadway?  I encourage you to seek Christ and His litmus test for your life.

 ⁷ Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
   at the presence of the God of Jacob,
⁸who turns the rock into a pool of water,
   the flint into a spring of water.            Psalm 114:7-8 ESV

There are several reasons that one might tremble.  First and foremost on that list of reasons would probably be fear.  That is probably the most typical response as to the question ”Why would you tremble?”.  And there is nothing wrong with the response as it is a very accurate statement.  And if we examine scriptures there are several places where it is discussed that someone or something trembled at the sight of or presence of God.  And that is without a doubt an appropriate response to those times.  To physically see God or to experience His power in a dramatic forum is an event that is life altering.   But I want to suggest that we should have a different response as believers that might warrant the number one response to be changed. 

As we have made the transition into Nebraska and into the town of Imperial we have been able to do some things that normally we would not of had the exposure to do.  One that is pertinent to this discussion would be the amount of time that we have spent in a combine picking corn.  Now to some of the readers this might seem somewhat boring or even drudging.  But to my four year old this is basically one of the pinnacles of his young life.  When I tell him that we are going out to ride the combine with Mr. Max or Mr. Kurt he literally begins to shake with excitement.  He cannot stand still and he definetly cannot stand in a stoic fashion as if he were a statue.  So here is my question and my point. 

As we read the verse above and review that we as believers serve a God who can turn flint (which is hard form of quartz rock…just in case you were wondering) into a spring of water shouldn’t we be trembling with excitement to go and spend time with Him?  Shouldn’t we be like my four year old who can’t even stand still when he finds out that we are going to the field?  Shouldn’t we be filled with such excitement at the fact that we are going to worship and hear from God that we cannot even stand still?  There are so many churches across America that will be filled each Sunday with individuals that act like they are at a funeral.  So, I pose this question to you for you to ponder and consider for your own life.  Do you tremble with the expectant excitement that you are going to be in the presence of the Almighty God each Sunday morning before church?  Secondly, do you feel the exact same way Monday thru Saturday?  Now I am not suggesting that you have to be running around like you hair is on fire every moment of everyday, but I am asking do you tremble in your spirit, in your heart, in your soul, as you reflect, consider, act upon the fact that God can take a hardened rock and turn it into water.  Because if He can do that then surely He can rescue us from the trials of life, He can fix any issue, and resolve any conflict.   He can restore any marriage, repair any heart, provide for any need, and love any unlovable. 

He is the Great  Mighty Living God that is concerned with your every breath. 
Now that is something to tremble about! 

God Bless ~ Pastor Tyler