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The Family of God
(Part #2)
The wicked are overthrown, and are not: but the house of the
righteous shall stand. Every wise woman builds her house: but the
foolish plucks it down with her hands. Whoso rewards evil for
good, evil shall not depart from his house.
Prov 12:7; Prov 14:1; Prov 17:13 (KJV)
I permeated the church. We the people of God find ourselves in
a close quarters combat zone and we need to establish a front line
position. There must be a distinction between the righteous and
the
wicked.Righteousness is not a new word
for being snooty, we are talking about living God's way.
Wickedness is not different strokes for different folks, it is living
contrary to God's way. The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me;
because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;
this is our calling in our community, better yet, this is our calling in
our homes. We can no longer live under the slogan, do as I say not
as I do. We must realize that the actions we take affect the
individuals around us, especially our children and our young people.
Are we walking around among the ruins? Are we mindful that battle
is in full course and the causality count is rising?
We must claim the promises of God. The house of the righteous
shall stand. The wise woman builds with the work of her hands.
The wise man will not regard evil. These promises are to us, the
redeemed of the Lord. We can continue to listen to the experts of
the world or we can take God at his word and strengthen our families.
Is is up to us. It is in our hands.
05Mar10
The Family of God
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men,
especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Gal 6:10 (KJV)
He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?"
Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and
sister and mother."
Matt 12:48-50 (NIV) What is the sum total of Antioch? What makes us what we are? These are
questions that are at the heart of who we are. Everyone no matter who
they are or where they come from are looking for an identity. We see
street gangs, social clubs, and fraternal orders all imparting to their
several members a collective meaning. As pastor God has lead me to draw
from his Word that we are "The Church of Three Ships."
A ship is an
apt metaphor for our church family. A ship has no purpose outside of the
sea. A ship can not sail except its sails are filled with the wind. A
ship has no course in the sea, driven by the wind, if there is no crew
to man their stations. As I said a ship is an apt metaphor. I don’t know
if you have ever read Moby Dick, it is a classic novel that tells the
story of man’s struggle between good and evil. The church is a ship on
the restless sea of time and King Jesus is the Captain.
The Captain has called us from our worldly wondering to
be the crew of "The Old Ship of Zion." As a crew we are a family. We
must be a tightly knit together group with one focus in mind, to get to
our appointed destination. We are on our way to heaven restoring a
spirit of rejoicing. We may be a motley crew but we are definitely a
chosen crew.
28Feb10
The Challenge of Living in the Ghetto
II Pet 2:4-9 (NIV)
Please excuse me as I ponder the interaction of the
godly with the ungodly. "A family moves to a new city. The decision to
move was made for financial reasons, the father believed there were much
greater opportunities for prosperity in the new location. After they
arrived, they discovered that the cultural surrounding of their new home
are fraught with obstacles for their family’s spiritual well-being.
While the economic opportunities are there, the city turns out to be a
moral cesspool. Unwillinor unable to relocate, the family suffers
horribly, resulting in the death of the mother, the loss of their home
as they flee in terror of physical violence, and, eventually sexual sin
between daughters and father." It is, of course, the story of Lot and
his family.
Hold on to your sensibilities I want to talk about the ghetto. The only
real ghetto is when you discovered that the cultural surrounding your
home is fraught with obstacles to your family’s spiritual well-being. In
that case many of us find ourselves challenged with living in the
ghetto. Sodom and Gamorrah were ghettos in the cultural scene of its
times. Nazareth was a ghetto on the cultural scene of its times. The
question was asked could any good thing come out of Nazareth. Jesus came
out of Nazareth. Will you rise or sink in your cultural challenge.
We need to know that God is able to deliver no matter
what we have been influenced by. The real thing that is at issue is
whether we will have an encounter with the True and Living God. You and
I need a fresh encounter with God in the course of our lives. Let God
meet you right where you are. Don’t try to clean up the stuff in your
life, let God do the cleaning for us. Before you rush in! You need to
know that in an encounter with God He will cause you to make major
adjustments in your life. We will adjust our life so that we can spend
more time with God. Spending more time with God will work obedience in
us. I don’t know about you but I am glad I have access to the God that
is able to deliver me.
The challenge at hand is to help believers live out
their faith!
13Feb10
Don’t Be Minimized!
Dan 11:32 (NKJ)
"Those who do wickedly against the covenant He shall
corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be
strong, and carry out great exploits.
In the scripture above we have a prophetic piece, Daniel has inquired
of God concerning the future of Israel and he is in the process of
receives an answer from a heavenly messenger. The angel of the Lord
speaks to Daniel and enlightens him about the spiritual warfare that was
being fought on the behalf of Israel. Remember Israel has been in
captivity and their homeland is subject to another king. I believe the
Church is in the very
same position. I don’t want to be generic but specific.
Antioch we find ourselves in this same predicament. We need an answer
from heaven concerning the future condition of our church. When we
live in the shadow of defeat so long we begin to believe that we are
defeated. Reading the texts we find that our social position may be that
of a captive people but our God is never a captive God. We have allowed
ourselves to be flattered into submission. This can only happen if we
walk away from the covenant of God. God has a way, do we know his way?
God is the God who works in the realm of the impossible. If this is
where God functions then this is where the church of God should be
functioning. This begins with individual victory. Daniel is an example
of individual victory. Here is a man living in an ungodly kingdom and
yet he is prospering. He applies the principles of God no matter what
the social climate measures. We can not apply what we do not know. The
people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
This is living in the realm of the impossible. Is it possible to have
our own credit union? Is it possible to have our own school? Is it
possible to have our own senior citizens facility? Is it possible to
have control of our own community? Don’t be minimized. The church is the
pillar and the ground of the truth.
Hey! Hey! Yes you. Little old you. I challenge you to pursue a fresh
encounter with God.
31Jan10
Our Motivation Should Reflect the Old, Old Story
Heb 10:19-25
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the
Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a
High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the
confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is
faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and
good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is
the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as
you see the day approaching.
The church if it is inflexible, resistant to change,
is dying. I am constrained to write these words to you, the church of
God should live in a state of holy boldness in a new and living way.
Let us be clear. I am not talking about changing any of the core beliefs
of Christians. I am saying that we, the church can minister to this
present age we live in. We must be careful not to bring the world into
the church but rather equip the church to minister to this present age.
Let me be clear. Sin is sin! The thing we are battling with is
the mind set of our times. We are living in a time when the belief is,
"everything is true." How can we confront this plague that sweeps our
land?
The Church must hold fast to the truth that Jesus is the TRUTH.
We must know that He is our only message. Then, we must see the
creativity that is demonstrated by Christ. Jesus is not locked in by the
temple, or the synagogue. We find Him teaching the word of God
everywhere. We must see the creativity of Paul on Mars Hill. There he
enters into the world of the Athenians and with clarity brings to them a
knowledge of the ‘unknown God’. How are we fairing as we bring the
gospel to those called our neighbors? I am calling us to a fresh
encounter with the Creator of heaven and earth.
As we enter the church house called Antioch to worship, we must be
infused with the Spirit of unity. We must encourage one another in God’s
work. As the song writer says, "I need you, You need me. We’re all
a part of God’s body. I’ll pray for you, you pray for me. We’re all a
part of God’s body. I won’t harm you with words from my mouth. I love
you." This is the mark of creativity that our neighbors should
see in us.
24Jan10 |
