MINISTRY NOTES

Week of January 31, 2010

Hi Everyone,

Sometimes, I express frustration with man made doctrines. I encountered a good example in a very competent weekly Pastor's Newsletter where different pastors were anonymously quoted expressing opinions about the earthquake in Haiti.

Apparently one pastor had heard that some people in Haiti were saying "God is angry with us…" In His response he stated, "God's anger is forever appeased in the death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary" This sounds so nice and people like to hear such stuff. Unfortunately after Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead we have stories from the early Church in Acts that contradict this opinion. Like in Acts 5:1-11 where through Peter's ministry God killed both Ananias and his wife Sapphira for lying or in Acts 12:21-23 where God killed Herod with worms or in Acts 13:10-11 when God through Paul's ministry caused an evil man to go blind for a period of time. God does still get angry with us because of our wrong conduct. When Jesus teaches us to "fear" God in Luke 12:5, it is good advice.

Does this mean that the disaster in Haiti was a result of God's anger? It is possible but Jesus teaches us we are not to "judge" in Matthew 7:1. You should make an effort to "turn from your sins" Luke 13:5 (TEV) and pray that our country will turn from their evil ways.

Marriage Workshop Moment

To refresh what you have learned in our Workshop or entice you to experience our Workshop

"Remember, all marriages can be better, if you use what you learned."

One of the first things that is overlooked in marriages is having fun. Too busy, children, work etc. can crowd out fun time together. In marriage you will have conflicts but that is not what attracted you to each other in the beginning. Fun is important to martial happiness. Have a weekly date night. So you enjoy your date, be sure and have your weekly couples meeting before, using the Speaker Listener Technique. This should help you get issues and problems out of the way so your time together on your date can be more enjoyable. Your date can be as simple as a walk in the park or walking in the mall window-shopping. Do something different. Go skiing, water or snow depending on the weather.

One suggestion Allen age 10 had for a good marriage: "you got to find someone who likes the same stuff. Like if you like sports, she should like that you like sports and she should keep the chips and dip coming."

I do Marathons and my wife walks on treadmills. We have done treadmills side by side at the gym. We have shared by her going with me to out of town Marathons and she helps by driving me home, like from Memphis and Kansas City. After 26.2 miles, it is wonderful to have driving help. Our Marathon trips are like having a two-day date. There are many ways to share and have fun together

The Better Half

"When your partner won't support your efforts to make your marriage better" Without your spouse's support to improve your marriage, you can still pray daily for God's will to be done in each of your lives and your marriage ("all things are possible with God", Mark 10:27 NIV). You can encourage having fun together on your own. Suggest and encourage things you both like to do or to get things started suggest things your spouse likes to do. Remember the things you did to have fun when you first got together. In marriage you will have conflicts but that is not what attracted you to each other in the beginning. Fun is important to martial happiness. Work at it!

A Psalm for reflection "You liars, what will God do to you? How will He punish you?" Psalm 120:3 (TEV)

Understanding the Message: What I share in the message is what I believe God wants me to share. All the direct quotes from God are highlighted in royal purple. Of course the words of Jesus are in red. Rather than follow some made up doctrine, remember that Jesus said that every thing He said (Jn 12:49) and everything He did (Jn 14:31) comes from God. All teachings and all opinions should be supported by what we learn from God or Jesus (see the scripture referred to in the footnote).

A Jesus Teaching:

Lying is Dumb

In our world, we experience people who lie. If you know them personally and you realize they lie, you will not trust them. People are caught in the act of a crime and they admit it but after they get a lawyer they claim they are not guilty which appears to be lying. Some politicians' lie to get elected and society appears at times to accept it. There is an old saying about you can not fool all the people all the time and many politicians realize they only have to fool only a majority of the people who vote. There are laws against lying and some well known people have been put in jail because they lie in statements to government officials. A child may be alone in a room and a vase breaks with a loud noise and immediately his parent walks in and yells angrily, "Did you break that?" The child, knowing that if he says "yes' he will get punished, may lie. In the same way an adult when confronted may lie. Lying is bad but causing someone to lie by confronting them is worse. If you know they are at fault tell them but don't invite them to lie by needlessly confronting them. Jesus warns against causing others to "sin"1.

As I talk abstractly about other people lying, let's get personal do you lie? It is one thing to talk about others who lie and it is tougher to be asked to your face, "Do you lie?" Perhaps an advantage to reading this by email or online is you are not threatened or being confronted regarding your answer. You may know in your heart the truth and have no doubt that God knows. I say, "may" because some people justify their lying to the point they have convinced themselves that they are not lying. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone stopped lying? A great start would be if people who call themselves Christians would stop lying. As a Christian, when you lie you reflect in a bad way on Jesus and His Father. As a Christian, if you say it is okay to ignore the dietary laws found in the Old Testament and eat pork chops, you are not lying because Jesus, the Truth, teaches us that fact2. But if you say it is okay to be a homosexual or to commit adultery or to shoplift if it is a big company, you are lying about God and you may cause someone who hears you to "sin"1. If you hear someone else like a Sunday school teacher or a TV preacher or a pastor say something that is untrue and you repeat it without being sure, you are at fault for saying what is untrue or lying. Jesus tells us that that the devil "is a liar and the father of lies"3. You can not avoid responsibility and say "the devil made me do it" or "he/she said…". Because you are a Christian and know how to read your Bible and have heard what Jesus teaches, Jesus says you have "no excuse" for your sin4. You can avoid lying about God by not saying or repeating stuff unless you are sure that it is what Jesus or God said, by checking your Bible.

Years ago it was part of a popular doctrine to claim that everything in the Bible was what God said. At that time there was a famous preacher that influenced many by saying "God said Beloved I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health" even though it is very clear that the verse is written by the Apostle John to his friend Gaius5 and the preacher usually left out the end of the verse which is critical. Saying God said something when He didn't is lying even though it helped the preacher spread his message of prosperity. The end result does not justify lying. One of the churches the preacher influenced was in Korea. That church in Korea apparently was more accurate. Although they sang the verse at every service, they put the end of the verse "…as thy soul prospereth" first. By doing this they lined up John's greeting with what Jesus teaches6 when He tells us to seek first God's kingdom and then the "other things you need will be given you". As children of God we are supposed to try to determine what is in a scripture and communicate it. Determining the meaning of a scripture has a fancy academic word "exegesis". Unfortunately some Christians try to prove a point and try to read into a scripture what they want it to say. This academic word is called "eisegesis". This could be considered an educated way of lying. An example of eisegesis might be Christians quoting Jesus by saying, "Blessed are the poor …"7 and using that to justify not paying their employees or their Pastor enough money to keep them from being poor.

Are you a liar? If you could possible say a qualified yes to that question it might be good to realize how important God considers lying. God groups liars with other categories of serious sinners and assigns them all to the "fiery lake"8. If you fall in the category of a liar, a deceiver, manipulator of the truth, a fibber, a cheat, a fudger of facts, a stretcher of the truth, user of little white lies, etc., stop doing it or turn away from those sinful habits which Jesus calls "repent" and "forgive others" so that God will forgive you9.

Let's pray,

"Dear God, help us not to lie. If we lie or have lied, help us to realize it and turn away from our lies and seek Your forgiveness by first forgiving others. Help us to live our lives so we can reflect favorably on You and be a good example for others. Thank You for helping us, in Jesus name, amen."

1. Mark 9:42 (NIV)

2. Mark 7:18-19

3. John 8:44 (NIV)

4. John 15:22

5. 3John 1:1-22

6. Matthew 6:33 (ICB)

7. Matthew 5:3 (NIV)

8. Revelations 21:8 (NIV)

9. Matthew 3:2; 6:14 (NASB)