MINISTRY NOTES

Week of November 29, 2009

Hi Everyone,

As the retailers are kind enough to remind us it is Christmas time, we are reminded of how God gave us His son, Jesus. The story of the birth of Jesus never seems to grow old. Don't forget that there are people are not familiar with the story. Like the Sunday School kid, after hearing the story for the first time, asked his teacher why Mary and Joseph named their child a swear word. When you hear people say Happy Holiday, remember that the origin of the word Holiday is Holy day.

I met a godly man in Tulsa over 20 years ago. As we were waiting together and talking, he pointed out that we both were wearing identical yellow ties (at the time, it was one of my favorite ties). Over the years our paths would cross a few times as he was running with his wife on the trail on Riverside or at Pastor's functions, etc.. A couple of months ago he became sick and in less than two months he was dead. He always appeared to eat healthy and exercise and he was only in his mid 50s. Apparently, after he was diagnosed, one of the last things he did in ministry was to perform one of his son's weddings. Jesus says in Matthew 24:44 (TEV) that we "…must always be ready…". Yes, Jesus was talking about His second coming but for almost 2,000 years Jesus has not come back but people have been dying and Jesus teaches us in Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV) that only a "few" are going to see Him in eternal life. ARE YOU READY TO SEE JESUS?

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."

As you improve communication, you will discover that most problems can be solved by improved communication using the Speaker Listener Technique we teach in our Marriage Workshops.

Occasionally there could be a problem that could use formal problem solving. The 4 steps to problem solving are:

1. Agenda Setting - decide and write down the specific concern (like, how do we keep our dishes washed)

2. Brain Storming - write down all the ideas, no evaluating, silly ok (like, hire a maid, only use paper plates, eat out all the time, take turns, etc.)

3. Agreement - a good time to use the SLT

4. Follow Up - agree to a specific time to follow up and see how the agreement worked and be specific (like if you wrote down we agree to get our son a pet, one of you could be thinking a puppy and one could be thinking a horse)

Remember some problems could seem to be unsolvable. That is the time to decide how we can protect what is great about our marriage from this seemingly unsolvable problem.

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.

Message:

Where is the Media?

Recently in the news there was excitement generated by discovery that some government report, promoted government accomplishments in non-existent congressional districts in several states. These revelations were discovered by TV and newspaper reporters and were on pro government and non-pro government media outlets both. The media likes to reveal mistakes, errors and sins. In Christianity, the media loves to reveal the sins of Christian leaders, however it is silent regarding mistakes or errors. One possible difficulty is that there is no standard for calling your self a Christian. Within Christianity there are Church doctrines, Bible doctrines, theological opinions, etc that confuse both Christians and non-Christians alike.

Paul, one of our early Church leaders wrote in one of his letters, after mentioning some of the different leadership roles, that he encourages everyone to work towards "… unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God..."1. Knowledge of Jesus can be unifying and comes from knowing what Jesus teaches. The followers of Jesus the Messiah or disciples were first called Christians because they followed Jesus' teachings2. The word Christian is from a Greek word, which is from the Hebrew, word Messiah, which means the Anointed King or the Savior of the world3. The one thing all Christians have in common is that they claim they believe in Jesus. Decide to be accountable to God for what Jesus teaches, after all Jesus did say what He teaches comes from God4.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the media held people accountable for what Jesus said?

Imagine if you read in the paper, "yesterday at Mrs. J's funeral, Preacher A said she is in heaven now. Apparently Preacher A forgot that Jesus said He is the judge and that we are not supposed to judge5. Many people are asking, "is he a preacher or a politician?"

Or imagine on a TV talk show, "on Sunday's TV show, televangelist Z claimed that if you just repeat after him the words 'Jesus is Lord', you will be saved. Did Rev. Z forget that Jesus said not everyone who calls Me Lord will get to heaven. Jesus said the important thing is to do what God "wants"6. Rev. you got an open invitation to come visit our show and explain."

Or imagine on a talk radio show, " Bishop N wrote in his news letter this month that hell is just a place without God. Come on Bishop, Jesus tells us that God can destroy us in "hell" and that it is a place with fire that "never goes out"7. When you got your Bishop license, did you get a free set of steak knives?"

Or imagine on a TV news show, "Rev. B on her weekly radio program said, 'God gives women a choice and it is okay to destroy that growth of flesh/fat in your body before it is born.' Hey Rev., God tells us that he knows us before He "formed" us in the woman's body and Jesus reminds us that God tells us not to "murder"8. Let's read some email our viewer's sent to get an impartial view. L from AR wrote, "fat doesn't kick, that is a baby dummy" O from NY wrote, "yeah God gives you a choice of going to hell" R from Il wrote "I agree with you Rev. B, there are too many kids around now days, probably we ought to be able to exercise that choice on two year olds, also" W from TX wrote, "I do not know your god but he certainly is not Jesus' Father" Keep those emails coming folks and Rev. B keep up your statements, it helps make our news show more interesting."

Or imagine a newspaper editorial, For all you stores that say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, as your cash registers ring in the Christmas season, remember it is the birth of Jesus along with the gifts from the wise men10 that started the highly profitable gift giving season. Also remember that over 97% of your customers consider themselves Christians. Maybe it is good to remember the old cliché about "the reason for the season". This year as you count your profits, take a moment to give thanks to the source of the original gift, God11.

Probably in reality, we will not get any help from the media any time soon in developing integrity in Christianity. However, we can work on our own personal integrity as Christians. When you hear or think of a teaching or opinion, follow the example of the early Church in your Bible9 and check out how it relates to what God and/or Jesus teach. Red letter Bibles make it easy to see what Jesus teaches.

Let's pray;

"Dear Heavenly Father, God of all the universe, help us to have integrity in what we say and teach concerning YOU. Guide us to YOUR words or Jesus' words in the Bible that reveal to us the truth. Give us YOUR wisdom and guide us by the Holy Spirit to say what YOU want us to say and to not say what YOU do not want us to say. Thank YOU for YOUR guidance in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV)

2. Acts 11:26

3. Luke 2:11; Matthew 1:21

4. John 12:49

5. John 5:27; Matthew 7:1

6. Matthew 7:21 (ICB)

7. Matthew 10:28; Mark 9:47-48

8. Jeremiah 1:5; Mark 10:19

9. Acts 17:11

10. Matthew 2:1-11

11. John 3:16