MINISTRY NOTES

Week of December 13, 2009

Hi Everyone,

Sin or evil could be understood as doing what is contrary to the will of God. We currently have a President in the U.S. who has chosen to encourage many evil things, such as killing babies (abortion), doing scientific experiments on dead babies (embryonic stem cells research), encouraging sexual perversion (homosexuality), etc. Many of his actions were public knowledge as intentions prior to his election. Possibly the most evil or misguided position he is advocating is his position in opposition to Israeli land. Originally God helped the Jewish people acquire the land they live on from other nations as King David mentions in Psalm 111:2-6. In recent years, most of the countries around Israel tried to destroy them in 1967. God helped them defeat the other countries, who were much bigger and appeared stronger, and subsequently Israel reacquired more of the original land, including their original capital, Jerusalem. To advocate giving away some of the land acquired with God's help is offensive to God. It is also stupid. It would be like returning San Antonio and Los Angles, etc. to Mexico. Have no doubt that God will punish our President for his evil intentions unless he changes his position. Maybe a greater concern is that God may punish our whole country, as we elected him President. Pray for our President to get right with God (yes, Jesus teaches us that it is "possible" in Mark 10:27) and to not punish our country for our President's evil actions.

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."

On March 22, 2006, a pastor and his wife in Tennessee were having a discussion concerning one of their three children. Apparently they had difficulty in communication in their marriage. To get him to talk to her, she pointed a shotgun at him. Later she said, "I intended to hold my husband at gunpoint to force him to talk about his problems with our…". The gun accidentally went off and he was killed. (note; she has served some jail time and is out and has regained custody of their children) My point in sharing this is that calling time out and using the Speaker Listener Technique is a better way to communicate than pointing a shotgun at your spouse.

Research has shown that over 80% of the people who have affairs say it is "not about sex" and it is "not about the physical appearance" of the other person. It is about companionship, acceptance, friendship, feeling good about your self, being appreciated, being admired, etc. Jesus says "Treat others as you want them to treat you." Lk 6:31 (TL) The companionship, acceptance, friendship, feeling good about your self, being appreciated, being admired, etc. that we all like and need should come from you for your spouse, not from a co-worker or a stranger.

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). Although your spouse may not cooperate with using the Speaker Listener Technique, you can use the listen skills, like saying, "So what I hear you saying is…" or "If I understand correctly, you want…" etc.. Once a man in sales who went through all of our workshops, shared that he used the technique with his customers and they just loved to know that someone was listening to them. Also it applies that the companionship, acceptance, friendship, feeling good about your self, being appreciated, being admired, etc. that we all like and need should come from you for your spouse, not from a co-worker or a stranger.

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:

Giving God's Way

It is all too often common when a child is slightly hurt or disappointed that a well-meaning parent or grandparent offers a treat like a cookie and say, "This will make you feel better". The teaching result can be, when the child grows up and they feel stress or discomfort, they often will want to put something pleasant in their mouth to "feel better". Yes, if being over weigh causes stress, they may eat something for comfort. Once I was in a restaurant and asked for some lo-cal dressing for my salad and the large waitress said sarcastically, "Hon, this is a comfort food restaurant". In a similar way that we may unintentionally teach our children to eat when they want to feel better, we may teach selfishness at Christmas time.

As we focus on the Christmas season, some of us may be more concerned about what we are getting than what we are giving. We may unintentionally raise our children to think that way. Many children are more interested in opening their gifts than being happy for what someone else got. As we take great pleasure in making our children happy, we may be teaching them to be self centered, which makes it more difficult to "deny" themselves as Jesus recommends7, when they become more mature Christians. Although some adults seem to develop a great sense of giving at Christmas time, all too many seem to be selfish. We may tell the story how God gave His son to be born as a little baby1 or how the wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus2, and yet we fail to communicate God's way of giving. Perhaps the best way to communicate God's way of giving is by being a living example.

How would God have us cultivate unselfish giving like He gave to us? In addition to your giving to your relatives and friends, consider giving to people who are not your relatives or friends. Jesus says, "…Even people without God are nice to their friends."3 Yes, you may want to consider being nice to your "enemies"4 as long as you can do it safely or even to a "stranger"5. There might be a standard to guide us on being nice. I heard a story once of a mother and her daughter who stopped their car near some homeless people and jumped out and set some blankets on the ground. As the people started walking toward them, they jumped back in the car apparently in fear and sped away. The homeless people felt a sense of rejection even though the women appeared to be bringing them stuff. Or the person, who rang a doorbell, handed the person who answered the door a box of food, said "Merry Christmas" and immediately left. The people in the house felt the people giving the food considered themselves too good to associate with them. Think about how you make the other person feel when you are not polite and show common courtesy by talking to the person you are giving to. Jesus said, "Treat others as you want them to treat you."6 Consider was God's gift of His son just at Christmas or did the gift of Jesus keep giving? You may want to pray and ask God to show you who to give to and what to give and you may want to check on them again in January or February when Christmas is over and see how you can help them again. Is this out of your comfort zone? The question to ask yourself, is this what God would have you do? Most people are able to give to others but some as you read this may be thinking, "I have needs, maybe people should give to me". If you are in need, you should want to give to others more than anyone. Jesus says, "Give to others, and God will give to you…"8. You will receive more and be blessed by giving God's way.

Let's pray,

"God helps us to be a living example to others by giving to others with the love YOU have shown us. Guide us on who to give to and what to give and help us to be comfortable as we are obedient to YOU in our giving. Thank YOU for all this in Jesus, name, amen."

1. Luke 1:26-38; 2:1-20

2. Matthew 2:1-12

3. Matthew 5:46-47 (ICB)

4. Matthew 5:44

5. Matthew 25:34-45

6. Luke 6:31 (TLB)

7. Luke 9:23

8. Luke 6:38 (TEV)