MINISTRY NOTES

Week of December 20, 2009

Hi Everyone,

Last week a man of God, named Oral Roberts died. He was known throughout the world. I have been acquainted with his ministry for almost as long as I have been married, over 30 years. It was my wife's grandmother who originally introduced us to his ministry. At the time in my life that I started studying for ministry, God told me to attend the University that Oral established in Tulsa. As a University, I was able to get the education God wanted me to have, unlike some Bible Schools or denomination related seminaries that try to create clones of their doctrines (one of each was my original first and second choices). In 1987 between my first and second year in Grad School due to Oral friendship with Dr. Cho, a pastor in Korea, I had the opportunity to spend several months with Pastors in Dr. Cho's church that had several hundred thousand in attendance each Sunday. While in Korea, Dr. Kim Ki Dong, a pastor of a Baptist church with over 40,000 members gave me a two-hour interview through an interpreter out of appreciation for Oral, because I was a student at ORU. Apparently about 20 years earlier before Dr. Kim was a pastor, Oral had given him some audiovisual equipment for his Korean evangelistic ministry. Also in Korea, after God told me to write a book, He told me to change my major by telling the Dean of the Seminary at ORU that I wanted use the yet to be written book in my Master's thesis. These events led to a life changing understanding for me. All Christians follow man's teachings about God or theologies. Following only the teaching of the man called Jesus, who said that every thing He said (Jn 12:49) comes from God, has been a unique and rewarding experience.

Oral frequently got bad press. More than once I heard him complain that his friend Billy Graham got treated better in the media than Oral. Some of the times it was because many people in the secular media don't know God. God said that in his death, Oral will receive some of the glory, recognition and respectability he yearned for in his life.

Based on a recent Gallup poll, of the 93% of the Americans in the US who celebrate Christmas, 69% prefer the use of "Merry Christmas" over "Happy Holidays". The only correctness that really counts is as Jesus says in Matthew 10:33 (NKJV) "whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven." I choose to be correct by acknowledging Jesus!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

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."

Expectations, we all have them. If they happen, we feel great. If they do not happen, we are very disappointed. Our expectations can affect every part of our marriage. Where do they come from? We can develop expectations from our friends, the media, T V, movies, our relatives, etc. We may want to consider the source of our expectation, if our expectations about marriage come from people who consider themselves experts because they have been married so many times. Yes, some expectations that seem stupid to one couple may be considered great in another marriage. Communicating your expectations with your spouse can help. (a good time to use the Speaker Listener Technique) Anticipating your communication can help. If you have an expectation that might be considered unreasonable, you may anticipate that the expectation will not be well received and refrain from suggesting it and possibility even alter your expectation. Remember that you fell in love with your spouse the way they are and not to change them to fit some preconceived expectation. I've known of women dying their hair because their husband always wanted a wife with a different hair color.

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). Without your spouses help you may still inquire about what your spouse wants or expects and communicate your expectations. People usually like to talk about what they want. Remember that you fell in love with your spouse the way they are and not for some way you hoped they could be.

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:

The Man's Birth

As Christmas approaches, we are reminded again that Jesus was born like all of us were once born. Jesus' birth is essential in understanding Jesus role as a man on earth and why God "gave" Him to those of us who believe in Him1. (Yes, He is available to everyone) Non-believers have trouble with His "virgin" birth2. Many Christians, who say they believe it, still promote made up doctrines that make Jesus a pretend man or a deceiver. They will say things like He is "God on earth" or "God in the flesh" implying that Jesus' humanity was not real. This religious deception then implies that when Jesus preformed miracles that it was because He was really God. And the many times Jesus is recorded as praying to God are ignored. This type of religious doctrine overlooks that when Jesus did miracles, the people frequently understood that God was responsible and praised God3. Also this religious doctrine implies Jesus is a liar when He tells us "…anyone believing in Me shall do the same miracles I have done…"4. We can do the same miracles Jesus did because God is the one doing the miracles. Before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He thanked God so that the people would give God the credit5.

John the baptizer refers to Jesus as the "…Lamb of God…"6, referring to Jesus' role as a sacrificial lamb who would die for our sins. Jesus birth is the start of His breathing humanity, which will end when He dies on the cross. And then start again after He rose from the dead. If Jesus is not fully human as implied by His birth, then his death on the cross is a deception or a lie. Lies and deception belong to the deceiver or Satan, not to God.

As we assert that Jesus was born like we were born and was a person like us, it could also be valid to say we are like Him. When God created people, God said, "Let Us make man in Our image…"7. Who was God talking to? We don't know for sure but many Christians believe it was Jesus. The Jews know that the word is plural in the Hebrew but they lack a plausible explanation. In some way we are created like God and that may include Jesus who said He existed before Abraham and saw Satan fall9.

As we honor Jesus' birth as the start of his humanity (actually it started at conception), the statements He makes as a man with a free choice are an awesome example. Like when He said to God, "…I want Your will, not mine"8. Jesus gave us an example by putting what God wants ahead of His of personal desires. As you think of Jesus birth this Christmas season, think of how His birth was the beginning a path as a person just like we begin.

Let's pray:

"Dear Father, the giver of Jesus, thank You for sending Your only son Jesus to save us from our sins and helps us know You better. Help us to treat Jesus with the respect You desire by having Him be born. Give us the wisdom to follow Jesus' example and put what You want ahead of anything we might want. Thank You in Jesus name, amen."

1. John 3:16

2. Luke 1:34

3. Matthew 9:1-8; Luke 7:11-16; 11:35-43; 13:10-13; 17:11-19; John 12:12-18

4. John 14:12 (TLB)

5. John 11:41-42

6. John 1:29

7. Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)

8. Luke 22:41 (TLB) (verse :42 in most translations)

9. John 8:58; Luke 10:18