MINISTRY NOTES

Week of March 28, 2010

Hi Everyone,

CELEBRATE JESUS

Sunday, April 4, we will celebrate that Jesus rose from the dead and is alive.

You are invited to join us at Jesus Center as we celebrate Jesus being alive at 11am this Sunday.

When Jesus comes (soon) do you want to be following Jesus or a religion?

Come be a JESUS FOLLOWER

note: at 10am we will have our regular Adult Sunday Bible Study led by that Jesus follower, Barbara Lindgren, who promises us a special Easter Bible Study

If you are not in the Tulsa area or if you are currently serving God faithfully, please disregard the above invitation and the following paragraph and scroll down to the next paragraph. In recent months Jesus Center has not had any activities or events to encourage people's involvement. As we have observed many wonderful people disappearing and endured comments from new people like "where are all the people", God has continued to bless Jesus Center. During this period Ministry Notes were birthed, reaching a few special people all over the world. If you have never been involved serving God and enjoy reading about Jesus and what Jesus teaches us, we encourage you to follow Jesus with us. If you are blessed with a lot of Christian religious education or experience and talents that have blessed churches in the past and are willing to lay aside your education, experience and talents and just focus on what can be learned from Jesus, we encourage you to follow Jesus with us. If you have a close relationship with God and communicate with God and are willing to "deny" yourself and "follow" Jesus (Luke 9:23), ask God if He wants you to follow Jesus with us and then be obedient. Come be a JESUS FOLLOWER

Spring is in sight. The daffodils I planted around our Magnolia tree a few years ago, so we could enjoy the first flowers of spring, are blooming in my yard. A few years ago I was disappointed that the bulbs bloomed at different times. I thought it would be nice if they all bloomed at the same time like I see in other yards. Usually a late freeze will eliminate the first blossoms and then the second and third section will bloom. I truly believe that God's timing is better because it enables us to have many more weeks of beautiful flowers. Last Saturday a week ago, the first day of spring, we had several inches of snow and a late freeze. When the snow melted the blossoms stood back up and now a week later still look beautiful with more joining them. The snow protected the flowers from the freeze - praise God.

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."

Filters: we all have them and they affect the very fabric of our marriages. Filters can be inattention, emotional states, expectations, communication styles or self-protection. All of these can effect how you hear or process things in your mind. One example of an emotional state could be if your boss yelled at you and put you down at work in front of others. When you come home, recognize your filter that you may hear things differently than intended because you are stressed and emotional. Try not to jump on your children for the least little problem. You may wish to announce your filter by sharing with your family that you had a rough day, so hopefully they will treat you considerately and it may cause your spouse be more sensitive to you.

Another illustration would be a wife came home late after a long day at work. Her husband thinking this would be a great time to take her out to dinner said, "What would you like to eat?" Through her tired filter she heard, "What are you going to fix for dinner?" And her response was anger, which resulted in him getting angry and they never did go out to eat.

Recognize that all kinds of filters become barriers to intimacy and openness. Try and be sensitive to your spouse and detect their filters. Take responsibility for understanding your filters. If you recognize you have a situation that may cause you to filter, announce it.

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. Jesus said, "all things are possible with God", Mark 10:27 NIV). Recognize that all kinds of filters become barriers to intimacy and openness. Try and be sensitive to your spouse and detect their filters. Take responsibility for understanding your filters. If you recognize you have a situation that may cause you to filter, announce it. If you feel like your spouse will not care about your filter, you may try to not allow your filter influence your response or behavior.

A Psalm for reflection "LORD, I know that you defend the cause of the poor and the rights of the needy." Psalm 140:12 (TEV)

Understanding the Teaching: What I share in the teaching 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). For those who prefer not to take the time to look up a scripture, click on the underlined hyper link to read the scripture. Example, click here for a teaching about love.

A Jesus Teaching:

God's Entitlements.

People decide they have rights, which are often encouraged by governmental systems. Some believe they are entitled to police protection or to help from their government when there is a natural disaster like a bad storm or to have food when they are hungry or to free medical care or to free education, etc. The list can go on and on but all the rights or entitlements cost money and when the economy is weak, people may find that the rights they feel entitled to, are not as available. I used to wonder how people could afford to go the emergency room at a hospital because of a minor headache until I discovered they were not paying. If hundreds of people called for a free ambulance ride or for police protection at the same time they might discover, they had a long wait time.

Some people believe they have rights with God or they are entitled to God's blessings in certain situations. These "rights or entitlements" are sometimes promoted or encouraged by people in ministry. This encouragement is often to try to build people's faith and yet if the promised blessing doesn't happen in a timely manner, it may work the opposite way and hurt people's faith. One example is tithing. The reason for giving 10% of everything you receive is to be obedient to God. Yes, God did say that He would bless you as a result so much "that you will not have room enough for it". And Jesus said, "Yes, you should tithe"1. Early in our marriage after my wife and I came to know Jesus personally, we decided to start tithing. We started off with a small percentage and agreed that every time I got a raise we would give 50% of the raise until we reached 10%. At that time the government had wage controls that limited raises. No problem, my company gave me a new title so they could give me more money. Within a couple of years we were at the 10% in our giving and I know from reading the Wall Street Journal that our family income was in the top 5% in the country. A few years later, things changed and our income started declining. Over the next 15 years our income declined to way below the "poverty level". We continued to tithe. If you make less, you give less. Then a few years later we started being blessed financially again, as I started serving God full time. (click here for details). These blessings could also reflect what Jesus teaches about being concern primarily "with the Kingdom of God and with what He requires of you"2. Within six years after that we became debt free, which included paying off a 30-year mortgage in less than 4 years. Yes, I see people who try tithing for a week or two or even a year and then quit because they don't see God's blessings fast enough or they get blessed with a large sum of money and don't want to give God 10% or who knows why people stop being obedient to God?

God states "My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts"3. Just like I mentioned that my financial blessings were initially not constant, we cannot control God or His blessings. Jesus teaches us that believers will "lay hands on the sick, and they will recover"4. If that happened 100% of the time, there would never be a death of anyone who knew a believer. I can tell you from experience that if you pray for enough people you will see God heal some, including some when medical people have said they would not live. I knew a man that laid hands on thousands of people in prayer and was famous all over the world for his healing ministry and yet privately was disappointed that only about 5% were healed. It is a privilege not a right that God will heal people in answer to our prayers. In some churches, people have trouble dealing with death because of strong "faith" teachings regarding healing. Yes, you may have eternal life but our earthly bodies will eventually die.

One popular idea promoted by many Christians is a right to eternal life. One of the scriptures often used is to promote this teaching is "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…" frequently omitting the condition Jesus clearly stated, "…that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"5. Believing in Jesus is a very important condition and believing is a life style not just a statement. Yes, God loves us so much that eternal life is available to everyone provided we meet His condition of believing in Jesus. Also, frequently connected with this teaching is to claim that God loves us unconditionally. This sounds good but it is not what Jesus teaches. Jesus said, "If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His love"6. Obedience is not only necessary for His love but it is also essential for eternal life, as Jesus communicates when He says to get to heaven we must "obey My Father in heaven"7. Yes there are many other teachings and man-made doctrines in Christianity, like what Paul wrote about "grace"10 that people take out of context, that are used to contradict what Jesus, the Son of God, says. Remember regarding other teachings to follow the example of the Bereans who "examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true"8. Any teaching you hear, ask where it came from allowing you to check the context and if it does not line up with what Jesus or God teaches, disregard it, including teachings on how to read or understand the Bible. Some people in ministry seem to be inclined to make bold statements showing all Jesus said in relation to a subject. Regarding promises of eternal life, some people in ministry feel safe because they think no one will know, if they make promises that do not result in eternal like. If you are given a position of respect and are tempted to assure people regarding how easy they can have eternal life, remember that Jesus teaches, "Much is required from those to whom much is given, for their responsibility is greater"9. Before you think that doesn't apply to you, we all are subject to being respected by someone like a child or grandchild or a friend, etc.. Yes, a day will come when they and you will know the truth and you will be held accountable, if you are teaching incorrectly. If you are relying on what other people say or have told you, you may be held responsible also, especially if you are capable of reading what Jesus and God said in the Bible. If you want to be sure you are sharing the "truth"11, share what Jesus teaches.

Let's pray: "God, help us to follow the truth that Jesus teaches. Help us to be confident in You and Jesus, not in what we think we are entitled to or what others have claimed. Help us to be in Your will in everything we think, say and do. Thank You for guiding and helping us, in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Malachi 3:10 (NIV); Matthew 23:23 (TLB)

2. Matthew 6:33 (TEV)

3. Isaiah 55:9

4. Mark 16:17-18 (NKJV)

5. John 3:16 (NKJV)

6. John 15:10 (TEV)

7. Matthew 7:21 (TLB)

8. Acts 17:11 (NIV)

9. Luke 12:48 (TLB)

10. Ephesians 2:8

11. John 14:6