Taking God's Patience for Granted

Last week I was traveling with my son on a bus taking a tour of some historical sites. Our tour guide stressed punctuality over and over again. She kept telling us that if we were not on the bus at the right time, the bus would leave us. She was not trying to be mean. She made it clear that the purpose for this emphasis on punctuality was that a group our size had specific times assigned to us to tour certain sites and if we missed the allotted time, the whole group would miss the tour. So each individual had to be responsible for being on the bus when it was time to move on to the next location so that the rest of the group did not miss some wonderful opportunities.

Despite our tour guide's clear warnings, there always seemed to be one or two people who were late. Though the guide was patient, there came a moment when she said we had to leave, and off we drove without one of our tour participants. Fortunately, that person was able to catch a cab and join us later that day, but the whole group learned a valuable lesson, don't take the tour guide's patience for granted!

That reminds me of the truth expressed in 2 Peter 3:9-10, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed."

Like so many truths we encounter in life, there are positive and negative aspects to how we relate to the Lord. These verses remind us that God is patient. I am thankful for that patience, aren't you? But these verses also remind us that one day Jesus is coming back and then judgement will come. So while we can be thankful for His patience, let us not take it for granted. For payday comes someday. Let us watch and pray and be ready for that day.

Lord, help us hear Your clear instructions and live in readiness of Your return. Amen.

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

Christianity 101

Mark 8:36-37 - For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his soul? What can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Shortly after Pope Francis became Pope I heard an interesting comment on the news. The commentator was talking about Pope Francis and his emphasis on compassion for the vulnerable. In the banter back and forth between the various commentators, this fellow said, "It's just Christianity 101. The basis of Christianity is to help the poor." This commentator was not a theologian, nor was he an official spokesperson for Pope Francis, but he expressed a common idea that many people have, which is that the primary purpose of the church is to help the poor and needy.

While helping the poor and vulnerable is a key part of how Christianity demonstrates the love of Christ to others (James 1:27, John 13:35), it is not the basis of Christianity. The basis of Christianity is what Christ has done. Christianity 101 is that people, by nature and by choice, are sinners. Anyone who doubts this need only watch the nightly news to see the depravity of people. But Christianity 101 also says that God loves us and His love is more powerful than man's sinfulness. Christianity 101 teaches us that our messed up condition must somehow be corrected. After all, a loving God would never leave us in our messed up condition. This idea that sin must be atoned for is where our concept of justice comes from. Innately, we know that there is a consequence for bad actions and a price to be paid when a wrong is done. One does not have to be a theologian to understand that. Thousands of years of human history have clearly proven that we are incapable of fixing our messes ourselves, therefore, God sent His Son Jesus to earth to show us a better way to live. Jesus then offered Himself up as the ultimate sacrifice for our sin, thereby satisfying the nature of justice, as well as setting an example for daily life. That is Christianity 101.

This does not mean that helping the poor and the needy is unimportant. Clearly Jesus expects us to do that, but helping the poor and needed is Christianity 201, not 101. People must first address their own sinfulness before they can help others in ways that make a long term difference. People must first find the love of God in their own life before they can adequately give that love to someone else through compassion that really helps, instead of a patronizing attitude that actually hurts.

Perhaps the problem with much of what the church is doing is that we have attempted to help the poor and needy without first finding the help that God gives in our own lives. We must first enroll in Christianity 101, and then progress to Christianity 201. When the church gets the order right, it will become what it was meant to be, a place for both spiritual peace and compassionate charity. Either one without the other is an incomplete picture of what the church is supposed to be.

Lord, help us know You personally in a real and vibrant way and then enable us to assist the poor with both their physical and spiritual needs. Amen.

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This devotional is from the book “Heavenly Mundane” by Dr. Terry W. Dorsett. Dr. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

What Foundation is Your Family Built On?

Matthew 7:24-27 - Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of Mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. And its collapse was great!

I saw him staggering across the sand as I packed up our chairs at the end of a great day at the beach. Soon the young man was not just staggering; he was vomiting onto the sand dune. He slowly made his way over the walkway through the sand dunes, stopping to relieve his lurching stomach every few steps. He finally sat down on the steps to the boardwalk and continued to discharge the contents of his stomach off to the side, in full view of others passing by. The young man’s father finally found him and tried to move him over to a more discreet place where he could finish emptying himself of the massive amounts of alcohol he had consumed. The conversation between father and son was hard not to overhear. It was very tense. The son did not seem to understand that his father was trying to help him. The whole scene was sad to watch.

After my family passed by, I said to my own adult son, who was about the same age as the other young man, "I hope we never have a conversation like that." He assured me that we would never have such a conversation because our family was built on a solid foundation. We saw that young man several other times during our vacation at the beach, and it became painfully obvious that drinking excessive amounts of alcohol was only one of that young man's issues.

As I reflect upon that situation, I cannot help but think about the story Jesus told in the Gospel of Matthew 7:24-27. That story illustrates in a powerful way that if we build our lives on the Rock of Christ, when difficulties come, we will find the strength to endure. But if we build our lives on the shifting sands of human opinion and what feels good in the moment, then when difficulties come, life falls apart. That young man, though barely launched into adulthood, was living a life that was already falling apart. This challenges those of us who know Jesus to build our lives on His Word, empowered by His Spirit and in a way that molds us to His image.

Lord, help us build our lives on the eternal Rock of Christ! Amen.

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This devotional is from the book “Heavenly Mundane” by Dr. Terry W. Dorsett. Dr. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:   http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

Don't Let the Four Horsemen Keep Us from Rejoicing!!

My devotions this morning were from Revelation 6-7. Those chapters are about the four horsemen who come and destroy so much of the earth during the last days. They are difficult chapters to read, so much death and destruction. Those chapters are not exactly the "morning encouragement" I was hoping for when I began my devotions.

Then I got to these verses: "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Revelation 7.9-10)

Oh how my heart rejoiced! I could see the image in my mind. I could hear the voices crying out in my ear. I could see the Lamb standing before the throne. And I realized that that four horsemen, as bad as they are, cannot keep us from rejoicing! There, in the midst of great trial and tribulation, was evidence that God is still at work. He is still saving people from every tribe and language. He is still changing lives and moving us to deeper levels of commitment to Him. Regardless of what happens on this earth, one day all those who are Jesus' followers will all rejoice together in heaven.

When life gets rough, let us remember that whatever we are facing today is temporary, but salvation is forever. The trials and tribulations that seem so great today will be gone tomorrow. And if we know Jesus, then we have reason to rejoice! Those who don't know Jesus should receive Him today so they do not have to endure the trials of life alone and can look forward to eternity with Him. What a reason to celebrate!

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Dr. Terry W. Dorsett has been a pastor, church planter, denominational leader and author in New England for more than 20 years. He is a happy husband, a proud father and adoring grandfather. He is a cancer survivor and believes that God works powerfully through times of suffering. He writes extensively and you can find all of his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY

How I Came to Have a Genuine Relationship with God

Recently my friend Jay Moore, from the Fellowship of the Cross in Tulsa, Oklahoma, challenged me to post a video of my testimony on the Internet. Jay is encouraging ordinary Christians around the nation to do this as a way of helping others understand who Christ is. My testimony is posted in the video below. I pray it is a blessing to someone. For more info about how to have a strong relationship with Christ, go to PeaceWithGod.net

Attitudes about Church - Guest Post by Logan Loveday

I recall a conversation with a friend that was sparked by a blog article I shared. The article discussed how many churches today try relate to millennials and young adults by giving them what they want; not what they need. The author emphasized the need for churches to be authentic and biblical rather than trendy or “current” just to get a crowd. While the article did address the need to reach people, the author argued that churches should not compromise on the need for spiritual maturity.

In my conversation with this friend, I could tell that he agreed with the premise of the article, but focused on all the hypocrisy that he had experienced. He agreed that churches should teach truth and transformation rather than create an atmosphere of moralistic therapeutic deism. My friend obviously spoke from past experiences. In the past my friend experienced a church culture that taught dogmatic principles and ritual lifestyles. When churches began to go in the opposite direction of this “church culture” some embraced being different by means of compromise. Some churches would often surrender theology and biblical truth in order to reach the culture. My friend argued that neither of these approaches are correct and middle ground needs to be found. He believed that something needed to be done, however, his attitude about those incorrect churches was very negative.

Because of the hypocrisy on both sides of the church spectrum, this friend gave up on church altogether and became cynical. He felt that because he had been done wrong he needed to be critical of the Church as a whole. Just because he experienced several bad churches or “church cultures” he assumed no one was “doing it right.” The pain and hurt of incorrect beliefs and methods soon turned to anger and bitterness.

While I agreed with my friend’s thought process, I have a totally different attitude towards church.  See, I grew up with this friend and I experienced some of the same hypocritical teachings and lifestyles, but I have come to a completely different conclusion. My friend’s outlook toward church derives from his poor experiences which result in bitterness and cynicism. Because of the way he was treated or the incorrect manner in which things were done or said, he distanced himself from church. I admit, there were times, when I was younger, in which I struggled with church but by the grace of God I was brought to different conclusion.

Yes, some churches do and say the wrong things. I have had this conversation with many young adults. Many say they were hurt or turned off from church because of their bad experiences. While many teenagers and young adults have cynical attitudes towards those churches for believing, saying or doing the “wrong things,” I was taught to take a different approach towards church. I believe that instead of bashing the Church as a whole or criticizing those “hypocrites,” it is my responsibility as a follower of Christ to be a part of the change.

Many people love to criticize others when mistakes are made or when bad beliefs or methods are expressed. Few people make the choice to help repair or correct the situation. Just like in the comparison of my friend and I, the right attitude must be taken if we want to see positive changes. Bitterness and anger towards someone or something typically results in only more problems. If someone believes that something or someone is wrong, they should help be a part of the change. First, this involves having the right attitude about the situation. If we constantly criticize people or groups when they are wrong, they will probably never want to change. Second, it may require un-teaching an incorrect behavior or belief. Many times people do things wrong because of poor examples or because they simply do not know the truth. Third, changing a situation like this always requires the teaching of correct truth and methodology.

If we believe the goal of the Church is to make disciples, then we need to teach others in word and deed. We cannot fix problems in the Church simply by pulling away and criticizing those who do it wrong. If our attitudes are focused on being more like Christ, then we must help others see the truth and be a part of positive and constructive change. Whenever we are wronged by the Church we can leave and become critical or we can stay and be a part of healthy growth. Remember, all believers are a part of the body of Christ. When one body part does something wrong another body part should not cut itself off assuming that is the solution to the problem. If disagreements arise have the right attitude and help be a part of healthy church growth. 

               

Rev. Loveday is the pastor of Faith Christian Fellowship, which meets on the University of Hartford campus in West Hartford, CT. He also has a blog called All for Christ, where the above post previously appeared. This post is re-posted by permission.