Author: Don

Dear Friends,

Do you remember the Etch-A-Sketch® we played with as children? You could scribble anything you wanted on them, and then with a shake of the tablet or a twist of the wheel erase what been had written and start again.

Unfortunately it takes more than a shake or a twist to erase our negative thoughts. Memories of how we have been hurt by others, or thoughts of how we have intentionally or accidentally hurt others can leave deep emotional scars. How, we wonder, can we obtain a tabula rasa — a clear slate — a mind not troubled by old experiences, guilt, or pain?

Clearing the slate involves forgiveness. It starts with the words of Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer. “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

I find enlightening the explanation of this Scripture in Matthew Henry’s Commentary: “This is not a plea of merit, but a plea of grace. Note, Those that come to God for the forgiveness of their sins against him, must make conscience [the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one’s conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action] forgiving those who have offended them.”

Sometimes we have been hurt so badly we cry, “Do you not know what THEY have done to me? Jesus responds, “Do you not know what I have done for you?”

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:13 (NLT)

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes hang on to guilt from my own past wrongs like a dog fighting for a bone. I know that confession — telling God what he already knows about us — is a starting point in erasing negative thoughts. I also believe    1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he (God) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Nevertheless, it can still be a challenge for me to forgive myself. Ever feel that way?

Digging for answers, I read Proverbs 28:13: “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” My eyes stopped at the word “renounces.” What does it mean to renounce one’s sins? The Reformation Study Bible offers this explanation: “The orderliness and well-being in one’s life is linked to an intensely personal relationship with God. Unconfessed sin is the ultimate disorder in life. Confession and repentance lead to a restoration of a right relationship with God, based on mercy.”

We are told to confess and repent, with repentance being a commitment to feel and show that you are sorry for something bad or wrong that you did and that you sincerely want to do what is right. As the old saying goes, “If you want to show me you are sorry, don’t do it again!”

In 2 Corinthians 7:10, we are warned that there is a difference between true repentance and “wordly sorrow”. “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” With this in mind, it is important to make sure that our “repentance” is prompted by our grief over how we have offended God, not just remorse over the immediate consequences of our actions.

Recently I heard a pastor say that confessing your sins to someone you trust can help you to heal. That’s biblical. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16. Of course, we should always choose our person to confide in with Proverbs 11:13 in mind: “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.”

 In our confessing, we also need to avoid being like the thief who is compelled to return to the scene of the crime. If we repeatedly return to thoughts of a particular sin, it’s time to ask the Holy Spirit to help us forgive ourselves, and trust that God already has.

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:8-12

Blessings,
Your Friends in Christ

Dear Friends,

How would you feel if you were listening to a sermon when the pastor paused, smiled, then before he continued his sermon said, “But to you who are listening?“ Would you be offended? Would you wonder if he thinks his teaching is so powerful that everyone should be listening? What if you had heard what the pastor was saying — but in truth —you hadn’t really been listening.

Perhaps the pastor realizes that hearing is passive, listening is active. Your brain is amazing, but it can’t process more than one conscious thought at a time. You can’t wrap your thoughts around a discourse on the Sermon on the Mount, for instance, if you are worrying about the pork roast you left in the oven. Your mind may flip from the Beatitudes to the pork roast, but you will not be actively listening when your mind is in pork-roast mode.

Another problem is perceptual filters. If we like someone and they are saying things we agree with, almost anything they say is OK. If we don’t like them or if the message touches a sore spot, almost nothing they say will be acceptable. We need only look at the ministry of Jesus to know this is true. Contrast the reaction of those who followed him with the scorn of the Pharisees:

“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching … “ Matthew 7:28 (NIV)

^“But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” Matthew 12:24.

Back to that hypothetical pastor who inserted into his sermon the words, “But to you who are listening.” It could be he was borrowing from another sermon.

In Luke 6:20-22, we read: Looking at his disciples, he (Jesus) said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.  Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.   Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you     and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward   in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.”

At this point Jesus offered a contrast that may have caused a portion of the crowd to tune out.

“But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.  Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.  Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.”

Jesus knew that some in the crowd would have stopped “listening” because they had other things on their mind. Some would have tuned out because Jesus had bumped into their perceptual barriers. Jesus knew that even he couldn’t hold everybody’s attention so he continued, “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

Jesus emphasizes the importance of listening later in Luke when he says, ““So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.” Luke 8:18 (NLT)

In proverbs we read, “The mind of a smart person is ready to get knowledge. The wise person listens to learn more.” Proverbs 18:15

Romans teaches: “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”

None of us has “20-20” hearing 24-7! Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit will help us to listen with ears tuned to God’s frequency, more frequently.

Blessings, Your Friends in Christ

Dear Friends,

Coincidence or miracle?

Anne had just returned to her apartment from out-patient eye surgery, and the burning in her eyes was almost more than she could bear.

“Dear Father,” she prayed. ”Please send someone who can go to Walgreens to get the eye drops I need.”

A soft knock on the door and the kind voice interrupted her prayer. “I was thinking about you and wondered if there was anything you need.”

She opened the door to find her friend Bonnie who had missed her birthday and had stopped by to drop off a gift. The real gift came when Bonnie was able to pick up the prescription her friend had just prayed for.

Several Scriptures come to mind:

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16b “The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers.” 1 Peter 3:1 “The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer.” Psalm 6:9

In this instance, God answered the prayers of a righteous person by having a friend arrive at just the right moment.

Of course the skeptic will say that this was just a coincidence. Actually, Bonnie had just decided that morning to visit Anne. Had she arrived early, Anne would not have been home. But rather than going directly to her friend’s home, she stopped by the Automobile Club to pick up her new license plates. It took much longer than expected to get the plates, so she stopped for lunch before driving to see her friend.

Bonnie didn’t see a vision like Ananias did in the Acts 9; she didn’t hear a whisper like Elijah did in 1 kings 19 — but we believe that, as we read in proverbs 16:9, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”

Merriam-Webster defines a miracle as an unusual or wonderful event that is believed to be caused by the power of God. Do you see the amazing things that happen in your life as coincidences or as miracles? Psalm 66:5 invites us to “Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miracles he performs for people!” Expect a miracle today.

“Coincidence is God’s way of being anonymous.” ― Laura Pedersen,

Verse for the Week:

“This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’” Jeremiah 33:2-3 (NIV)

Blessings, Your Friends in Christ

The plates Bonnie picked up are a reminder that Jesus Christ loves you too!

Dear Friends,

The pastoral search team at Village Bible Church in Bella Vista dedicated countless hours to finding the perfect pastor. Based on his first few weeks as our senior pastor, Marty Field is a gift from God, a pastor committed to spreading the Word of God and helping our congregation learn to live, love, and serve more like Jesus.

Serving the Lord isn’t always easy. Think how much time is required for your pastor to write the sermon each week. Add to that the time and emotional energy it must require to comfort the sick, counsel the oppressed, and conduct the day to day business involved in running a church — all of this while living up to the standard the Apostle Paul set forth in First Timothy 3:2, “So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach.”

Over the years I have been blessed by being exposed to some great teachers: Billy Graham, J. Vernon McGee, Chuck Swindoll, Bishop Fulton Sheen, Robert Schuler, Beth Moore, T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Rick Warren, Timothy Keller, Max Lucado … to name a few. STOP! As you read each of these names, what thoughts came to your mind? My guess is that some of the names brought back memories of lessons you may have learned, while others make you feel uncomfortable.

These are people that have touched thousands, if not millions of people with their teaching, yet they don’t appeal to everyone. When you bring it down to the church level, it becomes even more striking. From the rector at the Episcopal church that I attended as a child all the way down to the seminary candidate who preached at a church that I attended last year, some have sent me from church seeking to know what God wanted me to learn from the message, while others have sent me seeking another place to worship.

To quote Shakespeare, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” Too often, I fear, we are looking for the shepherd’s “S” on a pastor’s chest rather than the Spirit in his heart. There is no perfect shepherd save Jesus Christ. We can only pray that those who lead us will, in Paul’s words from Second Timothy, “Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.”

With this in mind, wherever we worship (with apologies to JFK), let us ask not what our pastor can do for us, let us ask what we can do for our pastor.

Blessings,
Your Friend in Christ

Dear Friends,

A few weeks back we wrote about the difficulty Christians may have honoring God while participating in the election process. The battle lines have been drawn, and as we move toward the general election things threaten to get worse rather than better. How can we Christians avoid being sucked into the bitterness?

A starting place is to realize that the responsibilities of our election as sons and daughters of God supercede any stake we may have in an election campaign.

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love … Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 5-7, 10-11 (NIV)

In Philippians 2:13, as it appears in the International Children’s Version (ICV), we learn that God gives us the power to do things that please him: “Yes, God is working in you to help you want to do what pleases him. Then he gives you the power to do it.” But as we read on to verses 14 and 15a, we know we fall short. “Do everything without complaining or arguing. Then you will be innocent and without anything wrong in you. You will be God’s children without fault”.

Over the next few months it is likely that we will encounter brothers and sister in Christ who have political views with which we strongly disagree. If we are going to be God’s children without fault, we are going to have to pray that God will give us the power to embrace the qualities listed in 2^nd Peter.

Faith: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Goodness: “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8

Knowledge: “Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge.” Proverbs 18:15

“Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.” Psalm 119:66 (NIV)

Self-Control: “Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city.” Proverbs 16:32 (NLT)

“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” James 1:19

Perseverance: “Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:11

Godliness: “Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” 1 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)

Mutual affection and love: “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34-35

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2

If all else fails … “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:13

Blessings and prayers for America, Your Friends in Christ