Why are the easy things so hard?

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”
But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. (2 Kings 5:1-14 ESV)

Did someone ever tell you to do something easy to take care of a problem you had? You thought to yourself, that is just to simple, that will never work. Or that is silly, I could do this or this because that makes a lot more sense.

We are easy to jump in and do the hard thing, but when it is the easy thing that is before us we get upset and wonder why it has to be this way.

Or we do not like that we have to deal with the secretary, or the physicians assistant. Doesn’t the doctor know who I am? She should be coming out here and greeting me personally and offering me a drink while I wait. We think we are all that and a cupcake… We build ourselves up and expect everyone else to bow down to us. But that is not how it works, and sometimes the easy thing, or the thing we don’t want to do is the thing that has to be done.

How much quicker would Naaman had done what he was told to do if it was harder than washing in the river? And how much sooner would he have been washing if it had been a river from his own land? But the prophet gave him instructions and he bulked. He, like us, did not expect the easy answer and thought that will never work. But the thing we forget is where the message comes from…

The prophet does not speak for them self, they speak for God. So the easy answer comes from God. So who are we really to question God. He created all of this in the first place, so if it is that easy, it is that easy…

So go and do the easy thing, trusting in God who loves you and wants the best for you.

self centered…

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded (James 3:13-4:8 ESV)

Why do you do the things you do?

The Gospel text for this Sunday was from Mark 9:30-37 and in it the disciples are arguing along the way about who is the greatest. We get hung up on who is the best, the coolest. Who does the best ministry or has the biggest congregation. But the real test of a ministry is the disciples being created, and the lives being touched with the message of the gospel. Yes numbers may show you have the most people, but are they being touched by the message and in relationship with Jesus? If not, then the numbers don’t matter.

Our personal gain is not what any of this is about. God builds up ministries that are seeking out His mission and ministry. He builds up communities that are discipling each other and those who don’t belong in relationships with Jesus.

So why do you do the ministry you do, for personal gain? To feed your self centered ways?

True ministry is done out of selfless love, for the needs of the other to learn more about Jesus…

What will happen because of your idol…

And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. And the people of Israel did secretly against the LORD their God things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there they made offerings on all the high places, as the nations did whom the LORD carried away before them. And they did wicked things, provoking the LORD to anger, and they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this.” Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.”
But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the LORD their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them. And they abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them out of his sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah only. (2 Kings 17:7-18 ESV)

American Idol is all the rage, right? OK maybe i’m a few years behind, but that is the way it goes, always late on uptake and just now got a really nice pair of bell bottoms! (kidding…)

But we look for those we can idolize. Our kids look up to musicians, and sports stars, and really when you look at who they are modeling their lives after is there anything there to be modeled that is worthy of modeling?

You see in our reading for today, the Israelites are exiled because of their idolatry. Well that was them and I don’t have any idols…

Well I disagree. We all have idols. Some of us idolize our cars, or our houses, or our families. Yes it is possible for your family to be an idol that draws you from God. God has to be the first thing in your life. He demands your  attention. He is very jealous and wants us to love Him before all other things. “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” He has given us a way to love Him and shown us how to do this through the prophets.

So seek out your idol, and don’t get rid of it, just make sure that it is in it’s proper place. God is first, then all other things will fall into place. But make sure your life is based on the idol that should be your idol – God.

Triumph in the Eyes of the Lord…

O God, save me by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
O God, hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen against me;
ruthless men seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
Behold, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness put an end to them.
With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.
For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
(Psalm 54 ESV)

Have you ever had a victory? Something you could celebrate? And usually when we win, that means someone else loses right?

If you are truly looking out for the needs of the other over ourselves, does that mean we want to be a loser? If we always put the needs of the other in front of our own needs, should we not always allow other people to win?

How do we triumph in the eyes of our enemies?

Maybe triumph in the eyes of those who go against the Lord is allowing them to follow after what they are looking for. What if we allow people to worship the god they are following and get what they want? Then they will think that they have won, and everything is wonderful. But in the eyes of the Lord this is a triumph for you… God has worked through you to bring His good news to a people who have hard hearts. As Paul speaks to the Romans in chapter 11:25-32, God has hardened the hearts of Israel and is using this to bring everyone mercy. But some need to have a little more hardness than others (and I do to sometimes!)

In our eyes our enemies should be first, and victory or triumph is in doing what God wants or needs for us to do. Triumph is not getting your way, that is how a 3 year old determines what is good. As adults and followers of the Lord it is our duty to do what He tells us and take His victories.

So give thanks to the Lord for the victory and triumph He has brought to your life, even when the world says you have been defeated, God gives you victory!

wisdom of men…

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ESV)

How many of us have heard someone say, “I’m no expert on the subject, but…”

We listen to them, and sometimes we listen and think, “OK that is good.” Then other times we check it out, to see if they really know what they are talking about.

Paul on the other hand really is an expert on the subject of God. He is the one who was persecuting those who follow the way, and then he met Jesus, and become enraptured in His grace. He of anyone has the words to tell us what to do. But instead of coming in guns blazing, he follows after the master.

Paul comes in and meets them where they are. He finds the Corinthians where they are at and does not try to convince them with words, but with the truth of the story of Jesus. Paul chose to live in and with the Corinthians and wants to tell them the story, and help them see the relationship Jesus can give them.

Paul would rather help them understand the love they have in Jesus then impress them with his words and wisdom.

How many times do we listen to a word of wisdom, rather than the power of God?

Allow God to enlighten your life, and trust not in the wisdom of the talking heads…

Sustainable Youth Ministry – Mark Devries

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Is your youth ministry going down the drain and you need to know the steps to fix that?
Are you not able to maintain a strong ministry to the younger generation and you want the specific steps to make this happen?
Are the adults in your congregation looking for a quick fix to how to make youth ministry work?

If you answered yes to the above questions then this is not the book for you.

If you are wondering how to build a thriving ministry to young people that will take time and failures to build and are ready to go into the trenches and work on youth ministry, then Sustainable Youth Ministry Is the book for you.

Mark lays out a wonderful plan for shaping all ministry. Helping the youth worker and pastors understand that we are only interims, that someone will follow us, and the things we do to pave the way for those that follow us. Mark gives us an understanding of ministry that is well thought out and organized that would fit many different aspects of ministry.

Beware thought, this is not a book that lays out the steps and tells you the 1 2 3 process of making your ministry work. Mark lays out steps to follow, but they are high level processes that if put in place will he secure a foundation upon which a successful ministry can be built. There is no cookie cutter to making it work but if you can follow the process and work within the responsibility it brings, the out come could be marvelous.

Mark has laid out an ideal understanding of what a youth ministry, or in my opinion any ministry, team should look and function like. These steps could help all ministries and congregation set a clear foundation for ministry for many years.

I highly recommend this book to all leaders in the church, from youth workers, to pastors, to volunteers in ministry. If we can all communicate and work together the foundation will be that much stronger and ministry will work that much easier.