Completed

William Barclay, the famed commentator of the Scriptures, used his pen powerfully to illustrate the danger of neglecting discipline using Samuel Taylor Coleridge as his example. He wrote:

"Nothing was ever achieved without discipline; and many an athlete and many a man has been ruined because he abandoned discipline and let himself grow slack. Coleridge is the supreme tragedy of indiscipline. Never did so great a mind produce so little. He left Cambridge University to join the army; but he left the army because, in spite of all his erudition, he could not rub down a horse; he returned to Oxford and left without a degree. He began a paper called The Watchman which lived for ten numbers and then died. It has been said of him: “He lost himself in visions of work to be done, that always remained to be done. Coleridge had every poetic gift but one—the gift of sustained and concentrated effort.” In his head and in his mind he had all kinds of books, as he said himself, “completed save for transcription.” “I am on the eve,” he says, “of sending to the press two octavo volumes.” But the books were never composed outside Coleridge’s mind, because he would not face the discipline of sitting down to write them out. No one ever reached any eminence, and no one having reached it ever maintained it, without discipline."

Coleridge eventually died an opium addict. All of his work being undone because he lacked the discipline to complete it.

That’s the case with many a Christian today. There seems to be a lack of interest in the things of God. We are searching long and hard for that “one thing” that will make us happy. However, we seem to be looking in all the wrong places. Some may be looking at the end of a liquor bottle while others are looking at the end of an anti-depressant bottle. Some may be looking for love by being sexually promiscuous while others are wrapped up in the throes of pornography. Some feel like entertainment and comedy is what we really need to see us through the darkest days of our culture and society. Some are looking to find themselves and their self-worth. They are trying to find their true identity.

So why don’t we turn to the One who has created us? For what reasons do we not look to His Word to find that our identity is new in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ? Our homes would look a lot different if we focused our homes on the Lord Jesus. Our work would have a new flare if only we were working as unto the Lord Jesus. Our children would see a difference in the way that their parents were handling the daily stresses of life if only the focus was upon the Lord Jesus. We need to realize that God’s plan for us is to be like the Lord Jesus.

Read how the Apostle John said it:

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John 3:1-3).

It takes discipline to purify ourselves so that we might be like Him. It takes discipline to understand that our lives are completed in Him. In reality, He is the One who completes us and causes us to complete all that He desires to be completed in our lives—to be like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Message in a Bottle

World Magazine reported: "A message in a bottle tossed into the Atlantic Ocean more than five decades ago recently made its way into a beachcomber's hands in Turks and Caicos Islands, southeast of the Bahamas. Paula Pierce of Hampton Beach, N.H., said her father tossed the bottle into the Atlantic near their seaside family motel sometime more than 50 years ago with a note inside that read "Return to 419 Ocean Boulevard and receive a $150 reward." Clint Buffington, who combs through beach trash for messages in bottles and posts the findings on his blog, found Pierce's father's erstwhile Coke bottle and made contact with the New Hampshire woman. No word on whether she plans to honor her father's $150 pledge." (http://www.worldmag.com/articles/18489)

What a neat story! But greater still is the message that God has given to us in His Word, the Bible. Certainly His message is not in a bottle. It is a book that is readily available to anyone who desires to have one to read. You can purchase one at a bookstore or you can receive one as a gift from the Gideons or you can get one at your local Christian church or you can even read it online! The Bible is readily accessible around the world and it is literally at your fingertips.

So what's the story? What gives? I've heard the Bible referred to as the Words of Life. What a great way to refer to God's Word. For in this Word you do find Life! The Word is this: that the Lord Jesus died according to the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised again according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4). That's the story!

Throughout the pages of the Bible you read about the need that each one of us has. What's the need? For our sins to be forgiven. The Bible clearly states that none of us is righteous in and of ourselves (Romans 3:10-18). And because none of us are righteous in our own right we fall desperately short of meeting God's standard (Romans 3:23). Now because of our sin we have a debt; the Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). That is a hopeless situation, wouldn't you agree? But thanks be to God that His message doesn't stop there!

You see, if you accept God's story (that the Lord Jesus died according to the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised again according to the Scriptures) then you can receive the free gift that He is offering to you. What's the free gift? It's eternal life in the Lord Jesus (Romans 6:23).

For what reason did God do all of this through the Lord Jesus? Because while we were still sinners the Lord Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8). Wow! As you can tell just from these few verses, God is very interested in forgiving us of our sins! And I know what some of you might be thinking: "This seems to simple. After all, I've done some really bad stuff in my life." Guess what -- all of us have! And the offer of receiving His free gift is the same for all of us because all of us come to Him on equal footing. Every single one of us is guilty of sin and every one of us needs to be forgiven.

"So how do I get this forgiveness?" Again, a simple answer is given to us in the Words of Life:

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation. (Romans 10:9, 10)

That's how simple it is to believe the Words of Life that God Himself wrote so that we might have life -- and that the life He gives is eternal life. Here's a final thought:

For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)

Greetings & Salutations!

I like to receive letters. In fact, I even prefer to hand write letters when wanting to communicate with loved ones and friends. The written letter is something that is personal, friendly and engaging. You sense the fact that the author of a handwritten letter is really interested in you because he has taken the time to actually write the letter to you in the first place.

This is the case with the Apostle Paul. He wrote a letter to the Church of Colosse. And in this letter he wrote some very interesting things about the Lord Jesus and how they were to live according to Him. It is a letter that many a preacher has preached and many a teacher has taught. It is certainly a letter that we should all learn to apply to our lives. For the truths that the Apostle Paul writes according to inspiration of the Holy Spirit were valid then as they are very valid even today.

Read how Paul begins his letter to the church at Colosse:

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Colossians 1:1, 2)

Paul establishes in these opening sentences the authority by which he is writing the Church of Colosse. He is an apostle of Jesus by the will of God. If you know anything about Paul you will recall that prior to his salvation his name was Saul (Acts 8:1). Read how he describes himself in Philippians 3:3-6:

He was circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

If anyone among the Jews had it all it was Saul! He was a learned man in the Law but his heart was wicked and dark as he was a persecutor of the church.

But there was a dramatic change in him. Acts 9 records for us that Saul was confronted by the Lord Jesus and Saul's life was forever changed. He no longer went by Saul but Paul. He was called that day by the Lord Jesus to work for Him, to write for Him, to live for Him and to help establish the church for Him. Paul was a called out one, a messenger for the Lord Jesus and this was because of the will of God. Paul thought that he was serving God, but in reality he was His enemy. God, however, had a different plan for him. He had a plan for him to be His messenger.

Now Paul's son in the faith, Timothy, was with him when he wrote this letter. And Paul addresses this letter to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse. It was an established church that was filled with those who had come to faith in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were saints; they were set apart like Paul according to the will of God. And they are described as faithful brethren. They understood the faithfulness of God toward them. After all, He was the One who saved them. Therefore, they exercised their faithfulness toward the Lord.

Now the salutation of the letter is this: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. What a great way to start a letter. It is really a prayer that God would grant to those saints and faithful brethren His grace and His peace. His grace is greater than all our sin. His peace is peace that passes all understanding. Paul is praying that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ would grant this special grace and special peace to the Church of Colosse. Grace is seen in the fact that they are living and receiving this letter from the Apostle Paul. Peace is only found in the Lord Jesus.

From the Apostle Paul, greetings and salutations!

Lost!

“Lost!” This word is most devastating to one who has lost the most precious of all things. There are all sorts of things that are lost everyday. Why I have a hard time finding my glasses first thing in the morning because I generally lose them. There are times that I have forgotten where I parked my car at the grocery store or a mall. Children in stores will be playing in the racks of clothes and will come out of hiding looking for their mother or father and will begin to cry because they are lost.

“Lost!” The Israelites were fighting against the Philistines when they lost the most precious of things. It was the ark of God. They were overcome by the Philistines and many of the Israelites lost their lives that day. Many others fled for their lives. One of those who made it out of battle alive came to the priest by the name of Eli and told him that the ark of God was lost to the Philistines. Eli, after hearing all of the loud cries from the people of his town was approached by one of the fleeing soldiers. Read what the soldier said: I am he who came from the battle. And I fled today from the battle line. Eli, being gentle, said, What happened, my son?

Now Eli was already stressed out about the ark of God. First Samuel 4:13 says, Now when he came, there was Eli, sitting on a seat by the wayside watching, for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city and told it, all the city cried out. Losing the ark of God would be disastrous for Israel. The ark of God represented to the people of Israel His very presence. They knew that they needed God for provision and for protection from the world. This God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and these are His people.

But there seems to be a bad air around Eli. His two sons—Hophni and Phinehas—did not know the Lord (see 1 Samuel 2:12-17). They were corrupt priests and their father, Eli, tried his best to chastise and bring them back to doing the right thing for the Lord and for the people of Israel (2:24-25). But they wouldn’t have any part of it. They continued to do whatever they desired—eating the sacrificial offerings and laying with the women who assembled at the tabernacle of meeting (2:22). Interestingly enough, Samuel records: Nevertheless they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them (2:25).

“Lost!” Eli grieved the loss of his sons and he grieved even more so with the lost ark of God. Samuel writes: Then it happened, when he made mention of the ark of God, that Eli fell off the seat backward by the side of the gate; and his neck was broken and he died, for the man was old and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years (4:18).

But was this the only loss? Was it even the main loss? Phinehas’ wife really came to a deep understanding of how bad the loss really was. “Lost!” You can imagine her saying this—even crying it out loud, “Lost!” The word would have jettisoned out of her mouth, “Lost!” She had just lost her husband and her father-in-law. “Lost!” She knew that the true loss was the lost ark of God. “Lost!” She went into labor and bore a son but paid no attention to him nor did she name him right away. “Lost!” After giving birth to her son Phinehas’ wife was on her deathbed. “Lost!” The women standing by her were trying to console her and told her of the birth of her son. “Lost!” Then she named her son Ichabod, which means the glory has departed. “Lost!” Read what Phinehas’ wife said: The glory has departed from Israel! The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured (4:21-22).

What about where you are? Has the glory of God departed? What needs to change in your life to see His glory return?

Sudden Death...Sudden Glory!

Just last night, as we were in Vacation Bible School, a car accident occurred on Valley Creek Road in Leonard, Texas. It was a tragic accident as two of the passengers died and two others were taken by care flight to a trauma one unit in Dallas.

As often as we hear of stories like this you would think that it would be easier for our communities. But in reality, it is just as hard to hear of such accidents as it is any other time. It speaks of the frailty of man. One day we are enjoying life to its fullest and the next day death is knocking on our door. Life is fast; life is short; death is certain.

But what of these that died? I don't know who they were. I did find out that the two passengers killed were 19- and 16-years-old. The two other passengers were teens as well. They were not from our community, but they lived in two nearby communities. Parents this evening are grieving for the loss of these two while parents are praying for the lives of the other two. Tragic.

On the news we hear of the war front. There in foreign countries our American men and women are losing their lives for the sake of setting captives free in other nations. But let us not forget that there are others - sometimes more than we really want to know - who are civilians that are losing their lives. All of this happening because politicians who want more and more power are wanting to control more and more people and land and monies and nations. One minute a Humvee is driving down the road and the next it is being exploded by enemy gunfire or roadside bombs.

In Norway today a crazed man in a police uniform opened fire upon a government building and detonated a bomb that killed at least seven people instantly. Prior to the bombing he apparently attacked a youth camp and witnesses have been saying that they saw at least 25-30 young men and women gunned down. And why? For reasons that we may never know except that this man was on a mission to kill as many as he could before killing himself with the bomb. He is not a "suicide" bomber but a "homicide" bomber. Let's be realistic with what we ought to call him: he was a murderer.

With all of these tragedies is there any hope at all with these things happening all around us? Really, is there any hope out there? Some would say that there is hope in this or that - whatever this or that may be. But the only hope that we truly have is Jesus Christ! Read what the Apostle Paul wrote:

And in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice because I know this will lead to my deliverance through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ. My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For me, living is Christ and dying is gain. (Philippians 1:18-21)

For Paul sudden death meant sudden glory! For many of those who have believed and trusted in Jesus as Christ, Lord and Savior they have experienced that which Paul knew that he would: For me, living is Christ and dying is gain! At the point of their death, however tragic it may have been (and every death is tragic when you consider that it is for sin that death reigns in the flesh today, whether they are 15- or 100-years-old), if any of those teenagers or soldiers or youth who were killed knew Jesus the Christ as Savior and Lord then they experienced sudden death and sudden glory. This is the hope, nay, the living hope that we have in Jesus the Christ!

Iranian Pastor Sentenced to Death

“Iran’s Supreme Court says an evangelical pastor charged with apostasy can be executed if he does not recant his faith, according to a copy of the verdict obtained by a religious rights activist group.”1

Yousef Nadarkhani was arrested in 2009 and given the death sentence late last year. The only way he can have his sentenced suspended is to renounce his faith.

Nadarkhani, from Rasht, on the Caspian Sea, converted to Christianity when he was a teenager. Apparently, and from all accounts, he has been an effective witness and pastor in the area where he is serving. His church is believed to have about four hundred people. But Iran is a Muslim country. It’s ancient roots Armenian and Assyrian. As far as the Evangelical Church of Iran, it is a relatively new church—a product of the legacy of Anglican missionaries who were in Iran in the last two centuries. Although Iran has fairly tolerated the Armenian and Assyrian orders, they have not been tolerant of evangelical conversions. The Armenian and Assyrian orders date back to the days of Jesus Christ.

Firouz Khandjani, a spokesman for the evangelical Church of Iran, lives in exile in Eastern Europe. After fleeing from Iran to Turkey for security reasons, even his new homeland is not safe. As far as Iranian officials are concerned, he could be targeted by Iranian agents in Turkey.

Khandjani says a sort of “soft persecution” began after the Islamic Revolution, with Christians generally losing many civil rights, including access to top jobs in the country. However, since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took office as President in 2005, those civil rights have dwindled even more so.

Those who know Yousef Nadarkhani say he is not likely to recant or renounce his faith in Jesus Christ. Had Yousef been the type of man to give up Christianity, he would have done it years ago.

When the early church started after Jesus’ resurrection and subsequent ascension, there arose such a strong believer as Yousef. Acts 7 records for us the first and only sermon that Stephen ever preached. He speaks of how God had chosen His people through the covenant that He made with Abraham. Stephen reminded his accusers of how Moses led God’s people out of Egypt after Pharaoh began to persecute them all the more. The Lord had used Moses to lead His people out of bondage and Moses performed many signs and miracles before the people.

Then the Israel rejected God and began to worship other idols. But the people rejected Moses’ teachings and the giving of the Law. They turned their backs on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Read how Stephen equated the Pharisees to those in the wilderness: You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit; as your forefathers did, so do you. which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They even killed those who announced beforehand the betrayers and murderers you have now become. You received the law under the direction of angels and yet have not kept it (Acts 7:51-53). These words enraged those who heard Stephen. They threw him out of the city and there they stoned him. Stephen never recanted or renounced his faith. He stood firm on the promises of God that he would be saved. His last words were: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit! (Acts 7:59)

My prayers are with Yousef Nadarkhani. Whether in life or death, may he stand firm upon the same promises that Stephen did. And may we do the same.

The Walls Came Tumbling Down...In Order!

Jonathan Edwards, the famed theologian and preacher of the early 1700's in the United States of America, wrote the following account of God's providential preservation of his people when the church building he was preaching in fell:

Northampton, March 19, 1737

“We in this town were, the last Lord’s day, (March 13th) the spectators, and many of us the subjects of, one of the most amazing instances of Divine preservation, that perhaps was ever known in the world. Our meeting-house is old and decayed, so that we have been for some time building a new one, which is yet unfinished. It has been observed of late, that the house we have hitherto met in, has gradually spread at the bottom; the sills and walls giving way, especially in the foreside, by reason of the weight of timber at top pressing on the braces, that are inserted into the posts and beams of the house. it has done so more than ordinarily this spring: which seems to have been occasioned by the heaving of the ground, through extreme frosts of the winter past, and its now settling again on that side which is next the sun, by the spring thaws. By this means, the underpinning has been considerably disordered, which people were not sensible of, till the ends of the joists, which bore up the front gallery, were drawn off from the girts on which they rested, by the walls giving way. So that in the midst of the public exercise in the forenoon, soon after the beginning of the sermon, the whole gallery – full of people, with all the seats and timbers, suddenly, and without any warning – sunk, and fell down, with the most amazing noise, upon the heads of those that sat under, to the astonishment of the congregation. The house was filled with dolorous shrieking and crying; and nothing else was expected than to find many people dead, or dashed to pieces.

“The gallery, in falling, seemed to break and sink first in the middle; so that those who were upon it were thrown together in heaps before the front door. But the whole was so sudden, that many of those who fell, knew nothing what it was, at the time, that had befallen them. Others in the congregation thought it had been an amazing clap of thunder. The falling gallery seemed to be broken all to pieces before it got down; so that some who fell with it, as well as those where under, were buried in the ruins; and were found pressed under heavy loads of timber, and could do nothing to help themselves.

“But so mysteriously and wonderfully did it come to pass, that every life was preserved; and though many were greatly bruised, and their flesh torn, yet there is not, as I can understand, one bone broken, or so much as put out of joint, among them all. Some, who were thought to be almost dead at first, are greatly recovered; and but one young woman seems yet to remain in dangerous circumstances, by an inward hurt in her breast; but of late there appears more hope of her recovery.

“None can give an account, or conceive, by what means people’s lives and limbs should be thus preserved, when so great a multitude were thus imminently exposed. It looked as though it was impossible, but that great numbers must instantly be crushed to death, or dashed in pieces. It seems unreasonable to ascribe it to any thing else but the care of Providence, in disposing the motions of every piece of timber, and the precise place of safety where every one should sit and fall, when none were in any capacity to care for their own preservation. The preservation seems to be most wonderful, with respect to the women and children in the middle alley, under the gallery, where it came down first, and with greatest force, and where there was nothing to break the force of the failing weight.

“Such an event may be a sufficient argument of a Divine providence over the lives of men. we thought ourselves called on to set apart a day to be spent in the solemn worship of God, to humble ourselves under such a rebuke of God upon us, in time of public service in his house, by so dangerous and surprising an accident; and to praise His name for so wonderful, and as it were miraculous, a preservation. The last Wednesday was kept by us to that end; and a mercy, in which the hand of God is so remarkably evident, may be well worthy to affect the hearts of all who hear it.”