"Do Everything Without Complaining" Philippians 2:14

     I didn’t sleep well last night.  I was under conviction for a tweet I posted last night.  It was whiny, complaining, and did not display a thankful heart.  The tweet was, “Now I remember why I don't do Winter jam. Big mistake.”  (Winter Jam is never well organized regarding entry into the venue and there were people getting ahead of us that shouldn’t have and I expressed my disdain for that.  However, what they lack in organization in getting people in the building, they make up for a cost effective, celebration of Jesus Christ where the gospel is proclaimed faithfully. The picture is my 2 oldest boys I took to the tour.  They had a blast!) I regretted tweeting it as soon as I did it.  But once you put something out there for the world to see on Facebook, Twitter, etc. it is there for good.  I know I could have deleted it, but I knew people had already seen it and I thought it would be better to allow others to learn from my mistake.  

     The Holy Spirit has many roles in the building up of His people.  The Holy Spirit reveals truth, He gives evidence of God’s presence, He guides and directs People, He gives us assurance, and He convicts us of sin.   Conviction from the Holy Spirit is a good thing.  It can be very painful, but it is a true sign of the love of God has for His children.  If He didn’t love us, He would just let us sink in our sin.  

     Someone who has been redeemed, born again, and now has a new life in Christ has no business complaining, PERIOD.   Philippians is one of my favorite books in the Bible.  I marvel at how encouraging and empowering Paul is to the Church in Philippi all the while he is writing this letter in prison.  Paul writes, “Do EVERYTHING without COMPLAINING or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you SHINE like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:14-15 NIV) Paul has every reason to complain because he is in jail unjustly, however his advice to the Church at Philippi is to NOT complain.  The world needs to see the church stop being so petty and not look like a bunch of spoiled little brats.  This is why I was under conviction.  I had a little twitter tantrum.  Thank God he is faithful and just to forgive when we repent (1 John 1:9). The church needs to SHINE despite any circumstance.  Paul didn’t prefer to be in prison, but he trusted God’s sovereignty and there were soldiers and prisoners at the jail that needed to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.  

     Learn from my mistake.  Before you tweet or post on Facebook, think about your words.  Are they encouraging, and inspiring and point to Christ, or do they seem petty, complaining and unthankful? Whenever tempted to “vent” with a negative post just remember these timeless lines from Amazing Grace, “I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see.”  We have for more to be thankful for than we do to complain about. 

Identity in Christ!!

I can be a hot-headed, over-competitive, lazy, ungrateful, complaining, over-sarcastic, wretched man.  (That is really just the tip of the iceberg.  There are many more faults that I am too embarrassed to post). But thanks be to God because “He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 1:6). I, like all believers, are works in progress.  The theological phrase that describes this is, “progressive sanctification.”  I am grateful that my sin doesn’t define me, because Christ took the penalty of my sins (and the entire world’s sin John 3:16) on the cross and then victoriously defeated death!!! This fact doesn’t give me license to sin, as a matter of fact it motivates me to call on the Holy Spirit to, “live a life worthy of the calling I have received” (Ephesians  4:1). Although I still struggle with my flesh, my identity is in the ONE who paid it all!!!  “If anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW CREATION; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17.   

Contentment in 2013

We love to quote Philippians 4:13, “I can do all this through him (Jesus) who gives me strength.” However, to separate it from Philippians 4:12 is a mistake.  Philippians 4:12 states, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” 

The strength we receive from Christ “to do all things” in Philippians 4:13 is the ability to endure and be content and not about achieving great things that garner recognition from the world.  The longer I walk with Christ, the more I appreciate the endurance of older godly saints who have shown great poise, contentment, and joy in the face of great adversity.   

Hope for 2013

Jesus said, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” Matthew 24:6-8

What we are seeing has always been (since the fall of mankind) and will always be until Christ returns. Man is totally depraved and sinful and without the Savior Jesus, life is hopeless. However Jesus also said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be SAVED. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have LIFE, and have it to the FULL.” John 10:9-10. 

Trust Christ, life for Him, life selflessly and get equipped to glorify Him (Find a good Bible believing church, read the Bible, seek Christ in prayer as a start). Jesus is the only source to truly restore hope.

God commands David to build an alter in Jerusalem which ultimately becomes the site of the temple in Solomon’s reign (2 Samuel 24: 18-25). Araunah owned the site where the alter was to be built and offered to give it to David along with the oxen to sacrifice.  However, David responded, “But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver” (2 Samuel 24:24 ESV).  This is a great reminder that whatever we bring before God as an offering and act of worship (whether it is money, time, giving up fleshly deeds, etc.) must be done with the intent to sacrifice something.  We can be guilty of trying to shortchange God and make our sacrifices as painless and as cheap as possible.  If there is no real sacrifice, there is no real homage paid to God.  Jesus exemplified this most magnificently on the cross to redeem mankind which ultimately glorified His father.  The cross cost Him His life, but there was nothing that could have honored His Father more. 

Church Hoppers

Wow only 3.5 years since my last blog post.  Let’s see if we can resurrect this thing.  Here are a few thoughts on church hoppers.  The following thoughts do not take into account those who are in the military or who have to move often.  These thoughts are based on those who are one place for over 10 years.  I also recognize that every rule has an exception.  So, here goes…..

If you are on your third church in 10 years chances are there are one of two things happening. One, you are not really seeking Christ on where He wants you to plug in a make a difference in His Kingdom. There is obviously some very poor discernment taking place in the lives of church hoppers. Two, you are so thin skinned or selfish that you let the littlest thing drive you away. Remember the church isn’t there to serve you; you are there to serve the church. We often treat the church like McDonald’s and if someone gets our order wrong, we write them off and go to Burger King.  Jesus told Peter that the church is unstoppable and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). Our fickleness makes the church LOOK very stoppable.