Typically when I study I gather more information than I could ever present in one hour and not all of it is suitable for Sunday morning.  Part of my job is to decide what stays and what hits the editing room floor.  I will try to include some of those tidbits from time to time.   Here is one from last Sunday.

John 1:9-13  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

In v.9, Jesus is the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.  Since that is true, all men are without excuse before God.  All men have received (some form of) His light.  As I read this, it is obvious that Jesus is not the light that lights only “the elect.”  He enlightens all men.

In v.10, the world (as a whole) didn’t know Him.  In v.11, “his own” (Israel) rejected Him.  Israel is God’s elect nation.  They are His chosen people, yet still they rejected Him when He appeared in the form of a man (Jesus Christ).  So the world of humanity didn’t know him and His very elect rejected Him!  That must be a tough pill for a Calvinist to swallow.

In v.12, INDIVIDUALS received Him!  Regardless of your position or privilege, God enlightens every man (according to v.9) and even those deemed “his elect” rejected him (as a whole) – yet any individual has the free will to receive the free gift of eternal life that He offers!  Praise God that He loves us that much!  Praise Him that He is no respecter of persons and that no one group is privileged above any other group!  Regardless of who you are, what you have done or your circumstances of life, you too can choose to receive Him by believing on His name for eternal salvation and He will receive you!  He will give you new life and entrance into His family by birth.  It’s nothing you can do on your own and it’s not a physical birth.  It’s a spiritual birth – you are “born of God.”

So don’t confuse yourself with the idea that God predetermined in eternity past who would and would not believe.  He may have KNOWN from eternity past if you would willingly choose Him or not, but that is different from predetermining it to happen.  Receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior and enjoy your freedom!

This week we will begin a new “normal” here at FBC, offering various ways for people to respond to the gospel message:  either by meeting a counselor directly after the service, by meeting the pastors in the coffee shop in the lobby, or by filling out a Connection Card and letting us know their need.

Hopefully you will take advantage of this chance to invite your friends to come and then continue the discussion with them after the service.  Let’s determine to make an effort to “make a difference” in our world by praying and reaching out to those around us.  Our collective study in the book of John will facilitate your personal ministry efforts!

Among the different goals I set for myself in 2011 was the one goal that I have set (and never kept) for about 10 years now.  I determined to lose weight.  I’d rather not state publicly how much I weighed at the beginning of 2011, but I can finally and proudly declare that I used to wear size 38 pants (and they were too tight!) and now I wear a comfortable 36!   One of the deacons at our church expressed his encouragement for my noticeable weight loss by observing that we need to change the photo of me from our church’s website (it has been changed now – you can view it here).  He commented that “if a visitor comes to church after looking at the website he will expect to see a fat guy preaching, but instead you will be up there.”  I love this kind of encouragement!  I must admit, I have given in to the Thanksgiving / Christmas cheer of enjoying the goodies these past 2 months, but I am still doing better than ever before.

I think it’s important to rejoice in the victories, however trivial they may seem.  We beat ourselves up enough about our failures.

So how did you do with your 2011 resolutions? Share your victories here and we can all rejoice together.

On December 11^th I had the privilege of participating in an ordination service for a young man that got saved in my Jr. High youth group about 20 years ago.  This brother is currently serving as a youth pastor and plans to start a new church in 2012.  This is a huge victory!  This is why God left us here on Earth after our salvation – to carry out His mission to fulfill the Great Commission and start new churches.

I was also greatly encouraged because he plans to start the new church in the same city that I was wanting to start a church prior to coming to New Philadelphia.  It’s great to know that when I left behind the possibility of starting a church in Emerson, GA myself, that God is still at work and calling men to go there to reach that city for Christ.  For me, personally, it helps fill what was an empty feeling of thinking I was leaving a work undone.  I guess God knew what He was doing all along!

I have been stimulated to re-evaluate my commitment concerning my personal involvement in the Great Commission.  I am tired of talking about it.  I want to act in such a way as to affect real results that will last for eternity.  If you want that to rub off on you, come hang out with me.  If you don’t, well, …

Let’s go make a difference in this world!

This becomes a problem only when people hold fast to their traditions or thoughts about what they think God said and end up contradicting what He actually did say clearly in His word.  What is the actual role (job description) of a local church pastor?  What should deacons really be doing?  What does the church exist for?  What does God expect from me, personally?  What about politics?  What about social agendas?  Wow!  A person could get overwhelmed pretty quickly thinking about all these things.  Many people may not know the Bible answer to all the questions, but they know “what we have always done at our church.”  Herein lies the challenge.

There are a lot of programs and activities that are “Christian” or “spiritual” but not biblical.  That makes me nervous.  There are a LOT of “spirits” in the world, but only ONE of them is holy!  There are a lot of (weird) things that people do in the name of “Christianity” that have nothing to do with what God said.  (Can I remind anyone of the Crusades?!)  There is a genuine revival in spiritualism – everyone is spiritual these days – but few remain biblical.

My goal (and job description) is to be biblical and to teach others to be so as well.  There are a lot of ways to accomplish God’s revealed will and I am excited to see how He will lead us in 2012.  If it happens that someone is striving to accomplish God’s revealed will in a manner that is not strictly forbidden by the scriptures, let’s all agree to give the brother some space.  At the same time, let’s make sure that we don’t pick a (needless) fight over a tradition that we enjoy but cannot prove as biblically necessary.

Malachi 3:6

Arguably the greatest characteristic about God is that He doesn’t change, or in other words, He doesn’t go back on His word.  When He says something, He means it and He keeps His word.  Theologians call this “immutability.”  All the other wonderful attributes of God:  His holiness, power, love, grace, compassion, foreknowledge, sovereignty, etc. are virtually worthless if He “changes His mind” and behaves in a manner different than what He says!  When He says:  “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” we can count on it!  If He ever changed His mind on that one we would be in big trouble!

In Joshua 9, Joshua was deceived by the Gibeonites.  God told the Israelites to kill all the inhabitants of Canaan.  The Gibeonites lied, they portrayed themselves as a people from a far land, just passing through Canaan, and asked Joshua to make a league with them to not kill them.  Joshua made the deal without consulting God – big mistake (v.14).  The people murmured against Joshua, but ultimately Joshua kept his word, because he gave it. (vv.19-20)

Similarly, as children of God, we too ought to have this same characteristic.  We need to be people of our word.

James 5:12  But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.

Jesus said virtually the same thing in Matthew 5:33-37.  In other words, there should be no reason for a Christian to have to “swear” an oath, like we do in a court of law, because we should be people who always tell the truth.  There should be no need to “promise to tell the truth” this time!  If you say “yea” (yes) you mean it!  Similarly with a “nay” (no).  Your word is your bond.

Now imagine a Christian who understands God’s will and hears God speak (lead) to him to do something specific.  That Christian makes a promise to God that he/she will do it.  Then after a while, the promise is not kept.  We leave the work undone that God asked us to do.  How do you think God feels at that point?

Recently many people have heard the voice of the Lord speak to their hearts here at FBC.  God has been working in many through recent preaching / teaching series including our missions conference.  Many have made commitments to serve the Lord in some new, specific way, or to start giving financially at an increased level.  My prayer is that we all will let our “yea be yea and our nay be nay.”  Whether or not you agree with the commitment, that is a life that you (and others) can respect.

I am very proud of First Baptist Church for rallying and serving in so many ways:  providing meals, serving our children, contributing to the missionary wives and rising to the challenge of raising more than the $15,000 goal for our ministry partner in Egypt.

There is something very refreshing about working hard for the Lord and although there may be a physical exhaustion, there is a spiritual satisfaction that makes it all worthwhile.

Proverbs 19:23  The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

If you spend much time serving or following global missions, you realize that it is one, big, happy family!  Over time, it seems like everybody knows somebody who knows just about everybody in the world of missionaries!  (Did that make sense?) This year we will have representatives from Albania, Mongolia and Peru as well as a couple that does children’s ministry worldwide.  All of our guests are good personal friends of mine.  Several of them have known each other prior to coming here.  It makes for a great family reunion and a brief glimpse of what heaven will be like one day.  I can’t wait for that – but until then, I will really enjoy these events!

For those of you in the New Philadelphia area, please plan to attend starting at 9:00am Sunday and 7:00pm Monday – Wednesday.  You won’t be disappointed!  If you are not in the New Philadelphia area, please pray with us that God is glorified and many people respond to the “stretching exercises” that God has planned for us!

At the end of the day, what could possibly be more important than to invest your life in something that will last for eternity?  Every year that clicks off is another year closer to the end – either the end of time or (at least) the end of our lives here on Earth.  This is our chance to “step it up a notch” and give our lives to something that matters.  I hope to see you here!

How is FAITH really a part of this?  Normally, people give to charities based on what they can afford or what they want to give.  That is great, but this is a bit different.  With Faith Promise, we don’t calculate what WE want to give – rather, we PRAY and ask God what HE wants us to give.  There is no audible voice.  It is not magic.  But if you spend any considerable time with God in prayer, you know how He can impress your heart with very specific information – answers to your prayers – things that He is directing you to do – IF ONLY you will have FAITH in Him!  Then, once you land on the amount that you believe God wants to give through you, you follow the steps that I laid out in my previous blog post.

It’s fun!  I hope you all do it.  Once you make the PROMISE to trust God by FAITH in participating in seeing all the peoples of the world get the chance to get saved, you will be forever changed – for the better!

It’s not magic.  You won’t just open your wallet and have money pour out of it.  It is faith in God to enable you to give more that you think you can give, all the while still meeting all of your personal needs.

My promise is to give the amount God lays on my heart.

My faith is exercised as I trust God to provide for me and allow me to give that amount.

 How exactly do I do that?

1)      Pray!  Don’t just pick some amount that you think you can afford.  Ask God to lead you to the amount He wants to give through you.

2)      Commit!  Stick with it, even if it doesn’t seem doable at first.

3)      Look!  Look for unexpected ways for God to provide this amount.  You will be amazed at the things that God will do to allow you to keep your promise.

• Maybe you will get an unexpected raise at work.
• Maybe you will receive money in an inheritance.
• Maybe you can earn extra money in a yard sale.
• Maybe you can choose to spend less on eating out or other entertainment so that the peoples of this world can get the gospel.

4)      Give!  Have faith in God.  Give as God enables you.

Remember, this is your offering to God for global missionary outreach.  It does not replace your normal tithes and offerings.  It is “above & beyond” your normal level of giving.  Our church’s missions committee can plan what we can do as a church to support missions around the world next year based on your faith promises.

Psalms 24:1  The earth is the LORD’S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

God is fully able to do whatever He needs to get done with or without us.  Participating in Faith-Promise giving for world evangelism is our opportunity for God to use us to get His work accomplished!  I definitely want God to use me and I’m sure you want that too.