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Blog

Sep 13 2010

Mohammed and Jesus…

At the risk of stepping into a hornet’s nest (I’ve actually done that before and it’s not fun! But it did make for a very funny story!*) I have a few further thoughts on the message yesterday (9/12/2010) “Is the god of Mohammed the Father of Jesus?”

Thought #1: For too long some evangelical Christians have inseparably linked patriotism and politics with their Christian faith. Please don’t misunderstand: I know that we are citizens of this country and have, as citizens, civic obligations like being informed on the issues and voting. And I know that as Christians, our voting is informed by our faith and the values that come from that faith.

But for too long some Christians have wrapped their Bible in a U.S. flag, tying their faith and their politics together such that it warps their view of both their country and their own role. It is popular for some to say that the U.S.A. is a “Christian country” because some of the founders were Christians and forms of the Christian faith were prevalent in the early years of America. (A number of countries DO have a “state religion,” approved and supported by the tax dollars of the citizens, including Monaco and Costa Rica, Greece, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, England; more than two dozen countries which embrace Islam including Iraq and Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, etc.; and a number that recognize Buddhism including Cambodia, Thailand and Sri Lanka.)

But history reveals that others of the key founders of America were deists at best (think Washington, Franklin in his younger years, Jefferson…) who acknowledged that there is a “God” somewhere but that he is not engaged in this world in any way and that reason was more important than revelation. And while Christianity was the prevailing, predominant religion of the colonies, there were Jewish communities, and not a few Muslims (mostly slaves imported from Africa). In fact, the Constitution and Amendments of the Bill of Rights are deliberately non-committal about religious faith, referring to an undefined “God” (but never Jesus Christ) and allowing for the freedom of religion without allowing the government to promote one creed in particular.

For Christians to wave the flag in one hand and the Bible in the other often confuses the two, implying that there is only one way to vote to be truly “Christian” or truly “patriotic.” More importantly, it confuses the Christian on the question of citizenship and loyalty. Philippians 3:20 tells us clearly that “…our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ…”

Thought #2: We are blessed to have freedom to practice our faith in the U.S., a freedom that soldiers have fought for and died to protect. This freedom cuts two ways: it is freedom for Christians, and freedom for those of other faiths. One cannot complain of a mosque being built somewhere and expect full liberty to build a church anywhere.

In fact, Christianity does not need “freedom of religion” to flourish and thrive. Church history is full of examples, from the persecution by the Roman Emperors between 70AD and 300AD to the believing church in mainland China today. After 60+ years of atheistic communism with repression and outright persecution including beatings, imprisonment and death, the church there is strong and growing stronger and larger day by day. As of 2008 it is estimated that there are at least 65 million Christians in China! And that is just one example of how the church can survive and grow, even when there is no freedom of religion.

Ben Parker and Jeff Cambridge, along with a number of others, challenged us all at the Breaking of Bread meeting (9/2/2010) to live boldly for Jesus Christ in our culture from the text of 2 Timothy 1:12…

“And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.”

and 1 Peter 4: 12-16…

“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.”

… that if we are not suffering for our faith, we are living too safe and being too absorbed/concerned with the greatest American value: “personal comfort.” As I have thought about that challenge, I’ve been wondering where I’m playing it safe  and where I am protecting my comfort at the expense of authentic witness.

Maybe instead of relying on the protections of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, we should step out in bold faith, shout out the uniqueness and preeminence of Jesus, and trust “that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” 

I wonder what that would look like?

Resting in Him,
Steve

* One Saturday morning, while weeding the border in the front yard, I was stung by a hornet whose nest I disturbed in the dirt. The little beast stung me on the upper lip, just beneath my right nostril. It stung and burned like crazy. By the time I finished the weeding and went in the house, my lip was swelling up. By the time I took a shower and got dressed it was getting bigger and thicker. Unfortunately, I had to speak at a funeral in just an hour. I put ice cubes in a baggie and held them on my lip but it just kept on gettin bigger and harder. By the time the funeral began, my upper lip looked more like a duck’s bill and was pretty firm, making it hard to talk right. I mumbled through the funeral service and sermon hoping it would go down. It didn’t, even at the graveside I still had a “duck lip” and sounded a bit like Daffy duck. It never really went back to normal until later that night. Painful for me. Very funny for eveyone else. Embarassing at a funeral and graveside for sure.

 

Written by Steve DuPlessie · Categorized: Blog

Aug 31 2010

Remember Me…

There are many different ways to remember Jesus (“Obeying Jesus,” 08/29/2010). For example, it seems from 1 Corinthians 11 that the infant church sometimes had a fellowship meal for the entire assembly of believers and that they took time during that meal to remember Jesus with the bread and the cup as he invited them to. Granted, from the comments by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, they were messing it up pretty badly: ignoring the poor and hungry, giving preference to the rich and the important.

The report in Acts chapter 2, verse 42 and the following verses, seems to be a more simple picture; a meal shared frequently from house to house between sisters and brothers in Christ. 

I have broken bread while out camping with friends, in a beautiful chapel at Camp Berea, on the beach at Berea, in a college dorm room with other campus Christians. Once I seem to remember breaking bread together as a family while we were on vacation and all we had available was a corn muffin. 

Some are afraid that if we have Communion too often it will somehow cheapen the experience and make it less meaningful and significant. That sounds like “I should only tell my wife that I love her once each year so that it doesn’t get trite and less meaningful…”

Actually I think the opposite is true; waiting too long just dulls the spiritual senses and allows material and worldly stuff to permeate and saturate my life. Like I said Sunday, its not like we  “forget Jesus,” we just get distracted and forget to remember.

What do you think? How often is often enough for you? What’s too often? Tell us about a meaningful time that you had remembering the Lord.

Resting in Him,
Steve

Written by Steve DuPlessie · Categorized: Blog · Tagged: communion, last supper, Obeying Jesus Series, remember

Aug 23 2010

Make Disciples…

When we talked about “Make Disciples” (August 22, 2010) we just skipped over the imperative “Go…”, the command to Christ-followers to “Go and make disciples” which seems to imply something different than “stay right here.”

In the 2,000 years since that command was first given, thousands have obeyed it and gone to make disciples. From Philip who evangelized the Ethiopian in Gaza and John-Mark who went to Egypt, to the apostle Paul’s trips to Turkey and Doubting Thomas’ trip to India… The gospel reached Portugal and Morocco by 150AD, Switzerland and Belgium by 200AD, and the Greater Khorasan region of northern Iran and Afghanistan by 300AD.

By 400AD Christianity had come to Scotland and Ireland, by 500AD to the Franks under Clovis I of Gaul, by 600AD to England, by 650 to China, and by 750AD to Iceland.

By 1000AD the gospel had reached Poland and Russia, Greenland and Sweden and Norway. In 1494 the first missionaries arrived in what is now the Dominican Republic and by 1498 the first conversations happened in Kenya. By 1644 John Eliot had reached the Algonquin Indians of North America.  And William Carey reached out to India in 1792.

 The “Haystack Prayer Meeting” at Sloan’s Meadow by five Williams College students in August of 1806 sparked the Student Volunteer Movement that initiated North American missions worldwide. Anthony Norris Groves, an English dentist, went to Bagdad in 1829. CT Studd established the Heart of Africa Mission in 1910…

And these are just a very few highlights of the history of Christian Missions (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Christian_missions). Thousands of missionaries and bible translators, doctors and teachers, merchants and explorers–many of the ultimately becoming martyrs–have spread the name and fame of Jesus Christ around the globe.

Today, in the third wave of evangelical missions, the emphasis is on reaching “unreached people groups,”  the 40.7% of the world’s population in ethnic people groups all over the world with the least followers of Jesus Christ (see http://www.joshuaproject.net); and reaching those within “The 10/40 Window,” the area that extends from 10 degrees to 40 degrees North of the equator, stretching from North Africa across to China, the area of the world that contains the largest population of non-Christians in the world (see http://1040window.org/).

So there is still a role left today for some to “Go.” And there is a role for the rest of us to “Mobilize” others to Go by recruiting and supporting them with our prayer and our finances. You can Go, or you can Mobilize. Either way, you and I have a role to play in finishing the work of the command to “Go and make disciples…”

Resting in Him,
Steve

Written by Steve DuPlessie · Categorized: Blog · Tagged: discipleship, Obeying Jesus Series

Aug 16 2010

Give…

“Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” – Matthew 5:42

“…when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” – Matthew 6:2,4

“Freely you have received, freely give.” – Matthew 10:8

“Jesus replied, ‘They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.'” – Matthew 14:16

“Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'” – Matthew 19:21

“I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.” – Mark 9:41

“Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.” – Luke 6:38

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” – Luke 6:38

Resting in Him,
Steve

Written by Steve DuPlessie · Categorized: Blog · Tagged: giving, Obeying Jesus Series, tithe

Aug 02 2010

Time Alone With God…

Ben Harris and Jeff Cambridge shared some good thoughts on prayer with us (August 1, 2010) from the command of Jesus about prayer in Matthew chapter 6. For myself, too often when I pray I am quickly and easily distracted by other thoughts that come barging into my mind — stuff I have to do, a recent conversation, the noise of the environment I’m in, you name it. It’s hard for me to focus.

Chuck Swindoll writes that the two key elements for deepening your relationship with God are “solitude and silence.” Both are pretty hard to come by in our busy lives.

Let me suggest that you make an appointment with God this week for some solitude and silence in the beauty of the outdoors. One way to do that is to take a “Prayer Walk.” Take a half-hour or an hour this week – maybe late at night, maybe skip breakfast, maybe during free time, you pick it – and go for a walk … and pray.

Why do a Prayer Walk?

George Müller recorded more than fifty thousand specific answers to prayer, over thirty thousand of which he said were answered the same day he prayed! Müeller wrote:

“I find it very beneficial to my health to walk thus for meditation before breakfast, and . . . generally take out a New Testament . . . and I find that I can profitably spend my time in the open air.

I used to consider the time spent in walking a loss, but now I find it very profitable, not only to my body, but also to my soul. . . . For . . . I speak to my Father . . . about the things that He has brought before me in His precious Word.”

What do I do on a Prayer Walk?

Just pray while you walk! Believe it or not, the walk will help keep you from being distracted. Many find that it’s actually easier to focus yoru thoughts when you walk. Your time will be enriched as you notice God’s creation and share your thoughts with the Lord as you walk.

Prayer Walk Suggestions…

  • Confess and ask forgiveness for your sin
  • Thank God for His blessings!
  • Worship God for who He is – you can even sing!
  • Pray for yourself, family, church, leaders, nation
  • Pray about your upcoming decisions and plans
  • Ask God to open your eyes to opportunities and your ears to His promptings
  • “Pray the scriptures” by reading them back to   God as your prayer. Here are some suggestions: Psalm 23; Philippians 2:1-11; 1 Timothy 2:1-10; Psalm 139; Ephesians 1:15-22; Psalm 40…
  • Let silence happen – take time to be quiet & think

Prayer Walk Guidelines…

  • Do your walk alone – one-on-one with God
  • Maintain silence with people – this is not a social event – but feel free to talk out loud to God
  • Plan at least a half hour or more for your walk
  • Find a quiet place: the backyard or around the block, Capron Park, the HS track, the Blackstone River bike path…
  • Take notes of what God prompts you to think as you spend time alone with Him

I trust that your time alone with God will be precious–special enough that you will want to do it again soon.

Resting in Him,
Steve

Written by Steve DuPlessie · Categorized: Blog

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