A Man Pleasing Ministry

Hey Truth Seekers, David here! I'm excited to announce that this month, Tim Lewis, Truth Infusion minister and Youth pastor at First Assembly of God in Ashdown, AR has graciously written a piece for the blog site. In his blog, Tim directs us to take a realistic, and perhaps uncomfortable, look at the motivation behind  much of today's "churchy" activity. Perhaps our motivations, while good, are not what God knows is best. I challenge you to see where you might line up with this word from God…

A Man Pleasing Ministry
by Pastor Tim Lewis

Nearly all my life I have been in and around church and “churchy” things. I was saved when I was 13 and felt a call to the ministry when I was 14. I played in the praise band and even got in trouble a time or two for playing my bass too “charismatically”. Vacation Bible School was always a big “to-do” for me as well. My wife and I were often in charge of the recreational activities of the day. It was something we both looked forward to year after year.

Shortly after turning 21 I took my bass playing to a different level when I joined a Christian Rock Band. Man, I thought I was accomplishing BIG things for the Kingdom… don’t get me wrong…none of what I have told you are bad things. As a matter of fact, they were all guardrails likely keeping me from running off the road and into some really bad stuff. Still, through it all there was still something missing… I had a question burning inside for which I could not find and answer. My question was this; “If I had been doing all of this “ministry work” for the Lord, then why do I feel so empty inside? My answer soon hit me like a brick in the face. Ya know, like one of the ACME bricks from Looney Toons.

I began to realize that all my work was selfishly positioned to gain a man pleasing response. Paul draws the line in the sand with this verse coming from Galatians 1:10- For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ (NIV). Black and white, right? Listen to how the Message Bible puts it. Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn’t bother being Christ’s slave. Wow! Have you ever been in a church service in which you got real excited, jumped up and down, and even yelled a few amens? Maybe you even shed some tears and felt a little horripilation (goose bumps)! However, soon after leaving, you could not see a single piece of evidence of change in your life…

Perhaps you were fooled into thinking that you were receiving something Godly or spiritual, when actually, it was nothing more than a rise in endorphins.  Were you somehow robbed or cheated? After all, you are paying tithes, so you should get your money’s worth, right? Now, don’t arrange a meeting with the elders and deacons just yet…hear me out. Unfortunately, this is a problem that is occurring in churches all across America. For some reason we have adopted a school of thought that says we must meet a certain spiritual quota in order to have a successful service. It is almost like we are earning churchy church points that we then use to compare our selves with other individuals in the Church.  

We have even come to a place where we can fabricate a false move of the Holy Spirit in our services. So that, at the end of the day, we can make it look like we win, and the people are pleased with their church experience. If that doesn’t satisfy us, we create programs and events so that, at least to the world, it looks like we are doing good things.

Here’s what happens. When we do not see the immediate effects of the work that God is doing in someone’s life, we as ministers can get very discouraged by thinking we are not preaching, teaching or ministering in a way to produce change in an individual’s life. This is the result of a lie that the enemy has snuck into our church circles. We come to believe the lie that that if we do not see brokenness, repentance, encouragement, or healing with our natural eyes then nothing is happening. But I want to tell you, God is a supernatural God. The work He does cannot always be seen in the physical. Paul says it like this I(Paul) planted a seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.^{1 Cor 3:6} Paul didn’t always see the fruit of his labor but you better believe he had faith that what he planted, someone would come and water.  You see, the sooner we as Christians realize that God’s work in someone’s life is simply that, God’s work, the sooner the pressure of believing that we have to out perform the next guy is released. Better yet, the sooner we can get refocused on preaching and teaching the true Gospel.

In the first chapter of Galatians, Paul confronts the church for straying away from the gospel. The same attack the enemy used back then is the one he is trying to use today. He has already lost the ultimate battle, so the only thing he can do now is attempt to distort the truth for us today. The more he can distract us and keep our eyes off of Jesus, and what He did for us, the more he can keep us bound and empty. In verse 6 Paul says. ⁶I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different Gospel- ⁷Not that there is another Gospel... The background of the book of Galatians is this; Paul went planting churches in southern Galatia, teaching and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, not long after he left the area, a bunch of false teachers came along telling the Galatians that they still needed to live under the Law. One can only imagine Paul’s frustration; he goes on to tell the Galatians that they were foolish and hypnotized. Now, how much different is that from what is happening in our churches today?

We too, have been hypnotized. I believe that over the last few decades there has been a rise of a false sense of spiritual accomplishment. We tend to think that if we offer the right programs, play the right worship music, and speak with the right theatrics and enthusiasm, we will be able to please the people and keep them coming back. By doing this, we are in effect saying that Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection was not sufficient. In reality, this should be the foundation on which all else is built.

           

A thought came to be a while back; when you read in the Bible that Jesus had a huge following everywhere He went, and that Peter preached on Pentecost and 3,000 were added to the kingdom. It is very hard to believe that somewhere in all this, people were not being pleased. I tend to think there was a little bit of both happening.

Allow me to illustrate what I mean: Let’s imagine that I am lame, lying by a pool. Now, it just so happens that, every once in a while, an angel comes down to stir the water. After the angelic stirring takes place, the first person that can jump in the pool gets healed. Sounds like a deal, right?! I, however, have a problem; I can’t walk, and I have been this way for 38 years.  My only hope is for someone to throw me in pool, at just the right time, and for the healing to truly work. Otherwise, my day could turn bad really quick. After a few years of hanging out by the pool with no luck, a man comes up and asks me if I want to be healed. Of course I say yes! He then instructs me to get up and walk and to take my mat with me. By golly, I’m pleased! But much more than that, I am healed…I’ve experienced a change in my life!

If you are a believer in Christ, you have everything necessary to continue the ministering work of Jesus Christ! Perhaps the reason people were always following Jesus around was because they were experiencing change everywhere they went.  We are not called to please the world. As a matter of fact, Jesus tells us that the world will hate us. Personally, I am thrilled to lay down the burden of trying to compete with other ministers. I know that in everything I do, as long as I am leading people to the cross, God will supply the increase. I also rest in the fact that their joy, their pleasure, and their happiness is a by-product of their changed life, in Christ. It’s time that we, as the American church, give up and let Jesus take over.

-Amen

Your Temptation and the Faithfulness of God by Pastor Todd Reed

Hello Truth Seekers…David here. Im exited to welcome Pastor Todd Reed to the Truth Infusion Blog Site this month. I know you will receive a blessing as Brother Todd shares the TRUTH about "your temptation and God's faithfulness". Now, sit back and enjoy the fresh bread of God's word….

                  The story is told of the little girl whose father caught her eating a chocolate chip cookie after he had specifically instructed her not to.  Her response, “I’m sorry Daddy.  I didn’t mean to eat it.  I was just smelling of it when my tooth got caught on it!”  Every one of us deals with temptation of some sort on a daily basis and unfortunately it’s not always as innocent as chocolate chip cookies.  But God has given us a powerful promise to give us a constant way of victory over constant temptations in our lives.

1Co 10:13 says “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and He will not let you to be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it.” (ESV)

                  The right understanding of this promises strips from us several of our excuses for our own failures in battling temptation.  Excuse #1:  “Nobody knows what it’s like to be me!” You are not alone in your temptation. No matter you’re your circumstance, you are not the first, nor will you be the last to deal with your specific temptation.  Because of that truth, there is someone out there somewhere whom God has equipped to relate to you and to help you be accountable. ( 2 Cor. 1)

    

                  “But God is faithful,….” This is not referring to God’s faithfulness to you, but first and foremost to His faithfulness to Himself.  Excuse #2: “I’m not hurting anyone but myself.”  God is still about the business of making His name glorious in the way He lives out His life through His children.  So His promises in this verse concerning what He will do to ensure you victory over sin, are for the purpose of making Himself look good in you! Because He is using you to make a name for Himself, He “will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.”

 

                  Excuse #3: “God tempted me and I failed!”  James 1:13 tells us that “God is not tempted by eveil, neither does he tempt any man.”  Verse 14 goes on to say “But every man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desire and enticed.”  So much for Excuse #4: “The devil made me do it!” Yeah right,  for the most part it’s all you! AND, James 1:15 wipes out Excuse #5: “Just a little bit won’t hurt me” when we are taught that “sin when it is fully grown brings death.”

But, remember that His promise in 1 Cor. 10:13 is that “he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.”  On top of that, Colossians 3:3 says that “your life is hidden with Christ, in God.”  In other words, if any temptation ever gets to you, it has to get past God the Father, and God the Son first.  And, when it reaches you, it then has to deal with God the Holy Ghost inside you!  The temptation didn’t slip past the Father and the Son, so you can rest assured that it is not beyond “your ability” to resist.  Isn’t it interesting that the verse says “your ability”.  Not your Father’s ability, your pastor’s ability, your neighbor’s ability……YOUR ability.  Only God knows your ability.  Only God knows where your threshold truly is, and He makes no mistakes.  So much for Excuse #6: “I’m not strong enough!”  Well, God is saying something else, but you have to believe Him and act on it. “Your ability” also refers to your responsibility.  It is at this point where your choice comes in and you alone decide whether you will give in or resist.  But God has promised a way out!

He says that “with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape….”  This is great news!  The problem with temptation is that it appeals to our desires, so that it looks good to us even if it is not good for us. We know that what we look at the most, we move towards, like the little girl and the chocolate chip cookies!  So God is saying that along with any temptation He ever allows to come to us, there also comes with it a way of escape.  So take your eyes and your attention off of the temptation and focus on looking for the way of escape! This is beautiful!  He has given us a way out!  Every time!! The verse goes on to say “that you may be able to endure it.”  That word endure implies that this is not just for short term problems.  It doesn’t take endurance to run from home to first base.  It is distance running that requires endurance.  So this promise is not only good for those pop-up temptations we encounter, but also for those long-term battles that don’t always go away quickly.  So if you don’t immediately see the way of escape, keep looking.  Sometimes it may not be obvious, and it may take a while and a lot of searching to find it, but all the time while you are focusing on finding the way of escape, you’re NOT focusing on the temptation!    Which brings us to the most beautiful part of the whole promise!!

While you are looking for the way of escape, you are looking for God’s promised provision in the right now.  In a very real way you are looking TO HIM AND you are looking FOR HIM right where you are!  Jesus said, “I am the Way……”  Ultimately HE IS the way of escape, and the whole time you spend looking for the physical way of escape while dealing with your personal temptation you are really looking for HIM right where you are.  And the most amazing thing happens in the process while you are looking for Him!! He tells us in 2 Cor. 3:18 that the more we look at Him, the more we become like Him.  So in the process of fleeing from temptation, in looking for the way of escape, He is causing me to look more and more like Him, and not just to look more like Him, but to be more like Him AND to “BE CHANGED into that same image from glory to glory!” (2 Cor 3:18)

So hang on to His powerful beautiful promise.  He has given us all a way of escape from the power of temptation, and from the power of sin, and it is not mainly about us winning our battle, but it is about Him getting glory.  He is Faithful to Himself, and He is much more serious about dealing with your sin than you are.  So “believe”, “search”, “choose”, “endure”, and in the process enjoy Him changing you to be like Him.

1Co 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son


May God Bless you, 
Pastor Todd 

Go Down Death by James Weldon Johnson

Ill never forget the first time I heard this amazingly powerful sermon. My perspective on the death of a saint of God was forever changed. Many times I have wept as I watched Wintley Phipps' amazing recitation of this poem. Personally, I have poured over these words until I found that I had them memorized. On multiple occasions, I have used this message while I counseled and taught on the subject of death...and have literally seen it break the grip of grief over a hurting soul.



GO DOWN DEATH
by James Weldon Johnson

Weep not, weep not,
She is not dead;
She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.
Heart-broken husband--weep no more;
Grief-stricken son--weep no more;
Left-lonesome daughter --weep no more;
She only just gone home.

Day before yesterday morning,
God was looking down from his great, high heaven,
Looking down on all his children,
And his eye fell on Sister Caroline,
Tossing on her bed of pain.
And God's big heart was touched with pity,
With the everlasting pity.

And God sat back on his throne,
And he commanded that tall, bright angel standing at his right hand:
Call me Death!
And that tall, bright angel cried in a voice
That broke like a clap of thunder:
Call Death!--Call Death!
And the echo sounded down the streets of heaven
Till it reached away back to that shadowy place,
Where Death waits with his pale, white horses.

And Death heard the summons,
And he leaped on his fastest horse,
Pale as a sheet in the moonlight.
Up the golden street Death galloped,
And the hooves of his horses struck fire from the gold,
But they didn't make no sound.
Up Death rode to the Great White Throne,
And waited for God's command.

And God said: Go down, Death, go down,
Go down to Savannah, Georgia,
Down in Yamacraw,
And find Sister Caroline.
She's borne the burden and heat of the day,
She's labored long in my vineyard,
And she's tired--
She's weary--
Go down, Death, and bring her to me.

And Death didn't say a word,
But he loosed the reins on his pale, white horse,
And he clamped the spurs to his bloodless sides,
And out and down he rode,
Through heaven's pearly gates,
Past suns and moons and stars;
on Death rode,
Leaving the lightning's flash behind;
Straight down he came.

While we were watching round her bed,
She turned her eyes and looked away,
She saw what we couldn't see;
She saw Old Death. She saw Old Death
Coming like a falling star.
But Death didn't frighten Sister Caroline;
He looked to her like a welcome friend.
And she whispered to us: I'm going home,
And she smiled and closed her eyes.

And Death took her up like a baby,
And she lay in his icy arms,
But she didn't feel no chill.
And death began to ride again--
Up beyond the evening star,
Into the glittering light of glory,
On to the Great White Throne.
And there he laid Sister Caroline
On the loving breast of Jesus.

And Jesus took his own hand and wiped away her tears,
And he smoothed the furrows from her face,
And the angels sang a little song,
And Jesus rocked her in his arms,
And kept a-saying: Take your rest,
Take your rest.

Weep not--weep not,
She is not dead;
She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.


Click here to see Wintley Phipps at his best:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQYrF2g_48o

M*A*S*H

Were you a MASH fan? I was. Moreover, with the way reruns work now a days I suppose I still am. I loved the 4077^th. We are talking about some of the greatest TV characters of all time…all at the same time. It was great. The comedic quickness of Hawkeye and Hunnicutt, the innocence of Radar, and the nuttiness of Klinger…it was a nonstop joy ride.  The staff of that Korean War field hospital relied on humor and hijinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.

Most of us know that M*A*S*H officially stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Well, I want to turn things around a little bit and approach a few subjects from a different slant. So, for the next few minutes M*A*S*H is going to unofficially stand for Medically Analyzed Spiritual Hurdles.

Doctor Hawkeye Pierce spent his time in the trenches, analyzing potentially lethal trauma and disease in the bodies of soldiers. For the next few minutes, I would like us to spend some time in the Word, analyzing potentially lethal problems in the body of Christ…the church.

I have found that the top 5 causes of death in America today are as follows…

 

FORMAL NAME	INFORMAL NAME	% ALL DEATHS
(1) Diseases of the heart	heart attack (mainly)	28.5%
(2) Malignant neoplasms	cancer	22.8%
(3) Cerebrovascular disease	stroke	6.7%
(4) Chronic lower respiratory disease	emphysema, chronic bronchitis	5.1%
(5) Diabetes mellitus	diabetes	3.0%

Not much of a surprise really, most of us have friends and family that have these health problems…or perhaps even died because of one of them. However, what if I were to ask you to give me a list of the top 5 spiritual health problems in the church. Now, lets get something straight, we are not talking about non-Christians, just the saved folks…you know, the ones who should know better! I’ll tell you what; take a few moments to jot down your thoughts. The top 5 spiritual health problems in the church…got it...go ahead…I’ll wait on you.

Okay, now that you have taken some time to consider it, let me give you my list. Here is my top 5 along with some supporting scripture…enjoy.

1. Cirrhosis of the Giver

Money, time, talents, gifts, prayer, assistance, comfort, etc, etc, etc. Christians today are a people who have everything to give and for the most part, we offer very little. God has blessed us beyond all understanding. We deserve nothing more that punishment, yet He gave us everything instead. We know what its like to be handed the world and yet we harbor those gifts, those blessings, and our knowledge like some selfish Ebenezer Scrooge. Why? Why don’t we share what we have and what we know? Why does 20% percent of the average congregation give 80% of the tithes and do 80% of the work? Why do today’s Christians have such a hard time with giving?

Jesus told a parable in the 25^th chapter of Matthew that sums it up nicely.

…for when I was hungry you gave me something to eat, when I was thirsty you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

…then the righteous answered him, “Lord when did we see you?” And the master answered, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did to the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

You see, we are EXPECTED to be channels of blessing…not stagnant pools of greed! The measure by which the Lord has blessed you should be the measure by which you bless your neighbor. A greedy church is a waist of time and space. Yes, it will cost your hard earned money. Yes, it will take your precious little time. Yes, at times you may feel almost used up. But let us not forget that Jesus gave everything He had, down to His last drop of blood and last gasp of air. Shouldn’t we be willing to do the same?

 

2. Diaperbetes

Let me ask you a question: What is your spiritual age? Do you understand the question? If you consider the day of your salvation as your spiritual birthday and Christ likeness to be spiritual maturity…then what is your spiritual age? Where do you stack up at this point in your spiritual walk?

Now let me ask a more pointed question: How old should you be? Therein lies a huge set back for the Church as a whole…for the most part our “soldiers in Christ” have stunted growth. Most folks stopped growing right about the newborn baby stage. Go read the book of Acts and you get the impression that the vast majority of the members then were spiritual giants. They knew the Lord and the power He offered. They used it in their everyday life and, as a result, their world was turned upside down. Now fast forward to the church of today…we have a hard time just getting Christians to show up for services on a regular basis. Today you can find a church on every street corner and, for the most part, they are completely insignificant in there communities. Why? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that our Pastors spend most of their time baby sitting immature Christians, instead of leading a march of warriors.

In I Corinthians 13:11, Paul writes… When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the childish ways behind me.

It’s very difficult to get the world to take the Church seriously when most of our members are still wearing diapers and drinking from the bottle. Perhaps its time for some of us to grow up in the spirit, get up off our blessed assurance and go to work for the Kingdom.

 

3. Receding Care-line

Here’s an unfortunate truth. Most Christians care too much about the wrong things. Oh we have passion, don’t misunderstand me, we do care. However, we care amiss. Most of our passion and care is centered on one thing…ourselves. The problem is, when we begin focusing our fervor on “number one”, it causes us to pull it off God, our brothers and sisters, and the lost.

You know what I’m talking about. How many of us can tell the story about the Christian family that walked away from the Church because their feelings got hurt over some completely irrelevant, blown out of proportion circumstances. You see, they turned their care away from God, away from Ministry, and placed on themselves. I’ve come to believe that if you wear your feelings on your sleeve, you set yourself up to become a Devil Sandwich. Satan has you just where he wants you…and he eats you for lunch.

Paul had a very interesting thing to say about the “Feelings Factor” for us saved folks.

…I have died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.         Galatians 2:20

Dead men tell no tales, and dead mean have no feelings. Besides that, did you see what he said…”Christ lives in me.” Keep in mind that this is the same Christ that, while enduring the act of crucifixion, asked the Father to forgive his torturers. It’s a good thing that Jesus was the one crucified and not the average Christian of today…they would have probably gotten their feelings hurt and went home.

In the letter that John the Beloved dictated, Jesus had very high praise for the church of Ephesus. All accept for one glaring, blaring, declaring statement...Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love (Rev 2:4). In all the good service that the Ephesian church was performing, they had lost their focus. It's so very easy for our vision to become entangled in busy work, good work, church work....and miss the best work. Misplaced care, even with the best of intensions, is contrary to God's plan. So whether our care is just receding in general, or if it's our affection for our first love that's receding, we stand in error before our King.

 

4. AIDS

First, a little clarification; I’m not talking about Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS as we know it). No, I’m referring to Acquired Integrity Deficiency Syndrome.

Ah, integrity…that’s a word you don’t hear much about these days. How bout we take it a step further; how often do you hear Preachers drilling on Christian integrity? Let’s get down to the brass tax on this one. The Bible calls us a “peculiar people”. In short, we are an oddity to the viewing world. On top of that, just look around you today. Take a strong look at how the good old USofA scrutinizes the followers of Christ. For the most part secular America is waiting, hoping that one of our finest will mess up…just once…so they can pounce on ‘em. We are under a microscope like never before. Moreover, like never before keeping our Christian integrity intact is crucial. Here’s the bottom line Christian man, Christian woman; you have one, I repeat, just one chance to get it right.

Sure, within the Church we forgive and allow our own to start over…or at least we are suppose to do it that way. However, if you blow your integrity in the eyes of the world, you will lose your chance to be effective…you will lose your chance to make a difference. Take for example some of the big time Christian leaders that have fallen in the eyes of the world, many in the world will never give them another chance. Forgiveness is impossible for the lost; it is only available through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, in many ways, the Church operates much like the world in this case. So often, we eat our own, instead of circling the wagon and doing as Paul instructed in Galatians 6:1 – Brothers and sisters, if a man be overtaken a fault, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness.

 Whether it comes from the world, or the carnal church, the sad truth is this when we lose our integrity and we lose our opportunity to be taken seriously, we lose our occasion to minister the Gospel.

Listen to Peter's warning to the Church… Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of the foolish men.

                                                                                                                            1 Peter 2: 12 and 15

 There are some things in life we can slip by with…but integrity deficiency will never be one of them!

5. Cancer of the Commitment

Use your imagination for a moment. What do you think Jesus felt when He told His disciples…”I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me”? What do you think Jesus face looked like when he caught eyes with Peter in the courtyard as the cock crowed? I wonder if you could have heard His heart break when all those He had healed, taught, and loved screamed for His crucifixion.

From the very beginning of time, God has battled one major, heart crushing struggle with His creation...unfulfilled commitment. From Adam to you and me the story remains the same; God gives all, man takes all, and then man turns his back on God. You want to know the number one disease in the church today…the broken promise of lost commitment. You can see it from the Pastors to the pew sitters. Teachers, elders, moms, dads, long time Christians, and brand new baby Christians…it’s like a broken record in the ears of the Father. In fact, you go back and look at the four previous subjects we have discussed thus far…you can really boil it all down to this very thing, lack of loyalty.

I know what you are thinking, because I feel the same way…“I love God, I really do, I don’t mean to hurt Him, I don’t want to break my promise, I don’t want to disappoint Him.” As a matter of fact, broken commitment is the very crux of all sin. Every time we sin against God, we turn our backs on Him, we walk away, and we betray Him.

Kinda brings you down pretty low doesn’t it. Kinda sticks you right where it hurts. Well, don’t beat yourself up to bad. Let me tell you why, God knows, and somehow He loves us enough to make up the difference…its called MERCY and GRACE. It flows from Mt. Calvary. It’s the reason He came, the reason He lived and died. You see…

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not parish but have ever lasting life.              John 3:16

Notice it does not say, “that whosoever does not break their commitment with Him shall not parish.” Jesus knows that we will struggle with that one from now till heaven, so He made up the difference for us and said…”all you have to do is believe, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

I love you Jesus, thank you so much; you’re the best, the absolute best.