Bill’s Front Porch

I have decided that worship is too much for me to figure out.  We had a seemingly weak day of worship last Sunday and I have been wondering…is it my leadership when that happens?  Did I “miss” something?  Was I not in tune to God?  Or is it a time when the entire church was just tired or out of touch spiritually?  Can an entire church be out of touch at the same time?

Then I think, I am trying to “grade” our worship and can I really do that?  Who knows what God is doing in hearts and lives?  I just don’t want to be the “weak link” in our worship.  That scares me…a lot!  But then again, how much of worship really depends on me anyway?  The Holy Spirit is certainly powerful enough to overcome my struggles and weaknesses.

There are a lot of question marks in the previous two paragraphs.  Worship is just too much for me to figure out.  So do I just “go with the flow?”  Another question!

Bill

I know that I am not a great theological thinker and I’m not sure what I believe on this now.  In his book RADICAL, David Platt seems to be saying contrary things in the 7th chapter.  I’m sure that it is because I am not a very deep thinker, but it seems to say that people who have not heard the gospel of Jesus will be ultimately condemned to hell.  Then he says, on page 149 that the key is that people are not condemned for not believing in Jesus, but for rejecting God.

Okay, here is my struggle.  In Romans 1:18-23, God says that He has revealed Himself through nature so that man is without excuse (so far, total agreement), but later says that, basically, man worshiped the creation rather than the Creator.  So, my question is, “If a man, never hearing the Gospel of Christ, sees God revealed in nature and worships the Creator, not the creation (sun, moon, stars, etc.) is he not saved because he is not rejecting God and is believing the total revelation that he has from God?”

I don’t think that there are any more people on the porch anymore…so I guess I’m not expecting an answer, but I was just wondering.  I guess more Bible study is ahead!

Bill

PS - one more thing…not sure if it pertains to this or not.  Jesus said in John 15:22 that if He had not spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but since He spoke to them, they are.  Does this fit in with this some how???  Just sayin’…

I heard a wonderful quote from Aristotle today (well, not from him personally, just from something he wrote!).  He said, “You are what you do repeatedly.  Excellence is not an act, it is a habit.”  How great is that!?  And how scary is that?!  I wonder how much I do repeatedly that is not excellent, or praiseworthy, or noble, or … (Phil. 4:8).  Then I thought, is it what I do that makes me who I am, or who I am that makes me do what I do??  Jesus said that what comes out of a person’s life reveals what is in his heart, so I guess it is the later.  So my next question is, “Can you change who you are inside by repeatedly doing excellent things outside?”  Am I trying to put too much Biblical truth into a secular philosopher?  Probably so.  Just thinking out loud.  Porches are good for that.

Sitting on the porch, all alone, I am thinking that this is a good thing.  I feel like I don’t think anymore, I just occupy my mind with stuff.  Not bad stuff, just stuff.  I don’t think that Satan likes it when we think.  Does that make sense?  I am wondering if he just likes us to keep our minds in neutral and not meditate on God’s word, or think about God, or our place in His great plan.  The world is too fast, or I’m too slow.  Either way, I feel like everything is going by me a million miles an hour so I just hold on and try to keep up.  Don’t think, just do.  I really wonder if this is making much sense, but it’s ok, because it’s just me.  No one else.  Thanks, Lord for the opportunity to just sit for a second.  Show me who You are.  Show me your word.  Show me my place in all of this.  I’m tired of being on a treadmill.

Doug said something last Sunday that I can’t seem to get out of my mind (Usually that is God dealing with me, but sometimes it is just me hyper-focusing.  I think that this is the former.).  He read a quote from someone else that talked about how we realize how much we need Christ, how destitute we are, spiritually and start on that narrow road.  Then, as we mature, we get rid of the more obvious sins.  After a while, we start to feel that we are paying our own way spiritually, so to speak.  He talked about that fact that we need to continuously keep in mind that we are beggars, spiritually.  We have nothing, we are nothing, and we bring nothing to the table.  It doesn’t matter how long we have been a believer, how much we do, or even how many we have helped find the bread of life, we still bring nothing to the table.

We, as humans, don’t like the idea that we are spiritually and morally bankrupt.  I think that is why many don’t come to Christ.  They don’t want to admit that.  But I think that we tend to do behave the same way after we have come to a saving knowledge of Christ.  It makes us feel better if we start “paying our own way.”  I think that this is very dangerous ground to walk on.  We lose power because we are doing things on our own.  Sounds like a perfect strategy for Satan, doesn’t it?  What a great way to nullify the individual’s power or the church’s power.  God, I want to get back to my spiritual pauper attitude.  THEN, we can do all things THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens us.

Bill

I was looking at all of the garbage that people are trying to throw on the porch (thanks, Dolan for putting up the fence!).  I didn’t dare read any of them, the titles were enough.  There were advertisements for second mortgages to have more money, and a lot of stuff that I won’t even talk about.  But looking at the titles (just the few that I could stomach) made me think about how we are drawing the worst from the opposite sex instead of taking the best.  Here is what I mean…

As men, instead of learning gentleness from women, we go overboard and end up losing ourselves totally.  We are told we need to cry all the time, we shouldn’t be decisive, we need to be led by others.  That, to me as I read the Bible, is NOT what men should be.  We also are now being told that we should be concerned about certain aspects of ourselves physically, as if that is important.  I have constantly taught my daughters to be content with the way that God made them, now we need to help our sons with stupid physical characteristics.  I could go on, but I don’t want this to be too long.

OK, women.  Women are now being told that they need to be driven, assertive, and ruthless, just like the male morons that they work with . . . sorry about the moron thing!  Anyway.  Women are told to be sexually aggressive and that visual stimulus is important, just like men.  Again, I could go on, but you get what I am trying to say.

My plea to all of us is to stand firm!!  God has given plenty of examples of Godly men in the Bible.  They may not match up to the world, but thank the Lord for that!  There are also plenty of Godly women as well.  Let’s not take our mentors from the world.  Find God’s definition of a Godly man or woman and then follow that.  If you still need help, find one in your church to watch and emulate.  Men, let’s be the spiritual leaders in our homes and present your wives spotless and blameless before God.  Women, be submissive (bad word??) and remember that the backbone may give and move, but it still supports that entire body!!  God gave us certain roles in the family, let’s fulfill them and be satisfied with that!

And to all of the single families, God bless you and there is a special crown for you in heaven!

I’m done preaching.

I am just needing to share a little about the season. Karon and I were praying this morning and I was thanking God for different things and a feeling came over me that I was being just a “surface thanker.” By that I mean that there was no depth to my thankfulness. Like some relationships are just surface. You ask how they are doing, talk about football, weather, whatever, but there is no heart sharing. Well that is me with my thanksgiving sometimes. I think about the scripture about loving those who love you and you really aren’t doing anything because even the unbelievers do that. Well, it came to me that thanking God for what anyone in the world would be thankful for (food, clothing, shelter, family, church, friends, etc.) is not going deep enough. Then the words in Acts 5:40-41 came to mind. The apostles were arrested and called before the Sanhedrin and were questioned by them. After being questioned, they were sent out so they could discuss their punishment. Here is what happened:

“. . . They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.” (Here is where it gets really deep!) “The apostles left the Sanhedrin REJOICING BECAUSE THEY HAD BEEN COUNTED WORTHY OF SUFFERING DISGRACE FOR THE NAME.”

THAT is where the deep part, the “loving your enemies” part comes in. So this Thanksgiving I am looking back over my life and trying to thank God for the small times that I have been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. That is a start, but just a start. Because I am on the other side of those things and have survived them. The real test will be when I am going through the next time. Will I rejoice and thank God that I am being counted worthy to suffer? We’ll see . . .

OK, I know that I am sounding older and older, but there truly are things that I learn experientially the older I get. I mean, in my younger years, you knew things were true, but I knew them through head knowledge, but as I got older, I am experiencing their truth in my life. That is really a great thing about getting older.

What I am specifically talking about is the proverb, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” This proverb has been on my mind lately for different reasons, but it hit home for me again Tuesday morning.  We were having staff clean-up day (when we just get rid of the junk that has accumulated since the last day, there is a spiritual lesson in that, but not today.) and Alice brought in donuts for breakfast.  I ate one (confession is good for the soul, if not for the weight!) and Doug was kidding and said, “Is that going to show up on your blog?”  Well, here it is, but not because of the donut so much as because of the way iron sharpen iron.  Doug was kidding, but it made me think (and possibly kept me from eating another one).  As I was working, I thought more and more about the way we do sharpen, or dull, each other. I am thankful for those who have sharpened me over the years.  Dolan, you have been a blessing to me and have really helped keep me a little sharper!  My brother-in-law has sharpened me many times.  Tim, you and I have not always agreed on everything, but the conversations have helped sharpen me.  Doug and Trevor help sharpen me daily.  I believe that there is something special about the male to male sharpening relationship, but I have been sharpened by women as well, Cami seems to send me an email, or just says something that will grind that point a little finer in me.  Of course the one who keeps me the sharpest here on earth is Karon (no I am not saying that she is a grinding person!).    There is nothing that can take the place of that marriage relationship.  There are many more people that God has/is using in my life, but there is not enough space for all to be mentioned, just know you are a blessing to me and God knows how I thank Him for you.
I am thankful for the people that have, and continue to, sharpen me.  I want to be a sharpener to others as well.  We, especially as men, can really serve to sharpen or dull each other.  Let’s be careful.

Elizabeth sent me this link and everyone needs to see it!
Bill

OK, I am sitting at work (early, I might add) a little frustrated because my exercise time has been interrupted again!  This is really amazing to me!  It seems like every time that I start this thing (for several years) all of a sudden things start happening at the same time.  For instance, I am getting phone calls at 7:00 in the morning!!! Who calls at 7:00 in the morning!  Rebekah is sick at home, she is 15, not feeling well, has the opportunity to sleep in the upstairs room with no one to bother her, it is 7:15.  What would you do??  She chooses to come down to see what I am doing!  OK, good time for one on one time, but still…

I was thinking about this in the shower, “Why is the devil so interested in my health??  Why doesn’t he hit the bigger sins more than this??”  (I know, not theologically correct, but you know we all think of big and little sins).  Anyway, I got to thinking that maybe these less noticeable sins are like a hedge around the bigger ones.  It seems like I am always working on the little sins to get them out of the way before I hit the big ones!  Maybe my health and lack of exercise (more acceptable sins) are a Satan created barrier to protect the more destructive things in my life.

I would love your thoughts on this.  Not sure if this is on target or “missing the mark.”

Bill

Man, I have missed this porch!  Got to be careful, though.  Doug, our beloved pastor and my boss is on the porch too!  I’m getting back to work now!!!