Traditions!

 Colossians 2:16-23

Jan and I grew-up with the normal traditions, so when our daughter showed up we had to make some decisions about what we told her was in keeping with the traditions of the culture or were we going to establish our own customs?  We celebrated Christmas as the birthday of Jesus Christ on December 25, each year.  And because it was not our birthday, we kept the gifts on Jesus’ birthday to a minimum for each other.  Today, Jan and I do not exchange gifts on Christmas, and it’s our thing, not something anyone else may want to do.   But we do have a tradition of celebrating a birthday for the whole month of our birthday.

Now it seems strange that our policy of not telling our daughter there was a Santa Claus caused many to believe we were terrible parents.  But we did teach her there is a real person named Jesus who is God in the flesh, and that today He sits at the right hand of the Father.  We never told her there was a tooth fairy or an Easter bunny, but on Easter Sunday we celebrated that Christ ejected out of the grave in victory over death and the grave, and with all that baggage she is a mom of two boys, has a husband who loves her, and is a follower of Christ, a productive citizen today.

Now I shared that not to encourage you to do likewise, but to share this was the battle the church at Colossae was up against.  The Jewish members wanted to keep or even pressured the church to observe Jewish dietary laws and holy days.  So the Apostle Paul, gives them this directive, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.”

It was not only traditions but also false teachers that were coming into the church teaching about visions of angels and the end game was to take the Colossians away from Christ and in doing so disqualify them from keeping a focus on the cross and the risen Savior.

These are not my words but they are essential; “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!“  An unexamined life will fall prey to false teachers!  So do not put your trust in what a teacher or preacher tells you but go to the Scripture and make sure that what is being said agrees with the Bible.  For that reason, I do not believe anyone should use anyone’s Paraphrased Bible as his or her source of truth, and that includes the Message. 

The Spirit of God wiggling Paul’s lips had this to say; “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Different Channel

Colossians 2:8-15

If and maybe a big if, but if you have decided to follow Jesus, and by faith, you have agreed with the Lord that you're playing “Lord of the Ring” the captain of your ship is not working.   And by faith have invited Jesus to take over management of your life; you need an understanding of what Paul is saying.  Your worldly friends are not going to like the new you. They will be offended that you have become so narrow to believe that the choices we make have eternal ramifications.  They do not mind you going to church, even though they feel it is a waste of time, one could be fishing, golfing, or just sleeping.  But they do not have a moral authority; they do not understand why or how you got so messed up.

It sounds like your old friends listen to a different channel than you do, they have a worldview that on close examination is vastly different, and yet they may be morally good people and great neighbors, and even vote for the same kinds of individuals that you do. 

But the battle they want to change is the outward things, like taxes, and better schools, and as a follower of Christ, you are being changed in your spirit by the Spirit of God to look at life, the culture, and people from heaven’s view.  And the culture is controlled by the one Jesus refers to as the thief or the devil, and it wants to take each of us “captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

It is so important to understand this concept – “Birth always determines identity, ” and you have been born again into Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

Verse 15, He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” You and I need a better understanding of who disarmed these rulers and powers so that we grasp who’s the shadow government, not the one ran by George Soros, but they are under the devil's control.  If you turn to Ephesians 6:11-12, it is a clear statement of who the shadow government is that you and I battle every day. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 

Christ has defeated them, but until the time God has chosen, they still have the power to mess with you and I.  Let us end with Romans 8:37-39, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Finished Work of the Cross

 Colossians 2:4-15

As one who made their living in sales, I can a test to this fact, the toughest person to close a sale on was the boss who never allowed you to meet him and you had to deal with people under him who could say no, but not yes.  If we examine whom the Apostle Paul is addressing in this letter, it is a church that has never seen his face.  And what is the central theme he is putting forth, it is that all the mysteries and all the knowledge of God are hidden in Christ, and Christ is living in you?  That is unless you have not by faith put your total trust in Christ’s finished work on the cross.

How does something like going from believing that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah to acknowledging you have needs that only He can meet in a personal relationship with the living Christ?   It is a simple truth, and yet so hard, the answer is found in Galatians 2:20. “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Crucifixion brings about death, not to the flesh but to that old man who has always gotten his needs met outside of Christ.  And both the flesh and the enemy of your soul will do all in their power to keep one from asking Jesus to take over management of your soul.

The Apostle Paul is addressing people who have done so in Colossians 2:6-10, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.  See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

What an amazing teaching of what has happened to me, and I pray to you also, we entered into Christ by God’s grace, and by the faith He has extended to us.  And I’m fearful that many of us are wrongly taught, we did not learn from the

Scriptures simple truth, as in this world you will have troubles, but Jesus said I’ve overcome the world.  Our hope is found in Christ, it’s located in the new life Christ has promised now, not just in heaven.  Do you recall this saying of Jesus found in John 10:10b?  “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  Why is it so many have made the word abundance apply to worldly wealth, and not to peace and joy, while in the middle of living life in a trouble world?   Let me end today's “Back Porch” with the answer to that question.  The flesh wants to buy into that wealth brings both peace and joy, but all one has to do is look at those who have worldly wealth to see that it is a lie from the one Jesus refers to as the thief or the devil.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The mystery, of Christ living in you?

 Colossians 2:1-3

Do you enjoy a good mystery?  I’ve never understood why someone would want to read the last chapter of a mystery book so they would know how it’s going to come out before reading the book.  It is like my Texas Aggie friends watching a replay and expecting the score to change.  Now you know the devil made me write that.  Ok, so I had a choice and just wanted to be funny, I hope you Aggies forgive me. 

Did you know the Bible has many mysteries and the Apostle Paul is addressing the most important one?  You and I who are Gentiles, that means we are not Jewish by birth, have a problem.  Bill Gilliam would often teach this truth – “Birth always determines identity.  All you have to do to go to hell is show up on the planet as a descendant of Adam.”  It is important to make clear that both Jew and Gentiles have this problem, for Adam was the source or beginning of mankind, he is the great many times over, granddad of all who have lived on planet earth. 

Now a man showed up on planet earth named Abram, later to have his name changed to Abraham, and he found favor with both God and man, and he had a son named Isaac who also had a son named, Jacob.  This was the covenant God made with Abram.  “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great so that you will exemplify divine blessing.  I will bless those who bless those who bless you but the one who treats you lightly I must curse.” (Genesis 12:2-3)  The most important legacy was that by the Abrahamic Covenant; the God of Abraham became Isaac’s God as well and also Jacob’s.  But Jacob had a wrestling match one night with the angel of the Lord, and that brought about a new name for him, he would be referred to as Israel, and his descendants would become the chosen people of God, enjoying the blessing of the covenant made with Abraham. 

So how does this tie into the mystery of Christ living in you?  What a fantastic question, let’s explore in the book of Romans by the apostle Paul, we read about the Gentiles being grafted in.  You will find that in Romans 11:10-12, “Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent continually.  I ask, then, have they stumbled in order to fall? Absolutely not! On the contrary, by their stumbling, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous. Now if their stumbling brings riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full number bring!”

You will find this truth in Galatians 3:28-29, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”  WOW, did you get that we Gentiles who are in Christ are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise?  Now there is a problem you may not feel like an heir.  1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”  Nowhere did it say you would feel like a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, but feelings are not the measuring tape, God’s Word is. 

So the answer to the mystery is found in Galatians 1:27, “To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Where does God reside?

 Colossians 1:27-29

“To them, God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

If you are not mentally dull or intellectually lazy, you can explore this question, where does God reside?  Many will be quick to answer in Heaven, and we have Scripture to support that answer, in 1 Kings 8:49 and in Matthew 6:9, but is that the whole truth?  If we return to 1 Kings 8:27, we have a God that cannot be put into a heaven box.  “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!”

The Apostle Paul gives us some exciting news in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?”  As followers of Christ, we are called the Church, it was never a building, but where two or three believers in Christ come together for study and worship.  Now that is personal and has to do with relationship, God’s Spirit living in you.  The Church is being built together as a dwelling place for God by the Spirit, and that is found in Ephesians 2:22.

Now it gets real exciting as we explore what took place when by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, we have entered into a relationship with God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  The Apostle Paul gives this insight in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  Scripture refers to the believer being "in Christ" (1 Peter 5:14; Philippians 1:1; Romans 8:1).  Colossians 3:3, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."  My friend, Bill Gillham would state this is a Key Concept – It is from the perspective of who you are “in Christ” that you understand your true identity and realize that Christ is your life.”

It is also paramount that you figure out what took place when you entered into Christ and He entered into you.  Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Nowhere does the Bible state you will never sin again, it does not claim life will be a bowl of cherries, in fact, it says that you will sin, and you will have troubles, but Jesus tells us He has overcome, and He is all we need.  If you depend on how you feel you will live as a defeated Christian, but if you look to Jesus and obey His teaching you will be living above your circumstances.

I’ve found it wise to often do as 2 Corinthians 13:5 admonishes me to do, and it also applies to all who are followers of Christ.  “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

I just trust Him!

 Colossians 1:24-29

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church. I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.”

These eight words are foreign to the Church of today, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you.”  Those words were also rare in the time of Paul, and they are uncommon in our age.  If you had met Marty Lindley who for over ten years fought cancer and when ask if she ever got upset that God had allowed this in her life replied; “Why not me?”  Marty loved Jesus, she served others even when she was too sick to do so, and she was full of life, a great Bible teacher and a beautiful wife to Jeff.  This quote from Marty has significant meaning to me; “Some moments, the only thing I know to do is trust Jesus, and that is enough.  I just trust Him.”  Marty would often say Marty means party, and she is having a ball sitting at the feet of her Savior.  Do you have a Marty in your life if so encourage them, but do as Jan and I did, learn from them for they are very exceptional?

When Paul states the rest of verse 24, “and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church.”   Paul is not saying something is lacking in Christ’s atoning work, for it is evident in verse 20 that it is a done deal, or as stated on the cross, it is finished.  Paul’s suffering is bringing about the growth of the Church.

Often we followers of Christ let our actions and even our words project a wrong view of our Lord.  What is so dangerous is a distorted view of the Church, where a Gandhi would say: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”  If Gandhi had met the many Marty’s he would not have been able to make that statement, or if he had studied the Scripture and become a follower of Christ as recorded of the twelve apostles. 

Verses 25-27, “I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  God’s plan and the secrets are found in Ephesians 1:7-10.  “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

I ask my pastor this question, and it is a question I wrestle with.  I want others to think more highly of me than both God, and I know to be true.  And I ask this question, is that common to man and if so how does one overcome?  His reply: “Yes it is common.  It is our pride.  Not sure we overcome it completely in this life.”  Galatians 2:20 came into my mind, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Could the real problem be my flesh does not want to submit to the Spirit, and I must put no confidence in myself, but look to Jesus?  If you wrestle with this and have a better answer let me know, but for now I’m going with Marty’s quote; “Some moments, the only thing I know to do is trust Jesus, and that is enough.  I just trust Him.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

But let me confess

 Colossians 1:21-23

“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”

Are you a member of the family of God, have you entered by grace through the faith given to you by the Father to enter into a relationship with the One who holds all things together?  Or are you what God refers to as the fool, one who puts trust in self, or religion, but not in the Christ who paid your debt in full.

My story is for 27 years I was a fool, a Baptist who knew enough to fear God’s wrath but too full of self to give him my life, to trust Him with what we call the future.  But that all changed one night in Victoria, Texas, in what was then the Christopher Inn.  A motel room, a Gideon Bible, the Holy Spirit and me, and I opened the Bible to Romans, chapter 10.  Now I did not know what Romans 10 had to say, but was just very aware that I was living the life of a poser, and I was tired of acting like someone I wasn’t.

Romans 10:1-4 nailed me, and I quote: “Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”  That was true, I wanted God on my terms, but that night it became clear God was not going to negotiate, He was not going to compromise, Jesus Christ had died on the cross and paid my debt in full with His blood.  And as I read in verses 9 and10, it made clear what I must do to enter into the family of God.  Romans 9-10, “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.“ 

That night I was changed, the Scripture refers to it as “born again” and the world loves to make fun of anyone who makes that claim.  Now not only did my eternal destination change, but also I was a new creation in Christ, the old Bob had died, and Christ was now living in me and I in Him.  I was not sinless, but I was no longer under the control of sin, each moment of each day I would choose to live dependent on God or to decide to live independent, and the Bible calls that sin.

Now If I live by how I feel and not by the authority of Scripture I’m going to feel like I’m a total phony for my flesh has learned how to get its needs met outside of Christ, and those habits take time to submit to setting your mind on what Christ has stated.  But let me confess Jesus Christ has done everything that is needed;  “to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Glue That Holds the World Together!

 Colossians 1:15-20

Do you have trouble telling someone about the most exciting person you have ever met?  In my business life I was blessed to meet some influential people, and in my church life I’ve met some of the most amazing folks, but none hold a light to Jesus.  Yesterday, I shared about coming out of the light into darkness and how after a short period the darkness got lighter and how that compares to a follower of Christ trying to make it on their own in this world.

But what we did not talk about is our personal journey, my living in the domain of darkness for 27 years of life.  How one learns to get their needs met outside of Christ and how those learned patterns did not stop when entering into Christ by grace and faith that the Father has given us.  The Scripture is very clear we will have a battle and it's ongoing between the flesh and the Spirit.  Now let me be very clear, the old man got crucified, he is dead, and you have the Holy Spirit living in you, but those learned patterns or habits of getting your needs met outside of Christ always stick up their ugly heads.

So you and I must come to an understanding of who Jesus is.  He is more than a carpenter, He is greater than Moses, He is mightier than King David, and He is wiser than Solomon, so why are you not telling others about Him?   Could it be your tuned into the wrong Channel?  I like to think of the enemy of my soul as Channel One, and that voice sounds much like mine, and it tells me things like I deserve, or that I’m a loser.  Now Channel Two is a quiet voice, it is the Holy Spirit living in me, and he never attacks my character, but he does confront me with truth, he does give me insight into the ways of God and His Son.

So let’s once more examine who it is that has transferred us to the kingdom of the beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  You will find it in Colossians 1:15-20, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him, all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

Jesus Christ is The Glue That Holds the World Together!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Power over Darkness

 Colossians 1:13-14

“He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him.”

My first Mentor Jack Archer asked me to go with him to a mission project he was funding in Mexico.  Jack was in the oil business and had come to have a relationship with Jesus Christ in his forties, and wanted to share that relationship with everyone.  That trip was an eye-opener for me, and I saw people living in cardboard shacks and walking for miles to sit under a tin roof in chairs I was not sure would hold anyone.  There were no walls, no doors, no windows just a roof and yet the people listened to a sermon from pastor Joe and sang songs of praise to Jesus who had changed their hearts. 

As we left that service and headed back to a border town to have lunch, I was once more aware of the condition these followers of Christ were living in and wondered how they could be so content?  We parked the car at a very nice eating-place and walked out of the bright sunlight into a very dark room.  As we followed Pastor Joe going very slow to the back of the room, I had not seen anyone in the place.  The longer we sat there I began to see the rooms were full of people and that was why we had gone past so many tables to find one to sit at.

Pastor Joe turned to me and asked a question I’ve never forgotten; Bob, when we came into the darkness out of the bright light of the sun, we did not see all these people did we?  And my answer was, I did not see anyone.  Pastor Joe said, that is how sin works when we first encounter it the darkness is overwhelming but the longer we stay around sin the lighter it becomes.  What a lesson about our culture, we are not shocked by the unwed mothers of today, we are not shocked by couples living together, and we are not shocked by the killing of a baby before it can be born.  We are not shocked by the lies of our politicians and business leaders, we have come a long way; it began in darkness but it is not dark to us now, but let’s not forget, that God has not changed and He still calls it sin.

All who have entered into Christ and He has entered into them have been set free from the darkness of sin as stated in Colossians 1:13-14, “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him.”  Yes, it becomes a choice each moment of life to choose to return to the domain of darkness or stay in the light of the Son, where one will find love, redemption, and forgiveness.

The Holy Spirit using the lips of the Apostle Peter gave us this insight: “By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:4-11)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Tyranny of the Urgent

 Colossians 1:9-14

“

For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience, with joy giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the saints’ inheritance in the light. He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves. We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in Him.”

I had to “pause” and pray for so many of you who are faithful servants of our Lord Jesus.  How I wish the pause button would kick in often, but I’m often driven by the Tyranny of the Urgent.  Charles E. Hummel wrote a little book on this subject back in 1994, and it is worth your read.  Let me share a small introduction to “Tyranny of the Urgent.” “Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day? Surely this extra time would relieve the tremendous pressure under which we live. Our lives leave a trail of unfinished tasks. Unanswered letters, unvisited friends, unread books haunt quiet moments when we stop to evaluate what we have accomplished. We desperately need relief.

But would that longer day solve our problem? Wouldn't we soon be just as frustrated as we are now with our twenty-four-hour allotment? We could hardly escape Parkinson's Principle: Work expands to fill all the available time.

Nor will the passage of time necessarily help us catch up. Children grow in number and age to require more of our time. Greater experience in profession and church brings more demanding assignments. We find ourselves working more and enjoying it less.”  If you keep reading Mr. Hummel has a way to escape the tyranny of the urgent, and it is clear that 99% of us need some help.

Have you given thought to Jesus’ mission?  He had a timeline of only three years to do all that the Father had sent Him to do, and in that He was fully man and fully God His manhood was like ours but without the big problem of sin.  Have no doubt that Jesus experienced the tyranny of the urgent, and it is of interest to look at how He dealt with it.  Once more taken from (Tyranny of the Urgent), “On the night before he died, Jesus made an astonishing claim. In his great prayer of John 17, he said to his Father, "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do" (v.4).”

And as you have paused to read this paper, let this message from Charles Hummel find a resting place in your spirit.  “What was the secret of Jesus' ministry? We discover a clue in Mark's report of what happened after the very busy day of teaching and healing which we first noted. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed" (Mk 1:35). He prayerfully waited for his Father's instructions. Jesus had no divinely drawn blueprint or schedule; he discerned the Father's will day by day in a life of prayer. Because of this, he was able to resist the urgent demands of others and do what was really important for his mission.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Who do you what Praying for you?

 Colossians 1:3-8

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.”

What an amazing prayer and the thought came into my mind, how great it would be to have the Apostle Paul praying for you!  It seems almost simultaneously another thought filled my mind and I call that Channel Two or the Holy Spirit of God.  And it said but someone greater than the Apostle Paul is praying for you before the Father, and it's found in Hebrews 7:24-26, “But because He remains forever, He holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore, He is always able to save those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.  For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.”

Yes, the Scriptures make it clear who is praying for the saints in Romans 8:33-35, “Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

My pastor, Ray Still, has been doing a series on “Just Do Something” and now we are in a series called  “Pause” and I was all into doing something.  I’m a do it right the first time, no naps and have very little time to pause kind of person.  I like to work, always have a project and believe the old saying that an idol mind is the devil's workshop. 

So as we explore the apostle Paul’s prayer what areas seem like you may need to pause, reflect, and ask for help from the one Jesus sent as our Helper.  The prayer begins with “Always thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for our friends, and that’s natural for we have some wonderful friends, but do we always do it?  Do you pause to think seriously about “because of the hope laid up for you in heaven?”

Now I’m a hard charger, but many of you would drag me across the yard trying to stay up with you.  In our study it was stated, “Being busy is no longer a problem, it’s a badge of honor.”  But when our business removes us from our family, our time with the Lord and ministry to others, we need to pause and reconnect! 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The character of a person

Colossians 1:1-2

Often you see the character of a person by their words, take the Frenchman Blaise Pascal a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Christian philosopher. He was a child prodigy educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen.  Blaise has some amazing quotes let me share a few; “All of the humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.”  And this is so relevant for today, “People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.” And this also is applicable for our time; “Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.”  Pascal’s life was full of suffering and trials and very short by our standards today, he lived 39 years, but his quotes, and short life has impacted many.

What about the Apostle Paul’s words; “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God?”  What do we know about the Apostle Paul, he was a Benjamite born in Tarsus, a Roman citizen, tent maker, who studied under the great Gamaliel, and was a Pharisee?  He had a zeal for God and the traditions of the Jewish people, and the Law’s handed down from Moses, and that lead him to be the chief persecutor of the followers of Christ.  He had an encounter with the risen Christ on his way to Damascus and was blinded, and the Lord sent a man named Ananias to pray for him that his sight would be restored.  His conversion took place when he saw the risen Messiah and I’ve read that Saul is a very Jewish name, and in Roman, it would mean Paul, so in that his mission was to Gentiles he went by the name Paul.  The Saul that became the Apostle Paul was a new person in Christ, and this is his testimony: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

What about Jesus, often referred to as “Jesus of Nazareth,"  "the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon.”  But He is also called “the carpenter son, ” and we find His disciples referring to Him in this way: Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”   What about the calling of Nathanael found in the Gospel of John 1:47-49, “Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”  He was more than a son of a carpenter, He was the promised Messiah, and at His birth, the angels had announced to the shepherds in watch of their sheep that night this message.  “And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12) John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove land on Him and stay, and we have not only His words but also His life to support these truths.

Jesus gave us many quotes, that only a mad man or God would proclaim!  If you have believed Jesus was a great Teacher, a good person, but not God that route is not open to anyone, which examines these quotes: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  (John 10:10b)  “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)  “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10: 28-30)  Yes, a crazy man might make such claims, but a crazy person could not have done what Jesus did, and we have so many witnesses and historical accounts of His life on planet earth, a life of fullness in a short 33 years.  For He fulfilled all that the prophets proclaimed of the Son of God.  And He is coming back, soon, very soon.

And you have been given a free will to choose; it is your choice to do as I did, examine the evidence, and ask a question, is He a mad man or God?  After my examination I bow my knee and like Nathanael I proclaimed; “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”   

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Colossians Introduction

 Colossians Introduction

Most of us have read about prison, and some may even know someone who is or has been in jail, this letter of Paul to the Colossians was written from a Roman prison.  It seems the apostle Paul was placed in prison to silence the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ; prison doors cannot stop the Gospel!  Not only did he send letters to the Colossians, but also to the Ephesians, the Philippians, and Philemon, and these are referred to as “prison epistles.”

When I think of prison, my mind always goes to Viktor E. Frankl who was in one of the cruelest of prisons, a Nazi concentration camp.  Quote from Frankl; “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. “  “When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves.”

There are other names that come to mind, Mahatma Gandhi; “You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.”  And one must not forget the apostle Peter and the disciples being arrested and brought before the high priest and his family.  And this was the question ask of them; “By what power or by what name did you do this?” (Acts 4:7b)  And I’m sure Peter wanted clarification on the charge against them, and so he ask; “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.”   

And you recall the council was confused about these uneducated, ordinary men, and they remembered they had been with Jesus.  The council ordered them to not speak any longer in the name of Jesus Christ.  This is Peter and John’s reply; “But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

 I’ve no understanding of your backbone, your moral or spiritual stances, but this I know, we the Church of the living God should be asking for what Peter, John, and Paul had.  If we did, then the way we live would change, and a Gandhi would not have said such things as: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

This was the sin of Israel

 Jeremiah 52:1-34

As one reads chapter 52, it's a recap of what happened to Israel, the temple, and Jerusalem.  The why is documented, the people were worshipping a temple of tradition, of wealth, and power and not the God who had chosen them above all the people of the earth.  King Zedekiah did what was evil in the sight of God, and it came to a place where the LORD could not overlook their sin.

I’m always amazed how many go to Bible studies and sit under great teachers, but seem to have so little application in life from the study.  I am totally shocked by how I act when things don’t go how I want them to.  This past week I was cooking steaks for my family and ask that they let me know when they were close to home so I could time the meal.  My wife was with our daughter and son-in-law and our grandson Zach on a little road trip, and we had established a time for them to be home.  I am getting the fire in my egg ready to put the steaks on, and I place a phone call to one of them to see about their location, then the next call and the next call, but no reply.  I’m not happy about getting no response, and they show up about ten minutes later, and I’ve gone from concern to mad.  Why, because I was looking inward, my expectations were not met and yet it was a setup from the one who Jesus calls the thief.  Later that evening, I had to agree that my anger was not Christ-like, and I said nothing, but inside of me a war was raging, and I had to understand the enemy had set me up.

Anytime tradition, buildings, or people are the focus of worship and not the risen Christ we have moved to idols.  This was the sin of Israel, and it is easy to put others, family, preachers, teachers and especially children in the place where only God should be in our life.  And for many, it may be the replacing of the Holy Spirit with the Holy Bible, and that can be very dangerous.  The Bible is a living book that's taught by the one Jesus told us had been sent to guide us into all truth, the Holy Spirit. 

That is why we must study the Scriptures, for in them we learn that our flesh wars with the Spirit that is living in us, that is unless there is no battle and the flesh is in total control.  Romans 8:9-11, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”  Now do not buy into this, a civil war is going on inside of you, the old man got crucified, and you are a new Creation in Christ Jesus.  But the flesh has long ago learned to get its needs met outside of Christ and must be taught to submit to the Spirit.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice