God used Curiosity

Luke 4:42-44

As one who is a follower, and that term is conclusive of myself, for from a child I’ve been following someone or something.  At first, it was mother, then my brother and sister, and as I grew it became the kids at the big park down the street, and about Jr. high it was Tyrone.  In high school it was whoever was popular and as you can see I was an easy target for a world system that has plans to get it needs met outside of God’s authority.  For many years I tried to be religious enough to fit in with those whom I went to church with, and yet, not to allow myself to be molded by its teaching, in James letter to Jewish Christians in chapter 1 verse 8, he nails people like me.  These are his words; “Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

But the good news is that people like me can also be influenced by people of faith, and one day a man who I looked up to ask me to go to a Bible study, now make no mistake I was not open to a Bible study, but was very curious as to why my barber would go to one.  And that was the first time someone had ask me to go or be part of something that I associated with going to church, so I went out of curiosity.  It was at a Holiday Inn that served a buffet lunch and of all the men attending only one was a preacher.  Now this was very interesting, I was not asked to sign up, they did not take a roll, and I was not invited to the preacher’s church, they did not even take an offering.   It was my very first experience with men who were all messed up, but had began to follow Jesus and were seeking in the Bible ways to do that.  It was almost six months before I came to this understanding, these men with clay feet had a relationship with the Christ I was only informed about; they were followers of Jesus and I was a follower of the world system, I was unstable in all my ways.  The good news is one night in Victoria, Texas, I opened a hotel Bible and read Romans 10:9, and by the faith God gave me and the grace He extended to me, I became a follower of Christ.

We read yesterday about Jesus going to Capernaum and teaching in the synagogue and healing the man with the demon and then He went to dinner with Simon and healed his mother-in-law and how the crowd showed up with the sick at Simon’s door and Jesus healed them.  It is now the next morning, and as it became daylight Jesus departs to a desolate place, this will become something Jesus will do often, finding time to be alone with His Father.  And the people found him and they were not willing to let Him go. 

I’ve been a member of that group of people, we would refer to them as a church, they had found the Messiah, or maybe just the doctor who could keep them well.  They were not interested in their neighbors, much less the world, they were far from being a kingdom minded people.  So Jesus had this to say to them and to us; “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

Jan and I are part of a kingdom minded church at Oakwood in New Braunfels, Texas, it has a slogan it lives by, intentionally engaging others with the love of Jesus Christ in the New Braunfels area and all over the world.  We are encouraged to go outside of the neighborhoods, our businesses, with our families and as a body of followers of Christ, we use the talents and resources God has entrusted to us for engaging others with the love that Jesus has shown to each of us. 

For years I was a member of local churches that did not grasp the kingdom was much bigger than that local body, they were good people, loved Jesus, but the world system had a heavy influence on how they functioned.  Sometimes they seem to be competing with others of like mind that followed Jesus.

Pastor Larry York of Crossroads in the Woodlands was used of God to show Jan and I what a kingdom minded church looks like and the joy of giving as a body of believers to the world outside the doors of the church.  My prayer is that you will intentionally engage others with the love of Jesus Christ.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Whoose Interest are you looking out for?

Luke 4:38-41

If you had been an early follower of Jesus, a person we often refer to as a disciple, you might have gotten a little tired of the crowds who flocked to Him.  Now I have no doubt they were excited when people came to Him to get their needs met, but you also wanted some down time, one on one with the One you had chosen to follow. 

Today Simon ask Jesus to have lunch after synagogue and yet at his own home there is someone in need of help from the Master, it is Simon’s mother-in-law who is suffering from a high fever.  Most of us have experienced a high fever, it shuts you down, you ache and hurt all over and the last thing you want is dinner guest.  So Jesus did what you and I would do, He asked if they had seen a doctor and did they have any Bayer aspirin; wrong He went to her and while standing over her rebuked the fever and doctor Luke shares with us that she got up immediately and began to serve them.

I have no doubt Simon’s mother-in-law is without fever, she is doing what she loves serving and having such an important house guest, she may be wondering what will all my friends and neighbors be thinking?  And Simon, come on you have been in Simon’s shoes, your alone with the one everyone wants a piece of, it is quiet and now you are looking forward to a long evening, just talking.

But that is not going to happen, you look out the window the sun is setting and it seems the whole town has come to your door.  So much for a quiet evening, enjoying a cup of tea with Jesus, for the crowd was not coming to hear Jesus teach they were coming to bring anyone they could find who had a sickness. 

We church folks seem to always want consistency, and I bet Simon was thinking, this should only take a few minutes Jesus will do as He did to my mother-in-law and stand over them and rebuke whatever needs rebuking and we’re back to our tea.  (Now if you are Baptist, do not read this: it was probably wine.)  But that is not how it went down, Jesus laid His hands on each one of them, I’m sure Simon is thinking, this is not what I had planned for the evening, why not the mother-in-law approach?

Some who were brought to Jesus with sickness, the sickness was not of this nature but of the enemy, it was demons coming out of them.  And once more this writer wonders where have all the demons gone?  Did these people at Simon’s door know they were bringing people with demons to Jesus, or had they invented some title for what God calls a demon?

This we know, the demons knew Jesus and as they were coming out, many were shouting and saying, “You are the Son of God!”  But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Messiah.” (Luke 4:41)  As a Simon, it is easy to look forward to our wants and desires and be totally out of the will of God.  Scripture does not give us insight into Simon’s mind, but it does give you insight into this writer’s thinker and maybe just maybe into your own, are you looking for what is best for others, or for your selfish desires?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Is the one you are following, following Jesus

Luke 4:31-37

If you are one of the 30% in the Untied States who attends a Christian church you are blessed, but that is where the percentages get distorted for it would be very hard to establish if the priest or preacher-teacher is a man under the control of the Spirit of God.  The Scriptures tell us to examine and study the Bible to make sure what one is saying is correct.  Jesus has these words about false prophets and teachers in Matthew 7: 15-16, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?  So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.” As a follower of Christ it is a wise person who goes back to the Scriptures to examine what is coming from the lips of anyone who stands in front of them as a teacher/preacher.  It is also a wise person who allows the Scriptures to shape their heart and mind.  Jesus also tells of a time to come and some of the signs of the closing of the age are found in Matthew 24.

Now when the people of Jesus’ home town rejected Him He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at His teaching, for His word possessed authority.  The prophet Isaiah shares these words from the LORD; “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”  (Isaiah 55:10-11)

On that day a man was in the synagogue with the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?  I know who you are-the Holy One of God.”  A footnote may be needed at this point, the demon knew without question who Jesus was, but the crowd, the witnesses were clueless.  Back to Luke 4:35, “But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm.” 

I am always amazed that in our culture, a cruel civilization where life is taken so easily and babies are killed out of convenience, and little girls and boys are used as objects of sexual lust, and women are seen as objects to fulfill the lust of some deprived mind.  We call this lack of education, poverty, sickness, but not evil, not demon spirits living in the ones who act and prosper in this present darkness.  And let me share one more insight, the dude with the unclean spirit of a demon was in the church building and he may have been well respected for his wealth, his family, his teaching, but he was in the synagogue, and a demon does not come to worship God.

A wise man once told me, a word to the wise is sufficient, and believing you are wise we are going to look at Doctor Luke’s writing in Acts 17:11, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”  My prayer for you and for myself is that we will also be as wise as the Bereans as we follow the teaching in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Perception

Luke 4:16-30

My first boss in the Electrical Markets Division of 3M was Don Norris and one of his favorite lines was the bed you made is the one you have to lie in, or another of his lines was your past performance or mistakes will be the way others perceive you.  It was 25 years before I went to a High School reunion and many who came up to me addressed me as if we were still in High School, they called me Bobby they talked about many things that I was hoping no one would recall, and few ask about my family, my career, or even who or what I had become since High School.  To some it seemed as if High School was the pinnacle of their lives, but as I reflect back, I did not take advantage of the knowledge offered and preparing myself for the future.

What a contrast to the life of Jesus, in that Scripture tells us He found favor with both God and man and now He has publicly began His ministry and returns to his home.  The custom was to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath day and Jesus stood and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him and He began reading: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)

In verse 20 we read that Jesus rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  Now who else is in the audience?  Jesus brothers and Mary and maybe Joseph, and the kids who he had played with and gone to school with, and their families, these folks knew Jesus and all was good.  In fact, the last part of verse 20 tells us all eyes were fixed on Jesus.  Returning to verse 21 and 22, “And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph's son?”  It is all-good, but Jesus being God knows what is in the heart of man, He knew what was going on in their mind and hearts and now the rest of the story beginning in verse 23, and he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.”

Jesus just passed through this crowd of people that wanted to kill him, now is that not a great example of religion, it always wants to kill anyone with a different view.  But you will not find anywhere in Jesus’ teachings to do harm to your enemies, but to pray for them and do good things for them, because that is what followers of Christ do. 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

I choose to believe God

Genesis 6:1-6

If you are anything like me, often you do not find the answer to questions that enter into your mind while reading the Bible; three of the six verses we are looking at today fall into that category.  This is what I do when that happens; by faith I choose to believe God and know that He will reveal what I need to understand. 

It is verse three that needs little illumination, “Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever; because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”  Man is going from having children at 500 years old, to the example that is recorded in verse 32 of chapter five, and now man’s days are being cut to 120 years of age.  What has happened with God’s creation to cause such a drastic change?  Verse one gives us a small clue, “Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.”  Are you saying more women and the place goes south, in no way would I imply such a thing, these “sons of God” that are being referred as taking wives for themselves, and the problem may be in the statement, “whomever they choose.”  I do not have any insight about who are the “sons of God,” and I’m sure that if you are interested someone has an opinion on the subject.

When we read verse five it gives clarity to why God has chosen to shorten the life of mankind; “Then the Lord saw the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of the heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”  It should not be hard for any of us to identify with the heart of God as we read this verse most of us have witnessed the destructive action of someone we love.  Those actions can be traced back to an independent spirit that rebels against authority and says in their heart, “I will do it my way” even though there are many warning them to not travel that path. 

The very wise king Solomon gave this advice in Ecclesiastes, that the wise, the fool, the righteous, the wicked, the rich and the poor all have one thing in common; they will die and return to dust.  In Ecclesiastes 12:7, we are given this insight; “then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”  Do you recall that all of us were created in the image of God, and what is that image?   God is Spirit and all who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.  So the real us returns to God, and it is a wise person who gives heed to Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.  For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

I Joined another Army

1Peter 5:1-9

I’ve been told that a person shows his age by where his thoughts go to; mine keep going back to my time in the United States Army.  The army spent an enormous amount of time on training.  We were never taught to fear our enemy, but to understand his habits, his ability, his weapons, and his tactics. 

At the age of 27, I joined another army, a vast army, an army that did not send me to boot camp, that had no formal training, and does not wear a uniform that can be seen by those whom you live with and around, but can be seen by angels and demons.  Yes, I joined the Army of Jesus Christ; I joined it by faith and by the grace that God showed me. 

I did not understand all that took place in my life that night in Victoria, Texas, in my hotel room, but that night when Jesus came into my life by faith in what He had done for me, I became part of His vast Army.  Many years later I came across this song by Isaac Watts, “Am I a Soldier of the Cross?”

1.  Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb?  And shall I fear to own His cause, or blush to speak His name?

2.  Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease, while others fought to win the prize, and sailed through bloody seas?

3.  Are there no foes for me to face?  Must I not stem the flood?  Is this vile world a friend to grace, to help me on to God?

4.  Sure I must fight, if I would reign; in crease my courage, Lord; I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by Thy word.

At 27 years of age I had no clue about what I had joined, no clue and for many years my identity was in the old Bob, in the world, and in fear of both God and man.  Yes, I was afraid to own His cause and often blushed to speak His name outside of the church building.  This song nailed me, but God was kind and gracious to send many men to disciple me and put me under many great teachers and preachers of His holy word.

So today I began reading in 1Peter 5 where Paul exhorting the elders to, “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”  I began to reflect back on the Pastors and teachers, the faithful men like Carroll Ray, T W Hunt, Jack Archer, Ken Ryan, Greg Hood and John Davis.  Pastors who made the word come alive to me; Harlan Caton was the first and his life and teaching has shaped me and given me an understanding of my place in this vast Army of Jesus Christ.  I must also mention Larry York a great man of prayer and faith, a pastor whose life is an example of leadership and love for those entrusted to his care.  God is faithful, I need men who are leaders, men who live out the verse above, and my pastor Ray Still is that kind of man.

I believe all the above mentioned have one thing in common; they understand, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  My prayer is that you are not like me, that at a very early age you understood your role and assignment in the Christian Army, and that you are faithful to your Commander in Chief.

Peter went on to make this statement, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”  We are living in such trying times, what is going to happen to our nation? “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”  But Peter goes on with instructions to the Army of Christ; “Be sober-minded; be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”

Isaac Watts asked the question each of us must ask, “Am I a Soldier of the Cross?”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com

Christians should be the wisest people on earth

James 1:5-8

Have you ever pondered the fact that Christians should be the wisest people on earth, and if they are not, and I believe we have evidence to support they are not, then we must contemplate on why not?  Shall we begin by asking questions; do Christians believe that the Bible is without fault, without error, and that God is speaking to each of us from His written word?  As a whole, most would tell you they believe that is a true statement and those who believe that it has errors may have the answer to why those who go by the name Christian are not any wiser than those who are non-Christian. 

It may be important to share that one out of ten people in the local church believe that the Bible is full of errors, and I am not in that camp; I’m foolish enough to believe in a God who can keep what He has entrusted to mankind as the manufacturers handbook.  From that perspective shall we look at James 1:5-8, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

After reading verse five only a foolish follower of Christ would not ask for wisdom, and we have this promise that our Father in heaven will give us wisdom in generous proportions.  So what is our problem?  Could it be that we have a faith problem?  That we who claim to believe that our Creator sent His only Son to buy us out of the penalty of sin, are trusting by faith to give us eternal life, cannot trust Him to supply a simple thing like wisdom to live life on planet earth?  My wise friend, Carroll Ray Jr. who is experiencing the fullness of that grace with the Father often said; “Faith is acting like Jesus tells the truth.”  So as I ponder this word from God, I ask more questions, are we just doubters and if so God has spoken clearly in James 1:6-8, that a doubter will not receive anything from the Lord; that they are double-minded and unstable in all their ways.

Not liking that conclusion, it requires more consideration if we are not doubters, then we should be the wisest of all who live on this earth?  Now before you say something stupid like Christians are wise, talk with your pastor about the people who claim the name of Christian who come to his office for council.  Ninety-nine percent of them have made choices that conflict with the basic teaching of the Bible.  They may do it out of ignorance, or they may just be so full of self that they believe that God helps those who help themselves, or they may just be like me, and have a problem submitting and abiding in the truth.  And that leads us back to doubting, and a doubter has a belief problem.  If you are not wise and ask God to give you wisdom, why do you not have wisdom?  And if you are not wise and are making wrong choices, why not act like Jesus tells the truth, and ask God today to draw a ring around you and change everything inside that circle that He desires to change to make you like His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Form the Back Porch,

Bob Rice