Saulish Worship Pt. 6

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

We have been having a lively discussion about holiness over the last week.

If you missed any part of our convo you can join it…

HERE

HERE

HERE

HERE

OR HERE

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Yesterday I asked you to explain the differences between King Saul’s heart and King David’s heart…

Here are some of the differences I see…

Saul started from a standpoint of blessing and worshipped God after his own plan disobeying God and brought a curse.

David started from the standpoint of a curse and worshipped God the way God commanded in obedience and brought a blessing.

Both David and Saul worshipped. Both David and Saul sacrificed sheep and oxen as their style of worship. If  they had been worshipping today they would have sung the same songs; But Saul worshipped his own way. David worshipped God’s way. Saul worshipped in a way that benefitted himself and made him comfortable. David worshipped in a way that cost him personally. Saul gained personally in his style of worship. David sacrificed personally in God’s worship. David was one of the faithful. Saul was one of the unfaithful. David was one whom God approved. Saul was one whom God said, “I never knew you. Depart from me you evil doer.”

It all came down to obedience. Saul wasn’t supposed to offer a sacrifice on an altar he was supposed to offer a sacrifice on the battlefield. David wasn’t supposed top offer a sacrifice on the battlefield he was supposed to offer a sacrifice on the altar. In the end David ended up doing the will of the Lord and was approved. Saul ended up disobeying and even his sacrifices of worship were thrown out.

Christianity is not about us worshipping God in a way that is comfortable to us. It is about God period. When we focus on God in our worship and obey God in our Christianity then He takes care of us. But when we focus on ourselves and make our worship about our fullness and make our obedience to God conditional on our comfort then we block His care and we end up with lack.

We received a prophetic message last week in church  that reminded us everything we needed was supplied in the cross.

You may say, “Pastor J I cannot be faithful. It is too hard.”

Brother, Sister your faithfulness was provided for in the cross. It is not a condition of your salvation. It is a provision of your salvation, but it is a provision you must make use of.

The saved are obedient because they can be and because they must be.

Here is the good news obedience is possible for you. If you have accepted Christ he has provided not just forgiveness for you but the power to be obedient. I am here today to tell you that if you have not used the power to obey up until today you can begin using it today. And you must use it today. Receiving grace is only done when we receive forgiveness and the power to change. Jesus is still supplying the power and He wants you to call on the power to be holy even more than you want to call on it yourself.

He desperately wants to say to you, “Child I know you enter into my joy and be blessed for the righteousness I poured into you.”

Today maybe you have said yes to Jesus and you have asked and received His forgiveness for your sins. But perhaps there is still some sin in your life that you are struggling with that you are afraid might cause you to be called, by God, a worker of iniquity. Today the power for victory lies before you and just like you received forgiveness you can receive holiness and power to overcome your sin. If you need that power in any area of your life would you pray this pray with me?

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus I thank you for the forgiveness for my sins. I receive it right now and admit I need it; But I know grace is about more than just forgiveness it is about power to change. So Jesus come to me. I receive all of your grace today. I receive forgiveness and I receive the power to change. Thank you that from this moment on I am going to begin to change. A-men!

 

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My Happy Place

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Happy Place.”

You can check out lots of happy places by clicking the underlined link above. I have a few happy places myself.

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For restoring peace and calm there is nothing like the salt breeze and the gentle rocking of the ocean waves.

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But if the ocean’s out of reach sunset in the mountains will do just fine to calm my agitated soul.

Endless Sky

Even a walk through an open meadow will do the trick.

I guess the key is peace and quiet and really that can be found anywhere as long as you can find your Center and get down into It…

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You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You Isaiah 26:3

Saulish Worship Pt. 5

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

We have been discussing the heart that is acceptable to God over the last several days.

If you have missed any of the conversation you can find it…

HERE

HERE

HERE

AND HERE

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Yesterday we discussed the heart that was unacceptable to God and worship that was unacceptable to God by using an illustration from I Samuel 15

This is an example of Saulish worship. God gave a command. That command was, “Destroy everything.”

Saul reinterpreted that to mean “Destroy everything but those things you find useful.”

Then he compromised and said, “Well I won’t do what the Lord said to do but I will worship just after my own fashion. That will be good enough. God’s way costs too much. God’s way is too hard. So I have a better way. I am still going to worship God but I am going to do it in a way that makes me comfortable, a way that benefits me as well as God. God gets some of His way and I get some of mine.”

I believe this is the mindset that those on the day of judgment in Matthew 7 will hold (see Saulish Worship Pt. 1). They will worship God according to their way. Jesus says they do not do the will of the father even though they worship and serve. They are like Saul worshipping God but only in the way that makes them comfortable.

In contrast there is another story from 2 Samuel 24 of How David, the King after Saul, worshipped.

 “David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.”

11 Before David got up the next morning, the word of the Lord had come to Gad the prophet, David’s seer: 12 “Go and tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’”

13 So Gad went to David and said to him, “Shall there come on you three[b] years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.”

14 David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”

15 So the Lord sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. 16 When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented concerning the disaster and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

17 When David saw the angel who was striking down the people, he said to the Lord, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd,[c] have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Let your hand fall on me and my family.”

18 On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. 20 When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

21 Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”

“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”

22 Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. 23 Your Majesty, Araunah[d] gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”

So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels[e] of silver for them. 25 David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.”. 2 Samuel 24:10-25

What differences do you see between David and Saul?

A Photo A Week Challenge: Crowd Control

Posted on by under Photography

This week Nancy has asked us to show her CROWDS OF PEOPLE UNDER CONTROL

Check out the underlined link to see crowds from around the globe.

The church majors in crowds…

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whether its eyes forward hands raised in worship.

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Or the organized chaos of VBS. For us crowd control is about bringing a message that grabs the attention and holds people not for twenty minutes or an hour but for all eternity.

Saulish Worship Pt. 4

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

Once again we are launching into a conversation on holiness and the type of worship God accepts.

If you have missed the previous postings of our conversation they can be found…

HERE

HERE

AND HERE

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In our previous discussions we have established that Grace isn’t just about forgiveness. It is about change. I am afraid while many are on board with the forgiveness part they are not on board with the change part.

There are two illustrations from the Old Testament that help us understand this mindset which is unacceptable to God and the mindset He desires us to have. Today I will share the first illustration. This  is the story of two kings…

I Samuel 15

1Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. 2This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroya all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”

4So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand from Judah. 5Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. 6Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

7Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. 8He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calvesb and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

10Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11“I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.

12Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”

13When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”

14But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

15Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

16“Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

“Tell me,” Saul replied.

17Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ 19Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

20“But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

22But Samuel replied:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as in obeying the Lord?

To obey is better than sacrifice,

and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

23For rebellion is like the sin of divination,

and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he has rejected you as king.”

What are your thoughts as you read this passage? What do you see in Saul?

Cee’s Funn Foto Challenge: Made By Man

Posted on by under Photography

This week Cee has encouraged us to HAVE FUN DISPLAYING FOTOS OF MANMADE THINGS.

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Just click on the underlined link  above to see what other photographers have brought to Cee’s place for display.

Here is my sampling…

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This sign found in “Museum square” in Amsterdam was one of several signs built by Metaalplan for the  city’s Amsterdam China Week festivities. The other signs came down after the celebration but the city opted to keep this sign up on the Square and it has become a photographic hotspot.

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This fountain in the Back bay of Boston is one of several recently built as part of Boston’s new “Greenway”. Excuse the finger please!

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This building is in my hometown of Winchendon MA and was built by Ephraim Murdock & Co in the early 1900’s as the high school for our town. It is where both of my parents and most of my aunts and uncles graduated from. Today it is the Murdock Senior Center and is affectionately called “Old Murdock”.

The sky behind it of course was made by Jesus, the son of man and so I guess it also qualifies as manmade 😉

Saulish Worship Pt. 3

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

Sunset Prayer

Over the last few days we have been holding a discussion on holiness here at Lillie-Put. If you have missed any part of that discussion you can find it

HERE

OR HERE

Now let’s continue with today’s discussion.

We brought up the idea yesterday that there will be a group of people who are ejected from Heaven on judgment day because they are not known by God and because they broke God’s laws and refused to do His will…

Some of you are probably saying, “Pastor J that smacks of legalism. It sounds like you are saying that we are saved by our works and if we don’t do works we can’t get into Heaven.”

I am not saying that at all. In fact the people who Jesus is talking about in Matthew 7 have lots of good works. In fact it is those very works they fall back on when Jesus tells them to depart. Look at it,

Matthew 7:21-23New Living Translation (NLT)

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

The Bible is very clear, your good works in or out of church will not save you. It is the grace of God which comes into your lives through faith which saves you.

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. …But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!… God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Eph. 2:1,4,5,8,9

Salvation, eternal life, forgiveness come to us only because of grace. That said, I am convinced that many people even in the church will miss salvation, eternal life, and forgiveness by inches because they have bought into a faulty definition of grace.

You see we have come to define grace as forgiveness of sins, and it is that. When we ask for God’s grace we get forgiven of all the wrong we have ever done. The Bible tells us that God actually overlooks our transgressions, but Grace doesn’t just forgive us. It’s more than just  super soap to wash away super sins. Grace is a power that once we receive it begins to change us. It actually turns us from one thing into another.

Paul says it this way in 2 Cor. 5:17

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

I went to see a worship team in Manchester NH the other night called Rend Collective. In his opening remarks the lead guitarist of the band said, “If our Christianity doesn’t change us. If it doesn’t make us better. If it doesn’t make us love the world like Jesus did then maybe we didn’t really get Christianity the first time around.”

What do you think is there any such thing as Christianity without change?

Share Your World 2015 Week 40

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

It is time to share our world again!!!

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I love this time of the week when I get to sit down and think through and answer Cee’s five questions. I also love reading the responses that come to Cee from around the globe.

When you have finished reading my answers take a trip through the underlined link to see what people have told Cee about their worlds.

Here are this week’s questions…

If you have been to a foreign country name those you have been too?

I have been to Mexico, England, Ireland and the Netherlands. Each trip was different and special in its own way. Mexico and England were missions trips. My daughter and I road-tripped the perimeter of Ireland. I have been to the Netherlands twice to visit my sister.

Is the glass half empty or half full? What type of glass is it and what is in the glass?

I really loved so many of the answers that Cee’s contributors gave to this question. For myself I will answer my cup is full enough! I love what God has given me in life. Should He choose to take me from this earth today I have lived a full life. I can depart in peace even though there are certain things I have not done yet; but I think He will give me a bit more time and a bit more fullness.

My cup is a simple plastic cup, nothing fancy but made to endure.

It is flowing with milk and honey!

If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?

Italian food!

List:  List at least five places worth shopping.

There are more than five places to shop? Who knew?

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am so grateful I was able to go to a night of worship hosted by Rend Collective last Friday. This week I am looking forward to worshipping at the Lifeskills program  In Ashburnham MA, finishing the prologue to my book for my publisher and preaching on Sunday morning at Cornerstone Church.

Saulish Worship Pt. 2

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

Sunset Prayer

Yesterday we began a new discussion series on the topic of holiness. If you missed this beginning you can find it

HERE

Scriptures like the passage from Matthew we shared yesterday are called “hard words”.

In I Timothy 2: 7 Paul the Apostle says,

And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth.

As preachers of the gospel, pastors are called to deal with the entirety of Scripture. We are told to preach the “sweet words” of faith and the “hard words” of truth. We are to encourage men and women with the mercy of God and at the same time warn our generation that while God is merciful, He is also the judge of all the Earth sworn to bring justice. We are called to preach the healing words and the words of Scripture that assault our senses. We are to remind men and women that the same God who will say, “Well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of the Lord” to some, will say “Depart from me I never knew you.” To others.

Our generation is one which by nature and according to prophecy wants its ears tickled.

“Bring me a good word preacher man.” is on the lips of so many.

Our generation is the generation of unlimited do overs and no consequences.

I have actually had it said to me “You’re a pastor. You are supposed to love and support me in whatever I do like God does. You are not supposed to try to change me.”

To which I reply, “I cannot change you but God MUST CHANGE YOU if ever you are to see Heaven.”

I have struggled with this message because the words  from Matthew 7 are hard words. Words of judgment. Words that remind us not everyone will be entering Heaven. Harder still because these verses indicate that not even everyone who calls themselves a Christian will enter into Heaven.

The people in our story from Matthew Chapter 7 are not Buddhists; They are not Muslim; They are not Hindu. They call Jesus Lord. These people would call themselves Christians. They believe in Jesus. More than that these people are not just pew warmers. They are active in their churches. They are active in ministry AND they are active in supernatural ministry…And yet they do not make it to Heaven. Why?

Well Jesus gives us two reasons in these verses.

First reason…Jesus says, “I never knew you.” Ma 7:23:

It is possible to believe in Jesus as God; It is possible To believe in the historical Jesus; It is even possible to believe in His resurrection and not have a relationship with Jesus.

It is possible to work for the church; It is even possible to perform miracles in the name of Jesus and still not have a relationship with Jesus.

Paul, the Apostle said it was possible to do all the works of ministry and still miss Heaven. He said it this way in speaking of himself.

I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. 1 Cor. 9:27

And that leads us to the second reason these people are rejected

Jesus says they are rejected because… they broke God’s laws and because they did not do the will of the Father in Heaven. Ma7: 21,23, 26

Do you think there is a difference between breaking God’s laws and not doing the will of the Father in Heaven?

Saulish Worship Pt. 1

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

I had the wonderful opportunity to preach once again at Cornerstone Church in Winchendon MA yesterday. We are walking through a study on the need for holiness and the title of my sermon was Saulish Worship.

Carried on the backs of angels

Carried on the backs of angels

Here is the opening to that sermon:

Today we continue our study along with John Bevere through the Book Good Or God. My thoughts spring (loosely) from chapters 4 and 5 of that book and we will be dealing with a passage of Scripture in the book of Matthew chapter 7: 21-27

True Disciples

21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

Building on a Solid Foundation

24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”.’

As we begin what about these verses stands out to you?