Be There

Go forth and make disciples of all nations. A very lofty goal to be sure.

But what, exactly is a disciple? Sometimes we think it’s just someone who follows the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. But if we look carefully at the scriptures, and at the intent of our Lord through His myriad demonstrations, we see that a disciple is actually a lot like our “modern day” Chaplain.

Throughout the years, the United States Government has honored the historic separation of Church and State, but not the separation of God and State. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have full-time Chaplains who minister the love of God and who act as spiritual advisors and counselors to those individuals who serve our great country. Chaplains, whose roles are constitutionally upheld by precedent and tradition, have always been an integral part of our country’s society and are still a major source of spiritual strength at the community level.

I recently had the privilege of completing chaplaincy training with the International Fellowship of Chaplains and cannot begin to tell you what a realization dawned on me as they described the roles and responsibilities of Chaplains. I never felt more like a disciple as I did during that training.

The thing that I’ll carry away from my training is this: be there. The “ministry of presence” is all that’s needed some times. Just be there. A former pastor of mine once said, “When it’s raining and your roof is leaking, which would you rather have? A person who says he’ll pray for you or a person with some shingles and nails who says he’ll help you?”

The world needs your prayers. The world needs your help. Be there.

Seriously?

Most of us are familiar with the phrase from Matthew 26:40 in which Jesus pleads with His disciples and says, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?”

But today we’re going to take a closer look at the next statement that comes out of His mouth: “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

The Church today (especially in America) is very weak. Even though our spirits are born-again and we have everything we need to live victoriously, our flesh is still very much under subjection to our soul (not spirit) which drives us to temptation and to do all manner of ungodly stuff…like drink enough soda to provide more than all the calories we need all day; or have a Twinkie (or three) instead of an apple; or watch TV instead of reading the Word; or scream at the kids when we take them to school instead of speaking a blessing over them; or anything else that distracts us from watching with Him.

The flesh is weak…or could it be that it’s just untamed?

I fast once a week (LOL)! In “theory” I fast once a week; I used to fast once a week. But today all I did was just put my breakfast off for a couple of hours. Pathetic. Who’s in control…my spirit, my soul or my body? Well, today it was my body. It was hungry. Again, pathetic.

So if we can’t even tame our tummies or TVs, how can we participate with the Lord in this very serious hour of need? And beloved, this hour of need is almost as critical as was His hour of need before His crucifixion. Let’s pray for strength. Let’s pray for endurance. Let’s pray that we can keep up with the very serious requirements of this age because He’s coming…and He’s coming soon.

Hear! Speak! Do!

This is going to be short and to the point!

Mark 4:3-25 is the parable (or story) that Jesus told about the sower and the seed. The upshot is this:

• The “sower” is someone who spreads the word of God around (like a preacher or chaplain);
  
• The “seed” are the actual words that are given (spoken or read); and
  
• The “ground” is the heart of the person who hears the Word.
  

There are four types of “ground:”

• The “wayside” is where the word dies because Satan or a family member or a friend kills it through their own opinion or lies;
  
• The “stony” ground is where the seed can't take root because even though someone is happy to hear it, they don’t do anything (like read the Bible or go to church) to help the seed take root and so it dies at the first sign of trouble;
  
• The “thorny” ground is where the word is choked to death by all of life's worries because people can't see past their own problems; and
  
• The “good” ground where the word actually accomplishes something in a person’s life because the person chooses to act on what they've heard.
  

So?
So…the thing that makes your heart “good ground” is when you repeat out loud the scriptural words you hear and then perform them. Love your neighbor. Speak kindly. Behave like you believe that God’s word will do what He says it will do.

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t short…but it certainly was to the point, eh?

They're All Hypocrites!

Wiktionary defines a “hypocrite” as someone who pretends to hold beliefs or whose actions are not consistent with their claimed beliefs. It further defines “hypocrisy” as “the claim or pretense of holding beliefs, feelings, standards, qualities, opinions or virtues that one does not actually possess; or applying criticism to others that one does not apply equally to oneself.”

Let’s see if we can break that down a little bit. If I believe something but don’t act like it, then I’m a hypocrite, right?

So if I believe that it’s important to record my golf score correctly, but put down an eagle when it should have been a bogey, I’m a hypocrite, right? What if I believe it’s important to not drive drunk, but have just one too many and get behind the wheel of my car anyway, then I’m a hypocrite, right? What if I believe that the Bible is true but choose not to act like it is, then I’m a hypocrite, right? And finally, what if I admit I’m a sinner and go to church, am I the hypocrite?

Hypocrisy never keeps people off the golf course, it never keeps people out of the bars, and it never deters people from driving sober. But when someone has his or her own opinion about what hypocrisy is and they apply it to everyone but themselves, then who’s the hypocrite?

Why is a church-going hypocrite any different from a golf-playing hypocrite? Churches are not supposed to be full of perfect, godly, Christ-like, un-sinning saints. Churches are supposed to be full of sinners who are trying desperately to lead better lives…and failing on a daily basis. Churches are filled with people who claim to love the Lord and know that they can’t love Him or anyone else without God’s help, and the only place that help is available is in church.

Hypocrites…really?