Love the Jesus Way- It Takes Two

November 2, 2012 at 5:46 pm (Spirituality)
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Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 1 Corinthians 13:4

Love involves a number greater than one!

Patience and kindness. Absence of envy, boasting and pride. What do all of these words have in common? Hint- any number greater than 1.

True love involves a relationship with someone. You can’t do it on your own. Jesus taught, demonstrated and pleaded for us to have these relationships with others. He shared most of his important moments with others. The transfiguration took place in the presence of Peter, John and James. When Christ prayed to God in the Garden of Gethsemane he brought the same trio. Will we share our most precious moments and difficult moments with others? Or will we prefer to go it alone?

The choice of words Paul uses to demonstrate love also have something in common with Christ- they mirror the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.” This isn’t accidental. When Christ rose to heaven he knew we still needed His presence. That is why the Holy Spirit was left with us. And love was so precious to Christ that is what the Holy Spirit is full of. And we are free to fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit, thus filling ourselves with love.

The words Paul uses for the fruit of the Holy Spirit and to describe love also have something else in common. The words require ourselves to subjugate ourselves to those we love. To have patience requires us to value the other person’s words and actions above our own. We have to want to listen to our spouse’s day at work. We have to bait the hook for our kids a dozen times before our own hits the water. Jesus had the patience to heal a woman who had bled for a dozen years while he was on his way to save Jarius’ daughter. Would you?

Kindness? Do you wait to open the door for a stranger who is slowly approaching? Will you do the same if it is raining? Will you play with the two year old in the church lobby? You know the kid who wants a second of anyone’s attention as many folks walk past him protecting their time and energy. Or are you the person who volunteers 20 hours a week but can’t come home and take care of your family. Jesus didn’t care who you were-leper, theft, rich man, poor man, family or friends. He showed this kindness to everyone.

Envy, such an ugly word. Boasting– not much better. But how about if we turn things upside down and inside out. What if we boast about others? That once again subjugates our self to others. Can you even imagine being at work and saying, “Fred really deserved that raise, he works so hard?” We pick on others to elevate ourselves. But what if we looked for the good in someone and bragged about it?  And have you tried to brag about someone and be envious at the same time?  I find the combo impossible. In Matthew 20:16 Jesus said “So the last shall be first, and the first last.” That is a statement of love- love the Jesus way.

Pride. More specifically self-pride. But when we are proud of ourselves our feelings and emotions get in the way of logic, wisdom and most important, God’s word. If we are too proud to get off a point in an argument we don’t listen. That invariably leads to others shutting off to you as well. And Jesus talked volumes about not only hearing but actually listening. Love also requires flexibility, the ability to change. None of this happens when we are too proud.

These characteristics of love are also as contagious as negative characteristics can be. That is the nature of relationships. The dad who is patient raises a son who is patient. The patron who is kind at the cash register leaves a whisper that flows through the cashier and on to others through the day. Love really can spread.

So can we engage in loving spiritual relationships full of patience and kindness? Can we rid ourselves of envy, boasting, and pride? Well Jesus certainly did. And if we never completely get there, we can pray and hope to get closer.

Jesus, thank you for the blessing of being in my life. Let me have a fraction of the patience you show in us. Let my heart be so filled with kindness there is room for nothing else. Let me envy nothing, for I already have everything in you. Let me only boast of your love my Lord and Savior, for it is perfect. And humble me before you, letting my pride crumble into grains of sand. Thank you for your awesomeness. Amen.

 

God Bless,

Mark

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Love the Jesus Way

October 18, 2012 at 7:26 pm (Spirituality)
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1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

If you have ever been to a wedding you have probably heard 1Corinthians 13- a testimony about love. I won’t argue that it is a valuable set of ideals for married couples to live by. But it is also a lesson about God’s definition of love. Paul’s notes on love are words on how to govern our daily actions.

Paul’s letter written to the Corinthian church professes the importance of love. Love is more important than speaking in tongues, talking to angels, moving mountains, knowledge or prophesying. Jesus proclaimed the same thing. He talked about the two most important commandments being about love [See Matthew 22].

Jesus led by example. He showed with his actions what love was. Jesus gave part of himself constantly to others. . And isn’t that what love is, giving a piece of ourselves to others? Jesus constantly preached to the disciples and others about this kind of love. Paul words are a primer of what Jesus did and said.

The “other’s” we give love to? Our spouse? That is a direct example of love, yet many of us struggle with the covenant we have made with God. Our children? They are to be loved unconditional. And if we are applying the word unconditional to love, shouldn’t it just be part any love we extend? Our family? What does it really mean to love them. Is it the same as “Honor thy mother and father”? Or is family love more? And how about our enemies? When is the last time you said “I think I’m going to love on that &**^% today?”  We can’t even apply love to strangers. Who says I owe anything to that bum sleeping under the building awning?

You may have figured out love is a big thing to me. It is huge throughout the Bible. I have friends that remind me God is a vengeful, wrathful, judging God. I agree. BUT THE THING GOD JUDGES, VENGEFULLY WITH A JIGGER OF WRATH, IS OUR FAILURE TO LOVE.

I am an optimist. I think I am also pragmatic. So I want to spend my time trying to love the way Jesus loved us. That cuts through the “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” How to do this? Follow Christ’s example. And that is what Paul covers in 1Corinthians 13. So join me over the next several blogs in diving into Paul’s words on love.

In the meantime I encourage you to share your definitions and examples of love. Leave them in the comments section. We all can benefit from the comments.

God Bless,

Mark

 

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See one, do one, teach one

June 12, 2011 at 10:18 pm (docmark's philosophy, Spirituality)
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You [Thessalonians] became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere.  1 Thessalonians 1:6-8 NIV

See one, do one, teach one.  Anonymous

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”   Matthew 28:19-20 NIV

We are all teachers

Have you ever noticed that you start picking up the habits of those around you?  You repeat catch phrases- I even caught myself saying the dreaded word dude around a friend.  Our kids pick up our habits and words really quickly.  Use the f word, they repeat it.  The number one risk factor for kids smoking is   Boys around abusive fathers tend to grow up to be abusers.  This sphere of influence can be positive as well.  If your Dad is a cop, you likely will become one too.  Our pastor’s son is the organist and a musical leader in our church.  He influences kids as a music teacher and by being a key leader at YEPAW, a preforming arts program for kids.  We influence brothers and sisters positively and negatively as well.  Most of my brothers took a shot at wrestling, a sport they were introduced to watching me.  I went to college to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering after getting to sit in on a family friend at a meeting.  Oops, I forgot to mention Mr. Banks worked for NASA, where he pioneered deep space propulsion.

 So who is going to influence us spiritually?  The Thessalonians sought Paul for influence- a very good choice.  Who will influence us is our choice.  I pick my parents as a source of influence.  Christians who have been through a lot, and shown me the way Christians should act as a couple.  My friends are also Christians who role model good behavior and hold me accountable for my actions.  Another area of influence is the church we choose.  My pastor walks the walk in addition to talking the talk.  The congregation also truly seems engaged in God.  People actually go to church to worship the Lord.  These are all choices we are free to make, and we can choose poorly as well.   When we visit the jail for weekly Bible study, it is common to find most of the men gravitating back to their previous friends when they get out.  Unfortunately a lot of their friends are doing drugs, drinking, or doing other things that are not exactly the best example.  Oddly enough, many of the men we see in jail are repeat offenders, largely due to these influences.  We need to realize that our friends will define our behavior- for better or worse.

Jesus taught, will you?

Who are we going to influence spiritually?  Providing this influence and role modeling is all of our jobs.  The absence of providing an influence for others is still providing influence- just a different one.  When we don’t care about our spiritually and living a Christian life we send the message that God isn’t important.    For those who have never heard of Christ, we need to evangelize.  But once exposed to Jesus the lessons need to continue.  Christianity should away be a work in progress, aimed at seeking perfection.  Perfection we will never achieve, but none the less should strive for.  Those lessons need to be taught through words and modeled through behavior. If a person sees a “Sunday Christian” who goes to church, but then forgets the lesson until the next Sunday, that’s what they’ll practice as well.  If they see someone practicing Christian acts on a daily basis, that’s what they will do.  One purpose of youth ministry at our church is to teach young men and woman how to act as a Christian.  Sometimes the kids learn this during a scripted lesson.  This can happen in a pick-up basketball game, a quiet moment to the side, or just holding a door open for a young lady.   It is one of our focuses in jail ministry, to illustrate an alternative path for the men to follow both in and out of jail.

So that brings us back full circle to Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians.  The Thessalonians became good teachers because they imitated the behavior of Paul and the other missionaries.  Paul then instructed them to use the guidance of the Holy Spirit to keep imitating God.  They strengthened their own church by imitating Paul’s lessons.  But the lessons even touched lives in other communities and inspired the growth of other churches. Paul even comments on how their imitation of God led others to follow their path, spreading Christianity throughout Macedonia and Achaia.  Like many other things we do, continuing education and guidance is necessary to keep on the right road of spirituality.  This involves reading scripture, bible study, and going to church.  The applications of these lessons must then be applied to daily life.  The Thessalonians did this as a group, during a time when it would have been much easier to not share your faith.  They did it in Paul’s absence, remembering to imitate the teachings.  And they did it for Christ, as it should be.

God Bless,

Mark

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EPAPHRAS

June 10, 2011 at 12:21 am (docmark's philosophy, Spirituality)
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Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.   I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.  Colossians 4:12-13

So who is Epaphras?  He certainly doesn’t get lot of attention in the Bible.   The passage Colossians 4:12-13 gives us a little insight.  In Philemon 1:23 we learn that “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings.”  So we know that he at least spent some time with Paul in Rome.  But the Bible has very few words about Epaphras.  I believe the words in Colossians 1:22-23 can inspire contemplation and growth in us.

FIRST THE SERVICE OF EPAPHRAS.  Epaphras was a citizen of Colossae. He didn’t need to lead the Colossian church, but he did.  He stepped up.  He did it at a time and place where there was much confusion about Christ.  Teaching was difficult.  The reward for teaching could be imprisonment or death.  Epaphras’ unselfish nature was also illustrated in through prayer.  He didn’t just pray, he wrestled in prayer.  Epaphras wasn’t wrestling for himself but for the members of the Colossian church.  What a powerful lesson we can learn from.    Epaphras also showed he was unselfish outside of prayer, journeying to Rome to be with Paul.  This journey was over a thousand miles (one way!) by land and sea.  The terrain was difficult and many unsavory people would be encountered on the journey.

SECOND THE OBSERVATIONS OF PAUL. In Colossians Paul writes a letter to encourage, teach, and thank the churches of Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis.  Paul never saw any of these churches.  It did not stop from Paul from praising the churches.  Paul’s acknowledgement of leaders in the churches of Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis accomplished a few things.  Paul’s words were specific for each friend and leader. The words defined some of the behaviors of great leaders; giving the members and leaders of the church behavior to be role modeled.  Paul also thanks the leaders of the church.  The spiritual health of church leaders is often overlooked by church congregations.  I believe thanking church leadership for their good works is a way of keeping them in unity spiritually with their congregations.  I also believe we all want and need to be told what we are doing well.  Unfortunately all too frequently we forget to do this for others.

Hierapolis Ruins

Legacy should be measured in our deeds, not the number of words written about them.  Doesn’t God ask us to do good works in silence?  But when we do notice others good deeds we should share our joy with those doing the works.  Maybe I’ll even go old school today and hand write a letter- it is still an option available to us.

God Bless,

Mark

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Jail

May 12, 2011 at 6:44 pm (docmark's philosophy, Spirituality)
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apostle Paul in prison

It’s a warm sunny spring day. If you live in Northeast Ohio you’ve survived another winter and can’t wait to get outside. Even if your locked up at the Summit County Jail, where “outside is a 10’ by 10’ concrete area. But instead you go to Bible study. From the classroom where you sit you can see those “exercise areas”. You can also see the jail cells. Jail cells where many men are sleeping after rising for 5 AM breakfast. But these men have gone to Bible study. They also got in line early enough to get into the Bible study, only 24 men can go, every week some are turned away.

So why do these men choose Bible study? Many men who attend have long prison sentences awaiting them. Some have nobody that cares about them, so why should they care about God? Maybe they see God is the only one who will always love them. We can go to church in relative amenity, but everyone can see them sitting in the classroom. Some will be chastised and made fun of for going to Bible study. Yet they go, despite the scrutiny. There love and need for God is strong. They come, sit intently, and listen joyously. They cry sometimes these men even hold hands. They pray not only for themselves, but for each other and their families. They lift each other up spiritually. For that hour they are in a different place with a brighter, true light shining upon them.

There are always reasons to praise and worship God. When you are at rock bottom you make conscious and subconscious choices about Christ. You can turn toward Him, or turn away. These men are turning toward God. Isn’t that what God wants? Some will argue that it’s easy to turn to Christ when things aren’t going well. How many people do you know that turn to Christ when things are peachy keen awesome? Even true believers have a tendency to forget God is behind the wheel when the road is smooth. One could also argue it doesn’t make a difference. These are men who have committed heinous sins. Do they deserve redemption? Yet it is not our heart that give forgiveness, but God’s. And God’s grace is amazing. Most of the men who go to jail will continue to struggle with their spirituality, even with intervention. So why not kick then to the curb and find a group we can evangelize with more successfully? This week one of the men who had been a partial “victory” for Christ relapsed into some old habits and he will be spending at least a couple years in the penitentiary. Several people took chances on him, were they wrong? God judges our heart and our effort, not our victories. I t is ultimately our own decision whether or not to let the Lord in our lives. If you evangelize in an area where success isn’t frequent you need to remember this. And if these men who go to weekly Bible study only think about God for an hour, what a glorious hour it is.

Men praying in jail

Lastly, these men remind me how easy I have it. Church, just ask my friends to pick me up, or ride the bus , or call the church for a ride… get the point. There are multiple times and places I can worship. When no one is in the church, a very pretty bench sits in the church garden, a place to worship as well. Nobody stares at me through the church windows, waiting to comment on my worship. I am not in a spiritually dark place (PRAISE GOD), where answers and change in circumstance may be years, if ever, in the making. I can much more easily surround myself with other Christians to nurture me through rough times. I can talk to my pastor or one of her associates anytime I want, without filling out a form with an indefinite waiting period waiting for a conversation that is needed now.

But there was a time three years ago when I wasn’t in that better place. I was in jail. There I saw God. And if it weren’t for a kind, gentle, angelic chaplain named Harry Watson, I might have mistook God’s message and gone crazy. But he reassured me. The only actually words I remembered were Harry telling me that “Jesus loved me and so did he [Harry].” That’s why the men go to Bible study. They are trying to connect with the Father. And that’s reason enough to keep showing up for them, with little courage compared to their courage in taking ten steps across a very big hallway.

God Bless,

Mark

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