A Narrow Road of Caring

 A narrow road is a road that could be easy to wander off of. Have you ever tried to walk down a long narrow hallway with your eyes shut. The way our eyes adjust our path constantly is a really important piece of how we get from point A to point B. Whenever we start to wander in the slightest we can see the variance almost subconsciously and adjustments are made. 

In Matthew 7:13 Jesus is speaking and this whole thing is during the sermon on the mount and he says. Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 

This statement follows right on the golden rule about treating others as you would have them treat you. This golden run has a pre-clause and  post-clause. The pre-clause is a therefore and I'll talk about that in a second. I'll do it third but in a second. The second clause which is a post-clause is a statement that says that this is the Law and the prophets. In other word, this is what God was teaching us to do. It does not break the law and does not go contrary to God's purposes. That would be enough. 

The pre-clause is a therefore and tells us why we do that. Why does it make perfect sense to treat others the way we want to be treated? It is because we can see that God will give us what is good when we ask Him. This we can see because we, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our own children. 

The road then, which makes perfect sense and fulfills the law and the profits (thanks to Jesus) is to treat others as we would have them treat us AND with that to be VERY intentional and to put in significant effort to get it done. Because you belong to God, your situation is in His hand and because that is so you can walk a narrow road. There is an alternative that is proposed by many who do not trust God and frankly, if I did not trust God I would need to take matters in my own hands (which I would likely screw up quite often). You can work very diligently to treat others as you would like to be treated. You can be loving and kind. Even you can work very hard at it because you are safe. Safe in God's care is a good place to be. #reachingnewheightsinjesus

Present, Ready, Relevant

2018 sure flew by. It seems like every year goes by faster and faster. I suppose it could be because I’m older and older but that probably isn’t it because a lot of our church members are younger and they say the same thing. The fact remains, when we reached December, half way through the school year again, with Christmas in tow, it came as somewhat of a shock. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? What follows are some prediction based primarily in Scripture. People will continue to chase after that which makes them feel better. Some will go after speed of service or the praise of others, money, members of the opposite sex… a host of other things. Some will mock those who have found true meaning in Christ. Some will challenge the very fiber of proper living, arguing that fundamentals should be reinterpreted in light of a modern age. Some others, with the best of intentions, will become defensive and preach a truth that is only for this present age but will fade and die when the current dilemmas are replaced by new and future debates. Some things will stay the same. God’s people will remain firm. They will believe Him for His promises despite what appears to be a universal moral drift toward wickedness. God’s true people will do what God’s people have always done. They will wait for Him to act in His way and at His time. They will strive to walk in Righteousness. They will learn to walk closer with God. Do we change or do we stay the same? If we are not careful we are in danger of becoming the old guard, resistant to change in the face of reality. On the other hand if we are not careful we could be whisked along with a large part of conservative Christianity into, “fighting for what we believe in.” The fact is that the lies of this generation-the lies that they have swallowed and the lies that they have concocted- are not original, just repackaged. We must be new and being made new daily but we must not fall into the trap of fluctuating so much that historians could rightly dismiss our efforts as limited to this context. We must cling to the solid truths of Scripture while increasing our understanding of its application so that we are not left answer-less for a searching people. We must overcome the challenge of connecting with the people around us- a people more and more willing to allow division to exist. We must reach out to neighbors in a day when neighbors never see one another and willingly accept and embrace the distance between them. We must speak in a language that can be understood without changing the subject matter to be for or against the specific falsehoods we face. God does not care about, nor did He write the Bible to be, a good answer for the challenges of the opposition. The Bible is simply the truth, the truth about what happened, the truth about what happens, and the truth about what will happen. As we go into 2019 then, let us remain the same in the face of the tactics of the enemy AND become progressively better at applying Scripture to our everyday battles. Dozens of generations before us have had to adapt and to open themselves to God and His way. Far smaller numbers were successful than might have been hoped. Let us endure patiently and at the same time work diligently. In this way, we will be present, relevant, and ready.

Redefining Love

Redefining Love: So the short summary is this: When Jesus spoke of love in the sermon on the mount it seemed like He was talking about love redefined. It seemed this way because some folks had spent some time redefining love since God had set the standard in the first place. They had added "and hate you enemies" to the "Love your neighbor as yourself" that God had given them. They had made love not for everyone and not a thing to be done by everyone. In some cases, they had made it just a word to describe a feeling. These are the same shortcomings of the world's understanding of love today. So, it appears to be redefining love when Christians describe it as For everyone (enemies included,) by everyone (as a command and a choice to follow that command,) and equaling acts of compassion not just feelings. To be a Christian, a follower of the Living Christ is to love others this way (including enemies.) This is hard to swallow because the world has taught that there is another kind of love which there isn't. They have redefined love in a sense and then when we get back to the basics of what it means, it's just hard for them to swallow. Don't buy it. Don't give in to the false belief that there is another kind of love or that love is for some and not for others. That definition will die once and for all when there are no more mysteries and those who follow along with it will go that way too. Love like Jesus.

1 COR 13 paraphrase as quoted by Ernest C. Reisinger

Though I speak with the tongues of scholarship, and though I use approved methods of education, and fail to win other to Christ, or build them up in Christian character, I am become as the moan of the wind in the Syrian desert. And though I have the best of methods and understand all mysteries of religious psychology, and though I have all biblical knowledge, and lose not myself in the task of winning others to Christ, I become as a cloud of mist in an open sea. And though I read all Sunday school literature, and attend Sunday school conventions, institutes, and summer school, and yet am satisfied with less than winning souls to Christ and establishing others in Christian character and service, it profiteth nothing. The soul-winning servant the character-building servant, suffereth long and is kind; He envieth not others who are free from the servant’s task; he vaunteth not himself, is not puffed up with intellectual pride. Such a servant doth not behave himself unseemly between Sundays, seeketh not his own comfort, is not easily provoked. Beareth all things, beleiveth all things, hopeth all things. And now abide knowledge, methods, the Message, these three: But the greatest of all these is the Message. Pastor Daniel Stevenson New Heights Fellowship Life Station Toledo newheightsfellowshipchurch.org facebook.com/newheightstoledo

Count The Cost, not Set The Price

Count The Cost, not Set The Price There is a difference between "cost" and Price." As a noun a cost and a price are essentially the same. They both mean that the thing in question will be traded for the required amount of resources. ie. It costs $1 or the price is one Dollar. However, "Price" can also be a verb. You "cost" an item in your garage sale you price it so people will no how much to pay. Count The Cost, not Set The Price So, here's the problem. People want to determine how much salvation and being a member of the Kingdom of God costs. They want to price it. They'll even take salvation as they can control the price. Sorry, the price has already been set and indeed paid. The cost of salvation is one righteous man dying for sins he did not commit. Jesus did this. Price paid. Now, when people make a point of saying, Okay God, "I'm in. I'll follow you but don't mess with my money" or, "Let me handle my relationship decisions." They are telling God that they are not willing to give their all to be His. Jesus warned, "Count the cost, If any man does not hate his mother etc. he can not be my disciple-now of course the word here means to despise in comparison. Basically, he's saying in comparison to Jesus-nothing else may compare. Count The Cost, not Set The Price Choose Him above or you do not have Him. That's it. It really doesn't seem that complicated but when we get our personal preferences in there and start thinking about whether we can really submit every last thing to Him it starts to seem difficult or complicated. Nope. It's Jesus above all or Jesus not at all. Here's the beauty of it. Jesus also said that that which was commended into His hand would never suffer loss. So, concerned about your money, put it in His hand. Concerned about your time, put it in His hand, Concerned about your relationships, put them in His hand. Put things in His hands and they will not suffer loss. Know the price, Count the cost. Count The Cost, not Set The Price