We all know the Great Commission,

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

Jesus said this to his disciples just before he left as he was preparing them to become the future leaders of the Church. This is still the basic instruction for the Church today. There seems to be a pretty easy distinction between churches that are doing it and churches that aren’t. From a distance, we can look and identify churches that are fulfilling the instruction that God has given us, but it’s probably not some of the barometers that we normally use. Read more…

Been reading a fascinating book called “The Post American World” by Fareed Zakaria on the change in worldview of America and its impact on the future. One of the things we tend to overlook is how global the world has become in the past 20 years. As an example, the major financial markets of the world are no longer in the USA but in London. The rise of economies in Brazil, Kenya, Venezuela, China and India have transformed the view of how the world trades. Companies which have future plans for growth are looking outside the USA for new markets and its impact on future economic development in this country is unclear. Politically, the USA has become isolated and many leaders are creating alliances which do not include us. Read more…

I especially like the old BBC sitcom “Keeping Up Appearances.” Here is a short description from the www.tv.com website…

Patricia Routledge played Hyacinth Bucket, a woman who pretended to be upper-class but wasn’t. To side herself with Britain’s top ten percent, Hyacinth insisted her surname be pronounced “bouquet.” Her attention to cleanliness, candlelight suppers, and desire to sing gave pain to her husband Richard and her neighbors.

The name of the show is so descriptive of how a lot of people try to live. Hyacinth wanted to be something that she was not. Many people today want to be more than they really are - but are unwilling to pay the price to accomplish their desires.

On the other hand, the people in Berea (Acts 17) were NOT “nobility” by birth but they chose to develop a more noble character. They demonstrated characteristics that the Bible described as “noble character.”

Acts 17:10-12 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.  11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.  12 Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

There are at least three qualities of noble Christian Character which the people in Berea demonstrated:

1. They were open to hear - Paul preached the same message in Thessalonica & in Berea but the responses were very different. The people of Thessalonica rejected the message & started a riot while the Bereans “RECEIVED the message with great eagerness.”
2. They were loyal to truth - The excitement of hearing about Jesus & that He fulfilled the Biblical prophecies of the Messiah had to be CHECKED OUT. Each day, they “examined the Scriptures” to make certain that what they were hearing was actually true.
3. They were wise to chose - The emotional component of hearing that Messiah has come was balanced with the intellectual component of checking it against the Bible. The result was a decision to accept it and “Many of the Jews BELIEVED”

I preached this message today and the audio of that service is available below, the sermon notes and a video clip from the “appearances” show are all on the other side of the break.  Read more…

Some people have lucky charms or lucky numbers that they play in the lottery. Others feel “lucky” so they head off to the casino or other “game.”

Seth Godin has written an article called “The Difficult Choice” considering the relative potential of luck and intentional actions. Godin was responding to a very negative comment to his book titled The Dip. (The book deals with the question of “when to quit and when to stick.”)

In a review of The Dip, a listener writes, “I would argue that luck and randomness play at least as big a role as all of this dip stuff. “

Godin responded,

Either you believe that luck is dominant, in which case, why bother with effort?
or
You believe that luck is random, in which case it can be eliminated from your thinking and you can focus on all the stuff you can control.

That is a good assessment of the options that most people see. Personally, I do not believe in luck at all.

I do believe in providence. The Encarta Dictionary of North America offers the following definitions:

• Luck is defined as (1) success that seems to happen by chance (2) the arbitrary distribution of events or outcomes
• Providence is defined as (1) The wisdom, care, and guidance believed to be provided by a loving and caring God (2) good judgment and foresight in the management of affairs or resources

Read more…