“A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.”

True friends are one of the greatest blessings on this earth, partially because they are so rare. In order to be a good friend to someone, you have to open up to them. This is a serious problem in men, especially. Men often enjoy helping others, but they rarely open themselves up and show their emotional or physical suffering. We men do not open ourselves up about our weaknesses to other Christian men because we fear their judgment. Also, we do not want to bring up our weakness because we hate these aspects of ourselves and are ashamed.

While embarrassment and shame can be good motivators to change, these often cripple us. Therefore, our reasons for closing ourselves off from other men are greatly and tragically ironic.  We fear this judgment from other men – other men who struggle with the same things we do and may even be worse off than we are. We do not want to feel the embarrassment of others looking at our weakness, but this just means we will continue to be weak. I could go on about how many advantages there are to mutually sharing your struggles with one or two other men, but I will leave it at this.

I am writing this as I look forward to the men’s retreat, which, if you are reading this, has already happened.  I hope that the weekend is one of greater intimacy and we can grow to become friends and brothers who will undergo adversity together.

You are the light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hid.Matthew 5:14

We sing a song that says there’s a call come ringing over the restless waves to “Send the Light”. We are the light!  Do we let our light shine? Would your coworkers or your fellow students or neighbors know you are a Christian? Actions speak louder than words.  Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount, told us to let our light shine wherever we go.  We should let our light shine at home, school, ballfield, vacation and wherever we go.  Let me encourage to let our lives reflect a Christian life so we can glorify our Heavenly Father.

For at one time you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, walk as children of light. Eph.5:8

If we are to walk as children of light, we must seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. Matt.6:33

We must turn our lives away from anything that resembles darkness. Which could be sin, disobedience, and wanting to be like the world around us.  We must commit to living a good Christian life and living in the light.

But if we walk in the Light, as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

Brothers and Sisters, be a bright and shining star in this dark and evil world. (Phil 2:15).  Be in prayer that Summit will be a light in the community and in the darkness of evil.

Pray that we will “Be that Light”.

I recently wrote a bulletin article on the primacy of actions over mere talk. However, I prefaced that article by saying words alone are indeed powerful. Some might object to this. I have heard a well-meaning, Christian gentleman say in dissension, “If sermons and words could change the world, it would have happened long before now.” Well, sir, sermons and words have changed the world for both good and bad. On the day of Pentecost, it was a sermon delivered by Peter that convicted the hearts of three thousand people to turn to Christ. Conversely, the words of false teachers are of great danger to the church.

Furthermore, one need not look any further than the first page of the Bible to see the power of words. Unlike many ancient mythologies, the Bible does not report God fashioning the world through defeating some sort of primordial monster or through some great feat of physical strength. God creates the world through language. All that God needed to do was speak and reality was formed. Human words also have this capacity of altering or creating. In fact, true power lies within the language we use to see the world. For example, the world was a very different place before Charles Darwin wrote The Origin of Species. The words in these books completely changed the way scientists and, eventually, the public looked at the world. Much of modern society has been impacted by these mere words. Words have power to change the world. Therefore, some groups are trying to change the terminology we use to talk about gender. They want our language to construct a (false) reality that reflects their ideas about gender. Words have power.

All this is to say how we need to be conscious of how language has power over us and vice versa. The Bible has the power to change lives and for us to see the world and history as God sees it. Our words have the power to shape the way people think and live. I hope that we can use this God-given power to God’s glory and try to construct God’s kingdom to earth as it is in heaven.

A long time ago, in a far and distant land, I was a soldier. To my back was the 1,200 mile Namib desert and to the front was the enemy. As an infantry soldier we would spend two weeks patrolling and protecting the border – followed by a week in the base camp. Near the end of the week in base camp we would start complaining about everything. The food, the water, the insects, the heat, etc. But, while on patrol we would dream of how good it was at base.

Similarly, Christians who are busy long for their weekly spiritual Sunday feast. The singing, prayers, sermon, communion, and contribution times are wonderful. With great fervor they sing:

To the work! to the work! we are servants of God,

Let us follow the path that our Master has trod;

With the balm of His counsel our strength to renew,

Let us do with our might what our hands find to do.

Refrain: Toiling on x4: Let us hope, let us watch, And labor till the Master comes (Fanny J. Crosby, 1820-1915).

Friend, are you a functioning servant of God contently following the path that our Master has trod, or are you disgruntled and spiritually bored?

Ephesians 4:11–16 (ESV) — ¹¹ And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. ¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

In the summer of 2018, I joined an organization called The Strenuous Life (TSL). The purpose of this organization is to challenge men to be useful to others by learning and acquiring new skills and abilities. TSL is aimed at helping men to stop being sedentary and wasteful and start doing difficult tasks that will help sharpen them to the benefit of themselves and their communities. While I have been disappointed and annoyed by certain aspects of TSL, its core philosophy is admirable: action is important. Sometimes a Latin phrase is even used to talk about the supremacy of action, res non verba, “things, not words,” or “deeds, not sayings.”

Words are powerful tools, but only if they are linked with action. I can preach and teach all day, but unless the listeners take action, my words are only waves of sound. Similarly, I can make elaborate plans on how to win others to Christ or become a better Christian myself. However, if these plans do not produce action, they are utterly futile. It is not enough to know what to do, we must actually do it (Jas 4:17)!

There are even occasions where actions are more powerful than words. Peter commands wives, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, in order that if anyone [of them] does not believe the Word, they may be won over through the conduct of their wives without a word” (1 Pet 3:1; emphasis mine). Many non-Christians will look at us and see Christ in us through our humility and submission. Our actions, then, compose a ‘living Bible’ of sorts, encased in flesh and sinew rather than leather and thread. We may be the only Bible someone ever reads in their life. Will you be practitioners of the Word rather than hearers (or preachers) only (Jas 1:22)?

A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they were drawing.  She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s work.   As she came to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.  The girl replied, “I’m drawing God”.  The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows what God looks like”.  Without missing a beat or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, “They will in a minute”. 

We remember the words of David in Psalm 8: “Out of the mouth of babes and infants…” or “Through the praise of children and infants…”.  It is amazing to see and hear the innocent truth and wisdom of children.  Jesus loved children.  Mark records an event in Jesus’ life that shows how important they were to Him.  In chapter 10, the disciples rebuked parents who brought their children for Jesus to touch.  Jesus became indignant toward His disciples.  He said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it”.  He then took the children in his arms and blessed them.

A young child puts their complete trust in their loving parents.  They are always reaching to be held and comforted when they are afraid or anxious.  Sometimes children just want to be close to the one who completely loves them. (AND BELIEVE ME, THEY KNOW WHO LOVES THEM.)  We must show that same kind of child-like trust and love toward our Lord and God who wants to hold us in His loving arms, which provide a safety net to protect us.  When we reach out we will feel the comfort and love from the One who loves us.  He loves us more than life and proved it!  We must show that same innocent child-like love and trust toward Him as well.

Paul, in perhaps an unknowing way, described the face of God.  In his first letter to the Corinthians he wrote, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”.  One translation puts it this way:  “Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love”. (I Cor 13:13)

That is the face of God.  Children know what He looks like.   Do we?

I had a roommate in college who loved to gossip. He would talk amicably with one of his “friends” and then later that night I would hear him talking badly about that person behind their back. He was always eager to fill me in on the campus scuttlebutt or the latest social club drama. Although I loved this roommate and enjoyed his company, I often felt insecure around him and wondered if he ever said bad things about me behind my back.

“The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body” (Prov 26:22). Why is it that we so much want to tell and hear gossip? The psalmist even warns us, “Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure” (Psalm 101:5). Our apostle Paul also mentions gossip on six occasions, but always in a negative way (Rom 1:29; 2 Cor 12:20; 1 Tim 3:11; 1 Tim 5:13; 2 Tim 3:3; Titus 2:3).

If you struggle with gossip (or hear gossip frequently) I challenge you to flip this habit. Every time you crave to tell a juicy rumor, use that as an opportunity to say something positive and constructive. Do as Paul advises, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up…” (Eph 4:29). Tell your friends something you like about them. Tell them the most exciting thing you have ever done. If you really want to combat Satan with this strategy, use the temptation of gossip as a reminder to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to others. With him you have hope, you have a purpose, you have life and life eternal. Why would you not want to share this?

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named….” Eph 3:4-15

Scripture refers to the Church in so many wonderful ways.  The Church of the Living God (1 Tim 3:15), the Flock of God (1 Peter 5:2), God’s heritage (1 Pet 5:3 KJV), a spiritual house, a holy Priesthood (I Pet 2:5), the Lamb’s wife (Rev 19:7), the House of Christ (Heb 3:6 NKJV), the Bride of Christ (Rev 21:9), the Family in heaven and earth (Eph 3:15) and many more.  The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Ephesus, also refers to the church as the “household of God”, “a holy temple in the Lord”, and a “whole body joined and knit together.”  Paul wrote that Christ “loved the church and gave Himself for her…that she should be holy and without blemish.” Eph 5:25-27

God wants His church to be a family; a people that spend time together, love each other, care for each other, and put one another first.  When the people told Jesus that his mother and brother were there for Him, he answered, “whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother,” thereby declaring us part of His family.  Jesus told Peter, in Mark 10:29-30, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children, for my sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time-houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children….”  Jesus was reassuring Peter that he would have a family in the church that was bigger and better than anything he could imagine.

Too often we think of Church as a building that we go to, an event in which we participate, or an organization that provides a worship service and other programs.  But Church should be so much more, and it takes each of us all making effort every day and in many ways. 

If you want to study and discuss how we all can be the church that God intended us to be, come join our class, Church Reset, on Wednesday nights at 7pm.

This week we started a series on Jack Wilkie’s book, “Church Reset – God’s Design for so much more”. While we are all content that what we are doing is scriptural, we were left asking if this was enough. We also were wondering if this series would simply point out our inadequacies or if it would take us to new heights (faith plus works).

Unfortunately, our teacher cannot answer that question for us. As with all the lessons from God’s Word, it is up to the individual to decide to do more. For instance, how many lessons did Barnabas need before he gave “more”? As a preacher and teacher of God’s Word, I cannot force anybody to do what Barnabas did. Acts 4:36–37 (ESV) — ³⁶ Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, ³⁷ sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

For us to see the Church of Christ doing more, each one of us will need to be MORE INTENTIONAL, SACRIFICIAL, and PERSONAL.

Friend, are you willing to do just a little more? Will you INTENTIONALLY open your arms to that new student or Christian? Will you SACRIFICIALLY sit next to a visitor? Will you PERSONALLY write a weekly encouragement card?

Together we can be known as a people who DO MORE!