TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL, PAUL…

Posted on December 30, 2015 by randscallawayffm

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TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL, PAUL…

Posted on December 30, 2015 by randscallawayffm

Being and Becoming Christian

Years ago, in the midst of emotional pain and panic, I reached out (actually exploded) to a dear friend, but not a believer, who gave me a succinct, but horrid, worldly solution in such a matter of fact voice that it shocked me to hear the words. My next thought was a prayer of repentance to my Heavenly Father. “Oh, Lord, God of heaven and earth, You have shocked me with the direct opposite of Your thinking so that I would turn back to You, trust and obey You in this matter. You and only You will see me through this in Your way and in Your time. And God did.

But how many times do we quickly see the difference these days? Are we “frogs in the kettle”, becoming so used to the increasing acceptance of sin all around us, as evil keeps turning up the heat, that we are slowing dying in the pot? This is the reason to get close and stay close to what God says in His Word, living as He says for our best.

Paul is pretty clear about how we should solve every day offenses in the church and outside the church. Read on, he doesn’t soft pedal his words!

I Corinthians 6, The Message
1-4 And how dare you take each other to court! When you think you have been wronged, does it make any sense to go before a court that knows nothing of God’s ways instead of a family of Christians? The day is coming when the world is going to stand before a jury made up of followers of Jesus. If someday you are going to rule on the world’s fate, wouldn’t it be a good idea to practice on some of these smaller cases? Why, we’re even going to judge angels! So why not these everyday affairs? As these disagreements and wrongs surface, why would you ever entrust them to the judgment of people you don’t trust in any other way?

5-6 I say this as bluntly as I can to wake you up to the stupidity of what you’re doing. Is it possible that there isn’t one levelheaded person among you who can make fair decisions when disagreements and disputes come up? I don’t believe it. And here you are taking each other to court before people who don’t even believe in God! How can they render justice if they don’t believe in the God of justice?

7-8 These court cases are an ugly blot on your community. Wouldn’t it be far better to just take it, to let yourselves be wronged and forget it? All you’re doing is providing fuel for more wrong, more injustice, bringing more hurt to the people of your own spiritual family.

9-11 Don’t you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don’t care about God will not be joining in his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom. A number of you know from experience what I’m talking about, for not so long ago you were on that list. Since then, you’ve been cleaned up and given a fresh start by Jesus, our Master, our Messiah, and by our God present in us, the Spirit.

12 Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.

Bottom line: Don’t take each other, as believers, to court and have outsiders decide your fate. Solve it among yourselves as a greater witness to the world who do not know Christ.

As my dad used to say, “you can be right and still be wrong.” He meant that sometimes living with the offense is a greater witness to fighting the offense. Let it go, make peace and move on. What difference will it make in a few months or years? Probably nothing. But how we handle it in the very beginning will speak volumes for eternity.

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Dear Heavenly Father, Paul is pretty clear on how to live this Christian life “in the most excellent way”. Help us to see offenses as opportunities to declare Your glory in our handling of them. Jesus, You set the example. You have surely convinced Paul! Continue to transform us, but do it gently. In Jesus Name and by His power we pray, Amen

Posted in Christian Living, Christian Perspective, Corinthians, Encouragement, Faith, Holy Spirit, hospitality, insight, Jesus, joy, Leadership, marriage, ministry, Prayer, Salvation, Teaching, Training, Truth, Uncategorized, Unconditional love, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

WHEN SOCIETY AFFECTS THE CHURCH MORE THAN THE CHURCH AFFECTS SOCIETY

Posted on December 29, 2015 by randscallawayffm

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WHEN SOCIETY AFFECTS THE CHURCH MORE THAN THE CHURCH AFFECTS SOCIETY

Posted on December 29, 2015 by randscallawayffm

Being and Becoming Christian

George Barna did a survey of church going Christians of the United States in the early 2000’s that gave a grave report of the state of their beliefs and resulting behaviors. There seemed to be no difference in the statistics of divorce in or out of the church, as an example. He bottom line, evaluative comment was this, “The church looks, talks and behaves just like those who don’t go to church.” There seems to be no difference. “Society, Barna goes on to say, is affecting the church more than the church is affecting society.”

Today, the church seems to be accepting more and more of what displeases God, allowing God’s intent for us as His people to get lost in our tolerance of all. I’m struggling with this. Are you? We are persecuted for standing up for what is right and wrong. A small piece of scripture, “do not judge” is thrown back in our faces by those who fight to justify their sins. It is a balancing act to confront sin but not judge.

Yes, “ALL have sinned”, you and I included, and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 8:28) That really means we sin, but we shouldn’t want to sin. We are forgiven by his compassionate grace, but we shouldn’t want to keep sinning and expect God to accept us as sinners with this attitude. The motivation of our hearts means everything to God. He knows when we are sincere. He knows when we are honest about sin and want to rid it of our lives. He knows when we are ready to give up the world and be transformed into His way of thinking and behaving. He knows our hearts!

It seems I can hear Paul’s grieving, compassionate heart as he pens the words that are strong, unworldly and unpopular to the church at Corinth. The Corinthian church could be any of our American churches today. We need repentance. All of us. We need to allow God’s continual transformation in us to be all He intended for us individually and corporately. God’s ways are uncompromisingly best for us. When will we learn?

1 Corinthians 5, The Message
1-2 I also received a report of scandalous sex within your church family, a kind that wouldn’t be tolerated even outside the church: One of your men is sleeping with his stepmother. And you’re so above it all that it doesn’t even faze you! Shouldn’t this break your hearts? Shouldn’t it bring you to your knees in tears? Shouldn’t this person and his conduct be confronted and dealt with?

3-5 I’ll tell you what I would do. Even though I’m not there in person, consider me right there with you, because I can fully see what’s going on. I’m telling you that this is wrong. You must not simply look the other way and hope it goes away on its own. Bring it out in the open and deal with it in the authority of Jesus our Master. Assemble the community—I’ll be present in spirit with you and our Master Jesus will be present in power. Hold this man’s conduct up to public scrutiny. Let him defend it if he can! But if he can’t, then out with him! It will be totally devastating to him, of course, and embarrassing to you. But better devastation and embarrassment than damnation. You want him on his feet and forgiven before the Master on the Day of Judgment.

6-8 Your flip and callous arrogance in these things bothers me. You pass it off as a small thing, but it’s anything but that. Yeast, too, is a “small thing,” but it works its way through a whole batch of bread dough pretty fast. So get rid of this “yeast.” Our true identity is flat and plain, not puffed up with the wrong kind of ingredient. The Messiah, our Passover Lamb, has already been sacrificed for the Passover meal, and we are the Unraised Bread part of the Feast. So let’s live out our part in the Feast, not as raised bread swollen with the yeast of evil, but as flat bread—simple, genuine, unpretentious.

9-13 I wrote you in my earlier letter that you shouldn’t make yourselves at home among the sexually promiscuous. I didn’t mean that you should have nothing at all to do with outsiders of that sort. Or with crooks, whether blue- or white-collar. Or with spiritual phonies, for that matter. You’d have to leave the world entirely to do that! But I am saying that you shouldn’t act as if everything is just fine when a friend who claims to be a Christian is promiscuous or crooked, is flip with God or rude to friends, gets drunk or becomes greedy and predatory. You can’t just go along with this, treating it as acceptable behavior. I’m not responsible for what the outsiders do, but don’t we have some responsibility for those within our community of believers? God decides on the outsiders, but we need to decide when our brothers and sisters are out of line and, if necessary, clean house.

Point to Ponder
With all of these words we cannot miss Paul’s heart’s desire in these key words in the middle of it all; “You want him on his feet and forgiven before the Master on the Day of Judgement”. Don’t miss that. It is not about judging, it is about RESTORATION of our beloved brothers and sisters as much as we would want that for ourselves when we sin.

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Dear Heavenly Father, We cry out for wisdom, insight and understanding. We offer our messy lives as an offering to You. Continue to do what you must to transform us to be all You intended for us to be. In Jesus Name, Amen But do it, gently, please.

Posted in Christian Living, Christian Perspective, Corinthians, Encouragement, Faith, Holy Spirit, hospitality, insight, Jesus, joy, Leadership, Macedonian Call, marriage, ministry, Prayer, Salvation, Teaching, Training, Truth, Uncategorized, Unconditional love, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

CARING ENOUGH TO CONFRONT

Posted on December 28, 2015 by randscallawayffm

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CARING ENOUGH TO CONFRONT

Posted on December 28, 2015 by randscallawayffm

Being and Becoming Christian

If I gave a class a list of spelling words and told them to go over them, study them, but I will not give a test over them, how many of those students would actually study the words? Probably no one. It’s as if I’m saying, I don’t care whether you learn or not. I will never come back to see if you know them.

Paul cares enough for his baby Christians in Corinth to confront them on issues that will hurt them and dishonor God with resulting actions and behaviors that are unbecoming. “I want you to grow up well, not spoiled”, he declares. We feel the emotions of father to children as he writes…

1 Corinthians 4, The Message
9-13 It seems to me that God has put us who bear his Message on stage in a theater in which no one wants to buy a ticket. We’re something everyone stands around and stares at, like an accident in the street. We’re the Messiah’s misfits. You might be sure of yourselves, but we live in the midst of frailties and uncertainties. You might be well-thought-of by others, but we’re mostly kicked around. Much of the time we don’t have enough to eat, we wear patched and threadbare clothes, we get doors slammed in our faces, and we pick up odd jobs anywhere we can to eke out a living. When they call us names, we say, “God bless you.” When they spread rumors about us, we put in a good word for them. We’re treated like garbage, potato peelings from the culture’s kitchen. And it’s not getting any better.

14-16 I’m not writing all this as a neighborhood scold just to make you feel rotten. I’m writing as a father to you, my children. I love you and want you to grow up well, not spoiled. There are a lot of people around who can’t wait to tell you what you’ve done wrong, but there aren’t many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God’s Message to you that I became your father. I’m not, you know, asking you to do anything I’m not already doing myself.

17 This is why I sent Timothy to you earlier. He is also my dear son, and true to the Master. He will refresh your memory on the instructions I regularly give all the churches on the way of Christ.

18-20 I know there are some among you who are so full of themselves they never listen to anyone, let alone me. They don’t think I’ll ever show up in person. But I’ll be there sooner than you think, God willing, and then we’ll see if they’re full of anything but hot air. God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life.

21 So how should I prepare to come to you? As a severe disciplinarian who makes you toe the mark? Or as a good friend and counselor who wants to share heart-to-heart with you? You decide.

Points to Ponder

1. We all need mentors who care enough to confront us in things that will cause us to crash if not taken care of in our lives.
2. We get to decide how we take in this information. Do we fight it, rationalize the evil in us, make excuses, or take it to heart as a help to us? Choose well and might save us.
3. Be careful of those who are arrogant and full of hot air, these are not mentors that will help you. They are only out to judge and make others feel worse. They step on us to lift themselves higher.
4. Accept they fact that being and becoming Christian means that we will be misfits in this world at times. Praise God, if you don’t fit!
5. We need to be mentors of those who are coming along behind us. We need to seek mentors who are just ahead of us.

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Dear Heavenly Father, There is so much here to think about in this passage, but as we do, we give you our lives once again as an offering back to You. Transform us to be and do all that YOU intended for us before we were even born. Thank you for caring enough to confront us through wise mentors, Your Word, and through the fellowship of other believers over the years. We ARE stil becoming…Help us, still.
In Jesus Name, Amen

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WAIT UNTIL ALL THE EVIDENCE IS IN!

Posted on December 27, 2015 by randscallawayffm

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WAIT UNTIL ALL THE EVIDENCE IS IN!

Posted on December 27, 2015 by randscallawayffm

Being and Becoming Christian

I teach the science of chromatography to fifth graders in ways that entice them to pursue possible careers in this field of study. STARBASE is an academy of exciting hands-on, minds-on learning that engage students and “wow” their senses. One of those ways is to have them role play the part of a forensic scientist, much like an Abby on NCIS. They are given one piece of evidence and perform a test to see “who did it”.

However, we then have a discussion about other possible motives, solutions to the puzzle, with other perspectives of looking at the evidence. Can we convict our alleged criminal on just this piece of evidence? Every student shouts, “NO, what if…”and then the stories of who this person really is and what might have happened comes into play. They form hypothesis with “we need more evidence”, instead of relying on what it looks like happened. But for sure, all the evidence must be gathered, judged and evaluated.

Paul reminds us that God does that. HE has all the evidence and looks at our hearts. Only HE can make the final judgement. We must not rush to making judgments about each other without knowing all the facts. It’s important to look at things from God’s point of view. Every. Time.

1 Corinthians 4, The Message
1-4 Don’t imagine us leaders to be something we aren’t. We are servants of Christ, not his masters. We are guides into God’s most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them. The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge. It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don’t even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless. I’m not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn’t mean much. The Master makes that judgment.

5 So don’t get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When he comes, he will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the “Well done!” of God.

6 All I’m doing right now, friends, is showing how these things pertain to Apollos and me so that you will learn restraint and not rush into making judgments without knowing all the facts. It’s important to look at things from God’s point of view. I would rather not see you inflating or deflating reputations based on mere hearsay.

What do we learn? Don’t rush to making judgements. That’s God’s work. Our work is asking God to make us holy before Him while answering the call to do the work He gave us to do with pure inner motives, following His purposes with sincere prayers. Our goal is to hear the final “well done” of God, from God when He calls us home.

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Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for this reminder that we are not the judge. We care enough to help others not fall off the cliff into destruction, take their hand and give a lift up, but we do not judge how they got there or how they live past their mistakes. We have more than enough work to keep ourselves focused on being and becoming more what You intended for us to be and do. Help us, Lord. This is a prevalent problem in our society.
In Jesus Name, Amen

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GOD MAKES US GROW…ONLY GOD

Posted on December 26, 2015 by randscallawayffm

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GOD MAKES US GROW…ONLY GOD

Posted on December 26, 2015 by randscallawayffm

Being and Becoming Christian

There are countless people in my life who came alongside me as I was figuring out how to live my life God’s way. It began with my family, of course, but extended to mentors and peers who gave me guidance. I asked for it. Because I think out loud in problem solving and wondering, I need people to “hear me out.” But ultimately, I counted on the Voice of God whispering in my heart, to take all the advice He had given to others to give to me, sort through it all, allowing HIM to make me grow. I’m still growing as He works continuously to transform me into all that He has ordained me to be and do. Why? Because I have learned enough in life to let go and allow Him to do it. He is God and I am not.

Paul sheds light on those arguing while they decide which human pastor is the “greatest” among them. (Yikes, how dangerous this is!) He begins by explaining who does what and gives the reasons why while pointing out that GOD does all the growing in us. We humans, at best, can only come alongside each other and help each other stay focused on the God we love and the Only and Only we want to please.

We are temple in which God resides. In what shape is our temple is the question to ponder today as we read Paul’s advice to the Corinthians in being and becoming Christian.

1 Corinthians 3, The Message
1-4 But for right now, friends, I’m completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and with God. You’re acting like infants in relation to Christ, capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I’ll nurse you since you don’t seem capable of anything more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything’s going your way? When one of you says, “I’m on Paul’s side,” and another says, “I’m for Apollos,” aren’t you being totally infantile?

5-9 Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working.

9-15 Or, to put it another way, you are God’s house. Using the gift God gave me as a good architect, I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely.

16-17 You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple.

18-20 Don’t fool yourself. Don’t think that you can be wise merely by being up-to-date with the times. Be God’s fool—that’s the path to true wisdom. What the world calls smart, God calls stupid. It’s written in Scripture,

He exposes the chicanery of the chic.
The Master sees through the smoke screens
of the know-it-alls.

21-23 I don’t want to hear any of you bragging about yourself or anyone else. Everything is already yours as a gift—Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world, life, death, the present, the future—all of it is yours, and you are privileged to be in union with Christ, who is in union with God.

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Dear Heavenly Father, Our foundation is Jesus Christ, Your Son and You make us grow on that foundation. Thank you for Truth in the Person of Jesus Christ. Thank you for giving Your best. Thank you for doing Your work in us so that we may grow and stop being such babies about life. Continue to do what You must to transform us. In Jesus Name, Amen…but do it gently.

Posted in Christian Living, Christian Perspective, Corinthians, Encouragement, Faith, Holy Spirit, hospitality, insight, Jesus, joy, Leadership, marriage, ministry, Prayer, Romans, Salvation, Teaching, Training, Truth, Uncategorized, Unconditional love, wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment