I don't like to wait. I'm not sure very many people like to wait. Yet David in Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." In Proverbs 20:22 Solomon says, "Do not say, 'I'll pay you back for this wrong!' Wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you." And then in Isaiah 30:18 Isaiah says, "Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he raises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait on him!"
I believe the message is pretty clear - Wait On The Lord!
So what does it mean to wait on God. It doesn't mean to just stop doing anything. Waiting is not passive it is active. Waiting is continuing to do the last thing God told you to do and waiting for more directions. Waiting is not inactivity.
I had a great experience on waiting on God. We have been praying about bringing in an team to do outreach in our community. We wanted to get them into our schools. I had planned to go and ask the schools about the possiblity of this. I have been praying about this for over nine months. Then one day recently I got a phone call from the schools asking me if we could help arrannge this team to come into the schools. I had for nine months been praying and talking to people about it. It was one of this people that I shared the vision with that brought it to the school authorities.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is waiting on God. It is letting God lead and following His direction. I is not getting a head of God or lag behind Him but step by step staying with Him.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Problem of Hypocrisy
It seems the church has a PR problem. When people are asked their perception of the church one of the most frequently mentioned traits is hypocrisy.
There seems to be three reasons for this response.
One, people want an excuse to not be involved in the church.
Two, people misunderstand the church and what the church teaches.
Three, the church is hypocritical.
It is on the third one I want to focus because there in nothing the church can do about the first one. And if we deal with this third one it will help solve the second one.
So is the church hypocritical? The answer to that question is - Yes!
The church is the people. The question then really is are Christians hypocritical? The answer is of course we are. All people are hypocritical at times. Hypocrisy is simply saying one thing and doing another and we all at times do that. Hypocrisy is also not living out what you say you believe which is more serous, but again something we are all guility of at times. Is it more crictical for Christians to not be hypocritical and live out what we say we believe? Yes, it is. It also critical that we live out what God teaches us in His Word.
You may be asking why? Why is it more critical for Christians to live out their beliefs? It is simple. What we believe as Christians and how we live it out affects a person now and for eternity. If I say I am a Republican but vote for a Democrat it might affection an election but little else. If I say I believe that will go to watch someone play a baseball game and don't I might hurt their feelings but little else. If I say I believe in God but live like I don't than I could affect many people' s perception of God and thus their eternal existence.
It is very important for Christians to live out what they say they believe. How do we do that? I believe that there are three anidotes to hypocrisy.
One anidote is integerity. We live with integerity by living out what the Bible teaches and thus what we say we believe. You can't be a Christian without believe that the Bible is God's Word and the authority in telling us how to live. If we as Christians would live out the truth of God's Word and thus reflect the truth of God to the world we would not be guility of hypocrisy.
The second anidote is purity. Purity means the desire to live holy and with integrity. We will never live with integrity unless we desire to. Purity allows us not only to live out the truth of God's Word but to also have a godly motivation in doing it. Purity allows us to really see not only that we care about them but that God loves them.
The third atidote is transparency. Transparency means that when I blow it and am guility of hypocrisy (and I will be) I will admit it. When a person sins the first thing God tells us to do is confess it and repent of it. Transparency means that I don't have to try and pretend that I have it all together. I can admit my struggles, my failures, even my sins. Transparency means I am Real not fake. People aren't looking for perfect. They are looking for real.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls helps deal with the problem of hypocrisy because integrity, purity and transparency are components of Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls.
Without Hypocrisy Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls.
Joe
There seems to be three reasons for this response.
One, people want an excuse to not be involved in the church.
Two, people misunderstand the church and what the church teaches.
Three, the church is hypocritical.
It is on the third one I want to focus because there in nothing the church can do about the first one. And if we deal with this third one it will help solve the second one.
So is the church hypocritical? The answer to that question is - Yes!
The church is the people. The question then really is are Christians hypocritical? The answer is of course we are. All people are hypocritical at times. Hypocrisy is simply saying one thing and doing another and we all at times do that. Hypocrisy is also not living out what you say you believe which is more serous, but again something we are all guility of at times. Is it more crictical for Christians to not be hypocritical and live out what we say we believe? Yes, it is. It also critical that we live out what God teaches us in His Word.
You may be asking why? Why is it more critical for Christians to live out their beliefs? It is simple. What we believe as Christians and how we live it out affects a person now and for eternity. If I say I am a Republican but vote for a Democrat it might affection an election but little else. If I say I believe that will go to watch someone play a baseball game and don't I might hurt their feelings but little else. If I say I believe in God but live like I don't than I could affect many people' s perception of God and thus their eternal existence.
It is very important for Christians to live out what they say they believe. How do we do that? I believe that there are three anidotes to hypocrisy.
One anidote is integerity. We live with integerity by living out what the Bible teaches and thus what we say we believe. You can't be a Christian without believe that the Bible is God's Word and the authority in telling us how to live. If we as Christians would live out the truth of God's Word and thus reflect the truth of God to the world we would not be guility of hypocrisy.
The second anidote is purity. Purity means the desire to live holy and with integrity. We will never live with integrity unless we desire to. Purity allows us not only to live out the truth of God's Word but to also have a godly motivation in doing it. Purity allows us to really see not only that we care about them but that God loves them.
The third atidote is transparency. Transparency means that when I blow it and am guility of hypocrisy (and I will be) I will admit it. When a person sins the first thing God tells us to do is confess it and repent of it. Transparency means that I don't have to try and pretend that I have it all together. I can admit my struggles, my failures, even my sins. Transparency means I am Real not fake. People aren't looking for perfect. They are looking for real.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls helps deal with the problem of hypocrisy because integrity, purity and transparency are components of Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls.
Without Hypocrisy Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls.
Joe
Friday, September 7, 2012
The Real Problem
I have listened to both the Republican and Democratic versions of what is wrong with our nation. I have listened to both of their solutions. I want to say this with love and not be too rude, but they are both full of crap.
If the real problems of our country are going to be solved, we first have to be honest. The Republicans and Democrats and all the other political parties are addressing the symptoms not the root cause. The problem is not the economy or the educational system or crime or violence. Those are simple the symptoms of the real problem. This country is where we are today because of a lose of character. We have lost our godly character. We have been so busy chasing the "American Dream" that we have compromised every right and good thing to try and get it.
Let's look at three examples of this truth.
First, let's look at the economy. The problem with the American economy and for that matter the world economy is GREED. We are in the situation we are in economically becasue people want more than they can afford or even need. And there are people who will risk giving it to them so they can earn even more money.
Second, let's look at the educational system. The problem with the educational system is not in the system. It is first in the parents of children who do care and have raised their children not to care. Ask any teacher and that will tell you that the vast majority of the parents who come to parent-teacher conferences are the parents of the students who are doing good or striving to do good. The parents of the students who don't try because they don't care, don't come. They don't come because they as parents don't care. Another reason our educational system is not working is because in the hast and panic to fix the problem, politicans have established fixes that made things worst. We are blaming teachers and the schools for things they didn't cause and they can't fix. We have given schools the responsibility to parent the children. That will never work. That will never fix the problem. The problem is Apathy and Irrresponsibility of the parents and children.
Third, let's look at the social problems in our culture today. Thins like violence, teen pregnancy, and drug addiction. The answer we are hearing for many about these problems addresses again the symptoms. The root cause of the social problems that we see is a Denial of Truth. This denial leads to an inability to communicate Right and Wrong.
I believe that living out the truths that Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls entails will lead to solutions to these and other problems. The reason is simply that Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is based in the unchanging truth of God's Word.
The solution to the economy is found in Philippians 2:3-4 which says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
The solution to the educational system is found in Ephessians 6:4 which says, "As for parents, don't provoke your children to anger, but rasie them with discipline and instruction about the Lord."
The solution to the soical problems is found in Isaiah 56:1 which says, "This is what the Lord says: 'Be just and fair to all. Do what is right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you and dispaly my righteousness among you.'"
The model for solving our nation's problems are the life and words of Jesus.
Let's quit trying old, tired, man-made answers and go to some new, fresh God-made solutions.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
If the real problems of our country are going to be solved, we first have to be honest. The Republicans and Democrats and all the other political parties are addressing the symptoms not the root cause. The problem is not the economy or the educational system or crime or violence. Those are simple the symptoms of the real problem. This country is where we are today because of a lose of character. We have lost our godly character. We have been so busy chasing the "American Dream" that we have compromised every right and good thing to try and get it.
Let's look at three examples of this truth.
First, let's look at the economy. The problem with the American economy and for that matter the world economy is GREED. We are in the situation we are in economically becasue people want more than they can afford or even need. And there are people who will risk giving it to them so they can earn even more money.
Second, let's look at the educational system. The problem with the educational system is not in the system. It is first in the parents of children who do care and have raised their children not to care. Ask any teacher and that will tell you that the vast majority of the parents who come to parent-teacher conferences are the parents of the students who are doing good or striving to do good. The parents of the students who don't try because they don't care, don't come. They don't come because they as parents don't care. Another reason our educational system is not working is because in the hast and panic to fix the problem, politicans have established fixes that made things worst. We are blaming teachers and the schools for things they didn't cause and they can't fix. We have given schools the responsibility to parent the children. That will never work. That will never fix the problem. The problem is Apathy and Irrresponsibility of the parents and children.
Third, let's look at the social problems in our culture today. Thins like violence, teen pregnancy, and drug addiction. The answer we are hearing for many about these problems addresses again the symptoms. The root cause of the social problems that we see is a Denial of Truth. This denial leads to an inability to communicate Right and Wrong.
I believe that living out the truths that Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls entails will lead to solutions to these and other problems. The reason is simply that Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is based in the unchanging truth of God's Word.
The solution to the economy is found in Philippians 2:3-4 which says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
The solution to the educational system is found in Ephessians 6:4 which says, "As for parents, don't provoke your children to anger, but rasie them with discipline and instruction about the Lord."
The solution to the soical problems is found in Isaiah 56:1 which says, "This is what the Lord says: 'Be just and fair to all. Do what is right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you and dispaly my righteousness among you.'"
The model for solving our nation's problems are the life and words of Jesus.
Let's quit trying old, tired, man-made answers and go to some new, fresh God-made solutions.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
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