Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....August 10, 2020
This is the 4th teaching in the series on serving our Glorious God...
The reality that not everyone believes in Christ challenges the Christian Church to see the opportunities around them to do good and in that way bring about change for the better.
Most of our memories of past church experiences are prescious. Let me encourage you to review all of your life's experiences, if, for no other reason, as a therapeutic reminder of how good God has been and how blessed you were to be part of the greatest enterprise ever.
Share recollections of "going to church" ... remembrances of your special events ... reflections on your involvement in the worship and work of the Lord's Church. To do so has a positive effect on how you feel, and how you fare as you move toward the finish - in the spirit of the old apostle: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”.
Paul was able to say emphatically, without doubt: "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who look forward to His appearing." (2 Tim. 4:8)
Paul was confident of the outcome of his faithful endeavors for the Cause of Christ because he had listened to the voice of God ... he had been led by the Spirit of God to live for Christ and become a powerful Christian witness.
The Lord got Saul's attention by interrupting his evil activities, demanding to know why he was trying to stop a Cause He initiated for the good of all people. In harmony with the Lord speaking to Paul, Jesus appeared to him in person - while the Holy Spirit persuaded him to be aware that he was on the wrong track.
The chief persecutor, stopped in his tracks by God the Father, confronted by God the Son, while his conscience was being pricked by God the Holy Spirit, did an about face and became not only staunch defender but chief defender of the Cause of Christ.
By the Spirit, Saul was convinced to repent of his evil intent --- to turn away from his hell bent determination to destroy the Christian Cause --- to turn his eyes upon Jesus --- to face the question, ""What will you do with Jesus" and to give the answer that had become the watchword of the early church: “Jesus is Lord."
So eager was Paul for the Church to accept their Spirit-endowed capabilities as empowered by the Holy Spirit for doing God's Will (sanctifying the Body of Christ . . . and spreading the Gospel unto the uttermost parts of the earth) that he expounded on the subject of spirituality at length in his first letter to the Corinthians - chapters 12, 13, 14, although this week's teaching focuses on just the first eleven verses - I Corinthians 12:1-11 . . .
Paul challenged mature believers to take a spiritual inventory of what God was up to in their Fellowship of excitement, right there in a diverse city that had become a melting pot of cultures, religions and customs. See God at work where you are! Then, as Henry Blackaby challenged us, “Join God in what He is doing.”
Great and mighty things were happening in the name of Jesus for the glory of God! Paul challenged them to look around and see what God was doing in and through the Church at Corinth - how God was using them to reach out to pagans, how the Holy Spirit was working in and through them so that people of every nation would at least have a chance to know Christ whom to know is life eternal.
Paul urged all Christians to understand, not be ignorant of one crucial fact, crucial for those who really do want to make a difference in the lives of others, particularly converts from pagan societies who grew up in unholy environments where Jesus was cursed and considered to be anathema, (something or someone you have hatred for)
Christians who have become spiritual-minded, committed to the Cause of Christ, give evidence, in word and in deed, of their confession: “Jesus is Lord”.
These mature Christians are the ones, most of those reading this teaching, assembly, congregation, fellowship of believers - through whom God the Holy Spirit works to bring to fruition God's goal for believers of being His and doing His Will. No doubt about it: They belong to Jesus!
In and through the lives of mature believers, the Holy Spirit works in varied ways to grow and develop the Body of Christ, to bring to pass that ideal for which Christians are taught by Jesus to pray: 'Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
As you know from your experiences in local churches, different members from different walks of life are assigned different roles and responsibilities , then equipped for involvement in different tasks, ministries and activities - all of which are important, but none to be taken lightly.
Paul made it clear, though, that: Whatever your gift ... if it does not honor Jesus as Lord, it is not of the Holy Spirit!
The pertinent point made to Corinthian Christians and to all who serve in some way in the Body of Christ is this: The Triune God, whose love was so great that He predetermined a plan of salvation that would require Jesus to die on the Cross, is at work in and through the Church to bring people to a saving knowledge and acceptance of His Son as Savior and Lord, and, to sanctify the saved.
Whatever your gift . . . If it does not honor Jesus as Lord, it is not of the Holy Spirit. If it does not benefit the Body of Christ, it is not of the Holy Spirit!
God words in and through each and every member of the Body of Christ for the benefit of the Church, the Community, the Cause of Christ worldwide.
As a believer in and disciple of Christ Jesus, the gift that you have been endowed with is a manifestation of the Spirit to be used for the common good.
Whatever your function in the Body may be, it is supposed to be performed, practiced, utilized, engaged in, as a part of and for the good of the whole.
Do you see here that the old apostle, who's been there, done that, seen it all, is trying desperately to bring everybody in the Church together, to act in unity. But! Unity does not mean uniformity!
All that we do, whether together as a congregation or singlehandedly as a unique individual created in the image of God yet endowed with one's own manifestation of the Holy Spirit that is quite different from another's, is to be done in the name of Jesus for the salvation of the lost, for the sanctification of the saved, for the glory of God!
There may be some merit in compiling a list of "gifts" or manifestations of God's Spirit - perhaps using some type of inventory by which to confirm one' s intuition or self-analysis regarding the "gift'' by which the Spirit manifests himself in your life and mine --¬ but be advised that there is no exhaustive list to cover them all.
Paul's lists varied because they were brought to his mind at the time or had been called to his attention for the purpose of clarification.
The author of a study guide I read once, (Richard Blackaby), suggests putting gifts into four broad categories in case we find it helpful to categorize how we see our functioning within the Body of Christ...as a member of our Lord's Church, your function as one part of the Body of Christ, be classified as ...
(1) Supportive . . . (2) Sharing . . . (3) Speaking ... (4) Supplemental ...
Sounds to me like the motto of a healthy functioning Church of Jesus Christ ought to be: All for One and One for All!
May our spiritual speaking - whatever form it takes - promote an attitude of humility- in keeping with our Lord's humility as expressed by Paul to the Philippian Church (2:5-11} ". . . that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow ... and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
With God as our Father, Christ as our Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit as our Companion, believers in Christ certainly have in common the greatest gift of all: Love - 1 Corinthians 13. I love you all:)
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door.
It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls,
career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across
the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy
life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to
spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing
could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The
funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old
newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
"Jack, did you hear me?"
"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of
him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.
"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were
doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of
the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.
"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make
sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said.
"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this
business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me
things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral,"
Jack said.
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his
hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no
children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to
see the old house next door one more time.
Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing
over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house
was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture,
every piece of furniture....Jack stopped suddenly.
"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.
"The box is gone," he said.
"What box? " Mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I
must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell
me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered
it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had
taken it.
"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better
get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from
work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required
on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within
the next three days," the note read.
Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and
looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was
difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention.
"Mr. Harold Belser" it read.
Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There
inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read
the note inside.
"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack
Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped
to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack
carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold
pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing,
he unlatched the cover.
Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time!
Harold Belser."
"The thing he valued most...was...my time."
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and
cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his
assistant asked.
"I need some time to spend with my son," he said.
"Oh, by the way, Janet...thanks for your time!"
A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door.
It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls,
career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across
the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy
life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to
spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing
could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The
funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old
newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
"Jack, did you hear me?"
"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of
him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.
"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were
doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of
the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.
"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make
sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said.
"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this
business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me
things he thought were important...Mom, I'll be there for the funeral,"
Jack said.
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his
hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no
children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to
see the old house next door one more time.
Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing
over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house
was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture,
every piece of furniture....Jack stopped suddenly.
"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.
"The box is gone," he said.
"What box? " Mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I
must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell
me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered
it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had
taken it.
"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better
get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from
work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required
on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within
the next three days," the note read.
Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and
looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was
difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention.
"Mr. Harold Belser" it read.
Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There
inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read
the note inside.
"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack
Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped
to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack
carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold
pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing,
he unlatched the cover.
Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time!
Harold Belser."
"The thing he valued most...was...my time."
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and
cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his
assistant asked.
"I need some time to spend with my son," he said.
"Oh, by the way, Janet...thanks for your time!"
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
This week in our look at the worlds religions, we focus of.....
Protestant Christianity
Protestant is an umbrella term generally used to describe a vast variety of churches that are neither Roman Catholic nor Eastern Orthodox. The name comes from the “protests” by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and many others against abuses of power and some doctrines in the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformers were people of the fourteenth through the seventeenth centuries who sought to bring change to Christianity in Europe. Their writings continue to exert substantial influence over hundreds of millions of believers today.
Historically, the Protestant Reformation began as an attempt to, as the word implies, reform Christianity. Luther and the others saw their efforts not as bringing anything new to the faith but as restoring biblical teaching and practice established prior to the development of Rome’s papal system. They didn’t intend initially to form a new church organization—they did so only after they were excommunicated (removed from membership) and threatened with death by the Catholic Church hierarchy. The congregations that followed the Reformers became the Protestant churches.
That the word reformed is utilized in countless ways today can be confusing. The Reformation period produced several organizations. The churches following Luther’s teaching and leadership came to be called Lutheran, while those that followed Calvin were called Reformed, even though both were part of the Reformation and are relatively similar in doctrine. Over time, the Reformed churches subdivided, usually along national lines, into many denominations (e.g., the Dutch Reformed Church, the Reformed Church of America). Calvin’s doctrines, with additions by a number of others, came to be called Reformed Theology, best known for its doctrine of God’s sovereignty, especially in election, God’s choosing of who will be saved. Over the years, newer denominations, notably the Presbyterians and many Baptist groups, embraced most of Calvin’s “reformed” doctrines, while disagreeing with some beliefs and practices of the Reformed Church.
Historically, two core issues framed the Protestant disagreement with Catholicism. The first concerns salvation, the way in which a person avoids God’s righteous judgment on the sinful nature and is reconciled into right relationship with him. Protestants insist that the Bible clearly states salvation is “by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone,” in contrast to a combination of grace and good works. The second, Sola Scriptura, is the belief that the Bible is the final authority for determining doctrine and practice rather than a combination of Scripture and tradition. Additional areas of divergence grew over time as Protestant leaders refined and developed their doctrines.
The various Protestant churches survived Roman Catholic attempts to exterminate them, in part because many European political leaders saw in them the chance to escape papal oppression and attain greater regional autonomy. Ultimately, Protestants contributed considerably to the rise of nationalism and the development of today’s European countries. This association developed into the state church system, in which a whole country officially recognized just one denomination (e.g., the Lutheran Church in Sweden or Norway).
Unfortunately, this also led to a number of wars, both civil (within one country) and between Catholic and Protestant countries. Some nations were tolerant of those whose beliefs were not in step with the state church, such as Holland, which, although officially Dutch Reformed, became a haven for persecuted Christians from France, England, and elsewhere (such as the Pilgrims who later settled Plymouth Colony in North America). Elsewhere, persecution of dissenters ranged from moderate to severe. In some Protestant countries, Catholics were persecuted, and many Protestants were killed in France and other Catholic countries.
Persecution extended even to other Protestants of the “wrong” variety. The Baptist pastor John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, spent much of his adult life in prison for refusal to “conform” to the Anglican Church.
New denominations proliferated as Protestant Christianity spread across Europe and then into North America. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the changes reached Africa and Asia. Without the central leadership authority that characterizes the Catholic Church, formation of new organizations is much easier. Sometimes these groups began because of doctrinal disputes. For example, Freewill Baptists in England split from the majority of Baptists (who theologically were closer to the Reformed Church). Some developed due to geography and politics. After American independence, for instance, Presbyterians in the U.S. chose independence from their Scottish origins. Baptists and many other American denominations split over slavery (it has been argued that this was more a doctrinal dispute than a political one).
Spiritual revival has also led to the creation of denominations. The Azusa Street Revival of 1906, for example, led to the formation of the Apostolic Faith Movement, the Assemblies of God, and many other Pentecostal groups. Sometimes new groups form because of conflict of personality or conviction between leaders.
The twentieth-century Ecumenical Movement attempted to reverse the trend of proliferation with the goal of merging Protestants into one organizational structure. They’ve seen limited success with the United and Uniting Churches in Canada and Australia respectively; in both countries Methodists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists merged into one organization. The movement has had more success encouraging cooperation between denominations through the World Council of Churches and its national affiliates than in bringing about organizational mergers and a reduction in the number of denominations.
How many Protestant denominations are there? The diversity and geographic expansion of Protestant Christianity makes counting difficult. There are more than fifty different Baptist groups just in the U.S., where the largest, the Southern Baptist Convention, has more than sixteen million members. Adding to the complications is globalization: If missionaries of one denomination in one country start new churches in another country and those churches form an association, is that a new denomination or part of the original? They are usually independent (though related) organizations, but not always. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, renowned researcher David Barrett counted 33,830 Protestant denominations globally (in World Christian Encyclopedia).
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou