Tag Archives: the Church

The Fig Tree and the Church

Matthew 21

“Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!”  Immediately the tree withered.”

He cursed the fig tree and I found that curious. But He and His disciples moved on, so I went with them and left that figless tree standing there, cursed and withered.

A few days ago I came across it again and this time I studied it. Squinted long and hard until my vision cleared and now I have to get the words out before they drift away.

The fig tree had leaves, and from a distance it looked like it was a good tree. But when Jesus moved closer to the tree, it became apparent that the tree had no fruit. No figs on the fig tree is no bueno. But why?

Leaves on a fig tree appear with the fruit, or shortly after the fruit. If the tree has leaves, it should have fruit. So the tree had the appearance of bearing fruit from a distance, but there was no fruit. And that is what preaches in this story.

In John, chapter 15, Jesus told His disciples that every fruit bearing branch would be pruned, but branches that did not bear fruit would be cut off. He also told them that bearing much fruit would glorify God and prove they were His disciples. And finally, He said He had chosen and appointed them to bear fruit that would last.

Our fruit bearing is connected to our prayer lives, to God’s glory, and to the authenticity of our relationship with Him. I dare say, fruit matters.

But I keep coming back to one thing: the fig tree had the appearance of bearing fruit, because it had the leaves. But when Jesus drew near, fruitlessness was obvious. Nothing can hide from Him.

And now there are questions scrambling around in me.

What are the leaves that give the appearance that I am bearing fruit? The things that make me look good, but aren’t bearing anything of value? What glorifies me from a distance, but doesn’t actually glorify God?

But it isn’t just me. It’s all of us. The local church that makes up the global Church. Can we ask the same questions as a congregation? Are there leaves, but no fruit? Are we busy doing things that have no impact for the Kingdom? Do we look the part, but Lord help us if Jesus comes near?

The fig tree is but one of a number of lessons Jesus taught regarding outward appearance with no inward substance. In one in particular, He didn’t speak in a parable, didn’t use a word picture. He said what He said.

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:22-23)

Pleanty of leaves, but no fruit.

Father, forgive us. Have mercy on us. Heal us.

our culture of death is killing us

This is a follow up to my last post on gun control. Since that time, I attempted to purchase a rifle. Filled out the online form at the store, and assumed they would tell me there was a waiting period while a thorough background check was done. I figured it would take at least a few days. It took 10 minutes. I could have walked out of the store with my rifle less than 1/2 hour after walking in. The boy was confused when I told him I had changed my mind, but he could not have been more confused than me.  So I checked my state’s laws on gun purchases. No waiting period.

No time for a person to cool down. No space for someone to change their mind about killing their spouse, neighbor, teacher…whoever. And that’s just what I found in a very quick internet search. I’m sure there is much more that just wouldn’t make sense to me.

So yeah, I’m a Republican and a supporter of the 2nd Amendment. And I want some kind of gun control.  But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized that guns are only a very small part of the reason kids are shooting up their schools.

There is an argument about other countries who have tighter gun control laws, and lower incidents of gun shootings as a result. But surely that isn’t the whole story. So I want to ask questions about those countries that people talk about.

What is their abortion rate? How many of their cities have gangs, and children who witness murder, whether by gun or some other form on a far too often basis? What kind of television shows and/or movies are their children watching on a regular basis? What are the typical video games are people playing?

Do those countries have the same culture of death and desensitization to murder as the United States? Are their young people being raised with the same disregard for human life as ours?

While I do believe there needs to be some kind of gun control other than what currently exists, I do not believe that guns are the entire problem. And I don’t believe that gun control is the solution we think it may be.

The problem is our culture. And until we are willing to admit that, and take steps to change it, kids will continue to kill kids.

Unless we are willing to say that killing unborn children is wrong, our kids won’t believe it’s wrong. Unless we are willing to stop the barrage of violence that entertains them, they will continue to find death and murder to be primarily entertainment. They will not understand that you can’t just start the game over, as though death didn’t happen.

So the easy access, almost non-existent mental health checks, and various other loopholes in gun laws is a huge problem, and immediate change is needed. But it is just a floating piece of ice that looks easy to maneuver around. Because we don’t see the iceberg that is below the surface, and that iceberg is what will ultimately sink us.

I believe the Church can shift a culture. When we stand on truth and refuse to back down. When we choose to live counter-cultural lives. When we raise our children in a Kingdom culture. When we take the culture of the Kingdom of God into our workplaces. When we move into the spheres of this culture, bringing light with us into government, education, healthcare, the justice system, and the entertainment industry, to name a few.  When we choose, at every level, to live counter to the culture around us, including what we allow to entertain us. A culture is shifted when a stronger culture begins to move in. We have watched this happen in our country, to the detriment of our country. But I will always believe that the Church has the power to shift atmospheres, shift cultures, and shift this war that is threatening the next generation.

gun(out of) control

I try not to get entangled in the affairs of man, in the political system or the endless debates of right vs left. So I rarely comment on those types of posts, and I certainly avoid writing about them myself. But sometimes, you know. Sometimes a thing is just too big to ignore. Sometimes what’s happening makes me cry. Surprisingly, it’s not the school shootings I’m referring to (although they make my heart break hard and imagine my grandchildren and feel overwhelmed with sorrow). It’s the inevitable aftermath of biting and devouring that happens in this nation that makes me weep. It’s two sides that refuse to back down and who turn on one another because there is no one else to turn on. It’s all of us blaming each other because someone has to be responsible for this horrible thing, and it can’t be us.

I lean to the right. Conservative. I vote Republican. And I firmly believe in the right for citizens to bear arms, to be able to protect themselves and their families.

But something has to change. Someone has to step out of the ranks and move toward the middle ground. So I’m re-thinking my stand. Not entirely, just considering whether or not I’m standing there because it’s the right place to stand, or because that’s where a conservative, Republican-voting, right-leaning person is supposed to stand. Because I don’t think the luxury of that exists anymore. I don’t think we can just band together to try to outnumber the other side. I don’t think that voting a certain way means that I cannot think for myself.

Because our nation’s children are being killed off. And because of who I am, I lay that blame at the feet of Satan. Because of who I am, I know that this is a spiritual battle first and a gun control battle second. And because of who I am, I believe that we are not helpless. I believe things can be changed and the tables can be turned. I believe this is the role the Church must play. The role of prayer and covering and warfare belongs to us.

I believe that the generation the devil is trying to wipe out can become his greatest nightmare, if the Church will engage the war on a spiritual level.

But I also believe that something needs to shift in the natural as well. So I’m trying to really nail down where I want to take my stand. I don’t think it has to be all or nothing. Take away all guns or take away none. That’s the lie being sown into the battlefield between left and right. Sure, there are some who think no ordinary citizen should own a gun, and there are some who think that ordinary citizens should be able to have their own arsenal of mass destruction. But here, in the land of reality, I don’t think the majority are thinking either of those things.

I wish we could all just come to the table, and leave our hostility outside. Leave our political persuasions outside. Leave our pride and our anger outside, and just, for the love of good and our children, come to the table with a desire for a solution.

I’m willing to step out of the ranks of my conservative, right-leaning army and say that I do not believe that a 19-year-old boy should have access to an AR-15, for any reason. I  believe there needs to be a drastic change to how anyone of any age is able to get access to any kind of gun, and by that I mean it needs to be a very hard process.  I think there should be over the top punishments given for any crime involving a gun, as in NO crime that involved a gun should end up with a ruling of “probation”. Jail time every time. And three strikes you’re out. I think those who sell guns have to be at this table and they have to want to make it hard for someone to buy what they’re selling. For the sake of our children.

Beyond that, I don’t know. I just know that a house (nation) divided against itself will not stand, so at some point everyone trying to take a stand will no longer have that freedom. So it may be a good idea for us to consider sitting down. Together. As humans. As citizens of a nation that is imploding. As mothers and fathers. As people who think that our children are more important than our political beliefs. More important than our rights. More important than our need to be right. More important than left or right, liberal or conservative. Our children are important enough to lay aside our politics and come to the table with actual ideas. And a willingness to listen. That means we have to be able to acknowledge that the other side is not necessarily wrong, just because they are on the other side.

I believe that we are parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and we love the kids in our lives and we are sick and tired of people shooting at them. So what are we going to do about it?

Comments are good. Dialogue…good thing. A conversation about this epidemic is most welcome. But either side spewing out the same old opinions, justifications, and explanations? Nah. We have to start a new conversation.

Heroes: Cain & Abel—What are you pointing at?

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did.

I’ve read commentaries. Looked up the original words in Hebrew. Tried every way I know to peek underneath this verse, but the fact is, God never tells us why He preferred Abel’s offering over Cain’s. But we can still go deeper and find the treasures hiding here.

Cain’s response to God’s rejection of his offering is anger. Not repentance. Not humility. Anger and pride. And God took it as a teaching moment and said to him ‘If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

Cain did not take it as a learning moment, and instead, killed his brother.

I think, and it’s just opinion talking here, that Cain’s offering was like a man going through the motions with God. It was made more out of obligation than faith. And when he saw Abel, and not himself, receiving the approval of God, he showed his true heart.

It’s almost like Cain’s offering is pointing directly at a spirit of religion. And a spirit of religion is always a mask worn by pride. Note that Cain did, in fact, bring an offering to God, giving the appearance of obedience and reverence. But then God unmasks Cain’s pride by refusing his offering. Once unmasked, we see Cain’s anger and petulance toward God, even when God questions him about the disappearance of his brother.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

Unmasked, Cain’s true attitude is on display. And then, we see even deeper, when God tells him the consequences for killing his brother.

“But Cain answered the Lord, ‘My punishment is too great to bear! Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.’”

Again, no repentance. No sorrow for his sin. Only prideful concern for self. And while we can see this on the backside of this story, we know that God knew it before it ever happened. 

In contrast, Abel’s offering was given by faith. And his offering was “some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions”.  The fat is defined as the best, or most excellent of any kind. 

So Abel’s offering, by faith, was a blood offering, made from the sacrifice of the first-born, the best, or most excellent of any kind. And, ultimately, Abel was persecuted for his faith, was he not?

So, if Cain’s offering points to a spirit of religion, is it possible that Abel’s offering points to the Gospel of Christ, and His Church?

jesus-cross

For some reason, this makes me weep, this treasure buried back in the beginning. Not just a collection of stories that we blow the dust off every now and then, but markers pointing to the cross and to the Firstborn, the perfect lamb, who offered the Father His life as our ransom. So that we could become His Church.

And I am compelled to ask God, what about me? What do I take from this for my own life?

Slow down and take a deeper look at what you do ‘for Me’. Do your offerings point to the Gospel of Christ and His Church, or do they point to a religious spirit? Simply put, are your offerings to Me coming from faith, or from pride?

This question goes far beyond tithes and offerings. It seeps into our ministries, into our volunteering, into how we operate in our giftings, our prayer lives, our giving, and even in our presence on social media. The question goes deep into everything we do, including our relationships with others and with God. Because our whole lives are to be the offering.

Are we bringing offerings that please God? Or do we just assume He accepts whatever it is we do in the name of Jesus?

There’s a good chance someone may discover the answers on the backside of my story. But what makes me stop and need to put my face on the floor is this…

God already knows.

church huddle

huddle-upCan we just huddle up for a moment, Church? You, me and Jesus…can we make a plan, get our story straight? Because it’s about to become very armageddon-ish out there, and I think we just need to set the ground rules, do some pinky swearin’, re-up on who we are, you know? Because it’s goin’ down tomorrow, and we can be sure of one thing — emotions will be running high on both ends of the feeling stick. So we’ve got one day to make a decision.

As the royal priesthood of God, those who have been entrusted with the gospel, with the very message of Christ, those who are called to walk in love, in mercy, in kindness, and in compassion. As children of the unmoving, unchanging, all-knowing, all-powerful, ever-present King of kings — how will we respond?

If we don’t know how we’re going to handle it if one candidate wins instead of the other, then I’m thinking we need to introduce our faces to the carpet and let them meet together until we reach a decision. We have the mandate to walk in the Spirit but you and I both know the temptation to walk in flesh will be oh so strong. We are human, and we’re about to have some very human emotions, so we need to figure out what we’re going to do.

We need to decide today who we’re going to be tomorrow.

So, since I’m the one with the talking stick at the moment, here I go.

mean-kidsNo name calling. No accusations of self-righteousness, idiocy, traitor and the like. I know, it shouldn’t even need to be said, but it does. Because I’ve been on the playground too and I’ve heard it. From us. Let’s just go ahead and decide now not to be the mean kids.

No fear mongering. No throwing our hands up and saying all is lost. We are not chicken littles and the sky is not falling. We are the Church, and God is in charge of the sky staying where it is. Or not.

No gloating. If the person you voted for wins, you will not act like you parted the sea and saved our country. You did not. At best, you obeyed God in the voting booth. Any and all glory for anything whatsoever always belongs to God. Amen?

No political party blaming. That’s right. We don’t do that because that is beneath who we are. We will not attempt to accuse or blame people who have a different political persuasion than us that they have just ended the world as we know it. We will not throw dramatic hissy fits. Or hissy fits in general. It’s unattractive.

We will not engage in senseless arguments that end up pushing others away as we try to make ourselves feel better, validated, vindicated or better than, letting our flesh have a dance party all over the place. Seriously. No one wants to see that.

We will, as God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Because this is what we do, this is how we live. This is who we are.

We will be at peace because we were called to peace.

We will dwell on whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable. 

We will maintain our stance, not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. 

That’s right. Whoever wins the battle for the White House, we are still at war. But we do not fight on the enemy’s terms. While he would have us drawing blood from one another, leaving him unscathed and uninterrupted, we are the Church and we. don’t. play. like. that.

We will take our fight to the battlefield on which we are most equipped for victory. As those who are called by His name, we will humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. Because we know, don’t we Church? We know His promise.

…then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

We will take up our cross and deny ourselves. We will love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind, and we will love others as ourselves. We will not return evil for evil, but will overcome evil with good. We will speak the truth in love, not shout it in anger. We will do this in our own lives, in our homes, in our cities, and in our country. Because that is how the Church does war. That is how we refuse the enemy’s attempts to drag us through the mud during an election.

Whatever happens, Church, we don’t break rank. We do not behave as people we are not. No matter what, we will conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Yes? Let me hear you, Church.

Good huddle everyone. You are awesome and I know that, by the power and grace of God, we can do this!

 

eph-3-20

the prayer that changed my prayer

“For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles—”

This is Paul’s opening to chapter 3 of his letter to the Ephesians. And then he goes off-roading a bit, with the explanation of his calling to preach to the gentiles. This is why we have to connect Paul’s prayer in chapter 3, not to the 12 verses above it, but to the ending verses in chapter 2.

So it would look like this:

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.  And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

“For this reason I kneel before the Father…”

templeHis language points back to the Old Testament and the building of the temple…the dwelling place for God’s glory.

And then he prayed for power. Power to trust Christ so He could dwell in their hearts. Be at home there. Settle down and ‘dwell fixedly there’. (Vines Expository Dictionary)

He tells them that they are rooted and grounded in love. The words speak of a foundation. The foundation for the gentiles being included into the family of God was love.

{We, you and I, are laid upon that same foundation. Love is why we are His.}

He prayed that God’s power would enable them to grasp the dimensions of Christ’s love, how truly expansive it is, and to know that love.

And I heard God speak to me words that began a quaking in me.

“How wide, high, long and deep was the chasm that sin created between you and Me? I want you to intimately experience the love that poured into that chasm, filling it completely and beyond, until it was a chasm no longer.”

{This grasping has me gasping for air.}

..and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.

gnōsis. It is the general knowledge of the Christian religion.

{Take what you think you know about the love of Christ, throw it as far as you can and see where it lands. His love will go beyond it. That is love that surpasses knowledge. It is beyond what we can know with our minds, no matter how much we investigate and study.}

He LOVES more than we can KNOW.

Power for faith. Power to grasp love. Power to know love.

{Everything needs the power of God. Everything.} 

Why was he praying for all of this?

So that God, and His glory can fill the temple…the Church…you. me.

Paul didn’t pray what he prayed because it sounded good, and maybe had a shot at being answered.

{He prayed what God breathed.}

But it is God’s next breath that has changed my prayer life.

Ephesians3-20-detail-150x150More. IMMEASURABLY more. Exceedingly above and beyond more. More than I can ask. More than I would even consider asking, could imagine asking.

My prayers do not set the boundaries for God. They are not His finish line, they are His starting line.

Ephesians 3:14-21; Ephesians 2:19-22; 2Timothy 3:16

a sovereign plan

The spread of the gospel for the building of the Church was in no way accidental or coincidental, but was perfectly planned by God.  If we step back from the story contained in the book of Acts, we can catch glimpses of the sovereignty of the Planner. I cannot help but consider how foreign His ways seems to us today.

“But the Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name!’”  Act 9:15-16

The man who had been zealously persecuting the church, was God’s chosen instrument to build the church.  And Galatians 1:16 tells us that he had been chosen long before the encounter with Jesus knocked him off his high horse. Paul had been “set apart from birth”.

Would we consider that God would call someone so vehemently against Christianity to become it’s chief champion? Many of the believers of his day didn’t. “When he came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple.” Acts 9:26

“Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.”  Acts 16:6-7

God didn’t come up with the overall plan and then leave the details to Paul. The whole plan, including the details, belongs to God. Paul thought it would be good to go to Asia, but God wanted them in Macedonia.  

We know God has a plan, and that He is still building His Church. But deep down, do we believe that He’s leaving the details up to us?

“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.’ So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.”  Acts 18:9-11

In Acts 22:17, Paul was telling the crowd in Jerusalem the story of his conversion. He told them that the Lord said to him at that time, “Quick! Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.”

The care and protection of God is so clear.  He alone knows whether we are to stay put, or get out quick, and He will not hide it from us. Does He still speak to His Church so clearly today? I believe He does. The question is do we hear Him? Or have we become skilled enough at this thing, that we are no longer desperate for the voice of God to direct our next step?

In the overview of Acts, I see the sovereignty of God. His plan for His Church, being carried out by His followers, at His direction.  He is sovereign down to the smallest detail.

He has not changed, and neither has His plan.

And if we believe that He is still, in His sovereignty, carefully tending to the building of His Church and the completion of His plan, watching over every detail, setting up divine appointments, and using the most unlikely of people…do we also believe He is doing the very same thing in the individual lives of His followers? Do we view our lives as being the plan of God? Do we see the trials and the shipwrecks as all part of that plan? Do we believe that our coming and going, and the timing of it all, is held in the heart of God?

Or do we know He has a plan, but deep down believe He’s left the details to us?