Departures

“…Some shall depart…” 1 Timothy 4:1

Every generation of Apostolics must confront perennial departures from the faith. Those of us who maintain the truths preached and taught by our pioneers must do more than wave goodbye. We have a solemn obligation to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” In non-essentials, we may not be intransigent, but we rise up against anything that threatens to uproot the tree of doctrine and sound biblical teaching. False doctrine must never go unchecked.

The so-called “relevancy” movement or “emerging church” movement that has gained some popularity in the last few years represents one such threat. This movement targets several fundamental oneness Pentecostal doctrines for change. Our pastors, ministers and saints need to strengthen their grip on these doctrines so that none of us becomes influenced by “seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.” I write this particular article as an opening round against beliefs that compromise or destroy signature apostolic teachings.

First, we all know that the blood of Christ is essential to salvation. The “relevancy” position, however, holds that the blood is applied at repentance; therefore they conclude that water baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost are unnecessary for salvation. Two egregious errors exist in this falsehood. One, the blood of Christ is applied at every step of salvation: repentance, water baptism and Spirit baptism.

The typology precedent may be seen clearly in the Old Testament book of Leviticus. The writer to the Hebrews shows the corresponding application in the New Testament. “For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” Hebrews 9:19-22. The blood was sprinkled everywhere! Couple with this the melding of remission of sin with water baptism in Acts 2:38, and we cannot divorce the blood from baptism. The conjunction of the blood with the Holy Ghost may be seen in the following scripture: “But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying…” Hebrews 9:7-8.

The second error is ignoring the Scriptural pattern of water and Spirit in the new birth. Not only is the blood applied at each point, but the critical role of baptism of water and Spirit in salvation means that these steps cannot be dismissed as irrelevant. To preach less than Acts 2:38 disqualifies one from being an Apostolic. Those departing from the faith need to read this: “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of…And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:14-15. Moreover, a wealth of scriptures demonstrates evidence for the essentiality of Jesus’ name in baptism, the infilling of the Holy Spirit and the Apostolic teachings on sanctification, justification, grace and faith.

The “relevancy” movement rejects the holiness lifestyle as obsolete standards of men, referring to it as Phariseeism. The Pharisees placed ceremonial rituals and customs above grace and faith. They were not criticized by Christ for their modesty and morality, but for their hypocrisy, their pride and their misplaced faith. An honest Bible reader, however, understands that living the Christ life entails presenting our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. Among many instances of this teaching is this: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1. To reject holiness as irrelevant, inconvenient or unnecessary is not an accurate portrayal of the Bible’s admonitions on how to live our lives.

My core problem with the “relevancy” movement is their hollow use of the word “relevant.” I believe that truth is timeless. When will the law of gravity become irrelevant? Or, the second law of thermodynamics? Or, the bill of rights? The truths of repentance, water baptism in Jesus’ name, the infilling of the Holy Ghost with tongues, the oneness of God, modesty and holiness in dress and behavior will never fade into irrelevance. Just ask the person who has recently emerged from the waters of baptism, breathing a sigh of relief from sins remitted. Ask someone who still feels the tingling from the Holy Ghost baptism experience. They will tell the entire world that the fundamentals of the Apostolic message could not be more relevant, even in today’s changing world.

I love this Apostolic message. I am not commissioned to preach anything else. Here I stand.

Where Are You Wearing Your Heart?

It came from Shakespeare.

“But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve.
For daws to peck at. I am not what I am.” -Othello

But Iago’s burst of emotion was not the exclusive province of the Bard of Avon. Today, we suffer through an epidemic of overexposed feelings, naked psyches and (I hate this expression) “letting it all hang out.” People assume the right to spray the walls with raw feelings on every conceivable subject, subjects that were once either banned or at least handled very delicately if it became necessary to talk about them. Going back to the Phil Donahue Show, a progressive stream of tabloid talk shows like the Oprah Winfrey Show and the Jerry Springer Show have found traction in our culture. They delve shamelessly into whatever prurient, perverse and deviant practice they can uncover, and recognize no boundaries of good taste or disgusting taboos. Driving it all is not only the shock value of the topics covered, but also the society-wide encouragement to blab, rat, snitch, unload and virtually disembowel oneself in front of a voyeuristic world.

Supposedly, this is all very cathartic. Freudian psychoanalysis, to one degree or another, we are told, puts us in touch with our true feelings and helps us understand ourselves better. “Talk about it; take off the mask; be real.” The deeper and darker the secrets, the more we rush to retch them up for public consumption. These offerings, transposed into pop psychology, have led many to revel in giddy transparency. By removing the old artificially imposed inhibitions that kept us locked in a plastic existence, we can finally enjoy personal freedom without pretense. We can say things that previously we only thought about saying. We can use words that used to be minced or redacted altogether. We can parade our long lists of faults and failures before the world. And why not? Nobody will think a thing about it. They will sympathize with us. We can all cry together.

We have not always believed this. George Washington said, “ Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.” Such sentiments are now considered quaint, but careful conversation has long been the standard of wise and prudent people. Most of us—at least those of us with high mileage—had elders who taught us manners and rules governing polite society. We were taught that our private lives were nobody’s business; that we should not openly display our personal feelings; that criticism should be kept low-key and confidential. We were taught to avoid public embarrassment and shame, whether given or received. We were trained to put the best possible face on a difficult situation.

Of course, it became obvious to a thinking public that hush-hush rules did not always serve us well. Unconscionable acts that deserved to be exposed were too often kept hidden from view. Probably all of us have personal knowledge of shameful acts, secret affairs or even criminal behavior that has never seen the light of day. We have seen people who pasted smiles on their faces when, in reality, they had just been devastated by some traumatic event. While some may have been privy to their turmoil, others didn’t have a clue because nothing was said and no facial expression let on that anything was amiss. An unwritten rule said that, in the interest of keeping the peace, a person’s inner pain had to be suppressed or even disregarded altogether. “Nobody wants to know about your personal problems,” we were scolded. The underlying message was “you are not important.” Such failings of our culture have led to much dysfunctionalism. Without getting into the bruising warfare between sociology and psychology, most of us now recognize that people need some kind of mechanism to release their emotions and yet preserve their dignity and position.

Is there a preferred strategy to follow? Should our lives be opened or closed? Are we better off to unburden ourselves of pent up emotions, or should we labor under the shroud of mystery and repression? Should we vent and curse the consequences, or withhold our feelings and live in the shadows of fear? Neither of these options seems very attractive. For those in leadership, the answer to the dilemma can be perilous to career or destructive to self and family. Recent history is dotted with such stories. For example, in the interest scoring points with a segment of society, politicians have confessed questionable actions of their past lives only to find that their candor turned voters against them. Ministers, CEO’s, high-ranking bureaucrats, sports legends and screen stars have all discovered that revealing past indiscretions or showing their true feelings can lead to serious falls from public grace.

The answer, I would suggest, is a compromise, a third way that is especially sensitive to the needs of those in leadership or those who need to set an example to developing personalities in their lives. We need to discern the differences in situations in which we can be totally transparent from those where prudence dictates presenting a discreet front to the world. The key lies in determining the best interests of everyone involved. For the spiritual leader, the best interests must be further tied to the spiritual well-being of those people. I contend, therefore, that giving in to our emotions has to be a function of our circumstances. If we find ourselves in a counselor’s office, or if we are in the company of a tried and true friend, “spilling our guts” is the only way to go. In front of our family, teaching a class of teenagers, or in an executive board meeting, however, guarding our feelings may be supremely important.

Moreover, venting our emotions must be qualified by what kind of emotions they are, i.e. anger, fear, love, joy, etc. It is okay to be seen shedding tears at a funeral or when someone has been hit hard by a personal tragedy. It is probably not okay to cry publicly over a rival’s criticism or a downturn in the business cycle. It is acceptable to show anger or displeasure when an employee makes a major blunder that he or she should have known not to make. It is not acceptable to show anger or displeasure because of a fight with a spouse or a waiter accidentally spilled some water. A vast difference of perception exists between sensitivity and instability. Unfortunately, too many leaders fail to discern this difference and seriously undermine their ability to lead. Success often hinges upon keeping one’s heart securely buttoned up behind one’s coat rather than wearing it on the sleeve.

It may not always be fair, but most people expect their leaders to model the kind of emotion, feeling and attitude that the entire group should embrace in the face of a challenge or a crisis. Leaders cannot crumple into an emotional heap at such times and expect followers to understand and pick them up. We require leaders to remain resolute, sometimes even impassionate, when trouble threatens. We do not want them to show fear or timidity, regardless of the imminence or intensity of the threat. We want them to be passionate, but not blindly or recklessly so. Leaders must always understand that they have individual futures and the corporate well-being in their hands.

This aspect of leadership not only warrants analysis and understanding, it also calls for a strategy that will ensure right handling of emotion. Historically, colossal failures and widespread suffering have transpired countless times because a leader let his or her emotions become the driving force behind critical decision-making. Conflict, warfare, ill-advised programs and deadly use of force remain in the memory banks of entire nations because their leaders totally abandoned sense and propriety in their conduct. In the following paragraphs, I offer a few basic guidelines by which leaders can measure themselves. They may not cover all the bases, but they do represent a start in thinking about the way leaders ought to lead responsibly and effectively.

Guard emotions that stem from personal matters. If you are upset because of a marital problem or a stressful situation in the family, make sure you put these feelings on hold when you enter your role as a leader. When you show up in public visibly upset because of a personal affair, you inject an unstable feeling into your followers. You may be able to get forgiveness once in a while, but if this becomes routine, people will lose confidence in your ability to lead. Eventually, you will become a joke to them and they will not respond to your leadership initiatives.

Never permit your emotions to become extreme for any reason. If something sad happens, you should not throw yourself on the floor and wallow around screaming and sobbing. If something good happens, running around hugging and kissing everyone may be seen as equally extreme. Extreme responses, whether in grief or celebration, are almost always non-productive. Sometimes the way one responds to an event, even to something good, can be destructive or tragic. Sports heroes, for example, have been known to injure themselves so severely in celebration that they brought their seasons or careers to premature end. A leader’s reaction to news should always be measured so as to convey the right attitude to people, but also keep the situation in control.

Make sure your emotions are appropriate to the situation. The old saying that the punishment ought to fit the crime has some application here. Never give a gold watch to someone who has completed a year’s worth of service, especially when you only gave a slight nod of appreciation to a faithful employee who retired after thirty years. We cannot always program our emotions, but emotions that are shown inappropriately or with bad timing will undermine a leader’s rapport with people. Much of this is intuitive, but insomuch as a response can be learned, it ought to be. Your followers should never look at each other and say, “That was strange,” when talking about your response.

Do not become emotional too easily or quickly. Immediate tears, laughter, anger or fear can cause concern in followers. Most of us equate responses that occur too quickly with instability or lack of control, neither of which benefits a person in a leadership position. A personal tragedy may evoke immediate tears or a show of grief, but matters that have to do with business or organizational issues need to be met with a pause and thoughtfulness before showing how you feel about it. When everyone else erupts in grief or outrage, you need to keep your head on straight. Your overall concern should be to keep the organization or group reasonable and calm. Chaos is seldom a good thing.

Understand that your emotions may be copied by your followers. A leader does not have the luxury of saying, “Just because I flew off the handle did not mean that you had to do the same!” Sorry. The very fact that you flew off the handle gave license to your followers to react the same way. Even more, your people will probably kick up the intensity level a notch or two. If you don’t want everything in your world to fall apart, you have to hold yourself together. Pastors who sow discord or dissension between churches will reap a congregation that is embittered, caustic and mean. Teachers who use sarcasm to deal with students will produce the same characteristic in the class. Leaders are largely responsible for the disposition and attitude in the people whom they lead. Isn’t this the whole point of leadership anyway?

Do not let your emotions be the primary factor in making decisions. When you find yourself in the grip of anger or fear, you will have an overwhelming tendency to act on those emotions rather than back off and reason it out. No one can throw emotion out of the equation altogether, but when emotion becomes the main factor in plotting an action, it will almost definitely result in a regrettable decision. An old saying has it, “He cut off his nose to spite his face.” Meaning: he did something really stupid because he was so angry or insulted. Acting on pure emotion usually comes back to haunt a leader. Instead, a leader should give due recognition to emotion, but then carefully weigh out all the other factors that will comprise the consequences of a chosen course of action. A rash decision may make the emotions feel avenged, but will eventually be judged as folly.

When you cannot curb your emotions, turn the leadership to another. There are times that a leader is so overwhelmed by a personal matter that he or she cannot function. If you find yourself unable to think straight, you are not betraying your followers to temporarily turn the executive position over to a loyal assistant. It is dangerous to remain in control when you are not in the right frame of mind. Do not become a menace to yourself, your followers and the organization by pridefully insisting on staying in charge.

In summary, control is the watchword for a leader’s emotional side. We all understand that emotions cannot be eliminated. Emotions infuse the human experience with love, joy, laughter and appreciation. They also bring us sorrow, tears and grief. Both ends of the spectrum are essential to the fabric of life. Someone without emotion would be less than human. Emotions, however, can be managed. When they are used properly, they add meaning, spice and joy to any endeavor. Improperly used, they cause death and destruction. Like Shakespeare’s Iago, you can learn when to wear your heart on your sleeve. Sometime you can. But, you can also learn when to guard your heart closely. Sometimes you must.

Controlled emotions do not destroy emotions. In fact, controlling your emotions is the way to be certain that your emotions don’t destroy you.

The Net

Someone recently opined to me that life is the sum of all our relationships. Expanding on the thought means that my father, plus mother, plus sisters, plus friends, plus everyone else I knew made me what I am today. I rejected the notion at first, because it seemed patently preposterous. No one has that kind of control over me. I am my own man. I determine my identity and life purpose through my own values, understandings and internal cogitations. Don’t I?

After some serious rumination, however, I find myself coming around to the same notion as my friend. I have not arrived at my present identity in a social vacuum. Whether or not I admit it, or even if I can’t fully comprehend it, I can see that I am a product of significant people, role models who influenced me and persons to whom I was either attracted or repulsed. I have obeyed, accepted, embraced, pleased, loved, admired, trusted—or I have hated, debated, ridiculed, resented and rejected—individuals who interacted with me from my infancy onward. The fabric of those relationships has molded my entire psyche.

How much do your relationships affect you? All of us understand the reality and need for relationships in our lives, but few of us understand the impact they make on us. Maybe an illustration from the world of physics will help us grasp this idea. We know that the gravitational force on Earth pulls everything toward the ground. This concept was formulated by Sir Isaac Newton, the renowned scientist of the 1600’s, who observed an apple falling from a tree and began to wonder why. He determined that a universal attraction affects all masses of matter through the force of gravity. This is called the Theory of Universal Gravitation. He posited that not only does the Earth propel the apple toward it by the force of gravity, but the apple also pulls the Earth toward it by that same force. In the same way, every person in one’s circle of family, friends and acquaintances affects that person. Conversely, that same person also has an affect on every other person in his or her universe. This creates an enormous and complex network of interdependent people, all of them connected to each other in some way, whether directly or indirectly. The things we hear, see and feel in other people in our network exerts either a positive or negative force on us.

There are many ways you can test this concept. You can start with the impact your parents had on you. Your physical appearance, behavior and personality were directly produced by your mother and father through your DNA . The primary way that babies and toddlers learn is by imitating others. Your accent is the product of the speech brogue in the locale in which you were raised. Your loyalties and preferences are most likely shaped by the people, groups and institutions in your same city or state. Social scientists have coined terms like acculturation and socialization to describe how people come to hold views espoused within the norms of their particular culture. Famed criminologist Edwin H. Sutherland formulated the theory of differential association based on his findings that people develop criminal minds through associating with other people of similar backgrounds and experiences. Groupthink, gangs, peer groups, classes, schools, cadres, political parties, clubs, factions, denominations and wings all testify strongly to the behavior of people in groups.

The old saying, “birds of a feather flock together,” refers to the fact that people tend to stick with those who most likely resemble themselves. The Bible says, “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” Based on the realities of social development outlined above, we can readily see the powerful truth contained in this scripture. A person who does not think in evil ways can grow to be evil through the company he or she keeps. A pure mind and heart can be corrupted by associating with people who have evil hearts. This means that a person’s life is not merely a function of his or her own internal thought processes. We often make huge decisions, not by intellectual musing, education or thoughtful analysis, but by the innate desire that we possess to conform to our group. Moreover, this pressure can be exerted upon us by even one significant person in our lives.

To put it bluntly, you do not make up your own mind. A little of what this person thinks and a little of what that person thinks become influential factors in your final decisions. Added to that, a desire to please one person or a strong resistance to one person contributes to the end result as well. Deny it if you want, but you are extremely interested in what people think about you. Even when you boast of your independent spirit, you are playing off of some person or group. You use people, good and bad, as your reference point in establishing your identity. Whether you seek their approval or you reject their control, you end up judging yourself by what they think.

Even though I am of a certain age, I still wonder what my father would think of decisions I make or developments in my life, twenty-five years after his death. In my mind, I have carried on conversations with him and imagined what he might have said. My ability to do this is based on my familiarity with his values and opinions, my knowledge of similar decisions he actually made, and my deep respect for him as a man. In a very real sense, he continues to influence my life today. Other people who played a major role in my life also continue to speak into my life. High school teachers, college professors, bosses, ministers, coaches and relatives still govern my thought processes because of their words and examples. Psychologists believe that older adults often live their lives in quest of the approval of their parents—even after their parents are deceased!

The whole point of this essay is to show how important relationships are to the quality of our lives. We should enter into new relationships with the utmost care. We are wise to evaluate our present relationships to determine the effect they have on us. For example, would you have hired on at your current job had not someone “talked you into it” or at least spoke favorably about it? Would you have chosen your educational major, your career or your profession had you not interacted with others who made the same choices or who encouraged you to do what you’re doing? Do you regret some choices that you made in life because a person (whom you later discovered did not have your best interests in mind) influenced you? It is highly improbable that smokers, alcoholics, drug users, gamblers and criminals simply woke up one day and decided to partake of their vice or lifestyle. Undoubtedly, they were led into their behavior by someone or some group.

The house you live in is very likely one that other people liked. Even if you couldn’t afford it, even if was not convenient to your work or church, even if it lacked some features you wanted, you still bought it because someone important to you thought it was an outstanding purchase. The same goes for your car, clothes, furniture, paint, carpet, decorations, vacations…and on and on. Many people choose their husband or wife on the basis of a significant person’s urgings. It is said that married women dress, not to please their husbands, but to impress their female friends. Regardless of how you slice it, you are greatly influenced by other people in your life.

A net neatly illustrates this concept. Nets are constructed by tying many pieces of twine or rope together. If a fish is caught in the net, the entire net feels the pulling pressure, even though the fish actually touches a small part of it. Each knot represents a person and the length of rope between the knots represents the relationship between people. Whatever happens to others in the network pulls on each individual person to some degree. Their experiences, opinions, ideas and problems, both positive and negative, cause those connected to them to shift positions. Those closest to them may feel extreme stress on their lives. This scenario helps us frame a strategy to bring sense to our universe of relationships.

First, all relationships are important. Accept as a given that each relationship into which you enter will change you in some way. Your close association with an individual may intensify your passions, inflame your anger or inspire you to nobility. If the relationship becomes especially meaningful, you may engage in radical kinds of behavior that you would never have contemplated otherwise. People have been known to kill over relationships. You may give away everything you have, you may move to some distant point on the planet, you may turn your back on your achievements, you may sacrifice cherished possessions, you may become an essentially different person, all because of the profound impact that one person makes on your life.

Second, get out of bad relationships. If someone is bad for you, if they bring out the worst in you, you cannot afford to stay in close association with him or her. A term has evolved in our society to describe women who are married to an abusive husband. Women who suffer physical and mental abuse over a lengthy period of time, usually by a husband or other dominant male figure, are called “Battered Women.” Helplessness, constant fear, and a perceived inability to escape are listed as typical of this syndrome. (From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 3d ed). While it may be too late for some, if you have an opportunity to leave an unhealthy relationship, you will either leave in a body bag or walk out on your own. Even the proscriptions of the scripture against divorce do not warrant a spouse to offer himself or herself up for murder. Obviously, marriage vows are important and I certainly encourage married partners to seek out counseling to reconcile their differences before something tragic happens. A relationship that corrupts or abuses, however, needs to change or come to an end.

Third, enter into new relationships carefully. Love-struck romantics often cast all care to the wind when they profess their love and commitment to each other. Unfortunately, their naiveté tanks all too quickly when they really learn what each other is made of. In pre-marital counseling, I take the lead in asking probing questions, like:

“Are you in debt?”
“Are you in trouble with the law?”
“Are you on parole?”
“Have you been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor?”
“Have you ever been committed to a psychiatric facility?”
“Do you have serious health issues?”
“Have you shown your prospective husband or wife your health records?”
“Have you been honest in talking about previous relationships?”
“Have you been a user of illegal drugs?”
“Do you have any dependents that you have not mentioned?”
“How secure is your job?”

Questions like these—and many more—are not only difficult to ask, people who want the relationship badly enough will consciously avoid asking them for fear that they will get the wrong answer. If this happens, they may forever rue the day that they put their heads in the proverbial sand and chose to be willfully ignorant. Pay now or pay later…that’s my advice.

Finally, edify those with whom you are in a relationship. If you don’t want others to drag you down, do your best to lift other people up. This is a fabulous secret that too many people do not understand: When you add value to people around you, you will never be lonely. Lifters attract. People will feel stronger, more secure and more inspired when they associate with you. You are not only influenced, you have the opportunity to be an influencer. Accept this role heartily and with great passion. You may very well be the person who is responsible for powerful and positive changes in the world.

Life indeed consists of relationships. Manage them wisely. In them, you will find all the quality of life that you have ever wanted.

Thanksgiving: The Key to Wholeness

So there you are, scarfing down turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, waddling back into the kitchen for seconds, deciding whether or not there’s room for a slice of ham plus a piece of Aunt Mabel’s carrot cake. You told yourself not to do it, that things were going to be different this year, but another Thanksgiving comes and goes with pigs eating turkeys and overstuffed uncles stuffed into overstuffed chairs wheezing at each other. But beneath all those layers of food and fat, an authentic idea of thanksgiving really exists. It elevates Thanksgiving from a holiday to a profound spiritual truth.

We generally believe that thanksgiving is just a courteous thing to do. It is more of a good public relations issue rather than an absolute requirement. When people don’t express gratitude, we think they are only being uncouth or thoughtless. A far different profile emerges, however, from scripture. Thanksgiving actually turns out to be a fundamental spiritual principle. True thanksgiving opens the door to deep spiritual healing and experience.

This powerful fact is incorporated into the incident of the lepers whom Jesus healed in Luke 17:12-19. Only one man out of the ten returned to Jesus to thank him. When this man fell down on his face to give thanks, Jesus asked about the others. Ten were healed but only one returned to give thanks. This man, because of his gratitude, received more than healing. Three words describe what happened to him. He was cleansed (purified), healed (cured) and made whole (saved, preserved). All ten were cleansed and healed, but only the one who gave thanks was made whole. That’s the difference.

Many Bible characters were blessed, healed and touched, but not made whole. In this incident, there were ten lepers who prayed the prayer of desperation. “And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” In order to answer their prayer, Jesus sent them to the high priest. “And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet , giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.”

This odd development raised a question in the mind of Jesus. “And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God , save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”

The leper who came back to give thanks broke into a new spiritual dimension. His conscientious act of thanksgiving communicated several key truths to Jesus. He confessed that Jesus changed his life for the better. He understood that he could not have had this healing without Jesus. He realized that he was forever indebted to Jesus. He knew that Jesus did not just restore his health for his purposes, but for God’s own purposes. Clearly, the simple act of sincere thanksgiving triggered a divine response from God. The nine who did not return to give thanks grabbed whatever blessings and advantages they could get from Jesus and ran. They wanted to be healed to get on with their lives, to pursue their own interests. They either had no concept of God’s purpose or they were totally self-indulgent. Whatever they received, they felt like it was a deserved benefit.

It is possible to have enough faith in God to receive miracles and blessings from him. This does not necessarily lead on to true discipleship. It is possible to be healed without being made whole. Wholeness requires an attitude of thanksgiving towards God. Wholeness releases pain; it neutralizes long-standing dysfunctional effects; it makes people comfortable with who they are and what they have.

The most important truth to embrace about thanksgiving is that your relationship with God supersedes your relationship with yourself, your family, your friends, your acquaintances, your past, or any other person, even or thing that can be named. In fact, it would be better to be spiritually whole and remain a leper than to be healed and remain an incomplete person. Paul discovered this truth with his thorn in the flesh. “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me…for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

For gluttons, Thanksgiving is a food binge. For sports fanatics, Turkey Day is for football. For retailers, the holiday is the day before the biggest shopping day of the year. For workers and students, the day off is a day off. For true disciples, Thanksgiving represents a perpetual attitude of humility and gratitude for God’s providence. The attitude is where you find healing and wholeness.

How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

Romantic’s hearts still flutter at the mention of this adored sonnet title. Yet, the greatest answer to Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetic question emerges only when we consider the unconstrained love of Jesus for people he encountered in his life. Jesus did not allow his passion merely to float in the abstract. He defined his love with names, faces and events. He practiced his sermon on the mount in the valley of service. He counter-balanced his soaring rhetoric with selfless dedication to actual people. Count the ways he loved:

He loved by choosing. Jesus did much more than passively accept the decision of his followers. He actively and aggressively committed himself to his disciples when he chose them and commanded them to follow him. When someone chooses, he says “I want you!”

He loved by leading. Jesus loved people to the extent that he would not leave them in bondage. He lead his disciples out of oppression, ignorance and false tradition. He lead them into freedom, truth and service. Jesus represented the highest form of leadership: leading by loving.

He loved by defending. Picture the poignant moment when Jesus lifted the adulterous woman to her feet who had been flung to the ground before him. She literally had no one to protect her from the vicious attacks of the religious hierarchy. “Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more.” Love never seeks its own refuge, but boldly steps forward to do the right thing.

He loved by mingling. Jesus always reached out to the misfortunate and the down-and-out. When he ate dinner at Simon’s house, he signaled to the world that he would be a friend of sinners, regardless of the scorn heaped upon him by his prideful and falsely pious critics.

He loved by weeping. Sunday School whizzes can quote the shortest verse in the bible: “Jesus wept.” While this verse may be brief, it delivers a powerful message. Even his enemies saw the love that overflowed his heart. Jesus gave people access to his deepest emotions.

He loved by rebuking. While the cowardly keep their mouths shut, he who truly loves speaks up, says the truth and risks everything for the sake of a loved one. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Hebrews 12:6

He loved by giving. You may give without loving, but you may not love without giving. “For God so loved the world that he gave…” While Jesus is synonymous with giving, it is remarkable that he never gave money. He gave things more important than money: time, effort, energy, love and life. Whoever or whatever receives your gifts, owns your love.

He loved by suffering. Jesus was true man. Suffering was just as difficult for him as for any of us. Jesus was also true God. Since he had power over his tormentors, he must have been tempted to stop the pain, yet he did not. Supreme love stands as the only reason that he endured it all.

He loved by teaching. Early in the morning or late in the evening, to few or to many, on the sea or in the mount, in a house or in the temple, to the elite or to the lowly, Jesus taught. His motive was not remuneration, his criteria was not convenience, and his goal was not tenure. He taught people, not because he loved teaching, but because he loved people.

He loved by companionship. Jesus cultivated close relationship with people. By his own initiative, he established this closeness, even when it taxed his patience and imposed upon his privacy. He spent three and a half years in the constant company of his disciples. Love alone provides the basis for willful close companionship.

He loved by sacrificing. Sacrifice is the act of offering up something of great value for the sake of another’s well-being. Great love brings about great sacrifice.

He loved by dying. Jesus Christ was a peerless teacher, a miracle worker and an unflagging leader, but none of these attributes made him a savior. Only when he took his final, fatal step to death did he seal his love for us and become our redeemer.

Count on. You’ll never exhaust the ways that Jesus demonstrated his love for us. But let the counting continue from the life of Jesus into our own. We must find ways that we, in turn, can love others. If we look to Jesus as our true example, his love will flow without restraint through our ministry and service to the people that Jesus died to save.

The Spirit of the Restorer

“…ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness.” Gal. 6:1

Our hearts bleed for fallen souls who need to be restored. They have little to offer but gratitude. Their history suggests that they will fail again making them a liability rather than an asset. The person overtaken in a fault mires down in a trail of past disappointments; spiritual bankruptcy dogs his present; and question marks swirl around his future.

The revealing point about restoration, however, is not about the people who need it. We all understand what they need. Instead, we must examine the spirit of the restorer. Long ago, a wise person observed that we measure the worth of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him. The restorer’s bold action to help a fallen comrade provides a powerful commentary on his own spirit. His willingness to restore confirms his spiritual mind.

For some reason, condemnation always seems easier to mete out than restoration. Whenever we see things in sharp, clearly defined lines, we can snap off judgment against the weak and fallen. Their transgressions stand in strong evidence against them. Because they are law-breakers and sinners, we think they deserve immediate denunciation and swift punishment. The Pharisees who took the adulterous woman to Jesus did not demand her restoration, but her indictment. Even Christ’s disciples manifested this kind of attitude in speaking out against Mary, the harlot who broke the alabaster box and anointed Jesus with the precious perfume. “And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.” Mark 14:4-5

I applaud the noble spirit, however, who denies the temptation to condemn the fallen. He does not succumb to the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers, the treachery of King Saul, the personal ambition of Balaam or the opportunism of Judas Iscariot. He considers the fact that, but for the grace of God, he may himself fall. He knows that to allow arrogance, judgmentalism or a holier-than-thou spirit to dictate his response to the weaknesses of others displays a carnal, not a spiritual response. Examine these characteristics:

The restorer has a compassionate spirit. Compassion means, “to suffer with” others. It goes beyond feeling their pain or even understanding their plight. The compassionate spirit reaches out to help the fallen and actually take steps to rectify their situation whenever possible. The restorer has no use for mere sympathy or “tokenism.” His compassion demands results.

The restorer has a humble spirit. Indeed, the scripture says to restore the one overtaken in a fault “in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted”. Anyone who is fully aware of his own weaknesses has a much greater aptitude for restoration of others. All of us are still in the race, facing daily exposure to the elements. The restorer understands that on any given tomorrow, he himself may need a helping hand.

The restorer has a strong spirit . Restorers run risks. Others may associate them with the very weaknesses of those receiving help. They may be accused of unhealthy sympathies. Their motives may be misconstrued as trying to corrupt the whole body. The rock-ribbed restorer, however, rises above these dangers on the strength of his steadfast spirit to lift the overtaken. He measures strength by the weight of the load lifted, not the ability to put the load down.

The restorer has a giving spirit . The story once was told of the turtle on a fencepost. The conclusion: He didn’t get there by himself. Neither can a comrade overtaken in a fault find restoration without someone willing to reach deep into his treasure house of generosity and give of himself. The restorer does not think of his efforts as throwing himself away but investing in a valuable commodity.

The restorer has a visionary spirit. Restoration encapsulates the redemptive plan of God. Had God not envisioned what lost humanity could be, he would have permitted us to follow our downward course. The centrifugal force of sin furiously propelled us away from the holiness of God. Divine intervention intercepted us on our hell-bent path and turned us around. The restorer envisions the unrealized potential of the overtaken soul and, in so doing, he aligns himself with the plot of redemption’s drama.

Have you reached out to a troubled soul lately? Isn’t it time you did?

The Value of Your Church

Have you ever calculated the value of your church? It’s probably far greater than you can imagine. A simple comparison of your church to a local major corporation will easily point this out to you.

A number of years ago, Chrysler Corporation, now owned by an American business mogul, shocked Toledo by threatening to pull the Jeep plant out and move elsewhere. The city responded with an all-out campaign which it called “Toledo Loves Its Jeep!” to keep the plant. Finally, much to the relief and joy of nearly five thousand employees, the headquarters announced that the new plant would stay home, and that they planned to invest 1.5 billion dollars to build it. The loss of Jeep would have removed a piece of history from Toledo . It would have been a blow to community pride. But it was the value of Jeep Corporation to Toledo that ranked highest among the many reasons the city wanted Jeep to stay.

Here’s what Jeep meant to Toledo : jobs for Jeep workers, tax revenue for the city, secondary jobs and business which spring up around Jeep, financial benefits to banks, keeping a large human resource pool in Toledo , and the virtual guarantee of future investment. On the other hand, Jeep’s loss would have thrown thousands out of work, caused many to default on loans and mortgages, brought on a huge loss of retail business, forced many secondary businesses to fold causing further jobs loss, placed whole neighborhoods up for sale, inflicted a negative impact on schools, badly battered our public image, and would have nearly shut off the lights in Toledo.

Some mistakenly equate their church with a retail store, a bank or a business franchise.  These merchants seem to appear and disappear from the commercial landscape with no apparent impact on a local economy.  If this were the case, the success or failure of your church would make little difference to anyone.  But your church is far more than a commercial enterprise.  Like a manufacturing plant, it injects value back into the lives of individuals, families and whole communities.  It supplies the means and the vitality for the quality of life itself.

In light of this, what value does your church represent to you and your city? The more you think about this, the longer the list will grow. The average Apostolic church is a storehouse of priceless spiritual treasures.

• Preaching and teaching of truth. You know you will hear it straight.
• A pastor. You get spiritual leadership and compassionate care.
• Structured accountability. It’s good for you to “toe the line.”
• The fellowship of believers . Your church is “the belonging place.”
• Bonding and trust between people . Friends who are there in down times.
• Visible role models . Pillars in the church to be your example.
• Serving generations of families . The church is your life.
• A wholesome segment of your community . A godly people benefits everyone.

What would happen if your church should suddenly disappear? Contrast the above blessings with following tragedies should a church be lost.

• No consistent delivering of the Word of God.
• People would drift here and there without spiritual leadership.
• No accountability or supervision over lives.
• Disintegration of fellowship.
• Poor or no bonding between people and families.
• Weak or no reinforcement of values by role models.
• Loss of spiritual tradition.
• Families would lose godliness as their cohesiveness.

There is no doubt that your church plays a deeper, farther-reaching role in your life than you ever imagined. Its loss would incur untold damage for now and eternity.

Don’t permit the direct and indirect blessings of your church to fade from sight. Here are a few ways to keep it alive: Cherish your church; Support your pastor; Strengthen your fellowship ties; Give to spiritual causes; Be an unmovable pillar in your church. Furthermore, never lash out with harsh criticism. Guard against a negative attitude. Don’t get involved in divisive moves. Remind those around you that a loving, unified and revivalistic church represents a treasure of infinite value.

The Bigness of Small Things

Nothing is as over as the Y2K crisis.  Like a hurricane that is downgraded to a tropical storm, the media couldn’t drop it fast enough when it bacame apparent that the big blackout didn’t happen.  Yet, a look back can be instructive for us in contemplating our future.  As the date changed from 1999 to 2000, the Y2K bug that skulked in microscopic magnetic particles in computers threatened to teach all of us an unforgettable lesson about the importance of small things. Some thought that we were headed a catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions, all because of something too minuscule to be seen or felt, and that relatively few people even understood. This could have rendered zillions of gigabytes of valuable data totally useless by a little program deficiency.

Over twenty years before this, foresighted technicians raised the specter of this problem. Their warnings were dismissed as much ado about nothing. The moguls of the computer industry said the glitch was too small, too insignificant and too silly to command much attention. They were wrong. An all-out effort to stop the crisis cost billions of dollars, and still fell short of the goal. Only the insistence by prescient leaders to fix the bug averted a major crisis.

Although the worst fears of Y2K problem failed to materialize, the emergency served to point up the critical nature of small things. Far too often, those things that barely register on the scale turn out to play a decisive role in the events of our lives. The old adage that history turns on small hinges proves itself true every day. The same fingerprint, DNA particle, spot of blood, spark of fire, snort, drink, blink, wink or word sends some to the grave or others to prison, but narrowly permits others to scrape by without a scratch. Small things can mean everything.

The Apostle Paul must have confronted this same, troubling skepticism that many in Corinth had concerning the importance of small things. “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” 1 Corinthians 5:6. Were there broad-minded, “big-picture” elitists around Corinth who snickered at Paul’s insistence on such trivial things as doctrinal purity? Did the Apostle have to deal with permissive-minded, unconcerned softies who had no hankering to weed out corruption because they wanted to avoid causing a bad scene? I believe he did. But, look where the little oversights, the small allowances, the winking at “unimportant” slip-ups led the church at Corinth . They were inundated with party-ism, division, carnality, rebellion against authority, fornication and incest, contention before secular judges, divorce, abuse of spiritual ordinances, abuse of spiritual gifts, lack of love and even a falling away from belief in the resurrection of Christ. All of these gross errors resulted from small indiscretions that someone thought was too insignificant to worry about.

The church of the last days must take care not to dismantle the “faith once delivered to the saints” brick by brick, plank by plank and nail by nail because some think we have too many unnecessary components in the house of faith. Critics from without and within look at our attention to details of separation from the world, of the new birth experience, of the name of Jesus or of the oneness of the Godhead, and say we are majoring on minors. They scoff at our observance of small things and complain that such small-mindedness keeps us from seeing the big picture. But the prophet Zechariah warned, “For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.” Zechariah 4:10. The small things, even of yesteryear, must not be despised. We may discard something that appears to be a stumbling stone, only to find it was actually a keystone.

Critical, unanticipated things happen when one gets an exaggerated opinion of himself. When spiritual pride inflates the ego, things a person once thought important diminish in value. Humility preserves, but vanity destroys. I will never be bigger than the message I preach, the doctrine I teach, the church I serve or the heritage I have received. The Y2K bug showed us the importance of small things in a negative sense. Let it also be a positive reminder of the value of small things which make up our faith. Small is bigger than you think it is.