Recent events, Evil and the End of the World

Recap from last nights message.

Satan's plan has always been to get people to believe that God is not good. That He is absent and that he lacks the power to do mighty things. His currency is doubt. It started in the garden by getting Eve to question God's intentions. Every act of evil since then has be designed and seduced to fruition according to Satan. They are meant to cause us to question the Goodness of God. God's plan has always been to love and bless his people. It is us who chose the evil...to walk away from goodness in search of idols.

God is eternal and his love and mercy are new every morning. My friend HE IS GOOD. For while we were yet sinners He DEMONSTRATED HIS LOVE for us by sending Jesus to die on the cross. We are not being punished but are seeing the face of evil for what it really is. God punished America on the Cross 2000 years ago. We celebrate the chain of events HE set in motion to pursue us relentlessly in 5 days.

This Christmas. Reflect upon the love demonstrated on the cross. Love without limits and expect no reward. Cherish your family and relax knowing that when the end of the world truly comes.(NOT TOMORROW) that those who are in Christ will meet Him in the air and be caught up in the blink of an eye. The wicked will be punished and We will be taken to a New Heaven and a New Earth. Jesus is in the business of bringing life out of death and making all things new.

Rejoice I say, Rejoice. Our God is more than able to accomplish what He said and He is GOOD. Paul said our present sufferings are not anything compared to the glory that awaits us in Heaven. Our hope is in Him because HE IS GOOD. This is eternal and doesn't change as a result of our actions. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.

How to love a Demublican

Because of the divisive nature of the election, and because of the way each side has demonized the other, I feel it is important for us to be sure we are seeking a perspective that is informed by what we believe about God's sovereignty.

Whether or not your side “won” the election, there is a simple, yet seemingly impossible, mandate from God that should bring peace to your heart and mind -- love God and love others. That includes our enemies, or we could say, those with whom we disagree.

We see this mandate lived out in the life of Jesus.  The kind of love Jesus showed on the cross, transcends socioeconomic, cultural, race, age and gender gaps.  It is the type of love that allows Christ to say to those who beat Him, drove nails in Him, and plunged a spear in His side, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

This kind of love allowed Jesus to have compassion for those who literally had succeeded in murdering Him.  To further understand this we look at Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 

While we may perceive the enemy to be on the other team, the truth is that he lies in wait for all of us --perpetuating division, slander, and hate. He will use any tool he can to keep us apart.  He will do whatever it takes to keep the hate alive and he does it through those who choose to embrace that hate.

Life is not just a picture of the here and now, but includes heavenly places far too large for the human imagination.  The presidency, senate, and congress are extremely important and we should do diligence in learning and understanding the issues so that we can vote properly.  Having said that it is NOT the political arena that will cure our nation’s problems. 

Our cure, as I stated earlier, is simple and yet seemingly unattainable at times. We are to live life with the same love that Jesus showed us on the cross.  We are to love, period-- a practice that is not always easy when we are so adamantly opposed to one another over views as important and divisive as abortion.  We must remind ourselves what Ephesians says and place our anger in the proper place and abhor that agent, Satan, for which slander, divisiveness and hate originates.

So, how do we do battle and love at the same time.  Jim Denison speaks beautifully to this in his most recent blog. I encourage you to read it by clicking here Jim Denison.

Now on to my point:  As hard as we have tried to legislate morality through the pen, the pen can not write enough laws, rules, or regulations to change the hearts and minds of humanity.  The laws of God and the laws of the land create division and expose our imperfections and our need for something greater.

When we come to know the truth of love, Christ’s love, it replaces the law as our guiding force.  For what person would harm another, physically, mentally, or spiritually if their life were truly filled with the same love Jesus showed on the cross?  What nation would be divided if its people were also filled with that love -- a love that says “Father, please forgive them, for they know not what they do.”?

SAVED, CALLED, GIFTED-- FINDING OUR WAY~Paul Kenley

Our quest to get to know God better has led us in a roundabout way to some very important topics in recent weeks. It all started with a look at the Godhead-- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Our examination of what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit led us quite naturally to consider the spiritual gifts, since understanding what we need to know about the Holy Spirit depends on a certain level of understanding of spiritual giftedness.

First, we asked the question, "Who are the gifted?"  While religion may have led us to believe that only professional ministers are truly gifted, and therefore we can depend on them to do our work for us, the scripture teaches otherwise.  In this study, we saw that every Christ-follower is just as gifted by the Spirit as any other believer.

Then, we took a little lesson in "spiritual anatomy," as set forth by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12.  There the apostle compares the body of Christ, the church, with the physical attributes of the human body, and concludes that every organ and system is designed to contribute to the health of the body as a whole, and draws the same conclusion about the "members" of the body of Christ.  Spiritual gifts, Paul teaches, have as their main purpose to strengthen the church, to maintain its health and enable it to accomplish its mission.

Finally, last Sunday we talked about how to discover what our spiritual gifts are.  We revisited our "S.H.A.P.E." for ministry and saw that what we have a heart for, what our abilities are, and what our personality and experiences are, are major indicators of what our spiritual gifts are.  We concluded with a spiritual inventory, which is posted on our website, that helps us zero in on our respective gifts as individuals.

I hope you have found this study helpful, and that you will stay with us as we get to know God further by looking at the gospel-- the good news of what Christ has done for us.

Confronting the Human Jesus and "The great humiliation."

For the last couple of Sundays, we have been focusing our attention in the Sunday Worship teaching time on the human Jesus.  We have asserted that our understanding of Jesus's humanity is every bit as important as our perception of His deity.  For it was in God taking on human flesh that our redemption was accomplished.     All this sounds fine, until we come to see what is required to fully accept His humanity.  To comprehend that He suffered as we suffer, that physically He was weak as we are weak, that He experienced emotional, physical, and yes, even spiritual weakness, just as we do. The thing that looms so large, however, is the fact that He was tempted, according to the writer of Hebrews, in every way we are.  (Hebrews 4:15)  The implications of this assertion are huge.  For if we fully accept the truth of this proposition, then we are forced to abandon some of the accommodations we have made in order to maintain our comfort level with Jesus's identity.  If He was tempted "in all points" as are we, then we are forced to see the depth of His sacrifice in becoming human.  It is called, "The Great Humiliation,"  (Philippians 2:6-8)-- Creator God humbling Himself by becoming like the created, surrendering Heavenly glory, and subjecting Himself to every human weakness and inconsistency that we experience, even to the point of dying.  Amazing!   Last Sunday, we set forth the proposition that you cannot really know someone until you know his/her name.  The name of Jesus was foretold by angels.  But beyond the Christmas story, we discovered in the Book of Acts that the name of Jesus, when spoken in faith and for God's purposes, evokes great power, both to heal and to change lives.  We saw how significant a name was in Hebrew culture, and how very attached a person's name was to their origin and life purpose.   This Sunday, as we continue our year-long study entitled "Knowing God," I will be introducing our study of the Holy Spirit.  Who is He?  Why is He so mysterious?  Why is it so hard to grasp His identity?  Why have their been so many misconceptions as to who He is and how He works?  We will explore these and other questions as we begin this new phase of our series.  I hope you will determine not to miss any of these messages, either by being present or by listening to the podcast of the messages on iTunes.  If you need help subscribing, I hope you will contact Dave Stone at the church office.  He is our resident guru on all this, and can easily explain it to you.   Paul Kenley

The Law of Love-- Seldom Mentioned, Slightly Understood

No word in the history of religion has been bantered about more than the word love.  And yet, the word has been "religiously" avoided as well-- perhaps because it is so vast in its implications that we continually find ourselves coming up short in grasping the depth of its meaning.  "Love," we say, "oh everybody knows what that is."  But we know from personal experience that is not true.  I have been preaching and teaching on love for 40 years, and even now I find myself coming up just as short as ever in understanding love's greatest implications.

Part of the problem is that the word exists on so many levels.  "I love sports."  "I love pie." "I love my friends."  "I love my spouse and children."  "I love God, and I know He loves me."  These statements demonstrate just how broadly we use and misuse the word.  The English language is wonderful, but it fails us miserably in its attempts to relate the concept of love.  But not so in the Greek language, the language of the New Testament.  Considering the broad range of statements just mentioned, the Greek language would have employed three different words to relate these concepts.

But nowhere has the word love been more neglected than in its use by Jesus in Matthew 22:37-38.  We call it "The Great Commandment."  "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment."  Jesus' use of the word "commandment" should cause us to relate it to the Law, but seldom if ever is it done.  Religion has come to view law in the context of punishment, penalty, retribution.  But never in my experience with religion have I been taught about "love" and "commandments" in the same thought.  But we must.  For if we do not relate law and love together, then we miss most of what we need to know about forgiveness, deliverance, and restoration in our relationship with God.  Law says, "You have failed, and you must suffer the consequences."  But in the redemptive work of Christ, love says, "Yes, you messed up, but because I love you, I have paid the penalty and you are welcomed back to right-standing."

Because religion has failed to relate this God-kind of love, it has abdicated its role in interpreting who God really is to the very world that needs Him.  Dear friends, it is time to return to the commandment-- the Great Commandment!  For the very commandment that admonishes us to love God, also instructs us to "love our neighbor as ourselves."  Carrying out our mission to reach this world depends on it, and all eternity hangs in the balance.

Paul Kenley

Rooted in the Love of Christ-Sunday Sermon Follow Up.

I think many pastors experience a moment during the week where they say to themselves, “I wish I had remembered to say that.”  This last week I preached out of John 15, and I talked about how we must remain in the vine in order to bear the fruit of Christ.  There are a whole lot of churchy words in there but the bottom line is this:  If we are rooted in the love of Christ our lives will resemble Him more and more. This sounds simple enough.  Love Christ and we will bear fruit.  The questions that come to mind for me immediately are; how do I do that, how does that work?  The answer is contained in John, chapters 14 and 15.

The word "abide" is mentioned 15 times in the first 11 verses, and has the same Greek root as the word "dwell" in chapter 14.  This is important because Jesus is telling the disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit and about their place in heaven.  Jesus tells us in Chapter 15 that we are to abide in Him.  I have always focused on this verse and tried my hardest to remain in Him.  It dawned on me this week that Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit remaining in us in John 15.  

Why is this important.  As we come to Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our soul.  We have often used the term "asking Jesus into our heart."  What we are doing is asking the God who created the world to take up residence in the part of us that thinks, feels, reason, remembers, as well as in our eternal spirits.  Jesus is saying that as we are rooted in Him, He is dwelling within us.  The Holy Spirit is a permanent resident in our minds and souls and spirits.  

This is great news!!!!!  This is the answer to how we abide in Christ.  This is how we bear fruit in our lives.  We love the God who dwells with us everyday with all our heart, mind and soul.  For the last few weeks we have been talking how the law kills and condemns.  The law shows us where we sin but it cannot show us how to love.  Only being rooted in the love of our Father does that.  Whatever you are dealing with today, the answer is to abide in the love of the Father.  He is going to do the cleaning, and the healing.  Our part is to love Him.  

Below I have linked the video I showed Sunday to explain how the crucifixion has yanked us out of the soil we are rooted in and grafted us into the love of the father.  It is also a great illustration of grace because the gift of this transplant is available to all who would receive it, regardless of their past.

Guest post-Pastor Jeff. Does Sin Separate Us from God?

Does sin separate us from God?   Do you believe that your actions as a believer can move you closer or further from God?  Do you believe, that as a believer, you can lose your relationship with the Gracious almighty?  I believe these questions are a genuine concern for most Christ followers. This last Sunday I set out to answer these questions.  I started by overcoming some of the more obvious misnomers.   1. Satan is not the powerful one. He can not make you do things against   your will.  2. Jesus is not afraid of evil.  3. Jesus achieved clear and total victory on the cross. 4. We are made up of three parts.          Flesh -- A temporary container for the soul.        
Soul  -- Our individual identity. There is no other like it anywhere in  all of creation.        
Spirit -- The root system for the soul.

Until we are in relationship with God our spiritual nutrition comes from the world.   Once we are in relationship with the Creator, because of our faith in His gracious sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ, our souls are eternally forgiven and we are no longer under the law of condemnation.  Romans 8:1 is not a conditional statement.  It does not say "there is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who can up hold the law -- or at least some of it."

It clearly states: " There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.   WOW!  I could stop here if it weren't for verses like Galatians 5:19-21(esv) 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”    And especially notice that last phrase-- "those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."  In this verse and others like it "works of the flesh", "committing sin", and "to practice sin" all have something in common.  Agreement with sin. These are actions that require our devotion, attention, and wanted participation, that is, when we work, commit, or practice something it is with intention and agreement.  

What if we, as believers, do not agree and sin.  What if the baggage from yesterday (addiction) is inner-woven with our new self?  What if the old self is hanging on for dear life, in spite of our commitment to God, acceptance of Christ and, devotion to His word.  What if we have the proverbial thorn in our side?  Life can seemingly feel hopeless, while all the while we yearn for God and we seek God and His freedom in grace?

Robertson, in my favorite commentary Word Pictures of the New Testament, differentiates between the word used here in Galatians: Prassō (practice) - a verb for habitual practice,  opposed to the word (poieō) - for occasional doing.  In other words, the one who is practicing, working at, or committed (intention and agreement) to such things will be found guilty and will not enter the Kingdom of God.  While at the same time another with the same proclivity toward, or propensity for, such things accepts God’s grace through Jesus Christ and is found innocent and free to enter into Gods presence.   Does this graciousness of God mean we can just keep on sinning, NO!!! says Paul in Romans.  It does however mean that we are free from the worry of the condemnation that our sin deserves.  This freedom from worry allows our focus to be on God.  With our focus on God, instead of our sins, healing and maturity begin to take place.  

Look at it this way.  When a toddler begins to walk, what happens? She falls.  What do we do? Beat them and tell them not to try again until they can walk without falling?  Ridiculous!  No.  We are there waiting with baited breath for the moment she walks without  falling.  We run to their aide and assist her ever so gently and encourage her next step.  The same goes when she is learning to run, and then jump, and then gymnastics, and so on and so on.

 Too many God-loving, Jesus-saved people spend their entire lives crawling, because they are beaten down by the times they have supposedly failed God, when all the while, God is crying out, ”come boldly to My throne!  I, your God, your Creator, your Savior has paid it all!” If they only could understand that when they are in relationship with God, He is there, waiting patiently in love and eager for us to walk, run, and even do spiritual back flips.  No matter how many times we fall, He is there picking us up and encouraging us to take the next step.  How often we sin is not the issue.  What is in our hearts is the issue.   Romans 8:38-39 (esv) 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.   God's speed Jeff

Guest Post: Pastor Paul~Important follow up from Sunday

Since last Sunday's sermon related to the Law no longer being in effect since grace has come, I feel it is important to make some follow-up comments to help clarify the natural confusion that inevitably occurs when old long-standing beliefs are challenged.  In the message Sunday, I suggested that mixing the law and grace into some form of "hybrid" gospel defeats grace.  Religion has led many of us to believe that it is grace that saves us, but it is the law that keeps us.  We may not say we believe that statement, but we live like that is the case.

I mainly want to address what we mean when we say that the law has been made of no effect, or holds no sway over the life of a Christian.  Most of us consider that a false statement, but one cannot read the Book of Galatians without arriving at that very conclusion.  So then, are we Christians supposed to disregard the law altogether?  Here again, the scripture is clear that the answer to that question is no.  Take the Ten Commandments for example:  The Ten Commandments were the origin of the law that was later expanded into countless laws.  Because of the finished work of Christ on the cross, breaking the Ten Commandments can no longer condemn us.  But that does not negate the life principles that the Ten Commandments lay down.  If you look at them carefully, you note that the first four of the commandments relate to our relationship with God, while the last six relate to our relationship with each other as human beings.  

The very existence of a civilized society hinges on good citizens keeping these Laws-- "do not commit murder," "do not steal," do not commit adultery," "do not lie," "do not covet."  If these life principles went away, so would the entire social order. So what then do we mean when we say the law has been set aside and rendered ineffective?  We are talking about the power the law has to condemn us when we break it.  Jesus rendered the law powerless to condemn us by taking our sin upon Himself.  But this does not mean that we should ignore what the law teaches us about living in ways that please God. 

Consider the parent who says to the child, "don't do that."  The child responds, "Why not?"  The parent answers, "because I said so."  God never says through the law, "do this because I said so."  When God instructs us in daily living, He does so not to lord Himself over us (even though He is Lord!).  Remember that the law is a "tutor."  It teaches us both the benefits of following it and the consequences that befall us when we don't.  But when we break it, as we all do, the law can no longer destroy us, and that makes all the difference in the world about our attitude as we approach life.

What our staff is seeking to accomplish in this series of team-teaching is to correct the defeat that we see people living under, much of which has been brought on by an oppression we see in people's lives who are living under condemnation when Christ died to set us free.  If you have questions, please contact any of our pastors. We will be happy to meet with you and encourage you in any way.

Guest Post-Paul Kenley...Getting to Know YOu

Sunday we embarked on a journey of discovery-- a journey that at first thought might seem unnecessary.  It is the journey to know God.  Our first inclination might be to say, "Know God?  I know God.  I met Him a long time ago when I accepted Christ."  And of course you would be right.  But this journey will lead us to know Him better, to love Him more, and to serve Him more effectively.  


We explored Philipians 3:8-10 and looked at the apostle Paul's purpose in life.  It was simply to know Christ and know the power of His resurrection.  Paul had walked with him for years and every day presented him with a new quest...to know Christ.


This will be a far different sermon series than I have ever shared before.  It will have no prescribed length, no set number of Sundays, and I will not be the only teacher.  Our staff pastors will all be participating in this teaching series, and all us, you and us, will be learning more about the God we serve than we could ever imagine.  


In addition, each Sunday during the Oasis hour at 9:00 AM, we will be leading a group discussion of the previous week's teaching.  Please take advantage of this great opportunity to broaden the scope of your relationship with Christ during 2012.