Dear Christian,

I want to challenge you. 

I’m probably going to really make you uncomfortable as you read this article.

I’m not trying to make you mad, but you might even find yourself angry at me the further you read.

So here it is. I want you to try and imagine being in “their” shoes.

Right now in the middle of division…and anger…and hurt…and confusion…and unrest…and public shaming…

And the list goes on and on. 

In fact trying to describe the climate and culture we live in in the 21st century, post-modern, pluralistic, sin-ridden and fallen world is rather difficult.

But here is what I want you to do.

Put yourself in “their” shoes. 

You know:

• The person you don’t like
• The person who votes different than you
• The person who has a different color of skin than you
• The person you have judged and looked down on

It is really easy to play arm-chair quarterback and tell the QB in the game everything they did wrong. It is cheap, lazy, selfish and sinful to condemn, shame, judge and write off the people “on the other side”.

• What would it be like if you were the dog-walker in central park?
• What would it be like if you were the bird-watcher in central park?

• What would it be like if you were George Floyd?
• What would it be like if you were Derek Chauvin?

• Put yourself in a republican’s shoes…
• Put yourself in a democrat’s shoes…

• Put yourself in the rioters shoes…
• Put yourself in the police chief’s/mayor’s shoes…

Reader’s warning, this next part will most likely make many of you mad at me:

• Put yourself in the shoes of “black lives matter” people
• Put yourself in the shoes of “all lives matter” people

Now listen very carefully here. Don’t give lip service only to this exercise. Don’t write the other person off as only being “wrong” or “stupid”.

Don’t just condemn or shame them for doing something you wouldn’t do.

Don’t try to get off easy by saying that you would never be in their position.

Instead put yourself in their shoes. Even if you think they were/are wrong, put yourself in their shoes and try and imagine what they might be thinking or feeling. Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself whether or not you would hope other people would give you grace and other people would be civil to you and whether you would want people who disagreed with you to seek some kind of common ground. Put yourself in their shoes and try and consider if you can learn something from their differing perspective.

Christians are to be people of grace.

I know you also want to talk about being people of truth. We are that as well and we’ll get to that, but let’s just stop for a minute and think about grace.

We are to offer grace. We are to offer what is not deserved and has not been earned. We are to offer help and compassion to people because of the unconditional love of God and not because of anything they have or haven’t done. We are to offer love and help and compassion regardless of who they are, what they believe or what they have done or said.

We are to forgive as God has forgiven us. We are to be merciful as God is merciful. We are to accept others as Christ has accepted us.

And yes Christians also are people of truth. But let’s stop brandishing “truth” as a weapon to tear down and destroy. “Truth” is supposed to set people free.

So here is the truth:

• Racism is sin
• Shame/guilting/condemning/judging people is sin
• Pridefully exalting self is sin
• Ignoring injustice is sin
• Labelling the other person as “evil” just because they are different or we disagree with them is sin
• Don’t pretend sin doesn’t exist, don’t excuse sin

But also recognize this truth: God’s grace is sufficient to reconcile and heal and restore

And God desires us to be conduits of His grace (everywhere, especially online!)

Here is grace:

• Put yourself in their shoes:
  • George Floyd was hurting (and died): how would you have felt? What would you have wanted to have happened if it was your life?
  • Derek Chauvin messed up. He was wrong. Put yourself now in his shoes. How would you feel now? What would you be thinking about what your life looks like now?
• Put yourself in their shoes:
  • Maybe that politician on the other side is trying to do something that they think might actually help their fellow man…
  • Maybe that person on Facebook is trying to make sense of things that scare them…
  • Maybe that person you don’t like is lonely, hurting, trapped, lost…

I’m sure at some point in this article I’ve made you mad. At some point you have thought I am being too hard on someone or too soft on someone. 

It is not our job to judge. It is not our job to see revenge. It is not our job to shame people into submission or acquiescence. 

As Christians it is our job to point people to Jesus, the way, truth and life and live (and speak!) grace. 

Get in their shoes for a while and then pray desperately for them. And admit when you were wrong. Seek grace. And offer grace.

I am so thankful that Jesus died for a sinner like me. I have no hope except Jesus’ blood and His grace.

“Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” – James 1:20

There is a lot of anger in this world. There are editorials, news reports, Facebook posts, blogs and so much more dedicated to the things that make us angry. Why are we so angry? What is it that has our feathers so ruffled? And why are we so quick to anger?

In this post I would like to examine a few of the reasons why we get angry, why we anger so quickly and the Biblical remedies to this all-consuming malady of our society/culture.

I believe some of the primary reasons for our anger are these:

• fear,
• feeling out of control,
• feeling slighted,
• perceiving injustice,
• desiring the approval of others (and subsequent/corollary feelings of defensiveness and embarrassment when we don’t get approval)
• strong opinions/likes/dislikes (coupled with pride/selfishness), and
• inner feelings of discontentment.

Whatever the specific cause there are a lot of people really angry in the world right now. Furthermore people express their anger in myriad ways, many of which are not healthy, helpful or right.

The Bible gives us the solution for every situation in this world and every occurrence of anger in our lives. Without making this post longer than necessary let me share with you a few poignant Scriptures that can help to address our anger.

• When anger is caused by fear:
  • Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
• When we are angry because we see injustice:
  • Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do good, Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.
• When your anger is rooted in selfishness:
  • Psalm 37:8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil

Remember too that the Bible helps us understand that not all anger is sin but we do have to do something with our anger.

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.

Ephesians 4:26

We have to allow anger about unrighteousness and injustice to lead us to prayer, trusting the Lord to set things right one day (He will!). We have to leave all vengeance in His hands, go to our adversary and seek reconciliation, forgive as Christ forgives us, accept others as Christ accepts us, and we have to let gentleness be a priority in our thoughts, attitude, words and behaviors (this is not easy and may sound impossible but I can assure you that with God’s Holy Spirit in your heart it it possible.)

There will always be things in this world that anger us.

• As we seek the Lord and allow Him to sanctify us (make us holy like Him), may it be that our anger is not because of selfishness.
• As we rest in the Lord and allow Him to be our refuge, may our anger because of fear continually decline until one day it disappears.
• And finally as we faithfully obey the Lord and allow Him to empower us, may our anger because of injustice never result in us causing harm to people but instead serve as an impetus for holy and loving action on behalf of what is righteous and good.

If you find that anger seems to be consuming you, read the Bible, pray, worship the Lord and talk to a few Christlike people in your life so that you can get a new and healthy perspective (and maybe turn off the news and social media!). If you find that all day, every day you are angry about everything, the Lord can help deliver you from that and can replace that anger with His joy. Pray diligently and seek to either replace angry thoughts with meditations on Scriptures or allow righteously angry thoughts to motivate you to serve others.

The last thing I want to say about anger is that I believe that God’s anger is a lot more like sorrow for, and compassionate activity on behalf of, those who have been oppressed and assailed than it is a violent lashing out at people/situations. Let us seek to be slow to anger and abounding in love, just like our great and good God!

Psalm 145:8 The Lord is gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in loving-kindness

Dear friend,

I want to talk to you about something that is very important to me. So important that I am ashamed I haven’t brought it up like this previously. 

You already know that I am a Christian and a pastor. As such I’m sure you can guess some of what I believe about God and the stories I can tell you about what God has done for me. And so if you will take just a few moments,  I want to tell you of my God and His plans for you.

First, I want to remind you of something you already know: life is short. Whether it is a pandemic, a heart attack or a car accident, something unexpected can come and take our life at any moment. Even if we somehow make it 75 or 85 years without facing a catastrophic accident, the reality is that we will quickly be approaching death by the time we have been alive 7 decades or more. And since life is so short, what indeed happens to us after this life is over? 

Second, Please consider that eternity is a long time. Eternity is never-ending. The Holy Bible talks about an eternal heaven that God is preparing for His children (for all who will believe on Him and receive His salvation). Heaven will be a never-ending celebration of joy, goodness and love! The Holy Bible also talks very clearly about a never-ending hell and I want to remind you that forever is forever. Hell will be a never-ending torment of suffering, loneliness and complete lack of anything good. 

Third, let’s talk about this life. This life is full of so many blessings and wonderful things that God Himself created and prepared for us. It is because God loves us so much that we have such things as family, friendship, sunsets, beaches and flowers. Unfortunately, this life also has suffering, misery, heartache, betrayal, offence, oppression and more! And all suffering in this life comes down to evil and sin. Evil and sin are both results of created beings choosing to reject God’s way of perfect love. In the middle of this mixed up earth (full of both good and evil) there is the possibility and potential of personally living a holy life of love if we choose to reject evil and choose instead to believe and follow God.

Lest this email get any longer than necessary I want to recap the three things I have already said: “Life is short, eternity is long and in this life we get to choose between good and evil”

God has made a plan. His plan provides for us to be delivered from evil, forgiven of our own sin, and filled with His love. He made it possible for us to have both an abundant life here on earth and an eternal life with Him after our life on earth is over.  There is only one thing that we have to do: we have to choose to accept Jesus as our Savior  and Lord. When we accept Him as Savior we are accepting His forgiveness of all our wrongdoing and when we accept Him as Lord we are accepting Him as our boss and following all that He tells us about how to live.

So in conclusion, I want you to know that I personally made the decision years ago to believe on and accept Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. I have never regretted it! Now I know that I am forgiven of all confessed sin and I have His Spirit of love living in me and I am assured of heaven with Him forever. 

I don’t know if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord and I’m not sure if you are living everyday in total and complete obedience to Jesus and that is why I am sharing this letter with you. I don’t want to miss the opportunity to talk with you about your eternal soul and if you believe on Jesus and are living daily for Him. 

Would you mind emailing me and letting me know about your relationship with God? The most important thing in life for me is that everyone I know accepts Jesus and is ready when death comes knocking on their door. I want people to know, receive and live in God’s love now and forever!

Just know that I love you and that is the reason I am sharing this letter with you. After I hear back from you I hope we can dialogue a bit more about all that God offers to you and me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Mike Johnson

pastor@libertynazarene.com

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.

• The Lord is my Protector, I shall not be afraid.
• The Lord is my Savior, I shall not be enslaved.
• The Lord is my Comforter, I shall not live in discouragement or sadness.
• The Lord is my Friend, I shall never be alone.

Obviously you know the first line as it comes straight from Psalm 23. The other 4 lines are my own construct based upon the Word, character and revelation of God in my own life. 

 

It is easy to be afraid when things are unknown and times are uncertain.

 

It is easy to be afraid when your senses tell you that something out of your control is drawing near. 

But I am not afraid, because the Lord is with me. He is for me. He actually dwells among His people and lives inside of me. 

None of this is by any good thing I have done, but simply because He is loving, gracious and merciful. It is by His own holiness and unmerited favor that I am able to say the Lord is with me.

It is by the nearness and salvation of the Lord that I am able to say I am not afraid.

• I am not afraid to die. If I die it is gain and I will be ushered even nearer to the Lord who is now with me. 
• I am not afraid to live, because Christ is with me.

I am not afraid to serve others and proclaim the gospel because I am empowered by God’s Holy Spirit.

That’s not to say that I don’t have some trepidation about what I don’t know, can’t control and can’t handle on my own. I still struggle with seeking the approval of others and wanting everything to be safe and secure. But in this world we will have trouble. 

And yet greater is He who is with me and in me than the enemy who is in the world. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. And even when I die in this world, by God’s sufficient grace and atoning blood I will be ushered into the kingdom of heaven to enjoy Him forever.

So if a car accident, gunshot, cancer or coronavirus kills me, even then God will work it all out for my good as He rescues me from this present evil world.

If God leaves me here in the midst of the pain, suffering and chaos of this world, He will always be with me supplying peace, joy and strength. I will never lack the wisdom or perseverance I need when I rest in Him.

As I walk with Him I will be made holy as He is holy and I will be continually accepted in the beloved. 

So, I am not afraid and I will not live/act/respond in fear to the troubles of this world. And when/if I ever do get out of step with His Holy Spirit, then by His mercy/grace I will freely confess and heartily (re)consecrate myself to Him so that He will get the glory, I will grow in grace and His kingdom will advance here on earth. 

I pray that you also will cling to the Lord and discover the peace, freedom and courage that He gives. Trust and follow Jesus alone as your Savior and Lord. Rest in Him, let Him be your salvation and refuge. 

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

 

You’re gonna make it through this.

The truth is I don’t really want someone to tell me that. It feels patronizing or condescending. It feels like they don’t really know how painful, stressful, confusing or depressing it is.

We do of course need to remind each other of this.

We also need to remind ourselves of this.

Now, one thing I want to avoid here is the kind of “motivational speaker pep talk” that sometimes accompanies this phrase.

The reality is that based upon outward circumstances, the evil attacks of the devil and the fickle, weak, selfish and limited nature of humanity: there is no way for you to make it through this (at least not with any sense of wholeness, peace or joy).

But that is where this article may differ from other articles about you making it through.

You can’t make it through alone. You won’t make it through just by keeping your chin up, thinking positive thoughts and putting one foot in front of the other. You may actually find yourself worse off in the future…unless…

Unless you look to the Lord Himself for strength.

With man it is impossible but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)

Now hear me out…I don’t mean that quoting a few Bible verses and posting a few cliche’ memes on Facebook is going to get you through this.

It doesn’t work that way.

You and I need the supernatural, all-powerful, all-knowing, perfectly-loving, holy presence of the God of the universe to swoop into our lives and save us from this mess!!

You and I need a “come to Jesus” meeting where we really “come to Jesus”. We need to tell Him how mad we are. And how lonely. And how frustrated. And how discouraged.

We need to tell Jesus how tired we are. And how it feels like no one cares (or understands). We need to admit we can’t do it alone. We need to admit that our efforts have been in vain and that many of our efforts have been selfish, and that we feel like we are going nowhere fast.

God can bring us through. He wants to. He is waiting to answer your and my plea for help.

So here is what you can do:

• Tell God everything you are upset about (every circumstance, person, failure or offense)
• Admit to God everything you have thought you might do (on your own) to fix (or avoid) the problem
• Pour out all of your emotions before HIm (the good, bad and ugly – He is big enough, He can handle it)
• Ask Him to give you strength, courage and good cheer
• Read His Word
• Write down His promises (post-it notes, 3×5 cards, etc) and place them around in various places so you can see them and be reminded of them frequently
• Talk to other Christians about your struggle
• Find one or more people to serve/bless

This list of things won’t fix the problem. Only God can do that. But these are some things you can do that will help you fix your eyes on Jesus and Jesus can bring the victory!

Say this to yourself (outloud if you can): “With God, I am going to make it through this. God loves me, He is for me. With God, I am going to make it through this”

You are loved! I pray you come quickly through this time with joy and peace and with your eyes ever fixed on Jesus.

May you receive His grace and peace in abundance this week

Mike J

Dear Pastor,

The people you lead…

Are voluntarily assembling, gathering or “tuning in” to hear what you have to say because they believe that what you say will somehow benefit them.

They are continually engaging with you because they believe that their life will be better because of their interaction with you.

They are seeking you out because they believe that the love, wisdom, hope, encouragement, truth, and experience that you share with them will make their lives richer, fuller and more worth living.

• Are you offering to them something that is equal to what they are believing you will give them?
• Are you making sure they have a good return on the investment of their time with you? 
• Are you connecting them with the One who truly has the abundance, overflow and sufficiency they need?

Take some time to prayerfully consider these questions:

• Would you consider your life more enriched if you were the recipient of the care, attention and teaching you are offering?
• Would you truly feel loved and edified if you received what you are giving out?
• If not, why not?
• Is there any way to improve the ministry/care/encouragement you are extending?
• Is there anything that needs to change that is limiting or hindering what you are offering?
• Are you in the way of you?

This is what I know: God Himself called you (and He doesn’t make mistakes).

God Himself is empowering you by His Holy Spirit to minister in His name, for His glory and for the sake of people.

The ministry God is empowering you to do is not merely a temporary band-aid for the woes of this world but rather part of His eternal plan of salvation. Praise be to God that He has called you and and is presently sourcing you to bless, help, lead and serve others.

Pastor, you are loved and I hope this encouragement (though challenging) will strengthen you, sharpen you and equip you so that you will be better prepared to shepherd your flock.

Christ is with us, Christ is in us!

Mike J

Dear Pastor,

Have you ever felt like things were going nowhere fast in your ministry? 

Perhaps you’ve looked at your recent accomplishments and felt like not much was really happening. 

I want to tell you that the issue might just be the people. 

Now, before you jump to conclusions, I don’t mean that it’s the people causing your feelings of frustration. Instead what I mean is that it may be your lack of relationship or insufficient quality time with your people that is leaving you feeling empty.

We forget that God created us to be social people. God Himself declared that it wasn’t good for man to be alone. 

God intends that we live together in fellowship and community and perhaps some of the reason you find yourself struggling is because reading a book, looking at a computer screen or studying facts and figures is no substitute for sharing life, laughter, joy and pain together.

Spending time together with people, whether face to face or on the phone, is the premier way to encourage and disciple people and indeed to find our own hope and outlook lifted. 

So without drawing this out any more: please, who can you call today? Who can you visit today? Who can you encourage and/or pray with today?

You may just find as you invest personally in other people’s lives that you have the opportunity to ask about their walk with Christ, share with them some of the powerful promises of Scripture, remind them of Jesus’ commands/warnings and ultimately sharpen and build each other up.

I hope and pray two things for you:

1. That in the midst of any discouragement you will receive from the Lord the strength and hope and wisdom to keep pressing on in Jesus’ name
2. That you will share some time together with another person and you will both be edified and leave rejoicing because of the time spent together. 

You are loved! So glad that we get to be on this journey of ministry together. 

Christ is with us, Christ is in us!

Mike J

How do we know what it is that God is saying to us at any given moment? How can we discern His voice above the noise? There are many thoughts and feelings that might be swirling within us at any given moment and even more than that there are a thousand different circumstances, obstacles, distractions and voices that swirl around us all the time. How can we pick out the voice of God and hear, understand and follow what He is saying to us?

Jesus told us that His sheep know His voice. Do we know Jesus’ voice? Are we really listening for His voice? Are we trying to hear what His instructions and exhortations are to us or are we merely listening for a particular answer we have been asking for? Are we listening for what God is revealing or are we only seeking for what we want?

God may be revealing something completely different than what the inner and outer voices are clamoring and saying. So often in my life I find myself looking and listening for God but only inasmuch as He addresses what I think He should be addressing.

It’s almost like I come and ask God: “Can you help me with strength to work in the garden” and God says back to me “I want you to work in the kitchen” or “I want you to rest in the living room”.
And because God didn’t say back to me anything about the garden or strength then I figure He didn’t answer me.

Are you listening for the Lord or are you listening for what you hope/want/wish/desire to hear?

What is most helpful, what is most significant and what is most life-giving is not having a particular answer to a particular question or having God speak in the way that we want Him to, but rather that we listen for Him and look for Him no matter how He appears or what He says.

Another thing that is so important for us to be able to identify the voice of God is to familiarize ourselves with His voice by being in His Word. The more we are in the Bible, the more we will be able to recognize God’s voice over and against the other voices shouting around us. It can be too easy to convince ourselves that we have heard from God because we prayed about it or thought about it alot, but we need to avail ourselves to Him by sitting under the tutelage of His Word. The Bible together with prayer and godly counsel (from other mature believers) are tremendous tools for discernment.

One last thing: make sure that when you are seeking to hear the voice of God that you have properly postured yourself before Him. Be sure that you are humbly approaching Him. Make sure that your heart is open to whatever God’s will is (even if it is suffering or mystery). Be content to receive from the Lord whatever He has planned for you.

Let me close with this: God said that we will find Him when we seek Him with all of our hearts. So we can know that if we are knocking and seeking He will open the door and answer us, and the more we see and hear Him, the more we can know His heart and recognize His voice.

Dear Pastor,

Has the current world situation caused you to pause and ask yourself: “What exactly am I doing, anyway?”

Let’s talk about what you are doing…

• You are representing the Holy God of the universe. Your words, actions, attitude and lifestyle are to be a reflection of Him. It might be easy to get discouraged here but don’t. Just be the moon and let God be the sun: reflect His light to the people on earth.
• You are declaring God’s goodness. In casual conversation, Bible study and preaching you are sharing with people how good God is and that He is even now extending His goodness to each and every person on earth
• You are reminding people that God has fully paid the price and provided for all that is needed for life and godliness: all we have to do is believe and receive. What amazing grace: His grace is sufficient we just have to receive the gift and walk with Him!
• You are serving as a conduit of His glory. Because He lives in you, if you just get out of the way and let Him flow through you, He will indeed produce His Spiritual fruit, He will get the glory and you get to watch His fruit bless, nourish and strengthen people

So why do we ask the question “What am I doing”? 

Sometimes it is because we have gotten our eyes off Jesus and begun to drift. Other times it is because we have fallen into the rut of routine and status quo and are not receiving fresh wind and fresh fire from the Holy Spirit. Many times we wonder about what we are doing because we compare ourselves to others or don’t see the outward “results” we were looking for.

I hope that in this instance you are asking yourself what you are doing because God has given us this amazing opportunity to evaluate what is really important in life and ministry.

Please, remember what it was that God called you to when He called you to be His child and His under-shepherd: be faithful, persevere, trust Him, rest in Him and walk by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 

At the end of this life it won’t matter how polished or perfect you were in ministry. At the end of your current ministry assignment it won’t matter how many online followers or views you had; it won’t matter how slick your graphics or how eloquent your speech.

Ultimately what will matter is that you were obedient to the Lord, you faithfully shared the gospel of Jesus Christ and you stayed fully surrendered to the Lord every day.

Let God bring the harvest, let God grow the church, let God get the glory. You just keep on pointing to Jesus, now and forever!

Christ is with us, Christ is in us!

Mike J