Friday, October 31, 2014

Message Outline" “Safeguards in our Walk with The Lord” Luke 10:39-44

“Safeguards in our Walk with The Lord”
Luke 10:39-44
Nov 2nd 2014

Safeguards in our Walk with The Lord

I. Attentive faithful service to the Lord is good (38)
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.

II. Attentive listening to Jesus’ teaching is better (39)

39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.

III. Complaining about how others’ respond  is not helpful (40)
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”

IV. Keep the main thing the main thing by
                                   
A. Not letting service for the Lord distract you from.....
41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things,

B. Attentively listening to the Lord to enjoy His presence now and forever


42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

In Memory of my Father and Veteran’s Day



This Veteran’s Day marks the eleven year anniversary of my father, Richard Lovelady,  dying of a heart attack in his home in Portland.  Twenty years ago I made our weekly phone calls a priority when it finally hit me that my father was getting older and had limitations. This was hard for me to accept because my dad was always a John Wayne figure. He was bigger than life at 6' 5". He was also a loner with a strong sense of responsibility and rather poor interpersonal communication skills.  His death was a surprise and it was not a surprise. Fortunately, I had obeyed an impulse from the Lord to spend  a few days with him the month before he died. My inability to get a hold of him over a 24 hr. period motivated me to call the Portland Police to do a welfare check.  The shock of his passing was compounded by the fact that his home was robbed after his death. The quick trip to Portland and working with my sister to organize the funeral are a fuzzy haze in my memory.                      

I made several trips over the next few months to settle his affairs. What I learned about my dad in sorting through his stuff confirmed what I knew through my experiences with him. My dad was a very dependable person. He always lived within his modest means and paid his bills on time.  He was also very creative with his hands. He made beautiful pieces of furniture: roll top desks, dresser with a book case, magazine rack, etc... He expressed his love for his grandchildren by making them many beautiful items:  bunk beds, toy box, jewelry box, book shelf, doll house, etc..

My dad was a retired Air Force mechanic who belonged to several veterans’ organizations. In sorting through some of his Air Force papers, I discovered that he had been awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses for his service in Vietnam. In reading through a letter of commendation I learned that he had flown 175 combat missions as a flight engineer on an AC-47 aircraft. The AC-47 “Puff the Magic Dragon” was designed for ground support with three Vulcan mini-guns out its side.  In this same letter the officer wrote that his greatest strengths were dependability and creativity. This I fully understood.

When I had asked about my dad about his experiences in Vietnam, he would mumble a few profanities about Washington politicians and then quickly change the subject. What became clear to me in going through his papers was that he had served honorably and with distinction in a difficult time because his country called on him to do it. Over the last decade our country has now called on hundreds of Utah service people and many thousands throughout the country to serve during a difficult time. The vast majority of them are serving honorably and with distinction. This Veterans Day we should honor and support them for their service and sacrifice. As with my father we may never know the depth of their service to us, our community, and our country.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

God Chooses His People



I Thes 1:4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,

The Apostle starts this verse with what they knew. He knew and they knew that they were loved by God. When you recognize the awfulness of our sin and how it is a stench before a Holy God, you become amazed that God loves you. God does not love us because we deserve his loved. But he in his mercy and grace has chosen to love us.

NOBODY DESERVES GOD”S LOVE   
Before I go into the hard part of this verse, I want you to fully recognize that no one has ever merited the kindness and love of God.

Titus 3:4-5
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

What does it mean for God to chose?
How does God Chose?

>Does God Choose some people for eternal life, but not others?

Here  are quotes from different evangelical commentators who comes on different sides of the issue of Election. Election is God’s Choice of People for eternal life.

In Broad, we have God’s choice and People’s Choice.

“If we choose to be in Christ, we have been chosen by God. There is nothing  arbitrary, therefore, about election. Our choice makes us his elect.”
                         David Williams, New International Bible Commentary on I Thessalonians

“He has chosen”.... This is God’s sovereign choice of certain individuals...... prior to Adam’s appearance on earth.”  
                            Robert Thomas, Expositors Bible Commentary on I Thessalonians

Two evangelical commentators with exactly opposite view.
   
The overall issue as we look at How God Chooses is His Sovereignty.

The Sovereignty of God.
My current favorite illustration for the te Sovereignty of God is an umbrella. God is in charge covering it all. That doesn’t rule out genuine choice and genuine accidents under the umbrella.

Chuck Swindoll put it this way...
“God's calling the shots. He's running the show. Either he's in full control or he's off his throne.”  

The Spirit working in lives in conviction. The open invitation of Eternal life to all who will believe.

I am sure many of you would like to perfectly know how God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Free Will related to each other. SO WOULD I.   But do keep that healthy tension.
   
It is the EXTREMES that are unhealthy.

To heavy on God’s choice leads to….  Indifference to people’s spiritual condition
"God will save the pagans in His time."

To heavy on Man’s choice leads to……manipulating people into a “decision  or Christ.”
"We need to get them saved."


My personal convictions (repeated from previous post).

>If Christians witness, more people will hear and respond to the Gospel.
>If Christians obey God, they will pray and witness more fervently.
>If Christians pray more,   more people will be saved
>If Christians pray more, more circumstances will be changed for God’s glory.
>Dee Duke:     “Little pray, little blessing; much prayer, much blessing.”

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Outline - Observations on the Christian Life. 1 Thes. 1:4-10



Observations on the Christian Life.
1 Thes. 1:4-10                                                    
October 12th , 2014

Observations on the Christian Life:

I.  God has Chosen to Love You (4)
4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you,

NOBODY DESERVES GOD”S LOVE   
Titus 3:4-5
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

We have God’s choice and People’s Choice.

“If we choose to be in Christ, we have been chosen by God. There is nothing  arbitrary, therefore, about election. Our choice makes us his elect.”
                                                          David Williams, NIBC

“He has chosen”.... This is God’s sovereign choice of certain individuals...... prior to Adam’s appearance on earth.”  
                                                          Robert Thomas, EBC.

II. While the Gospel can be explained in Words, it must be applied by the  Holy Spirit. (5)

5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.
 You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

         
It is the EXTREMES that are unhealthy.
To heavy on God’s choice leads to indifference to people’s spiritual condition
To heavy on Man’s choice leads to manipulating people into a "decision for Christ.”

My personal convictions.
If Christians witness, more people will hear and respond to the Gospel.
If Christians obey God, they will pray and witness more fervently.
If Christians pray more,   more people will be saved
If Christians pray more, more circumstances will be changed for God’s glory.
Dee Duke:     “Little pray, little blessing; much prayer, much blessing.”

III.  Our Afflictions Provide Opportunities for Experiencing God’s Grace in unique ways. (6)
6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,

How does God using afflictions, trials, in our lives?

Considering trials...  (From Karl Payne outline)

11.     Purpose of a trial - to strengthen us, to prepare us for things to come.
James 1:2-5 (ESV)
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

22.     Promise to hold onto during a trial

Romans 8:28 (ESV)
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

33.     Protection during trials
1 Corinthians 10:13 (ESV)
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

44.     Plan for the trials
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

IV. Your Life of Faith  Speaks  Louder than Your Words of Faith (7-8)
7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

V. Your Transformed Life is a Powerful Defense for the Gospel of Christ. (9)
9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
                                                                  
VI. Our Great Hope is The Second Coming of Christ (10)
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Friday, October 10, 2014

A Christian Dying Well



The following article is from a Christian who is trusting God as she is dying from cancer. The link to the original article
http://thefederalist.com/2014/10/10/brain-cancer-will-likely-kill-me-but-theres-no-way-ill-kill-myself/


Like Brittany Maynard, I have extremely aggressive brain cancer. But I’m not downing any kill pills.

October 10, 2014


I’m not surprised that an Oct. 6, 2014 article by Nicole Weisensee Egan—titled “Terminally Ill 29-Year Old Woman: Why I’m Choosing to Die on My Own Terms” featuring a well-produced video found on People.com—has gone viral.
The video, which features interviews of Brittany Maynard and her family members, is very emotional. Maynard, who was diagnosed this past spring, suffers from a stage-four gliobastoma multiforme brain tumor. She has a very aggressive form of brain cancer, and it is difficult to control its growth. In her video story, she describes how she was diagnosed and relates her understanding that the glioblastoma will eventually kill her. She then relates her fear that this scenario will be “out of her control.”
As I watched the video, I wanted to hug Brittany and shed tears right along with her because I, too, know those fears. I was also diagnosed this past spring with a stage-four glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor.
I can identify with Maynard and her spunky, adventurous spirit. She describes her love of travel. In my profession with The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod’s mercy outreach, I’ve led medical mission teams and worked on relief projects in 11 countries, loving every minute of it. I have seen the poorest of the poor and the sickest of the sick. I have seen suffering that would make anyone’s stomach turn.

The Hardest Part Is Not Knowing When
Now I face my own prognosis of future suffering. Some days are joyful. Some days the diagnosis feels like a huge weight in my backpack.
The hardest part of a terminal diagnosis is not knowing the timeline. I speak candidly with my physicians and pray that they can keep my tumor under control with the latest therapies to extend my life, one more year, month, day. Someday, I hope my tumor qualifies to be studied in one of the many clinical trials for brain cancer. I’d like to think my situation was part of a cure for someone else.
My doctors have applauded my decision to step down from my physically and emotionally demanding job to spend precious time with my family. I have a husband and three daughters who I hope will always remember me as a strong, thoughtful (but bull-headed) woman, carrying Christ’s mercy and compassion for others in my soul with rich joy and meaning.

Suicide Is Not the Answer to Brain Cancer
And here is where my comparison with Brittany Maynard ends. Maynard chose to move her family to Oregon earlier this year to have legal access to physician-assisted suicide and to receive a prescription for drugs that she has stated she will use to take her life two days following her husband’s birthday, on Nov. 1, 2014. It’s interesting that Maynard steadfastly refuses to refer to her decision as an act of suicide, even though she will, quite literally, take her own life.
Many people who choose assisted-suicide have expressed that they are uncomfortable with the term. Assisted suicide, which means helping someone take his or her own life, has been redefined into the more euphemistic “aid in dying” or sometimes “death with dignity” campaign which has been spearheaded by the well-funded special-interest group Compassion and Choices (previously known as The Hemlock Society).

However well-intentioned, this is one area where the old adage that “Hard cases make bad law” comes into play. To make good policy decisions about assisted suicide for our society, we need to follow the rabbit trail all the way down the hole to see where it leads. Marilyn Golden, a senior policy analyst for the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, warned that “assisted suicide is not progressive, in fact, it puts many vulnerable people at risk, and we have already seen examples of that where it is legal.” Folks concerned about the rights of people with disabilities are worried about this.

Dignity Lies in Love
But there isn’t any dignity in cancer or other debilitating illness. In my own treatment, I’ve been poked, prodded, radiated, chemotherapied, and cut open so many times that I stopped worrying about being dignified quite some time ago. Instead, I prefer to get my dignity by appreciating the dear people who care for me with their individual expressions of love and prayers on my behalf.
Maynard can choose to call her act anything she wants to enable her to feel better about her decision, but that doesn’t change the facts about how she has chosen to die. Dr. Eric Chevlen, a diplomat of the American Boards of Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology, Hematology, and Pain Medicine and director of Palliative Care at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, Ohio, once quipped, “Just as rape is not about sex, euthanasia is not about comforting the dying. It is about power. What is intolerable to the (assisted suicide advocate) is not suffering or dying, but not having control over life and death.”

A recent opinion piece in The Atlantic by Ezekiel Emanuel (President Obama’s adviser on The Affordable Care Act) entitled “Why I Hope to Die at 75,” forged ahead in the assisted suicide debate by equating the value of human life with that human’s ability to be productive.

Death Is Always Out of Our Hands
When I was a young mother, my father had a traumatic accident that severed his spinal cord and left him paralyzed from the neck down. The last five months of my father’s life, which he lived as a paraplegic, were filled with utter helplessness. He wasn’t productive in any meaningful way. He couldn’t even shave his own face. Would Emanuel or Maynard find my dad’s life useless? I didn’t. My siblings and I soaked up our father’s presence, realizing that caring for the needy person we loved so dearly showed each of us some unexpected things about ourselves. As writer Cheryl Magness says, caregivers get a chance to grow in compassion, responsibility, and selflessness as they care for those in need.

This will serve me now as I face my own debilitating mortality. Death sucks. And while this leads many to attempt to calm their fears by grasping for personal control over the situation, as a Christian with a Savior who loves me dearly and who has redeemed me from a dying world, I have a higher calling. God wants me to be comfortable in my dependence on Him and others, to live with Him in peace and comfort no matter what comes my way. As for my cancer journey, circumstances out of my control are not the worst thing that can happen to me. The worst thing would be losing faith, refusing to trust in God’s purpose in my life and trying to grab that control myself.

I watched Maynard’s six-minute video. I cried, and my heart broke for her and her family. I pray she changes her mind and decides to allow others to care for her in her illness. I felt blessed that my tumor came later in my life (I’m 51), and I have had the gift of raising three lovely daughters. I want my girls to learn servanthood and selflessness as they care for me. And I also want them to know that, for Christians, our death is not the end. Because our Savior, Jesus Christ, selflessly endured an ugly death on the cross and was laid in a borrowed tomb (no “death with dignity” there), He truly understands our sorrows and feelings of helplessness. I want my kids to know that Christ’s resurrection from that borrowed grave confirms that death could not hold Him, and it cannot hold me either—a baptized child of God!