If you should find the perfect church,
Where all anxieties cease-
Then pass it by, lest joining it,
You’d mar the masterpiece.

If you should find the perfect church,
Then don’t you ever dare-
To tread upon such holy ground,
You’d be a misfit there.

But since no perfect church exists,
Made of imperfect men-
Then let’s cease looking for that church,
And love the church we’re in.

Of course it’s not a perfect church,
That’s simple to discern-
But you and I all of us,
Could cause the tide to turn.

So let’s keep working in our church,
Until the resurrection-
And then we each will join God’s church,
Without an imperfection.

–Author Unknown

I read this in a church bulletin and felt the Author rally hit the nail on the head. Comments?

On your first day on the other side of the grave, do you think you’ll look back on this life and be flooded with gratitude for hours spent watching episodes of American Idol and Lost?  Will you wish you’d done more of that? Do you think you’ll look back fondly on the effort and money spent remodeling the kitchen?  Will you wish you’d had a nicer home? Do you think you’ll be glad you were up-to-date on the juicy details of celebrity lives?  Will you wish you’d read more magazines? Will you regret not spending more time at the office?  Will you wish you’d logged just a few more hours every week at work? Will you miss your blog or Facebook?  WIll you wish you’d just had a couple hundred more readers, just a few more “friends?”

HT: Forward Progress

In his short letter to his friend Philemon, Paul was asking him to do something very difficult–to forgive the runaway slave, Onesimus, for wronging him. Paul never comes right out and commands him to forgive, but he sure does drop a lot of hints. Paul basically says, “Philemon, I want your goodness to Onesimus to be from your own accord.” Interesting. Paul is assuming that Philemon will deal with Onesimus out of his goodness.

Why would he assume that? Onesimus hadn’t been good to Philemon. He had wronged him and(evidently) stolen from him. Perhaps Paul assumes that Philemon will deal with him kindly because Philemon is a Christian. Clear and simple, this is what forgiveness is; it is dealing with others the way God has dealt with you–out of His goodness.

Have you ever thought about the fact that God can only respond to you out of His goodness? Now, it wasn’t always that way. Before God converted us He was (rightly) angry at us because of our sin and rebellion. His punishment was looming. But the cross changed all that. Instead of God punishing me because of my sin, He punished Jesus instead. And the goodness and kindness that Jesus deserved is now given to me.

This is why when Christians are wronged, they are called to deal with others out of their goodness. By doing so, they reflect the character of the God who has been good and kind to them.

A few hours after she dropped the toys in my office, my wife and two boys stopped by. When I saw them pull up I made a mad dash and threw the bags of toys in my closet. I didn’t want to deal with the pain of trying to explain to them that Santa hadn’t actually returned in February for round two.

So, for the last few days the toys have remained in my closet. Periodically, every few hours, the barn yard animal toy will randomly make the rooster sound. The first few times it happened, it took me a couple of seconds to realize what it was. After a while it became just plain annoying. But now, a few days later, I’m used to it. So, why haven’t I moved the toys yet? I don’t know. Laziness…apathy…I’m just used to it.

Sin can work the same way in your life. If you don’t deal with it, (the rooster just cockadoodledooed again) you’ll eventually get used to it. That habit or vice will simply become common place. Listen, when you get used to the sin in your heart, you’re treading on very thin ice. Let me remind you of what James says:

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. James 1:14-15

If there is a sin pattern or area in your life that shouldn’t be there, deal with it now. Don’t wait until it becomes routine. Sin will always take you further than you ever wanted to go.

Jesus said, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36).

I don’t have a lot of enemies. But like any person I have people who criticize me, wrongly judge me and who are generally just a pain. I am tempted to just tolerate them. To ignore them. Maybe I don’t actively hate them, but I just look past them and choose not to care about them. And yet Jesus commands me to love them. To do good to them. To lend to them. And then not to expect a thanks or a parade or even the return of what I let them borrow.

That is a hard saying. I can’t say I’m doing it well. But I’m a child of the Most High and he is kind. He has been so merciful to me. He sent his Son for me when I was his enemy. He could have ignored me. Instead he redeemed me by the blood of the Son.

The love and mercy of my Heavenly Father compels me to love my enemies.

This is the Apostle Paul’s greeting to Philemon at the beginning of his short letter. It’s a common greeting. As a matter of fact, Paul begins most of his Epistles in a similar way (sometimes including the word, mercy). But theologically, this is a profound statement. Paul is reminding Philemon of the gospel–that it is because of the grace of God that he can have peace with God. No doubt Paul is reminding Philemon of this truth before he asks him to forgive Onesimus.

This is where forgiveness must begin in our lives. We must understand and have received the gospel. It is because of the gospel that we are obligated to forgive those who hurt us. And, it is because of the gospel that we can find the strength to forgive those who hurt us. How arrogant for a Christian who has been forgiven by God to with hold it from someone else.

Do you need to forgive someone today? Remember, it is because of God’s grace that He’s forgiven you, bringing peace and reconciliation to your life.

The problem is, in our desire to be funny, creative and relevant, we often times end up preaching feel good, gospelless, try harder sermons, which frankly, can come across as pretty hokey. Here’s Matt Chandler hitting the nail on the head regarding this issue:

HT: Timmy Brister