World Impact Ministries / Peter Youngren

“Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern” PHILIPPIANS 3:17
It never ceases to blow my mind who Christians emulate. Idolatry seems to be alive and well (in North American Christian circles anyways) as each week numerous men and women are described to me as “strong Christians” or “spiritual people”. I don’t know who you look to but first and foremost I can’t stress enough that Jesus is our example. And the Apostle Paul is our example. And in case some are saying, yeah but I can’t see them in physical form right now, then look to those who follow in the pattern of Jesus’ teaching. Look to those who adhere to the doctrines of Paul; who believe as Paul believed. In every life there are patterns. Many times I find that people who make a mistake one year, make the same one the next year and the next year, etc. I believe that Paul addresses this very pragmatically when he says “follow my example” and “use my life as a pattern”. Here are some modern day entrapments for a believer.

Perhaps this week would be best served up discussing the issue of questions (or maybe a better term would be “questioning”). It appears that throughout the Old and the New Testament the Lord encouraged questions. If you desire to have a fun-filled Saturday afternoon you could start in Psalm 1 and read all of the questions that David asked God throughout the entire book (time well spent J). Actually there is a good parallel here between David’s questions and Job’s questions. Certainly by most scholarly accounts, there is no indication that David ever realized that (at least) his psalms would be read by any one other than himself. Those beautiful, and complex thoughts are his towards the Lord and we all can relate from time to time. Yet David was a man after God’s own heart. There is no indication that the Lord ever rebuked him for his private questions. He and the Lord shared a deep and glorious friendship that was only strengthened in the secret place. When you read the psalms part of you wonders if David even wants answers to most of his questions. Read Psalm 9: “I will praise You, O Lord…” on and on it goes. Then read Psalm 10: “Why do you stand afar off, O Lord…” on and on it goes. It’s downright hilarious and it perfectly mirrors an emotional “Believer” today (at times). Yet throughout his entire life David demonstrated a trust in the Lord – even though he had questions all the time.

A very common sermon in today’s day and age seems to be “Religion Bashing”.

You can dress it up any which way you want to - “God hates religion”, “Religion kills” whatever. I must confess that I have preached one or two of these types of sermons myself.

But so much the more the news spread abroad concerning Him, and great crowds kept coming together to hear [Him] and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. But He Himself withdrew [in retirement] to the wilderness (desert) and prayed. LUKE 5:15, 16
Jesus attracted people. There is no other way to read/interpret scripture. Wherever Jesus went, whatever Jesus did, whomever Jesus spoke with; He attracted multitudes. It’s true that the miracles attracted people. Undoubtedly some came to stand off in the distance and see Him “perform” supernatural acts which their natural eyes could not believe. Yet the Bible is clear to make another notation regarding why people came. They came to “hear Him”. Why? No one had ever, throughout the entire history of the world, spoken like Jesus spoke. The Bible says that “grace” and “truth” came through (in) Jesus. His every Word, look, act, subtlety, parable, deed, rebuke and exhortation exemplified grace and truth. Even the miracles were a demonstration of God’s grace manifested towards mankind. These three things attracted people to Jesus: grace, truth and the supernatural.

Lately I’ve been ‘hanging out’ in 1st and 2nd Corinthians; what a marvelous book! Almost every major doctrine is covered in there and Paul does it in an extremely clear and relevant way. Of course we all know 1 Corinthians 13 which is probably the finest piece of literature ever written on love! But the rest of the book has real gravitas (you can go look that word up later and use it in a conversation tomorrow with your boss’..haha) as well.

  Sometimes it’s good for a “blogger” (like me) just to keep his mouth quiet and allow the Bible to speak for itself. After all who could say it better than Jesus or Paul? Not I! One of my favorite verses (you know the kind that makes your heart leap when you read it) is 2 Corinthians 3:2, 3. Let’s have a look, “You are our epistles written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”

I have a confession. Early on, I realized that as a minister I was standing up and telling people to live one way (for example – pray every day) while I myself was struggling. I found that on any given week I certainly couldn’t say that I prayed more than one hour per day. And even if I did pray it was usually at a prayer meeting (ie. in front of people). We were all very forceful prayer warriors then. I can’t speak for what the others were like when they were alone, but I know that my private prayer life was not nearly as…how should we phrase it – vocal! In retrospect, years later I find myself wondering how much of our prayers back then were for God’s ears and how much was for each other’s.