Doug Tweed

“The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” (James 5:11b)

Anyone with even a limited understanding of biblical truth will agree that God is merciful and that God is compassionate.

There is a tendency, however, to see these two statements as basically meaning the same thing. James 5:11 and Romans 9:15 make it clear that they are different, although equally important, aspects of God’s loving character.

“Compassion” is best understood as sympathy and concern for another person in their affliction or misfortune, accompanied by a motivation to help. In a biblical context, it combines unconditional love for the person, awareness of the affliction, and a desire to help that is acted upon.

“Mercy” is best understood as forgiveness or leniency toward someone who is your enemy, or toward someone who has harmed you or others you care for. In a biblical context, it combines unconditional love for the person, awareness of the wrong inflicted, and forgiveness and leniency concerning that wrong.

In short, compassion is for someone who is hurting. Mercy is for someone who has hurt you.

Psalm 103:3 provides an excellent example of how this works. The Lord “forgives all your iniquity” as an expression of His loving mercy. The Lord “heals all your diseases” as an expression of His loving compassion.

Everyone needs God’s mercy. We have all sinned and fall short of God’s glory. (Romans 3:2) And everyone needs God’s compassion because in this broken world, we all face trouble we can’t solve on our own. (John 16:33)
How then do we best position ourselves to receive God’s compassion and mercy?

First, we need humble spirits and contrite hearts.

Isaiah 57:15 tells us that our high and holy God, who lives in a high and holy place, also lives on this earth with the lowly and contrite, to revive their hearts and spirits.
David embraces this truth in Psalm 51, written in the aftermath of his sins with Bathsheba. David is remorseful and repentant. (vs. 1-6) He calls upon God to do what he cannot do: create in him a clean heart and a right spirit, revived by the presence of the Holy Spirit, so he can live in the joy of his salvation and bring forth fruit for God’s Kingdom. (vs. 7-15)

Likewise, the Beatitudes preached by Jesus promise the blessings of the Kingdom to those who know they are poor and powerless in spirit, and the comfort of God to those who mourn their sins and the sins of the world, and the inheritance of the earth to the meek, and an inpouring of righteousness to those who deeply desire to become righteous. (Matthew 5:2-6)

Summarized, God’s compassion and mercy come for the humble, not the proud, and for the repentant sinner, not the self-righteous, and for the childlike, not the self-sufficient. (Luke 18:9-17)
Second, we must embrace the biblical principle that one reaps what one sows. (Galatians 6:7)

Jesus preached the merciful would receive mercy, and that if you don’t forgive others, God will not forgive you! (Matthew 5:7, 6:11-15) The parable of the merciful master and unmerciful servant should be a wake-up call to us all concerning the conditions of God’s mercy. (Matthew 18:32-35)

It is also clear this principle of reaping and sowing applies to compassion. Christians must cloth themselves in compassion. (Colossians 3:12) When Jesus described the separation of His sheep from the goats at the close of the age, the sheep were those who had acted in compassion for others. (Matthew 25:31-46) What they did for “the least of these”, they did for Him, and they were blessed for it. You don’t want to be a goat!

Although it is challenging, we must remember that our compassion and mercy are not just for the lovable and those who stir our sympathies. God calls on us to unconditionally love our enemies, and see their afflictions just as much as we see their wrongs. (Matthew 5:43-48) The Good Samaritan showed both compassion and mercy for the half-dead Jew because he loved and helped an enemy in his affliction. (Luke 10:29-37)

When faced with issues of compassion or mercy for a non-Christian, I try to recall that Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they won’t see the light of the Gospel. (2 Corinthians 4:4) The lost will always act lost. Our true battle is against the affliction of evil that blinds them, and it is good that overcomes evil. (Ephesians 6:10-12; Romans 12:21)

At the same time, godly compassion and mercy must be administered with wisdom. (James 3:13-18) True love is kind and patient, but it does not rejoice at wrongdoing. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) True compassion will sometimes involve restraint and true mercy will sometimes involve discipline. Regardless of what the “politically correct” think, we are not being compassionate or merciful when we enable or approve of continued destructive behavior.

My friends, if we want positive change in our nation, revival in our churches, or simply more of God in our own lives, compassion and mercy are Kingdom essentials. Let’s stop imitating politics and the media, and start imitating Christ. (Ephesians 5:1-2)

God bless you, and God bless our community.

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)

The writings of John: his Gospel, his three Letters and the Revelation, were the last books of the New Testament to be written. Most theologians think they were written at least fifteen to twenty years after the letters of Paul, Acts and the other three gospels.

John’s Gospel also contains more unique stories than any of the other three gospels. In fact, the other three gospels are often called the Synoptic Gospels because so many stories are repeated among them. “Synoptic” in this context means, “taking the same view”.

Matthew is written by a former tax collector, once alienated from his Jewish people, and targets a Jewish audience with the core declaration that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah.
Luke is written by a Gentile physician discipled by Paul, and targets a Gentile audience with the core declaration that Jesus is the Savior of the whole world.

Mark, the first gospel written, is Mark’s recording of Peter’s preaching, setting forth the deeds of the Son of God. Almost all of Mark is repeated in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, and was clearly read by them before their gospels were written.

I lay this foundation as to New Testament chronology to undergird my belief that John read the other books of the New Testament before he wrote his contributions to scripture. He also had, prior to his writings, the opportunity to live the vast majority of his long adult life as a man filled, led and continually taught by the Holy Spirit.

The other three gospel writers focused on who Jesus was, what He taught about righteous living, and what happened when He died on the Cross and rose from the dead.

John could now, under God’s inspiration, complete the scriptural understanding we need to live the life on earth Jesus purchased for us. John’s core declaration is, in my opinion, this: the true worshippers of God will be His born-again children who worship Him in both Spirit and truth.

Let’s look briefly at four very important words.

The first word is “worship”. Worship is reverent adoration, praise, thanksgiving, humble submission and service. Worship is the Great Commandment: to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

John reveals that the people who truly love Jesus are those who learn and obey His commandments. (John 14:15, 21-23; 1 John 5:3) Love and serve one another not just with talk but in deed and truth like Jesus did. (John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:18) You are sent to do the will of Jesus just like He was sent to do His Father’s will. (John 5:30, 20:21)

The second word is “truth”. All of scripture declares that God’s Word is true. John reveals that Jesus is the Word and the Truth. (John 1:1-3, 14, and 14:6) Jesus reveals who the Father really is, and also reveals who we are designed to be and how we are designed to live – walking in the same way He walked and doing the works He did. (John 10:27, 12:26, 14:12; 1 John 2:6)
When we do this, we know the Truth and the Truth sets us free. (John 8:31-32)

The third word is “Spirit”. We become the Father’s children by receiving the Holy Spirit. (John 3:3-8). The Spirit is the living water that can flow in and through us to bring life to us and others. (John 4:10-14, 6:63, 7:38)

Jesus imparts wisdom, truth and power to us through the Holy Spirit. (John 16:13-15) Without the Spirit, we accomplish nothing of lasting value. (John 15:1-8) And the Spirit is how Jesus lives in us and we live in Him. (John 15:1-8) We are invited to the same intimacy with Jesus that He has with the Father. (John 17)

The fourth word is “and”. Just as it is not enough to worship in professed belief or church attendance if you do not worship in obedience and service, so it is not enough to worship in truth if you do not worship in Spirit. And it is not enough to worship in Spirit if you do not worship in truth.

The churches in Pergamum and Thyatira accepted false teachings and tolerated sexual immorality. (Revelation 2:12-29) Christians today must embrace biblical truth and depart from the lies of humanism, pluralism, relativism, materialism and sexual hedonism.

The churches in Ephesus and Sardis lost the love and life provided by intimacy with Christ through the Holy Spirit. (Revelation 2:1-7, 3:1-6) Christians today must depart from cessationism and modernism. Seek the manifest presence and power of God.

Perhaps most tragically, the lukewarm church in Laodicea thought they were fine just the way they were. (Revelation 3:14-19) But their compromise and contentment did not come close to the true worship being sought by the Lord.

My friends, it is a dark hour, and Jesus is standing at our doors knocking. It is time to truly worship Him in both Spirit and Truth.

God bless you, and God bless our community.

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’” (Luke 2:8-11)

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”(Philippians 4:4)

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” We have been singing this Christmas carol for three hundred years because of what the angel said to the shepherds on that first Christmas day. The shepherds rejoiced. The magi also rejoiced with great joy as the star led them to the long-awaited King of the Jews foretold by Daniel. (Matthew 2:10; Daniel 7:13-14) Seventy-two disciples would later rejoice as Jesus empowered them to minister healing and deliverance to people. (Luke 10:17) The women who followed Jesus reacted with great joy to the angelic news of His resurrection. (Matthew 28:10)

The apostles were filled with great joy at the ascension of Jesus and their commission to be His Holy Spirit-empowered witnesses in the world. (Luke 24:45-53) Great joy later broke out as that witness of Jewish Christians began bringing Gentiles into God’s Kingdom. (Acts 13:38, 15:3)

Forms of the words, “joy” and “rejoice”, appear over 440 times in the Bible. Long before Jesus arrived, God’s people were being told to be glad in the Lord, rejoice, and shout for joy. (Psalm 32:10-11) The apostle Paul says followers of Jesus are to “rejoice always”. Yet for far too many Christians in our nation today, joy, and most particularly abiding joy, is elusive. Why?
The most obvious answer to explain our lack of joy is the condition of the world around us. On the international front, we have radical Islamic terrorism, the nuclear saber-rattling of North Korea, and Russian cyberwarfare. On the national front, we have political and media-driven divisiveness, the brokenness of a hyper-sexualized culture, and a surge in public acts of violence that look markedly like violent computer games made real. Locally, almost every family has been wounded by addiction, abuse, pornography and/or divorce. There is no joy in any of that.
However, as is often the case, the most obvious answer is not the correct answer. Scripture makes it abundantly clear Christians are to have joy even in times of persecution and tribulation. (Matthew 5:11-12; Luke 6:23; 2 Corinthians 7:4, 8:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:6) Scripture also tells us how to achieve this joy.

First, we must understand what joy is. Dictionary.com defines “joy” as “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying”. Merriam-Webster.com defines it as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, or by the prospect of possessing what one desires”.

Do Christians have the prospect of possessing something exceptionally desirable? We have salvation – the forgiveness of our sins and the divine promise of everlasting life! All of us should live every day in the joy of our salvation. (Psalm 20:5, 51:12; 1 Peter 1:8) Our names are recorded in heaven! (Luke 10:20)

Likewise, Christians have the right to feel they are achieving well-being and success. The Lord desires our salvation on earth, not just in heaven. (Jeremiah 29:11) He uses even our trials and suffering to produce the fruit of good character. (Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2) We can rejoice that all things work for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Just beyond the joy of our salvation is our joy in the God of our salvation: joy in the Lord. (Habakkuk 3:17-18; Philippians 3:1, 4:4) Our all-good, all-powerful triune God has drawn us into an eternal intimate relationship of love. (1 John 4:7-19; John 17:20-23) And this loving God now lives inside us! (John 15:3-11; Colossians 1:27) What an incredible reason for rejoicing!
Finally, just beyond our joy in the Lord is the greatest joy of all – the joy of the Lord. Jesus promises that if we love Him by obeying His commandments, He will manifest Himself to us and pour His divine joy into us. (John 14:21, 15:11) The Lord wants to give us His love, His peace and His joy. (Romans 5:5; John 14:27; Galatians 5:22-23) Wow!

A life filled with joy does not eliminate our compassion or our calling. We will continue to stand against evil and weep with those wounded by evil even as we pray for and encourage them. (Ephesians 6:10-20; Romans 12:15) In doing so, the joy of the Lord will provide strength for both us and the ones we care for. (Nehemiah 8:10)

The joy of salvation, joy in the Lord and joy of the Lord – this is the abiding joy of Jesus where we are invited to live. When we start living there, we will become the agents of joy to the world.

Have a blessed and merry Christmas!

And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth…. (Genesis 11:6-9)

According to a recent Gallop poll, almost 80% of today’s Americans see the United States as more divided than united. Every day we are inundated with media reports of political, racial, socio-economic, religious, sexual and environmental strife. Every person is pressed to decide on all these issues whether they will be “us” or “them”.

Divisiveness is also the norm beyond our nation’s boundaries. The European Union is unraveling. Rival Muslim sects war more against each other than they do people of other faiths. Each year brings another people group seeking to secede from its nation and form its own nation.

In the midst of all this dissension, there are voices that cry out for working together, but nothing seems to change. One reason for this may be that these cries for unity often really mean, “Come unite with what I believe and I want”. But there is another more fundamental reason.

Only God can unite what God divided.

We forget sometimes how effectively the Bible, including the Book of Genesis, reveals the truth about mankind.

In Genesis 1, mankind (both male and female) received our assignment from God to fill the earth and have dominion over it (but not each other). In Genesis 3-4, we sought independence from God, fell into sin, and entered the time when man would seek dominion over, first, woman, and then our brother. In Genesis 6, sin had matured into such total wickedness that God had to “reboot” mankind with the flood.

In Genesis 9, God gave Noah and his family the same assignment to fill the earth that had been given earlier to Adam and Eve. But in Genesis 10, Nimrod was born and became the first “mighty warrior”. He established dominion over other men with a kingdom in the land of Shinar. And in Genesis 11, with all people sharing one language and culture, Nimrod’s kingdom decided they should build a great tower to heaven, make “a name for ourselves”, and not be dispersed over the earth as God had commanded.

God knew a united mankind could accomplish anything on earth they purposed to do. He also knew that as long as mankind remained disobedient and independent from Him, their united achievements would be a disaster for all of creation. (Jeremiah 17:5-9; Romans 8:18-23) So God divided mankind through the confusion of their language, causing them to disperse across the earth into what became different tribes, nations, races and cultures.

Scripture does not explicitly say so, but the God who divided mankind also clearly knew that in their continued state of sin, these different cultures would still seek dominion over each other. But empires of a divided humanity would always be short-lived. (Matthew 12:25) And God had a plan of restoration that would begin in Genesis 12.
God covenanted to bless all of the nations of the earth through Abraham. (Genesis 12:3, 22:15-18) This covenant pointed forward through Isaac, Jacob and the Hebrew people to Jesus Christ. (Daniel 7:13-14; Galatians 3:8-9) It is only through Jesus that God could solve mankind’s two great problems.

First, as Lamb of God, Jesus enables mankind to be reconciled to God as new creations, no longer independent of God and bound in sin, and no longer living for themselves. (2 Corinthians 5:14-21)

Second, as Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus reunites mankind with each other in the one Kingdom that will stand forever – the Kingdom of God that is being restored on the earth. (Matthew 6:10; Revelation 1:6)

All disciples of Jesus are called to be one Body, with one Lord, one Father and one faith. (Ephesians 4:1-6) We are the chosen race and holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. (1 Peter 2:9) We are united by the one Holy Spirit, who dwells in each of us and speaks all of the languages of earth and heaven. (Acts 2:4-11)

As a people called to be united in Christ, it is imperative we do two things we are not presently doing well.

First, never let any other form of identity divide us, be it political affiliation, race, or nationality, because all of those things are rubbish compared to our united relationship in Christ. (Philippians 3:4-16) And if we look, the Bible contains a “platform” that can effectively address all our nation’s problems.

Second, remember that our attitude toward non-Christians is never to be a condemning “them” and “us”. We are to love and value them like God does, praying for and blessing them, and witnessing the truth and love of Jesus so that they too may be reunited with God and with us. (Matthew 5:44-48; Romans 12:14-21; Matthew 28:18-20)

It bears repeating. Only God can unite what God divided. He needs our cooperation.

God bless you, and God bless our community.

“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.’” (Matthew 17:19-20 ESV)

Few things frustrate me more than hearing a Christian say, “If you have just a little faith – faith the size of a mustard seed – you can move mountains!” Nothing is further from the truth.
Yet this crippling misunderstanding is pervasive in much of the Church, and has even led to error in some of our otherwise excellent English bible translations. It is time to set the record straight.

First, we must understand three Greek words used in the New Testament with relationship to faith.

The Greek word for faith is “pistis”. By contrast, the Greek word, “apistia”, means unbelief or refusal to trust and believe. Unbelief directed toward God is sin. (John 18:8) Unbelief can create an atmosphere where even Jesus could not do many mighty works. (Matthew 13:58)

The third Greek word, “oligopistos”, means little faith. It is a combination of the word for little, “oligos”, and the word for faith. “Oligopistos” is used five times in the New Testament, and is never directed toward people who have no faith or refuse to believe. Instead, it is used by Jesus to describe those who are following Him, but still worried, anxious or fearful about things. (Matthew 6:30; Luke 12:28; Matthew 14:31; Matthew 16:8) Little faith is immaturity.

Second, we must understand how Jesus uses the mustard seed in His teachings. He said the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed because it begins as the smallest seed but becomes the largest plant in the garden. (Matthew 13:31-32; Mark 4:31-32; Luke 13:19) The Greek words used for “like” are either “hos” or “homoios”, both of which mean “like” or “of the same nature as”.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not like a mustard seed because it is small. It is like a mustard seed because it started small, with Jesus and a few disciples, but becomes great!
Third, we must understand the context within which Jesus teaches our parable of mustard seed faith and movable mountains.

While Jesus, Peter, James and John are at the mount of transfiguration, the other nine disciples go to town, and a father asks them to deliver his son from a demon. (Matthew 17:14-20; Mark 9:14-29) Even though the disciples had been empowered earlier by Jesus to cast out demons, they were unable to cast this demon out.

After Jesus comes and casts out the demon, the disciples ask Him why they were unable to cast it out. Jesus gives them two answers, with one recorded in Mark and the other in Matthew.
In Mark, Jesus explained this particular kind of demon could only come out by prayer and fasting [some translations simply say prayer]. The disciples had successfully cast out other demons, but this terrible demon was beyond their present pay grade, particularly in the atmosphere of unbelief created by the father and the crowd. (Matthew 17:17) The disciples needed to humble themselves and pray for God to do what they could not yet do in His name.

In our Matthew passage, Jesus explained they could not cast this type of demon out because of their little faith (oligopistos). Note: both the KJV and NKJ translate this as “unbelief” rather than “little faith”. That is error. The word, “apistia”, does not appear in the passage.

Jesus then goes on to encourage them. If their faith is like a mustard seed, then they will someday find themselves able to move mountains. Note: the NIV, NRSV and NLT all translate this as “faith as small as (or the size of) a mustard seed”. That is error. No Greek word for “small” or “size” is present in the passage. The word is “hos”, which as stated before means “like” or “of the same nature as”.

Jesus delighted in the great faith of the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman. (Matthew 8:10, 15:28) He never delights in little faith, but He tells us in this teaching that our faith doesn’t have to stay little. And He promised that as our faith grows, our pay grade will be upgraded and mountains will begin to move.
How do we grow from little faith to great faith? Faith is a combination of two things. It is trust in the person of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and it is trust in all God says and does.

God is love, always good, all-wise, all-knowing, all-powerful and all-present. If you don’t understand that, you don’t understand God. There is no reason why we cannot have complete trust in Him right now and every day.

As to what God does and says, we grow in faith as we “hear”, trust and “do” more and more of His Word. (Romans 10:17; Matthew 7:24-27; John 14:21; James 1:22-25)

My friends, the Church has been satisfied with little faith for far too long. (Revelation 3:14-22) Let’s develop great faith and move some mountains!

God bless you, and God bless our community.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48)

Charlottesville is, from inception through tragedy to aftermath, only the latest in a long line of incidents revealing how conflicted and divided our nation has become. Phrases like “we, the people”, “one nation under God” and even “United States” no longer seem to describe us very well.

God’s Word warns us that those who engage in enmity, strife, dissensions and divisions will not experience the blessings of God’s Kingdom. (Galatians 5:19-21) Yet that is the only way the two political parties that control our government want to operate. And that is all we see on our television news shows, all we hear about on talk radio and all we read about on internet blogs, whether they are simply reporting or, more often, promoting and provoking controversy.

Who is responsible for this mess? Who has the ability to turn things around? The answer to both questions is the same: the Body of Christ.

The Body of Christ is responsible for America because our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to disciple this nation. (Matthew 28:18-20) At the very heart of our assignment is the need to show forth the love of God to everyone He loves – and He loves everybody! (Matthew 5:43-45; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 4:8)

Approximately 80% of our nation’s population identify themselves as Christian. Politicians can’t get elected without Christian votes. Most shows can’t sustain the ratings to stay on the air without Christian viewers. Christianity is the largest “people group” in America, larger than “white”, “people of color”, “conservative”, “liberal”, or any other so-called special interest group. If we were doing our job together: if we were loving each other, loving our neighbor, loving the stranger in our path, and loving our enemies by blessing them and praying for them, then everything would marvelously change for the better.

Brothers and sisters, God loves the people you don’t love. For some of you, that means God loves the people you hate. For others, it means God loves the people you don’t care about, one way or the other.

God lives in each of us through the Holy Spirit, and from that vantage point, He has watched while we yoke ourselves to political pundits who revile those who disagree with them. (1 Corinthians 6:10) He has watched while we express distain for either Hillary Clinton or President Trump. (Matthew 5:22; 1 Timothy 2:1-2) He has watched as some of us side with the black man who is shot while others side with the officer who shot him, and grieved over our failure to understand that He loves them all. (Ephesians 4:30 – 5:2)

He has also watched many of us walk by the homeless and the addict without giving a thought to how we might help them. (Luke 10:25-37)

There is no sin greater for the Church than the failure to love. If we don’t have love for others – selfless, serving, unconditional agape love in both word and deed – then we are nothing, have nothing, and gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13; 1 John 3:18) Without love, we walk right along with the rest of the world in darkness. (1 John 2:9-11)

The good news is that we can walk in this love. It is not too late. The Holy Spirit is ready and willing to pour the agape love of God into our hearts. (Romans 5:5) I recommend these four steps.

First, go before the Lord and let the Holy Spirit convict you of sin for the lack of love in your life. Repent!

Second, recognize how much the God who lives in you loves you, and love Him back.

Third, realize that the God inside you loves all these other people around you just as much as He loves you. They are made in His image. Christ paid the price in full for their sins. They are all either His child or someone He wants to become His child.

Fourth, join God in His love for them.

I can join God in loving people who practice Islam, people who practice homosexuality, and people who are on the political “far right” and “far left”. I don’t agree with or encourage their beliefs. Love without God’s truth is not God’s love. But I can truly care about them and value them because God does. Truth without God’s love is not God’s truth.
It starts with you and me. Let’s join together in loving the people God loves, and see what happens!

God bless you, and God bless our community.

“And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:25-28)

Christian life is a life of relationship and purpose.

By relationship, I mean that Christian faith is about relationship, not religion. It is about a relationship of love with the God who first loved us and sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins so that we might be reconciled to God and have everlasting life. (John 3:16; 1 John 6:19)

By purpose, I mean that just as God expressed his incredible love for us through His purposes in sending Jesus and His Holy Spirit, so we are to express back our love for God by fulfilling the purposes the Lord has for us. (John 14:21, 20:21) Jesus joined His Father in all He saw His Father doing, and we are to join our Lord Jesus in what He has done and is doing – loving our neighbor by declaring the Gospel to the poor, powerless and spiritually blind, and by setting free those who are oppressed and in bondage. (John 15:19; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Luke 4:18) The Great Commandment says we are to express this love with all we are – heart, soul, mind and strength. (Mark 12:28-31)

“Adoration” is a good modern English word for this type of love. Both the Free Dictionary and Dictionary.com define “adoration” as: “fervent and devoted love”, “reverent homage”, “the act of worship”, and “the act of paying honor to God”. We are to adore God and to adore those who God adores.

These biblical truths are always important to remember, but today, my friends, they are also a set-up for an extraordinarily important announcement. On October 1, 2017, every Christian and every Christian congregation in our region will have the opportunity to wonderfully express their adoration of the Lord and their neighbor by participating in Adoration 2017.
Adoration 2017 began as a profoundly simple “only God can do this” vision given by the Lord to Thomas Cook, a recent ETSU graduate. Bring 1,000 churches together in unity to worship and pray. By the hand of God, it has blossomed into an awesome movement spearheaded by a terrific team of young faith-filled adults and supported by both university leadership and a strong cast of area spiritual leaders.

Please, please explore the website, Adorationlife.com, so you can become as informed and excited as I am about their insight, dedication and organization. The new ETSU football stadium will be the site for this 6 PM gathering of 1,000 churches. In addition to worship and prayer, and the witness to the lost created by 1,000 churches expressing the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, there will an educational focus on how Christians can unite to respond to the horrific prescription drug abuse epidemic that plagues our Appalachian region. Adoration in relationship and purpose!

There is nothing remotely like Adoration 2017 happening anywhere else in our nation. Everywhere else, secular college campuses are known for their lack of faith and worldliness. National polls report that young adults are leaving the Church in droves. Christian congregations are still primarily “doing their own thing”.

But here, in our humble hills of Tennessee and Virginia, we have an opportunity to reverse all of that by supporting the young Christian leadership that our Lord has raised up, and by doing something God has been asking His people to do for a long time. Come together and glorify Him.

In the midst of all this incredibly good news comes the bad news. Despite the hard work of the Adoration 2017 team, and despite front page coverage of this amazing event in the Kingsport Times-News and other area newspapers, there are presently only 91 churches signed up in support, and there are only 60 days to go.
In any other circumstance, getting 91 churches together would be deemed an outstanding feat, particularly since these 91 come from 22 different counties, but God wants 1,000 and He has more than enough congregations in this area to accomplish His goal.

I earnestly ask every Christian who reads this column to do these five things. First, check out http://adorationlife.com/about/supporters-list/ to see if your congregation has signed up in support. (You will be amazed at the church names that are missing)

Second, if your congregation has not signed up, speak to your church leadership and get signed up! The Adoration 2017 team needs your affirmation.
Third, use your Facebook and other social media accounts to get the word out throughout East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, and beyond. Every voice is important in this call to rally together!

Fourth, commit to personally attend on October 1 if you are able. And fifth, commit to ongoing prayer that Adoration 2017 will be all God has envisioned it to be!

God bless you, and God bless our community.

“Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20)

In 1 Corinthians 5-6, the apostle Paul tackles an issue that most Christians have been avoiding for a long, long time. He tackles the issue of sexual immorality in terms of both refraining from sin and holding accountable those who do sin.

We live in a hyper-sexualized culture. What used to be considered “soft porn” earns a PG-13 rating and is routinely used to sell everything from perfume to hamburgers. Premarital sex has been the norm, not the exception, for several decades. The social media explosion has led to both a rise in marital infidelity and the practice of “sexting”. The statistics for internet pornography use among men, women, youth, children and pastors are staggering. According to a recent Barna Group study, 90% of our youth and young adults see nothing wrong with it.

Add to all of this the latest internet offering of cyberdildonics – virtual reality sexual encounters – and you quickly realize this is not what a nation under God looks like. This is Babylon!

Finally, include the secular approval of homosexuality and transgenderism, where there are caring Christians, including some people I love very much, on both sides of the debate.
Paul provided three biblical instructions to the Christians in Corinth that we must fully embrace in this hour.

First, don’t judge or disassociate from unbelievers who engage in sexual immorality. (1 Corinthians 5:9-10) We live in a broken world. The lost will always act lost and always be vulnerable to the schemes of Satan. (Ephesians 6:11-12) You are here to model and witness God’s unconditional love, goodness and morality to them just like Jesus did when He associated with prostitutes and tax collectors. (Matthew 9:10-13, 11:19)

Second, avoid sexual sin at all cost! (1 Corinthians 6:18; Matthew 5:27-30) It is a work of the flesh opposed to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit within you. (Galatians 5:17, 19; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5) It obstructs your ability as heirs of God to receive Kingdom inheritance – blessings, power and authority – while you are here on earth. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Most important, sexual immorality defiles the temple of the Holy Spirit that you became when you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. (1 Corinthians 6:15-20) You must understand! The God who loves you lives within you while you commit these acts. Sexual sin destroys your intimacy with God and, through that, your witness to others.

What is sexual sin? It is anything that defies and defiles God’s plan for marital intimacy between a male husband and female wife. (Mark 10:6-9; Hebrews 13:4)

Too many Christians have forgotten that God alone has the right and ability to tell us what is sexually good and bad for us as individuals and as society. He created us. He loves us. He is all-wise, all-knowing, all-good and absolutely trustworthy, so “His house, His rules” is the only right way to go.

The Bible speaks forth God’s will on these issues, not Dr. Phil and not the U.S. Supreme Court. Adultery is sexual sin. For a married person, pornography is adultery in your heart. (Matthew 5:28) Premarital sex, or “fornication”, is sexual sin, and for an unmarried person, pornography and sexting are fornication in your heart. (Colossians 3:5) Homosexual and transgender sexual practices are sexual sin even though the root causes that make people have those desires were often not their fault. (1 Corinthians 6:9; Romans 1:26-28; Leviticus 18:22; Matthew 19:12; Genesis 1:27-28, 2:18-24)

The third instruction from Paul on sexual immorality concerns accountability within the Christian community. Paul tells us we are to judge the actions of each other and be willingly submitted to one another. (1 Corinthians 5:12; Ephesians 5:21) If a fellow Christian is committing sexual sin without repentance, we are to remove them from our midst and not even eat with them. (1 Corinthians 5:2, 11, 13)

Paul gives two reasons why we should take this radical action. First, we must protect the health, harmony and witness of the community. A little bad leaven can contaminate the whole loaf. (1 Corinthians 5:6-8; Joshua 7; Revelation 2:20-23) Second, our rejection of ungodly behavior and removal of spiritual protection can be a wake-up call that leads the sinner to repentance. (1 Corinthians 5:5)

Note: this drastic response does not at all apply to Christians who are struggling with sexual sin but seeking help. Sexual addiction and sexual confusion are powerful bondages and God wants to use us to set those captive brothers and sisters free. (Luke 4:18; James 5:19-20)

On the other hand, woe to those so-called Christian teachers who in the name of “love” encourage others to continue in what God has declared to be sexual sin. They would be better off tied to a millstone and thrown in the sea. (Mark 9:42; James 3:1)

Please read the scriptures I have cited. If we want a sexually moral nation, we must first have a sexually moral Church.
God bless you, and God bless our community.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1-2)

“They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” (Isaiah 61:4)

This is Easter weekend. Churches throughout our region will experience their greatest attendance of the year this Sunday as we remember with celebration how, almost two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ died for our sins and then rose from the dead to become King of Kings, with all authority in heaven and earth. Hallelujah!

My question for us today is whether we will be satisfied this weekend to simply remember and celebrate, or whether we will instead treat Easter 2017 as a call to action.

Will we remember that Jesus came as the light of the world so we would become the light of the world? (John 8:12, 9:5; Matthew 5:14-16) Will we remember that Christ gave us the glory that the Father gave Him, and sends us forth into the world just as the Father sent Him? (John 17:22-23, 20:21)

The New Testament is filled with calls to action, but one of our most powerful calls to action is proclaimed prophetically in the Old Testament at Isaiah 60-62. I urge you to read these three chapters of scripture this weekend, and to understand how relevant they are to the times in which we live.

Spiritual darkness is seeking to cover the earth: chemical weapons used against children in Syria; nuclear weapons brandished in North Korea; Islamic terrorists beheading innocent villagers and using teenagers as suicide bombs; abortions continuing to kill thousands of babies and scar thousands of mothers every day; radical gay lobby groups seeking to destroy every semblance of sexual morality; radical political groups seeking to drive our nation toward either socialism or fascism; and the list goes on.

Spiritual darkness is also right outside your door, if not already inside your home. Addiction to methamphetamine and prescription opioids is at epidemic levels, and our region has some of the highest overdose and drug-related crime statistics in the nation. Our statistics for divorce and domestic violence are also among the highest, and pornography is defiling not only the majority of our men but our grade school and middle school children. Again, the list goes on.

So, what are some ways we can arise and shine, releasing the light and love of God amidst this horribly destructive darkness?

First, in a nation divided both politically and culturally, we must as the Church begin to walk in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-6)

A group of young Christians in our region have been led by the Lord to bring 1,000 churches together for a night of united worship and prayer. This incredible event, called Adoration 2017, will be held at the new ETSU football stadium on October 1, 2017. We all need to be there! Learn more at www.adorationlife.com. Tell your pastor. Make sure your church signs up right away.
The Lord will also bring His people in this region together in the spring of 2018 for a Will Graham Celebration sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Learn more about this terrific opportunity, and how you can be praying for it, at www.tcprayergatherings.org.

And for those in the greater Kingsport area, New Direction Network is sponsoring a second annual “A Night in Unity” worship service on April 29, 2017, at Ross Robinson School. Learn more at www.newdirectionnetwork.com. Be there as well!

Second, as a nation faced with problems too great for our science or politics to solve, we must become the house of prayer God called us to be. (Isaiah 56:7, Mark 11:17)
Thursday, May 4 is the National Day of Prayer, established in 1952 by federal law as the one day of the year when we can officially bind together our love of country and love of God. You would expect a massive turnout of public support, but in past years, that has not occurred.

There will be noon events on the National Day of Prayer in Blountville, Rogersville, Church Hill, Bristol, and Jonesborough. In Kingsport, celebrating its 100th anniversary, there will be a Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast at 7:30 AM at Glen Bruce Park focusing on the powerful role faith has played throughout our city’s history. Then, at 7 PM, multiple area ministries are sponsoring Kingsport’s National Day of Prayer Observance at Higher Ground Baptist Church, where we will worship in song and pray for our nation’s seven primary spheres of influence: the Church, family & marriage, education, business, government, media, and arts & entertainment.

In all these communities, if you are a Christian and a patriot, you need to be there! Arise and shine!

Then, recognizing that we are called to pray not just one day but throughout the year, learn about the Tennessee Governmental Prayer Alliance at www.tngpa.com. Learn about the Watchmen Prayer Network of TN/VA at www.watchmenprayernetwork.com. Join one of the weekly or monthly prayer ministries springing up throughout the region. Organize an ongoing prayer team in your congregation.

There is much more we must do, but this is a start. Christ died and rose for us. It is time for us to arise and shine for Him!
God bless you, and God bless our communities.

“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21)

God loves us unconditionally. The Bible tells us so.

When something is unconditional, it is absolute and without exception. It is, or it will happen, regardless of what else happens or what you do or don’t do.

Matthew 5:43-48 reveals God’s love to be perfect, and for both the just and unjust. God showed His perfect love dramatically by sending His Son to die for all of us while we were still sinners in rebellion against His Kingdom. (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 2:2) He is “no respecter of persons”, and desires everyone to repent and come into everlasting life. (Acts 10:34; 2 Peter 3:9)

This is unconditional love, summarized by the apostle John in the statement: “God is love.” (1 John 4:8, 16) Love is not all that God is, for He is also sovereign, holy, righteous, wise and just. But because God is love, His love permeates everything else He is and everything He does. He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13)

Now for the paradox: although God loves us unconditionally, His unconditional love for us has conditions. The Bible tells us this as well.

When something has conditions, one thing depends on another. If “A” happens, then “B” will happen or “B” can happen, but if “A” doesn’t happen, don’t expect “B” to happen.

The Old Testament covenant of the law was all about conditions. If you obey, you will receive wonderful blessings, but if you disobey, you will be cursed. (Deuteronomy 28)

The New Testament covenant in Christ removed the conditions of the law, but did not remove all conditions. The easiest and most important example is the road to salvation. We are saved by grace – an incredible expression of the unconditional love of God – but only when we meet the condition of faith by trusting Jesus as our Savior Lord. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Now look at John 14:21, where Jesus promises that if we love Him by keeping His commandments, then both He and the Father will love us and Jesus will manifest Himself to us. Here the love of Jesus and the Father appear to be conditioned on our obedience of His commandments! And it is a condition Jesus repeats twice in the same discourse.

At John 14:23, Jesus says the Father will love us, and both He and the Father will make their home in us, if we love Him by keeping His word. At John 15:10, Jesus says we can abide in His love if we keep His commandments. Conditions!

To resolve this paradox of unconditional vs. conditional love, we need a better understanding of what love is.

Scripture commands that we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. (Mark 12:30) Love relates to all those aspects of who we are.

We love with our mind as an ethical and moral choice, wanting the best for another because that is the right thing for us to want. We love with our heart by feelings of caring or compassion. We love with our soul, or will, by making choices that express the love in our mind and heart. Likewise, we love with our strength by actions that demonstrate our love.

Love is relational. Love with our mind and heart determines our attitude toward another. Love with our soul and strength then completes the relational connection by expressing and demonstrating that love to the one we love. The goal is to love from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith, and to love in both deed and truth. (1Timothy 1:5; 1 John 3:18)
God loves all of us unconditionally with His heart and mind. But the glorious expressions and demonstrations of His love are, for our own good, subject to conditions. He loves us too much to reward continued sin and works of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16-25) Instead, He rewards those who seek Him by doing His will. (Hebrews 11:6; 2 John 1:8-9; Psalm 24:2-5)

Do you want to know the love of God, and not just know of it? Do you want Jesus to manifest Himself in your life? Do you want to have the Father and Son actively dwelling within you? Do you want to live each day breathing in the atmosphere of Christ’s love? Do you want to be filled with all the fullness of God? (Ephesians 3:17-19)

If you want this abundant life, then meet the conditions of God’s unconditional love. Express your love for Jesus by doing your best to learn and keep all His commandments. This isn’t legalism. This is wisdom. This is faith. (Hebrews 11:6)

God bless you, and God bless our community.