Anniversary Number 1

It was on this date, some 11 years ago, that life came to a screeching halt as we watched in disbelief what was happening in front of our very eyes.  We wondered, "Is this actually happening?  Is this real?  Alright, quit playing with our minds."  But when we knew it was true, we cried and we became angry.  We began to search for answers as to "Who did this?" and "Why?"  Obviously through the years that have passed, we have found some healing and life has somewhat returned to life as we knew it.  Yet, the pain is still there as we remember those who lost their lives that day due to the hatred of some.  We also vividly remember those who gave their lives to save others, and we thank them and their families for their sacrifice.

It was also on this date, just 1 year ago, that the life of a church began.  LifeHouse Church Hedgesville came into existence after God provided vision and dreams to JD and Caroline about the church He was looking to have brought to the Hedgesville area.  God also directed them to connect with LifeHouse Church East, our beloved friends in Hagerstown, where the vision and the dreams could be nurtured and given freedom to grow.  So with the blessing and favor of LHE, LHH was launched.

In LHH's year of existence, we have seen growth and God's blessing and favor.  Souls are being changed.  Lives are being discipled.  People are committing their lives to the only Savior, Jesus Christ, this world will ever know.  Their commitment is shown through their desire to give up selfish ambitions to hear God's voice and follow Him.  It's an exciting time in the life of LHH, and greater things are yet to come.

Yet, there has also been pain and struggle in this year's time.  LHH has had to think on the fly regarding decisions about its future.  LHH has had to go from meeting in a school for the first 10 months to meeting in homes these past 3.  But despite what seemed so uncertain, it has become clear that God is moving and the community of LHH is stronger for it.

We have clearly seen that God does work all things together for good, and we are looking forward to many more anniversaries.  But as we celebrate, we also ask for your prayers as many more decisions have to be made.  We know that our hardships are preparing us for the bounty of many more souls to be transformed into Christ's likeness for the Kingdom of God.

So thank you God for one year.  Thank you to all who have prayed and given to LHH.  May God's blessings be upon you and His Church.

In Christ,

Pastor JD

I've been thinking......

It's been such a long time since blogging.  How do you find time in the midst of real changes that have happened consistently over the past few months; both personally and in the church?  Thank God for His wisdom during this season and for His wonderful grace.  It amazes me how God is our provider, our redeemer, our ever-present help in time of need.  

I've been thinking a lot lately about the church and the gifts God grants through the Holy Spirit to her.  So I thought I'd take some time to write what has been on my mind and share with you God's intention for His gifts.

Often in our minds we have a picture of what church should look like, sound like, and even feel like.  But in my experience of life, church is often formulated on the opinions of man versus what God desires.  Think about it.  There are some who claim that all forms of apostolic gifts (manifestation of gifts from the Holy Spirit such as tongues, prophecy, discernment of spirits, healing, interpretation of tongues, etc) ceased in the first century church with the passing of the apostles.  They don't trust the unknown so therefore it can't be from God.  There are some who claim that all these forms of apostolic gifts are still evident and available and that the church is not full of the Spirit if these gifts don't prove evident each Sunday in a worship service.  They overly trust themselves and exert that those not having such gifts are not filled with the Holy Spirit and do not have proper faith.  

I, like the apostle Paul, believe that God is in the business of designing His church to meet the needs of the community in which He places it.  It would be unfair for me to say that either extreme is what God desires for LHH.  Instead, I have come to realize through experience and the study of God's Word that the manifestation of gifts are not for man's benefit, but so that God can use these gifts to bring glory to His name and draw people to Him.  

1 Corinthians 12 -14 give great evidence for what God desires of His Church.  Paul, inspired by God, wrote in chapter 12 verses 4 - 7, 10, "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one, just as He determines."  

He then goes on and discusses the body - how it is made up of many parts - yet they work together for the full functioning of the body.  He concludes his thought on the body with verses 27 - 31, "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles (those who walked with Jesus and witnessed His ministry and resurrection), second prophets (those who speak truthfully what God desires to be heard at that time), third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.  Are all apostles?  Are all teachers?  Do all work miracles?  Do all have gifts of healing?  Do all speak in tongues?  Do all interpret?  But eagerly desire the greater gifts."  It's important to know that Paul was dealing with a church that was claiming to its members that some gifts were more important than others - that these gifts created positions of power and self-advantage; particularly that tongues outshines them all.  So he clarifies, "You think tongues is the most important?  Well, you're wrong!  Look where it falls in the list of importance."  

He goes on to address in chapter 13 that no matter what gifts persons have been given (from the gift of the "little toe" to the gift of the "brain" - insignificant to significant), if love is not evident, the gifts are futile and useless.  In fact he said, that where evidence of the gifts is ringing true, God can remove and still them.  But he then concluded that even though the manifestation gifts may cease in man's faith experience, faith, hope, and love will not.  He said, "And now these three remain (and will always remain - my words):  faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love."  

Finally, he says, "If you really want any of the spiritual gifts, if you eagerly desire a gift, desire the gift of prophecy - IT RANKS SECOND.  This is the gift that God can use for the edification and building up of His Church because it will be speaking the truth of God to those who need to hear it."  In verse 24 he summarizes why this gift is so important, "But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare.  So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!'"  

So often people think of prophecy as a word from God that speaks of future events.  And this is true.  The Bible is full of events that did happen and will happen.  Yet, in humility, God can use anyone at any time to state what needs to be stated to bring about the change that He is desiring in a person's life or in the life of the church.  Where prophecy goes awry is when self is involved - self-glorification, pride, or a sense of "Will this benefit me?"  Prophecy is the Word of God going forth to bring about conviction, encouragement, and change.

As a Church, we need to be open to God's leading.   We need to be open to what God desires to be lived out in us and through us.  We are to pray for one another and encourage one another to persevere in the faith.  After all, it's all about His Kingdom anyway.  But though I desire gifts that draw and attract people to me because of what my gift has to offer, I must be sure to take myself out of the picture so that I truly become the vessel God wants me to be.  I encourage you that if the Holy Spirit blesses you with a gift as He has determined to give it, feel blessed.  But beware, your blessing is only PART of the Body so allow it to function in its role within the Body.  Then you will truly be fulfilling your destiny in God.

The Beatitude (Blessed 5&6)

This past week has been a whirlwind, yet God was in it.  There were great blessings of joy to be found.  Finding out from Peggy’s (Caroline’s stepmother) pastor that she had gone from a faith of clichés to a faith of truly understanding the gift of Christ’s salvation before her passing was extremely awesome.  Coming home to receive the news that God had softened the Board of Education’s stance of their school usage policy to allow us 3 more months was great celebration.  God is certainly good and sometimes we have a hard time seeing his work.  Yet despite our failure to recognize His goodness and His ways, He still continues to show Himself day by day if we have the faith to trust Him.

And you know what?  Sometimes in the noise of the wind, when life seems to be at its most hectic pace and nothing seems to make sense, we get to see some answers by taking time away from the daily activities of life.

And that’s what you’ll notice about Jesus and His times of teaching.  Many times when things were getting hectic with the crowds coming for His services, Jesus would get away.  Jesus didn’t often teach in the chaos.  He separated Himself from it and found seclusion.  And it was in these places that Jesus’ disciples were able to hear the voice of God more clearly.

As we have discussed over the past couple Sundays, Jesus went up on the mountainside to get away from the crowd gathering around for healing.  And His disciples came to Him and He began to teach them.  He began teaching them about the Kingdom of Heaven and the characteristics that God is looking to see in those He recruits for His Kingdom. 

And so far we have looked at four of these Beatitude statements, and have begun to realize that they are not separate entities, or a prescribed linear outline of what needs to be done to enter into the Kingdom.  Instead, we are seeing that the statements work together in making the recruit, the person, into a Kingdom minded individual.

Think about it; meekness and humility (poor in spirit) are seen in those who are truly sorry for their mistakes against God, and through their repentance they desire more of God and His righteousness.

Today’s teaching comes from Matthew 5: 7-8
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Look at verse 7 – Blessed are the merciful……

Beyond your experience with God, have you ever received mercy from someone?  What did it look like?  What did it feel like?  Why did you receive mercy?  What did you have to do first in order to receive it?

Mercy is granted only when a person acknowledges the wrong he/she has committed against another.  It can only be granted by the one who has been wronged.  And it can never be automatically assumed that mercy will be granted.  As Jesus taught us in prior statements in His sermon, in order to obtain mercy a person must humbly come before the person he/she has wronged and admit to sinning against that person – asking for a pardon – hoping mercy will be granted.

Jesus tells us through a parable in Matthew 18: 32-35 what happens to those who fail to be merciful:  Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.  Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’  In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

So Jesus’ Big Idea about mercy is this:  Mercy begets mercy.

Mercy is really receiving something we don’t deserve.  It is by the grace of the one offended that we are granted mercy.  And the beauty of mercy, when granted, is that it provides us with the opportunity to live again – to start afresh.  By receiving mercy there should be gratitude and a willingness to grant mercy to those who have wronged us.

I think we must be careful to realize that the master Jesus was referring to in His parable is God the Father.  And we see that God initially granted mercy to the servant, but took it away, because the servant was not gracious and would not forgive those who sinned against him.  Though God is very forgiving, He judges those who refuse to forgive.

And that’s what we see about mercy.  It goes hand-in-hand with forgiveness.  I mean, if we want to receive mercy we have to ask first for forgiveness.  Mercy is given to those who seek forgiveness from God.  And in receiving forgiveness from God, He asks that we do the same for others who have sinned against us.

In Matthew 6: 14-15, Jesus tells us, “If you forgive, the Father will also forgive you.  If you don’t forgive, neither will your Father forgive you.”

Those are tough words that Jesus gave a little later in His Sermon on the Mount.  Yet we can’t throw them out because we don’t want to believe that God requires me to forgive someone who has hurt me – hurt me badly.  We must forgive; we must show mercy in order to receive the same in return from God.  If you believe something else, it’s a lie and you are calling Jesus a liar.  I think we better take to heart what Jesus has said.  He certainly knows God better than we do.

But don’t show mercy because you must.  Instead show mercy because forgiveness leads to mercy, and mercy leads to hope.  Mercy is the greatest gift we can give because it is the greatest gift given to us.

Now look at Blessed are the pure in heart….

Understand that Jesus is not talking about perfection.  He said “pure in heart.”  What does this mean?  What does it look like to be pure in heart?

Jesus’ Big Idea here is this:  Purity results from repentance.

I really believe that when we look at what Jesus has been defining for us in His previous statements of the sermon, we see what pure of heart looks like.  He says in my paraphrase, “A person who is pure in heart is a person who mourns his/her sins, is humble and meek, and longs to know the righteousness of God.”

Paul addresses Timothy in 2 Timothy 2: 22 about purity of heart.  He writes, “Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

According to the Apostle Paul, purity is a pursuit of righteousness, faith, love, and peace.  Purity is not mere words spoken, like “I believe in Jesus.”  But rather it comes from the acknowledgement that “I believe in Jesus because without Him I am doomed to my own failures and to the eternal judgment of death that awaits me.”  Purity comes in response to God’s mercy offered to me when I acknowledged before Him that I’m messed up and I have wronged Him.  Purity is the result of nothing I have done or can do, but solely comes from Christ who lives within me when I allow Him to come in and cleanse me.

So in conclusion, blessed are the poor in spirit (the humble); blessed are those that mourn (those that regret their sin against God); blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (those that long to know God’s ways); blessed are the merciful (those who forgive others because they have been forgiven); and blessed are the pure in heart (those that repent of their sins and acknowledge their need for a Savior.)

Why are they blessed?  They are blessed because God will pour Himself into them; God will comfort them and give them the strength to overcome; God will deliver them from the bondage of eternal death and eternal torment to an everlasting life of peace, joy, and happiness.

I don't know about you, but I’d rather be blessed than cursed.  I’d rather admit my need for change now while I have the chance than throw away the opportunity forever.  I’d rather tell others what they can have rather than tell them what they cannot.  I’d rather seek the righteousness of eternity than pursue the joys of the finite.

God is good and the life I can have in Him is far greater than what my nature, my world, tells me is great. 

The Beatitudes (Blessed 3&4)

In review, we concluded from the first two verses that Jesus has disciples that follow Him no matter where He goes, and that He takes the time to teach those who seek after Him.

And Jesus begins His earthly ministry by teaching His disciples about what God is looking for in people – people He wants to recruit for the Kingdom of Heaven.  He wants the disciples to clearly understand that this Kingdom is the antithesis of any earthly kingdom they had ever heard of or experienced.

Where the kingdoms of earth used their authority and power to oppress, steal from, and abuse those subject to them, the Kingdom of Heaven would be made up of a King who would not force His subjects to submit to Him.  In fact the King wants people to willingly choose to be part of His Kingdom.  And in order to choose, a person has to realize that his sins against the King are enough to keep him out of the Kingdom.  In order to enter the Kingdom, he has to humbly confess his sins to the King, and in doing so, the King grants him a pardon.

Jesus says in the 1^st two beatitudes that the Kingdom will be made up of people who humbly mourn – who humbly regret having sinned against the King.  And in their humility, they choose to admit this to Him.  He makes it clear that the Kingdom of Heaven will be made up of people who are sorry for hurting the King.

Now let's look at Beatitudes 3 & 4.

Verse 5 says, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

We often hear people say that to be meek means you are weak – a doormat for people to step on.  Yet Jesus says it is blessed to be meek, and then He goes on and says that those who are will inherit the earth.

To us that seems completely contradictory.  We know what we see.  We know what we have felt.  The bully always seems to win out.  

I remember in 6^th grade picking up some coins that some other kids had thrown down while waiting for the bus.  There was a thug nearby that grabbed me by the collar and told me to handover the coins I had collected.  That day I was a doormat and I handed over the coins.  I certainly didn’t inherit the earth in my meekness and innocence at that time, nor have I since.

I think all of us can say through our experience that it’s not the meek in this world, on this earth, that assumes authority here.  In fact, it seems, and is for certain, that the proud, the arrogant, the greedy, the bully, are often the ones who have control of the things of this earth.

So what is Jesus talking about – the meek shall inherit the earth?  Again, if we look at His words literally, we miss the point.  And His point is not that the meek shall inherit the earth of today.  Instead they shall inherit an earth of the future.

In Revelation 21:1 the apostle John shares what God shows him will take place at the judgment of Satan and humankind – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away ….”

Jesus was giving His disciples this Big Idea:  Seek to be meek; there’s a new earth awaiting you.

Jesus was telling His disciples in His sermon that God is looking for those who are humble, who mourn over their sin against God, and who are meek.  These, not the all-powerful bully who uses his authority to rule and dominate over those who are weaker, shall see the new Heaven and the new Earth.  It is these who will one day experience true peace and eternity with God.

You see; if people knew and understood what Jesus taught about the Kingdom of Heaven in the 30’s and 40’s, they wouldn’t have followed a nut, an antichrist, called Adolf Hitler.  Hitler claimed to be Christian, and was purging the earth of those he felt were a detriment to Christian Dom, yet his actions were completely the opposite of what Jesus taught.  Hitler, though he believed he was fulfilling God’s call to rid the earth of evil, was the antithesis of Jesus and will not see the new heaven or the new earth.  

In fact, everything Hitler ever wanted to accomplish was fulfilled here on this earth, and now his final eternal destination is Hell – certainly not very appealing.  His heaven, while alive, was here on earth.  Whereas, those in Christ know that their only taste of hell will be here on this earth, and heaven awaits them.  Hitler’s situation went from not very good to God-awful bad.  The Christian’s situation, those who truly are followers of Christ, goes from not very good to God-inspiring great. 

So why does humankind play with fire?

In verse 6 Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

What do you do when you get hungry, or thirsty?  If like me, you go looking for something to eat or drink.  After all, food and water are staples needed for survival.  But, if you get the urge and decide to stay where you are, the food and drink don’t come to you (unless you have a servant).  If you want it, you have to go find it.

The same is true of righteousness.  You want righteousness, you can have it – you can have all you want.  Jesus will spiritually fill everyone that wants what He has to give.

So Jesus’ Big Idea from this verse is this:  The Righteous Food Bell has been rung; Come and get it!

If we want to eat, we have to make the choice to get out of our seats and prepare something to eat.  If we want to know Christ and His righteousness, we have to make a choice to pursue Him.

How do we pursue Him?  Go to Common Unity Groups, read or listen to the Bible daily, hang with mentors who are more spiritually mature, ask questions about faith, listen to Christian music and teaching, meditate and pray over the things Jesus tells you are righteous, be faithful in worship, serve Him and others, and most importantly, apply what you learn.

Jesus says we can have anything RIGHTEOUS we want.  With no questions asked, He will give it to us.  Seeking righteousness will be 100% return on your investment.  God may say “no” to some things we ask for because they are not part of His will.  But righteousness is His will so you can be guaranteed that when you ask for patience He will give it to you – when you ask God to teach you to be merciful and forgiving, He will – when you ask God for self-control, and compassion, and faithfulness, and goodness, and humility, and ……., He will give them to you.

In conclusion, the new earth awaits those who are meek.  It will be a struggle while we are here on this earth because there will always be those who will try to lord their strengths and powers over us.  Yet if we want meekness, if we want humility, if we want to be like Christ, all we have to do is desire this kind of food and it will be given to us.

Faith in Christ doesn’t come while we sit in our easy chairs asking everyone else around us to bring us food or to bring us drink.   Faith in Christ comes when we get up out of our chairs to seek and to serve Him.  As always, the choice is up to you.

The Beatitudes (Blessed 1&2)

Today we’re going to begin a series called Blessed – taking us into the Easter season.  We’ll be looking at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5: 1-12, called the Beatitudes.  And this word is derived from a Latin word which means blessed or happy.

Before we look specifically at the first two statements of Jesus, we need to put into context what was happening.  Jesus has recently come back from his 40 days of fasting and prayer in the wilderness and has begun His earthly ministry.  He’s performing miracles – healing the sick – and crowds are beginning to gather bringing their friends and family members who were in need of healing.

Now, when He notices the magnitude of the crowd coming for His healing services, He heads up onto a mountainside to get away.

Notice who came to Him – who went searching for Him - His disciples.   And to pull a Big Idea from the narrative alone is this:  Disciples follow Jesus no matter where He goes.

Also, notice who He taught – His disciples.  And so another Big Idea to pull from this is:  Jesus teaches those who seek after Him.

Those in the crowd only coming for the show – coming only for Jesus to perform a miracle – were not going to spiritually hear what Jesus was teaching.  A Band-aide healing was not going to give them what they needed to know about the Kingdom of God.   A Band-aide healing would only provide them with temporary relief from the pain they were suffering now, only to lead to the pain of death in their future.  And death without knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven only leads to eternal torment and pain.

If they wanted to know about the Kingdom, they needed to seek Jesus to find out more about the Kingdom.   An interesting fact that you see in Jesus’ ministry is that He taught those who sought out Him - Remember Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7: 7)

Now, there’s a parallel here between the mountainside in these verses and the mountainside experience Moses had.  In fact, it has always interested me to see the parallels of the Israelite nation in the OT and the facts recorded about Jesus in the NT.  For example, Egypt was the saving place for both the Israelite nation and the baby Jesus.  The Israelite nation prospered and was saved from starvation and ruin by escaping to Egypt during the 7 years of famine.  Jesus as a babe was taken to Egypt by Mary and Joseph to be saved from Herod’s decree that all male boys 2 and younger were to be killed.  Another example was the wandering in the desert.  Israel, after being delivered from slavery in Egypt, wandered in the desert for 40 years before being permitted to enter into the Promised Land.  Jesus, after being baptized by John the Baptist, began His earthly ministry by wandering in the desert for 40 days of fasting and prayer.  And the initial example of the mountainside was the beginning of God’s word being declared.  Moses came down from being in the presence of God on Mount Sinai to present to the Israelites the Law (the 10 commandments) given to them by God to guide them in their faith journey.  Jesus goes on the side of a mountain to begin His teachings on the Kingdom of God.

Jesus begins His teachings with the Blessed teachings because they exemplified who He was and what God desires of those He will invite to be with Him in His Kingdom.  Where the Law exposed man’s need for a Savior due to man’s shortcomings, the Beatitudes reveal the Spirit that can and should be within those who call upon the name of the Savior.  Versus providing a bunch of do’s and don’ts, Jesus provides those listening to His sermon a glimpse of how He would carry Himself here on earth and a picture of who His disciples should become.

We’re going to look at the first two today – “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven,” and “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

So who is Jesus referring to?  Understand it’s not those who already have these characteristics.  Rather it is those who will take on these characteristics due to their understanding of Jesus.

Jesus was speaking of Heavenly traits that He desires to see in all who call upon His name as Savior.  When it comes down to it, these Beatitudes will be the criteria God uses to judge a person’s soul. 

If you notice, just like the 10 Commandments show the boundaries we are to have with God and with others, the Beatitudes go deeper in showing us that the boundaries are nice, but not needed, if we will take to heart what God desire to see in our hearts.  

Now getting back to the 1^st Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…”  

What is Jesus talking about here?  He’s talking about those who have humility.  He could have said, “Blessed are the humble, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Humility is realizing that all you are and all you have is a gift from God.  To be poor in spirit means that a person is completely empty of self and open to the Word of God.

For example, “You should not steal” (Deut 5: 19), is a rule, a boundary, that keeps me from harming you by taking from you what is not mine, but “Blessed are the poor in spirit….”is an attitude within my heart, soul, and mind that reminds me that I should place you above myself, which allows me the freedom to respect you and your property. If “Blessed are the poor in spirit….”is within me, then no one need fear that I steal.

God is looking to find in us what David shared in his Psalm – Psalm 51 verses 10 & 17.
Verse 10 – “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast (a right) spirit within me.”

Verse 17 – “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

God wants humility – not false humility – but a genuine expression of gratitude for what He has done in our lives and for whom He is.  Humility bows to the King when in His presence.  Jesus says that those who are sincerely humble toward God and others are the ones who God wants in His Kingdom.  Basically, if He were recruiting for His team, these are the players He would seek – not those who are most talented, or the best looking, or have the most to offer, but those who are coachable.

Now the 2^nd Beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn…” 

What does He mean by mourn?  He is speaking spiritually here.  Everyone mourns over loss, loss of possessions, loss of loved ones.  But what He wants us to see is that, in a state of humility, we mourn that we have let God down because of our sin.  We are mourning because we realize that our sin is a wall that separates us from God.

When The Passion of Christ came out there was all kind of debate of who director Mel Gibson was portraying as the ones who crucified Jesus – Was it the Jews?  Was it the Romans?  So when I saw it for the first time in the theatres, the Holy Spirit clearly showed me that the blame for Christ’s death fell squarely on my shoulders.  And I cried tears of mourning, realizing it was for my sin that He was beaten and crucified on a cross.

We mourn because we are sorry.  And Jesus says, “Because you realize that you deserve punishment for your sins committed against God, God will reach out to you and comfort you.”  God reaches out to those who are truly sorry.

Jesus could have used these words for the 2^nd Beatitude, “Blessed are those who regret their mistakes against God because they will be comforted.”

Isaiah 59: 1-2, “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.  But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear.” 

God is there.  He wants to save.  He longs to hear.  But a lack of repentance holds Him at bay.  Sin is what separates people from experiencing God.

God comforts those who recognize and mourn over the grief they have caused Him through their blatant acts of disobedience.  

In conclusion, “Blessed are the poor in spirit (the humble), for they shall inherit the Kingdom of God,” and “Blessed are those who mourn (regret their sin), for they will be comforted.”

It takes humility to acknowledge that you are a sinner before God.  But for those who do humbly admit, God will reach down to them to pick them up and bring them into His Kingdom forever.  What a great promise for those who can believe.

LHH Culture

As I said in my latest post, a church should be a tithing missional community of Jesus disciples who study His teachings and commandments on love and service, and then obey them through words and actions.

So that’s what LHH will and must be. 

LHH must be a missional church – reaching out to those in our local communities as well as using resources to spread the Gospel globally.

LHH must be a tithing church – God gives to us so we must give back – we must tithe in order to be a missional church.

LHH must be a community church – reaching in to one another to show our genuine care and concern for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

LHH must be a discipling church – our mandate is to go out and make disciples – so we will disciple those who are new in the faith so that they may persevere in their faith and may one day do the same for others.

LHH must be a loving and serving church – these two qualities most define Christ’s ministry and so we must follow in His footsteps (this is where the rubber meets the road).

Now, let's look at LHH’s final area of culture – an area that truly is God-ordained to speak on – because the Church began the season of Lent on Wednesday – a season of 40 days of individual preparation for God’s sacrifice for mankind.

In Colossians 3: 1-17, Paul makes it very clear to the church in Colosse that life, attitudes, and actions must change in the person who is in Christ.  And if you look at some of His other letters to churches you’ll see the same theme.

If I could put verses 1-4 into today’s language, he would be saying to us, “Because you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you have died to self and now find your identity in Him.  Since your identity is now in Him, then put your thoughts on the things He desires to see in your life; not on the things of this earth that you once valued.  And for you who live according to Christ, know that when He returns for His Church, you too will return with Him to the glory of Heaven.”

So God's Big Idea from these verses is this:  CHRIST MUST BE YOUR IDENTITY.

In verses 5-10 God provides us with this Big Idea:  FAITH IS MIND OVER MATTER.

Just as in the days of the early church there were carnal Christians, people accepting Christ’s salvation yet living as nothing needed to change in their lives, carnality is running ramped among the church in the western hemisphere.  People are crying out to Christ because they want the eternal life He has to offer, in fact Jesus is cool, but they never permit their minds, their thoughts, their hearts, and their lives to be transformed into His likeness.  They want a ticket to Heaven, but don’t give up their earthly desires – the party is still happening.  They abuse His grace by seeking pleasure for themselves, with no conscience to change - to do what is right.

Paul was saying to us that life in Christ is about change– change for the better.  But it takes a conscientious decision on our part to want this change.

In verses 12-17 God’s Big Idea is this:  WEAR WHAT IS RIGHTEOUS.

In order to do this I have to constantly think about what I am saying and what I am doing.  Which is what the season of Lent is all about – sacrificing my desires (what I want to do) for those of Jesus (what He wants me to do and to be.)

I know the thought was a fad a number of years ago that actually made some a lot of money, but it is so much more than a fad.  It is really valuable and should never be forgotten as we prepare ourselves to wear Christ.   Remember the thought?  WWJD bracelets.

Actually, I have to train my mind in all situations to first think on how Jesus would have me handle this - "If Jesus were here, what would He have me do?"

And that is our goal - to allow our minds to be transformed into the knowledge of what is above – that being Jesus Christ.  This is wearing righteousness.  Our thinking must become that of Christ’s, and in this process we become more like Him.

LHH must be a culture of people who live righteously and holy.  Not a people who are self-righteous and proud – “holier than thou” – but a culture of people who truly clothe themselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  A culture of people who choose to be made in the image of God rather than making God in the image of man.

We don’t want to be a culture of people who give Jesus a “black eye” by our unwillingness to change to do what is right.  If He is our Savior, then let’s let Him be our Savior – our Savior from the Devil and our Savior from ourselves.

Though the goal of Christ for everyone who calls on His name to be saved is righteouness and holiness, He also understands that in our humanity we will mess up from time to time.  Not a problem when we admit it to Him and learn from our mistakes.  Jesus always picks us up and gives us another chance. 

But when we abuse this grace, when we continue to live in the same sin over and over again, we become carnal Followers of Christ.

In conclusion, LHH will be a culture that resembles what God wants to see in His Church.

He wants to see LOVE.

He wants to see SERVICE, which is love in action.

He wants to see COMMUNITY.

He wants to see DISCIPLESHIP.

He wants to see TITHING.

He wants to see MISSION.

And He wants to see RIGHTEOUSNESS.

But this culture won’t exist unless you and I embody it.  If we want to be the church as God has called the church to be, then we have to live according to His purposes for the church.

So what do you want to do?  The choice is yours.  I hope you come along on the adventure.  And I can guarantee you this, if it’s done right, you won’t be disappointed; and neither will God.

LHH Culture

It always amazes me how the Bible gives such a clear picture of what church should be:  A tithing community of Jesus disciples who study His teachings and commandments on love and service, and then obey them through words and actions. 

Jesus calls the Church to be a community that cares so much about one another that those not part of it are amazed and intrigued by it.  In this community people are being loved.  And through this love people are following Jesus’ teachings; not because they are commanded to, but because they willingly choose to.  And in this community, people are using their tithes to reach out to others who are struggling to get back on their feet (Not handouts, but a hand up).  

Yet Jesus warns us not to be so wrapped up in the community of the believers that we lose sight of our mission as a church.  And our mission is to seek out the lost and the sick that are in need of the hope only Jesus can offer.  We have to be a community that sees the world the way Jesus does – wanting to see no one perish.

In Luke 15: 1-7, notice who was gathering around to hear what Jesus was teaching – the tax collectors and the “sinners”.

But before we move on, let’s define who these people are.

The Tax Collector – He was Jewish, yet worked for the Roman Government as a collection agent.  His job was to collect taxes from the Jews under the rule of the Roman Empire.  He was regarded as an outcast, and therefore could not serve as a witness or a judge, and he and his family were expelled from the Synagogue.

The Sinner – He was an evil person as well as the one who refused to follow the Mosaic Law as interpreted by the teachers of the law.  He was commonly known by what he did:  a tax collector, an adulterer, a robber, a murderer, and the like.

Now, why would these types of people want to hang with Jesus?  They hung with Him because He did not come to condemn them like the religious leaders of His day.  Where the religious leaders shunned and criticized these types of people, Jesus listened to them – gave them “the time of day.”   Jesus didn’t consider them outcasts.  He treated them like they would want to be treated, which gave Him a voice among them. 

The Pharisees and the teachers of the law blatantly scorned such people every opportunity they got.  They saw themselves as more righteous and were upset that “the sinners” would not listen to them since they were the ones living righteously in “God’s” eyes.

So Jesus took some time to teach a parable to His disciples, which was directly connected to what He was hearing in the murmurs from the Pharisees.

And His point in this parable is this:  Mission to the Church:  Seek the Lost.

Jesus was clearly speaking to the Pharisees that He came into this world to seek and save those who are spiritually lost, not those who think they are doing everything right and don’t need to be saved.  He was saying that the self-righteous aren’t in need of fixing because they already see themselves as not-broken.  He was saying the lost are lost forever unless we go seeking for them.

And so He is saying to us that our mission as a church is the same mission He had in His ministry – to seek those who are spiritually lost and bring them home.

LHH must be a missional church.  

Jesus calls us to reach out to the spiritually sick.  In Mark 2:17 he says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

And these were the ones He reached out to.  He taught and shared with those who were spiritually lost.  The self-righteous were not His target.   He sought out those who sought out Him.  Knowing this should cause you and me to be discerning about whom we seek.

As individual followers of Christ, we have to realize that not everyone is going to follow Christ.  Those who are high on themselves (pious in who they are and what they believe) are not the ones Jesus sought.  Instead, He sought out those who had no preconceived ideas of who He was and were sensitive to Him.

So if we’re going to pour our lives into people who are spiritually lost, then let’s be smart about whom we seek. 

It’s just like fishing – throw out the bait in the water hole, and if you get no strikes, reel it in and move on to another hole.  

There will be times where you get no bites no matter what water hole you’re fishing in.   There will be other times where you won’t be able to get your bait in the water fast enough.   In either case, you’ve got to keep fishing and be selective about where you fish.  Fishing in ankle deep water is probably not going to catch you many fish.

In fact, the best places to fish are in those areas that are tough to get to; therefore not a very comfortable experience to get there.  Yet when there, you ask yourself, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”  With regards to people, these areas are places of pain, struggle, and mourning – the areas where we’re not quite sure how to act or know what to say.  But know this, people who are hurting are more receptive to being found and brought home.  They’ve hit rock bottom or know they are heading there, and Jesus is the only hope they have left. 

So fish for people who are hurting and struggling.  It’s these people who are usually seeking to be found, and Jesus wants to bring them home.

I woud advise you to limit your time fishing in areas that are overfished or are not conducive to holding fish.  With regard to people, these are those who don’t want to believe in Jesus because they know they are right and He is wrong.  These people are going to take extreme work to bring home.  In fact, while you’re trying to lift them out of the hole, they are fighting you to stay in the hole and wrapping your line around debris in the water.

These type of people take a lot of energy and effort, so the best avenue to take with them is prayer.  When you see people whose response to the spiritual bait you just threw them is defiance and argument, then your job is to model Christ through your actions and words – to pray for them – to pray that God open their hearts to hear what you have to share.  Maybe one day they will take the bait.

So we each have an individual mission to share the hope of Jesus Christ.  But if there is one thing I have learned in my 43 years of life, I cannot save the world.  Come on, if Jesus, God in the flesh, couldn’t win them all over to His side, what made me think I could?  But that’s not an excuse to excuse the mission I’ve been called to do.

Therefore I must plant many seeds and pray that God give me opportunity to sometimes share in the harvest.  My part is to be faithful in sharing the message of hope.  God must do the rest.

As a body of believers, our mission is to unite together in opportunities of mission.

We presently support a missionary family to Honduras.  Our goal, with time, is to support more missionaries that will be able to share the Gospel in regions we cannot.

But, though we aren’t all called to participate physically in global missions, each church of the body of Christ has a mission to its community.  This is so much harder than giving money to someone else to do the hard work in sharing the Gospel.  It’s harder because we physically have to participate in the community in ways other than rooming in it and going to work.  It’s harder because we have to meet new people and we have to be prepared to have conversation with them.  And these new people might be “unchurched”, “worldly”, “sinners”, and the like.  It’s harder because there is the fear of what could go wrong.

And LHH has done some of the hard work, though the work is never done.  

We have been missional in the following ways:

·         I use my skills as a former math teacher to come to the elementary school once a week to tutor kids in math;

·         We donated $750 to the Hedgesville Elementary PTO for the inflatables used for their fundraising carnival event so that they could use the money raised to help better the students’ education at the school;

·         We also volunteered time and manpower at the carnival to help them put on a great event;

·         We passed out free water bottles to the guests of the carnival;

·         We have donated boxes of food to families in need from both the elementary and high schools the past two Thanksgivings;

·         We have mown lawns and done yard work for a single mother;

·         We have put in an air-conditioning unit for a gentleman who was really struggling physically in the midst of the heat waves last summer;

·         We have assisted struggling families within the church to help get them back on their feet;

·         We have shared the Gospel through words, love, and action. 

And being missional does not always produce immediate results.

But what are results?  Results are not numbers of people coming to church.  Results are people coming to worship who are being discipled to follow and obey the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Results are disciples.

So LHH will always be a missional church looking to find that one poor soul that is lost to bring him/her home.  And that means we have to believe that each of us are called to do our part in reaching out to them.   

Though remember, the work is never finished because we are led by the Holy Spirit.  And He will continue to provide you and me, the church, opportunities to seek and find the lost – to go fishing.

Just think, as a follower of Christ, where would you be today if no one took the time to invest in you?  To ask you about Jesus?  To invite you to come and bring you to worship?  Would you be calling Jesus, Savior?  Most likely not.

LHH will be missional.  What part of the mission is yours?