life in christ

OK To Compromise Truth; But Not THE TRUTH

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , , , , , , ,

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“Facts are facts and promises are promises” is a line taken from a recent song played on the radio.  The name of the singer escapes us at the moment, but the chorus keeps playing over and over again in our mind.  When it comes to the Word of God, certain truths are universally accepted.  Likewise, His promises are promises of faith.  With faith, His promises are always universally sure, yet the timing is unpredictable.

For example, the Bible is crystal clear that Jesus died for our sins opening the door for humanity’s salvation.  The Bible is also clear on the resurrection of the dead.  Jesus arose from the dead and likewise we shall at His return.  But there are concepts that are not as clear in the Bible.  For example, is everyone that has never heard the gospel of Jesus lost for all eternity?  Or, when you die, does your soul immediately go to heaven or does your soul sleep until the resurrection?  There are scriptures that support both concepts.  Does that mean we must agree with these universal beliefs if the scriptures are not crystal clear on the subject?  We believe not.

It amazes us how the scriptures were written.  Certain concepts are so black and white that the majority of theologians agree with its meaning.  On the other hand, certain scriptures are so unclear that there are a multiple of opinions from a multiple of theologians.  What does all this mean?  God could have easily produced a Book that would have been universally agreed by everyone.  But He didn’t.  He deliberately allowed the Bible to be written where certain concepts would be argued until the end of the age.  What does this tell us?  Only that God knows Absolute Truth.  The rest of us are searching.  When we discover the truth, it is the truth as we perceive it based on our experience and understanding.  It may not be the Truth, but it is the truth in our eyes.

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The scriptures in the Bible that are crystal clear so that every denomination agrees with their meaning can be almost guaranteed to be the Truth.  It is The Truth valuable enough to live and die for.  There is no compromise with The Truth.  However, the other truth is something that we believe based on our experience, relationship, and understanding of God in our life while studying and living the scriptures.  These little truths we approach with a more open mind.  Some people call these preferences.  Others call them non-essentials.  We have come to realize over time that some of our beliefs have changed over time based on the work of the Holy Spirit in our life.  We have no problem compromising on these little truths in our life knowing that they are not important for eternal salvation.  We believe if they were important, God would have made them crystal clear in the Bible.  As a disciple of His, we pray that God gives us the wisdom and insight to determine what and when we need to compromise and when we need to stand still and not waiver.  God is good!  God is great!  All the time!

OUR PRAYER

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Our Perfect Dad, thank you for revealing your Word to us.  Thank you for having your Word put into writing.  Thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit to learn your Truth and to live your truth.

Help us always place what you consider to be most important in the front of our mind.  Let us not get lost in the controversies and debates of your word.  Instead, help us to live your word in love and truth to the best of our ability always being truthful to you.  Help us to share your gospel with others and teach your word as you have revealed it to us.  Let nothing come between us.  Let your word build us closer with each other.  Help us find unity with our other brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Keep your eternal Truths always in our heart, mind, and soul.  Let nothing remove it.  Help us to stand up for what we believe and to respect others for what they believe.  Help us always to live in love, in faith, and in hope of your salvation.

In Jesus we thank you and pray this.  Amen.

Yours In Christ,

Dr. Mike

Coach, Consultant, and Encourager

Author of Great Business Emulates a Good God

Our Power Is In Christ

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , , , , , , , ,

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What price do you put on eternal life? What price do you put on having a relationship with the Almighty God? What price do you place on a righteous soul? What price do you place on freedom?

Every one of us has a price. We all have the tendency to place a monetary value on everything. Ask yourself, how much would you be willing to receive in exchange for committing a small sin? Not a “serious sin”, but a “small one.” What if someone would give you $10,000 immediately with no strings attached if you would only throw a brick through your neighbor’s large, living room window? You have no time to give him any warning, no time to negotiate with your neighbor, no time to exchange any information. You are not allowed to recompense him in any way. Just do it because you could profit from the situation. Now if $10,000 is not worth the inconvenience, how about $100,000, $500,000, $1,000,000, $100,000,000? You tell us at what price you place on righteousness and we will tell you how much value you place on godliness. We could easily justify the situation and convince ourselves that breaking a neighbor’s window is not a major crime. No person really was hurt. Unless, a person was sitting by the window when you threw the brick and the shattering glass stuck into the person’s body causing him to bleed profusely to his death. But, that would change the scenario around. Or would it?

We recall a story from a friend that occurred in his first year on the job.  His company sold some real estate and money was being transferred all around the country. He had wire transferred several million dollars before the end of the day prior to leaving the country that evening on vacation. The next day he received a phone call from his boss informing him that the money was missing. They retraced the steps and were able to locate it in an account of one of the banks. The financial institution misread one of the digits on the wiring instructions and the money was sitting in someone else’s bank account. However, it didn’t dawn on him until he came back to work that his boss had a little thought that he had absconded with the money. They laughed about it afterwards. But it made him ask the question, how much? How much would we have to steal and leave the country to make it worth the crime?

What we all soon learn is what Jesus taught us. What does it profit if you could have the whole earth, but lose your soul? What is of greater value? In this world we are slaves to the greed around us and within us. But as disciples of His, we have His assurance that He is always with us to the end of this age. He will provide for our needs. There is no monetary price on godliness. Godliness is priceless, and so are we. How does that compare to your value system?

OUR PRAYER

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Our Righteous Dad, thank you for revealing your truth to us. Thank you for sharing your godliness with us. Thank you for revealing the fruit of righteousness in our life.  Great you are and greatly to be praised!

Help us in destroying our self-righteousness and replacing it with your righteousness. Help us to sprinkle your traits of godliness with all the people we meet. Let your godliness have its full empowerment within us. Help us to live a holy and righteous life. Let the joy of your salvation spring out lividly through your righteousness. Let godliness have its way with us.

Let Jesus also have His way with us. We ask all these things through Him and because of Him. Amen.

Yours In Christ,

Dr. Mike

Coach, Consultant, and Encourager

Recruit, Commit, Coach

Dr. Mike Journey in Christ , , , , , , , , , ,

The general mission of the church is recorded in the last chapter of Matthew; to actively make disciples, to baptize them into the universal church, and to educate them in total surrender of Jesus’ teachings.great commission 1

In addition to the main mission, we each have our personal ministry. Depending on the season of our life and God’s Plan, it may change over time.  For most of us, our personal ministry is first with the immediate family and then to the building up of the church. The Church, of course, is not necessary the local faith community but the universal body of believers.  It would include the people from the local church that we attend on a regular basis and also the other churches in our community.  It would also include God’s work in the marketplace.  Again, our mission is to make disciples and to buildup fellow saints of God.

Since most of us are only a little, baby toe in the body of Christ without a visible, publicly noticed ministry, our work is done only visibly to our Lord who we serve.  This toe only touches the people who it comes into contact with.  It doesn’t seek public recognition, but believes that privacy has its greatest benefits in serving the body of Christ.

Now some of our brethren believe their mission is to win souls to the Lord.  We have a problem with that approach since the soul is a difficult portion of the body to evaluate.  The making of disciples is an easier concept to manage.  It is something that we have a greater control over to make happen than changing a person’s soul.  We believe conversion and sanctification is God’s department.  Our part is simply to recruit people who want to follow Jesus, coach them to acknowledge their commit to follow Christ, and then to teach them the Word.  The process of regeneration and salvation is the Lord’s.  That depends on the person’s relationship with God.  It depends on a person’s personal commitment.  We could recruit one hundred people who desire to become Christ-followers.  That doesn’t mean that all one hundred are going to faithfully endure to the end.  We are sure most will.  But there are always a few that would rather surrender their soul to this temporary world and its leader than to the Lord of eternity.

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We likewise have great difficulty believing that all those people who have lived the past six thousand years without hearing about the gospel of Jesus are doomed for eternity.  That doesn’t sound like the loving God we have come to know.  Because someone hasn’t been told, how can they be held accountable?

No, we believe the Son is the only way of salvation.  However winning souls is our Heavenly Dad’s responsibility who calls us to a relationship with Jesus (Jn6: 44) and the Holy Spirit that works in us today.  Our mission is clear: Recruit (Seek + Disciple), Commit (Baptize), and Coach (Teach).

OUR PRAYER

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Dear Merciful Dad, your plan from the beginning of creation was to reconcile all people to you.  You selected the nation of Israel as your initial people to work with and to reveal your ways.  Eventually. you sent us Jesus to open the door for all people from any nation, culture, ethnic group to become one with you.  Your plan is simple and straight forward.  Help us to be a part of it.

Help us to share the gospel of Jesus with others.  Help us to reveal you as we have come to know you.  Help us to teach your ways of abundant living to others.  Help us to direct others to a deep, personal relationship with you.

You are the source of our strength.  You are the passion of our life.  You are the desire of our dreams.  You are the hope of our future.  Let your life be revealed through our thoughts, actions, and deeds.  Let all we do be done for your glory.  Let others come to see your awesomeness as you have revealed yourself to us.

Everything is yours.  Thank you for sharing everything with us.  Help us share everything with others.  In Jesus we thank you and always pray in His name and authority.  Amen.

Yours In Christ,

Dr. Mike

Coach, Consultant, and Speaker

Author of Great Business Emulates a Good God