One Person at a Time...

Shifting back from "Overdrive"...

Does it ever seem to you that someone shifted life into "overdrive"?  This summer has literally flown by, and we're looking at the "ides" of July tomorrow.  By any standard that's the middle of summer.  Before we know it our children will be going back to school, and in the Marshall household that's going to be  more challenging than usual, as we send Abby off to Seton Hill.  We'll be a three person household most of the time instead of four for the first time in nearly 14 years.  I've found this summer particularly challenging when it comes to keeping pace with all that's on my plate.  Sure, I could say that with Abby graduating, moving into a new house, squeezing in a vacation and a mission thrip, that difficulty in keeping pace to what's on my plate is to be expected.  In fact, that's what most of us do. We say, "How can anyone expect me to keep up with everything I have going on in life?" 

It hit me this week as I was driving down the road, one night looking at the little green light surrounding the shift indicator on the '89 Honda Accord we recently acquired to replace our '95 Mercury Mystique that "died" on us, that just as the Accord has three different gears:  D4, D3, D2 (one wonders what happened to D1?!), life has different gears.  Of course, in cars the "overdrive" gear reduces wear and tear on the engine at higher speeds, by reducing the RPM's, but in life when we say we're in "overdrive" we usually mean the opposite.  We mean we're living "full out" at maximum velocity and RPM's!  That sounds good--especially to me it sounds good--because "full out" would seem to indicate we're getting everything we can out of life.  Actually, when we live "full out," that usually means we have no "margin".  Margin is the "space" of time and money that I've been working hard to put into my life for years.  I actually got to the point where I had some margin last fall, and part way into the winter.  I was working ahead on messages, bible studies and other areas of ministry.  That meant when something unexpected came up it was no big deal. I just "down shifted," took care of it and then went back about life as usual.

Then something happened.  Part of it was the house construction process. Part of it was realizing it was Abby's senior year and wanting to invest more time with her, part of it was more than the usual unexpected events taking place in succession, and part of it quite honestly, was wasting some good time at times.  In any event, I woke up realizing that I was in "overdrive," that I was playing catch up in every area of life, with no margin left.  When something unexpected came up, the only choice was to sleep less or neglect something else.  For someone with my personality type, overdrive actually feels good, sometimes even better than shifting back from time to time and building margin.  According to Dr. Don Colbert in his book Deadly Emotions, some of us get addicted to adrenalin, which flows freely in that overdrive mode of life, and to shift back is to miss the "high" it produces.  Dr. Colbert makes a LOT of sense, especially since he points out that living in "overdrive" all the time is literally life shortening!

Anyway, as it hit me that life has different gears, and that I was constantly in overdrive these past several months, I realized something:  the overdrive life isn't sustainable over the long haul.  It isn't good to model that kind of life for others, and it causes inconvenience to those around you when you drop what's expected of you, because something unexpected comes up and you have no margin built in with which to address it.  So, I'm shifting back from overdrive right now.  It's challenging, because I'm already behind in most areas.  It's challenging, too, because the margin-filled life, the life in D3 or D2 isn't as exciting as the life in D4--at least for me.  But the key for me to remember is:  my life is NOT my own.  I belong to Jesus, and I belong to the body of Jesus Christ!  How I live is a reflection to others of whether I'm letting Jesus lead my life--letting Him choose the gear.  It also determines the effectiveness of the local body of Jesus known as New Life Christian Ministries, because as the Apostle Paul aptly reminded us every part of the body impacts every other part!  So, here comes D3, or D2, whichever Jesus chooses.  What gear are you in right now?  Is it the one Jesus has chosen for you?

Next Step #9!

As we continue our journey of living in the Spirit, another important Scripture for us to examine is

1 Corinthians 2:1-16

. We’re going to take two or three of our “next steps” to work our way through this passage. Today, we’re going to overview it, and consider the difference it makes when we're living in the Spirt.

We believe that the Apostle Paul wrote three letters to the Corinthian Christians even though only two appear in the Bible. We also know from reading the two letters we do have in the Bible that Paul and the Corinthian church struggled with one another. Here in

1 Corinthians 2

, Paul sets forth the centrality of Jesus Christ and His crucifixion in Paul’s teaching. Paul didn’t want to impress the Corinthians with “lofty words and impressive wisdom,” from a human standpoint. He wanted to let the cross speak for itself.  As we shall see, Paul also wanted the Corinthian believers to understand the Holy Spirit’s role in showing us God’s wisdom, that we may both know it and live in accordance with it on a daily basis. Remember:  God doesn’t give us the Spirit so we will know more than others, but so we will be effective in living out the life of Jesus daily. The world isn’t nearly as impressed with knowledge as they are with the love of Jesus being lived out toward them!  Here’s the Scripture:

¹When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. ²For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. ³I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. ⁴And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. ⁵I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

⁶Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. ⁷No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. ⁸But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. ⁹That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,

    “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

¹⁰But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. ¹¹No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. ¹²And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

¹³When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. ¹⁴But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. ¹⁵Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. ¹⁶For,

    “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?

But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

For this week, let’s quickly summarize Paul’s words, and move to one application. Then in the next few weeks, we’ll take the passage a section at a time, interpret it and then draw an application for us to live out each day!  In summary, Paul tells us his goal was not to impress the Corinthians with his wisdom or education, but to set forth the power of the cross. He also tells them that God reveals Himself to us “by His Spirit.” The reason it is so important for us to live in the Spirit, is that it is only through the Holy Spirit that we can know the mind of God! Paul closes by telling us that when he speaks he uses words given to him by the Spirit to explain spiritual truths. So, what’s the immediate application of this Scripture for our lives today? Knowing and living the ways of God comes to us through the Holy Spirit’s presence within us. Every moment of every day we can KNOW and LIVE the ways of God IF, and only if, we let the Holy Spirit fill and control us. Every aspect of living in the Spirit, is directly related to all the others. When we speak of the necessity of “be being filled” with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), we realize that in that state we can know and live the ways of God, which Paul tells the Corinthian Christians in this week’s Scripture. Do you want to know and live the ways of God? Of course!  Then moment by moment let the Holy Spirit fill and control you. When stress comes, when anger comes, when ANYTHING comes that is not of Jesus, STOP then and there and ask Him to fill you anew with the Holy Spirit. Then listen and do what He says—which in some cases will be to stop and wait on Him! Living in the Spirit is simple—not EASY—but simple. God’s blessings as you seek to live in Him today!

They Like Jesus But Not the Church

Just finished Dan Kimball's They Like Jesus But Not the Church.  Muy challenging!  Kimball interviewed many young adults regarding their reasons for liking Jesus, but not the church.  The six primary issues these folks have with the Church is their perception that: 1)  The Church is an organized religion with a political agenda; 2) The Church is judgmental and negative; 3) The Church is dominated by males and oppresses females; 4) The Church is homophobic; 5) The Church arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong; and The Church is full of fundamentalists who take the whole Bible literally. 

Kimball's book is worth the read for the comments from those who are currently outside the church alone.  He took the time to go one-on-one with a lot of folks and to genuinely hear their concerns.  While you may draw different conclusions on some of the points than he, you have to admit that he's in the trenches making an effort to as he puts it offer an apologetic and an apology for the Church.  The book challenged me to invest more time in the lives of those who are currently unchurched, and to challenge everyone in my sphere of influence who knows Jesus to do the same!  To find out more Dan Kimball

Very Early In the Morning...

One of the key points about Jesus' ministry was His prayer time with His heavenly Father.  We read in Mark 1:35  "Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray." (NLT) In the NIV we read, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went to a solitary place, where he prayed." (NIV)  Jesus' day started EARLY and IN PRAYER.  As followers of Jesus our days must start with prayer.  Otherwise, the tone for the day will be set with a direction based in the world.  Jesus was (and is!) the Son of God, and yet He found it necessary to start the day -- very early with His Heavenly Father.  As we read on in the text we find that Simon and the other disciples came and offered Jesus the world's agenda---"Everyone is looking for you!"  You bet they were!  Jesus had healed the sick, cast out demons and taught with an authority that none of them had ever experienced the day before.  Everyone wanted more of that.  Undoubtedly, they would have established a "megachurch" in Capernaum, and people could have come from miles around to experience Jesus' amazing teaching and miracles.

But Jesus had prayed.  Jesus had listened and shared with His Heavenly Father, so when the crowd said, "We want some more of that, Jesus!"  Jesus said, "Let's go somewhere else, to the nearby villages--so I can preach there also.  That's why I have come."  Jesus remembered His mission--to share the gospel throughout Israel, to equip the disciples, to die on the cross.  While a megachurch in Capernaum would have drawn many, that was NOT Jesus' purpose in coming.  He remembered His purpose, because He got up early and focused on His Heavenly Father--FIRST.  We would all do well, whatever time we rise to do the same.  After all, the only way to put Jesus first--is to PUT JESUS FIRST!

Jesus First

Yesterday at worship we focused on Jesus' interaction with Martha in Luke 10:38-42.  Jesus came to visit Martha and Mary one day.  Mary focused on Jesus.  Martha focused on the details of dinner. Martha ended up stressed out and Mary received Jesus' blessing.  When Martha confronted Jesus about the unfairness of Mary's sitting at Jesus' feet while she did all the work, Jesus' response was that MARY not Martha was the one who had chosen the right course of action.  Most of us relate with Martha's plight.  We want to DO something, or we feel forced to DO something.  We don't have time to focus on Jesus, because the details of life scream at us to be completed. 

The reality is we will always have more to do than can be done.  The question is:  as followers of Jesus what comes first?  The two word response to that question, which I asked us all to remember this week is:  JESUS FIRST.   When we feel the blood pressure rising; when someone is sitting doing nothing while we do all the work; when folks are pulling at us from every direction -- JESUS FIRST.  What does that mean?  It means that Jesus is more important than anyone or anything.  It means that while we must certainly do many things each day, that we turn to Jesus FIRST every day and ask Him what He wants us to do, or whether we need to take some time and just sit at His feet.  That may not seem practical, but so many times when it seems that life is just one big "to do list" that's never going to get done, I stop and take some time to sort it out with Jesus and it's amazing how much clearer that list becomes.  Some items drop off the list altogether.  Others move lower on the list, and some move to the top.  When Jesus is first the rest falls into its proper order.  When Jesus isn't first there will always be frustration, hurt, and fear leading to stress.  Jesus first.  It's the most practical way for us to live AND it's the only way to live in His blessing!

Anticipating the Day!

Sundays are always big days!  I love the opportunity to gather with believers and worship the Lord, together.  While prayer and worship make up a part of every day for me, and prayer is becoming more and more a part of the whole day for me, it's not the same as gathering with others who trust Jesus as Savior and Lord, who know the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, and who are one family in God, our Heavenly Father and worshiping together.  That may be why the author of the Hebrews admonished us not to forsake gathering together as some had already done.  The life in Jesus Christ is a corporate life. 

During the summer many take vacations, or invest Sundays in pursuits other than corporate worship.  The longer I live, the less I understand that.  When I was a boy, the opportunity often presented itself to stay at Pioneer Lake with my Dad, who was not a follower of Jesus rather than to make the short drive home with my mother and worship with the body of believers known as Gipsy Christian Church.  I'll admit that I often stayed with Dad.  Certainly, waterskiing was more exciting to a ten year old than worshiping with what was typically a bunch of old ladies and a smattering of younger ladies and children.  But as I have grown and matured, I've realized that if my Dad had worshiped with us, and the dads of my other friends, if the community of Jesus had truly reflected our commuity, our worship would have been so much more vital. 

These days I realize that worshiping God is the first joy and responsibility of life.  It comes before waterskiing, or golf, or sleeping in, or any of the dozens of other options available to us on Sundays.  When I'm away on Sundays, I have the opportunity to worship with other believers, to experience their expressions of love and commitment to Jesus.  When I'm home, I look forward to renewing relationships with brothers and sisters in Jesus and meeting new ones, to singing praises to God with those I know and love and participating in the various aspects of worship as the body of Jesus known as New Life.  Yes, I enjoy preaching, too--more than ever--because it offers the opportunity for us to read and reflect on the word of God and to consider what God is calling us to be and do as His people here and now and into the future.  If you happen to read this before 10:00 a.m. -- join us!  If you aren't close enough to join us, then join a body of believers who trust Jesus and gather to celebrate His presence in our lives.  Anticipate the Lord's day, and be a vital part of it.  What a great way to start the week--putting first things first!

Next Step #8

Hi Everyone!  Here’s “Next Step #8” in our living in the Holy Spirit process. Today’s next step comes from a fairly obscure book of the Bible, it’s next to last book—the Book of Jude. Jude is only one chapter long, and in verse 20 of that single chapter we read:

                        ^“20But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in    the Holy Spirit.”

What does it mean to “pray in the Holy Spirit”? As we’ve been emphasizing over these weeks when we’re baptized with the Holy Spirit, we receive a prayer language that gives us the ability to pray to the Lord “spirit to Spirit.” Jude emphasizes that we are to pray in the Holy Spirit, and implies that doing so is part of building ourselves up in our most holy faith. It’s been seven or eight weeks now, since you came forward at a worship service to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit.  Are you praying in the Holy Spirit on a regular basis? As with any spiritual discipline, praying in the Spirit grows deeper, richer and more effective with practice and with reliance on God. Each spiritual discipline gives us the opportunity to know God more fully and to serve Him more faithfully. Some see the disciplines as rules or as tasks to be checked off of a “to do” list rather than as  opportunities to deepen our walk with Jesus.

Everything in life that makes a lasting impact requires an investment of time and energy as well as perseverance. The same is true with the discipline of praying in the Holy Spirit. Remember to take time each day to pray in the Spirit, AND when you have particular joys or challenges in your life invest more time in praying in the Holy Spirit. If you haven’t received a prayer language yet, remember this:  you can only pray in the Spirit by giving control over to the Holy Spirit. Let Him pray in and through you.  Don’t pray in English if you intend to pray in the Spirit. Just let Him pray.   Over time praying in the Holy Spirit becomes as natural as every other spiritual practice in our lives to which we devote intentional time and energy!

A Time to Mourn...

King Solomon said, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.  There is a time to be born and a time to die......There is a time to mourn and a time to dance."  (Ecclesiates 3:1, 2a, 4b NIV)  Last evening, July 4, one of those who has been part of New Life passed from this life, to life eternal.  In King Solomon's words, she died.  Debi Dickson has engaged a struggle with cancer for some time now, and yesterday the cancer won.  So now is a time to mourn.  Each time we face this "season" in our lives the reality brings great pain.  I know some followers of Jesus who say, "We shouldn't mourn.  After all our loved one is now in the presence of Jesus."  Debi IS in the presence of Jesus, BUT King Solomon, the Apostle Paul and Jesus all made it clear that mourning is appropriate at the death of loved ones. 

Do you remember what Jesus did at the entrance to Lazarus' tomb?  We all learned in Sunday School that the shortest verse in the Bible is "Jesus wept."  Jesus wept at the entrance to Lazarus' tomb.  Mourning was part of Jesus' experience--and He is the Son of God, so certainly His endorsement and practice of mourning tells us that it's appropriate.

The Apostle Paul told the Thessalonian Christians that we do not mourn like the rest of people who have no hope.  Notice that he didn't say, "We don't mourn PERIOD!"  He said we don't mourn like the rest of people who have no hope.  When a loved one--a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter and a friend die to this life we do rejoice that she has gone to be with the Lord, AND we mourn.  We mourn our loss.  We mourn the future events that will no longer be shared.  We mourn the sense of finality there is for us in this time, even though we know that in Jesus one day we will see our loved ones who have died in Jesus again. 

I have learned through difficult, personal loss that no one knows what another is feeling during times of mourning.  Feelings are so personal that we can never "understand" another's.  What we can do is BE THERE.  What we can do is let those who are mourning know that we mourn with them.  What we can do is avoid saying that we understand, or that it's "for the best," or anything else that defends God or tries to make what happened understandable.  The hard truth is in this life we may never understand the timing of a loved one's death.  What we can understand is this:  God will NEVER leave us nor forsake us.  What we can understand is that God watched His one and only Son die an untimely and absolutely undeserved death on the cross of Calvary, so that one day we can enjoy eternal life with Him and with those we love who have gone before us in Jesus.

Pray for the Dickson family.  Visit them.  Let them talk when they want to, and be quiet when they need to.  There IS a time to mourn..........................and eventually a time to dance once again.  That's why even in times such as this we may proclaim, "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Christ Jesus, our Lord!"

Independence Day?

Yesterday was Independence day here in the USA.  As Americans we value independence a great deal.  But were we created to be independent?  The answer is "Yes.....and No!"  If we're talking about the kind of independence that the founders of our nation fought and died to create for us, then YES we were created to be independent.  God's intentions from the beginning was that we would be absolutely DEPENDENT on Him, and that in that environment our form of government would be a "theocracy," that is a government where all of us are subject to God.  Israel decided early on in their history that a theocracy set them apart from all the other nations surrounding them, and they didn't want to be different.  So they begged God to give them a king.  God told them it would be a disaster, that the kings would levy taxes, and put their sons in harms way as soldiers and servants of his desires, but the people wouldn't be dissuaded.  God gave the people what they wanted--a king. 

Ever since that day, people have sought to undo that mistake.  Perhaps the attempts haven't always knowingly been so, but the reality is the human search for a form of government that would best serve the people is a vain attempt to go back to the only form of government that has human best interest at heart--theocracy.  Since God ALWAYS knows what's best for us, only a theocracy would provide what we truly need.  Since that avenue is gone, human beings have devised all kinds of forms of governments.  Winston Churchill is credited with saying, "Democracy is the worst form of government, save for all the rest."  As human forms of government go, he was right.  When men and women have the opportunity to take part in their government, the government is nearly always superior to one where one, particular individual or a small group make the decisions.  The checks and balances of our democratic form of government help ensure that the human abuse of power doesn't get out of hand.

All that being said, independence is something to be celebrated when it means that we have the opportunity to know and enjoy personal and political freedoms in our lives.  But independence is a terrible thing when it comes to how we live out our life of faith.  Only God knows what is best for us, and therefore, only absolute dependence on Him, can give us the life we desire.  In our relationships with others as followers of Jesus we are "interdependent."  The Apostle Paul made that clear in his image of the Church as the "body of Christ."  Just as all the parts of the human body are interconnected and interdependent, so we as followers of Jesus are given specific gifts and abilities that are to be used in an interconnected and interdependent manner in the body of Christ.  As we reflect on the great freedoms we enjoy as citizens of the United States of America, let's also reflect on the far greater freedom we know--the freedom from sin and death, which can only be experienced in absolute dependence on God--Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and in interdependence with one another!  As we live out those realities we become even better citizens of the USA, because citizens of heaven always make the best citizens here on earth.

This Sunday at New Life!

Have you ever been stressed out?  For some of us the question may be, "When was the last time you remember NOT being stressed out?"  This Sunday at New Life we're going to tackle the tough question:  WHY DO I STILL GET STRESSED OUT WHEN I ASK GOD TO GIVE ME PEACE?  A year or so ago I read a book titled Deadly Emotions by Dr. Don Colbert.  The basic point of the book is that when we let our emotions rule our lives--particularly the emotion of anger--we open ourselves up to all kinds of diseases that lead to premature death.  The topic hit extremely close to home for me, since I was brought up in a family where my dad's primary response to any negative situation was anger--and typically out of control anger.  That "heritage" was passed on to me, so I live in the realm of "anger management" 24/7.  Thankfully, God's word has much wisdom on the matter, and the Holy Spirit is able to overcome any obstacle in our lives, when we give control of life to Him.  So, join us this Sunday as we revisit Jesus' stay at the home of Mary and Martha, and learn from the Master, just what brings peace, when we're all stressed out!