Choices

Note; this is an article I posted in our Mission newsletter in May 2012 as we served at the Arizona Indian Christian Mission School.

I think the realization of the consequences of your choices are even more evident today as we see so many Missionaries, aid workers and ordinary Christians (and others) serving  the poor, hungry and those that can’t help themselves in dangerous places around the world.  They realize the danger, hardships, and pain that they may encounter but they choose to serve anyway and some pay the ultimate price as did Christian Aid worker Kayla Mueller last week.    

I am re posting this because it is a reminder to me that Jesus wants us to make the right choice in all circumstances and He will be with us no matter what the outcome.

CHOICES; YES WE HAVE THEM, THEN AGAIN NO WE DON’T

If you are a Christ follower the above is not a contradictory statement.  We do have a choice in following Christ. We can choose to or not, that is our choice and one we have to make. After choosing Jesus, we don’t have a choice as to choose which scriptures we think are OK for us to follow and then ignore the ones we think don’t apply to us. That is a choice we don’t have. We have to accept His words and they apply to all of us.  Now after we choose Jesus and accept all His teachings, that’s when choosing poses a problem in our life. We know what we are supposed to do but sometimes we choose to disobey.  

1 Corinthians 16:13 says “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” To me that includes making the right choices and that is what we are called to do.

So what does this have to do with this month’s newsletter? A lot! For the short time we have served on the Apache reservation we have seen many people make choices and many of them were disastrous. Others made the right choice no matter how dangerous the consequences were.

God tells us to stand up and be strong in our faith and for what is right and our community leaders tell us to be strong and fight for our communities and for justice. Just recently a 15 year old young lady on the Reservation (White Mountain Apache) did that. She was gang raped by four young men and told not to report it to the police or she would be killed. This young lady was a Christian, baptized at 9 years old and was active in the community youth program in Whiteriver. She chose to do the right thing; she reported what happened and gave the names of her attackers. The following Thursday she attended the young peoples message at the Whiteriver Community Church and then went across the street to a safe place where kids can hang out (”The Kennel”). Her mood was described as edgy, stressed and volatile. Then just a few days later she was found beaten to death along with her grandmother. Her choice cost two lives.

This young lady stood up for what was right and did not back down and it cost her life.  Jesus did not back down and it cost Him His life as did some of the Apostles that did not back down; Peter (was crucified), James the son of Zebedee (was killed), Andrew (crucified), Thomas (was killed by a spear), James Alpheus (was thrown from the temple and then stoned), and Jude (killed by unknown means). I wonder, would we do the same when faced with possible death?  What would we choose?

I assist at a men’s Bible study program on Tuesdays at the White Mountain Apache Christian Church where all men (sober or not) are welcome.  At the Bible study they are reminded of choices they make and the consequences that will come after the choice is made. One intoxicated young man I was praying with stated he wanted to go home but his wife would stab him again (showed me a healing stab wound). I suggested he make a choice, sober up before you go home and don’t beat your wife when you get there (last time he only hit her 4 times) and try to work things out or stay drunk and probably stay in the same lifestyle he is in now. The choice was up to him.

I also attended a devotional for the older teen age boys at Arizona Indian Christian Mission School and my part of the discussion was on choices and friendships. I reminded these young men, Christian or not, that the choices they make now and who they hang around with may affect the rest of their lives. They can choose to follow Christ and have life or they can walk the way of the world and on the Reservation (White Mountain Apache)  walking with the world could mean taking someone’s life or forfeiting their own in a variety of ways.

The violence, depression, hopelessness and the thoughts of having a bleak future are in epidemic proportions to many of the Native Americans on the Reservation.  I am finding that they basically don’t need food, clothing or housing, or even a good education because they have those things available to them already. The problem is that many of them make bad choices and the results keeps them defeated.  What they need and what they need to choose is Jesus and His ways.

The right choice is not always easy, I don’t always make the right choice even though I am blessed in more ways then I can imagine. That is why we can’t give up on our brothers and sisters that need help with understanding they have a choice and prayerfully they will choose Jesus, and we will be with them every step of the way as they struggle in their walk with the Lord.   

Dennis

May newsletter

2012

THE NEW COVENANT IS A PROMISE COVENANT

THE NEW COVENANT IS A PROMISE COVENANT

Covenant; Agreement God made with mankind based on the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Under the new covenant God would write His law on human hearts. 

There would be a new knowledge of the Lord, a new level of obedience and a new forgiveness of sin.

When did the new covenant start? I have heard some say it started at Pentecost, some say when Jesus broke bread at the last supper and some say at the resurrection of Jesus. After studying scripture I feel it started at the resurrection of Jesus.  Here are the reasons that support why I believe this.

If we read Luke 22: 19-20 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, they make a good argument that the new covenant started at the last supper.  At the last supper Jesus reminded the disciples that He was instituting the new covenant (that had been prophesied in the Old Testament). He spoke of the new covenant as “My blood,” Luke 22:19-20 (NIV):  And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. And also in 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 (NIV): The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread,  and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 

However, when I read the above scriptures it tells of something that was to happen in the future (His body had not been broken or His blood shed yet) because Jesus has not been crucified and resurrected yet. He also says to do this in remembrance of Me. This tells me that the new covenant is to start at a future time.

In Hebrews 8:8 -13 it tells what the Lord says about the new covenant. And we read in Hebrews 8:13 (NIV):  By calling this covenant “new,” He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. This tells me that for the new covenant to start something has to happen. I think that it is the death and resurrection of Jesus. That is when the new covenant is ushered in to our lives. 

I also read that the Old Testament shows a covenant of the law (which we could not follow because of our sin nature) and that the new covenant (mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments) is a covenant of the promise. The blood of Jesus would start the new covenant when we are justified by His blood and by God’s grace and mercy.

The death and resurrection of Jesus served as sealing the oath (the promise from God) of a new covenant where by we would be saved.  Hebrews 7:28 (NIV):  For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath (new covenant), which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. I read that these things could only happen after the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Hebrews 9:15 (NIV) states;  For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. To get that eternal inheritance Jesus had to die as it states in verse 15. This is another reason I feel the new covenant started at His resurrection.

Hebrews 10:22 (NIV);  let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. This scripture also tells me that the new covenant started with the death and resurrection of Jesus in the ‘full assurance that faith brings”. In the old covenant we had to rely on sacrifice; in the new covenant we have faith in the blood of Jesus. “Hearts sprinkled to cleanse us.” Sprinkling of blood is talking about the blood of Jesus. “Bodies washed with pure water.” This pure water is Jesus, He is the living water. For these occurrences to happen Jesus would have to have died and then been resurrected. These scriptures are why I believe that the new covenant started with the death and resurrection of Jesus.

You may wonder why I think it is important to figure out when the new covenant started. Good question. I am interested in finding the start of the new covenant because some people (and denominations) use the start of the new covenant as a guidepost as to the meaning of things that happen in the old and new covenant. They use that date to justify their beliefs. For example, some people believe that baptism is a condition of salvation. When the question is brought up that if this it true then why did Jesus tell the thief that was next to Him on the cross (there was no proof that he was baptized) he would be in paradise with Him today? Their answer is that the thief and his death were under the old covenant law because the new covenant did not start until Pentecost. 

Defining the start of the new covenant can have an effect on how scripture is viewed and in my opinion is important.

Your comments are welcome and encouraged.

Dennis

06/10/2013

OK GOD, LET’S MAKE A DEAL!

OK GOD, LET’S MAKE A DEAL!

Have you ever tried to make a deal with God? Have you said something like, “OK God, if you will do this for me I will follow You closer or I will cut back on a certain sin if only You will help me out and grant my prayer request.” 

I have done that in the past, but, thankfully I have not done it in a long time. However I have to admit the thought has crossed my mind a few times in the past years. When that thought comes to me it is usually when something very serious is going to happen in my life and I am unsure of the outcome and I need extra help from God. Fortunately, I have been able to ignore the thought of making a deal with God and rely on my faith, as I should, to carry me through. 

The thought of making a deal with God passed through my mind just recently but I did not let it take possession of my thoughts and returned to my faith. You see, I am going to have major surgery in the next few days and I was a little worried about the possibility of becoming paralyzed. Dying is “OK” because I would be with Jesus, but being paralyzed is another thing. Instead of trying to make a deal with God I chose to rely on my faith in Jesus, trusting that He will be with me whatever happens. I turned my cares over to Him and now I am comfortable with my situation. What a blessing it is to be able to put all my cares on Him!

What prompted the thoughts of making a deal with God is the fact that I feel like Paul when I sin. Romans 7:15 “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” And I can’t get my thoughts (that sometimes turn to actions) to reflect the way Christ wants me to think. The $64,000.00 question for me is, “How do I conform my thoughts to reflect what is right and pure?”

Well, God, in His wisdom, led me to church Sunday and Pastor Scott’s message answered that question for me. To put it briefly, I need to control my thoughts as much as I possibly can.

 To do this I need to follow the guidelines in Philippians 4:8-9 and meditate and think on the things listed. Philippians 4:8-9 “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

I also need to change my attitude. Philippians 2:5 “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

And continue to work on changing the way I think.  Romans 12:1-2 “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

As I learn to do these things I will no longer be tempted to consider making a deal with God, I will walk closer with Him, and I will be growing into the person He wills me to be.

One last comment. We can change our brain by actively living out the 8 principals of Philippians 4:8. I pray that I will constantly strive to do just that. Ho about you?

Dios te bendiga (God bless you),

Dennis

September 30, 2013