Woes Xs 6 = 8 Signs (Luke 11:37-54)

The story is told of a farmer who had become restless at his work. He began praying for a sign from God about something else he could do besides farming. One day he saw a strange cloud formation that spelled out the letters, “GPC.” He interpreted “GPC” to mean, “Go Preach Christ.” Taking this as the sign from God he had been praying for, he sold his farm and took to the road as a traveling evangelist.

Things did not go well. After several weeks his wife asked him if he had misunderstood the sign. “Perhaps,” she suggested one morning at breakfast, “GPC really meant, ‘Go Plow Corn.’”

You have to be careful in asking God for a sign. You have to be even more careful in interpreting those signs from God.

It’s All or Nothing (Luke 11:14-28)

The last two springs, Misty and I have had a problem with little birds, I think they are sparrows, nesting in our garage. I have tried to get them out, but they keep getting back in. We never leave our garage door open and so I could not figure out how they were getting in and out. Finally, I noticed that when the garage door is shut, in the lower, left corner, a small piece of rubber is missing around the garage door. and so the birds where coming in through that small passage. If you think about it, a garage is both warm and dry and a good place to build a nest. I really can’t blame the birds. I can scare them off every day of the week, but if I don’t fix that hole in the corner, the birds will always come back and bring more of their friends. When I see eggs in their nests, I have pity on the birds and leave them alone. The first spring this happened, there was only one nest. This past spring there were at least three nests in our garage! Needless to say, the birds made a mess, and some of the mess was on my scuba diving gear! That’s where I draw the line. You mess with my scuba stuff and I will no longer take pity on you! The birds have to go! Sometime between now, and next spring, I have got to fix the rubber around the bottom of the garage door.

WWJP (Luke 11:1-13)

I’m going to start a new fad to replace an old fad. The old fad is the bracelet WWJD (What Would Jesus Do). That phrase, What Would Jesus Do?, actually comes from a novel written in 1896 by Kansas minister, Charles Sheldon. The title of the novel was In His Steps: What would Jesus do? In it, a town is revolutionized when Christians “pledge themselves, earnestly and honestly for an entire year, not to do anything without first asking the question, ‘What would Jesus do?’”.…[1] Almost 100 years later, in 1989, a youth leader in Holland, Michigan, read the book with her youth group. The youth leader, Janie Tinklenberg, hired a local printing couple to make 300 “friendship bracelets” with the letters WWJD on them. She asked members of her youth group to give them away and wear them for 30 days. At the end of the 30 days more bracelets were needed. Then, someone much more cunning then Janie, saw the bracelets, made their own versions, and marketed them nationally, making lots of money. By the time Ms. Tinklenberg tried to register WWJD as her trademark, it was too late. Ironic, isn’t it? I don’t think stealing someone’s idea and making money on it is something Jesus would do.

My idea, and I guess I need to get started on the trademark, is to make another bracelet, but this time, instead of WWJD on it, have WWJP—What would Jesus pray? It’s an interesting question, and one the disciples asked. Think about that for a moment. Out of all the things Jesus said and did, and out of all the questions His disciples could have asked, the one question they did ask was, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). It’s an interesting question because Jesus’ first disciples were Jewish. They had been brought up in the synagogue, and in the synagogue schools. They knew their Old Testament. They had been praying their entire life. They knew the words to say. They knew the ritual of prayer. But they knew there was something different about Jesus’ prayers and how He prayed and what He prayed, and so they asked, “Teach us how to pray and what to pray.”

The Good and the Better (Luke 10:38-42)

It’s always harder to do right and easier to do wrong. But what is really difficult is choosing the better over the good. In other words, often, we can get stuck doing what is good and miss out on what is better. This is a difficult lesson to learn!

For example: Ice cream is good, but yogurt is better for you. Eating steak and potatoes is good, but it would be better to eat more vegetables and a salad…every once in a while. Not acting out on your anger is good, but reaching out to the other person in love, and performing an act of kindness, is even better. Staying busy is good, but using your time wisely is better.

You get the idea.

Who is My Neighbor (Luke 10:25-37)

Five days a week, from 1963 until August 31, 2001, Mr. Fred Rogers (an ordained Presbyterian minister), entered living rooms across the United States through a trolley for a thirty-minute television program entitled, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. For more than three decades, Mr. Rogers talked to preschool children (and their parents) about competition, divorce, war, peace, anger, loneliness, and even the death of a pet goldfish. Weekly, he would look straight into the camera and say to children, “I like you just the way you are.” You probably don’t remember anything I have ever said, but I bet most of you, right now, have the image in your mind of Mr. Roger’s walking into his house, hanging up his suit coat, and putting on his cardigan sweater, while singing, “Won’t you be my neighbor.”

The Supreme Court (of God)

A few weeks ago, I had an interesting and inspiring talk with a guy who has been in a maximum security prison, locked up 23 hours a day for a violent crime. He has been at this particular prison for over 20 years. He told me about his faith in God, and then he showed me something he had written years ago. It was his statement of faith, based on filing a court document. I asked him if I could share this with you, and so he copied it (by hand) and gave me a copy the next time I saw him. I think it is great, and worth sharing. So, please share this with as many people as possible. Also, if you don’t mind, write this guy a word of encouragement in the comments. I told him I would share with him the comments that people make after reading this.

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I’m Tired

It has been a long week and I am tired.

I am tired of all the violence.

Every June, our church takes a team to Tegucigalpa, Honduras for a week of medical/evangelism missions. While there we partner with World Gospel Outreach. I have been to Honduras more than twenty-times. This year, our time had the unfortunate experience of witnessing a murder. We saw a store owner shot multiple times. We saw the shooter casually walking away. We say the business owner, laying on the ground, grasping for his last breath. It was awful! Honduras is a violent country. But so is the United States.

I’m tired of the violence.