Mike Henderson

God's Presence Makes a Difference

This past weekend Carol and Savannah were in Pittsburgh for a wedding.  Carol has five nephews and nieces living there and this was the fifth.

While she was gone I worked on a couple of projects, studied, read, preached at New Hope, and connected with a few people.

However, while I functioned in a fairly normal way, life was different.  Life was missing something.  In this case it was easy to identify.  Carol was missing, she was out of town.

Now you may be thinking, "Well, that's rather obvious."  The reason you think that is because she is a physical, tangible person.

But here is the point.  I still functioned.  I still did life.  I still enjoyed watching football and going to church.

However, if she had been present life would have been richer and more fulfilling.  Her presence matters.

Now if her presence matters, what about God's presence?  Many go through life without God being a part.  Some function very well and do life as if they do not need God. 

But what if He were present in their lives?  Does their day job then become more fulfilling?  Does their family life enjoy a higher level of satisfaction?  Are their times of recreation more replenishing?

I can't answer all those questions with a numerical number or percentage.  I can't give any hard and fast data.  On the other hand I could quote numerous Scripture, but if I can detect a difference when Carol is gone, surely God's presence makes a difference!

Without Hypocrisy

Due to the current unheaveal in the Middle East including Egypt and Iran I decided to check in on some of President Obama's comments. 

My goal is not to analyze or pass judgments.  The media do a fairly thorough job of that.  However, my attention was grabbed by two of his comments.

His first comment was that he believed the people of a country should be able to elect a government that is responsive to the will of the people.  Key word is responsive.

Let me say that I follow politics somewhat loosely, but as I recall the last election in November 2010 seemed to be saying, "We want a government that is smaller and spends less and reduces the out of control deficit."

The question now becomes, "Will the current administration respond by doing those things?"  Now that does not mean everyone will agree will all the cuts, etc., but it does mean if the President seems to be unresponsive to the people he may serve only one term.  But, in his words, that's the way it should be.

His second comment that caught my attention was "It's difficult for a government to maintain power with coercion."  My immediate thoughts went to the health care issue.  Fair or not, but once again, the best I can tell, Americans are going to be coerced to buy something they don't want.

Clearly I am not the only one who picked up on some of this.  Larry Saboto, a professor at UVA who closely follows and is an expert on politics, said, "With $7 trillion of more debt coming, and Obama wonders why we're skeptical."

We are always skeptical of people who say one thing, but do another.  Kids don't like hypocritical parents, employees don't like hypocritical bosses, and friends don't like hypocritical friends. 

Jesus Himself got quite fed up with the hypocritical Pharisees, the religious crowd of His day.

Yes, we expect hypocrisy in politics, because at the end of the day, it will not be the practical solution that wins out, but the most popular political position. 

But we sure don't expect it in the church. 

Yet, how many of us are honest about our own attitudes and actions?  We expect kindness, but we were unkind.  We talk about love, but act in unlovely ways.

The list could go on.  The point is hypocrisy is often better seen in others than ourselves.

James 3:17 says that one mark of true wisdom is a lack of hypocrisy.  President Obama's remarks sounded pretty wise, but will he be able to live up to his rhetoric?  Will he be able to reduce spending and the deficit?  Will he not coerce the American people to buy things they do not want to buy?  Time will tell.

Perhaps one final question.  As Christ-followers, will our lives match up with our words, will our lives be lived out without hypocrisy?

Meditation for a New Year's Resolution

This time of year the resolutions tend to be the same.  The top ones include lose weight, exercise, get out of debt, and reduce stress.

Dr. Oz, who has become very well known especially due to his appearances on Oprah, suggests that you add meditation to your list.  In fact, he adds that you need to "learn to meditate."  Learn?  We all know how to meditate. 

You probably meditated today.  Actually a good way to think about meditation is to substitute the word worry in its place.  Worry is simply thinking about something over and over. 

God has instructed you to do exactly that in Joshua 1:8.  There the Bible says to "meditate on it (the Bible) day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it."

On the practical side research has shown many benefits of meditating.  Seems like God knew that long ago.  Things like lower stress, reduced cholesterol, and reduced hypertension. 

Let's put a couple of biblical principles together.  God puts forth the command to meditate.  He says the result will be prosperity and success.  Jesus said, if you do or put into practice biblical teaching you will be blessed (John 13:17). 

Who's to say that some of the benefits of meditation are not those just mentioned?  However, the meditation prescribed by Dr. Oz and others is more about unspecified mysticism. 

Biblical mediation is not about a blank slate.  It is about focusing on God's works (Psalm 77:14-20), His Word (Joshua 1:8), and His wonders (Psalm 63:6).

Mediation is lingering over God's Word and enjoying His presence.  Perhaps after a time of meditation we will say with the Psalmist, "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth" (Psalm 8:9).

Charles Stanley said, "I believe the most essential exercise the Christian can engage in is biblical meditation."  If meditation has not been a part of your spiritual practice, why not consider making it a new year's resolution?

 

Two Points of View

As consumers we have heard from various sources about particular stores or organizations.  And for the most part we have already drawn conclusions, sometimes based on hearsay.

Now what we have concluded may change should we ever have a personal encounter with the store or organization.

For instance, I hear lots of complaints about Wal-Mart.  In fact, I even hear some say they would rather pay more and go to Target.  Not me.  Actually I have no complaints with either store, but then I am not looking for a reason to go to either.  However, I prefer low prices.

Before Circuit City went out of business I used to hear how Best Buy had terrible customer service but Circuit City's was excellent.  Was one right or wrong?  Just depends on who you talk to and what their story was.  

The truth is someone may dislike the very store you love.  We are different.  We have different stories, backgrounds, and desires.  What is truly amazing is the fact most people tenaciously hold onto their opinion as if it is fact and can be no other way.  

With so many stores and options at least we should be able to purchase what we need.  In a similar fashion churches are different.  One of my pet peeves is church bashing.  Just because one church does not meet someone's expectations does not mean it is incapable of meeting someone else's.

We need all kinds of churches in order to reach all kinds of people.  I could list various 'kinds' of churches. I am thankful for Wal-Mart and Target and for different churches.  Some churches are more known for their music, others for their kid's program, some their student ministry, and the list goes on.

At New Hope we will probably never be good at ten things, but we can be good at a couple.  Some will come as a first time guest and may decide to hang around.  Someone else will come and have a different point of view.  Probably due to their current needs, background, etc.  

At the end of the day there will still be two points of view.  Neither is right or wrong, they just are.

Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity

Loving God is man's highest calling.  In fact Jesus said the Greatest Commandment was to "Love God." Mark Batterson has hit a home run by explaining and expounding on the Great Commandment in an incredible way.  Primal must be read, reflected upon, and put into action.

Batterson breaks down the four components of loving God:

1.  Loving God with your heart.  The key thought here is compassion and having empathy for people who need hope.  Wow!  You may sell your car, or simply put your money where your mouth is.  

2.  Loving God with your soul.  Life and soul go hand in hand.  If our souls are full of wonder about God then life will be wonderful.  Much of that wonder will come from time exploring creation and from time exposed to the Bible.  

3.  Loving God with your mind.  Our minds often quit expanding when our education comes to an end. With diploma in hand our curiosity to learn takes a nosedive.  But Mark points out, "you cannot see what you do not know" (p. 102).  If we can't imagine it, we are unable to "entertain thoughts of God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine" (p. 112).

4.  Loving God with your strength.  Now it gets physical.  "Love is measured by calories burned" (p. 134). As long as you stay in the will of God the energy will be there.  Get disconnected from God and entropy sets in.  Christianity is a verb and "Primal" will help you move into action.

As Batterson has commented, "We've got to be great at the Great Commandment."  This book will help you immensely.  This book will not be read just once and placed back on the shelf.  This book will be a constant companion.  This book is loaded with memorable lines and is fun to read from start to finish.

The End is Near...?

This coming Sunday I will be talking about one of the most popular topics of all time: Antichrist.  That word has been tossed around for ages.  Countless people have been identified as the Antichrist.

So hopefully I can answer some of the questions out there. Trust me, there have been a lot of fanciful ideas floated.  Even Ronald Reagan was identified by some as Antichrist.  Find out why this Sunday.

Also with the recent shooting at Fort Hood being labeled terrorism by this week's Time Magazine, due to the soldier's ties to Islam and Al'Qaeda.  His motivations seem to be very clear.  How does terrorism play out in the end times?  We will be looking at topic because it is in the Bible.

With Israel in the Land, nuclear weapons on the rise, radical Islam, and oil all in the news everyday thoughts of the END must certainly cross the mind.

This 4-part series has addressed all this and more and we seek to better understand what the Bible has to say about end time events.

Just two weeks left. If you miss a week go to New Hope and watch online, but getting the message live is a much better experience.

Choosing a Church

  From all the research I have been able to do from scanning various church growth consultants, pastors, and staff members first time guests pretty much make up their mind about a church 'before' the service begins.

  People begin making gut-level judgments the moment they drive into the parking lot.  While we are in school now, I do know that many first time guests check out the number of cars in the parking lot.  So it's really all about what guests see and experience prior to the beginning of the service.

  With that in mind, how does that affect the schedule of a Christ-follower?  Does this mean that my coming late would actually work against the church and influence people to check out another place to worship?  Does this mean that the most evangelistic thing I could do is show up early? 

   It's something at least worth thinking about.  Perhaps in 2009 you will add coming early, greeting, directing, welcoming, offering coffee, etc. to your evangelistic strategy.  Who knows, that alone may help someone choose New Hope as their place of worship where they can grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ, or even come to know Him for the first time.