God Is God.

 My friend shed some light on the question of whether Jesus will be there to greet each new arrival to heaven or not. I admit that this is hard for our finite minds to comprehend. But here goes.

First, Christ died for people. He cares about people. He is invested in people. So He has an interest in who stayed faithful and made it to Heaven.

Second, God knows the hairs on our heads and He sees each sparrow that falls. He can know each person that has ever lived all at once. He is God, not just a really smart man.

Third, blessed in His eyes is the death of His saints. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So it seems that God not only know the length of life, He knows the time of our death. He anticipates each person who dies in the faith.

Fourth, there is no waiting room or an angel with an appointment book to see who is next to enter in. It is a personal place and a personal greeting.

Finally, God is God. He can run the universe and greet each arrival all at the same time. We cannot do that, but He can.

Iron sharpens iron, My friend gave me something to think about.

Old Wells Redug

 "And Isaac digged again the wells of water which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father;" Genesis 26:18

If you are a Bible student you no doubt are familiar with the story of how after the death of Abraham, Isaac his son redug the wells that his father had dug. Wells were not only for water, but they implied ownership and control of that area. There are spiritual lessons to learn for us who get our water from a faucet in the kitchen.

I know that we cannot live in the past. We cannot live reminiscing about past accomplishment or past victories. But, there is great value in remembering the past and studying the lives of those who have gone before us. Abraham did not write a diary, but he did dig some wells.

Some things in the past are just old. Old methods, old ideas, old issues. Even old victories. But doctrine never gets old. God never grows old. The Bible is always fresh and current. Wisdom is knowing what in the past is important today, and what needs to be filed away and forgotten. 

One lesson to learn is this; When the way ahead is not clear, you can review the past looking for answers. Those older than you may have some good ideas that you never thought of.

Note in our text how it was the Philistines who plugged up Abraham's wells.

"for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham." Gen. 26:18

Evidently the devil knows how valuable the old wells were. Thankfully, God watches over His word to perform it. No matter how much the devil tries to plug it up.

God, give our leaders wisdom to know what is valuable and to know what is important.

Two Out Of Three Are Mentioned

Evangelism is in the Great Commission.

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved;" Mark 16:15-16

Discipleship is also in the Great Commission. 

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:" Mat. 28:19-20

Some translations say make disciples  of all the nations.

Church planting is not mentioned in the Great Commission. But one text that is commonly used as the Biblical basis for planting churches is found in Acts chapter thirteen.

"And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed..." Acts 13:3-4

One translation says sent out for sent forth.

So the basic tenants of our Fellowship are firmly rooted in scripture. God has blessed us for doing His will. Obedience is faith in action.

Notice that water baptism is mentioned in both Great Commission texts. Water baptism is important.

God Focused or Me Focused?

 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

Modern worship has exposed an error that seems to permeate modern Christianity. This is the personal, emotional, love relationship that we tell people that they can have with God. We tell people that when He was on the cross, you were on His mind. I doubt it.

God loves the world. That takes in a lot of people over long eras of time.  God opens the door to salvation to "whosoever". Anyone, at any time, can believe and be saved. God hears us when we pray. But it's not all about you or I as individuals. We become a part of the body of Christ, and we are members in particular, but it's not about us. It's about God.

Back when worship songs, AKA hymns, were written, the people who wrote them were really saved, and Spirit filled. They described in song the glory and majesty and wonder of God. Those songs were God focused, not feelings focused.

Christ paid the price for all of humanity. Anyone can repent and believe. We believe in a God who is bigger than us, and in Christ who is head over us. We worship Him. We do not fall in love with Him.

One more thought. Is Jesus really personally greeting every saved person who enters Heaven? He would spend all of His time just greeting new arrivals. I doubt it. He is too busy to hug every person who makes it in.

The seeker sensitive Evangelicals have gotten it all wrong.

Do We Have Signs Following?

 "And He said unto them, go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

"And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen." Mark 16:20

It seems to me, that the church groups who focus on the go ye and preach verse, do not also have the signs following in their program. They are great at evangelism, but poor at divine healing. We know how to outreach, we know how to plant churches, but we don't know how to heal the sick. We pray for them to be strengthened and encouraged, but not immediately healed.

"Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart..." Mark 16:14

It seems to me that pastor Mitchell realized that something was missing when he began to move into the divine healing arena. Maybe our Fellowship need to spend more time healing the sick too.

"...they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Mark 16:18

It doesn't take truckloads of faith to heal the sick. It takes whatever faith you have. It takes obedience, which is faith in action. And it takes compassion.

Do you have what it takes?

A Different Standard of Success

 "And as you go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely you have received, freely give." Mat. 10:7-8

Our Fellowship is focused like a laser beam on winning souls, making disciples, and planting churches. We measure success on the size of your church and on the number of people who you prayed with for salvation.

What about the things that Jesus told his disciples to do? Heal the sick. Raise the dead. cast out devils. Jesus told them that the evidence of the kingdom of God is divine healing and deliverance. Not new converts. Converts will happen as a result of demonstration.

The doctrine of converts as the most important things is directly connected to a lack of divine healing and deliverance. We don't need divine healing or deliverance. We have doctors and psychologists to help people. We do not raise the dead, we have memorial services for them.

Some pastors travel around the world to preach at conferences. What if they traveled around the world to heal the sick?

We cannot get a lot of practical advice on how to run a local church from the Bible. But we can get direction on what we are to be doing as followers of Jesus Christ.

Paul did not just preach the Gospel. 

"And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux; to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands of him, and healed him. So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island came, and were healed." Acts 28:8-9

One final thought. The disciples were not told to pray for the sick, They were told to heal the sick.

New Every Morning

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lam. 3:22-23

Almost every morning, when I first wake up, and before I roll out of bed, this verse comes to my mind. I say it out loud as the first words out of my mouth for a new day. I start my days with the Lord, and I end it the same way. That's why I have survived for 53 years as a follower of Jesus Christ.

The only way to lose with God is to quit. I have come to far to turn back now.