Category: General

Hebrews 6:13 – “he (God) had no one greater by whom to swear,”

This passage (Hebrews 6:13-20) hit me over the head the other day! I love, for lack of a better word, the CONFIDENCE of God exhibited here. Paul is saying that there is no one higher than God. When God made His covenant with Abraham, He had no choice but to unilaterally swear an oath upon the Most High, Himself

God’s promises and His oath are sure. Humans fail. We have all dealt with broken promises and unmet expectations. This shapes our point of view. Thankfully, God is not subject to our perceptions. We can hold fast to His promises supported by His oath.

There are those that go through trials that come to the conclusion that God does not keep His promises. I believe, if we were honest, we would all have to admit that we think this way from time to time. We see our situations through our narrow perspectives and think, “God must have messed up.” Well, He didn’t, He can’t… He won’t.

God does not want His children to go through uncertainty. He wants us to rely on Him as the “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.” Jesus Christ went before us and, through His ultimate sacrifice, allows us to commune with our Father. His coming was promised even before Adam and Eve were sent out of Eden (Genesis 3), and that promise, like every other, was kept.

Our God is faithful. What He says, He will do. There is confidence to be had if we REALLY GRASP that truth. He knows all about our struggles. He listens. He cares. He answers prayer. He loves us. He wants His best for us. And He can’t fail.

“Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine!

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God,

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.”

Having spent my whole life in church, I have discovered that “church gigs” still exist.

As I explained in my last post, musicians that signed on for what we called a “church gig” would likely not go back to the church in question, as they were really only there to get a paycheck.

There is, however, a significant difference between a “church gig” from my college days and today: the modern “gigger” is a member of the church where the “gig” happens to be.

They just don’t show up any other time.

There are many reasons why believers don’t come to church. I have known people that have left church because a pastor pronounces their actions as sin. I have seen people fade in their passion for God and fade from the memories of faithful attenders. Some feel that they can worship at home with the TV churches out there (Of course, notice that there ARE PEOPLE IN THOSE SEATS IN THOSE CHURCHES ON TV, TOO!) (Sorry. Back on topic.).

But the type I am addressing today are those who only show up at church just to do their job. They have been volunteering in a certain post in the church forever, but if there is a service where they are not needed, they find other things to do.

Maybe it’s an elder who isn’t Elder On Call and decides to take in some SportsCenter. Or perhaps the cellist in the orchestra has the week off, so she stays home and gets some Sunday Spring Cleaning done. Or someone works in the parking lot ministry and goes home after all the cars are parked and the service starts.

(Please note: this isn’t an attack on anyone in particular. My church has neither elders, cellists, or parking lot workers.)

Bottom line: if church is unimportant unless we are doing our job, we have missed the point.

As I see it, there are at least three things wrong with the mindset of these volunteers (I addressed vocational ministry in my last post):

1. Their walk suffers. Hearing the Word of God preached, lifting our voices in worship, integrating ourselves in the midst of other saints… all are profitable. Not just serving.

2. It fosters an unhealthy opinion of one’s role in the church. I learned long ago that the church doesn’t NEED me. God, for that matter, doesn’t NEED my service (but He WANTS it). When a person’s sole purpose for showing up at church is to do whatever it is they do and the rest of the time church is optional, that person has too high and opinion of what they do.

3. Going to church may become like going to a job. These people have a tendency to show up out of duty or commitment and not out of reverence and love for our Savior.

Confronted, many of these might say, “At least I’m serving. Many don’t.” And this is absolutely true. Many more are ALSO disobeying God in a different way by rebelling against God’s call to give of their time and talent in the local church. Absolutely.

But I would say to those defending themselves: “Let God decide what He uses you to do. You stay faithful, regardless. God calls us to different tasks every day. He orders our steps. And He wants you in church. Shake a hand. Listen to the message. Worship. Pray. Be a part.”

I have been talking on Twitter lately about my newly-reacquired love of tennis. On Monday mornings, you will find me at the local park, hitting a tennis ball against a wall with a white line drawn across it.

I learned to play tennis by hitting a tennis ball against the wall. The house in which I grew up had a carport with a large brick wall. I would spend hours launching tennis balls at that wall with my beginner aluminum racket.

I learned pretty good technique. What I didn’t learn was how to play against an opponent. I assumed that I could beat anyone I came up against. My thought process went like this: “Come on! Look how hard I hit that last shot! It nearly bounced over my head into the road! I got this!”

Then I played against a person.

I quickly found out that facing people on a real court was NOT the same thing. I figured I would have no trouble winning, but greatly overestimated my ability. I thought I was strong when I was weak.

Many times in our Christian lives, we see others going through sin. In the past few years, unknown numbers of pastors have been forced to give up their churches due to sexual indiscretions. We all have seen celebrities get caught for DUI or drug use or other such things. Politicians scheme and swindle and cavort. Friends divorce. We may think, “I would NEVER do that” or “That would NEVER be a problem for me” or “I would see that coming.”

Do you think those that found themselves in these situations thought the same thing?

Dr. Johnny Hunt said that any sin you are tempted to commit has been a temptation for millions of others. The Bible says that that there are no temptations that are not common to man (I Corinthians 10:13). The rest of that verse speaks of a means to escape any sin, which is a comfort. But the fact that all sins are common is not.

No one is immune from any particular sin. No one. No matter how you’ve been raised. No matter how you think you would react in a particular situation. We are all susceptible to disgracing the name of Jesus in ways we can’t even imagine.

That is why we must…
1) always be on guard
2) don the armor of God (Ephesians 6)
3) spend time in the Word and in prayer daily
4) set up hedges of protection around areas in which we struggle
5) remember that God IS faithful
6) “flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace” (2 Timothy 2:22)

I overestimated my strength and got burned. But that was just a game.