September 14, 2013
“but, speaking the truth in love …” (Ephesians 4:15)
It is possible to devastate people with the truth. One difference between Jesus and the Pharisees was that before Jesus applied the law of God to the people of God He passed the law of God through the prism of the love of God. The Pharisees just threw the book at people. Paul called that “the letter of the law” and he wrote that the letter of the law kills but the spirit of the law gives life.
When I first discovered this in my private study of the Gospels a counseling appointment that same day was with a woman who had great respect for me as a pastor. After she shared her complicated life problems I passed the law of God through the prism of the love of God before I applied the law of God to her life. Just before she left she told me, “Pastor, if you had thrown the book at me today I was going to go home and kill myself!”
I have been told by those who mentor pastors that we should counsel with our head and not with our heart. As a veteran pastor I totally and emphatically disagree! Taking Jesus as our supreme Example and Mentor I believe we should preach, teach and counsel in the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law.
The bottom line is often that we should follow the example of Jesus and not of the Pharisees. All the law of God was born in the heart of God’s love. God gave us His law because He loved us so very much He did not want us to suffer the consequences of lawless living. Never forget what Jesus always remembered.
1 Comment | 
Uncategorized | Tagged: Ephesians 5:25, faith, Jesus, Love of God, speaking the truth, spirit of the law, spiritual accountability, the Gospels | 
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Posted by Dick Woodward
September 12, 2013
“He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness…” (Psalm 23: 3)
What is considered by some to be the greatest chapter in the Bible is the best description ever written of what the relationship of a human being with God can be. I call this psalm “Sheep Talk” because it’s like a sheep is telling us what a great Shepherd he has. The opening statement of the sheep is the key to the relationship. When the Lord is his Shepherd he has multiple blessings. According to the second verse this relationship is established when his Shepherd makes him lie down. When he gets up again he loses those blessings.
He is telling us this has happened and he needs a spiritual comeback. The prescription for his comeback is that his Shepherd leads him in the paths of righteousness. This is the second time he uses the word “leads.” His Shepherd not only leads him beside still waters but when he needs restoration he is led in the paths of righteousness. The second time he uses this word it is a Hebrew word for “drives me” into what is right.
By application, when we need a comeback we should not seek a cheap one. We should cooperate with our Shepherd as He drives us into the paths of what is right, perhaps for several years, until He restores our soul. I personally experienced this kind of comeback in the early eighties that lasted nearly a decade.
Rick Warren said “We’re all in recovery. What do you think the word ‘salvation’ means?” Do you need a spiritual comeback? Don’t look for a cheap one. Ask God to show you the paths of righteousness that will restore your soul.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, Psalm 23, religion, restoration, Rick Warren, Sheep Talk, spiritual formation, spiritual relationships, spirituality, the Psalms, theology | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
September 7, 2013
“My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.” (Psalm 5:3)
In one sentence in this beautiful psalm David twice emphasizes the reality that he will pray to his God in the morning. There are three directions of life we must master. We must learn to look up. We must learn to look in until our Lord shows us things we need to know about ourselves. Only then are we prepared to look around in all our relationships.
Anytime we are having difficulty in our relationships with spouses, children, parents or those who are outside the home we should always ask ourselves if we have looked up and looked in sincerely. Knowing ourselves as God wants us to know ourselves is crucial preparation for relating to others.
Smart people are very often right and so they sometimes think they are always right. It is very difficult to live with those who think they are always right. In the same way it is difficult to relate to those who think they never sin. When God helps us look in and see ourselves as He sees us it gives us a humility that is a tool we need to face our relationships.
What would you think of a concert violinist who plays a beautiful concerto solo and then instead of an encore comes out and tunes her violin? In the same way we should not play the concert of our day and then tune the instrument of our lives.
We should begin ‘in the morning’ tuning our lives through our prayers to God as the Psalmist directs us, so that we can look up, look in and then look around.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: christianity, daily prayer, faith, knowing god, morning quiet time, prayer, Psalm 5, relationships, religion, spirituality, Trusting God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
September 3, 2013
“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42)
In the first chapter of Paul’s letter to his favorite church we hear him express his definition of a church. According to Paul, the church is “a fellowship of the gospel.” (Philippians 1:5; 27) He agrees with Luke who describes the church the same way in his history of the church as quoted above.
According to Luke the fingerprints of the church are as follows: the thumbprint is evangelism. The people he is describing would not be there if they had not been reached by the evangelistic sermon of Peter on the Day of Pentecost. The index fingerprint is teaching. The middle fingerprint is fellowship. The ring fingerprint is worship and the little fingerprint is prayer.
Just as your thumb naturally touches your four fingers, the teaching, fellowship, worship and prayer of the church are meant to lead to evangelism. These four functions of the church equip, edify, inspire and empower the church to reach out and bring lost people to salvation in Christ.
Our churches can often be described as a group of people sitting in a circle with their chairs facing in. According to Paul and Luke we should turn our chairs back to back and face out in a fellowship of the gospel. I have visited the Dead Sea which without an outlet is stagnant and dead and earns it its name. Also the Sea of Galilee which is filled with life because it has an outlet.
So it is with our churches. When we face out and reach out we have an outlet that fills our church with the young life of new believers. Is your church a fellowship in the gospel?
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: Church blueprint, day of pentecost, evangelism, faith, Gospel fellowship, Jesus, Pentecost, The Gospel, Worship | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
August 27, 2013
“Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you… That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” (I Corinthians 15:1-4)
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians he defended the gospel. He wrote that when he came to them he determined to know nothing among them but Christ and Him crucified. He did not use enticing words of man’s wisdom because he did not want their faith to be rooted in the wisdom of man but in the power of God (1Corinthians 2).
When he brought his letter to a conclusion he reminded them of the gospel he had preached in a very clear summary. It is simply two facts about Jesus Christ: He died, and He was raised from the dead for our sins. That was what Paul preached, that was what they believed, that was what saved them, and that was the foundation upon which their faith was to stand. Furthermore, if they believed anything else they were lost (Chapter 15).
We who are preachers often go beyond the gospel Paul proclaimed. Perhaps we are trying to make it more interesting for ourselves. We may be preaching to each other. Whatever our reasons may be we need to return to the simple presentation of the gospel Paul preached in Corinth and all over the world.
I know of no one who did that in my generation like Billy Graham. He wrote that early in his preaching when a meeting was not right, in prayer the Lord showed him that he was making it too complex. He then returned to an uncomplicated gospel and never wavered from that clear gospel message.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: apostle paul, Billy Graham, faith, gospel message, I Corinthians 15, Jesus Christ, preaching the Word, religion, The Gospel, theology | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
August 24, 2013
“… In the… confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me…” (Philippians 1:7)
When the Apostle Paul writes the confirmation of the gospel he is referring to a great experience he had in his preaching ministry. As a great scholar, (and because he could do it), Paul quoted Greek philosophers and poets while preaching in Athens. But as a result of that sermon very few believed; just a few individuals are named. There is no letter of Paul to a church in Athens found in the New Testament.
When he was called to preach the gospel in Corinth immediately after Athens, he was frightened. You would have been frightened too. Jesus Christ had never been preached there. The city of Corinth was exceedingly sinful. It was considered profanity to call someone a Corinthian. Corinth had many temples where temple prostitutes were offered to those who worshiped an erotic god by engaging in all kinds of sexual perversions. A worshiper would be offered little boys or little girls if that was their pleasure.
God appeared to Paul in Corinth and told him not to be afraid because He had many people in that city. God told Paul if he would simply preach that Christ died and was raised again for our sins he would find out who those people were. That is what he meant by the confirmation of the gospel. He preached the gospel in Corinth and many believed. He wrote to the Romans that he was eager to preach the gospel in Rome because everywhere he proclaimed the gospel he found out who God’s people were. He was sure that would happen in Rome also.
Do you have the faith to share the gospel – and find out who God’s people are?
3 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, Philippians 1:7, preaching the Word, salvation, the Apostle Paul, The Gospel | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
August 21, 2013
“But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel… ” (Philippians 1:12)
Paul is in prison as he writes to his favorite church. While he was free he preached the gospel with passion and great zeal, but when he was put in prison and could not preach other men in the Church at Philippi began preaching. That rejoiced the heart of the apostle.
In the New Testament when you study the letters of Paul and others you find that the early churches had pastors. Anytime the word pastor is found it is in the plural unless it is referring to Jesus Christ. He is the great Shepherd of the sheep; otherwise, churches have pastors. Strictly speaking you will not find a precedent for “Dr. Pete Bunny the pastor of the First Community Church of Chicago” in the New Testament.
I am convinced that the first churches also had a plurality of preachers. That’s why the fact that many men in the Church at Philippi were preaching rejoiced the heart of the apostle. Church is a team sport. Based on their cluster of spiritual gifts some are called and equipped to preach. They should preach. Some should heal, some should teach and some should evangelize. All of this should result in the furtherance of the gospel.
Our churches would be more effective in furthering the gospel and we would solve so very many problems if we took our blueprints from the New Testament. We would not need as many retreat centers for burned out pastors if we did.
When will we ever learn that when all else fails we should follow the directions?
4 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: church, faith, Jesus, Philippians 1:12, preaching, preaching the Word, religion, the Apostle Paul, The Gospel, theology | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
August 19, 2013
“There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.” (Mark 7:15)
When I was in college the popular thinking in academic circles was that until a child was born it was all about heredity and after a child was born all that mattered was environment. The political philosophy of people like Lynden Baines Johnson and his Great Society was that if we improve the environment of a person we will solve their problems.
As a social worker that didn’t work for me. For example, I once found a marvelous foster home for a 12 year old boy from the ghetto of a large city. An older couple had a very large farm and they wanted to share it with an adopted son. All the way to the farm I explained to him what an opportunity this was for him. By the time I arrived back to my office I had a message from the perspective foster mother telling me to pick up “this little thief.” He had stolen from the purses of ladies who had come to play bridge with her.
Changing the young man’s environment did not change him from the inside out or in his heart. In the passage from which the verse above is taken Jesus went on to explain that the issues of life that determine the character of a human being are not a matter of outside in influences. Rather they are the inside out influences of the heart.
That is why the prayers of discerning hearts are: “Search me Oh God and know my heart.” And “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” (Psalm 139: 23; Psalm 51: 10)
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, Mark 7:16, Psalm 139, religion, spirituality, Teachings of Jesus, transformation | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
August 16, 2013
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6)
Humility is a standard Peter sets for leaders. He writes that leaders should lead as examples and not as lords over the flock they shepherd. Humility is a challenging concept. If we think we are humble we are probably not humble. You probably heard of the church that gave its pastor a medal for humility but had to take it back because he wore it every Sunday.
In Scotland a young seminary graduate was to give the sermon as a candidate for a church that had an elderly pastor about to retire. The pulpit was one of those old elevated ones that you had to climb many steps in order to preach. With a pride that bordered on arrogance the young man climbed up to preach. He had a disaster of a sermon. When he came down in tears the old retiring pastor said to him, “Lad if you had gone up the way you came down you would have come down the way you went up!”
The verse quoted describes a covenant with God’s part and our part. Our part is to humble ourselves. It is God’s part to exalt us. C. S. Lewis wrote that pride is the mother of all sins. “To live above with the saints we have loved Oh that will be glory. But to live below with those we know that’s another story.” As a veteran pastor I can tell you that when there is a sharp dispute among two disciples a pastor will often find somebody’s pride at the bottom of the dispute.
Humble yourself. That’s your business. Exalting you is God’s business.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: church, faith, Faith-based leadership, humility, I Peter 5:6, pride, religion, spiritual leadership, theology | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
August 9, 2013
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
The applications of our Lord’s metaphors are almost endless. One application to the metaphor above is that for our candle to give light it must be consumed. Unlighted candles are not consumed, but the candles that shine are the candles that burn. There is no shining without burning.
In another great metaphor Jesus told us there is no such thing as a fruitless disciple of His. We are like branches and He is the Vine. As branches, if we are properly intersected with Him, we can draw from Him the life force to be fruitful. He promised if we are plugged into Him and are fruitful we will be cut back and pruned to be made more fruitful. Cutbacks and pruning can really hurt. They can come in the form of suffering but they improve the quality and the quantity of our fruit.
In light of these very clear teachings we should not be surprised when we find ourselves burning through suffering that our brightest light for Christ yields the best fruit.
Like many others I thought my most fruitful years were when I was able bodied and active. But I have been joyfully surprised to discover that my most fruitful service for Christ has been as a bed fast quadriplegic. Using voice activated computer software from my bed, 782 Bible studies have been produced and are being heard in 31 languages in 60 countries. Worldwide more than 45,000 small groups are listening to our studies on solar powered digital audio players I call “God pods.”
Have you discovered there is no shining without burning?
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, faith & suffering, fruitful disciples, fruitful ministry, Jesus, John 15, Matthew 5, religion, sermon on the mount, spirituality, theology | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
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