January 21, 2014
“… ‘Then say, ‘Shibboleth’!’ And he would say, ‘Sibboleth,’ for he could not pronounce it right. Then they would take him and kill him at the fords of the Jordan. There fell at that time forty-two thousand Ephraimites.” (Judges 12:6)
Although we Americans have a common language we all have accents that show our origins to a discerning ear. The above incident demonstrates how thousands of years ago different regional accents caused the death of 42,000 people.
There had been a civil war among people of the same ethnicity. As the victors captured survivors, the only way to tell if they were the enemy was to force them to say “Shiboleth.” When prisoners could not pronounce the “sh” sound because of their regional accents, 42,000 of them were executed.
What does all this have to do with us today? Metaphorically speaking, when we meet people we often have a hidden theological agenda. If they do not say that which agrees with our hidden agenda we hit the reject button. The sad thing is that they never even know why we have rejected them.
As a pastor since 1956, I have been greatly blessed by people who did not have the same precise theological agenda as mine. While meeting recently with two of the founders of the church where I am now Pastor Emeritus, we thanked God that we did not miss the blessings of our relationships over the past 35 years. Coming from diverse theological backgrounds, we could have hit the reject button when we met in 1979 if we each had tried to push our theological agendas.
As Christ prayed that we might be one as He is one with the Father, may we watch out for Shibboleths that divide us. Instead, let’s focus on Jesus Christ and the supernatural unity we have in Him.
5 Comments | 
Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, Jesus Christ, John 17, spiritual unity, theology, unity, unity in diversity | 
Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
January 3, 2014
“Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12, NLT)
According to Moses, we should realize that life is like a game of Monopoly. We all begin with the same amount of currency. When we begin a new year we are given 24 hours a day, 168 hours a week and 8,760 hours a year. You often hear the remark: “I haven’t got time for that!” This implies that we are not given the same amount of time. It would be more accurate to say: “I don’t value that activity enough to spend some of my time in that way.”
The dictionaries tell us a value is “that quality of any certain thing by which it is determined by us to be more or less important, useful, profitable and therefore desirable.” We all have a set of values. We spend our time on the things we consider important, useful, profitable and desirable.
When we ask God to teach us how to spend our time He will challenge us to consider the values of Jesus Christ. One of the many reasons He became flesh and lived among us for 33 years was to show us how to live. He did that by presenting us with a set of values. As we read the four Gospels and follow Jesus every time He models and teaches a value, that spiritual discipline will revolutionize the way we spend our time.
I challenge you to ask God, “How should I spend my time?” I also challenge you to let the values of Christ revolutionize the way you spend your time in 2014.
3 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Disciples of Jesus, eternal values, faith, following Jesus, Jesus Christ, New Year Resolutions, Psalm 90, spiritual wisdom, Wisdom | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
December 20, 2013
“I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all people!” (Luke 2:10)
A great man named Tim Hansel lived every day with excruciating pain. He wrote in his book, You Gotta Keep Dancing, that pain and suffering are inevitable but misery is optional. That is true for a Spirit controlled disciple of Jesus. Tim also wrote “I can choose to be joyful.”
Joy is one of the nine fruits of the Spirit the Apostle Paul wrote about in his letter to the Galatians (5: 22, 23). As evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives joy could be paraphrased “happiness that does not make good sense.” The derivation of the word “happiness” has to do with what happens to us. But this joy, which is the fruit of the Spirit living in us, is not controlled by what happens to us. That is why we say it does not make good sense, especially to secular non-spiritual people. In the very short letter the Apostle Paul wrote from prison to his favorite church, the Philippians, he used the word joy 17 times!
While appearing to the shepherds the angels explained why their declaration would bring great joy to all people: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
Great joy came because the One born is the Savior. He is the Christ, which is the Greek way of saying the Messiah. And He is to be our Lord. Joy came because He gives the Holy Spirit to those who follow Him. This joy is intended for all people, including you.
Are you choosing to be joyful, anyway?
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: A Christmas Word, Christmas, experiencing joy, faith, happiness, Jesus Christ, joy, Luke 2:10, Saint Paul, Tim Hansel | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
December 17, 2013
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)
I love Christmas lights! Where I live in Williamsburg, Virginia, one of the signature features of Christmas decorating is using white lights. We put our Christmas tree up for all of December because we enjoy the white lights so very much.
A very significant Christmas gift I received is a book I wrote this year that was delivered from the printer on the third of December. It is called Marketplace Disciples. The thrust of this book’s message highlights the mandate Jesus gave His disciples to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. A missionary statesman said that if the disciples of Jesus stick together with a fortress mentality, we are like manure. We stink! But if we get spread around we do a lot of good.
The risen living Christ uses the fact that we need to make a living to get the salt out of the salt shaker and the candles He has lighted on candlesticks of His choosing. We should impact the marketplace because we are authentic disciples of Jesus Christ. The values of Christ should revolutionize our ethics and the way we do business. That is why today most evangelism takes place in the marketplace.
When you see the beautiful Christmas lights this year remember that Jesus said His light flowing through us cannot be hidden.
2 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: Christmas, Christmas lights, Christmas tree, Disciples of Jesus, evangelism, faith, Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:14-16 | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
December 10, 2013
“… Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Numbers 21:9)
When the children of Israel complained and griped about Moses God showed how He felt about the gripers. He sent snakes to bite them. (Some pastors may wish they could do the same.) Then God in His mercy directed Moses to erect a pole at the center of the camp with a bronze serpent on top of it. The good news was proclaimed: If any of the snake-bitten gripers would get to the center of the camp and look at the bronze serpent they would be healed of their snakebites.
Some of them said that defied all the laws of medical science and they died of their snakebites. Others said it didn’t make sense but it was the only hope they had. With help they somehow got to the center of the camp and looked at the bronze serpent on the pole. When they looked, they were healed and lived!
This story takes on much greater meaning when Jesus makes His most dogmatic declaration: He is God’s only Son, God’s only Solution and God’s only Savior (John 3: 1-21). As He told a Rabbi named Nicodemus about Moses lifting that serpent in the wilderness, it is a picture of something in the future. If we will look to Jesus on His cross with faith we will be healed of our sin problem.
Jesus made it simple. Just look and live. When you want to solve problems that demand a supernatural solution, look and live. Have you ever done that? Why not do it now?
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: faith, God's mercy, Jesus Christ, living by faith, Mercy, Moses, Numbers 21:9, salvation | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
November 8, 2013
“There are three things that last — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)
What is the greatest thing in the world? The Apostle Paul sifts his answer down to three things: hope, faith and love. Hope is the conviction that there can be good in life. God plants hope in the hearts of human beings. People sometimes commit suicide because they lose that conviction.
On the positive side, hope gives birth to faith, and faith is one of the greatest things because faith brings us to God. However, when Paul compares these two great concepts with love, without hesitation he concludes that love is the greatest thing in the world. This is true because love is not something that brings us to something that brings us to God. When we experience the special love Paul describes we are in the Presence of God. There is a particular quality of love that is God and God is a particular quality of love.
To acquaint us with that specific quality of love, in the middle of this chapter he passes this quality of love through the “prism” of his Holy Spirit inspired intellect. It comes out on the other side as a cluster of 15 virtues. All these virtues of love are others-centered, unselfish ways of expressing unconditional love. If you study these virtues you will find in them a cross section of the love that is God–and is the greatest thing in the world.
One reason Paul presents these three concepts as the greatest things is that they are the things that last. Love is the greatest of the three because one day we will no longer need hope and faith when throughout all eternity we will love.
Therefore, pursue the greatest thing in the world – love.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: apostle paul, eternal values, faith, God's love, heavenly virtues, Holy Spirit, Hope, I Corinthians 13, Jesus Christ, love, the Apostle Paul, the greatest thing in the world | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
November 5, 2013
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-30)
Jesus loves to give invitations. He addresses this one to people who are loaded with problems and are working themselves to exhaustion trying to solve their problems. Jesus promises that if we come to Him He will give us rest. If you look closely at this invitation He is inviting us to come to Him and learn about His heart, His burden and His yoke. It is what we learn that will lead us to this rest.
Jesus wants burdened people to learn that His burden is light, His heart is humble and His yoke is easy. There is a sense in which Jesus had the weight of the world on His shoulders and yet He claimed that His burden was light. His burden was light because He let the Father carry the load.
The most important part of His recipe for rest is what Jesus wants us to learn about His yoke. A yoke is not a burden. It is an instrument that makes it possible to bear a burden. When a cart is piled high with cargo it is the yoke that makes it possible for an ox to pull a great load with ease. It is the yoke of Jesus that shows us how to pull our heavy burdens of life.
The yoke of Jesus was that He let His Father carry the burdens. We take His yoke upon us when we let the Holy Spirit carry the load.
1 Comment | Uncategorized | Tagged: burdens made light, faith, Following Jesus Christ, Imitation of Christ, Invitations of Christ, Jesus Christ, Matthew 11:28-30, the yoke of Christ | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
October 22, 2013
“No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.” (1Corinthians 2:11 NLT)
Our thought life is like a private chamber. Nobody knows what we are thinking and we do not know what others are thinking. Only the spirit within each of us knows our private thoughts.
In the same way, only the Holy Spirit of God knows the thoughts of God. When we therefore receive the Holy Spirit of God we can know what God is thinking. One translation writes that “incredible as it may seem we actually have the mind of Christ” when we receive the Holy Spirit.
When you study the rest of this profound chapter you will find that Paul applies this reality to teach us a great truth about the Holy Spirit. It is a lesson in what we might call “spiritual educational psychology.” We learn through the eye gate, which means everything we read and observe. And we learn through the ear gate, what we listen to and hear. He also references the heart gate, which means our volition and will to apply the truth we are learning.
He then makes the point that when it comes to learning spiritual truth we need another gate: the gate of the Holy Spirit. When we have received the Holy Spirit we have access to the greatest learning experience possible in our lifetime. Think of this the next time you spend time in God’s Word. When you open the Bible, you have access to the very thoughts of God.
Through God’s Holy Spirit and His Word are you learning the thoughts of God?
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Bible Study, faith, having the mind of Christ, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit of God, I Corinthians 2:11, Jesus Christ, spiritual education, Studying the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, thoughts of God | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
October 11, 2013
“Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ…” (2 Corinthians 5:20)
The third level of commitment to Christ is identified by the preposition “for Christ.” Paul concludes that when we understand all that we have available to us “by Christ,” and we fully appreciate what it means to be “in Christ,” we are therefore ambassadors “for Christ.”
Paul writes:“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18) According to Paul, everyone who has been reconciled to God by Christ has been given the message and the ministry of reconciliation. This means every believer is a minister. The seventh beatitude “blessed are the peacemakers” is another way of saying the same thing. As conduits of God we should plead with people to be reconciled to God.
There is another application to this third level of commitment as demonstrated by the legendary missionary David Livingstone. On one very hot day in Africa, he faced a stream he had to cross. Holding his gear over his head he waded through sewer-like water that had a terrible odor. Covered with decayed plant life up to his chin, when he reached the other side he laid down his gear. Falling prostrate on his face, David Livingstone cried out, “Father I thank you for the privilege of going through this putrid jungle stream for You!”
I was once asked as a pastor to visit a missionary couple who returned after 48 years in China without any welcome or appreciation. Although living in tenement housing and in poor health, they were in wonderful spirits. When I inquired about their attitude they said, “You have to know Who you are doing it for.”
Do you know Who you are doing it for?
3 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: 2 corinthians 5, ambassadors for Christ, commitment to Christ, David Livingstone, faith, Faith in action, Jesus Christ, living the Gospel, missionaries, The Gospel | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
October 9, 2013
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I’m indebted to E. Stanley Jones, a missionary who served in India for 50 years, and his superb daily devotional, In Christ, for showing me the importance of this phrase in the New Testament. I highly recommend his book which highlights the use of this phrase by all the New Testament authors.
According to Dr. Jones, when we think about being “in Christ,” we should realize that Paul was not talking about being in religion. Few people have been more into religion than Paul before he met Jesus. Paul was so religious he fervently persecuted followers of Jesus, sure that he was pleasing God by trying to snuff them out.
It is possible to be in religion, but not be in Christ. It is possible to be in church, and not be in Christ. We can be in doctrine, or theology, and not be in Christ. We can be in the ministry and not be in Christ. We can be committed to Christ, and believe a lot of things about Christ, and still not be in Christ.
To be in Christ locates us in a Person, right now.
Unless we are ‘in Christ’ it’s like we have a powerful engine in our automobile but we cannot find our ignition key that turns the engine on. Being ‘in Christ’ is the ignition key, opening us up to experience “all spiritual blessings in Heavenly places.” (Ephesians 1:3) Paul essentially writes: I live because Christ lives in me and I live in Christ.
Just as you sometimes cannot find the keys to your automobile, have you misplaced this critical spiritual key – are you living by and in Christ?
4 Comments | Uncategorized | Tagged: 2 Corinthians 5:17, E. Stanley Jones, faith, following Jesus, Jesus Christ, religion, Saint Paul, spiritual blessings, spiritual keys, theology | Permalink
Posted by Dick Woodward
4SpiritualSecrets 