Sharing the story

The our young adults group in our church have asked each of
the elders and their wives to come and share the story of their Journey to
faith. So we have been taking turns and doing that every few weeks.

Last night was my wife and my night to do this….I didn’t
feel that I had much to share, but they asked a lot of questions and drew out
more information that I had thought about sharing.

It was a good time to be together and they said they felt
that they got to know us on a more personal level now. Hopefully it will help
them in their walk of faith.

Often when we talk about “sharing our faith” we seem to
classify it as mainly “Witnessing to someone about what God has done to make
you follow him”. It doesn’t seem like very often we just share what changed our
lives does it?

If I asked you, “Tell me how you met your wife or husband.”
Most wouldn’t have a problem doing that. “If I asked you to share what drew you
to them to become their spouse you could probably do that too.

What if we approached sharing the Gospel like that? What if,
rather than trying to memorize a lot of scripture to try and teach someone we
just told them why Jesus was so important to us and how he changed our lives?

Could
you do that? Remember the woman at the well in John 4:29- 30, She simply said: “Come
and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could He possibly be the
Messiah?’  So the people came streaming
from the village to see Him.”

This
woman didn’t quote scripture, she hadn’t been to a class on evangelism… she
just told folk what Jesus had done for her. Could you do the same?

What
is your message? What is proclaimed through your life? Do people see that in
some way you have been changed and are curious enough to want to find out about
that change? You see, before trying to change anyone else, we need to change
ourselves and if it is a true change for the good, people will notice and
follow.

I Believe...

In our bible class last night we
reviewed my second most favorite (or meaningful to me) verse. It is contained
in a narrative in Mark 9:14-30 where Jesus casts a demon out of a
young boy. The father is challenged concerning his faith and his response in verse 24 was, “I believe, help thou
my unbelief”, or “I do believe, but help me to have a stronger
faith.”

One of the reasons this is one of
my most favorite passages is that I can identify with those words more than you
might suspect. You see, we tend to look at people and form an opinion about
them and their faith from a very limited knowledge of them. You consider what
you know of me, my ministries, our mission efforts and think, “Russ has it all
together, I bet he never worries about anything.” Well, if that's way you
think, you would be wrong. It may be true that my wife and I have faced some
challenges which you have not. It may be true that we have undertaken works
that you would rather not, but that doesn't mean that my faith is unshakable.
That may or may not surprise you, but I believe that God places us where he
wants us to be and perhaps those places are to challenge, test or strengthen
our faith.

You will never know how many
times I have prayed, “Lord, I believe, but help me have a stronger faith. Help
me have a faith that trusts you more and that let's me give more control of my
life to you”. “I believe, help thou my unbelief!”

What this passage lets me know is
that I'm no different from anyone else. That each of us face Faith Challenges from time to time. You may be
struggling with health issues, job issues, personal relationship issues or with
faith issues. You maybe looking at this things and thinking, “There is no way I
can deal with this by myself.” If you are, then you also identify with that
father of 2,000 years ago about who we read, “Straight away the father of
the child gave a cry, saying, I have faith; make my feeble faith stronger.”
(BBE) Is it time for you to consider your faith and perhaps give up some
control, or as they say, “Let go and let God.”

Change is inevitable, but not always good.

We live in a world where change is a constant. No matter what area of
life to which you look, you will see change, change is inevitable, you can't
stop it, but I would suggest that you can control how it affects your life to
some degree.

The
thing with change is that if it is going on around you, you often don't notice
it happening. Having lived in Africa for a number of years we were perhaps more
aware of changes in America. These changes were more evident to us when we
visited, than those who are living in the midst of them. For example: On one of
our furlough trips we stopped at a restaurant while traveling. I went to pay
our bill and in front of me were a family with teenage children. The daughter
had thong underwear pulled up on her hips and shorts that were worn far too
low. Somewhat embarrassed for them I thought, “This must be a poor family, they
can't afford clothes that fit their children.” Of course later I found that
this was a “fashion statement”.

I realize that I am somewhat “older” than some of you, and maybe I am
“behind the times” and an “old fogie,” but I don't see this as a good change.

Not long after returning to live in America we attended a funeral (the
first after returning). We dressed in a way we felt was appropriate, you know
what they used to call “church clothes.” I wore dress slacks, a tie and jacket
and my wife wore a dress. We walked in and were shocked because there were
young women there wearing halter tops, short shorts and flip flops. Apparently
the “dress with respect” aspect of our society had shifted even more. And
again, I don't see this change as a good thing.

Another change I noted is how folks dress in our bible studies and
worship assemblies. Now I realize that there are no “clothing guidelines” in
the bible, other than to behave decently and modestly and I certainly am not
suggesting that we try and mandate any. But I am suggesting that modesty be
considered regarding proper attire for those who claim to be in the presence of
God. I thought to myself the other day, I wonder how folks would dress if they
really thought that Jesus was going to be there when they arrived? Of course we
know he is, isn't he?

Now I realize that this is a very subjective and personal observation,
because what I feel is modest or decent may not be the same thing you think it
is. When we were in Africa I saw a man leading the song service wearing a
woman's, short, sheer negligee instead of a shirt. He didn't know what it was,
it came in a good will box from America and he thought it was better than the
one tee shirt he had with holes in it. I saw a man wearing a pair of ladies
maternity pants with the large elastic panel on the front, because again he
didn't know what they were and they were nice pants with no holes. I however
know better and wouldn't wear those things.

All
of this is to suggest that perhaps the changes as to what is acceptable in our
world may not always be good things. And, I would ask that you consider how
your attire is perceived by those around you. Paul puts it this way, “We
are free to do all things, but there are things which it is not wise to do. We
are free to do all things, but not all things are for the common good. Let a
man give attention not only to what is good for himself, but equally to his
neighbor’s good.” (1 Corinthians 10:23-24 - BBE)

JESUS KNOWS THE ANSWER

I was reading John 6 the other night where Jesus fed
the 5000 with a two fish and 5 loaves of flat 
bread. Although you can read about this in all four Gospel accounts,
John gives us some information you don't read in other places so I found it
especially interesting.

As I read this passage I stuck me that Jesus knows the
answer before we even know the question. In this passage Jesus asked Philip in verse
5 and, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” Then
in verse 6 we read, “Jesus said this to test him, because he
himself already knew what he was going to do.”

I don't know about you, but I really need to work on
remembering this idea. There is an old hymn with these words, “My Jesus knows
just what I need”. That's a difficult concept for us to grasp isn't it, yet
when we have been around someone for a long period of time we can often
anticipate what they need or want. We may realize that they need something even
before they ask. Why then, should it be so difficult to think that our God can
do the same thing?

The scripture tells us that he knew us even while we were in
our mother's womb (Jeremiah 1:5). In other words, he has known us for a
long time and he knows what we need, far better than do we.

As we consider John 6, I am sure that the disciples
were shocked and surprised at the solution Jesus offered for feeding 5,000 plus
people. Yet, Jesus already knew exactly what was going to happen and the end
result of collecting 12 baskets of left overs. An unbelievable answer for an
overwhelming question.

How often in our lives do we face difficulties that seem to
have no ready solution? Perhaps we face questions in our lives that have no
easily discerned answer? Could it be that Jesus knows the answer before we even
know how to frame the question? In John 6 we see that a solution to the
problem was reached, but only after the disciples first listened to what Jesus
told them to do and second, then did it.

Maybe you are not like me, 
maybe you don't struggle with as many questions as I; but from what I've
seen of this world, I believe you probably do. Perhaps it's time to spend more
time listening to Jesus speak to us through His Word. If we do, just perhaps he
will supply us with a much needed answer.