Tag: Christianity

Are You a Watchman?

On By T.J. AllenIn Spiritual Condition and DutyLeave a comment

shofar-man

Invariably when I broach this subject I am quizzed about the Watchtower booklets used by the Jehovah’s Witness. And so, right up front let me say that these are not the same. Rather, this is a term used in the bible in Ezekiel, Chapter 33, and verses 1-11. In this chapter God addressed Ezekiel in such a manner that it leads some scholars to believe God was talking to anyone who is called to be part of the clergy. Some scholars will say God is using this example to Ezekiel to highlight the duty of all Christians. Either way there is a lesson to be learned here. I am not going to write out all the verses. Those that I quote will be from the Revised English Standard.

The people of the Old Testament times were mostly nomads; some people had become city dwellers as a means of safety. Whether nomad or city dweller, danger lurked in the form of marauding bands or raiding armies. A watchman was necessary to warn the people of incoming danger. The watchman would take the highest vantage point to scan the horizon for trouble. From the highest sand dune, cliff, or pinnacle of the city tower, he would keep an eye out for threats. We obviously want people with certain qualities to fulfill these positions. They need to be able to see communicate clearly. We don’t want a blind mute watching for us.

God set Ezekiel up a watchman. He was told to warn the people of Israel as God’s spokesman. What God told him, he was to tell the people. God specifically told Ezekiel, the Watchman to warn the wicked that they will die in their wickedness. There were two possible scenarios here God describes along with the outcomes of each.

  1. The Watchman, given a clear word from God to warn the wicked people of their wickedness and to turn away from it, decides not to warn the people. The people will surely die, but God will hold the Watchman accountable because the people did not have a chance to change from their wickedness.
  2. The Watchman does tell the people they are going to die in their wickedness and they don’t repent of their wicked ways. Again, the wicked will die in their wickedness, but the Watchman will not be held accountable. He did what he was instructed to do.

In the first scenario the wicked are not warned and God says that person will be “taken away in his iniquity.” Iniquity is immoral behavior. If left unchecked, the person will be lost in it. Can people be so blind to their immoral lives? Yes, they see nothing wrong with their lives and who are you to point it out? You got to be careful here. If God tells you to speak with someone about their immoral lifestyle, you better be sure it is from God and you go in His power, not your own. Conversely, if God has told you to address the immoral ways of someone and you don’t speak up, then God is going to hold you accountable for not speaking to that person. This isn’t so easy with family or friends, is it?

The part of the equation besides God’s power is the reason for the telling, which brings us several questions:

  • Do Christians have a right to correct/confront non-Christians? It is not a matter of right; it is a matter of obligation, obedience, attitude, and desired outcomes. Again, is God telling you to do it or are you doing it in an attitude of being offended or judgmental? Do you just want them to stop the behavior or do you want them to see they are lost in that sin without a Savior? If you want them to meet Jesus then it won’t be a “come to Jesus meeting.”
  • Do Christians have a right to correct/confront Christians? Here too, it is not a matter of a right as much as it is a matter of obligation. Believe it or not, Christians and non-Christians have a different standard. God does not expect the unbeliever to act like a Christian. He expects them to become Christians. God also does not expect Christians to behave like unbelievers. The correction here is to bring a brother or sister, someone who is part of the family, back into a right relationship with the family. Their iniquity separates them from fellow brothers and sisters as well as the Father.

Above all things, there is to be an attitude of love. We talk to the immoral unbeliever because we love them and want them to live up to the spiritual purpose God created them for. We lovingly confront the brother or sister because we love them and, like God, want what is best for them in their walk with Him. In the last two verses God makes it plan that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Rather, as a loving Father He implores them to turn back from their wickedness to find life. He asks, “Why will you die?”

Divine Appointments & Stray Cats

On By T.J. AllenIn Spiritual Condition and DutyLeave a comment

Sally Cat

As I looked out the window from my third floor hotel room overlooking the parking lot, I notice two cats slinking their way across the lot. One of them obviously was in charge of the two since she or he had the lead. The other followed like a good underling. Not far back, came another cat some distance as if she or he was a subordinate, but not allowed to walk in close proximity to the leader. It was somewhat interesting to watch as they stopped and sniffed tires and pieces of trash, one cat after another. I am no stranger to cats since we have six ourselves. Almost all of them were strays that had no one until we took them in. They too, have a pecking order and they know who is in charge.

Later that night I had to gas up the rental car I was to turn in at the airport the next morning. Being a people person I watched the folks around me fueling up their cars or going in and out of the convenience store. My daughter refers to this activity of watching people as “creeping” and jokingly calls me a creeper when she sees me. For example, the car in front of me was empty and the driver was nowhere around. I thought it was odd how the car was pulled a little too far forward of the pump for gas. I had to almost touch bumpers with it in order for me to reach the gas nozzle to the car.

Across from my gas dispenser, I noticed a young lady who I thought was a little underdressed in the night air of 30 something degrees. She was talking to a man who was fueling his truck. They conversed while she propped over the tailgate of his truck. She must be with him and is about to go into the store, I thought. He never looked at her and had his back to her as he pumped his gas. He shook his head in disagreement with something she said. She smiled and headed for the store, but she never went in. Instead she went to another car to speak to yet another man. Out of the corner of my eye, to my left, I saw another young woman, though older than the first. She was a little more dressed as she had a shawl to keep her warmer.

The driver of the car in front of me came back and began to pump his gas. He had been stopped by the first woman and after a few words they parted ways. She headed out into the parking lot where the second woman was now. The second woman headed for towards the intersection and the younger, first woman followed. She stopped at the intersection and leaned into the passenger side window of a vehicle waiting at the stop light. She conversed with the driver while woman number two leaned against a power pole at the same intersection. They reminded me of the cats who I had seen earlier on the prowl looking for opportunity; human strays that didn’t seem to have a home or fit into society. I finished fueling the car and drove away. In my rear view mirror I saw the younger girl still leaning into the car and the older one was joining her. I thought about how I would have reacted if they had approached me. I had helped a young man at that very same gas station earlier in the month on a similar night. I hadn’t hesitated when he approached. It was almost like God told him to speak to me and God told me to help him and I did. I pray for him often. Maybe God told them I was not worth their time. I smiled at the thought.

Except for the grace of God, I would be like those strays even today. I recognized that grace and accepted it. How many people are offered the love, mercy, and grace God offers and they turn Him down. We are not supposed to keep all that to ourselves. We are to be sensitive to the voice of God and to be Jesus to the world. That means we sometimes are in awkward situations, approached by people who are not like us, and to be ready to touch their lives as God sees fit. If we are not willing to be used, God will not waste His time putting hurting, lost, strays into our lives. It is called Divine Appointments. I am glad Jesus put me in the life of those who reached out to my family when I was young. The second son of a single mother, I for all intents and purposes was a stray, but I didn’t know I was a stray. Jesus said He came to seek and save the lost. He expects us to do the same. If we are not looking for the lost we will never see them and we won’t be able to offer them the salvation from their lostness. Thank God Jesus is in the business of looking for and taking in strays.

If you feel like you have strayed, please click on this link to learn more. Jesus the stray seeker

 

 

 

 

5 Daily Questions

On By T.J. AllenIn Spiritual Condition and DutyLeave a comment

2016-01-28 17.13.51There are five basic questions every Christian should ask everyday of God and/or of themselves. These questions are foundational to maintaining the key relationships in our lives.

  1. God, what are your plans for me today?
  2. God, what do I need to learn today?
  3. Who needs my love today?
  4. Who needs my forgiveness today?
  5. Of whom do I need to ask forgiveness?

The first question really is answered by the following four (or more). This is the starting point for the next four and all other questions that might arise. After all, isn’t God’s plan for your life completed one day at a time? There was a popular license plate/ bumper sticker sometime back that stated “Jesus is the Answer” in large letters and in smaller letters “What’s your question?” Though it sounds simplistic in nature, its intent is to point the reader towards the starting point in any situation: a relationship with God.

If we truly believe God is in charge of everything including our lives, then we know everything that happens today He will use for our good. Does it always feel good or comfortable? No. Is God caught off guard? No. Though we may never fully understand all that happens each day or even in our lives, faith knows no matter what: God is God. This is an attitude that says, “Okay God, here I am. What do you have for me today and please remind me through it all: You are in charge through the good, the bad, and the ugly.”

The second question stems from the first. Dr. Chuck Swindoll says God has two reasons for allowing anything to happen in our lives: to draw us closer to Him and/or to make us more like Him. Life is designed by God to be a learning experience. It is surprising how many people believe when they finish their formal education that there is nothing else for them to learn. Joyce Meyer pointed out how God’s school of life works. We are all tested and if you fail the test you get to keep taking it over until you pass. Then you graduate up. Even the Apostle Paul said of the Corinthians, who had not grown, they should be eating spiritual meat, yet many of them were still on milk. God expects us to learn and grow.

In being more like God, we need to learn to love. It is easy to love our own, but what about the acts of love that stretch us? We are called to love even when it is not comfortable or easy. Once a man and his wife were having marriage difficulties and it even looked like they might split. She had enough. He had enough. He went to God.

“God, I am tired of being hurt,” He said. “What am I to do here?”

“Repent and love your wife,” God said.

“God, how can I love someone who doesn’t love me? Do you know how hard that is?”

“Yes. I do it all the time,” God said.

It has been said we are the most like Jesus when we forgive. What motivates us to forgive? Love: the same thing that motivated God to send Jesus to die for us. Are you seeing how one question moves into the other? Jesus mentions forgiveness three times in the Scripture containing the Lord’s Prayer in the sixth chapter of Matthew. At the end of the prayer He states the Father will not forgive us if we do not forgive. Notice, He didn’t say the Father couldn’t forgive. He says the Father will not forgive. A Christian who is holding onto unforgiveness will not have the forgiveness of God. Do you feel like your relationship with Jesus and others is stifled? That your prayers don’t seem to be getting any higher than eye level? Are you forgiving others? You may have something going on where you believe you forgave an offender, but it is still there. It may even take several attempts to overcome, yet it is essential to your walk with God.

Who have you offended? Do you owe them an apology? You may think everything is just great, yet there is an issue that keeps coming back around. It may be just a small irritation, a small deal, but it just won’t go away. You really didn’t hurt their feelings did you? You were just joking or that’s just the way you are. If they have a problem with what you said or did, they need to tough up. Right? (Insert buzzer sound here!) It’s up to you to make sure everything is really ok with everyone around you.  Yes, that includes your jerk ______ (Fill in the blank.) If you think about a situation in a negative light more than once then it needs your attention. If you have a splinter in your finger, you work to remove it or it will fester. If you have a splinter or a log in a relationship, you need to work to remove it or it too will fester.

So often folks will quote the Bible from Romans 8:28: “All things work for our good,” they say. When in reality the Scripture says God will “work all things for the good of those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” He intends for us to be seeking His purpose. Further, verse 29, hardly every quoted, tells us what the purpose is: so that we are made into the likeness of His Son. That good which is spoken of is fulfilled in us being like Jesus the Son who sought God’s plans each day.

We all have a mission. It starts with love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. How we handle our mission is based on how we approach God and each new day He has given us. If we leave God out, are we really fulfilling the mission He has placed us here for? I firmly believe you are where you are in this time because God ordained you for “a time such as this.” This is your time. Fulfill your mission day by day.

I Don’t Believe in Luck

On By T.J. AllenIn Spiritual Condition and DutyLeave a comment

As I drove around the state of Georgia last week I couldn’t help but notice the billboard signs each day that displayed the latest total of possible winnings at the PowerBall. My week started out with it registering $400 million and before I made it home it was up to $800 million. I was like most anyone else: Hmmm, what would I do with just half that amount? The thought quickly faded though for several reasons; 1) I wasn’t going to spend any money on the chance to begin with and; 2) I don’t believe in luck, I believe in God.

Like you, I work too hard for my money to just be giving it to the government. They take enough of it without my permission anyway and take more and more each year. Plus, I am not impressed with how they handle what they get now. Why would I want to give anymore to them? Yes, we could debate back and forth how several states use the lottery to fund education, and how our state’s money is going to some other state. I could counter with 95% of people who win the lottery are bankrupt and worse off than when they won and could quote statistics from other states who have to pay for the washout of addiction. I think this debate misses the point. When you boil it all down, the question is: what do you believe, or more plainly, where is your heart?

God owns the cattle on a thousand hills the bible says. So, couldn’t this same God give me $800 million dollars if He really wanted me to have it? Is that what my relationship to Him is all about? It has to go much deeper with Him. Jesus told us to worship God the Father with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. When He blesses me, what is my reaction? Well, I deserve this. I work harder than most folks. I am more favored. Can’t you tell by how well I am blessed? Or, look at me. I am all that and a bag of fries baby! Supersized at that. If He chooses to take everything from me, what would my reaction be then? That’s not fair! Hey, I worked hard for all that! Why are you picking on me? Why I am losing all this and those people over there aren’t even working at all and have more than me? Notice these are all heart issues? Many I have had to deal with before and maybe you have to. Would to God I would have the attitude rather of David and Job.

God said David was a man after God’s own heart. Job said after all he had lost, that even if God chose to slay him, He would still be his God. God is a present help not only in times of trouble (thank you, Jesus), but also in a time of plenty. How we handle all times is based on how deep our relationship is with Him. God loves you if you play the lottery and if you don’t. He loves you when you seem to be doing well and when you are not. What He is after is your heart in order to have a deep, meaningful relationship with you. He wants the best for you and to be vital part of your life.

Are you, like David, after God’s own heart? Put another way, are you seeking what God’s heart seeks. God further said of David that “he will do what I want him to do.” Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments” and “where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.” Where your heart is, is where you will spend the most time, talent, effort, energy, and money. On what do you base your future and look to for direction; luck, chance, fate, crossing your fingers, the stars, horoscope? I don’t believe in luck, I believe in God.

Recently, I found a website that has some good insights on what they call Kingdomnomics. I encourage you to check them out at the link below.

Kingdomnomics  – “Enjoy a life that echoes into eternity.”

 

To Be Born Again

On By T.J. AllenIn Spiritual Condition and Duty4 Comments

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How Do You Approach Jesus?

One of the religious leaders of Jesus’ time came to him to converse. This guy was named Nicodemus and he was part of the ruling body of Israel. He was more than curious about Jesus. He thought Jesus might just be right and all that Nicodemus had believed might be wrong. He was a skeptic, not a critic. Jesus welcomed skeptics, but rebutted critics. When Nicodemus came to Jesus, he was floored by what Jesus had to say.  He told Nicodemus he must be born again. “How can a man enter into his mother’s womb a second time?” Nicodemus asked. I have to give the man his due; his mind was open to possibilities.

You may be wondering just like Nicodemus what it means to be born again. You were born the first time since you are reading this. To which you probably said, “Duh!” Okay, is that enough to get you to heaven? Not if you have to be born again. If the current state you are in is not enough, what is that state? It is a state of spiritual deadness. Your body is alive, but your spirit is dead. There is more to the human condition than this, but I am trying to keep it simple. When your spirit becomes alive again, you are re-born or born again. (see another blog – Being Fully Human). This happens when you realize that you cannot create this rebirth (being born again or saved as some call it). However, Jesus can.

The Spiritual Condition

We all start out spiritually dead because of a condition called sin. God is a holy God and when we as a human race fail to be holy like Him, it is sin. It started with Adam and Eve and continues today. This state of spiritual deadness and sin keeps us separated from God. We deserve to be punished for our sin. That punishment was poured out on Jesus when He went to the cross. He paid the sin-debt that we deserved to give us an opportunity to regain our relationship with God.

The Mission of Jesus

Too often people mistakenly believe Jesus came to earth to make bad people good. No, He came to earth to make dead people alive. Once our spirit is alive, we then can live lives of good. This is a simplistic attempt to explain how we can be born again. You may find it fantastic or even be skeptical. That is okay. I, or someone would be glad to speak with you about it. We won’t try to talk you into anything. If we were successful, it won’t help. You wouldn’t have changed your spiritual condition because you must be born again.

You can contact me at tj@thesaltyeclectic.com or call 1-888-Need Him to speak with someone further. We would be glad to talk with you.