Scripture References on the Blog

I am excited to be using RefTagger on my blog. This is a great tool that allows for the saving of time because it automatically tags a verse whenever the reference is added to the blog. With the simple hover of the mouse over the reference, the verse appears in the translation preference of the author. As an example, try it here:

John 3:16

I highly recommend this tool. It is free to use and worth taking the time to install it. I hope that this recommendation is helpful.

Enjoy!

The Foundation of Forgiveness

One of the unfortunate things about the Christian life is that as a believer, you will be faced the prospect of being hurt or offended by another believer. It would be wonderful if this wasn’t the case. It would be even better if our churches could always be like entering Heaven here on earth each time we entered the doors. The reality is that the church is made up of sinners and is also led by sinners which means that sin sometimes arises and creates hurt and problems…even among believers.

I want to begin a series of posts dealing with forgiveness from a Scriptural perspective. The first aspect that I want to address is the foundation of forgiveness. We forgive as believers because each of us has been forgiven by Christ. It is this love and forgiveness that we have been shown by Christ that then becomes the foundation for our forgiveness of those that hurt us.

Notice from Scripture exactly how this looks:

1.       Love Does Not Keep a Record of Wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:5)

In speaking about showing love to one another, Paul tells us under inspiration that one of the greatest ways to show love toward a person is to be willing to forget their sin. The word translated “thinketh” in the KJV literally means, “to not keep a mental record of something.” Therefore, to forgive means to also forget! The reality is that if you want to forgive someone, you need to start by making sure that you forget what they did to you or how they hurt you…even if they haven’t said sorry or reconciled with you about the matter. If you don’t, the opposite of this will happen in your life…bitterness will settle in and will destroy your life and the lives of those around you! (Hebrews 12:15) 

2.      Love Overlooks a Multitude of Sins (1 Peter 4:8)

So, does this mean that when someone sins that I should act like I never saw anything and refuse to deal with it? The answer to that question is absolutely not! We are told that we need to confront and address sin whenever we see it and help other believers with it whenever we see it begin to overtake their lives. The word translated “cover” here means “to keep silent about something.” The intent of the verse does not mean that we show our love by looking the other way. The point is that we show our love by understanding our own sinful state and understanding that not every mistake a person makes needs to be jumped on or confronted. The other aspect to this is that when we forgive, we no longer bring up the past and discuss the sin that was committed or how the person hurt us. Certainly, it is ok to discuss a matter if you are needing counsel, or help on how to handle a matter but once the answer has been given and the plan has been put into place on how to handle it, then it is time to put it into place and begin to move ahead without constantly remembering or bringing the issue up.

3.      Love Seeks to Restore the One Who Has Fallen (Galatians 6:1)

There are two things that need to be noted about the word translated, “restore.” This Greek word means, “to make someone completely adequate or sufficient for something…” The other aspect is that this is an imperative or a command. We are commanded as believers to help those that have sinned to literally become adequate believers once again and by doing so, we reveal our own spirituality. We need to remember that the opposite is also true…we fail to restore and we reveal our own unspiritual perspective on the matter.

No one has ever said that forgiving someone is easy to do. There are a couple of things to keep in mind whenever you must embark upon the process of forgiving:

1.       It will take work to forgive

2.      It will take time to forgive

3.      It will require confidence in God’s Word to forgive

4.      It may require counsel and encouragement to help forgive

5.      It may require accountability from another believer to forgive

I will have more to say on these points in the next post. For now, remember that the foundation for forgiveness is love…love for the Lord first followed by love for the person being forgiven.

May the Lord help you to consider these things so that you can get on the road to forgiving as soon as possible!

The Burden & Responsibility of Pastors

Colossians 1:1-2 are a small portion of the opening verses of the book of Colossians, a wonderful book written under inspiration by the Apostle Paul. If you are like me, many times as I start reading a book of the Bible, especially in the New Testament, I can at times find myself reading the greeting portions quickly in order to get to the “good stuff.” This time, however, the Lord used the greeting portion of this book to stir my heart about my own pastoral burden and responsibility and I wanted to take a moment to share these thoughts with you.

      The Setting

The majority of the churches to whom Paul wrote letters were churches where he had ministered personally. There were a few churches to which he wrote having never been there or having met the believers in person. The books of Romans and Colossians are two such examples.^[1] I find this setting interesting in many ways, namely because Paul was writing to a group of faithful believers that he had never met. In order to have a close relationship and address the things that Paul addresses with these believers, you would certainly have had to be there in person and probably for a good deal of time. Yet, Paul hears of a problem facing this church and his pastoral burden for these people leads him to write this epistle under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit. The first reminder about a pastoral burden and responsibility hit me…sometimes pastors have to be sensitive to a burden and be willing to face problems head on. This is easier said than done of course! Paul did not even know these folks but they knew him and his pastoral burden shows as he writes to encourage these dear believers in the things of the Lord. Pastor friend, are you willing to do this? Christian, are you willing to allow your pastor to do this?

Paul the Apostle

In these introductory remarks, Paul identifies himself as an apostle. Melick writes, “The office of apostle included several elements. Primarily, an apostle had to know Christ personally and have witnessed the resurrection (Acts 1:21–22). Paul claimed that he had seen the risen Lord (1 Cor 9:1) and, therefore, had witnessed the resurrection (1 Cor 15:7). Further, Paul’s message came from divine revelation with no human intermediary (Gal 1:15–17). At times he argued forcefully that his apostleship was equal to the other apostles and was, therefore, to be received by the churches. His address to the church at Colossae came because of his apostleship and the supervisory responsibilities it entailed.”^[2] Paul uses his position as an apostle to remind these believers of the authority he has to write what he is about to write to them. The second reminder about pastoral ministry is that the authority of any pastor is Christ and not himself. There was no other reason that the church at Colossae needed to listen to him other than the fact that he was writing to them by God’s authority. Pastor, you don’t have the right to proclaim your own agenda. Your responsibility is to be God’s mouthpiece at all times. Christian, be willing to accept the proclaimed truth of your pastor as long as it is tied to and squares with the Word of God. There is a reason why preaching is superior in the New Testament.

An Apostle by God’s Will

Immediately after stating that he was an apostle, Paul very quickly writes that he was an apostle by God’s will and no one else’s. God had called him to do what he was doing and because this was God’s calling for his life, he could do nothing else but follow through on what God told him to do and how God told him to minister.  Here I find the third and final reminder about pastoral ministry. The position of elder or pastor cannot fill a man with pride rather; it must serve to keep him humble for he is doing God’s work. Pastor, God has a way of overruling our pride and bringing us low. Don’t allow yourself to be taken over by pride for it will destroy your soul and your ministry. Christian, you too must guard against a pride that would cause you to not follow your God-called pastor. Hebrews makes it clear that elders are given to watch for your soul. Allow them to do this!

I was reminded about a great deal of truth about the ministry from these two introductory verses. I am thankful for that. My hope is that these truths will be a blessing, encouragement, and even a conviction to you as they were to me.

To God be the Glory!

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^[1] See Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 32, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 187.

^[2] Ibid, 188.