1 Corinthians 2-3 (ESV) by Wordle

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 2:1-3:23.

“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (I Corinthians 3:5-7).

It must be providence. We seem to get back to this chapter at just the time I need it most. How easily we preachers can compete. If someone has a different style, we want to prove that ours is better and they are making all kinds of mistakes. Maybe I shouldn’t say “we,” but should just say “I.”

But this isn’t just about preachers. And in my preaching is not the only place I do this. What about on the job? What about in parenting? What about in school? How often are we caught up in competitions to prove we are better. If anyone does anything differently, has a different personality, has a different approach or viewpoint, we immediately try to figure out why they are wrong and their way is bad. (Don’t misunderstand, I’m not trying to say everything in the world is okay.) It is like we are caught up in this competition and the only way we will feel good about ourselves is if we can convince everyone else in the world that we are the best.

Paul had a different foundation. He wasn’t trying to be the best. He wasn’t in competition with Apollos. If Apollos had some success that Paul didn’t, Paul wasn’t deflated. If Apollos had some failure that Paul didn’t, Paul wasn’t elated. Paul understood that the real power in all of this was God. God has the right to use each of us as He sees fit. Praise God if He provides a victory through someone else. Praise God if He provides one through me. Praise God that He shows us our weaknesses so we can grow. Praise God for the opportunities, resources and abilities He has given to each one. We need to look past the various blessings God has given to each one of us as if they are an indication of how great we are and instead simply look to the blessing giver as the great one. We need to be thankful that He has blessed us and let us be part of His plan.

Today, I’m going to quit worrying about competing and proving I’m the best at whatever. Instead, I want to look to God and glorify Him because He is the best.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? Click here to add your input.

PPS. Check out this video by One Time Blind. It took me watching it a few times to actually finally get the point. But I think it is spot on. Enjoy!

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Romans 9-10 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Romans 9:1-10:21.

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believer in him of whom the have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (Romans 10:14-15).

God could save people however He wanted. If He wanted to send daily visions into the minds of all mankind and see if they wanted to submit. He could have determined in His mind who would submit and who wouldn’t and just save them. He could have decided before the world began who He would save and just elected them to salvation. But He didn’t do any of these things.

Instead, He developed a plan, sent His Son to die, then gave that message to us through certain men, and now asks us to carry that message to others. How awesome is that? He could have done it however He wanted, but He chose to use you and me to help save the world. The #1 way God is planning on saving people today is through you and me. What a privilege. What an honor.

What am I doing to be part of that plan? Is it a privilege and an honor I take for granted? How am I training myself to spread the gospel? Am I paying attention to the opportunities? Am I using the opportunities?

How will they believe if no one tells them? Who am I telling? Who are you telling?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can add your input by clicking here.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Acts 27-28 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Acts 27:1-28:31.

“And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier that guarded him” (Acts 28:16).

From one capital to another. The gospel started in Jerusalem, the capital of a backwater district of malcontents that were always causing the Romans problems. By the end of Acts it is in Rome. By the time Paul got there, Christ had already arrived. There were brethren there to visit him and uplift him.

I can’t help but think if God could do that with the gospel in the Middle East and Europe, He can do that with the Gospel here in Brownsburg, Indiana. He can do that with the gospel wherever you are. Why did this happen? Sure, Paul was a great preacher and a world traveler. But the real power behind this success was God.

Today, I need to remember that the Gospel can have success, not because I’m the messenger. The Gospel can have success because God is the power behind it. I need to rely on Him today and let Him be the leader that gets the Gospel spread where I live. I’m just His servant, doing what He says, going where He sends.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can add your input by clicking here.

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*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is John 11:1-12:50.

“For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment–what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me” (John 12:49-50).

Imagine that. Jesus, God in the flesh, God the Son, incarnate deity, would not speak on His own authority. That is,  unless He had authority from the Father, He did not speak. He did not go out on a limb saying, “The Father is silent about this, I will speak.” He did not cross the Father saying, “The Father has spoken against this, but I will speak for it.” He did not say, “The Father has spoken for this, but I will speak against it.” He spoke only what the Father authorized.

How much more should we?

But why?

Because what the Father has authorized is eternal life. Jesus was not trying to be legalistic here. He was simply recognizing that what the Father had taught and said was the way that worked for those who wanted eternal life. When we go out on our own authority that won’t lead to life. That way leads to death. God’s way works. Ours does not.

Today, I want to simply speak where God speaks and be silent where God is silent. I don’t want to step out on my own authority. I want to be like Jesus.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 2:1-3:23.

“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor” (1 Corinthians 3:5-8).

I needed to hear that. How easy it is as a preacher to get caught up in competing with other preachers, especially if we have worked with the same congregation at some time. We each may want to be the favored. We may get upset if someone likes another preacher better. We may get jealous based on the results of each man’s labor. But we are all just servants. We are each doing our own work. And the work we are doing is what the Lord has given opportunity for.

Paul laid a foundation. Apollos was building on it. But neither of them were better than the other because neither of them could actually cause growth anyway. Only God causes growth. Instead of competing with other workers in the vineyard, today I must simply pursue the opportunities God has given me. That’s my job. His job is growth and I’ll leave that up to Him.

Why compete? God is the one who does the hard work. I’ll just pray for opportunities to glorify him today in my life and in the life of my fellow workers.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:20.

Today, Paul said I need to be like a nursing mother. In I Thessalonians 2:7-8, Paul said, “But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.”

I am much more attuned to 1 Thessalonians 2:11-12, “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God…” I think I get the being like a father who coaches, teaches, tells and even directs. But being like a nursing mother, gentle, affectionate, sharing not only the gospel but sharing myself? That is not something I’m really up on. That sounds kind of girly.

I don’t have a tendency to want to share myself with others. I want to tell them what to do and send them on their way. But watch a mother with her nursing child. It is a slice out of the day. It is a burden. It is tiring. Yet, for love of the child a mother nurses her infant, accepting the burden, the sacrifice, the labor, giving herself to the child, not just giving direction and then shooing away.

If I will walk in the footsteps of Paul as a teacher, I will learn that my job is not merely that of the father, exhorting and directing, but also that of the mother, caring, nurturing, sacrificing, sharing.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is John 7:1-8:59.

Once again, the Scripture humbles me and plots a correction course for me. Jesus said, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood” (John 7:16-18).

I love to preach. I love to teach. I love teaching classes. I love teaching one on one. I love to write. I enjoy this blog, my personal blog, and the blog for the congregation with which I work. I love to write articles when asked. I love writing books or participating in the books others are putting together. The problem is with all this teaching, whether verbal or written, there is a huge temptation. I want to say something new. I want to say something profound. I want to say something for which others will look at me and say, “Wow, Edwin, you are amazing.” Jesus explains that when my motivation is glorifying me, I’m not helping anyone. When I’m glorifying God, I avoid falsehood. 

Today’s reading reminds me of my job in Christ’s kingdom. It is not my job to be a profound preacher, a witty writer, a talented teacher. My job is to learn God’s will and pass it on. Why? Because God’s way works and mine doesn’t.

Please forgive me for the arrogant pride that sometimes creeps in as I try to be of help. Hold me accountable and let’s work together to glorify God instead of ourselves.

***Question: What do you do to get rid of pride and instead glorify God?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 2:1-3:23.

I hear a lot of people make a huge deal out of 1 Corinthians 2:2. “For I decided to know nothing among you except jesus Christ and him crucified.” They then go on to rebuke preachers for talking about all kinds of topics other than just the crucifixion of Jesus as if the only thing a real preacher who proclaims the gospel will talk about is Jesus’ crucifixion.

Here is my question. Do we think Paul changed his mind by the time he wrote his letter to them? While he was present did He decide to only know “Jesus Christ and him crucified” but in his letter decide to know a bunch of other stuff?

Let’s consider some of the topics Paul taught the Corinthians about while he decided to know only “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” He rebuked them for their division. He talked to them about evangelism. He commented on immorality and church discipline. He taught about brothers going to law. He discussed marriage and divorce. He talked about eating food offered to idols. He spoke against idolatry. He taught about head coverings. He corrected them regarding the Lord’s Supper. He governed the use of miraculous spiritual gifts. Then he even talked about Jesus Christ and him resurrected. Finally, he added some information about the church taking up a collection.

Please, don’t take 1 Corinthians 2:2 out of its context and use it to bludgeon preachers who haven’t preached specifically about the crucifixion in a few weeks. When Paul knew only Jesus Christ and him crucified, it led him to teach on any number of topics. If we are going to teach like he did, we’ll do the same thing.

***Question: What topics do you think need to be preached about more?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is II Corinthians 12:1-13:14.

Perhaps because I recently read The Way of the Shepherd: 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People and was really convicted by one point about serving people, I was slapped in the face this morning as I read II Corinthians 12:15.

The point in The Way of the Shepherd that really hit me is that a hireling only takes care of the sheep as a means to a paycheck. The shepherd takes care of the sheep because he loves the sheep. II Corinthians 12:15 says, “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” Paul wasn’t a hireling. He wasn’t just focused on getting the tasks done so he could get his wages. He cared about the Christians. He cared about their souls. Whether he got paid or not, he would spend and be spent to serve others and help them on the path to heaven.

I don’t want to paint myself as a despicable hireling (though if I were rigorously honest…), however, at the same time, I can see that tendency in me. It is not so much that I preach for the money. But rather, as a Choleric, I’m naturally task-oriented. I see my work as just that…work. It is very easy for me to see what I do as a series of tasks to be accomplished because that is my job. Write a sermon…check. Prepare a Bible class…check. Put up a blog post…check. Visit someone in the hospital…check. Write a thank you note…check. Tell me what task I need to accomplish today and I’ll do it because that is my job. Sometimes I can lose sight of the fact that my work isn’t about tasks. It is about people. It is about lost people. It is about struggling people. It is about growing people. It is about all kinds of people. But first and foremost it is about people.

It is not about putting in a day’s work to get a day’s pay. It is about folks who have been held captive by the devil and need freedom. It is about spending and being spent as we work together to overcome the snares of Satan and follow Jesus’ strait and narrow path to freedom. 

Today, instead of working for my paycheck, I need to “spend and be spent for your souls.” I need to do that not because it is my job, but because I love and want to serve others as Jesus loved and served me.

Pray for me about this. It doesn’t come naturally to me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is II Corinthians 2:1-3:18.

Sorry about the end of last week. I had several computer and server problems Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I had scheduled the entries for my other site ahead of time, but not this one. Anyway, we’ll get back on track today. Thanks for your patience.

II Corinthians 2:4 struck me today. Paul wrote: “For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.” Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was somewhat harsh. He rebuked them for several issues, not the least of which was the impenitent sinner they needed to discipline. That sinner repented and now Paul is going to advise the Corinthians to love and comfort him.

However, before getting to that, he talks about his mindset. Every Christian has seen times when someone needed rebuking. But that puts us in a very awkward position. First, who are we to rebuke anyone when we have committed so many grievous sins ourselves? Second, and more to Paul’s point here, how can we rebuke someone and let them know we are doing so out of love? 

This was Paul’s point in the verse. He had not written as an apostle from on high who was living perfectly and bringing judgment down upon those unworthy Corinthians Christians. He had written as a fellow traveller who saw the terrible end the Corinthians were making for themselves and wanted to help. He did not write with vengeful glee, laughing as he scribbled out the words. Rather, he wrote with tears, affliction, and anguish. He wasn’t trying to hurt the Corinthians; he was trying to help.

There are certainly times when we need to rebuke others. When we do, we need to check our motives. For what purpose am I rebuking this person. Is it to show myself as righteous? Is it to put them in their place? Is it to pronounce judgment? Or is to humbly help them surrender to the Lord? In order to check this motive, I need to check how I feel about their sin. Am I silently glad because it reminds me I’m better than them? Am I silently arrogant because at least I have done what they did (at least not for a while)? Am I internally happy for this opportunity to show my own spirituality? Or am I afflicted and in anguish because of where their sin is leading them? Am I humble because I remember my own sins and what they’ve done to me?

I once heard the story of a preacher who for years had preached sermons directly intended for the husband of one faithful sister. The husband attended regularly and regularly received a spiritual diet of sermons designed to get him to repent and serve the Lord. But nothing phased him. Nothing changed him. Then one Sunday a guest speaker presented a lesson and the husband came forward in tears wanting to submit to the Lord in baptism. The local preacher was amazed. He couldn’t believe it. He asked the man why he hadn’t budged for so many years despite hearing so many lessons, but on that day he finally did. The man responded, “Preacher, I don’t want to hurt your feelings. But, I’ll tell you. For years you have told me in your sermons that I was going to hell. You always sounded like you were happy about that. That made me feel like God was happy about it too. Today, this fellow told me I was going to hell and it sounded like it broke his heart. He let me believe that if I went to hell it would break God’s heart too. That broke my heart.”

I have to ask myself, when someone needs rebuking how do I sound when I talk to them?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?