Tag: Compassion

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I want to be an Avenging Angel.

Living Well is the best RevengeI do; I want to be an avenging angel, raining down brimstone and fire on all that is evil in the world; I want God to empower me to wreak havoc on all that is wrong. I want to be invincible and omni-powerful;  I want to walk into the private enclaves of the rich and powerful and demand retribution. How cathartic would that be? How validating and hopeful would the world seem to me? Me, reigning over the unjust and the unworthy. But who would want to rain down brimstone on me?

“There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born, and the day we discover why.” – William Barclay

Romans 12:19, “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”

God’s Intent

But that is not God’s intent. One of the hardest lessons for me to learn is that salvation, not retribution, makes the world livable. When people come to understand God’s love, they become the type of people we want in our world. It is not the elimination of evil but the conversion of evil that makes all that Christ has taught us work.

Proverbs 20:22, “Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and He will save you.”

That’s difficult for me. I want revenge; I want evil to suffer. Like Jonah, I don’t want the people of Nineveh’s salvation but their elimination. I want them punished because they have caused so much harm to others. It is hard for me to comprehend God’s compassion. Why does He want them in His kingdom after what they have done?

Proverbs 24:29, “Do not say, “Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.”

Wouldn’t that be great to travel the world visiting the despicable, the vicious, the depraved, the unscrupulous, the hateful, and the godless people to present them with their eternal separation from Christ? To stand back and watch when they realize their actions culminated in destruction.

God’s True Intent

“The only way to overcome our enemy is by loving him.”. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship

That is not Godly. God will allow the Godless to reap their rewards, but only after giving them every opportunity to repent. My prayer should not be for retribution but salvation. I should dedicate my life to attracting those who do not know God to God. Boy, that is a big ask.

1 Peter 3:9, “not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.”

Like Jonah, I need to accept that what Christ did for me is precisely what He will do for others. I should want Him to extend the grace He gave me to others. It is not us against the world. It is the world against God, and those who choose God will prevail.

Matthew 5:38-45, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, also turn the other to him. If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him also have your coat.”

It would be nice to be God’s avenging Angel, to vanquish evil. But that is in Revelations, not today. That is God’s domain. We must save those who do not see the light, not condemn them. That’s the hard part. God wants us to love, not hate.

“To return evil for good is devilish; to return good for good is human; to return good for evil is divine.” – John Stott in The Message of the Sermon on the Mount

1 Thessalonians 5:15, “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.”

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Blessed are the Persecuted

Blessed are the PerscutedMatthew 5:10, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

I’ve always thought the caveat to this is the statement “because of their righteousness.” If we go around with a holier-than-thou attitude, we probably deserve to be slapped around. I know a good number of Christians who want to start a holy war to feel persecuted. I don’t mean a literal war, but a skirmish with non-believers, a little dust-up. Then, they can proudly proclaim that they are defending the faith.

Witness Complex

Charles Spurgeon said: “There seems to be no need to defend a lion. All one has to do is to let it loose, and the lion will defend itself.”  (“Christ and His Co-Workers,” March 7, 1886)

Acts 1:8, where Jesus tells His followers, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses…”

You will be my witnesses; that is an important differentiator. We are to live blameless lives that reflect the compassion and love of Christ. Earlier, I said that the Beatitudes were not a collection of people but different aspects of the same person. We are to be poor in spirit, mourning the status of the human condition, humble, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, and a peacemaker. If, in doing all of these things, we are persecuted, then we can legitimately say it is holy persecution, not just the natural outcome of pious behavior.

Why is our witness or testimony so compelling? First, many people claim to know the scripture, even when they don’t. Only a fool argues with a fool. But our testimony is unique to us. No one is an expert on Christ’s actions in our lives but ourselves. No one can debate or cast doubt on what we have experienced. We are the ultimate source of who we are, what we have done and seen, and what God has done for and through us. They can debate scripture, but they cannot question the story of our lives.

C.S. Lewis once said, “I do not want to reduce the riches of our experience to a few propositions, nor do I want to substitute theology for God Himself.” (Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer)

Persecution Complex

I was on a mission trip to a Muslim country a few years ago. One of the new participants had brought a few Bibles and Christian Literature with him to distribute in the market. He knew it was illegal. His stated goal was to be persecuted by the local Muslims. We tried to explain to him that if he did this, not only would he be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, but the government would close the Christian schools and the University because of him. He didn’t care. He assailed us for being cowards by not standing up for the Gospel in the market.

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV) – “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

We did convince him to at least think of his wife and child, even if he could not think of the local Christians who would be subjected to persecution for his sake, not Christ’s. That was an extreme case of shortsightedness, but it brought the point home to me.

We are to be living testimony to the goodness of Christ, even to the point of persecution. We confront and confuse evil through kindness, compassion, and love, not passive-aggressive arguments.

Revelation 12:11 – “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”

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Blessed are they who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Blessed are those who hunger and thirstMatthew 5:6, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”

Many of us were raised in the church believing that if we follow the proper practices, associate with the right people, participate in Bible study, and attend church, we will gain God’s favor. While salvation is a gift, it comes with a cost. We are taught you cannot be passive and expect God to love you; some form of transaction must occur. Nothing in life is truly free, not even salvation.

The Wrong Hunger and Thirst

Deuteronomy 8:6, “Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.”

We are led to believe every sin and every transgression is an indictment against our worth to God. Hungering and thirsting after righteousness isn’t about doing the right things but about aching on the inside for a worldwide revival. To hunger and thirst is to feel the vacuum left by worldly desires and want it filled with God’s love.

John 6:35, “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God. It is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. – John Piper

Hunger and Thirsty for the Lost

One of my biggest daily challenges is seeing the injustice in the world and maintaining my sanity. I become emotionally hijacked every time I read the news. The number of people who deal with injustice and foundational needs is staggering, as is the world’s wealth. Why do we still have these problems? Why do certain people gravitate to a position of power just to use it to gain more power? When is enough, enough?

“The greatest disease in the West today is not tuberculosis or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but love is the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness. Many in the world are dying for a piece of bread, but there are many more dying for a little love.” – Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light.

Psalm 43:1,” Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked.”

Because I love God and want to please Him, I try to live according to His will. I will fail again and again, but I will keep on trying—not because it is a pathway to salvation, but because I want to please Him. My hunger and thirst are not about gaining His love but about spreading His love throughout the world.

Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Be Satisfied

I need to yearn for the salvation of others, To be desperate for the unsaved, and to lament the plight of the underserved and downtrodden. My prayers should be numerous. I pray for a world where God reigns with love, compassion, and grace. I pray that authorities and governments listen to God’s voice and respond appropriately. Let us pray for the impossible and rejoice in what God accomplishes.

John 4:13-14, “Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

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An Opinion is only a State of Mind.

Christians making ChristiansAn opinion is only a state of mind; it does not predict the future. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines opinion as “a view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter.” We too often give too much credence to someone’s opinion, including our own. Many of the disagreements I hear are formed when opinions differ.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” — Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning.

Christian Opinion

As a Christian, I think it is time to walk back our opinions. We often take too strong a stand on our emotional state about a subject. The genesis of our opinions is not our knowledge of the future, but environmental elements of our past. We form opinions because of past experiences, cultural, or social influences, media information, peer pressure, group dynamics, personal and emotional bias, education, and personal interest. There are probably many other reasons, but none of these reasons is knowledge of the future.

Colossians 4:6 – “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Having a strong opinion about a matter does nothing to make a difference. Making a difference comes from active involvement in relieving the condition you oppose or improving a condition in which you feel a deficit. Telling everyone you meet your opinion only stirs up controversy. Controversy gives birth to anxiety, which fosters conflict.

2 Timothy 2:23-24 – “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil.”

Influencers

We live in a dysfunctional world full of misinformation and half-truths. Millions of people write online articles to create conflict by influencing public opinion. They do this out of greed, not as a public service. The more diversion they can create, the more site traffic they create, the more advertising income they receive. These are not people interested in improving the world. Their goal is to create income with passionate speeches and convoluted logic.

Ephesians 4:29 – “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

“Tolerance isn’t about not having beliefs. It’s about how your beliefs lead you to treat people who disagree with you.” – Tim Keller, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (2008)

There are legitimate influencers with a true passion for their cause. Some of their causes are misguided and based on sketchy logic, but they are heartfelt. Some influencers take great pains to find the truth and communicate it with an objective view, but it is rare. We are all influenced by the abovementioned reasons; no one is above unconscious influence.

Our Position

Proverbs 18:2 – “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.”

“One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time.”- John Piper, A Godward Life: Savoring the Supremacy of God in All of Life (1997)

Our position as Christians is to rise above the ordinary. We can’t stop having opinions—God-given emotions overflow into opinions—but we can watch how we communicate them; consciously acknowledging that they are emotions, not facts. Changing the future by arguing a position is counterintuitive. We change the future by doing, not talking.

James 1:19 – “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.”

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One Person Can Make a Difference.

No Act of Kindness is Wasted
No Act of Kindness is Wasted

One Person can make a difference. I know many of us don’t believe it can be us. We believe we have an impact on our families and friends, but that is not a real difference in the world. It seems like one more drop of water in the ocean, one more grain of sand on the beach.

Matthew 17:20, “He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

The Star Thrower

The 1969 essay by Loren Eiseley entitled “The Star Thrower” described a man who didn’t look at the totality of his effort but the importance of making an effort. A concluding statement says, “ Only then have I allowed myself to think. He is not alone any longer. After us, there will be others.” What gives me hope is not that I would change the world, but maybe, through my actions, there may be others who can and will.

There are people like Micheal J. Fox who have raised billions for Parkinson’s research. Jane Kristen Marczewski (Nightbirde) used her short-lived fame from AGT to proclaim that we all have a loving God, even in bad times. These are contemporaries who used their circumstances to change the world. They exposed people to needs and provided hope. But most of us don’t have that stage. Our sphere of influence is small; our accomplishments are mundane.

After Us Will Be Others

Eiseley’s “After Us, There Will Be Others” should be our rallying cry. Helping one person a day, week, or month might catalyze world change. Even in our suffering, we can provide hope. There is not even one of us that will not leave a legacy. The question is, what will that legacy be? God has given us everything to stimulate the “Butterfly Effect” for eternity. We can set in motion the dominoes that create change for generations to come. It is our actions that save a life for eternity. It is not the totality of our effort but the importance of making an effort. We don’t know what God has in store.

1 Corinthians 2:9, “However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him.”

If you spend the rest of your life impacting just one Person for Christ, you may save millions. That Person may save two, and those two each save three. This ripple effect continues until Christ returns, potentially saving millions. One Person can make a difference.

We Each Have a Story

We each have a story. Our lives ebb and flow with the effects of a fallen world. Unfortunately for the teller but exuberant to the listener, great stories start with great tragedy. The definition of a great tragedy is different for different people. As North Americans, we do not see a tragedy like South Americans might. Many people live everyday lives that I find hard to comprehend.

Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”

But all these stories must be lived and told. The overcoming must be passed down from generation to generation so that others might have hope. The overcoming, Christ’s intimate intersection with our lives, must be kept alive. When we see the tragedy as tragedy, we lose sight of God’s great plan for our lives. We come alive when we see tragedy as the genesis of a great story of salvation and redemption.

James 3:4, “Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.”

The tragedy is a tragedy, deep, dark, and depressing. But the outcome, the final scene, does not have to be. It can end as one of the greatest stories ever told, and that story can change the world.

One Person Can Make a Difference

One Person can make a difference in the life of another. God planned it that way. Have hope. Seek compassion, love, and grace from the creator of the universe, and he will give you a mighty story that will comfort listeners long after your passing.

Matthew 25:21, “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”

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Hope and Love in a Season of Grace

Proclaiming hope and love in a season of grace is one of our most critical missions as Christians. This Christmas season can be highly stressful for many people.

Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and the regaining of sight to the blind, set free those oppressed, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Urgency

These words carry a sense of urgency and purpose, a call to action that feels especially relevant in a year marked by chaos and challenges. Amid the dysfunction, God’s voice remains clear, challenging us to proclaim His favor and glory to all who cross our paths.

“Best of all, Christmas means a spirit of love, a time when the love of God and the love of our fellow men should prevail over all hatred and bitterness, a time when our thoughts and deeds and the spirit of our lives manifest the presence of God.” – George McDougall.

This season, my plea is simple yet profound: reach out to hurting people. Extend not empty platitudes but genuine love. Quiet desperation is a silent killer, an emotion that suffocates the soul.

As we enter this season of celebration, I urge you to reach out to hurting people and offer them a lifeline. Don’t aim to cheer them up or solve their problems—love them. Many people battle quiet desperation, a stifling emotion that isolates and burdens. While we are not the ultimate solution, God can work through us to bring light to their darkness.

Fortune

For those fortunate enough to recognize God’s blessings, this season is a time to reflect with gratitude.

Psalm 100:4-5: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good, and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”

We celebrate relationships, opportunities, and the hope of a brighter future, grounded in the knowledge that God has given us the choice to embrace hope in this moment.

But not everyone experiences this season with such gratitude. For some, the holidays are a stark reminder of what they lack. Broken relationships cast long shadows, opportunities feel distant, and the future appears uncertain. Their thoughts swirl with regret over what might have been, and their hearts grow heavy with grief. Life for them is not a glass half empty; it’s a glass that feels too small to hold anything at all.

Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

These words remind us of God’s nearness to those in despair and call us to embody His compassion by extending love and hope.

Seasons of Darkness

Having faced my seasons of darkness, I know the despair that can rob a person of hope. For some, Christmas is not a celebration but an escape—a time to forget pain rather than reflect on joy. The light others see as hope can feel like the oncoming glare of despair. For those without Christ, peace feels unattainable, and the promise of salvation seems like a distant dream. I have been there, praying for the pain to end, longing for peace that seemed out of reach. Yet, peace without Christ is an illusion, and our true destination without Him is one we dare not desire.

Matthew 25:45: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”

Celebrate

This Christmas, I urge you to invest in someone else’s life. Don’t try to fix their problems; instead, be a source of hope. Walk alongside them in their journey. Let them see God’s love through your actions and presence.

Be the one who brings light to another’s darkness, the one God rejoices over. This season, choose love, hope, and be a vessel of God’s grace to those who need it most.

May His love be poured out upon you, and may you be filled with His love this Christmas. May the true meaning of Christmas bring you great joy, peace, comfort, and many other blessings.

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Are You Missing the Blessings

How many of us are missing the blessings given to us by Christ? We pray for an outcome that never arrives, or maybe it does. The fast pace of life focuses so much on our needs and wants that we do not see what God is doing. We have a plan, and God is part of that plan, and we expend all our energy and time living that plan.

Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

“Roughly half of Jesus’ miracles were interruptions. He had a plan, he had a destination, but he was interruptible. I wonder how many of us miss what God is doing because we hold too tightly to our plans.” – Mark Batterson’s book “The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears.”

God Interrupts Us With Blessings.

God interrupts us with the unexpected. I was once hiking with a new friend. I walked faster than he did. He commented on his perception that I was so busy hiking I did not take in or appreciate what I was hiking through. He was right. I planned to get from point “A” to point “B.” I didn’t appreciate all the beautiful gifts God gave me along the way, missing the blessings created by Him. Seeing them was not part of my plan. Hiking in the woods was about an accomplishment, not an experience.

Lamentations 3:22-23: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Most people live in this action-constrained bubble where cause and effect rules our decisions. We get an idea that immediately germinates an action plan with multiple possible paths. We are then fixated on outcomes. Each outcome produces another potential path or even numerous paths. We lose track of intent. The idea that created the activity becomes lost in the execution. God may have initiated the original idea, but then somehow became just one of the elements required for success. We focus too much on future outcomes and their potential to live in the moment.

The present is the only moment where time touches eternity. – C.S. Lewis’s book “Reflections”

Life is Moments

God lives in the moment. With God, what we experience in the moment dictates the future. He blesses us in the moment. We may not experience the culmination of the blessing until some future point, but God delivers it at the exact time and place that he has chosen. If we fixate too much on the outcome, we may lose what God is doing in the present.

Numbers 6:24: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

God wrote our story. He knows every chapter and verse. We live it word by word. Because we can not see the future, we mitigate risk by creating elaborate plans to deal with unexpected occurrences. Then, we tend to manage our expectations based on that plan. Because of this, we may miss a blessing God is bestowing on us today because of a future event that He is aware of. That event is not part of our current plan.

Capturing Blessing

I suggest taking the time and effort to see how God works in your life unexpectedly. Finding the unexpected will require intentionality. You must look for the unexpected. Do you consider your opportunities, friends, experiences, and time a blessing? Let me give you a couple of examples. Imagine you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, standing in line at a coffee shop. A stranger ahead of you notices and offers a kind smile or starts a lighthearted conversation. Do you see it as God speaking to you?

In another scenario, a stranger might help you in a moment of need, like picking up something you’ve dropped or giving directions when lost. Did God intervene?

Philippians 4:19: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Such encounters are blessings. They are part of God’s plan for your life. Do you acknowledge them in the moment? Acknowledging the little things makes the big things more palpable. Knowing God cares about you daily gives you strength during uncertainty or turmoil.

James 1:17: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

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The Legacy of Time

The legacy of time. All of us leave a legacy; it can be good or bad. The definition of legacy is something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past.

Matthew 6:19-21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Legacy versus Tradition

The thought that keeps going through my head is not how many seeds are in an apple, but how many apples are in a seed? That question goes to legacy. Most people evaluate the number of people they affect through evangelism as their legacy. That is the definition of how many seeds are planted. What is forgotten is that each seed has the potential to be an apple tree, not just an apple. That apple tree will produce many apples over many years. Each apple has many seeds. Some seeds will fall to the ground, become planted, and germinate into another apple tree, producing fruit. A small portion of the apple seeds from that tree will fall to the ground, be planted, and production will continue. That I see as a legacy.

Luke 12:33: “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches, and no moth destroys.”

That planting of the first seed is good works. It is the temporal activity of good Christians. It may take years for that seed to grow into a tree that can sustain fruit. That tree may not see that some seeds fell on fertile ground and started to grow. Because we cannot know the future, every seed planted is important. Good works eventually produced a good legacy.

Fleeting Legacies

Most of what we consider legacy is more in line with temporary, fleeting, or transient. We create traditions and cultures that last a few generations and then dissipate. We give material goods that are soon forgotten or replaced. Creating a true legacy is about permanence, rippling through time, separate from ourselves. True legacy does not require or even promote self-awareness. Your family name on a building or a non-profit in your honor is fleeting at best.

Luke 12:20-21: “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night, your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

A legacy isn’t confined to years, decades, centuries, or even millennia; it transcends time and touches eternity. It is about fundamentally shifting the trajectory of humankind, inch-by-inch. This concept may sound too big for it to be achievable. But it is not; you’re planting apple seeds. It is not for you to carry the legacy to a conclusion. You should start with a few seeds and then let God do His thing.

I love this quote: “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”, by Edward Everett Hale. It is the essence of leaving a great legacy. It is about apple seeds, not apple orchards, apple trees, or even individual apples.

Johnny Appleseed

1 Corinthians 3:8: “He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.”

There is already one man who has gone before you. Johnny Appleseed (born Johnathan Chapman; September 26, 1774 – March 18, 1845) was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced trees grown with apple seeds (as opposed to trees grown with grafting) to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Ontario, as well as the northern counties of West Virginia. He became an American legend while still alive due to his kind, generous ways, his leadership in conservation, and the symbolic importance that he attributed to apples. He was also a missionary for the Church of New Jerusalem of Manchester, England. Orchards attributed to him still produce fruit today.

Johnathan Chapman left a limited legacy through his distribution of apple seeds and an eternal legacy through his missionary work.

Colossians 3:1-3: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

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Whose Life are You Going to Change?

Whose life are you going to change? I heard this as part of a discussion about the Oregon Ducks commemorating fallen players. As they hiked up the mountain trail, the coach asked them to remember those who helped them become who they are. On the return trip down the mountain, the coach asked them to think about those they would impact to change their lives in much the same way.

Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Life

“I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will” ~ Edward Everett Hale.

We all leave a legacy. That is not a choice we get to make. It is an artifact of our existence. As we go through life, we leave our fingerprints on everything we touch. The real question that comes to mind is: Are we approaching this with intentionality? Do we acknowledge that we will leave a legacy and have a plan to make it meaningful?

I firmly believe that God created each of us unique and perfect for his plans. We cannot be someone else, and they cannot be us. As people, we can value the characteristics and achievements of others, but we were not created to duplicate them. We each have our own path through life.

“What you are is God’s gift to you; what you become is your gift to God.” ~ Hans Urs von Balthasar

Change

Planning at the macro level, with blue-sky objectives and lifetime bucket lists, is admirable, but it doesn’t prepare you for your impact on the lives God sends through your life. These people will be imprinted by your presence, good or bad. Every interaction brings a person closer to Christ or pushes them further away. No interaction is neutral. When we acknowledge that every moment and every interaction is essential to God’s plan, that is when our royal legacy takes seed. Through the acceptance that we matter to God and, therefore, everyone we encounter also matters to Him, actions start to germinate.

Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

So often, we pass through life thinking that our immediate reaction won’t matter in the long run. God will forgive a momentary relapse to our old self. We can even go to the offended party and ask for forgiveness, but other eyes are watching, people we may never have direct contact with. These are the hidden lives God sends our way—people unprepared for direct interaction but still need encouragement. In that hidden moment, they may decide that Christianity does not offer the solution they seek.

Judgment

Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

In Revelations, the Bible talks about the White Throne of Judgement. Christ will judge the living and dead. Christians will not be judged for their sins; Christ has already forgiven them. They will be judged for their actions for Christ since they knew Him. Don’t let these moments slip away. Be intentional. Ask God for opportunities. Make a plan, rehearse your approach, be open to opportunities, and obey. We are not all destined to do great things, but we all can be great to someone.

Revelations 20: 12, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”

Attending church, Bible Studies, praying, and mission trips prepare you for God’s plan for your life. But your true glorification of Christ is through expanding His Kingdom here on earth. You accomplish this by changing the lives of the people God puts in front of you. At that moment in front of the White Throne, you don’t have to have done anything; your salvation is assured. But I don’t think I would want to defend the position that my lifestyle, financial security, social position, or personal insecurity were more important. I could have had an impact for Christ; I just didn’t.

Hebrews 13:16, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

Homecoming

Homecoming should be a celebration. We should look forward to it. If you are a little trepid about explaining what you have done for Christ since you accepted Him as your personal Savior, maybe you need to rethink your plan. It is never too late to start anew. Leave a legacy, change a life. Make your homecoming a party to look forward to.

1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. “

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Message About the U.S. Election from Pastor Jason Cook

Many of us took up our American freedom and cast our ballots this week. That vote is in and our new president is Donald Trump. Mercifully, we do not have to wait days, weeks, or months to know this with certainty. The question of who will be our next President has been answered.

However three questions loom large for us as a church: Who are we? What is our Kingdom calling? How should we live?

The Church is the bride of Christ and functions as an outpost of heaven — a counter-cultural Kingdom colony. We are more than a collection of individuals; we are a family and holy ground that anticipates heaven. Fellowship is that and more.

We are an inter-cultural, inter-generational, and inter-ideological holy remnant who does not bow the knee to a world leader or power. We venerate and worship the Christ who has saved us and is our King. We are those who belong to God and have a Kingdom calling to worship God and care deeply for our neighbors.

Our identity as children of God is cast in stone — won by the body, blood, and resurrection of Jesus. We are sons and daughters of the Most High God. We have been called to make disciples of all ethnicities, languages, countries, ideologies, and political affiliations. We do so gladly and joyfully! Now that the election is behind us one question remains: How should we live? [Let’s focus on today, because tomorrow has troubles of its own.] Today, feel your feelings. Whether exultant or discouraged we are humans who should make space and time to feel what we feel.

But let’s agree to not stay there. We have too much work to do. We must not remain in despair or live in discouragement for the future because of the outcome of the election. Nor should we gloat or strut because our team won. If you’re sad, be sad. If you’re excited, be excited! Feel your feelings. Feel them deeply. But don’t make how you feel today your emotional home.

How then shall we live as a people? We live with Trust and Hope.

Considering the range of emotion within our church it would be wise for each of us to choose to trust and hope.

Trust in the God who commands all things under his power and is near to us at every moment. Trust that God truly is working all things out for the good of those who love him—including who is elected to office. And we must hope. Hope that God will continue to restrain sin and its effects across the world. Hope that the Kingdom of God still marches on to its inevitable end. Hope that we will one day be with Jesus.

And hope that Jesus will arrive in the sky and bring us home. A church that trusts God’s deep involvement in our lives and is willing to courageously hope is a church that lives well. We must continue to preach and live out the gospel. We must continue to hope in the resurrection. We continue to love our neighbors and invest in the world around us. Fellowship, this is our moment. Now is Our time.

We should remember the instruction of Romans 12:14-18:

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

If you are rejoicing today, rejoice! If you are sad today, be sad. Feel your feelings. AND fix your mind and heart on Jesus.

Fellowship, Now is our time. Today and each day ahead we can do something that rarely happens at churches across our nation: We can create space for each of us to feel deeply AND choose to live at peace with one another. We were built for this. We were made for this moment. God has constructed our inter-generational and inter-cultural fellowship to not only endure such a time but thrive through it.

There is, perhaps, no other church more battle tested and ready for the days ahead. Now is our time. This is our moment to be the people God has called us to be. This is the appointed time for us to live into our Kingdom calling. We were made for this moment!

How then shall we live? We live unto God so that Everyone Everywhere Experiences Jesus! Friends, we have work to do. As the church we press on toward the upward call in Christ Jesus. We press on in prayer. We press on in hope. We press on in trust. We press on until what is happening in the throne room of God (at this moment!) is also happening at Fellowship, in our communities, in our homes, and in us: As it is on earth as it is in heaven.

Let’s continue our work together until Everyone, Everywhere Experiences Jesus. Our purpose matters. You matter. We matter. Regardless of how you voted, how you feel today, or your hopes about the future of our nation one thing remains true: You Belong Here!

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