Feed Not The Itching Ears

"Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.

And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.

And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord." 

                                                                                            (Jer 23:1-4 KJV)

One of the many ways to scatter the Lord's flock is to feed his people with a different gospel than the one that Jesus proclaimed. When pastors preach a word that pleases itching ears rather than pleases God people will eventually have their fill of being pumped up in that place. They will want more. They will find other ways and places to be entertained (false gospels usually are nothing more than entertainment) and not necessarily a place of Christian worship. 

When the flock hears too much law as in if you don't repent and choose for Jesus, without the Good News of the Kingdom through Jesus Christ for them; without the benefit of absolution, they will soon tire of being judged every Sunday as they listen to the pastor beg them to choose for Jesus. They will walk away or begin to talk with one another behind the pastors back stirring up strife within the congregation causing even more of the sheep to be scattered.

To be fed a false gospel does not bring us closer to Jesus. To buy into it in order to make ourselves feel good does not reconcile us to God.

St. Paul wrote to the Galatians:  

"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." 

                                                                                        (Gal 1:6-10)

The pastor is not sent to scratch the itching ears. I was told by my mentoring pastor when I received my first call as a missionary to a "church without walls" that I was being sent to comfort the afflicted and afflict the too comfortable. This is done with the word of God through the Word of God who is Jesus the Christ.

May God help us to be faithful to his word in all that we say and think and do. Amen.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Faith Then Patience

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

                                                                           (2 Peter 1:2-8 KJV)

I cannot begin to imagine how much patience it took to plow fields around the Ring of Kerry.

I have to admit that there are definitely days that my self-control and patience are a bit lacking. They are both more present in me today than they were twenty or thirty years ago. But, I do still fall short. I fall short because there are times when I get so wrapped up in getting things done that I forget that God is with me and I end up doing things the way others or I would prefer that they be done. Not doing God's will; but, instead doing what pleases a few people or myself usually ends up in a disaster. And... disasters can mightily challenge our self-control and patience.

So I pray that God would grant us all faith and that in faith; virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity will follow.

God Peace - Pr. J

Ask For Wisdom

If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. (James 1:5 NRSV)

This verse from James came to my mind as I was reading the news and some social media this morning. 

Here is a major problem: If someone lacks wisdom, will they be wise enough to ask for wisdom?  Sometimes, it just does not seem like that will happen for some. There are those whose eyes nor their ears nor their hearts nor their minds are open to the truth. So, we must ask for wisdom for others as well as for ourselves.

God grant that we should receive the wisdom and the courage to accept the truth of His Word.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Whatever Happens; God Is With You

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 NRSV) 

Growing in Christ does mean that we will face trials. There was a time when I could actually smile at those trials that I would face, knowing that it would be a learning and growing experience. Then, I would just get to it. Today, I am more likely to find myself weary of facing one trial after the next. Maybe, it's more like I've learned to simply endure them. I look out into the world and see all the trials that people endure simply because of our sinful natures, I get tired of seeing so much unnecessary suffering. I know that trials produce endurance so that we might mature and grow in Christ. However, it saddens me to know that those trials are often born out of disrespect for the world; for the people around us; and, for God.

Sadly; to live in this world, we do need endurance and endurance comes from facing and overcoming trials. But, we are not alone. We are never alone. God is with us and we will prevail. We will grow  and mature in Christ. We can rejoice in that knowledge.

God grant that we should have joyful spirits as we face the trials before us, in the knowledge that God is with us and for us. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

Help My Unbelief!

".... but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus said to him, “If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:22-24

 

Can you imagine telling Jesus, "if you can." There's is no "if" to it. He can do all things! He is true God. We know this; yet, we don't know it. Our faith is lacking.

 

Because we are not able to do something in this world, our faith or lack of faith does not allow us to believe that Jesus can do it. It may well be that our faith is lacking because our view of him is only of a man who walked this earth 2000 years ago.

 

Jesus, as true God, can do all things. But, that does not mean he will do all things. He serves according to the will of our Father in heaven; just as we should. Pray then for all things to come about according to God's will. Trust that God has had pity on us, has helped us and will help us according to His good will.

 

Let us not pray, "If you can." Let us pray that God would help us to believe and trust Him even in our unbelief and that His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

 

God's Peace - Pr. J