So much has and is happening in our world. It's not just the wired world we live in and it’s not just the instant knowledge of news wherever and whenever it happens. There really is a lot happening at a frantic pace. And, it's not good!
We live each day wondering what tragedy will befall our world next and there is fear, confusion, and anxiety to spare. I'm not here to depress us today, but we live in a very tumultuous, dangerous, and weird day. The scenes of brutality, carnage, and despair that used to play out only in videos from countries far from our home are showing up within arm’s reach. The freedoms and liberties we may have once taken for granted are being challenged and changed all around us. The peace and safety that many of us have known all our lives is being shattered and fear is beginning to set in. It has changed us! We do not look at our safety the same way we did before. We do not look at our freedoms the same way we did before. These events and this time is changing us! So, what has happened in our world? • I don’t hear our bickering politicians talking about prayer any more • I don’t hear “God Bless America” sung as much anymore • Much of what is wrong with us, in our flesh, is on full disgusting display Do we not need God now? Can I tell you: • as the world continues to fall off the cliff • as evil expands its claim on humanity • as thick black hopelessness invades our world • as our world continues its frenetic changing act Our God has not changed, at all. He’s still the same! He was the same yesterday, as He is today, and as He will be tomorrow. He changes not! So, to the life that is: • Lost; He’s still searching for you • Scared; He still speaks peace • Confused; He will bring you clarity • Unloved; God is love • Drifting; He is an anchor of wholeness He’s still the same! You're not going to find that anywhere or with anyone else, any longer. God hasn't changed. He’s still the same! All you need is to grab hold of His hand and hold on. He will never leave you, forsake you, or change on you! He’s still the same! Pastor Hoffman
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You've probably heard the saying that goes, "With friends like you, who needs enemies?". It's usually used tongue-in-cheek when friends are teasing each other. I've used it myself when a friend of mine is giving me a hard time. However, there are many people who have been "stabbed in the back", betrayed, or led into a dangerous situation by so-called friends who made themselves enemies. These "friends" were trusted and confided in, but held no loyalty to the other person. So, while the saying is typically said in a joking manner, many have found themselves seriously asking the question, "With friends like you, who needs enemies?".
We have good examples of this in scripture. 2 Samuel 13:1-4 NKJV [1] After this Absalom the son of David had a lovely sister, whose name [was] Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. [2] Amnon was so distressed over his sister Tamar that he became sick; for she [was] a virgin. And it was improper for Amnon to do anything to her. [3] But Amnon had a friend whose name [was] Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother. Now Jonadab [was] a very crafty man. [4] And he said to him, "Why [are] you, the king's son, becoming thinner day after day? Will you not tell me?" Amnon said to him, "I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister." Jonadab went on to describe in detail how Amnon could wrongly go about fulfilling his desires, which Amnon did. This caused a disunion between Amnon and some of his family members, ultimately leading to him being killed by his brother Absolom. Had Amnon been influenced by a true friend, he likely would have made better decisions. But because he had a friend who was more like an enemy, he erred greatly, disrupted his whole family, made more enemies, and went to an early grave. A couple of generations later, David's grandson Rehoboam took the throne. The assembly of Israel came and pledged their allegiance to him if he would lighten the burden his father had placed them under. 1 Kings 12:6-8 NKJV [6] Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who stood before his father Solomon while he still lived, and he said, "How do you advise [me] to answer these people?" [7] And they spoke to him, saying, "If you will be a servant to these people today, and serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever." [8] But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. Rehoboam foolishly went with the advice of his young, immature friends who obviously didn't have his best interest in mind. The kingdom was divided and most of the people were led into idolatry by a leader they weren't supposed to be following. The wrong friends can severely pollute our thinking and lead us to places we never wanted to be, surrounded by the carnage of our bad decisions. Who we surround ourselves with will have a major impact on our decisions, lifestyle, attitudes and can certainly affect our spiritual trajectory. What we need are friends like Barnabas. Acts 4:36-37 NKJV [36] And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, [37] having land, sold [it], and brought the money and laid [it] at the apostles' feet. Acts 9:26-27 NKJV [26] And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple. [27] But Barnabas took him and brought [him] to the apostles. And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that He had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Because of Barnabas, Saul (who we now know as the Apostle Paul), was able to share his story and join the other disciples in Jerusalem. Without Barnabas sticking his neck out and vouching for him, Paul may have never received the credibility needed to become the great missionary that we know him as. Barnabas was such a great friend and influence that the disciples changed his name from Joses to Barnabas, which mean "Son of Encouragement". That's the kind of friends we need to surround ourselves with. People who will encourage us to be better versions of ourselves. People who will spur us on closer to God and inspire us to follow the leading of the Spirit. We need people who will make opportunity for us to succeed, not fail. Choose your friends wisely, as they will likely determine your future. Do you want to be successful? Surround yourself with successful people. Do you want to be a student of the Word? Surround yourself with students of the Word. Do you want to be a more disciplined, effective prayer warrior? You get the idea. Fill your life with people who have the traits that you want to have in your life. We have enough enemies to worry about. Find yourself some true friends and see the difference they make. Your friend, Patrick Thomson I'm sure many of us have been there at one time or another. Maybe you were in a grocery store with your mother as a child and a new cereal catches your eye. As you lose yourself in your imagination of the delicious sugar high that could be obtained from this box, you look up and notice your mom is nowhere to be found. A quick wave of anxiety crashes into you as you realize you have been left. Stranger danger flashes through your mind as the adults around you are no longer other moms’ and dads' but instead cold hard kidnappers. You take off sprinting past them and make a hard turn down the next aisle only to see your mom browsing none the wiser of your absence. Relief sets in as you are now safely with your protector and guardian.
It could have also happened when you were a little older. You are sitting at a lunch table with some of your friends and each of you were trying to fight for a window of the conversation to share all that happened since you last saw each other, you know an hour and a half ago. Without intention a lull in the conversation comes and simultaneously tasks start to invade your shared time together. One friend had to use the restroom, another had to return a book to the library, another friend spotted someone who owed them some money and wanted to use the time to see when it would be returned. With no hint of realization, you look up to see your friends have left you abandoned and you are left socially exposed. To feel alone or abandoned is not something we usually want to experience. You can be left feeling unsafe, vulnerable, and even betrayed. If it were a fight you would be on the losing side. Surrounded by your enemy, defenseless. Waiting on the outcome. But this isn't a fight with an unfair advantage. Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. God said He will never leave us or forsake us. Forsake means to abandon. You are not going into a battle that can't be won. You have an unstoppable force on your side. With just a word He spoke this world into existence. With just a touch of His hand He raised the dead. And with just His power He parted the Red Sea. You have the ultimate MVP fighting for you, not just in time of need but every time. There is no need for fear because you are safe. Feeling vulnerable to what the world thinks of you is no longer important because you have someone who loves you no matter what anyone else thinks. There is no betrayal, or limited time offer. He said He would never do it, and if the creator of the universe is sure about it we can be too. Stand strong, you are surrounded by a God who is not going anywhere Amber Klein Galatians 5:16-17
16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. This war between the flesh and the spirit is the greatest battle that we face. It is the most important thing that we will ever engage ourselves in. We can pretend it doesn't exist, but we are only fooling ourselves and setting ourselves up for a fall. In the text from Galatians 5, Paul says the flesh and the spirit are contrary to one another. In Webster's dictionary the word "contrary" is described as "to lie opposite, i.e. be adverse, to oppose." So we get the imagery of two opponents in the ring slugging it out to see who is left standing for control of our souls. This match is in reference to the Holy Spirit and our flesh, so while the flesh pulls us in one direction the Spirit would have us go in another! So what can we do to win this battle of the flesh vs. the Spirit? Is there a way that we can come out as the victor in all of this, or is the outcome already decided? Paul gave us the answer in the first scripture we referenced. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Walking in the Spirit is the way to defeat the lust of the flesh, but how do we walk in the Spirit? By setting our minds on the things of the Spirit we can walk in the Spirit. We will get out of ourselves whatever we feed into ourselves. It is imperative that we fill our lives, our minds, and our understanding with Godly things. David said “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee”. Ephesians 6:16-17 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: The Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit, is an offensive weapon. With the sword in our hands we must intend to fight and we must intend to kill. In Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus was lead into the wilderness and consequently tempted by the devil. Upon each temptation Jesus fought with the Word by saying "It is written". In having the sword of the Spirit in His hand, He was able to kill off every attack of the enemy. We must "hide" the Word of God in our hearts, so we have the right weapon to fight off the attack of the enemy of our souls. Read the Word, sing the Word, listen to the Word, and continually contemplate the Word. You never know when or where an attack will come. You must be ready to fight at any and all times because the devil will come at you, but he can't defeat the Word of God. Let's be ready to win, Pastor Hoffman Jabbar Muhammed a motivational writer, writes "Truth be told, the brain is hardwired to be negative!" In other words, it is all too easy for the brain to concentrate on worries and fears and for gloomy thoughts to dominate. Many psychologists believe today that the brain defaults into the negative and that by and large we’re hardwired to register and remember negative events more quickly and deeply than positive ones. "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."(2nd Corinthians 2:11)
It’s so easy to be negative. Someone starts downing something or someone, so we just chime in. I assume it has something to do with fitting in with others, but it comes way too easy to us. It’s so easy to find fault. I don’t know where this one got started in us. I assume there are some petty jealousies, some fear of differences or just bored people. We can find fault with anything, any activity and unfortunately, any person. It’s so easy to be fearful and afraid. Life can be humming along and everything seems good and then just one bad report, one bad instance, or one somewhat unflattering comment and the wheels fall off. We can go from lilies in the spring field to death and destruction as easily as we breath or blink. It’s easy to do and be all these things, but God hasn’t called us to follow the easy path. God has called us to be right and right isn’t always easy, but it’s still right. It takes work to be positive, but who wants to know about the one who saved your soul if you’re a Negative Nancy with your chin dragging the ground all the time. If you’ve really been saved, you should be a positive person. You’re not going to hell, so that ought to be reason enough to look up instead of down. It takes work to find the good in some people, but think about this. Someone is struggling with finding good in you too. If you think you’re worth the work, then be willing to put it in for someone else. The Lord saw enough good in you to die for you, so try a little harder with those around you. It takes work to not be fearful and afraid. There a lot to receive in our world, but you can always trust The Lord. There is nothing he can’t do, can’t change, and can’t handle! So go ahead and stop biting your nails and losing sleep. The Lord has it all! All of these can become devices of the devil, so don’t be ignorant! Pastor Hoffman I am not a fighter by nature. I’ve never been involved in any physical fisticuffs situations. Thankfully, the schools that I studied at from kindergarten all the way through college were not violent institutions by any means. I could count on one hand the number of fights that I witnessed in person and I’d still have a few fingers to spare. Even in my very limited experience, however, I realize that most scuffles have a root in retaliation. Whether it is something that has or hasn’t been done, said or not said, heard or not heard, any action can be placed into the equation and have retaliation as the outcome. This is even the same for our verbal altercations or arguments that don’t cause physical harm, but internal instead. Should retaliation be our fall back reaction in these circumstances though?
How many times have we heard the scripture “eye for an eye” misconstrued in an attempt to justify someone’s lack of control? I’m not going to say that this isn’t biblical in origin because it is. The old testament has examples of it like in Exodus 21 where in context it portrays this retaliation form of justice. The plain and simple truth of the matter is though that just because it can be found in the bible doesn’t mean it is something we apply to our Christian repertoire. I don’t know about you, but I’m thankful that I do not have to prepare an animal sacrifice for my sins. Jokes aside, this form of justice was more to guide those who were interpreting Mosaic Law. It was a guideline for the courts and wasn’t meant be used by civilians in personal scuffles. The question then becomes what is the correct Christian way of handling conflict? Matthew 5:38-48 answers that very question. We’ve heard it time and time again that when someone hurts you, the Christian thing is to turn the other cheek. If you read a bit further though, the action is no longer retaliation. It is love that is relentless. We see this posed in the questions of verses of 46 & 47 where Jesus asks “If ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?...If ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?” In modern day language that would read “If I’m only loving those that are easy to love how is that different than the sinner next door?” It’s a very easy job to only give grace to those that deserve it because the list is short (see Romans 3:10 for the full list). It’s easy to give grace to no one, but you find out where your strength comes from when you give grace to those that don’t deserve it. Conflict has the same conclusion because it’s easy to give it right back when someone is upset with you. The greatest light I can be for Christ though, is to show kindness in the face of conflict and find a way to love them through their low moment. Relentless love wins in the end. Coburn Hoffman "You are what you eat". This old saying reminds us that we become what we put into our bodies. If your diet consists mostly of foods high in fat and cholesterol, then you are probably overweight with high cholesterol. What you eat affects your health. The same can be said of our mental and spiritual health. We are only as healthy as what we are feeding our mind and spirit.
We are also influenced by outside sources that can affect us both positively and negatively. Influence is powerful. If I were to hang out with guys that like to hunt a lot, and if I read hunting magazines and watch hunting videos on a regular basis, then I will probably want to go hunting all the time. I would talk about, dream about, and make every effort to spend as much time as possible hunting. Silly illustration? It might be, but replace hunting in that illustration with something else. Gardening, golf, cooking, scrapbooking, prayer, Bible study. If we are constantly feeding our minds with these activities, then we will develop a passion for them and will do whatever we can to make time for them in our lives. I'm not implying that we have only one thing in our life that we enjoy doing. I'm also not implying that any of the above activities are, in and of themselves, sinful. I'm simply pointing out that the old saying is true, "you are what you eat". Think about who you spend your time with, what you read, what you watch and, what you listen to. All of these influences have a huge impact on how we think, how we speak, what we are passionate about, what we believe and how we spend our time. If you find yourself struggling with a lack of desire to be in church, to pray, to read your Bible, etc. then you should start by taking an inventory of your influences. When I'm around passionate Christians who aren't ashamed to share their faith, have a dynamic prayer life, love being in church, and treasure the Word of God, it sparks a fire in me to do those things as well. Show me your influences and I will tell you what your passions are. I can probably tell you what your struggles are as well. What we become is a direct result of what our influences are. 1 Corinthians 15:33 NKJV Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits." Proverbs 13:20 NKJV He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed. John 15:4-5 NKJV "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. It's clear in scripture, and I've seen it in my own life, that what we put into our minds through relationships, reading materials, and entertainment will shape who we become. We must choose our influences carefully. Spend time with devoted Christians, those who are passionate about prayer and God's kingdom. Listen to more sermons and less music. Read more and watch fewer movies. You are what you eat, so pile your plate with the right stuff. Patrick A. Thomson Luke 10:25-29
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live. 29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? We all profile people a little bit. We make subtle judgments about a person based upon their outward appearance, the actions of their lives, or even by the way they speak. In too many situations it's become an “us against them” mentality with them being wrong and us being right. We don't take the time to get to know someone because we already know that they aren't “our” kind of people, so there’s no reason for us to waste our time. A simple perusal through the Gospels will show us very quickly that Jesus didn't have this hang-up. He chose to step into a very heated exchange with the woman taken in the act of adultery and cause each one of her accusers, with stones in their hands, to leave one by one, only to relieve her of even His own perceived condemnation. The account of Jesus with the woman at the well shows a non-judgmental savior. The woman was a Samaritan, hated and rejected as an outcast of the worst type, especially by the Jews. Yet, Jesus goes through Samaria to have this solitary conversation. By the end of their talk, Jesus declared Himself the Messiah and she gratefully accepted that revelation. Jesus said “He was come to seek and to save that which was lost” and “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick” and “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. People that are lost have problems. People who are sick have hang ups. People who are sinners have sin. And, all these people are our neighbors. No matter if they look like us, act like us, talk like us or even like us. We are all neighbors. God help us to reach our neighbors, Pastor Hoffman John Donne wrote "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main." The Apostle Paul wrote "So we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." We have learned that the "Lone Ranger" approach to life, just doesn't cut it. Whether we are facing a new challenge, just need someone to talk to or (let me borrow something from this generation) are just bored, we are thankful that others exist. We need each other and we are more interconnected than we think we are.
But, more important than just having someone around, what can we learn from each other? What is the purpose of all our different ways of understanding, problem-solving and communicating if we don't learn from each other? Think about:
But, have we become so full of pride that we can't acknowledge and learn from the strengths of others? Are we afraid if we lift others up it only serves to highlight the glaring inadequacies that we possess? I say if we will take the time to learn from others, it will allow others to learn from us, as well. I'm not prideful, but there are some things that I do well. I'm also not a negative Nancy, but there are things I don't do well and others that I have to struggle to just get done. But, I've learned to learn something by talking to you, being around you and watching your life. I know in our world of "social media" (could that be anymore ignorantly named?) we can't bear the thought of actually having a conversation with words, inflection, facial cues and emotion, but if you will take the time to notice those around you, you will find there is a lot to learn. So put your phone, laptop or tablet away, and go learn something. Keep learning, keep growing. Pastor Hoffman A few days from now our trash bags will be overflowing with brightly colored, torn, and ripped wrapping paper. All the gifts that we have been hiding and waiting to give or picked up last minute through Amazon Prime (let's just be honest) will have been given to their respectful recipients. Tummies will hopefully be full, but not too full of all the deliciousness that happens when family kitchens collide. Children will have already unleashed their toys from the plastic bondage that has kept them captive just for them and searched the house for every available battery since they always come separately. The stockings will resume their form of the flat socks that they were before anything was stuffed into them and the Christmas tree will be reveling in its last few hours of relevancy. The aftermath of the Christmas day festivities is a lot like the moment you finish an exciting amusement park ride. We think to ourselves "Wow, that was a lot of fun! Now what's next?"
Now just for clarity's sake, this mindset begins long before the climax of Christmas. The holiday season starting with Thanksgiving has a way of molding us into this way of thinking. The feelings of love and good cheer start around the table when we are overeating and understanding what really matters to us. Then it's a mad dash from one fall festival to a Christmas program to a Christmas party to a gift exchange to caroling to etcetera (you get the idea). Then we finally arrive at a few days before the big day that was described above, which means a lot of traveling if your family is like ours. It's enjoyable going to the different sides of the family and seeing people we only see once or twice a year. All the while though in the back of our heads we are thinking "What's next?" How many more gifts do I need to get? Do we have all the ingredients for the meal? When are we doing Christmas with them? If we aren't careful we can spend our whole Holiday season looking forward to the next thing on our to-do list and forget completely about what has already happened. This to-do list daze can make us lose sight of the real reason for the season. Most of us know what happened two thousand years ago and the wonderful gift that was given in a little animal's lean-to. A prophecy was fulfilled with the Savior being born and there were a few men that found out about it while they were checking off their to-do lists as well. Luke 2:8-14 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. There was no shame in what the shepherds were doing, just as there is no shame in our habits of the holidays either. Things need to be done and there are many wonderful moments that we can have throughout this time of year. With that being said, we should make it a priority to celebrate the reason for the season well before we have a reminder from those that are modern day angels and do the Lord's work (Your Pastor, Minister, Sunday School teacher, Mother, and many other servants that don't do it for the credit). We are blessed to have busy lives that are filled with moments where memories are made and then remembered for a lifetime. Let's not forget throughout all of those instances the baby that was born, so that we could then be saved. Give good will toward your fellow man and woman, but make sure you give the glory to God first. Merry Christmas, Coburn Hoffman |
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